There might be a day where you’re going to have to command all your armies from bed as a sick old man, but today is not that day. As long as you can wield a weapon and move reasonably well, nobody is stopping you from fighting. As far as being on open water, well this is the perfect chance to get over that possible phobia.

Since your own intelligence reports on Delerg have always been hazy at best, you gather your information from less reputable places, namely some of the prisons. Nalin sailors as a rule stayed away from Delerg waters due to the Island League, Still there were always the occasional forays into it for illegal smuggling purposes and you specifically have these types give you any and all information as well as a chance to earn their freedom by enlisting in the navy.

While getting the information on island details isn’t too much of a problem due to the threat of violence, you don’t get a lot of takers to enlist even with the promise of freedom (or implied threats of conscription); at first you believe it’s just a criminal attitude of not wishing to be part of the government, but one fellow by the name of Len tells you it’s a little more than that. Len is about your age, probably a little older and is the embodiment of an “old sea dog” with his untidy white hair and beard.

Len says he stopped smuggling years ago when he started to feel uneasy sailing in the waters, let alone dealing with some of the people who had become enamored with a weird religion.

“Religion? What kind of religion?” you ask.
“Not exactly sure, but I’m pretty sure it involved the worship of some water god. I remember finding it strange since it wasn’t like any of the inhabitants of Delerg were particularly religious before. When one of my friends came into the docks one night babbling a mad tale about how he barely escaped from an ambush of screaming cultists that was around the time I decided to stop making smuggling runs and go into something less dangerous like burglary, obviously I wasn’t as good at that since I got caught.” Len replies.
“So where is this friend of yours and what did he see?”
“Not in a jail cell if that’s what you’re wondering. Last I heard he was committed into an asylum. I think he may have very well killed himself. He never did quite get over it and had a hard time talking about the details, but I do remember him saying that the cultists weren’t quite human looking and fully intent on sacrificing him, like they did with the others who weren’t so lucky to escape I guess.”
“What, like the recent fishmen descriptions?”
“Perhaps not quite that far, but he did say they had unnatural eyes and their skin was slimy looking. The reason why you’re not getting many enlistees is probably either due to these stories or from personal experience and I imagine the personal experience is rare given that my own friend went completely mad from his own experience. To be quite honest, I’m sort of surprised the Empire never knew any of this before.”
“Wasn’t an issue before. A few rumors and tales from mad sailors and criminals isn’t going to catch serious attention. In fact before people starting seeing fishmen on the coasts I didn’t even know about any of this. Delerg was considered low priority, though that may have been a mistake, then again we’re probably in a better position to handle this now. So what is your answer on enlistment?”

Len pauses for a moment.

“Well, I’ve been a criminal nearly all my life and never had much use for following orders. But as much as I like living, I like freedom a lot more. So if enlistment means possibly getting killed by a bunch of fish monsters but the chance of getting out of those hellholes you call prisons, then I’ll take the risk. Besides, I’d say my odds are a lot better now seeing as I’ll be travelling with the Empire’s navy. I figure I can’t get any safer than that.”
“Sure you can, you’re going to be aboard my own personal ship.”
“I am?”
“You were a captain weren’t you? According to your record you’re probably one of the more experienced ones in the damn Empire. Criminal or otherwise. You’re going to be navigator of my personal ship, because I sure as hell don’t know anything about steering a ship. Plus you have better knowledge of the area, so you’re coming with me directly.”

Len isn’t sure how to respond except with a hesitant thank you. He probably thought he was going to be able to sneak away at some point, but that will be next to impossible now with him being aboard your ship.

When the time comes, you board your personal ship, which is decked out in the best gear available. Actually it’s much slower than the rest of the ships due to its size, but then its meant to fight and take punishment, not outmaneuver a possible enemy. Honestly, you aren’t even sure what you’ll encounter. If the Island League is indeed completely gone, then you may face no opposition at all as far as other ships are concerned. Maybe you’ll have strange fishmen scaling your ships in an attempt to kill you. Whatever you face, you’ll be ready.

Since the occupation of the islands is the main priority, you’re taking a strong force of orcs with you. Sprog himself has volunteered to come, possibly to prove to the rest of his people of how much of a warrior he is. Crowley sent a letter asking if you needed his assistance or the assistance of any of the Eyes as things are much calmer in Rask nowadays, but you tell him the Eyes are needed at home as they always are.

Within a few days you’re in Delerg waters, but you’ve come across no islands yet. Len remarks about how strange this is since according to his memory you should’ve come across a couple by now. Even the information you received from others with knowledge of the area would dictate that you would’ve encountered some sort of landmass by now.

When you sail further out to sea, you still don’t find any major landmass. There are small patches of land, but nothing that would support a town or other settlement. At best you might be able to build a small guard tower on them and that would be only if the land was relatively flat and solid, which it doesn’t appear to be.

“This is damn odd, that small patch of land right there where the Island League’s biggest island was! It even had their largest settlement, Barnacle! It’s like the waters just swallowed everything up!” Len remarks.
“I’m getting a vague impression I know what happened to this place. All of Delerg in fact. There’s nothing here worth conquering now, we might as well…”

Before you can complete your sentence there is a sudden rumble in the water.

“EVERYONE BRACE THEMSELVES!” you shout and then you see several of your ships fly up off of the waters when a large sea monster spectacularly arises from below. Your own ship is rocked severely with water crashing everywhere. For a moment you think night has fallen, but it’s just the sea creature blotting out the sun.

The creature is bigger than anything you’ve ever faced. Even “Snowtop” would be the size of a gnome compared to this thing. Doesn’t help that the creature has two heads and several tentacles already crushing some of your ships that weren’t destroyed when it ascended in the first place.

“FIRE EVERYTHING AND DON’T STOP UNTIL THAT THING IS DEAD!” you shout and the cannons roar desperately trying to harm the creature. Fortunately the ships that you have left don’t seem to be losing their courage and presumably their captains have the same idea of attacking since you can see cannon fire coming from them. Though given their proximity to the creature, they wouldn’t be able to retreat in time for it to crush them anyway.

The beast isn’t as invulnerable as it would seem as the cannon fire does its work and delivers wounds but the main problem is, it’s just too damn big. You cast frost bolts at its tentacles that are attempting to wrap around the ship, you then order your troops to shatter them while they’re still frozen. This works well enough that it keeps your ship afloat, but there’s more than just the sea monster to worry about and you fully expected something like this to happen even before you met the leviathan.

Several of the fishmen begin scaling your ship. While your ship is well defended and has the skilled manpower it needs to repel the attack, you get the impression that some of the aquatic attackers are probably trying to put holes in it from underneath.

“Sprog take some of your people, get in the water and kill everything!” you shout. Sprog doesn’t argue, he just nods at your command. Assuming if the both of you manage to get out of this alive, you at least know you’ve got his complete loyalty now. Nothing like fighting side by side against impossible odds to gain respect.

Stripping off what little armor he was wearing in the first place, Sprog goes into full bezerker orc battle frenzy while ordering some of his best to follow him down into the water. You know orcs are tough, but you hope they’ll be able to fight these fishmen in their own environment. It is a severe disadvantage after all.

Meanwhile the beast is continuing to destroy the rest of your fleet. You can see people in the water desperately attempting to cling to floating wreckage, only to be pulled underneath the waves by the fishmen who are picking them off. Your own ship has slowly changed direction thanks to Len taking command of the steering wheel.

“We can’t fight this monster! We have to retreat!” he shouts pulling the wheel of the ship as hard as he can.

He’s probably right and who knows, if you tried right now, you might actually manage to get away while the beast is still primarily occupied. That certainly would be the most sensible thing to do; of course something about this whole experience is making you feel well…good. Your heart is pumping, you’re full of energy and you’re determined to show this undersea abomination that you’re not ready to lie down and accept the fact that you’re getting older.

“NO! I can’t let this beast beat me! I never lose!” you shout and knock Len off of the wheel who looks at you like you’re insane and scurries off to find a hiding spot.

With battle and bloodshed all around you, with the sounds of cannons and swords filling your eardrums, you make your way to the crow’s nest to gain the highest vantage point you can. From there you get your best look at the sea monster. The large holes in its body where cannons have blown off chunks of it convince you that it can be defeated. It’s just going to take a little magic that’s all… or rather a lot of it.

You begin to focus…
> You create a lightning storm
As high as you currently are, the beast is still several times higher and should easily be a perfect target.

You concentrate and as you do you begin to feel little charges and sparks around you and the air begins to have a faint smell of electricity. As dark as the sky is with the beast blocking the sun with its size, the sky gets even darker when storm cloud gather.

You directly unleash a blast of lightning right at one of the creature’s heads. It must be enough to addle what passes for brains in the creature, because the serpentine head begins to flail back and forth making an incredibly loud bellow and knocking into the other head and taking it off its concentrated effort to destroy your fleet. Then a rumbling comes from the sky and you’re nearly blinded by the light show that occurs next.

With the storm clouds, the creature takes several lightning strikes to both of its heads. If the creature wasn’t in pain or addled before, it certainly is now. Its roaring of pain is so great that it’s practically deafening. You don’t let up though, you continue to summon the lightning and that’s when you learn that you only have so much control over nature. The lightning strikes begin going all over the place. Some hit your ships, so hit the water and some continue to hit the beast.

You struggle to direct the lightning, but your energy ebbs quickly as you fail to do so and you take a direct bolt yourself. It’s a quick and odd feeling. You feel a great deal of pain, followed by a warm sensation and then you briefly realize you’ve fallen from the crow’s nest, which was completely destroyed by the blast.

You then feel extreme agony when you not only crash onto the deck of the ship, but also through it. You land on some barrels though all you know is when you land you heard a snap and a numbness wash over your body.

And that’s when you know; you’re paralyzed from the neck down.

You hear the sounds of battle continue all around you, some of the crew that were manning the cannons on the lower deck call for help when they see you, but there’s nothing anyone can do to help you. Everything’s blurry, you’ve probably got a concussion, and death has never been so close to you since you fought the Emperor.

You’re going to fall asleep and your body will sink under the water when the ship is inevitably destroyed. There the fish will eat you or possibly the creatures you’re fighting will eat you. Its possible Crowley might step up and take command of the Empire, but after him? You don’t see it lasting very long. Your own legacy will eventually be forgotten and that will be the story of you.

That is if you had any intention on dying today.

“Get away from me and get back to fighting, you’re not done yet!” You weakly command the crewmembers that are standing around gawking at you.

You remember the lessons the Emperor taught you about healing yourself. At this point you’re in dire need of A LOT of healing and you imagine you’ll easily be shortening your life span quite a bit in the process, but then you aren’t supposed to be alive right now anyway.

You focus again. You will your body to mend itself together. In your weakened state you’re drifting in and out of consciousness already, but somehow you manage to push through it and feel the magic doing its work.

You start to feel your body again. You’re wracked with pain, but you can feel again. You try to get up, but you’re still just too weak and drained. You see a fishman coming down the ship’s stairway and alert your crew with a shout. The last thing you see is the thing coming at you before you pass out.

“Lover? Have you finally come to join me?” you hear a voice ask.
“Huh? Who is that?”
“It’s me, of course.”

You open your eyes and see Semra hovering over you. She looks exactly like you remember well except she happens to be completely naked right now. (Though you remember that too)

“Shit, I’m dead after all.” You say. “And given that you’re here I must be in some sort of hell.”
“Ah, I missed that dry sense of humor. I also missed this.” Semra remarks and you feel a hand on your crotch.

Normally you’d probably push her away, but given everything you just went through you figure that if this is your personal hell, you could certainly do worse. Just as you’re about to give in completely, Semra’s head is cleaved in with a single sword blow. Blood splatters all over you and her body slumps lifelessly onto your own.

“Is this what you fucking want? I thought you were stronger than that! The man I married never gave up!” another familiar voice says.

After pushing Semra’s dead body off of you, you look up and see Alison in all her warrior maiden glory. You never thought you’d ever see her again though you wish she were in a happier mood.

“Alison I…”
“Nope, don’t even try to make an excuse! I caught you and you’re not getting off that easy. I’m doing this for your own good!”

You see Alison’s sword coming straight at your head, but you don’t attempt to dodge, instead you sit up to meet the sword half way…

And you wake up with a splitting headache and your body still hurting all over.

“Hah, told you he was going to wake up. He’s not called an Eternal for no reason you know. You owe me two gold pieces Sprog!” Len exclaims.
“Sprog owes you what?”
“Erm, nevermind. Welcome back to the living Emperor. Everyone wasn’t sure if you were going to make it or not, but I had a feeling you might.”
“Bah, should’ve died. Was a glorious battle. Be great honor to die in such a battle.” Sprog remarks.
“Oh really? Then why didn’t you make more of an effort to die then?” Len asks.
“Sprog still need to produce more children first, now more than ever since three sons died on other ships. Must ensure legacy!” Sprog says and walks away.

You look around and find yourself still on the lower deck of your personal ship. You guess that nobody wanted to move you for fear of doing more damage to you body. It’s a mess on the lower deck and there’s still a hole from where you crashed through, but obviously the ship survived the battle. As you sit up, you nearly lay back down due to the pain. A volley of expletives soon follows.

“Easy there! While I know you just survived something no man should have, I’m pretty sure taking a direct hit from a lightning bolt and crashing through the deck of a ship from a great height still has to be painful. In fact its odd, but you even look a little older because of the experience.”

“You have no idea…” you remark.
“Insisting on fighting that beast had to be the single most insane things I’ve ever seen, but while I was personally afraid I can’t help but admire it. Despite him believing you were going to die, I know Sprog certainly admired it.” Len says.
“He probably hoped I was going to die. Still glad to see he’s honorable enough that he didn’t try to take advantage and kill me while I was unconscious though. Glad to see you didn’t either.”
“I was a smuggler, not a murderer. Besides I don’t think anything I could do would actually kill you anyway after seeing what you just survived.”
“So did we win? I can only assume us still being afloat means we won…unless we’ve retreated…”

Len gives an apprehensive look before answering.

“Well…yes and no. Technically we won, though I’m not sure if we actually killed that sea monster. After you crashed through the deck of the ship, the fishmen continued to scale the ship, but the sea monster continued to be hit by lightning. It eventually sank back beneath the waters, but like I said, I dunno if we killed it or it just swam away. Soon after that happened the fishmen stopped attacking too.”
“But?”
“But, other than this ship and a couple of others straggling along side us your fleet is gone, along with all of your people aboard them. We had patch up several holes they managed to put in this ship and we’re only sailing at half speed due to all the broken masts, but we’ll make it back to Nalin okay barring any other attacks of course.”

You curse again, but this time it’s more at yourself rather than the pain you’re in. You wasted a lot of troops and resources on this endeavor for no real prize. You didn’t even acquire any new territory. You think back to Trog’s words again about getting old and knowing your limitations, well you certainly learned that lesson today hard.

“Well I suppose it isn’t all bad, you did teach those fish creatures that you’re not to be trifled with. It was like a battle between gods when you unleashed lightning on that beast’s heads. They might think twice about popping up on your shores now.” Len says in an attempt to cheer you up.
“We can only hope I suppose.” You answer.

The first thing you do when you get back home is try to rest. You do so for as much as you’re able for weeks and while you do eventually recover, you’re never quite the same again. You’ve visibly gotten older due to the healing magic and it only did so much, you’re still experiencing dull aches and pains on a daily basis. Worse than you did before you went on the mission. You’ll never be like you were. Those days are long gone.

On the bright side, there have been no more sightings of fish people on the coasts, so perhaps your venture was fruitful after all, unless they’re biding their time and trying to regroup which is exactly what you’d do, so naturally you’ve ordered the building of a new fleet along with proper naval training for potential sailors.

Of course if the fishy people are no longer a threat that still means Trog’s vision of a relentless enemy still looms. Which means it’s either the Xi Hive or an as of yet unknown enemy.

More things to look forward to as you approach your twilight years.
>
Year 555

“Reports as usual say that the Xi have been becoming more frequent in the Arat region and that they have been sighted close to Empire borders, specifically near the city of Regnik.” David remarks.
“Well that would be the most logical place for them to attack first seeing as it’s the closest. Seeing as the Xi like to attack from underground, have all of our kobold units on alert and have the seventh scaly brigade stationed in Arat. I know they’re the best of those little vicious bastards and I’m confident that they can slow down or repel such a Xi attack before the rest of the armies get mobilized. Probably can do some tunnel scouting and digging as well.” You remark.
“Very well, but I also have a report stating that the Xi have mostly been focusing on the Arat Confederacy. All four cities have been attacked and apparently Eldolith wants to speak with us about coordinating forces to destroy the threat. Apparently she’s also been sending people to speak with the Redcap Kingdom too. No idea if that was successful.”
“So Eldy’s having a bug problem and now she’s begging for help. I’m a little surprised that she swallowed her pride enough that she’s willing to talk at all. So when is she due to arrive?”
“She isn’t, she claims that if you want to talk that you should meet her on neutral ground between Lenay and Regnik.”
“Typical svelk arrogance. Call for help and then insist that it be on their terms. (Sigh)”
“You’re aren’t thinking about going are you?! Surely it will be some sort of trap.”
“Of course it will be a trap. But if I did go I could probably learn more about what she’s been up to if I go and in the off chance that this isn’t a trap and completely on the up and up then I can still better assess what her situation is and the Xi Hive threat.”
“But Emperor, your condition…I mean not to say your aren’t a fit man for your um…age…but that battle with the sea beast five years ago…well I just mean I don’t want to see you walk into something a tad overwhelming for you again. The Empire needs you.”

These are some pretty bold words, though David was as diplomatic as he could’ve possibly been. Really brave on his part, though he didn’t need to fear anything from you. He’s right, you’re still feeling that battle to this day and will continue to until the day you die.

David’s actually been a bit of a surprise to you. When he first groveled for the job of being your top advisor you assumed that like most of the senators of the old Nalin republic he was just looking to save his skin while also looking for the best possible position he could get in the new order of things. He got it because he seemed to be competent and the least annoying at the time. Since then though he’s proven himself to be good at his job and genuinely care about his work and the good of the Empire.

“While your concern is noted, I’m not going anywhere. Send a message to her stating that if she really wants to discuss terms of an alliance or something similar she’s going to have to drag her svelk ass here.”

David nods and leaves your presence.

Seeing as all your major business is concluded today you head back to your personal chambers. You spend a little time reading a new book that Jennifer has written with her new husband. It’s all about the old Empire and called “The Glory Before the Fall” Fairly accurate, but then again she did have your input on the thing. Still never told her (or anyone for that matter) about you her ancestor being involved in killing the Emperor which indirectly caused the Cataclysm. You suppose that’ll just be one of those secrets lost to history when you die.

As you’re reading you begin reflecting on your old relationship with Jennifer. It sometimes seems strange that the two of you have remained friends despite not being romantically involved anymore. Of course the two of you just see one another as much anymore either so that might help.

Really your relationship with her was more due to a young crush on her part and perhaps a bit of loneliness on your own. She saw you as a “pillar of strength” and the pinnacle of a “warrior.” Basically someone who got things done which was somewhat lacking with most of the leaders and citizens of the republic. You were different and it was attractive, then she slowly grew out of it.

Now she’s happily married to someone more similar to her. A scholar interested in history. She even had a son a couple years ago. And that’s all okay with you. You’re happy for her. You’ve got so many more concerns nowadays that you can’t be bothered to feel pangs of regret of “what could’ve been.”

Besides, Jennifer was and will always be nice and one of the few people you could consider a friend, but she was no Alison. Nobody ever will be.

All this self-reflection and thoughts about Jennifer’s family makes you ponder your own lack of one though. Not so much due to an overwhelming desire to have one, but more of what’s going to happen to the Empire after you die?

You’ve been thinking about that on and off ever since your last brush with death actually. To be quite honest you never really thought about a successor mainly because for a long time you were focused on actually being the Emperor rather than passing the title on. It would be easier of course if you could have children, and then just pass it on that way, but then even if you could, that wouldn’t be a guarantee they’d be worthy or show the desire or interest. You were unnaturally molded into the way you were, who is to say how your imaginary children would’ve turned out even if you attempted to mold them into mirror images of yourself.

That of course just leaves passing the Empire on to someone worthy. You’ve briefly entertained the idea before and believed that Crowley would potentially be the best candidate. Of course given that he’s around your age, he’s not likely to live any longer than you are, assuming you die of natural causes which isn’t necessarily a given even if you are taking less risks nowadays.

You begin thinking that perhaps you should get some sort of list of the Empire’s best and brightest and subject them to a series of tests to see if they’re worthy enough to be an apprentice of sorts. Basically what the Emperor did with you except without all the magical alteration and the sadistic svelk taskmasters.

You spend the next few days going over records of various soldiers, Eyes, administrators, technicians, politicians and others, though being a warrior yourself you can’t help but be biased toward the military types, but you don’t want to overlook anything.

During this time David reports to you that Eldolith is actually in Dalt and demanding an audience. That didn’t take long though you’re a little surprised she actually showed up in person, you figured she’d send a flunky of some sort.

When you go to meet her she’s standing with her personal guard and looking around as if just being in a room full of humans is tainting her svelk “purity.”

“Hello Eldy, I’m sure you’re anxious to get this over with…”
“Don’t address me by a shortened version of my name in an attempt to be condescending, I am Domina Eldolith D’vessa of the Arat Confederacy!”
“Hrm, and I’m sure that sounds very impressive when you tell your subjects in that little nation of yours.”
“Yes, a little nation that stood strong against the Xi for years and managed to survive your expansion efforts. A testament that it’s the QUALITY of the nation rather than the size.”

You chuckle.

“Eldy, the only reason your nation is still around is because I’ve allowed it and I suggest that YOU do not come here grand standing when you are in no position to do so. We all know you’re here to beg for my help with the Xi because they’re kicking your ass. Now we can make this as easy OR as humbling as possible. Your choice.”

Eldolith gives you a look of absolute burning hatred and is silent. Her personal guards shift uncomfortably and your own soldiers are fondling their rifles looking for an excuse to open fire.

“You’re enjoying this aren’t you?” Eldolith remarks.
“Actually not as much as you’d think, mainly because I don’t want you here anymore than you want to be here, so how about we get to the point like I originally suggested?”
“Fine, here it is. The Xi are beating on the Confederacy’s doors. We’ve been your buffer zone between them and you. If we fall then you’re going to have to face them in full force.”
“And? You seem to believe that we aren’t going to be able to handle that. Not a very compelling argument Eldy.”
“Because you’re a short sighted f…” Eldolith stops herself. “What I mean is you haven’t let me finish. We have an ancient magic weapon at our disposal that could end this threat completely, but the problem is…(sigh) none of our own mages are powerful enough to tap its full potential. As much as I hate to inflate your ego any more than it is, I believe you magical abilities would be able to. So as you can see, you don’t need to marshal armies to our defense or waste any resources. All that is required of you is to get up off your throne for one moment and take a trip to Lenay and we can get started…”

You burst out laughing.

“Oh yes, let me just go walking into a city filled with svelk! That won’t be a death sentence at all! You expect me to just trust you at your word? Even if you do have this so called powerful weapon, I still have a hard time believing that there isn’t some sort of trick or catch or angle that doesn’t involve me dead in some way.”
“I thought you were the Emperor? Mr. invincible and fearless? Have you gotten so cow…cautious in your old age that you can’t handle being alone?”
“Eldy, if you think this pathetic attempt of character assassination is going to suddenly cause me to behave in some erratic manner and go to Lenay you’re sadly mistaken. You never were any good in the art of persuasion. The only way you’re going to see me in Lenay is if I’m leading a conquering army through it which given your continued insolence is starting to look more appealing, so who knows maybe you will see me there soon. Now get out of my sight before I put an end to your miserable life before the Xi do!”

“Fuck this, I told her this was futile!” Eldolith exclaims and her personal guards surround her with a magic shield. Bullets from your soldiers are absorbed into the barrier.

“Congratulations, you just made this easier.” You say and focus on bringing down the shield, while your soldiers advance with their weapons.
“I think not, a lot of time has passed since I was a mercenary captain and you were an Empire puppet who had not yet cut his master’s strings!” Eldolith says and suddenly she floats above her own personal guards followed by a red glow of light from her. Her personal guards at this point all begin screaming in pain. Whatever it is she’s doing she’s sacrificing her own people to do it. Then a super blast of telekinetic energy repels all of your troops back. You even have a hard time not falling over.

Eldolith casts some sort of spell that literally starts melting your soldiers’ weapons. Some manage to drop them before the hot metal scalds them too much. Your own Eye mages lob offensive spells at her, but they aren’t penetrating the shield. Some aim for her soldiers, but they aren’t moved despite some of them even being on fire. They’re already in a living death state anyway.

Eldolith never had any magic abilities, and while its possible she studied and trained herself, but something seems off about all this, not to mention her odd comments.

Just as you bring her shield down, a portal opens up behind you. You have no idea where it’s going, but you can feel it pulling you in slightly.

“Time to be reunited!” Eldolith shouts and a red beam of magical energy is thrown in your direction.
> You dodge the beam
If you were twenty years younger and not saddled with countless old wounds that cause your body to react much slower nowadays, you’d probably easily dodge the beam, hell if you were just ten or five years younger even.

However, you aren’t and your agility isn’t what it used to be. When you attempt to duck and roll out of the way, you just succeed in spraining your back with your sudden move, but that’s the least of your concerns when Eldolith’s red beam hits you directly in the head. You feel a crushing pressure all around your skull for a moment and then a “pop” sound is heard inside our head before your brain is completely scrambled by an overload of…well whatever the hell Eldolith hit you with. All you know is it hurts a lot in the few moments you’re actually conscious to experience the pain.

With your brain fried and blood leaking out of your ears you collapse to the floor.

If Eldolith’s goal was to get you into that portal, she’s going to have to drag your corpse in there now.


Year 555

“Reports as usual say that the Xi have been becoming more frequent in the Arat region and that they have been sighted close to Empire borders, specifically near the city of Regnik.” David remarks.
“Well that would be the most logical place for them to attack first seeing as it’s the closest. Seeing as the Xi like to attack from underground, have all of our kobold units on alert and have the seventh scaly brigade stationed in Arat. I know they’re the best of those little vicious bastards and I’m confident that they can slow down or repel such a Xi attack before the rest of the armies get mobilized. Probably can do some tunnel scouting and digging as well.” You remark.
“Very well, but I also have a report stating that the Xi have mostly been focusing on the Arat Confederacy. All four cities have been attacked and apparently Eldolith wants to speak with us about coordinating forces to destroy the threat. Apparently she’s also been sending people to speak with the Redcap Kingdom too. No idea if that was successful.”
“So Eldy’s having a bug problem and now she’s begging for help. I’m a little surprised that she swallowed her pride enough that she’s willing to talk at all. So when is she due to arrive?”
“She isn’t, she claims that if you want to talk that you should meet her on neutral ground between Lenay and Regnik.”
“Typical svelk arrogance. Call for help and then insist that it be on their terms. (Sigh)”
“You’re aren’t thinking about going are you?! Surely it will be some sort of trap.”
“Of course it will be a trap. But if I did go I could probably learn more about what she’s been up to if I go and in the off chance that this isn’t a trap and completely on the up and up then I can still better assess what her situation is and the Xi Hive threat.”
“But Emperor, your condition…I mean not to say your aren’t a fit man for your um…age…but that battle with the sea beast five years ago…well I just mean I don’t want to see you walk into something a tad overwhelming for you again. The Empire needs you.”

These are some pretty bold words, though David was as diplomatic as he could’ve possibly been. Really brave on his part, though he didn’t need to fear anything from you. He’s right, you’re still feeling that battle to this day and will continue to until the day you die.

David’s actually been a bit of a surprise to you. When he first groveled for the job of being your top advisor you assumed that like most of the senators of the old Nalin republic he was just looking to save his skin while also looking for the best possible position he could get in the new order of things. He got it because he seemed to be competent and the least annoying at the time. Since then though he’s proven himself to be good at his job and genuinely care about his work and the good of the Empire.

“While your concern is noted, I’m not going anywhere. Send a message to her stating that if she really wants to discuss terms of an alliance or something similar she’s going to have to drag her svelk ass here.”

David nods and leaves your presence.

Seeing as all your major business is concluded today you head back to your personal chambers. You spend a little time reading a new book that Jennifer has written with her new husband. It’s all about the old Empire and called “The Glory Before the Fall” Fairly accurate, but then again she did have your input on the thing. Still never told her (or anyone for that matter) about you her ancestor being involved in killing the Emperor which indirectly caused the Cataclysm. You suppose that’ll just be one of those secrets lost to history when you die.

As you’re reading you begin reflecting on your old relationship with Jennifer. It sometimes seems strange that the two of you have remained friends despite not being romantically involved anymore. Of course the two of you just see one another as much anymore either so that might help.

Really your relationship with her was more due to a young crush on her part and perhaps a bit of loneliness on your own. She saw you as a “pillar of strength” and the pinnacle of a “warrior.” Basically someone who got things done which was somewhat lacking with most of the leaders and citizens of the republic. You were different and it was attractive, then she slowly grew out of it.

Now she’s happily married to someone more similar to her. A scholar interested in history. She even had a son a couple years ago. And that’s all okay with you. You’re happy for her. You’ve got so many more concerns nowadays that you can’t be bothered to feel pangs of regret of “what could’ve been.”

Besides, Jennifer was and will always be nice and one of the few people you could consider a friend, but she was no Alison. Nobody ever will be.

All this self-reflection and thoughts about Jennifer’s family makes you ponder your own lack of one though. Not so much due to an overwhelming desire to have one, but more of what’s going to happen to the Empire after you die?

You’ve been thinking about that on and off ever since your last brush with death actually. To be quite honest you never really thought about a successor mainly because for a long time you were focused on actually being the Emperor rather than passing the title on. It would be easier of course if you could have children, and then just pass it on that way, but then even if you could, that wouldn’t be a guarantee they’d be worthy or show the desire or interest. You were unnaturally molded into the way you were, who is to say how your imaginary children would’ve turned out even if you attempted to mold them into mirror images of yourself.

That of course just leaves passing the Empire on to someone worthy. You’ve briefly entertained the idea before and believed that Crowley would potentially be the best candidate. Of course given that he’s around your age, he’s not likely to live any longer than you are, assuming you die of natural causes which isn’t necessarily a given even if you are taking less risks nowadays.

You begin thinking that perhaps you should get some sort of list of the Empire’s best and brightest and subject them to a series of tests to see if they’re worthy enough to be an apprentice of sorts. Basically what the Emperor did with you except without all the magical alteration and the sadistic svelk taskmasters.

You spend the next few days going over records of various soldiers, Eyes, administrators, technicians, politicians and others, though being a warrior yourself you can’t help but be biased toward the military types, but you don’t want to overlook anything.

During this time David reports to you that Eldolith is actually in Dalt and demanding an audience. That didn’t take long though you’re a little surprised she actually showed up in person, you figured she’d send a flunky of some sort.

When you go to meet her she’s standing with her personal guard and looking around as if just being in a room full of humans is tainting her svelk “purity.”

“Hello Eldy, I’m sure you’re anxious to get this over with…”
“Don’t address me by a shortened version of my name in an attempt to be condescending, I am Domina Eldolith D’vessa of the Arat Confederacy!”
“Hrm, and I’m sure that sounds very impressive when you tell your subjects in that little nation of yours.”
“Yes, a little nation that stood strong against the Xi for years and managed to survive your expansion efforts. A testament that it’s the QUALITY of the nation rather than the size.”

You chuckle.

“Eldy, the only reason your nation is still around is because I’ve allowed it and I suggest that YOU do not come here grand standing when you are in no position to do so. We all know you’re here to beg for my help with the Xi because they’re kicking your ass. Now we can make this as easy OR as humbling as possible. Your choice.”

Eldolith gives you a look of absolute burning hatred and is silent. Her personal guards shift uncomfortably and your own soldiers are fondling their rifles looking for an excuse to open fire.

“You’re enjoying this aren’t you?” Eldolith remarks.
“Actually not as much as you’d think, mainly because I don’t want you here anymore than you want to be here, so how about we get to the point like I originally suggested?”
“Fine, here it is. The Xi are beating on the Confederacy’s doors. We’ve been your buffer zone between them and you. If we fall then you’re going to have to face them in full force.”
“And? You seem to believe that we aren’t going to be able to handle that. Not a very compelling argument Eldy.”
“Because you’re a short sighted f…” Eldolith stops herself. “What I mean is you haven’t let me finish. We have an ancient magic weapon at our disposal that could end this threat completely, but the problem is…(sigh) none of our own mages are powerful enough to tap its full potential. As much as I hate to inflate your ego any more than it is, I believe you magical abilities would be able to. So as you can see, you don’t need to marshal armies to our defense or waste any resources. All that is required of you is to get up off your throne for one moment and take a trip to Lenay and we can get started…”

You burst out laughing.

“Oh yes, let me just go walking into a city filled with svelk! That won’t be a death sentence at all! You expect me to just trust you at your word? Even if you do have this so called powerful weapon, I still have a hard time believing that there isn’t some sort of trick or catch or angle that doesn’t involve me dead in some way.”
“I thought you were the Emperor? Mr. invincible and fearless? Have you gotten so cow…cautious in your old age that you can’t handle being alone?”
“Eldy, if you think this pathetic attempt of character assassination is going to suddenly cause me to behave in some erratic manner and go to Lenay you’re sadly mistaken. You never were any good in the art of persuasion. The only way you’re going to see me in Lenay is if I’m leading a conquering army through it which given your continued insolence is starting to look more appealing, so who knows maybe you will see me there soon. Now get out of my sight before I put an end to your miserable life before the Xi do!”

“Fuck this, I told her this was futile!” Eldolith exclaims and her personal guards surround her with a magic shield. Bullets from your soldiers are absorbed into the barrier.

“Congratulations, you just made this easier.” You say and focus on bringing down the shield, while your soldiers advance with their weapons.
“I think not, a lot of time has passed since I was a mercenary captain and you were an Empire puppet who had not yet cut his master’s strings!” Eldolith says and suddenly she floats above her own personal guards followed by a red glow of light from her. Her personal guards at this point all begin screaming in pain. Whatever it is she’s doing she’s sacrificing her own people to do it. Then a super blast of telekinetic energy repels all of your troops back. You even have a hard time not falling over.

Eldolith casts some sort of spell that literally starts melting your soldiers’ weapons. Some manage to drop them before the hot metal scalds them too much. Your own Eye mages lob offensive spells at her, but they aren’t penetrating the shield. Some aim for her soldiers, but they aren’t moved despite some of them even being on fire. They’re already in a living death state anyway.

Eldolith never had any magic abilities, and while its possible she studied and trained herself, but something seems off about all this, not to mention her odd comments.

Just as you bring her shield down, a portal opens up behind you. You have no idea where it’s going, but you can feel it pulling you in slightly.

“Time to be reunited!” Eldolith shouts and a red beam of magical energy is thrown in your direction.
> You put up your own shield
Given that your reflexes aren’t what they used to be, you don’t risk physical avoidance and instead put up your hands to create a shield for the oncoming beam of magic. At first you assume that the beam will either absorb into the shield or deflect completely, instead the force of it knocks you back much more than you were expecting.

And right into the portal.

You don’t feel any pain or anything really other than a minor fall on your back, which hits a stone floor. You’re not in your palace anymore, but what catches your attention immediately is what is in the room with you.

A fancy chair with an old withered looking body in it. You can tell its svelk, but you’ve never seen an “old” svelk before, or at least not one that displayed this great deal of age. At this distance you can’t even be sure if its alive or not.

Surrounding the chair are several tall rods, which emanate a magical field. The rods are embedded in the floor, they look like they’re made of adamantium. Very strong material usually used by the derro. Nearby there are several orbs mounted on similar shorter rods, they aren’t glowing or anything, but you assume that they’re also magical.

Other than this sight, there isn’t anything else in the room, which is made of solid looking stone. The other notable feature is the fact there aren’t any doors or any other apparent way out…

“I knew one day, you would return to me.” You hear a voice utter in your head. The voice is familiar and for a brief moment you think you’re dreaming, but a closer look at the withered body in the room and you know this is all too real.

“So you survived after all. Explains why there was no svelk body nearby when I got dug up.” You say.
“Not without a price as you can see.” Semra says. Apparently she can only communicate through your mind. The magical field prevents you from getting too close, but Semra’s face looks like it’s in a permanent slack jaw state. It would also appear that some magic never dies as you can sense Semra’s “emotions” right now thanks in part to that little spell she cast on you before you faced the Emperor.

Right now Semra’s probably gathering all the information of what you’ve been more or less up to since you were freed. As always, your own ability is limited and you can’t read what she’s been up to, however given her current state you don’t imagine it’s involved much physical activity.

You can sense a faint sign of…happiness(?) from her because you’re here, but then you never did quite understand her unnatural obsession for you. You also sense a slight feeling of shame for appearing the way she does (Though she’s trying really hard to block it from you). Vanity of course. Really though you’re more concerned with how you’re going to escape from here. You doubt that you can destroy the field surrounding Semra, if you could, you wouldn’t have been brought here in the first place. It’s obvious that Semra really wants to talk with you.

“Do you have no desire at all for a brief discussion with me after all we’ve been through?” Semra asks.
“Not particularly, though since I can see no apparent way out at this time, I suppose I’ll indulge you for now.”
“Don’t worry, unlike me, you are not a prisoner here. (Sigh) You don’t know how good it is to see you again, even if you are a little older…ha ha like I’m in a position to judge.” Semra remarks.
“ Yeaah, about that…so…what is this? Are you dead? Are you alive?”

“Oh I’m alive, but thanks to my daughter’s treachery I have been reduced to this pathetic shell.”
“When did that happen and how?”
“How, why and when it happened isn’t important. The fault is mine for not being more observant and allowing myself to still hold a torch for you which contributed to my weakness. I cannot blame Eldolith for her actions that lead me to this fate. She only did what a true svelk daughter would do.”
“So I take it you’re proud of her for turning you into a wizened invalid?”
“I was for a time, however despite a few shining moments she has ultimately proven to be a failure in her ambitions. She could’ve expanded the svelk so that we had our own Empire once again, but she was too busy bedding and torturing her slave girl lovers or indulging in other petty pleasures. She ultimately has no real confidence in her own abilities, if she did she wouldn’t keep me around.”
“I figured she kept you around as some sort of torture for you.” You remark.
“While you’re partially correct, the other reason is she still needs me around to hold her hand and tell her what to do next. She claims that she keeps me around because she enjoys mocking my decrepit impotent form while occasionally tapping my powers, but without me advising her, she wouldn’t have even held on to THIS city for as long as she did. If she’s trying to torture me by continuing to display her idiocy and making foolish decisions, while I can’t actively do anything about them, then it’s working. I urged her that she should’ve sought you out as soon as I sensed your active presence, but she just ignored me, claiming I was just being a sentimental fool. She never saw the big picture until it was too late, but I did. I still do. Which is why I wanted to see you.”
“What, the Xi threat?”
“That is indeed a threat, but it is perhaps just the catalyst for what is going to come.”
“And I suppose you can see into the future? I don’t remember you ever having that ability.”
“I didn’t, but after Casimir’s death, or the Cataclysm as most call it, many things were unleashed. Large waves of wild magic being one. Wish I had developed the ability BEFORE I was reduced to this husk, but then I suppose my current state allows for such dormant powers to manifest themselves due to being unable to do anything else except sit and think. Another thing that was unleashed was the Xi. Did you know they’ve lived far underground for millennia? Even further than the Derro or any other known subterranean race. Practically unknown to the surface world. It was only due to the massive upheaval of the earth due to the Cataclysm that they slowly started to make their way up to the surface. I believe they thought it was an attack, and now they’ve finally amassed their numbers to a point where they can overrun the surface world. Took them a few centuries, but here they are and they will be very difficult to stop.”
“But you said they weren’t the only danger.”
“They aren’t. The old Empire may have died, but its actions are going to be the destruction of the new one you have forged one way or another. The Xi are just one way, the other way is much more personal and the wound still runs deep. Wounds that we were also both were responsible for.”

You think back and you can only think of one thing…

“The gnomes?” you ask.
“Correct. My daughter has clumsily acquired info on the Redcap Kingdom over the years, but I trust my visions more. And if any of this is remotely accurate, they plan on committing mass genocide to everything in the area. This apparently will be done with a combination of weapons only their expertise in technology could’ve brought forth, it will also be done far above the ground.”
“What from the air? What did they figure out how to fly or something?”

You hear a small chuckle in your head from Semra.

“I see that you have not been very observant of the gnomes. You probably just heard that they had become less peaceable creatures, but the reality is much much more than that. In their war of survival against the Xi, they have been developing technology that can kill as quickly if not as elegantly as battle magic. Their most recent inventions have been strange flying machines. Airships for the lack of a better word, from these they rain down explosive death on the Xi.”

This is a lot of information to assess, but thanks to your link to Semra, you can sense no trickery from her. She has indeed been having visions similar to how Trog had them, except perhaps stronger.

“Okay, so basically I should just let the Xi and gnomes continue fighting until they wipe each other out to a point where neither one is a threat.”
“You can’t afford to do that, lover. Letting them battle it out hasn’t worked. That’s what my fool daughter thought and it’s proven to be a failure. The Xi AND the gnomes have managed to avoid extinction despite being at each other’s throats for decades now. The Xi has just expanded towards our direction and the gnomes have just developed more powerful weapons. If it keeps going, the war is going to ultimately engulf the entire area and chaos will ensue. The line needs to be held here in Arat if only to prevent the spread and that’s why you’re needed here.”
“So I’ve heard. Your daughter mentioned an ancient magical weapon that would only work if I helped charge it or something.”

Semra’s voice chuckles again.

“Yes, that was her way of insolently describing me, though I suppose it isn’t too far off as a description. Really though it isn’t a true solution. Basically you and I would join our energy together and form a protective barrier over this city. Something great enough that I doubt if even gnome weapons could penetrate it and I know the Xi wouldn’t be able to dig through it.”

You can’t believe that would be an option.

“This sounds pretty sketchy that some how I would be the convenient answer to the problem. I mean you’ve got other mages here and your daughter…”
“My daughter is a fucking charlatan. She has learned no real magic herself. As I’ve said she only taps my own powers which is why she can cast magic in the first place. As for other svelk, most of them are pretenders as well. The few that do actually have magical talent they wouldn’t be able to handle the full might of my magic either. But you. You are different. YOU actually have the ability. The power. I know because I trained you myself and what I didn’t teach you, Casimir certainly did. YOU and I could join together and survive the coming destruction like we did before.”
“Yeah because that turned out so well right? I was in stasis for five hundred years and you…well just look at yourself. You’d be better off dead. Am I to join your fate when I join with you in this magic spell that is supposedly going to save this city? And why would I want to save a city full of svelk?”
“Because you could be their ruler? What difference does it make when in the scheme of things you do not really care about your subjects so much as you care about the power you wield over them? I have seen your thoughts. Lately you have been dwelling on your own death and who will be worthy to take your place. Let me answer both questions. Nobody will EVER be worthy to take your place. Your Empire, what you have built will fall even if you do manage to save it from the Xi invasion or the inevitable revenge of the gnomes. You WILL be forgotten in time. But I’m offering you a chance at avoiding that fate. I’m offering you a kind of immortality and the chance to be in power FOREVER. Yes it is true, you would be confined to a state similar to mine, but you do not know the true power of the mind. Your body might be in a prison, but your mind would never be. I could teach you if you just join with me.”

As strange as it may seem, Semra’s words do hold a little weight. Immortality is appealing and lording it over the svelk would probably be amusing, but at what cost? Semra claims that her mind allows her freedom in a way that her physical body never could, but you just can’t see living like that voluntarily. You might be facing your own mortality soon, but if that is going to happen then that’s how it shall be. The future hasn’t been written yet as far as you’re concerned.

Plus there’s also the fact that Semra just wants someone to join in her living death misery, who better than you?

“Semra, I’ve listened to your offer and indulged you long enough. I decline and will deal with the threats to my Empire on my own terms. Now then, I trust you have the ability to let me go?”

Semra says nothing, for a moment you think you’re going to have to make a threat. While you aren’t sure if you’d actually be able to take down the magical field around her, you’d give it a good try. It doesn’t come to that though and soon another portal open up.

“Go then. You will see that I’m right though and you will come back to me. You know we were meant to be together.” Semra remarks.
“Well thanks to your daughter, your nation has officially declared war. So perhaps you’re right, maybe I will be back with an entire army.” You answer.
“I will be looking forward to that day, lover.”

You step through the portal and find yourself back in your palace where things are in turmoil. Your return quells things down though. Unfortunately Eldolith got away. Apparently she escaped through another portal. You aren’t worried though; she’ll pay for what she did. The svelk won’t have to wait for the Xi to overrun them; you’ll get there first.
>
Year 557

Arat is nearly yours...well what’s left of it anyway and even after you take it completely there is still the matter of holding it. And that will certainly be a great task, one you even wonder if you’ll live to see. The aches and pains in your body continue to get worse with age, you tire a lot easier and you get short of breath at times. Everyone tells you that you shouldn’t be anywhere close to the battlefield, but you can’t help it. It’s the only place you feel you truly belong and gives you a thrill even if you’re not doing a lot of active fighting nowadays.

To be quite honest this war has been a blessing for you as there is no end in sight. It allows you to focus on something other than mundane things like the economy or civics. It’s also allowed you to put off the task of finding your “successor” and you don’t even care anymore. You’ve come to the conclusion that when your days are done in this world whoever gets the Empire is whoever is strong enough to hold it. If that means it disintegrates and falls into the abyss then so be it. The Empire fell once before and you revived it. It can do it again.

Only four major cities to conquer and the Arat Confederacy would be resigned to the history books, but they proved to be much harder to crack mainly because of Xi AND Redcap interference. Arat is a massive warzone and now all the major players are involved.

Zo was the toughest nut to crack in terms of fighting, but perhaps the easiest in some ways as there were no other elements to make things complicated. It was a straight up battle and it only defied you mainly due to its hatred of orcs, which make up a large part of your armies. It is almost unfortunate that the entire city population had to be practically eradicated because its citizens were certainly the bravest and had the best soldiers in this war.

Valizza was next. The crimelords there practically opened the gates for you. If it was a choice between suffering Zo’s fate or being ruled by the Empire, there was no choice at all. After all crime always exists somewhere in societies no matter how hard a government tries to stomp it out. The crimelords there no doubt assumed that they could just switch sides and slither into the underworld that exists in the Empire.

Most of them were wrong. You couldn’t be worrying about petty gang violence between warring factions you needed another city on the frontlines contributing to the war effort. You immediately had all the “leaders” sized up, determined which one was the most efficient and made him “governor” while the rest were executed. “Hand Cannon” Harry was grateful and now knows that the city is ultimately run for Empire purposes FIRST. And whatever criminal activity he has going on comes second. You’re the “Boss.”

Atinil, ever the bootlicking city to Lenay of course fought back, though not very well. The only reason why it posed any problems is due to Lenay’s forces attempting to bail them out and Xi incursions which had started to become more of a problem by this point. It was during this battle that your armies had begun facing any sort of heavy Xi opposition. Semra was right, there are an awful lot of them and they attack in waves with no regard for their own lives. They also make their first strikes mainly from below; in fact that’s what ultimately ended the siege of Atinil. Towards the end, its citizens threw open the gates begging you to destroy the Xi who had managed to enter the city before you did. By the time it was all said and done the Xi had destroyed half of the city before you managed to beat back the infiltration.

Your kobold commando units have been doing a good job at blocking off tunnels or creating new ones to form counter attacks, but again there are just so many of them that for every ten you kill it seems like a hundred take their place.

To make matters worse, the Redcaps have been making excursions into Arat via their airships. You’ve only manages to catch sight of a few from a distance, but others have described them to you in greater detail. Great big oval shaped contraptions that seem to move by propellers and some sort of gas that keeps them aloft. (At least that’s how someone tried to explain it to you, really you still never got all that “science” stuff)

And just as Semra had mentioned in your visit with her, they’ve been bombing indiscriminately on the Xi AND your own troops. You’ve yet to take one of these airships down mainly because they never stay around long enough in a battle (and certainly not in any battle that you’ve personally participated in. They float in to cause destruction and then leave, though you have noticed that they’ve all been going in a particular direction. Namely towards the city-state that has always remained a mystery, Telis.

Now Lenay is all that remains of the Arat Confederacy and it’s making sure that all attackers will not stomp out its presence with ease. A magic barrier has formed around the city, and probably extends far below the earth as well otherwise the Xi would’ve gone under it.

The barrier has proven impenetrable to all known weapons and magic or at least anything your soldiers can throw at it. Given how strong it is you can only guess that Semra is having a direct hand in the matter. So much for her claims that “you” were needed to create the barrier in the first place, then again she did imply that she merely needed your help to keep her from using up all her power.

Usually a “siege” mentality isn’t very successful (certainly didn’t work for the Felkans) but the svelk seem to be content on “waiting” everything out while you and the Xi slaughter each other, they may even be building up something that will change the tide of the war. (And probably are)

So once again it’s all falling onto you. You’re the only one that has magic remotely powerful enough to bring down that barrier and even then you might need help. You half wonder if taking the barrier down is going to kill you, but if it comes to that then so be it, but there might be a more pressing concern.

The recent appearances of the gnomes and their travels towards Telis make you wonder if you shouldn’t direct your attention toward them. Semra did warn you about them and their recent actions of bombing your own troops haven’t exactly proven her wrong.

It’s just a question of what you want to spend your time and resources on. Making a long trip to Telis probably through Xi occupied territory and then face whatever the gnomes have there (which you have no sort of intel on) or bring down the barrier (And continuing to fend off the Xi in the meantime).

Both of those are probably going to result in considerable losses.
> You bring down the barrier
You aren’t going to wait around and marching your troops off to Telis seems like a waste of time when you’re so close to finishing off the Arat Confederacy. Most of all you want to get your revenge on Eldolith for her attack on you in your own palace years ago.

You gather all the mages that are currently within your war camp and explain that you’re going to bring down that barrier. It’s going to require a great deal of energy and that it’s completely possible that some won’t even survive the process, but once that barrier is down, Lenay will be ripe for the taking.

In the meantime, the regular army is going to have to deal without magic back up for awhile when repelling Xi incursions.

You and your mages focus on the massive barrier protecting Lenay. You envision it coming down and staying that way. Doesn’t take long before you begin to feel a force combating your efforts. With a personalized touch that only Semra can do.

“What do you think you’re doing my eager eternal? If you wanted me to let you in, you could’ve just asked you know.” You hear her voice inside your head.

You try to block it out, but that’s a losing task. You and Semra are locked in more than just a battle of the wills right now. Your minds are still linked.

“This is a useless endeavor eternal. Even with your little followers you aren’t going to bring down this barrier. I can keep this up forever.”

One good thing about having a linked mind, is you can sometimes tell an outright lie, though in Semra’s case it’s always better to assume that she’s lying anyway. However, you know she can’t keep this up forever, her power is nowhere near how it used to be, otherwise she wouldn’t have wanted you to “join her” years ago.

“Very well, continue if you must…” Semra’s voice says and thankfully you’re just left with silence.

Five days pass and your army is fending off the Xi well enough, but the barrier still stands strong. You have not eaten, slept or drank anything and are really starting to feel those effects even if you are in a trance like state right now. The only thing that’s managed to sustain you is…well leeching off the energy of your other mages of which you’ve lost seven at this point.

Still, you really feel that you’re making progress. You can sense that the barrier is weakening, perhaps only a little, but it’s still something.

Unfortunately you may never know if you would’ve succeeded eventually because something occurs that interrupts everything. Something big and something you and probably nobody else could’ve ever envisioned…

An incredibly large object hovers high above the earth and moves slowly towards the city of Lenay. It’s high enough that it’s fairly safe from conventional weapons. It isn’t an airship either; it’s something much more.

It’s Telis.

The gnomes have somehow managed to uproot an entire city and have it floating in the fucking air.

While your army is certainly panicking about this, you’re nearly completely oblivious due to your continued spell focus on bringing down the barrier. You hear some of your officers shout at you about a flying city or something similar, but you’re more or less out of the loop.

Even when Telis begins to unleash a volley of mortar rockets in your area you still aren’t completely entirely cognizant of the situation. Loud explosions strike all around you and it’s amazing you aren’t killed in the blast, you do finally lose focus though and fall to the ground.

It is then when you realize how much danger you’re in. The gnomes are continuing their vicious bombardment of the area, probably hoping to wipe everyone out and they’re doing a fairly good job all things considering.

You look around and see your army completely panicked and running away. They are some of the bravest men and women from all walks of races, but they’ve never had to face something so large and massively destructive before. In fact you don’t even know if you’re going to be able to make it, you feel so weak and the most recent blast just killed or severely maimed the soldiers that were trying to carry you away from danger.

Dizzy, tired and very drained, you struggle to retreat from the area as your legs feel very wobbly.

“Can’t let it end like this. Argh! Hate this fucking weakness!” you exclaim as pain shoots all through your body and you collapse. It shames you, but you almost feel like just giving up and letting the gnome weapons finish you off.

“You see what happened my darling eternal? You were so focused on revenge on my idiot daughter that you completely neglected keeping up on what those red cap miscreants were up to. Now look at you, you’re all spent, just like when we first made love. Remember that?” you hear Semra’s voice say in your head. Apparently she’s still in contact with you. You make an audible groan when you believe that mocking voice of Semra is going to be the last thing you hear in your final moments.

However, as usual her mysterious and still baffling obsession with you might be your salvation…again.

“Fear not, lover. Mommy can save you. It will have to involve me lowering the barrier for just the briefest moment, but I can open a portal to your safety. Enter it and you’ll be back with me, right where you should’ve been all this time.”

No sooner do you hear these words uttered when you see a portal open up not far in front of you.

“Come to me, let us embrace again. You know it was always meant to be. We are the survivors. We did it once and we can do it again.”

Semra’s creepy attempt at temptation aside, you don’t have much time to react to your situation. The gnomes are undoubtedly going to unleash another volley of explosives and who knows if you’re going to be lucky enough to avoid a direct hit this time.

Then again, if you enter that portal who knows what the hell is in store for you.
> You enter the portal
You know this probably isn’t going to end well, but if you jump into the portal you at least know you’ll buy yourself a little time and a chance at survival. Staying out here is probably going to result in your getting blown to pieces.

You don’t think anymore about it and you take a crawling tumble into the portal. When you go through you’re instantly transported before Semra again. Same withered body, same chair, same plain room without any doors and the portal behind you is gone. You then hear an incredibly loud noise coming from above. It’s enough to even shake your surroundings a little.

“Glad you finally decided to listen to me again. Those little redcap assholes nearly managed to hit Lenay with their crude explosive weapons. If I had held that portal open any longer for you, they might’ve even destroyed this city. I hope you appreciate the sacrifices I make for you.” Semra says.
“Right…so what now? What’s your plan?” you ask getting up off the floor.
“Plan? I assumed you knew that by now. I mean you did come through my portal.”
“Yeah, I only took your escape route because I would’ve been a dead man had I not. That doesn’t mean I’m siding with you and I’m still not done with your daughter or this city.”

“I see…well perhaps we can arrange something to appease you better.”
“I doubt it.”
“Your faith in my capacity to see what you desire wounds me, especially since you have stated it so plainly here. Now if you give me a few moments, I can give you what you want, but I suggest you prepare yourself.”

At first you’re about to ask what she means, but even if you couldn’t get a glimmer of her mind, you believe you’d guess correctly fairly quickly.

And within a few moments another portal opens up and soon after that Eldolith steps through.

“Mother, the barrier went down for a few seconds and those gnomes nearly killed us all! You’ve got one job to do and you failed to do it! What the fuck are you doing down here? It’s bad enough that we had to stop the annual sveld infant hurling competition because…”

Eldolith suddenly stops her complaining when she notices you in the room. Her eyes grow wide and she says nothing, but instead tries to re-enter the portal, but Semra has closed it. Having chosen to unsuccessfully run rather than attempt to defend herself properly, you easily give her a large shock with lightning. She falls to the floor, her body convulsing from the jolt, but not dead yet.

You sort of expected that when you finally faced her, she’d put up more of a fight and inevitably you’d either kill her with a powerful magic strike or perhaps a quick sword thrust if you managed to get that close.

But now that she’s more or less at your mercy, something comes over you. A desire for cruelty. It’s strange, but you haven’t felt that way towards…well anyone for quite sometime. In fact the last time you felt this way was when you stopped yourself from giving in to such feelings when Eldolith was smarting off to you in Alison’s war camp. You remember some of the things you wanted to do to her.

Maybe this is some sort of repressed emotion that’s been coming for a very long time…

“We’re not finished Eldy. We’re not finished by a long shot. This has been a long time coming.” You say and kick her in the stomach and chest several times as hard as you can. You then get on top of her and begin to just punching her in the face. Her svelk “beauty” quickly starts to diminish as teeth become broken and her nose follows suit.

“Moth…ARGH!” Eldolith cries out as she desperately attempts to call for a maternal figure that just looks on in sadistic pleasure.

Eldolith weakly tries to claw at your eyes with her hands, but you easily grab them both and break her wrists. Eldolith screams at this point, begging you to stop and just kill her already.

“Apologies, but this is too much fun, in fact don’t you feel my…excitement?” you whisper in her bloodied ear and then slam the back of her head on the stone floor.

Aches and pains shoot through your joints, your hands, arms, your legs and your feet, but such things are overridden by the enjoyment you’re getting by beating the shit out the Eldolith.

Eventually Eldolith’s breathing becoming very “automatic.” It’s getting near the end where her body is just “functioning” and higher brainpower is quickly fading. Even through the blood all over her face, you notice the tears coming from Eldolith’s eyes.

“Oh no, not yet. I’m going to take you up on that offer you once gave me so long ago.” You say and roll Eldolith’s body over…

“Yes! YES! Do it! Do it my lovely eternal! Do it for mommy! Teach her that you are the master and that she is to be utterly destroyed!” you hear Semra’s voice in your head exclaim.

These calls of encouragement are followed by Semra’s real sounds of excitement made by her own withered body. The wheezing sickly noises are only drowned out by your half crazy rants of pure hate and grunting sounds.

After a short but brutal process later you end it by shoving your dagger through Eldolith’s skull, cracking through bone and brain. You even enjoy the sound it makes as you slowly pull it back out.

Painting heavily and covered in blood, you don’t feel nearly as bad as you usually do from such energetic activity. You almost feel…invigorated.

“There now. Don’t you feel better? Don’t you see this is how it should’ve always been? And just think you can enjoy this sort of thing all the time if you stay here with me. You think what you just experienced was revitalizing? When you fully embrace the power of your mind, you will truly know freedom.”

You just stare at Semra’s disgusting wizened body in a semi-trance as you listen to her alluring voice.

“You will have an entire city to rule and defile! To torture and humiliate! Let the gnomes burn the outside world to a crisp! Let the Xi overrun the land with their hives! WE will be still here LONG after their time in the sun has gone! We will be like the GODS of old here FOREVER.”

Semra’s personal barrier that surrounds her body goes down and another chair materializes next to her own.

“Join me my love and we can have everything…”

Semra’s voice is so entrancing. She’s making a lot of sense. You don’t detect any lying and you can even see into her mind more clearly. She’s letting you in. You still don’t quite understand a lot of it or see all of it, but you catch a glimpse of perhaps why Semra harbors “romantic” feelings for you.

You see the image of another svelk. A male, obviously a soldier, but a mage as well. You also see images of him battling creatures and conquering foes all in the name of his Empire. He obviously enjoys the violence and takes great pleasure in battle, but there’s a certain “honorable” trait about him though too.

It’s odd and you’re loathed to admit such a thing, but despite being a svelk he seems very similar to…well you. He even looks vaguely like you in your younger years if you had black skin and the pointy ears.

You think you’re about to see more, but Semra finally shuts you out. You guess she’s decided you’ve seen enough. Whether that means she’s trying to hide something or just merely unwilling to because the memories are too painful, you cannot be sure.

Is this why Semra’s been so obsessed with you? Was it really that simple? You reminded her of a long dead lover?

She could’ve just said something, but then of course that wouldn’t be the svelk way, let alone Semra’s.

Maybe this is all a trick. Maybe she’s making you see something that isn’t real to make you more sympathetic towards her despite all the rotten things she’s done.

Maybe she intends on killing you. Maybe the spell she cast on you over five hundred years ago was all part of some incomprehensible long range plan that only she understands and you’re finally falling under her complete influence.

Or maybe she’s just scared of dying alone.

You don’t know. What you do know that you’re probably never getting out of here. (Wherever “here” actually is, though you assume its somewhere under Lenay) Even if you kill Semra, you don’t have the ability to create magical portals or anything like that so you’ll essentially be in a living tomb waiting to die.

Of course you probably won’t be waiting too long. Considering she’s currently the only thing up keeping the protective barrier over Lenay as soon as you kill her, you’d wager that the gnomes are going to bomb the shit out of this place and you’ll die in a cave in and that’s assuming the Xi don’t come digging through and overwhelming you first.
> You kill Semra
Maybe you aren’t going to defeat the gnomes and maybe you aren’t going to defeat the Xi.

Maybe either one or both of those races will eventually destroy the Empire you resurrected.

Maybe you’ll be completely forgotten.

And that’s all okay, because what you’re about to do is going to be completely worth it.

You walk slowly towards the chair that Semra has provided for you. You keep your mind completely clear of any murderous thoughts.

“You’re right. This is destiny…” you say with a smile.

You are soon in front of Semra’s husk of a body. It’s even worse looking up close, not to mention the smell, but you continue to smile as you put your face in front of hers.

“But before I take my place by your side my lover, let me give you one last thing…”

You see Semra’s face, as slack jawed as it is, manages to make a disturbing grin.

“Yes, my eternal, kiss me...” you hear her voice say in your head.

And at that moment you grab your dagger…the very dagger you just killed her daughter with while you fucked her. The very dagger Semra stabbed you with and gave to you as a gift when you were just sixteen years.

It has at last been returned to its owner when you stab Semra in the chest with it.

“HHHAAAAGGGHHHH…” Semra’s desiccated vocal cords gasp. The foul odor of her breath invades your nostrils and the scent of death has never smelled so sweet to you.

“Smmaahhh! Lovely.” You remark and step back to watch Semra soon expire from her mortal wound. When her body slumps downward in her chair you know she won’t be healing her way out of this one.

And soon you’re alone and feeling very tired. You take a rest in the chair Semra created for you and dwell on your life in general.

You think back mostly on your old life before you were dug up five centuries later. The good old days when you knew exactly who was always by your side.

Alison.

You think back to your wedding day and how happy you were then and how you thought the glory days would never end.

But everything ends eventually, just a question of when. If anything, your life has been running on borrowed time for the last twenty some odd years. When you think about it, you did pretty good all things considering.

Your introspection is put to an end when you hear several large explosions above you and this time, its not just shaking, the ceiling to the room is beginning to crack and stone begins to fall.

Looks like it will be the gnomes that get you even if they’re unaware of it. In fact nobody is going to be aware of what happened to you. You just disappeared off the battlefield. You imagine you’ll be presumed dead though.

It doesn’t matter really, but perhaps it is fitting that you die the same way you were originally meant to, buried and crushed by dirt and rubble.

In your last moments as the ceiling comes crashing down on your head, you surprisingly grab on to Semra’s cold dead hand.

Perhaps in some strange way you were meant to be together after all.


You know this probably isn’t going to end well, but if you jump into the portal you at least know you’ll buy yourself a little time and a chance at survival. Staying out here is probably going to result in your getting blown to pieces.

You don’t think anymore about it and you take a crawling tumble into the portal. When you go through you’re instantly transported before Semra again. Same withered body, same chair, same plain room without any doors and the portal behind you is gone. You then hear an incredibly loud noise coming from above. It’s enough to even shake your surroundings a little.

“Glad you finally decided to listen to me again. Those little redcap assholes nearly managed to hit Lenay with their crude explosive weapons. If I had held that portal open any longer for you, they might’ve even destroyed this city. I hope you appreciate the sacrifices I make for you.” Semra says.
“Right…so what now? What’s your plan?” you ask getting up off the floor.
“Plan? I assumed you knew that by now. I mean you did come through my portal.”
“Yeah, I only took your escape route because I would’ve been a dead man had I not. That doesn’t mean I’m siding with you and I’m still not done with your daughter or this city.”

“I see…well perhaps we can arrange something to appease you better.”
“I doubt it.”
“Your faith in my capacity to see what you desire wounds me, especially since you have stated it so plainly here. Now if you give me a few moments, I can give you what you want, but I suggest you prepare yourself.”

At first you’re about to ask what she means, but even if you couldn’t get a glimmer of her mind, you believe you’d guess correctly fairly quickly.

And within a few moments another portal opens up and soon after that Eldolith steps through.

“Mother, the barrier went down for a few seconds and those gnomes nearly killed us all! You’ve got one job to do and you failed to do it! What the fuck are you doing down here? It’s bad enough that we had to stop the annual sveld infant hurling competition because…”

Eldolith suddenly stops her complaining when she notices you in the room. Her eyes grow wide and she says nothing, but instead tries to re-enter the portal, but Semra has closed it. Having chosen to unsuccessfully run rather than attempt to defend herself properly, you easily give her a large shock with lightning. She falls to the floor, her body convulsing from the jolt, but not dead yet.

You sort of expected that when you finally faced her, she’d put up more of a fight and inevitably you’d either kill her with a powerful magic strike or perhaps a quick sword thrust if you managed to get that close.

But now that she’s more or less at your mercy, something comes over you. A desire for cruelty. It’s strange, but you haven’t felt that way towards…well anyone for quite sometime. In fact the last time you felt this way was when you stopped yourself from giving in to such feelings when Eldolith was smarting off to you in Alison’s war camp. You remember some of the things you wanted to do to her.

Maybe this is some sort of repressed emotion that’s been coming for a very long time…

“We’re not finished Eldy. We’re not finished by a long shot. This has been a long time coming.” You say and kick her in the stomach and chest several times as hard as you can. You then get on top of her and begin to just punching her in the face. Her svelk “beauty” quickly starts to diminish as teeth become broken and her nose follows suit.

“Moth…ARGH!” Eldolith cries out as she desperately attempts to call for a maternal figure that just looks on in sadistic pleasure.

Eldolith weakly tries to claw at your eyes with her hands, but you easily grab them both and break her wrists. Eldolith screams at this point, begging you to stop and just kill her already.

“Apologies, but this is too much fun, in fact don’t you feel my…excitement?” you whisper in her bloodied ear and then slam the back of her head on the stone floor.

Aches and pains shoot through your joints, your hands, arms, your legs and your feet, but such things are overridden by the enjoyment you’re getting by beating the shit out the Eldolith.

Eventually Eldolith’s breathing becoming very “automatic.” It’s getting near the end where her body is just “functioning” and higher brainpower is quickly fading. Even through the blood all over her face, you notice the tears coming from Eldolith’s eyes.

“Oh no, not yet. I’m going to take you up on that offer you once gave me so long ago.” You say and roll Eldolith’s body over…

“Yes! YES! Do it! Do it my lovely eternal! Do it for mommy! Teach her that you are the master and that she is to be utterly destroyed!” you hear Semra’s voice in your head exclaim.

These calls of encouragement are followed by Semra’s real sounds of excitement made by her own withered body. The wheezing sickly noises are only drowned out by your half crazy rants of pure hate and grunting sounds.

After a short but brutal process later you end it by shoving your dagger through Eldolith’s skull, cracking through bone and brain. You even enjoy the sound it makes as you slowly pull it back out.

Painting heavily and covered in blood, you don’t feel nearly as bad as you usually do from such energetic activity. You almost feel…invigorated.

“There now. Don’t you feel better? Don’t you see this is how it should’ve always been? And just think you can enjoy this sort of thing all the time if you stay here with me. You think what you just experienced was revitalizing? When you fully embrace the power of your mind, you will truly know freedom.”

You just stare at Semra’s disgusting wizened body in a semi-trance as you listen to her alluring voice.

“You will have an entire city to rule and defile! To torture and humiliate! Let the gnomes burn the outside world to a crisp! Let the Xi overrun the land with their hives! WE will be still here LONG after their time in the sun has gone! We will be like the GODS of old here FOREVER.”

Semra’s personal barrier that surrounds her body goes down and another chair materializes next to her own.

“Join me my love and we can have everything…”

Semra’s voice is so entrancing. She’s making a lot of sense. You don’t detect any lying and you can even see into her mind more clearly. She’s letting you in. You still don’t quite understand a lot of it or see all of it, but you catch a glimpse of perhaps why Semra harbors “romantic” feelings for you.

You see the image of another svelk. A male, obviously a soldier, but a mage as well. You also see images of him battling creatures and conquering foes all in the name of his Empire. He obviously enjoys the violence and takes great pleasure in battle, but there’s a certain “honorable” trait about him though too.

It’s odd and you’re loathed to admit such a thing, but despite being a svelk he seems very similar to…well you. He even looks vaguely like you in your younger years if you had black skin and the pointy ears.

You think you’re about to see more, but Semra finally shuts you out. You guess she’s decided you’ve seen enough. Whether that means she’s trying to hide something or just merely unwilling to because the memories are too painful, you cannot be sure.

Is this why Semra’s been so obsessed with you? Was it really that simple? You reminded her of a long dead lover?

She could’ve just said something, but then of course that wouldn’t be the svelk way, let alone Semra’s.

Maybe this is all a trick. Maybe she’s making you see something that isn’t real to make you more sympathetic towards her despite all the rotten things she’s done.

Maybe she intends on killing you. Maybe the spell she cast on you over five hundred years ago was all part of some incomprehensible long range plan that only she understands and you’re finally falling under her complete influence.

Or maybe she’s just scared of dying alone.

You don’t know. What you do know that you’re probably never getting out of here. (Wherever “here” actually is, though you assume its somewhere under Lenay) Even if you kill Semra, you don’t have the ability to create magical portals or anything like that so you’ll essentially be in a living tomb waiting to die.

Of course you probably won’t be waiting too long. Considering she’s currently the only thing up keeping the protective barrier over Lenay as soon as you kill her, you’d wager that the gnomes are going to bomb the shit out of this place and you’ll die in a cave in and that’s assuming the Xi don’t come digging through and overwhelming you first.
> You join Semra
You realize you don’t want to die yet.

You also realize that events have conspired against you to lead up to this moment, so perhaps maybe you should just give in to fate.

You hate Semra. You’ve always hated her. And whenever she’s helped you’ve resented it even more. And when she’s right that’s when you hate her the most.

But you can’t deny her appeal. Even after all these centuries, that part of you, that sick twisted part of you that thought was gone forever is still there and as strong as it ever was.

So you give in. You take your place by Semra’s side and sit in the chair that Semra has provided for you. You can sense the delight in her mind.

“So…now what?” you ask.
“Now the fun begins, lover! Just close your eyes and relax. As always mommy will take care of everything…”

You feel your magical essence join with Semra’s own and together you both feel stronger. Most of the energy goes towards the barrier protecting Lenay, but the rest goes towards your own whims, which are now endless at least within your mind, and the city is concerned.

You and Semra take a more direct control over Lenay now without Eldolith in charge. You both instill fear into the populace and give commands via your mind to the next highest in rank. (Who just happens to be Eldolith’s latest ambitious girlfriend who gladly accepts the position of Domina).

For the most part you just let the city run itself and enjoy watching the excess the city has to offer. Semra herself says things like gladiator matches, the torturing of sveld slaves and the baby throwing competitions are much more enjoyable now that she has someone close to share them with.

And when you aren’t doing that, you engage in an activity that’s more common. Of course seeing that your bodies are in no longer suitable for that activity, you engage intimately on a whole mental level. Semra was right about this too, it is somehow more intense than you imagined that could be. Your mind is not limited like the body and you and Semra indulge in many twisted fantasies.

You have to admit though, you don’t ever really see baby throwing as a “sport”, but more like an activity. You and Semra constantly have debates over this issue…

“But there’s a target and points and everything! How the hell is it not a sport?!” Semra asks.
“Just doesn’t seem like one to me. Gladiator matches I can see. There’s clearly skill and training involved.”
“You think there isn’t any training or skill with baby throwing? Do you realize how much sveld babies squirm about before your throw them? It’s not like just lobbing a nice round rock you know. They don’t tend to fly straight, you have to practice and adjust for wind and all kinds of other little factors. Like whether or not the baby has eaten within the last couple of hours or so.”
“What? If you’re going to kill them anyway why the hell would you even feed them so close before throwing them?”
“It shouldn’t surprise you, but baby throwing is taken VERY seriously in svelk society. So much so that some like to cheat by secretly feeding their opponent’s babies before hand. Nothing worse than a baby-spraying diarrhea all over you while you’re swinging it around to throw. Even the smell could distract you from your throw and cause you to lose valuable points.”
“I dunno, still just seems like a celebrated svelk activity to me. I mean why don’t you consider torturing elves a sport? Surely the torturers have practiced their trade enough to keep victims alive long enough to give a good show.” you ask.
“Because that’s not a sport, that’s a fucking art! (Sigh) You humans are such uncultured barbarians.”

While you and Semra remain safely inside the barrier of Lenay, the world outside goes on, but not in a good way. The Empire suffers greatly without your leadership. The Xi begin overrunning the borders and the gnomes continue to bomb the hell out of both.

Doesn’t take long before holdings in Arat fall completely and Quala is well on its way. Sightmaster Crowley does his best to fill your shoes, but it just isn’t enough when the gnomes come out with an even deadlier weapon than their airships.

They develop a plague of some sort to kill the Xi and it works spectacularly. The Xi die off by the thousands. Then the citizens of the Empire start to die off as well. Whether it’s from the same disease or a different one the gnomes created, it doesn’t matter. Elves, humans and even orcs begin to sicken and die. The only ones with somewhat of a resistance are the kobolds and they quickly abandon their duties and scurry back to the safety of their underground dwellings when the gnomes start fire bombing the dying husk of the Empire.

The gnomes don’t give up on Lenay either. They attempt to use different weapons to breach the barrier and continue to use the old ones in the hopes that eventually the magic on the barrier will weaken, after all you had the same idea that even Semra couldn’t keep it up forever.

And it’s true she can’t by herself. With your help though it isn’t quite as much of a problem. Unfortunately even with the two of you, you can’t keep it up forever either, especially you when you realize that Semra’s been slowly draining all your energy little bit by little bit. You were so wrapped up in enjoying decadence that you didn’t think about how Semra was ultimately using you and eventually killing you.

You try to free yourself, but her spell that melded your minds keeps you in place and too weak to resist her.

You try to reason with Semra by stating that if you die, it’ll only buy her a bit more time and the gnomes will eventually break through anyway.

“Perhaps, my sweet eternal, but not today…I will miss you…” Semra says sounding genuinely sad.

You curse yourself for being so weak as you have nobody to blame but yourself. Semra was just being true to herself, something you should’ve done. You were so afraid of death that you ran from it only to die a slave rather than a warrior or even as a free man.

You lament your poor judgment as your mind begins to fade into the ever-lasting darkness.