Chapter 4: Damned

Five years have passed…

It’s been ten years since you allied with Velzix, an alliance that’s becoming more tenuous with each passing day.

Startled by your transformation and surge in power, Velzix proceeded to work extra hard on opening the portal, which he did...permanently. Velzix now has unlimited reinforcements, but you do as well. Your new found abilities allow you to not only summon the torments spirits of the infernal plane, but you soon were also able to raise dead demons as hellish undead. Something that couldn’t be accomplished before, by any being. Not even the Great Lich Lord. Combine this with your other regular necromantic abilities and you’re a severe threat with completely loyal troops who will have to be dealt with soon as far as Velzix is concerned. But for now, the alliance still stands. Your other “ally” Sinthinia still maintains her grip on her spy network, but it’s of little importance to you now. You’ve completely filled your holdings with undead be they former mortals or demons. None of them are going to rat on whatever it is you’re plotting.

As for the “Grand Alliance” it’s in its death rattle. The Zalan Empire has basically taken full control of it, but even with more of a unified leadership, this last hope for mortals is doomed. You don’t even know why they persist in struggling. You alone have pushed your undead hell legions towards the gates of the capitol yourself, beating that idiotic Tivadol to the punch. You hear of how he roars with rage at your successes.

Having accomplished this feat, and despite your transformation, your thoughts can’t help, but turn to your family. It’s been years since you’ve had any kind of direct contact with them. You know your Mom still lives in the capitol of the Zalan Empire and that your sister is still currently holding the last pitiful lines of defense there as a general.

As for your Dad…well you know exactly where he’s at right now. He’s in your dungeon. Sinthinia recently had him captured after he and his company had been waging an ongoing guerilla tactic campaign of irritating raids on Velzix’s Realm. When you found out, you insisted that he be brought to you and she was only too happy to oblige, knowing that your dislike of him, only grew and festered into full blown hatred after your transformation.

While it’s true you’re supposed to oversee the destruction of the Zalan capitol personally, you’re going to enjoy yourself in tormenting the one who sired you first.

You open the door to his cell and see a beaten and bloody old man. No longer is he the figure of intimidation that you once quaked in fear of when he was around. His wounds are recent from the lashes he’s been taking. You decided it would be best to start off with the basics before moving on to more elaborate tortures.

However, upon seeing you, he manages to compose himself the best he can.

“Ugh…too chicken shit to do your own dirty work, huh?” he says spitting blood.
“I think you’ll find that by letting others do my dirty work, I’m actually showing mercy. Because when I starting doing it, you won’t be in any condition to perform this poor attempt of bravado.”

Your Dad finally stands up and addresses you more directly. He looks at you and shakes his head.

“You think by killing me, that you’re proving something? You ain’t proving shit boy except what a lousy disappointment you truly are. Now your sister, THERE’S a child to be proud of. Even yer mother gave up on you. Broke her heart you know that?”

You can’t believe this arrogance!

“Feh, aligning yourself with the hordes of hell, I always knew you were too weak to do anything on your own. You couldn’t even follow the path of darkness without help.” Your Dad mocks.

You don’t know how he’s doing this, but he’s actually managing to get to you. You’re tired of hearing this and you cast a spell that strips a portion of his skin off. He falls to the floor in pain.

“You will NOT dictate your judgment on me! I am beyond such things now, especially from the likes of you! A blood thirsty thug who committed more than a few atrocities in his day and up until I began my path of darkness, was still committing foul deeds under the guise of law. You are no better than me!”
“Wrong again boy. I cleaned up my act…heh heh, okay maybe not completely. But I ain’t never got myself in league with demons. Let alone turn myself into some unnatural…thing. Yer dammed boy. And while you might think you’re going to be controlling everything, you ain’t. You don’t control hell boy, it controls you. Yer nothin’ but a slave to...”

“ENOUGH!” you shout and kick him before he can complete his sentence. The rage building up in you is enough to twist steel, but still your Dad mocks you. He’s laughing!

“Ha ha ha, broke yer mother’s heart…”

You don’t have time for this right now. You’re supposed to oversee the final attack of the Zalan capitol, and you’re still going to do that, and your Dad is going to feel the pain when you come back. In the meantime he can rot in his cell.

You arrive and the final attack is ordered. You storm the gates as cannons destroy multitudes of your troops only to be replaced with more. You see your sister on top of the battlements ordering her soldiers to fire upon you. During this attack you feel several bullets enter your body breaking through your magical defenses. You ignore the pain, as its nothing compared to what you’ve been exposed to.

Not stopping, you enter the gates of the city realizing that this was inevitable. Things could’ve only been this way. Your undead slay all those that oppose you, but you mentally make sure none of your undead has murderous intentions towards any of your family. You have special plans for them. You head towards your parent’s old house, taking little notice of the death around you.

When you arrive you find the house empty. In fact it looks like it’s been empty for months. So many memories here…a different time… even a different life now…

“She left when the attacks first came. She didn’t say where either. She just told me she was leaving. I even had her followed for awhile, but she was quite adept at eluding my scouts, not to mention I had other concerns to take care of.” Your sister says entering behind you.

“Mom always was smart, well except maybe when it came to Dad, but he’s rotting in my torture cell right now. So who cares?” you remark.

Your sister doesn’t make her sense of concern noticeable by your revelation, but instead looks upon you with complete disgust.

“I can’t believe you’ve let yourself become what you are. What you’ve done…”
“I’ve found that one is capable of quite a bit, when one sets their mind to it. Even the demons fear me and I have only myself to congratulate. Soon they too will fall…perhaps this is a lingering sense of brotherly concern, but you could join me in this. You would be a great asset in the coming war with Velzix. Perhaps I could even help you transform as well.”

She spits on the floor, and then raises her magical glowing sword.

“I thought as much.”

You blast your sister with powerful beam of negative energy causing the color to drain from her face. She’s still continues towards you, but another blast causes her to fall.

She’s near death and your twisted mind still ponders what to do. Your sister was a great warrior, and you weren’t joking when she would be a great asset to you if she was on your side. You’re sure if given enough time and using the right magic rituals you could transform her like you did to yourself. Part of you also still has your Dad’s words of how she was someone to be proud of ringing in your head. Transforming her into a vessel of evil would be destroying that image in your mind.
> You kill her
A fleeting thought of vicious cruelty all to get back at your Dad crosses your mind, but leaves you. You don’t need to bother proving anything. You know who you are. The old man is defeated and he’ll be dealt with when you get back. The second reason is you wish to remain unique; transforming your sister into something similar to you would be destroying that.

“Well sis, this is where we say good bye, you may thank me for this mercy I’m displaying. Dad won’t be so lucky.” You say and snuff out the last bit of her life essence and leave the house. As you’re leaving one of your mortal necromancers approaches you in the middle of the chaos.

“Uh sir, we’ve taken over the city. The royal family was butchered in their own throne room.”
“Good. Well you know what to do next, recruit the weak willed, kill the resisters, and raise the dead. I got more important things to do.”

You return to Aftermath where you inform your Dad of his beloved daughter’s death and how she died mewling and begging like a pathetic stuck Halfling. You also mention he won’t get to die with half as much dignity.

His torment stretches for months before his body at last gives out. Lasted longer than you expected, but then again he was always tough.

Ten years pass…

Twenty years have passed, and the world has tilted firmly into the grip of evil. Demons pour into this world more and more each day. The Grand Alliance is dead and the “civilized” governments of mortals have fallen to demonic hordes or your own undead ones. Pockets of resistance always exist, but the damage they do is negligible. There is little hope left.

As for your own “alliance” that also no longer exists. You and Velzix couldn’t exist together any longer and the need to destroy each other was finally unleashed. The land is split and your territory is known as the Forsaken Dominion. The war goes on for years in a bloody seesaw event.

Tivadol the Destroyer attempts to raise his own status by trying to launch an all out assault upon you. Hoping that by killing you personally, everyone will see he’s a better leader than Velzix. His fanatical berserker troops do much damage initially, but soon even they fall before the relentless hordes of undead. By the time Tivadol gets to the inner reaches of your lands, he’s fighting by himself. He dies in an onslaught of wraiths, wrights, skeletons and all other manner of undead.

Sinthinia who once again sided with Velzix during this split sends some of her personal assassins after you. More than a few times they nearly ended your existence. With each one you killed you had their corpses kept in a cell. Then when you felt you had enough of them in your possession, you raised them and ordered them to use their skills to kill Sinthinia and Velzix. Velzix proved to evade this fate, but Sinthinia wasn’t so lucky and died by the hands of her own assassins.

Still even with these successes, you aren’t gaining too much ground. Velzix just replenishes his army with more demons coming from the infernal plane. The only way to stop that from happening is to close the motherfucker, and quite frankly you’re about the only one on your side powerful enough to do it. You prepare to make a large scale attack into Velzix’s Realm.

After a long hard fight you manage to close the infernal portal, cutting off his troop supply. Of course after having done this, you realize you’re already deep in his territory. He’s close. Why stop there? He’ll just open it again later, and you ARE trying to kill him…

Not stopping, you assault his nearby fortress Fury. With each demon you kill they cut down ten of your undead. They make you pay for every success, to the point that you even have to conserve some of your energy to stop raising the dead to replenish your losses. You’ve expended enough as it is closing the portal, you’ll need all you have to defeat Velzix.

Eventually you reach Velzix’s inner chamber. He bellows and makes his usual threats of how he’s going to make you pay and such. It’s all so boring now. You’ve heard it all before. You don’t bother with your own remarks, because you’ve also said it all before too.

The pair of you engage in combat, casting every terrible spell imaginable and destroying portions of the fortress in the process. For years the world has suffered under the both of you, and little by little hope died. However, perhaps after this battle hope shall once again live. For the level of evil will definitely be vastly diminished after this day.

You fight with much ferocity, but at last Velzix catches you off guard and lands a crippling blow. He wastes no time in following up and after he’s done, you can even feel yourself losing grip on the hellish magics keeping you alive. However, you vow if you’re not winning neither is Velzix. You expend your last bit of power and blast Velzix in the face with a combination of negative energy and hellfire. He reels back from you and falls. You then force the tormented soul in your body to exit and enter inside Velzix and command it to wreak havoc on his internal organs out from the inside.

Velzix’s howls as his organs explode and his body is ripped apart. It’s the last thing you hear as you die a final death with a smile on your face.


Well, you probably could use the help in this matter. Smoothing this out with Velzix is going to be a delicate affair.

“Alright, I’m accepting your help.”
“Excellent.” Sesisek smiles.

Sesisek explains that even if you do manage to talk Velzix into not killing you for your actions, he’s still going to take away your hard earned victory for himself. You can’t let him do this, nor are you to get into a fight with him. Instead you must convince Velzix that you are indeed loyal and would never dream of betraying him, but that you must take a more active role in things if you are to be effective. You must remind him that if you’re doing activity, then Velzix can concentrate more on opening up the portal to back home and victory will come quicker. Finally you must always point out of how weak you are compared to the might of Velzix, remind him that you are but a lowly mortal and will always remain so when compared to a demon lord.

After advising you, Sesisek leaves you as he mentions he doesn’t want to be around if things don’t go well. He doesn’t need anymore of Velzix’s anger to spread out to him, but if you happen to be successful; he’ll definitely be around to provide more help in the future

You feel just by agreeing to this you’ve lost something of yourself. Much like when you allied with Velzix. Maybe you haven’t gone so far to sell your soul and granted you were walking the path of darkness to begin with, but the twisted taint of hell that you’ve been getting deeper into is definitely starting to change you and it’s probably not for the better.

In any case a couple days pass and Velzix arrives, he’s a little more calm than you were expecting, but he could blow up at any minute.

“So little necromancer, I hear you have been taking matters into your own hands and acquiring territory yourself. I am displeased that you have done this. The Grand Alliance has been attacking and you’ve been squandering my potential reinforcements elsewhere. What if they had succeeded in breaking through my defenses? I would’ve had no troops to support my position, and much would’ve been lost.”
“Forgive me, but I felt that with the Grand Alliance focusing their attention elsewhere, I believed an attack on the Brot Kingdom would be a good idea. And I might add, it was. The conquest was very successful.”
“Yes, but you have dodged the question of what would’ve happened had the Grand Alliance broke through my defenses?”
“I did not worry about such a thing since I knew they would be no match for a powerful demon lord such as yourself and even if they had, I’m sure you personally could’ve dealt with the few stragglers. They are only mortals after all; they would never be a match for you.”
“Obsequious words little necromancer…I have never heard any such tone from you before. You have always carried an air of arrogance about you. Tell me, is my mere presence enough to make you regret your clumsy attempts at gaining more power?”
“I fear you have misjudged me in this. I simply feel that my talents have not been used to their full degree, because you believe I shall be treacherous in the future. I have no desire to do such a thing. What would be the point? I could never hope to defeat you anyway. I only wish to be more active in your eventual conquest of this world. I have already proven to be a more competent general than Tivadol.”

Velzix laughs out loud at this last statement.

“I’m sure Tivadol will be thrilled to hear that a mortal has achieved more in military victories on this world than he has…very well. You wish to choose a more active role, so be it. It will be most amusing to see Tivadol compete with you, perhaps this will even inspire him to succeed, since as you have pointed out, he has yet to conquer an entire kingdom for me like you have…and it IS MY kingdom is it not?”
“Yes, it is.” You say with a bow.
“Hmm, yes. Well you’ve talked your way out of this one necromancer, but know that I will still be watching you. You had best prove successful in your new active role, but also remember who is in charge and who serves.”
“Of course.”

Velzix informs you that since you have taken on this role, he’ll be issuing more orders to you AND that it will be up to you to oversee larger areas of territory (Starting with the recently acquired Brot Kingdom), not just Aftermath. And if you fuck up, you’re going to get fucked up.

And with that, you have your new place in the hierarchy…

Four years pass…

It’s been five years since you made your alliance with Velzix, so far it’s proven most beneficial more or less.

You’ve managed to carve out a niche for yourself as a good general, and just in time too since Velzix has been successful in keeping infernal portals open longer which is allowing more demons to come in. While your undead troops are looking to be somewhat “obsolete” your expertise in military planning has assured you a place in this demonic empire.

You don’t lead demons though of course. They’d never allow such a thing. You lead a strange combination of undead and mortals who have decided to throw their lot in with the infernal forces. Sesisek has even provided you with a few mortals who have displayed an interest in necromancy, allowing you to not carry the weight of up keeping an undead army constantly anymore. While you haven’t completely abandoned your necromantic roots, you’ve been forced to broaden your magical horizons and tap into the infernal plane, which has allowed you to create potent unnatural abominations.

However, this type of magic is highly experimental and you’re probably the first one to even attempt it. It’s beginning to take a toll on your deteriorating health, because as they say, you don’t change hell, hell changes you. However your power is keeping you going. You haven’t lost sight that one day you’ll be in charge…

Your immediate rivals haven’t lost sight either, in fact you’ve become more of a threat. Tivadol the Destroyer constantly makes threats that he’ll one day see you crushed underneath his foot. Sinthinia is a little more interested in your relationship with Sesisek and finds the fact that you two are on too good of terms to be very suspicious. Oddly Velzix doesn’t seem worried about this though, or if he is, he hasn’t made it known to you. Indeed he’s been pre-occupied lately with finally opening up a portal permanently to his infernal home. He believes he will soon be successful.

In the meantime, the Grand Alliance has been hard pressed to hold the line, they are slowly losing ground to you and Tivadol. Heroes from all over the civilized governments have been employed, but so far they’ve have proven unsuccessful in even getting to Velzix, let alone killing him. Vampire assassins however have had a little more luck, but Sinithina’s internal security magic guards have detected them all as soon as they get near Velzix’s fortress.

You can’t say you’re too thrilled yourself with Velzix opening up a permanent portal as it could certainly make your job a lot harder of killing him in the future. Sesisek, realizes this too and has recently approached you about this.

He tells you to meet him for a plan to kill Velzix, in a couple days. While you’re in your study pondering what this could entail, you are suddenly “greeted” with Sinthinia’s presence. Unusual since she’s directly kept her distance from you ever since you conquered the Brot Kingdom. (Indirectly through her spies is another matter however) Whatever she has come to see you for probably isn’t good…or is it?

“Hmm, this place still reeks of death I see. It is much too cold in this place. Not warm like many of our other conquests. Look how hard my nipples are. Why it’s cold enough to make me almost want to put on clothes…almost.” She says touching herself in a seductive way. You’ve seen her in action before, and you’re not some weak willed fool, so this routine has little effect on you.
“Yeah, well zombies tend to be flammable and I hate the heat, so this grave chill stays. You’ll just have to deal with hard nipples.”
“How about YOU deal with them. Hm?”
“Sinthinia what do you want?”
“Besides your dick in my nice warm body? I want to see you not ruin your most promising career by siding with a loser like Sesisek. I know that the two of you have been collusion together ever since you conquered the Brot Kingdom…a most bold move might I add. Only the first of many. You are obviously a man who knows what he wants and takes it…”

At this point Sinthinia is turning on her demonic seduction and getting closer to the point of touching you. You’d be lying if it wasn’t having any effect on you.

“Yeah…well just get the point Sinthinia!”
“See? So forceful! Very well, the point. My point is Sesisek is an obsessed fool who’s time is running out. I know he’s got plans to kill me and Velzix, so far I haven’t exactly determined how he’s going to attempt it, but I know it’s coming soon. My concern is, if YOU have anything to do with such plans. It would be a shame if you did…”
“Well he hasn’t said anything to me about any specific plan.” You reply.
“Ah, careful words you chose without actually lying. You have been hanging around our kind and learning! However you will not dodge me so easily. Specific plan. Specific being the key word. I’m guessing he’s approached you about some act of treachery though and just hasn’t given you the details yet.”

You say nothing and she presses up against you while speaking into your ear so close that she nibbles on it a bit.

“I’ll take your silence as a yes. Know however that you are still not powerful enough to kill Velzix. I am very close to him just like I am very close to you right now and I can tell you with all certainty that you will not be able to defeat him. Not even with that bitter old idiot Sesisek helping you…I advise that you not go down the same path as he is.”
“Oh yeah? Well if you think we’re doing something, why not just kill us both right now?”
“It’s not how I work my necromantic cutie. Besides, I am giving you a chance to join with a better and more grateful ally in the long run. Namely me. I want you to find out what Sesisek’s plan is and then at the right time, betray him. I would be most grateful.”
“Hmm, I don’t trust you. Sesisek trusted you once and look what happened.”
“Sesisek proved to be weak and unworthy of my loyalty, but of course you don’t trust me, nor should you. Still, you think on this, I have offered to become your ally and more if you wish. I run the internal security of Velzix’s empire. Do you not think that having me as an ally would be more beneficial for your future than to stay allied with Sesisek whose plan is surely doomed to failure? I already KNOW he’s planning something. He will be punished soon, along with all that have conspired with him. Stay loyal to him and you’ll suffer his fate. Betray him, and you’ll suddenly find yourself in control of his holdings and have one less potential enemy to worry about. Not to mention you will make me very happy. So happy that I may provide favors for you that you could never dream of. So what do you say?”

Normally you’d think more about it, but Sinthinia has made a somewhat appealing offer and the fact that she’s currently shoved one of her hands down your pants and stroking your cock isn’t exactly helping you think straight either.
> You act like you do not know what she is talking about
You don’t trust her, and you’d be a fool to do so, so you play dumb.

“Sorry Sinthinia, but I don’t know what you’re talking about. I sometimes talk to Sesisek, and while he does scheme, I can assure you that I’m not part of them. I have no wish to side with a loser like him.”

Sinthinia stops the seduction routine and eyes you suspiciously. A pity since you were enjoying her fondling.

“Very well necromancer. Play your little game. I hope for your sake that you’re telling the truth, because if you aren’t, I think you’ll find that I play this game a lot better and I won’t be offering this opportunity again.”

Sinthinia walks out of your study and you dismiss her threats.

A few days pass and you meet Sesisek in the forsaken area known as the Drozz Wasteland. The barbarian tribes here still hold sway, but you need not concern yourself with such minor threats, they know enough to stay away from two dark individuals such as yourselves, and the others…

The others in question are vampires. It would appear that Sesisek has been planning more than just “normal” betrayal. The vampires eye you warily.

You’re about to speak when all of a sudden Sinthinia materializes not to far away from this meeting spot.

“Ah thank you necromancer, your help in exposing Sesisek’s collaboration with vampires will be rewarded!” she exclaims.
“YOU BETRAYED ME TO THAT BITCH!?!” Sesisek bellows
“She’s lying! I never…”

You don’t get a chance to finish your explanation before a dozen or so of Sinthinia’s personal guards also materialize and attack. You’re temporarily so distracted by this that you don’t react in time to avoid Sesisek’s blow to your head, knocking you senseless to the ground.

When you come to, you find yourself tied up and on your knees before Sinthinia while being held roughly by her guards. You’re still in the Drozz plains, but you’re not going anywhere. You can’t cast any spells with your mouth gagged and your hands bound.

“Well, I told you I could play this game better. I’m sure if he could Sesisek would agree with you.”

You look over you your left and see Sesisek lying on the ground in a bloody pitiful state and being kicked mercilessly by more of her guards.

“However, your fate shall be much kinder than the one that awaits him. After all I do have to reward you.”

Sinthinia strokes your face gently and then abruptly claws your eyes out with the same hand. This is followed by a tearing sensation in your chest. If you could still see, you would be looking directly at your heart being ripped out before you.

You fall to the ground and are left there to be eaten by passing beasts.


What’s the point of having power, if you aren’t using it in any meaningful way that can
help you? You’re sick of being “reined in”. You’re going to do what you’ve been wanting to do for a long time.

You prepare to march an army of undead to the Brot Kingdom. The demons and mortals stationed at Aftermath are wondering what’s going on though since most of them know you’re mainly used for defense.

“Where do you think yer goin’?” a demon solder steps up to ask you as you’re about to leave the city gates.
“I’m gonna go conquer the Brot Kingdom, got a problem with that?”
“Me? No, not at all. Just didn’t know Velzix let you off your leash.” The demon soldier grins.

This remark is met with a negative energy blast to his face, completely ripping the flesh off and revealing the still grinning skull underneath. As the rest of this body falls to the ground, you feel the need to make a speech to the gawking onlookers.

“I am not on anyone’s fucking leash! Nobody tells me what the do! Now what’s going to happen, is I’m going to leave and lay waste to the Brot Kingdom. The rest of you are going to defend this place while I’m gone! And when Velzix comes here, like I know he will I’LL handle it. The rest of you can cower before that fucker, but I ain’t the one.”

Having made your thoughts known, you return to your undead army, which obediently still stands only awaiting your commands. As the way things should be. The way ALL things should be.

After a few days you eventually reach the Brot Kingdom. You start by decimating the small border villages and then quickly raising the peasants you slaughtered. You’ve moved on to larger towns before the Brot military manages to start opposing you. Their military is weak though. Most of them see your horde and run in terror before the fight even begins! Those are the smart ones. The rest soon become just more fodder for you to raise. You actually feel more powerful after your conquests, which is odd given the amount of energy you’ve been expending. You can only take this as a sign of this being what you were meant for!

Within the week you’ve single handedly taken control of the Brot capitol and most of the Kingdom in general. Much of the royal family has abased themselves before you in an attempt for you to spare their lives. You laugh and grant this request, after all someone has to still run this territory. You’ve successfully subjugated your first territory. In fact, it’s the first “real” territory conquered since Velzix took over the Tulan Kingdom. Tivadol’s petty victories haven’t even compared to what you’ve done.

When you return to Aftermath, you’re half expecting to be met by Velzix, who has undoubtedly heard of your actions by now. It’s only now that you realize you may be in more trouble than you thought! However, you’re surprisingly met by Sesisek instead who sits in your study.

“This place is as dead as my status among demonkind.” He says looking at the many skeletal structures and decorations.

“It’s a fucking necropolis, I’m a necromancer, and what do you want? I figured Velzix would be here meeting me.”
“Oh he’s on his way, and from what I’ve heard, he’s quite pissed about you playing the role of conqueror. He’s just a little more preoccupied with the Grand Alliance army that’s currently attacking him directly right now, which probably explains why you met little resistance at Brot. Congratulations on your victory, I’m sure Tivadol won’t be too pleased with accomplishing something he couldn’t either.”
“Yeah, yeah, so why are you here?”
“I’m here to help you get out of this shit pit you’ve stepped in and are quickly in danger of sinking further into. You’ve showed entirely too much ambition, too soon, my mortal friend.”
“What of it? Like I’m the only one plotting against Velzix? Hah! Tivadol makes no pretense of his goals.”
“Ah yes, but you’re not taking some things into consideration. Tivadol is still a demon and you my mortal friend are not. We are not fond of ever being bested, but to be bested by a mortal is even more repugnant to us. Tivadol is also a predictable loud mouth brute who is never going to achieve his goal. Velzix knows exactly how to manipulate him. Perhaps the day will come where he’ll have to kill him, but that day is far off in the future. You on the other hand are still new and he’s still learning about you. Velzix probably thought you could be manipulated and cowed into submission by his sheer strength and magic abilities alone, but it’s apparent that you aren’t afraid of such things. I could’ve seen that though. Necromancers embrace death; fear of it won’t be a factor. Though there are worse things than death…”
“Guess you’re proof of that.” You mock.
“Hmm, your pointless barbs at me are quite unproductive and are in fact hindering you. I am offering to help you, I’d advise that you take it before you meet Velzix.”
“Offering me help huh? I seriously doubt you’re doing this out of kindness.”
“Of course not. I’m doing it because I see an opportunity for revenge and quite frankly, you are the only one that will be able to help me achieve it. However, I assure you that we will both profit greatly from this, if you listen to me. If you don’t want my help though, I shall leave.”

“Okay I’m listening, what are you suggesting?”
“Ha ha, no my mortal friend. I would be quite the fool if I told you how to handle Velzix before I got your word that you are in fact accepting my help. ARE you accepting my help?”

Sesisek looks at you expectantly.
> You refuse his help
You’re not going to be anyone’s puppet. You can handle Velzix yourself.

“Get out of here, I don’t need your help! In fact I’d say dealing with a loser like you would put me in a worse position. Go scheme elsewhere.”

Your words cause Sesisek to give you a look of mixed disapproval, disappointment and disgust. He quite obviously doesn’t like your insults, but he was also hoping that you’d help him. All he can do now is attempt to save what little pride he has and leave.

“Very well little necromancer, you think you know best, I’ll leave you to it. You’ll never be one of us though and that’s why your pitiful lifespan here will be even shorter than normal. Enjoy your victory, it will be your last.” He remarks and leaves you.

You dismiss his warnings and attempt to prepare yourself for Velzix’s visit. You come up with how you’re going to explain your actions to Velzix. A couple days pass and you hear about The Grand Alliance army breaking off their siege. Velzix will be coming soon.

Velzix arrives and you’re readying every spell and summoning you can think of. If it does go down, you’ll have to act quickly. You’re actually surprised he’s coming down here instead of summoning you to his fortress instead.

“So little necromancer, I hear you have been taking matters into your own hands and acquiring territory yourself. I am displeased that you have done this. The Grand Alliance has been attacking and you’ve been squandering my potential reinforcements elsewhere. What if they had succeeded in breaking through my defenses? I would’ve had no troops to support my position, and much would’ve been lost.”
“Well if that had happened I guess I would’ve had to take over.”

That remark wasn’t the best one you could’ve made, but you can’t contain yourself for some reason. By Velzix’s statement alone, you’re sensing weakness in him, weakness that you could take advantage of. Why should you have to explain your actions? In the meantime Velzix is barely containing his anger at your arrogance.

“Tread VERY carefully mortal! Do not presume that you are not expendable! You are NOT a demon, do not attempt to play this game in which you are ill equipped to play. You are under MY command! Normally I would kill you for your insolence, but your recent victory has been a great one from what reports I have heard. However, it is MY territory! Not yours! Do not think that you are going to build up some power base to betray me later, because that is not going to happen if you value your existence! So you better just put such thoughts out of your mind right now and fall in line!”

Velzix hasn’t raised his voice too much, but there is definitely a very real threat there. The temperature of the room is much hotter as you can feel the heat from his body rise with his anger.

If you’re going to make a move, you better do it now.
> You kill Velzix
You make the first move…

A huge battle ensues, you summon up shadows and wraiths to your aid while Velzix attempts to rip you limb from limb. Soon the others in Aftermath are drawn into the fight as well, most of the demons side with Velzix, the mortal troops tend to just get out of the way, while your undead are loyal as always.

This battle causes damage to Aftermath not seen since the Dark Order attempted to take it over. You certainly have the upper and hand, and Velzix realizes that you’re more powerful than he thought, but unfortunately for you, he manages to get away.

“LITTLE MORTAL YOU HAVE NOT WON THIS DAY! YOU WILL SOON COME TO BEG FOR DEATH WHEN I HAVE YOUR BROKEN FUCKING BODY BROUGHT BEFORE ME IN CHAINS!” he bellows before flying away.

You’re left with a city in shambles, but at last free of any ideas of servitude, as well as a large portion of territory yourself. You now have some breathing room. Of course you now have more enemies, but you’re confident that you’ll be able to handle the troubles ahead.

Four years pass…

Five years have passed since you took control of Aftermath, and now that’s coming to an end.

After your treachery against Velzix, he was so consumed with rage over it that he ordered constant attacks on you even at the expense of his own defenses. This not only weakened your position, but his as well, allowing the Grand Alliance army to break through and retake the Tulan Kingdom. Velzix and his cohorts were all slain. After this occurred, most of the demons fled into the wilderness only to be hunted down and killed. A few even ran to you, you accepted them since you needed all the help you could get at that point.

After taking care of Velzix, The Grand Alliance wasted no time in attacking you. You tried to maintain your holdings, but ultimately you lost your grip on the Brot Kingdom, when the royal family there once again switched alliances (Though to no avail as the Grand Alliance took them all into custody and had them executed for treason) Soon you were just left with Aftermath. When the Grand Alliance wasn’t trying to break down the gates, you had vampire assassins attempting to kill you.

In fact right now, you are dying from several deep blade wounds from their latest attack. The last bastard must’ve used some sort of assassin’s blade that doesn’t allow you to heal, because you’re bleeding out like a hemophiliac. Oh well, at least you killed him.

The Grand Alliance is also outside. Damn vampires probably set this up so you really wouldn’t be able to escape. Funny that you worried about Velzix and his crew killing you for so long, and it was some bloodsuckers that got you.

Things are getting dark now; you can hear Grand Alliance troops breaking down your fortress door. Well they’ll never take you alive that’s for sure.

You wonder exactly what went wrong and if you could’ve done things differently. You curse your lack of proper planning and regret your choices as they have ultimately lead you to ruin.

You lie on the floor, you see armored troops stand around you; one of them is your sister. She looks at you sternly with her sword at your throat, which is pretty pointless considering that you’re obviously near death already. Looks like she has a higher rank than you last remember. Good for her, at least one of you made something of your lives.

“…congrat…on your…promotion…” are your last words before she finishes you off.


You’re not going to be anyone’s puppet. You can handle Velzix yourself.

“Get out of here, I don’t need your help! In fact I’d say dealing with a loser like you would put me in a worse position. Go scheme elsewhere.”

Your words cause Sesisek to give you a look of mixed disapproval, disappointment and disgust. He quite obviously doesn’t like your insults, but he was also hoping that you’d help him. All he can do now is attempt to save what little pride he has and leave.

“Very well little necromancer, you think you know best, I’ll leave you to it. You’ll never be one of us though and that’s why your pitiful lifespan here will be even shorter than normal. Enjoy your victory, it will be your last.” He remarks and leaves you.

You dismiss his warnings and attempt to prepare yourself for Velzix’s visit. You come up with how you’re going to explain your actions to Velzix. A couple days pass and you hear about The Grand Alliance army breaking off their siege. Velzix will be coming soon.

Velzix arrives and you’re readying every spell and summoning you can think of. If it does go down, you’ll have to act quickly. You’re actually surprised he’s coming down here instead of summoning you to his fortress instead.

“So little necromancer, I hear you have been taking matters into your own hands and acquiring territory yourself. I am displeased that you have done this. The Grand Alliance has been attacking and you’ve been squandering my potential reinforcements elsewhere. What if they had succeeded in breaking through my defenses? I would’ve had no troops to support my position, and much would’ve been lost.”
“Well if that had happened I guess I would’ve had to take over.”

That remark wasn’t the best one you could’ve made, but you can’t contain yourself for some reason. By Velzix’s statement alone, you’re sensing weakness in him, weakness that you could take advantage of. Why should you have to explain your actions? In the meantime Velzix is barely containing his anger at your arrogance.

“Tread VERY carefully mortal! Do not presume that you are not expendable! You are NOT a demon, do not attempt to play this game in which you are ill equipped to play. You are under MY command! Normally I would kill you for your insolence, but your recent victory has been a great one from what reports I have heard. However, it is MY territory! Not yours! Do not think that you are going to build up some power base to betray me later, because that is not going to happen if you value your existence! So you better just put such thoughts out of your mind right now and fall in line!”

Velzix hasn’t raised his voice too much, but there is definitely a very real threat there. The temperature of the room is much hotter as you can feel the heat from his body rise with his anger.

If you’re going to make a move, you better do it now.
> You capitulate to him
As much as your desire is there to kill Velzix, your caution overtakes you. You do exactly what Velzix requests.

“…the territory is yours …I have no control over it.” You say and even make a little bow. You feel disgusted with yourself for even doing that, but Velzix is quite pleased. He’s broken you a little.

“Yes it is, and I’m glad to see you’ve gotten with the program. The less pride one has, the more likely one is to survive and in the end, that’s what it’s all about. Now, we shall never have another incident like this again I trust?”
“…no…”
“Good, now I think the best place for you, would be directly by my side where you can be more useful.”
“What?!”
“Sure, I could shore up my defenses in the heart of my realm, and place more elite troops on the front lines. Plus I think it would be a good idea to keep a closer eye on you. Just to make sure you don’t forget your place.”

Meekishly, you travel back with Velzix and become a permanent fixture in his fortress Fury. You really hate it there as you’re watched constantly; it’s unbearably hot all the time and have to put up with more demons than you did in Aftermath. Predictably they’re all hostile towards you, “loyal” to Velzix and set your zombies on fire for laughs regularly.

Four years pass…

It’s been five years since you made your alliance with Velzix and you fucking hate it even more than ever.

While you’ve managed to still carve out a niche for yourself, your position is increasingly becoming in danger of being obsolete. Velzix has been successful in keeping infernal portals open longer which is allowing more demons to come in. The Grand Alliance has been hard pressed to hold the line and it seems like more and more mortals each day are willing to bend before demonic might.

Your undead troops aren’t even necessary for defense too much anymore. Because of this you’ve been forced to broaden your magical horizons and tap into the infernal plane. It’s only due to the fact that you’ve been delving into darker necromantic magic and fusing it with infernal powers to create potent unnatural abominations that you’re still serving your purpose.

However, this type of magic is highly experimental and you’re probably the first one to even attempt it. It’s beginning to take a toll on your rapidly deteriorating health, because as they say, you don’t change hell, hell changes you. Everyday you’re in pain and probably losing what little of your black soul you have left. If this keeps up, you won’t be around long enough to see Velzix achieve his goal of opening up his permanent portal which looks like is might be soon.

You haven’t heard anything of your family, except you know that your sister is a captain of a Grand Alliance army and your Dad’s mercenary company has been hired to launch on going raids to harass and hinder Velzix’s efforts. Your Mom is probably saddened by your actions.

You’re just another mortal submitting to demonic supremacy. It’s a long way from what you originally envisioned for yourself and it’s probably too late for you to do anything about it now…or is it?

Recent reports have spoken of another assassination plan on Velzix. It’s known that the vampires have been sending their own, but haven’t gotten anywhere close to him. A few “heroes” from the civilized governments have been sent as well, but none of them have been successful either.

However, if you could locate one of these groups and try to help them get to Velzix, maybe you could at least get some sort of satisfaction. You don’t really have anything else to lose at this point.
> You help one of these assassin groups
You failed to kill Velzix when you had the chance five years ago when this alliance was being proposed, then again four years ago after you conquered Brot, maybe you can make for lost time. And as they say, third time’s a charm.

You have no idea how you’re going to accomplish this though, it’s not like you have some sort of contacts then it hits you; why not go see Sesisek? You know he’s still harboring desires of revenge and he’s supposed to be returning to Fury soon

You wait a week attempting to plan for this proposal, but you know its really going to come down to “Hey Sesisek, I’m going to kill Velzix, do you want to help or not?” In fact that’s exactly what happens, when you catch him in an empty hallway. He looks at you with a smirk on his face. You almost expect him to think that you’re setting him up, but he can tell by your pitiful state that you’re speaking the truth.

“Sooo, finally wised up eh? You know, you wouldn’t be in this condition had you taken my help four years ago. I dunno. I’ve got my own plans, why should I involve you in them?”
“Because I do still have power. Power that can help you take out Velzix and regain respect among your own kind. You’re talking to a desperate man here, I don’t even care if I die at this point, I just need to get my own revenge on Velzix.”
“You and multitudes of others. You’re not special. However, you are desperate. And you are powerful. Dangerous combination. Very well, I’ll talk with you further, but let’s go some place less likely to be listened in on.”

You and Sesisek speak in your study. He is very open about his plan to you and explains that he has been in contact with Lord Rostov and working out a deal with the Vampire Clans that will be beneficial to him. This deal could be extended to you as well, provided you are helpful enough. Another group of vampire assassins have managed to make their way into the heart of Velzix’s Realm, but if they are to strike they need to do it now, before Sinthinia’s internal security forces sniff them out once again. Sesisek’s job was to sneak them into Fury without too much opposition, given that you’re in on this plan now, you could do a better job since your necromantic magic could mask the vampire assassins’ movements. He mentions he will set up the plan and while you and the bloodsuckers are heading to Velzix’s chamber, Sesisek says he will be dealing with Sinthinia personally. It will also provide a diversion.

A day passes and you’re preparing yourself for the battle of your life. You memorize every powerful spell you can think of and strengthen up your undead minions. When this goes down there is no turning back, so you’re just going to order all of them to attack the moment Sesisek’s attack on Sinthinia becomes known and an alarm is raised. Hopefully the added chaos will help.

Another day passes and Sesisek sees you fairly early in the morning. He mentions that the assassins will meet you by the dead forest nearby when darkness falls. He hopes you’ve prepared yourself, because it was very hard to convince them in this change of plans.

When darkness comes, you take a few of your hellish undead abominations with you and make your way to the dead forest. Once fairy folk and the like frolicked here, now it’s just a group of desiccated tree husks waiting to be taken away to build more war machines. Your powers in necromancy aren’t quite as pure as they used to be thanks to the tainting of hellish magics, but you can still sense the assassins are close by. You aren’t taken by surprised when they materialize around you. Indeed you have your abominations to act if they try anything.

“So, you’re Velzix’s little necromancer eh? You don’t look like much.” One of them says.
“Maybe, but you ain’t getting in that fortress without me. You think Sesisek could’ve snuck you in? Please. The moment you entered, you would’ve been detected. Sinthinia’s got magic detection up the ass in that place. Fortunately I can mask your presence, just make sure you all stay invisible until the right time.”
“Don’t worry about us, you just hold up your end and get us to Velzix, necromancer.”

You make your trek back to Fury, without incident with your hidden friends in tow. You take a deep breath before entering the gates where upon you half expect the demon guards to stop you, but nothing happens. You’ve succeeded. Your next move is to get as quickly as possible to Velzix’s inner chambers.

You don’t get far when an alarm is raised, you think it’s for you at first, but you soon realize its Sesisek doing his part. You hope it’s enough of a distraction, but if it isn’t…

You mentally call out to your undead minions to attack anything living.

“Come on! Secrecy is over! We gotta haul ass to Velzix!” you exclaim.

While chaos is reigning in the fortress, you and the vampires easily dispatch those that would attempt to stop you. When you get to Velzix’s inner chambers where he’s attempting to open up a portal to get reinforcements.

“Treachery! I expected this from Sesisek, but I thought you learned your place! No matter, you will learn pain instead, and your blood leech buddies won’t be able to help you either!”

Velzix’s portal opens and a swarm of demons come pouring out. The vampire assassins waste no time and begin their work with deadly efficiency. Your abominations have less finesse, but they get the job done.

Velzix unleashes horrible infernal magic that causes a couple of the assassins to liquefy. You’re just trying to stay out of the way of most of the fighting and attempting to keep a control over your troops, but you soon realize you’re going to have to play a direct role in his death and unleash your own negative energy bolts at Velzix.

The battle is brutal, and dead bodies soon litter the chamber. You’ve suffered a mortal wound, but it hardly matters now. Deep down you didn’t expect to survive this. Velzix isn’t either though. Sesisek arrives just in time to slam an axe in his back while he was finishing off the last vampire assassin.

Velzix roars in pain, but falls to the floor where upon Sesisek pulls out a second weapon, a sword and severs his head from his body.

It’s done. Velzix is dead and you don’t feel too much different. You’re still dying and you’re not hopeful that Sesisek is going to help you out.

“Ha ha! Vengence is mine! Velzix and that bitch are both dead!” he yells in triumph
“Uh huh, great…”
“Yes…well it looks like you’re hurt pretty badly there. I don’t think I can do anything for you. In fact I need to make my escape. I think you’ll understand if leave you here. After all you would only slow me up and I may have lied about my deal being extended to you anyway.”
“…yeah…I sorta figure that…” you say holding on to your bleeding side.
“Besides, you got your revenge and that is what you wanted right? I can honestly say though I couldn’t have done it without you.”
“I can honestly say something too…I’m still nobody’s puppet.”

You hit Sesisek in the face with a negative energy blast. He screams as it strikes his eyes. He collapses on the floor blindly reaching for a weapon yelling about how he’s going to kill you. You smile though as more demons come to the inner chamber and butcher Sesisek while he’s on all fours like some sightless dog.

You then give way to the release of blessed death.


As much as your desire is there to kill Velzix, your caution overtakes you. You do exactly what Velzix requests.

“…the territory is yours …I have no control over it.” You say and even make a little bow. You feel disgusted with yourself for even doing that, but Velzix is quite pleased. He’s broken you a little.

“Yes it is, and I’m glad to see you’ve gotten with the program. The less pride one has, the more likely one is to survive and in the end, that’s what it’s all about. Now, we shall never have another incident like this again I trust?”
“…no…”
“Good, now I think the best place for you, would be directly by my side where you can be more useful.”
“What?!”
“Sure, I could shore up my defenses in the heart of my realm, and place more elite troops on the front lines. Plus I think it would be a good idea to keep a closer eye on you. Just to make sure you don’t forget your place.”

Meekishly, you travel back with Velzix and become a permanent fixture in his fortress Fury. You really hate it there as you’re watched constantly; it’s unbearably hot all the time and have to put up with more demons than you did in Aftermath. Predictably they’re all hostile towards you, “loyal” to Velzix and set your zombies on fire for laughs regularly.

Four years pass…

It’s been five years since you made your alliance with Velzix and you fucking hate it even more than ever.

While you’ve managed to still carve out a niche for yourself, your position is increasingly becoming in danger of being obsolete. Velzix has been successful in keeping infernal portals open longer which is allowing more demons to come in. The Grand Alliance has been hard pressed to hold the line and it seems like more and more mortals each day are willing to bend before demonic might.

Your undead troops aren’t even necessary for defense too much anymore. Because of this you’ve been forced to broaden your magical horizons and tap into the infernal plane. It’s only due to the fact that you’ve been delving into darker necromantic magic and fusing it with infernal powers to create potent unnatural abominations that you’re still serving your purpose.

However, this type of magic is highly experimental and you’re probably the first one to even attempt it. It’s beginning to take a toll on your rapidly deteriorating health, because as they say, you don’t change hell, hell changes you. Everyday you’re in pain and probably losing what little of your black soul you have left. If this keeps up, you won’t be around long enough to see Velzix achieve his goal of opening up his permanent portal which looks like is might be soon.

You haven’t heard anything of your family, except you know that your sister is a captain of a Grand Alliance army and your Dad’s mercenary company has been hired to launch on going raids to harass and hinder Velzix’s efforts. Your Mom is probably saddened by your actions.

You’re just another mortal submitting to demonic supremacy. It’s a long way from what you originally envisioned for yourself and it’s probably too late for you to do anything about it now…or is it?

Recent reports have spoken of another assassination plan on Velzix. It’s known that the vampires have been sending their own, but haven’t gotten anywhere close to him. A few “heroes” from the civilized governments have been sent as well, but none of them have been successful either.

However, if you could locate one of these groups and try to help them get to Velzix, maybe you could at least get some sort of satisfaction. You don’t really have anything else to lose at this point.
> You continue doing what you are doing
You’ve given up on hope or anything else a long time ago. Even if you could contact one of these groups, Sinthinia would probably sniff out the attempt due to her constant internal security measures, and you’re being watched a lot anyway.

Nope, you’ve resigned yourself to a fate of subservience.

Five years pass…

Ten years have passed since your deal with Velzix, and you’ve lived long enough just in time to see the world being slowly turned into a demon’s playground due to him finally opening up a permanent portal to his infernal realm. Already he preparing to use the resources and conquests of this world to attack other demon lords in his home plane.

You won’t be alive for too much longer though. You’re no longer necessary to Velzix for one thing, and the second is that your hellish dealings have finally become fatal; even now death is very near. The only thing that’s kept you going this long is your unnatural ties to necromancy that have steadily grown weaker over the years. You can only wonder what might’ve been had you been allowed to let them grow to full bloom. You think back to when you conquered the Brot Kingdom by yourself. Ah, that was a good time. There was purity in the death you caused there. Since then you’ve seen much more death, but rarely have you had any hand in it yourself.

Your Dad died during an attempted raid on Velzix’s fortress. Sinthinia had her guards butcher him and his company before he even managed to sneak inside.

Sesisek was killed when it was discovered he had come to an “arrangement” with the vampire clans and was collaborating with them in an assassination attempt. During his last pain filled moments he revealed their location and Lord Rostov and his vampire clan were slain in their secret fortress by Velzix himself

Not long ago the capitol of the Zalan Empire was razed to the ground by Tivadol the Destroyer. A place you once called home. You heard your sister died attempting to defend it. You can only assume your Mom died during the attack as well. The Grand Alliance has been broken, all that remains now are pocket of resistance that do little to stop the demonic onslaught. At this point most mortals find death a more promising outcome as it is surely a more merciful release to the torments that the demons bring. You wish you could grant it to them.

You regret you set out on this dark path. It’s brought you nothing but fucking misery and you didn’t even get what you wanted. Well you might not have lived how you wanted, but you sure can choose to die like you want.

You order a few of your skeletal guards to end your suffering. The pain wracking your body has become too great and you’re not going to wait around for it or demons to kill you.

Following your last orders your skeletal guards strike you down with their swords. Their work is efficient and swift. You fall to the floor and soon your minions of death join you.


Chapter 3: One Foot in Hell

One year has passed…

It’s been one year since you made an alliance with Velzix, and so far it has paid off. With your combined might, you both have successfully held off the Grand Alliance. You haven’t gained too much ground, but that’s looking like it’s about to change.

Everyday Velzix has somehow been managing to attract “free demons” from other nations to join him, though its not as if they have too many other options as mere suspicion has turned into hatred and they are to be rounded up and killed as possible enemies. Though again, thanks to mortal failings and greed, there are those few nations that are still letting their small demonic populations run free. Not surprisingly Velzix has been attempting to convince the leaders of these governments into joining him in exchange for even greater power. Velzix has also been attempting to open portals to his own infernal realm on a permanent basis. Right now he can summon in a few reinforcements to replace battle losses, but nothing on a major scale.

As for you, things could be worse, but they could be better. All your potential “acolytes” reverted back to being demonologist when the merge came, though many of them were purged by Velzix himself, as he still remembered their attempts to imprison him before during their days in the Dark Order, not to mention if they were so quick to change allegiances so quickly, then they obviously weren’t to be trusted.

Your magic powers in other branches of magic have somewhat improved, though this might be due your infernal dealings. Necromancy is still your area of expertise obviously and as it stands, you’re the only true necromancer allied with Velzix. You sort of hold a unique position, but you question its importance in the scheme of things. You’ve been basically put on defense duty. Your undead troops are nothing more than meat shields for the most part, and while that is what they are there for, you’d rather they be YOUR meat shields than some asshole demons, (or worse mortals). You feel like your talents are being wasted to a degree, like you’ve got a lot of untapped potential that’s dying to get out.

However, open rebellion against Velzix isn’t likely to happen, but there’s nothing stopping you from setting the stage. You still have Aftermath under your control, even if you do have to put up with the demons and mortals stationed there now. One night in your study while you’re contemplating how to go about all this, you figure there are two ways.

You’ve actually got a lot of troops at your immediate disposal. You believe you could probably take over the nearby Brot Kingdom by yourself without any help. They have a weak military and most of the Grand Alliance armies are busy elsewhere. You could build up a bigger power base. You might piss off Velzix by doing this by yourself, but you could take the chance that he might over look it if you’re successful as it’s also increasing his own territory.

The other option is to remain doing what you’re doing and engage in a more secret assassination conspiracy against Velzix. You already know that tons of others are probably doing it, why not you? The problem is, individually most of you are fairly weak against him; though together you’d be more successful. Of course getting a bunch of demonic assassinating liars to trust one another is probably even more difficult than the attempt itself.
> You engage in conspiracy
You decide that military conquest would be too risky and would draw too much attention to your desires for power. You need to be sneakier about it.

After thinking on it, you decide to go for Sinthinia. She’s in the best position to help you, so you send a message telling her that you need to see her since it’s an important matter vital to security.

A few days later she arrives in Aftermath with a small group of guards. Of course the pair of you talk in your study in private. Her attitude is one of interest and playfulness.

“Brrr, it’s really cold in this place. It’s not nice and warm like in other parts of Velzix’s Realm. See how hard my nipples are?”
“Yes, I see. Perhaps I can warm you up after we discuss business.”
“Mmmm, I like the sound of that, but only if this business is worth my time. So what is this security matter?”
“Assassination.”
“On who?”
“On Velzix.”
“Well it was bound to happen eventually, though I’m surprised I haven’t heard about this yet. Who is planning it and how did you come across this information?”

You take a deep breath.

“I came across this information quite easily because it’s me.”

Sinthinia is silent for a moment before giving a little chuckle.

“Ha ha, very funny.”
“I’m serious.”
“I know and that’s why I find it funny. You do not have the means.”
“I know that’s why I’m proposing an alliance between us to set Velzix up.”
“I see…and you believed that I would just go along with this?”
“Well it’s a gamble. But I KNOW you truly have no loyalty to Velzix, surely you must already be plotting against him.”
“And even if I was doing such a thing…hypothetically speaking of course. I fail to see why I’d need your help to do so.”
“Because somewhere deep down Velzix fears me, I know it. He wants me as an underling to take advantage of my powers. But he doesn’t allow me to do too much since he wants to keep me weak and have an eye on me. I have more power than he’s willing to admit and if I unleashed it completely on him, he’d be hurting. I dare say I might be able to kill him. I just can’t fight all of his minions obviously. I would need your help.”

Once again Sinthinia is silent for a moment before speaking.

“…I must say you have always intrigued me mortal. You do have a lot of desire in you to come to me like this with such a plan, knowing that I could turn you in and have Velzix deal with you…fortunately for you I have no such plan.” Sinthinia says and begins to get closer to you. Her movements begin to grind up against you.

“So tell me, do you really feel you have that much power?” she asks.
“Yes.”
“More power than Velzix?”
“Yes.”
“Then show me lover.” She says and the pair of you fall to the floor in a zealous embrace.

While you’re enjoying Sinthinia’s sexual skills, she begins to get more aggressive. In fact she begins to get abusive. You tell her to stop, but at this point she’s transformed into something a lot less appealing, and you’re lying underneath her helpless as she pins your arms down and begins sucking out your life force.

“Yes, mortal you DID have much power within you. It will certainly come in handy for Velzix’s eventual overthrow.” She growls and you become nothing more than an empty husk.


Chapter 3: One Foot in Hell

One year has passed…

It’s been one year since you made an alliance with Velzix, and so far it has paid off. With your combined might, you both have successfully held off the Grand Alliance. You haven’t gained too much ground, but that’s looking like it’s about to change.

Everyday Velzix has somehow been managing to attract “free demons” from other nations to join him, though its not as if they have too many other options as mere suspicion has turned into hatred and they are to be rounded up and killed as possible enemies. Though again, thanks to mortal failings and greed, there are those few nations that are still letting their small demonic populations run free. Not surprisingly Velzix has been attempting to convince the leaders of these governments into joining him in exchange for even greater power. Velzix has also been attempting to open portals to his own infernal realm on a permanent basis. Right now he can summon in a few reinforcements to replace battle losses, but nothing on a major scale.

As for you, things could be worse, but they could be better. All your potential “acolytes” reverted back to being demonologist when the merge came, though many of them were purged by Velzix himself, as he still remembered their attempts to imprison him before during their days in the Dark Order, not to mention if they were so quick to change allegiances so quickly, then they obviously weren’t to be trusted.

Your magic powers in other branches of magic have somewhat improved, though this might be due your infernal dealings. Necromancy is still your area of expertise obviously and as it stands, you’re the only true necromancer allied with Velzix. You sort of hold a unique position, but you question its importance in the scheme of things. You’ve been basically put on defense duty. Your undead troops are nothing more than meat shields for the most part, and while that is what they are there for, you’d rather they be YOUR meat shields than some asshole demons, (or worse mortals). You feel like your talents are being wasted to a degree, like you’ve got a lot of untapped potential that’s dying to get out.

However, open rebellion against Velzix isn’t likely to happen, but there’s nothing stopping you from setting the stage. You still have Aftermath under your control, even if you do have to put up with the demons and mortals stationed there now. One night in your study while you’re contemplating how to go about all this, you figure there are two ways.

You’ve actually got a lot of troops at your immediate disposal. You believe you could probably take over the nearby Brot Kingdom by yourself without any help. They have a weak military and most of the Grand Alliance armies are busy elsewhere. You could build up a bigger power base. You might piss off Velzix by doing this by yourself, but you could take the chance that he might over look it if you’re successful as it’s also increasing his own territory.

The other option is to remain doing what you’re doing and engage in a more secret assassination conspiracy against Velzix. You already know that tons of others are probably doing it, why not you? The problem is, individually most of you are fairly weak against him; though together you’d be more successful. Of course getting a bunch of demonic assassinating liars to trust one another is probably even more difficult than the attempt itself.
> You well maybe you should check up on all the players first (Background info)
You nearly laugh at the idea that you have any “allies”. A more appropriate designation would be “The folks who are currently on your side because it’s advantageous at the moment”. Velzix doesn’t trust any of them either despite the fact that they all knew and worked with each other in the infernal plane. (Actually he doesn’t trust any them BECAUSE of the fact that they all knew and worked with each other!) Given that fact, you probably shouldn’t either.

Oddly, you don’t worry about your enemies as much as you do your allies, mainly because at least you know where you stand with them!
> You velzix and Sinthinia
Your “boss” is the currently the undisputed Lord of “Velzix’s Realm”. Not a very imaginative designation, but true none the less. He rules from his huge fortress called Fury which is the “capitol” of his Realm. He was something of a greater power in his own infernal plane once, but apparently lost most of it as power is often fleeting in such a place of constant struggle.

Still, he refused to give up and was in the long slow process of rebuilding his status until the Dark Order summoned and bound him to your world. He was angry at first, which of course is natural for any demon (or anyone in captivity really) but soon he recognized this as an opportunity. A whole world he could take over and use to increase his own power. A place he could be complete master over after he made it more like home of course. He is making sure to make this plan becomes a reality.

Besides being very intelligent and strong, he’s also quite charismatic for a demon, which accounts for why he’s managed to unite his brethren more successfully than most. Though of course in-fighting still occurs, it’s kept in check for the most part.

Velzix is definitely aware that most of his followers are secretly planning his downfall, he expects it in fact. After all it’s a way of life where he comes from. He considers part of the challenge is to keep everyone slightly at odds with everyone else so they can’t unite against him. (Which is exactly what happened in his own plane)

His attitude towards you is uncharacteristically one of respect. You might even say he treats you equal to his other high ranking demons rather than a mortal. (Though given how he treats his fellow demons that’s not saying much) Most other mortals that serve him have sold their souls for power and slavishly worship him or are serving mainly out of fear whereas you have chosen to serve out of ruthless pragmatism and in some ways still follow your own path.

Though following your own path to the point where it’s interfering with his own, would be quite detrimental to your…alliance.

Sinthinia is a succubus, she is sometimes Velzix’s “consort”, but such things as fidelity are not a trait known to demons, let alone a succubus. Officially she’s supposed to be in charge of internal security, but occasionally she undertakes a few “diplomatic” missions in an attempt to corrupt weak minded mortals who could be of use.

Velzix enjoys her company, but knows to ultimately to keep her at arms length lest he find himself dead. Tivadol the Destroyer desires her greatly, but of course out of spite, she pays him no attention other than scorn and disinterest. Sesisek and her have had some “encounters”, but such encounters are in the past as it seems due to her actions, Sesisek’s position was demoted and she took his place. He dislikes her intensely and hopes to get revenge on her one day. She finds this to be incredibly hilarious.

As with most of her kind she’s a wily one and uses her sex appeal as weapon whenever possible. This sometimes leads her to be playful, especially with mortals who often know no better until the last fatal moment. Though she’s quite capable of being brutally sadistic when she desires (Often at that last fatal moment). This playfulness has extended towards you sometimes, though her feelings towards you are a bit more of fascination rather than seduction. She has often said that for a moral you’re one of the more “interesting” ones, but due to your dedication to necromancy she finds your line of work to be “unfun”. This is likely due to the fact that she is a creature that exploits and thrives off of emotions and feelings. The dead don’t have such weaknesses; therefore the dead are no fun.

However as you are still alive, she perhaps thinks that you may be a little fun…


You nearly laugh at the idea that you have any “allies”. A more appropriate designation would be “The folks who are currently on your side because it’s advantageous at the moment”. Velzix doesn’t trust any of them either despite the fact that they all knew and worked with each other in the infernal plane. (Actually he doesn’t trust any them BECAUSE of the fact that they all knew and worked with each other!) Given that fact, you probably shouldn’t either.

Oddly, you don’t worry about your enemies as much as you do your allies, mainly because at least you know where you stand with them!
> You tivadol and Sesisek
Tivadol is a typical “rank and file” demon. Brutal, violent, sadistic, full of hate, and wants everything his way and decides the best way of getting it is to smash somebody over the head and take it. The only thing that makes him slightly different is he’s a bit more intelligent and has a burning desire to be in charge of everything. This is what makes him a good general.

It’s also what makes him a threat to Velzix. Tivadol barely contains the fact that he wants to take over Velzix’s position one day. This attitude is probably why he’s put on the frontlines and leading the most dangerous attacks. If he wins Velzix gains more territory, if he dies, then that’s good too!

Tivadol knows this of course and decided that he shall gain more respect in displaying that he’s a battlefield general rather than an armchair one. Then when the time is right, he’ll take Velzix’s throne by storm. A simple and short sighted plan. One that will probably not come to pass as Velzix is too intelligent to be overthrown by a straightforward coup. Tivadol might be successful if he employed a little subterfuge, but he doesn’t have the patience for it. This is another reason why Tivadol wants Sinthinia on his side (Besides her obvious physical qualities of course) since she could take care of such things. So far he’s been unsuccessful in convincing her.

He doesn’t respect Sesisek (Considers him to be a fool who allowed himself to lose his status and never liked him to begin with) and respects you even less. As you are a mortal, he doesn’t even know why Velzix deals with you and sees this as a weakness in him. The fact that you have great power of the dead doesn’t impress him. He just sees you as another weak mortal that will have to be crushed when he takes power sooner or later.

And if he gets his way, sooner.

Sesisek is a very very bitter demon. He’s been assigned a position that he doesn’t want, he’s not liked and barely respected. And worse he can’t do too much about it right now.

At one time he was Velzix’s left hand demon. (Right hand would be inappropriate here) He had spies everywhere and dealt in secrets, blackmail and assassination. He made sure he didn’t have to answer to anyone except Velzix, and if things had gone as planned he wouldn’t have had to answer to him for too much longer either.

However a succubus called Sinthinia came along and fucked up everything for him. All his plotting, planning, and doubling dealings all came to be meaningless thanks to her actions. He had no more clout after what happened, and to add further insult Velzix allowed him to live and do menial humiliating jobs. However, Sesisek’s time in the infernal plane most likely still would’ve been a short one as other demons would’ve taken revenge for his past dealings; the only thing that saved him was the Dark Order summoning to your world. As a result he was given a slight reprieve and he’s even gained some of his status back since Velzix does know him to be competent and the fact that Velzix needs all the help he can get right now to get a strong foothold on your world.

He’s been given a military position to keep him out of the way and preoccupied (Much like Tivadol) but due to his brethren’s intense lack of respect of him, he’s only leading mortal troops. He can’t stand mortals and could care less if they die by the thousands, he dislikes being a military leader, (He preferred the subtle approach to power) and on top of all this his mind is constantly plagued by thoughts of revenge. All of this means his success on the battlefield is mediocre at best. He does a good enough job to make it appear like he’s still useful.

He hates Sinthinia for betraying him, but even more for the fact that she was so successful at it. He hates Velzix for continuing to humiliate him. He finds Tivadol to be an idiotic brute who doesn’t know shit about real power. As for you, he doesn’t particularly care about you at all, except he doesn’t find you to be a threat since you’re a mortal. He recognizes you do have some power about you and along with being on direct speaking terms with Velzix, you speak to Sinthinia on occasion as well. He probably figures that maybe he can use you in some sort of mad plan for revenge.

It’s all that drives him at point.


You nearly laugh at the idea that you have any “allies”. A more appropriate designation would be “The folks who are currently on your side because it’s advantageous at the moment”. Velzix doesn’t trust any of them either despite the fact that they all knew and worked with each other in the infernal plane. (Actually he doesn’t trust any them BECAUSE of the fact that they all knew and worked with each other!) Given that fact, you probably shouldn’t either.

Oddly, you don’t worry about your enemies as much as you do your allies, mainly because at least you know where you stand with them!
> The Grand Alliance and The Vampire Clans
The self-professed “good guys” are made up of several civilized governments. The Zalan Empire (Your former home and where your family lives) is one of the main members of the Grand Alliance. Several races belong, each one bringing their unique skills to the mix. It’s quite possible to see the clockwork automatons of the Dwarven Union fighting side by side with the silent monks of Elin.

This arrangement only arises during times of great crisis such as the one you caused. Given that most living creatures have basic need to not want to die or become a walking rotting corpse (Or a slave to demons) the chances of you convincing them to leave you alone is extremely unlikely especially since Velzix has no intention on doing it anyway.

Most of your knowledge of them comes from the Ex-Dark Order demonologists who knew of Mr. Demar’s dealings with them. Apparently their relationship wasn’t a good one though when talks of a possible alliance failed and one of their delegates was killed by Trelik.

The Vampire Clans from what you know live in a fortress run by Lord Rostov. This fortress’ location is unknown and hidden by powerful magic. It is there where those few remaining vampires that have kept their faculties stay. (As opposed to the near mindless ones that lurk in holes in the wilderness)

While groups of vampires may have been involved in their own political intrigues and agendas in the past, the term Vampire Clans now is somewhat of a misnomer since Lord Rostov has a firm command over the remaining vampires. It’s basically a dictatorship more than a “council” where they all sit around discussing things. The term Clans is probably kept to just hold on to the illusion of former glory of freedom rather than the reality that they’re all hiding in a secret fortress ruled by a tyrant.

Despite their reduced power, they still can affect mortal affairs. Currently they are no doubt affecting these affairs to hinder you and Velzix. The death of their delegate pissed them off pretty severely, not to mention they don’t agree with “high profile” necromancy. And they really don’t want demons running around all over the place. All of these things disrupt the status quo and their way of life. This is unacceptable to them.

Velzix received a letter by bat from them recently saying that his actions will not go unopposed by the Clans and that his days on this world are numbered. He of course laughed at this threat and ate the bat.


While these Dark Orderites haven’t completely impressed you, you remember that Serena mentioned you would need allies and they could serve that purpose. From what you can tell, you’re a better necromancer than the rest of them and this city would be an excellent beginning of your career especially since you don’t have any better ideas in mind. You know that even if this event plays out well for you, you’re going to have a whole shit load of trouble ahead of you so you better get a few people on your side now even if they need to be “disposed” of later…

“Alright, I’ll help out, but I’m not doing this for you or following your orders, I have my own agenda!” you say flat out to Sebastian.

Before you leave Catalina speaks to you.

“So, come a long way from Enchantment class huh?” she says.
“…I thought I recognized you…and yeah I have. I finally found a branch of magic I’m really good at.” You say finally realizing who she is.
“Just remember, as good as you are, you aren’t the best.”
“We’ll see.” You retort and leave.

The march towards the university where on the west side of campus you see and hear explosions. That must be where Mr. Demar is. You wonder how you’ll have to deal with him after you take care of this Quayle problem.

When you get to the east campus, Sebastian was right, you see a lot of weird things going on, nearby plants are growing older and younger before your eyes, buildings are indeed disappearing and reappearing. It’s a mess.

You see a small gray building that doesn’t seem to be suffering any effects; you bet that’s where Quayle is.

You march over with your horde only to start feeling very ill. You try to shake off the effects so you can keep control, but it doesn’t matter as you begin to see your various undead troops go through weird changes. You watch them either accelerate in rot and disintegrate, or even stranger actually turn back into their living selves until they eventually become babies and then nothing.

You’re only halfway to the building and you begin to worry that you’re going to suffer the same fate, but manage to get in the Gray building which contains a simple auditorium like classroom. You must be back on campus. At the front of the class you see a strange man surrounded by a white glow. This must be Quayle.

“This is not the way…you have lost…you may win…it’s all so fascinating…” he says in an echoed voice.

You have no idea what the hell he means, all you know is you need to kill this guy before he fucks everything up. You’re having a hard time concentrating still though and once again you begin to feel very sick. That feeling becomes stronger when you see grotesque creatures pop into existence. They have writhing masses of tentacles and give off an aura completely hostile and alien. Not even the demons you’ve had contact with give off anything like this.

You have no time for spells you’ll have to do this the old fashioned way. You run towards the front of the class where he sits and just narrowly dodge another tentacle beast appearing suddenly in front of you.

“…stop…stop it…you must stop…”

You tackle Quayle and something completely unexpected and disgusting happens. His body literally breaks like a fragile glass vase and all manner of insects and maggots come crawling out, mostly on you.

“EEEEYEEECAAAGH!” you yell trying to get them all off of you, completely ignoring anything else. Fortunately for you, whatever you did has stopped the temporal disturbance. The creatures disappear and everything else seems to go back to normal.

After stomping on some centipedes you notice Quayle’s head has rolled into a corner. Surprisingly it’s still alive.

“You have won nothing…” his head says before it just simply disappears.

You shake your own head at all of this. As much as you’ve seen during your short time raising the dead, you’ve never seen anything like this.

You can’t hear anymore explosions; you wonder if Mr. Demar has won. You exit the building and begin to walk over to the other side of the campus where the explosions were coming from.

You arrive to burning buildings and ruins of towers. Once again you see Sebastian, he’s sitting outside holding his head in his hands. He looks like he’s sobbing.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” you ask.
“It’s over! It’s all over!”
“What are you talking about? It looks like the city is ours.”
“But for how long? All our so called demon allies took off! By the time I got here Mr. Demar had already been severely wounded and his second in command Trelik had betrayed him. Catalina and I managed to kill Trelik, but Catalina fell in the battle! The Dark Order is over and I dunno what’s coming next, we’re all in a lot of fucking trouble! Trouble that I wasn’t prepared to handle! I’m not really a leader. Mr. Demar was a leader! Oh man why did I choose this path!?”

Sebastian is having a complete mental break down and it sickens you. It’s unbecoming of a necromancer.

“Where’s Mr. Demar?” you ask.
“He’s dead in the library!”
“Good, saves me the trouble.”
“Huh? What’s going on?”
“I’m in charge, that’s what’s going on and I’m not going to tolerate whimpering weaklings like you.” and you blast Sebastian with negative energy to his face, killing him.

Yep, you’re in charge.

A month passes

The “Nuro Incident” as it came to be known was a shock to the civilized world. Nobody had anticipated such a thing occurring despite all preparations. Certainly not to Nuro given it’s near “invincible” reputation. You’ve renamed the city Aftermath.

The Grand Alliance was immediately formed to retake the city, but fortunately for you, you weren’t the only problem they had.

Velzix, a demon lord who the Dark Order summoned to help them, soon left Nuro during its attack, and managed to unite the rest of the demons that felt the need to break their contract with the Dark Order. They turned their attention to the Tulan Kingdom. Right now he’s established his own rule, enslaving the population and is most likely planning further conquest assuming he can keep his own troops from fighting each other long enough.

As for you, you’ve already managed to hold off one Grand Alliance attack quite successfully due to your preparations. The first thing you did was command all the surviving Dark Order members to become necromancers. They’re mediocre at best though, they might be better if you took a more direct hand in training them, but you’re too impatient and you have so many other things to take care of as well.

You haven’t heard anything from your family; you can only wonder what they think of all this and you don’t really care.

While things are somewhat quiet now, that’s not going to last. The Grand Alliance will keep attacking and they may very well overwhelm you in time. You can’t just sit in your throne room and prepare for the next attack and you need to be proactive about this threat, but the big problem though is, you’re basically doing all of this yourself. There isn’t anyone anywhere near your equal, let alone anyone you can trust to handle important things.

As much as you loathe thinking of it, you could ally with Velzix, granted he’s an untrustworthy demon, and not fond of the Dark Order for imprisoning him, you were never a member of the Dark Order and may be receptive. You soon send messages to him asking for an alliance. Eventually you get a response, and it’s a positive one. Velzix even says he’ll meet you in the city of Aftermath. Apparently he isn’t worried about you.

When he arrives he gets right to business.
“Nice decorations…so, you wish to make a deal with me?”
“I’ve come to propose a pact between us yes. We have a common enemy.”
“Yes, but what does this pact entail exactly?”
“Simple, we don’t attack one another and we coordinate our attacks to be more effective against the Grand Alliance.”
“And I suppose while my attention isn’t on you, and I waste my valuable resources, you build up strength and attack me eh? Heh heh, I know you little necromancer. I see the desire to murder the entire world in your eyes. I even respect it, but if you think I’m trusting you, you’re as brain dead as those corpses you raise.”
“What?! You’re a fucking demon and you’re accusing ME of being deceitful?”
“Of course. Who better to see treachery than one who is an expert at it? But assuming you genuinely mean for us to be best buddies forever and ever, I still don’t see what you can do for me in your current state.”
“What are you on about now?”
“I’m saying as a military power you ain’t shit that’s what! Your necromancers are barely competent enough to hold your defenses of that little necropolis you rule. It’s mostly you doing all the work, and while you’ve got a little power, it still ain’t enough to attack anything in a meaningful way.”

You hate the fact that Velzix is right, but you hate it even more that he’s so damn smug about it. Which makes you wonder why he called you out here…in fact you’re starting to prepare yourself for trouble.

“Alright then what the hell are you proposing?” you ask.
“I propose a…merger rather than an alliance.”
“You’re proposing that I let YOU take over Aftermath and I just become your bitch.”
“Not exactly how I worded it, but if you prefer that designation…”
”NO! I don’t prefer it!”
“Okay then how about this? I say you’ll last maybe another year tops if you stay walled up in this little city of yours just letting the Grand Alliance constantly beat down your gates until they finally succeed. Then assuming you don’t die during that final attack, I predict that you live a ragged existence on the run for maybe a couple years afterwards at which point you’ll end up getting hunted down and killed hiding in some cave somewhere.”
“And that’s what you see?”
“Seen it happen to more powerful mortals than you. BUT! It doesn’t have to be that way. Joining with me can be more beneficial than you think. You don’t think I don’t see the power in you? You would be a very valuable asset to my plans. Your ability to control the dead is very strong and quite frankly it would be nice to actually have not just troops that aren’t fighting among themselves, but a great general as well. Think about it! You’ll gain more power and you could still bring death to thousands and not have to worry about all the bullshit of ruling, because as I’m sure you know, it isn’t as fun as it should be most of the time. You will prosper, if you continue to prove yourself worthy and useful.”
> You decline his offer
Never. You’ll never submit to anyone else’s rule. You’d rather die first. But if you can help it, maybe you can eliminate one rival right now.

You don’t answer Velzix’s offer, you immediately attack! You blast Velzix, with a beam of negative energy. Your nearby undead soldiers rush at Velzix, and your necromancers provide some back up.

Velzix somewhat expected your attack though, and he blocks your beam with a magic shield and then flies through the wall of your fortress burning your corpse soldiers in the way.

“Short-sighted little dead wizard! You’ve sealed your own doom!” you hear him shout as he flies away back to his own realm.

You aren’t impressed by his threats however, you order your wall to be fixed, while you plan your next move…

A year passes…
The Kingdom of Tulan has finally put the sword to every last demon infesting the area. You laugh when you hear how easily Velzix was defeated, however this celebration is soon short lived.

The Grand Alliance attempts another siege of the city and this time they succeed. You barely manage to escape. You try to establish some sort of rule elsewhere, but the Grand Alliance isn’t letting you get dug in again.

You begin your long road of hardship and keep to rural areas; many times you barely survive attacks from barbaric orc tribes. Fortunately your skills in necromancy protect you (as well as scare the hell out of the orcs)

Two years pass...
You hear them coming for you, there is no more running. This is your fate. To die in this cave. You think bitterly about Velzix’s all too correct prediction about your fate. You wonder if you’d been less prideful and accepted his offer, you wouldn’t be in this state you are right now.

You shake your head to this however. No point in regrets. You’ve made your choices and now you make one last one.

You leave the cave to face your enemies and prepare to die for your heinous crimes…

Such is often the fate of a necromancer.