You need to keep Velzix as occupied as possible, before he starts opening up portals to summon in reinforcements because if he gets a chance to do that, you’re fucked.

Using tremendous power you summon up revenants. Souls of the dead who harbor a desire for revenge against their killer and given how many Velzix has killed, you barely need to even to control them. They immediately go for the attack.

“ASH! I’ll turn you ALL to ash!” Velzix claims, unleashing a blast of hellfire disintegrating one of the revenants.

You have a hard time aiming, do to the constant movement of Velzix, but you manage to land in your own magic attacks. Your Dad is doing pretty well, though it’s obvious that he’s tired. He’s running on pure adrenaline right now.

While Velzix might be too occupied to open portals, he’s still got his guards in the fortress. More of them arrive, but you take care of them and raise the mortal ones to attack their former master.

Eventually Velzix manages to grab your Dad and proceeds to smash him into the stone floor several times before throwing him into a wall. The corpses and revenants continue to strike Velzix the entire time. He’s severely wounded himself, and attempts to open a portal while ignoring the pain.

You cast greater blast of negative energy at Velzix hitting him in the eyes and blinding him.

“NO! I cannot be defeated! Not like this!” he bellows in agony while falling to the floor

You take your Dad’s sword which is lying nearby on the floor.

“Nope, you’ll be defeated like this.” You say and with one good chop you sever Velzix’s head from his body.

In a horribly comical display, Velzix’s body flails about wildly for a few minutes until its finally hacked to bits by the revenants. Some more of Velzix’s guard arrive and seeing their leader in pieces, they run off. You tell your revenants to hunt them down and fulfill their need for revenge.

Just you and Dad now. He lies against the wall broken and bloody. He’s very near death. He’s hardly the imposing figure that instilled fear in you when you were little.

“…fuck…I coulda had that demon bastard if I’d been younger.” He growls.
“I’m sure you could’ve.”
“Shit, I’m all fucked up…guess this is a good day for you. One rival dead and me soon to join him.”
“Oddly, I don’t feel too much of anything right now. I probably would’ve taken joy in your death at one time, but not now. I’m not sure what that means though.”

Your Dad just grunts at your answer, before saying one last thing.

“Heh, you chopped that bastard’s head off. No magic tricks. Just visceral physical violence…you impressed me…”

Your Dad dies with those last words. A violent end for a violent man. You wonder why he felt the need to praise you before he died though. Guilt? Regret? Genuine respect? Did he think that by giving you “validation” you might change your ways? Perhaps he felt responsible for your path in some way?

Whatever the reason, you dismiss it all. You chose this path for yourself. Nobody else. Whatever you’ve done, or are going to do it’ll be because you chose to do it.

“(Sigh) Can’t say it was a pleasure Dad, but I guess you were finally alright in the end.” You say and cast a small fireball spell to burn his body.

You make your way back to Aftermath where Catalina meets you. Catalina asks you what happened exactly in Velzix’s realm and you tell her the truth.

“It’s just like I said Cat baby, I went in there and chopped Velzix’s head off. And then my Dad died.”
“Oh. Wow. Are you alright?”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“Okay, well I guess I should tell you, the Ghoul King has been itching to strike against the Vampire Clans and he says that he’s going to do it, with or without your direct help.”
“Very well, I’ll go meet him. Might as well get rid of another enemy today.”

Catalina stops you before you leave again.

“Really, are you okay?”
“You’re by my side. Of course I’m okay. I want you to start making arrangements to take over Velzix’s territory. When word gets out that he’s dead, the Grand Alliance will be all over it, So let’s get a head start before they do.” You say and kiss her goodbye.

Soon you go meet the Ghoul King in at his “Kingdom” in the Drozz region. Other than the small castle he erected and the ghouls that now roam openly and freely, the area doesn’t look too much different.

When you arrive, he gives a big pointy toothed smile while his hordes of his ghouls wait around.

“Well now, I wasn’t sure if I’d see you. When I spoke to Catalina she mentioned you were having a big show down with Velzix! I trust that went well then, since you’re here.”
“Yep, he’s dead.”
“Ha ha! Excellent! I guess after this little foray, we’ll only have the Grand Alliance to worry about!”
“I don’t think I’ll have to worry about them at all actually.”
“You might be right…so are you ready to go? I’ve been lusting for this revenge for years, so if you don’t mind, I want to kill Lord Rostov myself.”
“No problem GK, I’ll just be here as support. So where is this Vampire hideout anyway, you never did tell me. How long will it take us to get there?”
“Oh I can get us there real quick. I still have the magic key to teleport there. I’ve enhanced its power to transport several of us to invade. As for its location, I’m sure you’re aware that it’s hidden by powerful magic, but its site is in the Deshun Mountains.” The Ghoul King explains while pulling out a small ebony cube
“Hm, good location. Remote, treacherous terrain, nobody climbing up there. Let’s do it.”

Before you know it, The Ghoul King presses a button on the cube and you and he materialize in the foyer of a large fortress. No ghouls with you though.

“SHIT! This was supposed to transport all of us!” he shouts, before suddenly quieting his voice.
“Yeah, well magic never works out like you want it to half the time. Let’s just get on with it. I’ve already killed a Demon lord today, I’m hardly worried about some decadent bloodsuckers…no offense.”
“None taken…but here. Take this.” The Ghoul King hands you a brass ring with several small rubies embedded in it. “Wear it. It’s imbued with magic that will protect you from the gaze of Lord Rostov.”
“What? I’m a fucking necromancer; I think I’m a little more strong willed than the average mortal. The stares of some vampire aren’t going to make me go all to mush.”
“Maybe, but I still say you should wear it. Lord Rostov is very old and he is more powerful than the average vampire and can be tremendously influential. While you may also be powerful you are still mortal and all the weakness that entails…no offense.”
“None taken.”
> You do not wear the ring
“Nah, I don’t need this ring, but thanks anyway GK. Come on let’s…”
“I feel you really should wear it. I don’t want you suddenly turn against me during the fight!”
“Won’t happen, trust me. Let’s go…”

The Ghoul King is getting noticeably agitated.

“Look! He’ll be coming soon just put the fucking ring on, before he gets here!”

Now you’re getting agitated.

“GK, you better just calm the fuck down. I don’t like being told what to do, unless it’s by Catalina in the bedroom. So…”
“Damn you! We’ll do this the old fashioned way then!” he shouts and attacks!

With one powerful blow he knocks you to the floor. You’re still shaking off the cobwebs by the time he’s ready to land a killing strike. He’s stopped by Lord Rostov however.

“That will do Ghoul King. His mortal life is not for yours to take.” Rostov says calmly while entering the foyer with a small group of female vampires.
“I told you to stop calling me that! I have delivered my end of the bargain! You promised me that my status would be restored!”
“Yes, but you attempted to kill him, when I specifically told you I wanted him alive. You were not completely dedicated to your end of the deal. So while you may continue to stay in the glory of my presence, I think you’ll still remain the Ghoul King.”

The Ghoul King looks like he’s about to argue, but instead he submits.

“Yes, Lord Rostov.”
“Ha ha ha ha. You sad sack of shit. Selling me out to be Lord Rostov’s bitch, some deal you made.” You say while getting back up.

Lord Rostov now turns his attention towards you. He looks exactly like what you always heard vampires are supposed to look like. Regal, refined, confident and arrogant as all hell.

“Do not judge the Ghoul King too harshly; his actions were based on survival. True he did long for revenge at one time, but when I came to him with this…arrangement, he jumped at the chance because in the end the Ghoul King has always chosen his own survival over anything else.”
“Then he’s failed miserably in that endeavor because he won’t be surviving this.”
“I fail to see how idle threats are going to help you right now. In fact this situation would be unnecessary if you hadn’t pursued this path. You only have yourself to blame. Causing chaos and destroying the natural order of things. Ending all life on this world is simply unacceptable.”
“…(Sigh) Why is everyone assuming that? I’m PROTECTING myself! Look, I know you still have the puppet master strings going on in the mortal realm. Shit, you’re probably responsible for the Grand Alliance. I’d even be willing to live in peace with the civilized world if they’d stop attacking me!”
“I once heard the same thing from another of you ilk long ago. We all did. It’s the reason why we’re in this state we are today. You’re growing more powerful with each death you bring. Whether you know it or not, you’re already addicted to the power. You’re addicted to death. Do you REALLY think you can stop yourself at this point? You won’t. You can’t deny your nature no more than we can deny ours. The Great Lich Lord didn’t stop, and neither will you. The status quo must be kept and for that to happen, you have to die.”

With those words, Lord Rostov uses his supernatural speed before you can react and prompty breaks your neck.

Your heart stops beating.
Your lungs stop drawing breath.
You fall to the floor dead.

“Best to take care of these things quickly. Remember the lessons of poor Duke Tolov who…”

While Lord Rostov is pontificating about his predecessor, your body undergoes a change. You body is regenerating. The bones in your neck have re-knitted. You open your eyes; your heart is still not beating. You draw no breath, yet you’re still alive. You feel more knowledgeable in the ways of magic and death in particular.

You are the Great Lich Lord reborn…and you are pissed.

You immediately get up and launch a fireball into Lord Rostov’s back. He howls in pain before you cause his heart to explode in his chest, followed by his brain. He falls uselessly on to the ground. His nights of existence are over.

The other vampires in the immediate area sound an alarm, but you’re not worried. A few manage to attack you and land some deep blows, but you feel nothing but numbness. Then you strike back.

You begin to dominate all of their minds. Your powers have grown to an extent that you’re able to directly control even intelligent undead like these. You don’t even want to dirty your hands with dealing with these miserable blood leeches. You cause them all to gruesomely attack one another, until you’re ultimately the last one standing in a fortress filled with dismembered vampires, well one still lives. He still struggles against your mind control, but he knows the end will soon come. He even welcomes it at this point.

“Shouldn’t have done it GK. You had everything. Now only oblivion awaits you.”
“I don’t care anymore. This world is going to end soon; I’d rather die before I see that happen. How will it feel when the world is finally under your utter command? What will you do when there is nothing left? Will you be able to be satisfied on just continued existence?”
“I guess I’ll find out, because you won’t.”

You cause the Ghoul King to rip his own heart out and bite into it before setting him and the rest of them on fire.

With all the bloodsuckers dead you leave the burning fortress and transport yourself back to Aftermath. When you return Aftermath, Catalina sees your wounds and unnecessarily worries about you.

“Baby, you’re wounded!”
“Catalina, I’m fuckin’ dead.” You say sharply and enter your study.

You retire to your study where you put your vampire ordeal out of your mind and reflect upon what will come next while you write a letter to your Mom and Sister about Dad. You figure they should know the truth even if nobody else will.

Even in this new state of existence, you’re so tired…
> You once again you enter a new stage of your journey
Chapter 4: Even Death May Die

Five years pass…

It’s been ten years since you took control of Aftermath and many changes have come about.

Without Velzix’s brutal leadership, his realm soon broke apart. Demon leaders fought amongst themselves and became easier to deal with for the Grand Alliance. Little by little territory was liberated. However you were not idle and you also took pieces of Velzix’s former territory.

Due to all the problems caused by Velzix a new order was enacted by the Grand Alliance. No more chances are being taken and the civilized world has a zero tolerance policy on demons. Demons are to be killed on sight anywhere they are found. Even the so called “nice ones”. Any government found tolerating their presence will be found guilty of demonology and invaded.

This lead to a few misguided liberal types claiming that it was infringing on certain rights, but considering the increasingly draconian Zalan Empire had pretty much taken complete control over the Grand Alliance at this point, they had final say in the matter and executed all such protestors. The Grand Alliance is now merely a name much like Vampire Clans. In reality, it’s the “Zalan Empire and its little friends that better do what it says Alliance”.

Speaking of the Vampire Clans, since your total destruction of their last remaining enclave, their influence has completely left this world. You’ve noticed a reduced effectiveness in Grand Alliance strategy because of this despite that they’ve become more united in recent years. Except for the near mindless bestial ones that roam the countryside they’re effectively extinct. Still, you feel no need to show them mercy and bring them under your control. When one is found, you have it destroyed. The treachery of the Ghoul King has brought this genocide upon their “race.”

Your letter to your family was never replied to, but you are aware it was received. You don’t know exactly how the truth was spun, or who exactly was involved. But you do know your Dad has a statue erected of him in the Zalan capital stating how he nobly gave his life fighting Velzix. Funny how mad men can be turned into heroes so easily.

Your sister is a general of a Grand Alliance army now, which of course continues to attack you despite some of your attempts at coming to some sort of peace agreement.

The fools won’t even listen to reason. There’s no way the Grand Alliance can win this war. You’ve only been growing in power and show no signs of stopping. Even with their stabilized internal struggles under the Zalan Empire’s iron fist they still won’t be able to defeat you. The world has gone mad and you’re the only one making sense anymore. They call you a villain and evil, but from what you’ve seen, you’re no different than any of the other leaders in power. You’re just better at it.

Maybe you should turn the world into a giant graveyard.

Everyone thinks of you as a monster anyway, you see no reason to disappoint…

“Catalina, I think it’s time we finish this war once and for all.” You say walking into her study.
“Oh you do, do you? Well, I figured that it was coming eventually. So is there any specific way we’re going about this?”
“Yeah, we just make a massive push and don’t stop until every living thing is dead.”
“Wow. Everything?”
“Everything. I gave the world of the living the chance for peace and they don’t seem to want it. Well I’m tired of fighting, so if the only way to get some peace is to kill everything so be it!”
“Well, I mean what happens if some people surrender? I mean you’ll still allow them to live like you usually do right?”
“What? What’s with this line of questioning Catalina? You’ve never been one to wince at grand scale carnage.”
“…I know, but I…”
“Alright, out with it.”
“Well I mean after we destroy the Grand Alliance, what then? There will be nothing else to do. I mean do we just reign over a land of the dead until the end of time?”
“Sounds about right.”
“I dunno, is that our only option?”
“For fuck’s sake Cat, what the hell did you become a necromancer for then?”
“Because much like you I probably didn’t feel like I had much in common with people and I could feel a pull towards the dark art of necromancy.”
“Well what’s the problem?”
“…there isn’t a problem…it’s just I feel like the end is coming soon and question what I’ve accomplished in my life. I mean other than genocide what have I done?”
“You’re Queen of the Dead! What more could you want?”
“Yeah, queen. Big whoop. I’m basically a glorified concubine for a…”
“Damn it Catalina I’ve NEVER thought of you as that! You know I cherish you and all of you have to offer. I never could’ve gotten this far without you.” you say holding on to her and looking into her eyes.

“…I know…it’s just in some ways I see you starting to change and I don’t mean your general loathing of the living either. I mean you’ve always been powerful, more powerful than me, but it’s different. It’s like you’re becoming something else. I sometimes think your path is going to differ from mine to a degree that we will no longer be able to be together.”

For a moment you forget about your problems and address Catalina.

“Catalina my beautiful queen…no matter what happens I shall never leave you.” you say and kiss her.
“And I shall never leave you…Okay, where are we going to attack?”

While you’ve temporarily reassured Catalina’s feelings, you do wonder if she isn’t right. Will there come a day when you and her will have so many differences that you won’t be able to be together anymore?

You wonder if you’ve been taking some things for granted. You have everything you could ever need or want. Maybe you don’t need to go on the attack. The Grand Alliance surely does not have the strength to defeat you; you doubt it would even attempt to expend all its resources in trying.

Sure you might have to continue to fight them, but when you think about it, would it be less tedious than an existence without any conflict?
> You continue with your attack
You can better appreciate what you have when all those that would do you harm are gone.

You order an attack of the largest size. While you’re attacking from several directions, you decide to focus specifically on the Zalan Empire given that they’re glue holding the Grand Alliance together. Get rid of them and you’ve effective put an end to the war.

Corpses, skeletons, ghosts, wraiths, and all other manner of undead are raised to your grand plan. Town after town is taken. The Grand Alliance nor the Zalan Military can do anything to stop you. They use magic, they use new technological wonders, but none of it works. It is only when your dead legions approach the gates of the Zalan capital that you call a stop to the carnage.

You arrive personally to oversee your mission and to meet with your family one last time, because even after all this, you don’t want to kill them. Somewhere you hope that they’ll see reason and come with you. Things won’t be so bad.

You storm the gates as cannons destroy multitudes of your troops only to be replaced with more. You see your sister on top of the battlements ordering her soldiers to fire upon you. During this attack you feel several bullets enter your body breaking through your magical defenses.

You fall.
You then rise again.

“You can’t kill me, I’m the fuckin’ Great Lich Lord!” you laugh.

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

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

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

“I don’t know why, I would’ve made sure no harm came to her. That’s why I came here.”
“You already harmed her by becoming what you are! I mean…you’re not even alive anymore! I saw you die and come back to life on the battlefield!”
“Oh that. The first time was a surprise to me too. Kind of a numb feeling really.”
“How can you be so at peace with what you’ve become?”
“Because it was obviously in my nature all along. Death is my calling, I’ve only grown closer to it by dying. Can’t change who I am.”
“Dad did.”
“No he didn’t. Not really. He just directed his nature into a slightly more positive way and it was only due to magic that caused it in the first place. Funny how magic did the same with me, but just in reverse. However, as I’ve said, this does not mean I’m not without total feelings. I’d rather not have to kill you sis, but if you stand against me, I will.”
“I have to stand against you.”
“Why? For some noble cause of a corrupt mortal empire that’s just as oppressive? Sis you always were a bit too duty bound.”
“No, because while you still exist, life ALL life is in danger. You’re evil, what you’ve been doing is evil, what you’ve become is unnatural. You can delude yourself all you want, but I’m not fooled and if I joined you or whatever it is you want, then I’d be just as guilty of contributing to your evil. You’re not even my brother anymore, I have no brother!”

You shake your head in regret at your sister’s insistence on being stubborn, but then again you expected no less.

“I’ll give you one last chance sis. Will you join me?”

Your sister raises her magical glowing sword.

“So be it.”
> You allow her to kill you
You might have become the Great Lich Lord, but if it means killing those you care about, you don’t want it. There’s still time to stop this.

As your sister approaches you make no attempt to defend yourself. She doesn’t hesitate, because she sees in your now dead eyes that you’re giving her this one chance to kill you.

You feel the sword rip through your body, you don’t feel pain, but you definitely feel a loss of power. She then pulls the sword out of your body.

“Better do it now sis. I don’t think I can hold back my nature forever.”

With those words, your sister cleaves your head from your shoulders.

Once again the world has been saved from the brink of death.

In time things get better, though never back to the way they truly were. Catalina committed suicide soon after she found out about your death, but other necromancers quickly attempted to fill the power vacuum. They of course were never able to approach your power, but a few established a permanent dominion of death in the Drozz region. The area to this day is avoided.

Your sister became celebrated as a Hero and eventually took the Zalan crown leading the Empire in a nobler direction. Your Mom came back from where ever it is she disappeared to and together with your sister, mourned your death in private.

For in reality it was you who stopped death from taking over the world, proving that even death can show mercy.


You can better appreciate what you have when all those that would do you harm are gone.

You order an attack of the largest size. While you’re attacking from several directions, you decide to focus specifically on the Zalan Empire given that they’re glue holding the Grand Alliance together. Get rid of them and you’ve effective put an end to the war.

Corpses, skeletons, ghosts, wraiths, and all other manner of undead are raised to your grand plan. Town after town is taken. The Grand Alliance nor the Zalan Military can do anything to stop you. They use magic, they use new technological wonders, but none of it works. It is only when your dead legions approach the gates of the Zalan capital that you call a stop to the carnage.

You arrive personally to oversee your mission and to meet with your family one last time, because even after all this, you don’t want to kill them. Somewhere you hope that they’ll see reason and come with you. Things won’t be so bad.

You storm the gates as cannons destroy multitudes of your troops only to be replaced with more. You see your sister on top of the battlements ordering her soldiers to fire upon you. During this attack you feel several bullets enter your body breaking through your magical defenses.

You fall.
You then rise again.

“You can’t kill me, I’m the fuckin’ Great Lich Lord!” you laugh.

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

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

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

“I don’t know why, I would’ve made sure no harm came to her. That’s why I came here.”
“You already harmed her by becoming what you are! I mean…you’re not even alive anymore! I saw you die and come back to life on the battlefield!”
“Oh that. The first time was a surprise to me too. Kind of a numb feeling really.”
“How can you be so at peace with what you’ve become?”
“Because it was obviously in my nature all along. Death is my calling, I’ve only grown closer to it by dying. Can’t change who I am.”
“Dad did.”
“No he didn’t. Not really. He just directed his nature into a slightly more positive way and it was only due to magic that caused it in the first place. Funny how magic did the same with me, but just in reverse. However, as I’ve said, this does not mean I’m not without total feelings. I’d rather not have to kill you sis, but if you stand against me, I will.”
“I have to stand against you.”
“Why? For some noble cause of a corrupt mortal empire that’s just as oppressive? Sis you always were a bit too duty bound.”
“No, because while you still exist, life ALL life is in danger. You’re evil, what you’ve been doing is evil, what you’ve become is unnatural. You can delude yourself all you want, but I’m not fooled and if I joined you or whatever it is you want, then I’d be just as guilty of contributing to your evil. You’re not even my brother anymore, I have no brother!”

You shake your head in regret at your sister’s insistence on being stubborn, but then again you expected no less.

“I’ll give you one last chance sis. Will you join me?”

Your sister raises her magical glowing sword.

“So be it.”
> You defend yourself
“I’m sorry.” You say calmly and blast your sister with powerful beam of negative energy causing the color to drain from her face and turn her hair completely white. She’s still continues towards you, but another blast causes her to fall. She looks up at you with tears in her eyes and to your surprise she attempts to reach out to you. You crouch down and take her hand which she grips on to tightly.

“…don’t…turn me into…one of those things…please…don’t” she wheezes.
“Never. You shall die as you lived. With honor. Your body will be burned.”

This statement seems to reassure her and she closes her eyes and lets go of life.

You really wished you hadn’t had to do that.

“Be at peace at last dear sister. May whatever afterlife you go to be better than this one.”

You cast a small fire ball at your sister’s body and leave the house to burn, feeling yet another piece of your mortalhood die. One of your necromancers sees and comes up to you.

“Lord, we’ve pretty much taken the city. The Emperor and Empress of Zalan were killed in their own throne room. We’ve won.”
“Of course.” You say dismissively.
“So what do you want done with the city?”
“Burn it all to the ground.”
“Burn it? Don’t you…”
“I SAID BURN IT.” You say not wishing to repeat yourself.
“Um Right! Okay you heard the Great Lich Lord! Burn it all to the ground!”

Ten years pass…

Twenty years since you embarked on your path of necromancy. The end of all life looms ever closer.

After the destruction of the Zalan Empire, the remnants of the Grand Alliance fell apart. One by one the remaining kingdoms and other governments fell before your armies. It was almost pathetically easy. The civilized world as it was known is no more. Only the dead exist.

You even had those subjects that once pledged their allegiance to you while still alive killed. You can barely tolerate your own necromancers. Catalina is the only one you still care about anymore. She’s still supportive, but nervous around you. You wish she wasn’t though.

Some races such as elves, sprites and other fairy type folk retreated to their woods and forests, relying on illusions, tricks and other ways to conceal themselves. Other races like dwarves, gnomes and subterranean types dug deeper into the earth hoping that you will forget about them. Yet others like humans, orcs and the like still insist on fighting you from their makeshift camps, using hit and run tactics when they can.

It doesn’t matter what any of them do however, you won’t rest until all life has been extinguished, if it takes you centuries, so be it. You’ll hunt them all, you’ll find them all, you’ll kill them all.

Lately, though there have been odd occurrences. You have sensed disturbances in the very landscape from time to time. In your new undead state you of course never sleep anymore, but you’ve been having visions. Flashbacks. And they seem all too real sometimes.

After months of research you’ve tracked down one of these disturbances to the old Vampire Clan fortress. You make haste to find out if any of those accursed bloodsuckers still live. You don’t see how though as you were thorough in their destruction.

This time you don’t even bother telling Catalina what you think you should do next, you know exactly what you’re going to do. You just walk in her study and tell her you’re leaving for a little while and to keep an eye on things as usual. You teleport yourself to the location of their now desiccated fortress. Partially burned and falling into disrepair from your actions fifteen years ago.

You throw open the massive doors with ease.

“Little blood leeches, if any of you still remain, your best idea would’ve been to hide and stay that way.” Your voice echoes throughout the halls.
“No, Great Lich Lord they are all dead. You made sure of that. You always do. It’s just you and me.” you hear a voice shout back. The voice sounds somewhat familiar, but you immediately home in on it since whoever felt the need to talk shit is obviously the one behind all this.

After walking a bit, you enter the throne room where you still see a few traces of dust from the vampires you slaughtered long ago. You hear a maniacal laugh and a man materialize a few feet in front of you. This man looks much different now; his clothing is ragged and filthy. He has a manic grin and giggles a bit while constantly looking around, but you still recognize him and you have to say you’re genuinely surprised to see him. He’s very much alive too.

“Trelik…thought you were long dust by now.”
“Nearly was, quite a few times, but after my shameful defeat in the Brot Kingdom I decided to lay low. For when that day came, I knew then I would never be able to defeat you or anyone else. So I waited and watched you gain power. Watched you destroy your enemies. Watched you have everything that I wanted since the days of the Dark Order. Remember those days? Seems like so long ago no?”
“Another life time.”
“Indeed…I’ve learned that time can be a very bizarre thing…who knows what might’ve happened had events occurred slightly differently due to a split second?”
“Is there any point to your insane ramblings Trelik?”
“Not really…but perhaps! We shall see…or rather we have seen…all has been seen…”

You don’t like where this is going…

“While I might not be able to kill you, I can do something else! Here’s another blast from the past!”

Suddenly Trelik disappears and you feel yourself going in slow motion…

Oh fuck.

“Ha ha ha ha! Ol’ Quayle’s books sure come in handy, but man do they make you see some crazy shit! I think I’ve gone completely bat shit insane at this point, but who cares? We’re all dead men! Fuck killing the world! Let’s kill reality!”

Trelik isn’t kidding either; the very fabric is warping to a degree you didn’t even see when you were dealing with Quayle.

You suddenly find yourself in the middle of a battle. You notice you’re living again. It’s
been so long you almost forgot what’s like to breathe. You take a brief look around and you’re in Aftermath…or Nuro rather.

A demonologist looking very worn from battle sees you and you have to stop yourself from attacking

“Hey hold on! I’m on your side! Shit, this didn’t turn out as planned, did it?”
“Oh I dunno, I think it turned out EXACTLY as planned.” You say getting the very real sense that you’ve done this before. The demonologist ignores your strange talk and continues.

“Mr. Demar is still battling the rest of the staff in the college and I’m really worried about what the hell’s going on with Quayle’s spell, I don’t know if you’ve experienced it yet, but I’ve been seeing buildings phase in and out of existence. I knew fucking around with time would be trouble!”
“Yeah, it is. I guess I better go handle this. I hope I remember what I did last time.” You say and make your way to see Quayle… again.

When you get to the east campus, you see Catalinia right on time. Looking at her at this age again makes you remember when you desired her mainly for her body rather than all of her other exquisite attributes.

“Nice to see you again. Quayle’s in the gray building right?” You say.
“Um, yeah. I think he’s in there, but…”
“Yeah I know it’s dangerous, but someone’s gotta go in, so I’ll do it. I’ve risked too much already to fail. I suggest you go help Mr. Demar.” you exclaim.
“Wow, this whole thing has really made you really authoritative. You’ve come a long way since Enchantment class.”
“Yeah I’ve heard that somewhere else before.”

This time you dispense with your attempts to kiss Catalina. There will be plenty of time for that in the future.

“Now let’s see, if I remember this…” you say as you make your way to the gray building avoiding the time disturbances.

When you enter the building you see Quayle again. Same position. Same glow of white light.

“You are the future…there is no future…there are many futures…it’s all so fascinating…” he says once again in an echoed voice.
“Hey Quayle, you know we’ve done this before right?”
“…yes…yes we have…we will continue to do so…such is time…it is inevitable…”

Any second now the weird tentacle creatures are going to start popping out and you don’t feel like dealing with them again. You didn’t want to do it the first time.

In fact this whole event is making your mind feel weird again, you feel like you’re losing something just by being here.
> You run and tackle Quayle
You remember what you did last time and it was successful, so you confidently try again.

You run towards Quayle narrowly dodging a tentacle creature along the way…

Quayle once again splatters into a gooey insect mess.

Something changes though. You’re no longer aware of the fact that you’re in the past. In fact your memories only lead up to this particular moment and right now all you’re concerned about it is getting these centipedes off of you.

And so it goes, you live out the same exact “life” as you did before. Taking over Aftermath, destroy Brot with undead giants, killing Velzix…all of it.

Eventually you meet Trelik again, and the same things happens. And again. And again. And again. You don’t realize it at all.

Trelik has trapped you in a time loop that you have no knowledge of anymore. And that is where you will stay.

Until the end of time…


“I’m sorry.” You say calmly and blast your sister with powerful beam of negative energy causing the color to drain from her face and turn her hair completely white. She’s still continues towards you, but another blast causes her to fall. She looks up at you with tears in her eyes and to your surprise she attempts to reach out to you. You crouch down and take her hand which she grips on to tightly.

“…don’t…turn me into…one of those things…please…don’t” she wheezes.
“Never. You shall die as you lived. With honor. Your body will be burned.”

This statement seems to reassure her and she closes her eyes and lets go of life.

You really wished you hadn’t had to do that.

“Be at peace at last dear sister. May whatever afterlife you go to be better than this one.”

You cast a small fire ball at your sister’s body and leave the house to burn, feeling yet another piece of your mortalhood die. One of your necromancers sees and comes up to you.

“Lord, we’ve pretty much taken the city. The Emperor and Empress of Zalan were killed in their own throne room. We’ve won.”
“Of course.” You say dismissively.
“So what do you want done with the city?”
“Burn it all to the ground.”
“Burn it? Don’t you…”
“I SAID BURN IT.” You say not wishing to repeat yourself.
“Um Right! Okay you heard the Great Lich Lord! Burn it all to the ground!”

Ten years pass…

Twenty years since you embarked on your path of necromancy. The end of all life looms ever closer.

After the destruction of the Zalan Empire, the remnants of the Grand Alliance fell apart. One by one the remaining kingdoms and other governments fell before your armies. It was almost pathetically easy. The civilized world as it was known is no more. Only the dead exist.

You even had those subjects that once pledged their allegiance to you while still alive killed. You can barely tolerate your own necromancers. Catalina is the only one you still care about anymore. She’s still supportive, but nervous around you. You wish she wasn’t though.

Some races such as elves, sprites and other fairy type folk retreated to their woods and forests, relying on illusions, tricks and other ways to conceal themselves. Other races like dwarves, gnomes and subterranean types dug deeper into the earth hoping that you will forget about them. Yet others like humans, orcs and the like still insist on fighting you from their makeshift camps, using hit and run tactics when they can.

It doesn’t matter what any of them do however, you won’t rest until all life has been extinguished, if it takes you centuries, so be it. You’ll hunt them all, you’ll find them all, you’ll kill them all.

Lately, though there have been odd occurrences. You have sensed disturbances in the very landscape from time to time. In your new undead state you of course never sleep anymore, but you’ve been having visions. Flashbacks. And they seem all too real sometimes.

After months of research you’ve tracked down one of these disturbances to the old Vampire Clan fortress. You make haste to find out if any of those accursed bloodsuckers still live. You don’t see how though as you were thorough in their destruction.

This time you don’t even bother telling Catalina what you think you should do next, you know exactly what you’re going to do. You just walk in her study and tell her you’re leaving for a little while and to keep an eye on things as usual. You teleport yourself to the location of their now desiccated fortress. Partially burned and falling into disrepair from your actions fifteen years ago.

You throw open the massive doors with ease.

“Little blood leeches, if any of you still remain, your best idea would’ve been to hide and stay that way.” Your voice echoes throughout the halls.
“No, Great Lich Lord they are all dead. You made sure of that. You always do. It’s just you and me.” you hear a voice shout back. The voice sounds somewhat familiar, but you immediately home in on it since whoever felt the need to talk shit is obviously the one behind all this.

After walking a bit, you enter the throne room where you still see a few traces of dust from the vampires you slaughtered long ago. You hear a maniacal laugh and a man materialize a few feet in front of you. This man looks much different now; his clothing is ragged and filthy. He has a manic grin and giggles a bit while constantly looking around, but you still recognize him and you have to say you’re genuinely surprised to see him. He’s very much alive too.

“Trelik…thought you were long dust by now.”
“Nearly was, quite a few times, but after my shameful defeat in the Brot Kingdom I decided to lay low. For when that day came, I knew then I would never be able to defeat you or anyone else. So I waited and watched you gain power. Watched you destroy your enemies. Watched you have everything that I wanted since the days of the Dark Order. Remember those days? Seems like so long ago no?”
“Another life time.”
“Indeed…I’ve learned that time can be a very bizarre thing…who knows what might’ve happened had events occurred slightly differently due to a split second?”
“Is there any point to your insane ramblings Trelik?”
“Not really…but perhaps! We shall see…or rather we have seen…all has been seen…”

You don’t like where this is going…

“While I might not be able to kill you, I can do something else! Here’s another blast from the past!”

Suddenly Trelik disappears and you feel yourself going in slow motion…

Oh fuck.

“Ha ha ha ha! Ol’ Quayle’s books sure come in handy, but man do they make you see some crazy shit! I think I’ve gone completely bat shit insane at this point, but who cares? We’re all dead men! Fuck killing the world! Let’s kill reality!”

Trelik isn’t kidding either; the very fabric is warping to a degree you didn’t even see when you were dealing with Quayle.

You suddenly find yourself in the middle of a battle. You notice you’re living again. It’s
been so long you almost forgot what’s like to breathe. You take a brief look around and you’re in Aftermath…or Nuro rather.

A demonologist looking very worn from battle sees you and you have to stop yourself from attacking

“Hey hold on! I’m on your side! Shit, this didn’t turn out as planned, did it?”
“Oh I dunno, I think it turned out EXACTLY as planned.” You say getting the very real sense that you’ve done this before. The demonologist ignores your strange talk and continues.

“Mr. Demar is still battling the rest of the staff in the college and I’m really worried about what the hell’s going on with Quayle’s spell, I don’t know if you’ve experienced it yet, but I’ve been seeing buildings phase in and out of existence. I knew fucking around with time would be trouble!”
“Yeah, it is. I guess I better go handle this. I hope I remember what I did last time.” You say and make your way to see Quayle… again.

When you get to the east campus, you see Catalinia right on time. Looking at her at this age again makes you remember when you desired her mainly for her body rather than all of her other exquisite attributes.

“Nice to see you again. Quayle’s in the gray building right?” You say.
“Um, yeah. I think he’s in there, but…”
“Yeah I know it’s dangerous, but someone’s gotta go in, so I’ll do it. I’ve risked too much already to fail. I suggest you go help Mr. Demar.” you exclaim.
“Wow, this whole thing has really made you really authoritative. You’ve come a long way since Enchantment class.”
“Yeah I’ve heard that somewhere else before.”

This time you dispense with your attempts to kiss Catalina. There will be plenty of time for that in the future.

“Now let’s see, if I remember this…” you say as you make your way to the gray building avoiding the time disturbances.

When you enter the building you see Quayle again. Same position. Same glow of white light.

“You are the future…there is no future…there are many futures…it’s all so fascinating…” he says once again in an echoed voice.
“Hey Quayle, you know we’ve done this before right?”
“…yes…yes we have…we will continue to do so…such is time…it is inevitable…”

Any second now the weird tentacle creatures are going to start popping out and you don’t feel like dealing with them again. You didn’t want to do it the first time.

In fact this whole event is making your mind feel weird again, you feel like you’re losing something just by being here.
> You try something else
This isn’t “your time” and something is very different. You can sense it. Something is here that wasn’t before.

You quickly scan the room again and from the far left side of the room you hear a little giggle.

One of tentacle creatures appear once again and you fight back the nausea long enough to cast a blast of negative energy towards the sounds of the laughter.

Trelik materializes from your lucky direct hit and howls in pain before collapsing on the floor. His high pitched screech seems to irk the creature and it grabs him with one of the tentacles.

“NO! NO! HAHAHAHA! I WAS GOING TO CONTROL TIME!” Trelik laughs before they turn into screams when the creature proceeds to devour him.

Trelik might’ve been dealt with, but you still have to preserve the time line! You immediately rush to tackle Quayle and narrowly dodge another tentacle beast that appears near you.

You are just about to reach Quayle…

“…once again…the future…the past…unite…” you hear Quayle just as you’re about to collide with him.

Except instead of colliding with him you collide into the stone floor of the vampire fortress! Or at least you thought it was…

You stand up and find yourself in the middle of a castle, but it’s different. You see dead elves and humans lying on the floor. Looks like they were fighting each other. You attempt to raise them, but nothing happens. Your powers aren’t working at all and in this living flesh cage you’ve been once again cursed with, you feel pretty vulnerable.

You hear human soldiers laughing and running and you hide.

“Har har! This was a good idea. Elves can’t fight worth shit! Where’s the captain anyway?”
“Oh you know him; he’s probably finding something of more value to keep to himself.”

After they pass by you proceed to make your way through the ruins of this castle which is obviously under siege. You think you’re nearing the exit when all of a sudden you hear the sounds of battle and a very familiar voice…

“You better save your own ass elf, I mean to have whatever is behind that door and the likes of you aren’t going to stop me!” your Dad remarks.
“Never! I have sworn to protect the treasure behind here with my life!” the Elven guard exclaims.

You see your Dad and this elven guard clash swords. You watch from the shadows and it’s obvious that this elf is slightly more skilled than your Dad. You might not have your powers, but you realize what has happened. You’ve been transported to the past again. This is the elven castle that your Dad laid siege to. He’s supposed to meet your Mom here. She’s probably the “treasure” that the elven guard is protecting.

Another familiar voice calls out to you in your mind with a sorrow filled tone.

“You wish to end all life because you loathe it so? Or is it that you loathe your own life? I have seen you set out on this path and while regrettable I see that it was inevitable. Perhaps I am to blame. I give you a chance to make things right and allow life to bloom once again instead of an existence of ultimate isolation and loneliness.”

That voice sounded very much like your Mom. But you haven’t discovered any trace of her despite your searches. Then again that might make sense if she’s gone into this time slipping business.

“Mom…do you defy me as well? Have you and Trelik formed some unholy alliance?” you whisper under your breath to her while attempting to contain your anger and wounded feelings. Feelings you haven’t really had in a long time.
“No, my son. Trelik’s mad plan was his own. I have merely taken advantage of his poor judgment in attempting to alter time. Yes son, you are not the only one in the family who has the knowledge of forbidden magic and a master of it. I give you a choice…life or death. Think carefully about making your decision. Think about your possible future. Think about what you’ve become. Think about what you’ve done. Your existence has caused the end of the world’s own. Is that really what you want?”

This question has been posed to you many times before in the past. Every time you’ve dismissed it because it’s been so far off before. But as the end grows ever closer, you’ll have to come to very real possibility that immortality on a dead world may very well grow dreary. This latest time trip has been the most excitement you’ve had in years…

You look over at your Dad, who is losing his battle with the elven guard.

Maybe it would be better had you never been born…
> You help your Dad
Destiny can be changed, but you’re not changing yours. You were meant to do this. You’ll see this out to the very end.

Since you don’t have any of your powers, you pick up a hefty nearby vase and hurl it at the elven guard from the shadows. Your aim is pitiful as the vase completely misses him and instead flies over his head and hits the wall.

However, the elven guard glances briefly in the direction to which the vase was thrown long enough for your Dad to take the advantage. He skewers the elf and smashes him in the face with his armored gauntlet.

“Ha ha! Stupid fucking elf! Shoulda been paying attention to the fight!” he laughs and gives the guard one last kick to the head before opening up the treasure door…

You slink away. Your birth has now been assured and you suddenly are transported back to your proper time period and back in the ex-vampire fortress. Once again you are undead, however, you find that you have a letter in your hand which is addressed to you

Son,

If you’re reading this then you have chosen death, as was predicted. I do not blame you for embracing your destiny. The pull of dark magic has always been strong in the bloodline. Elves typically can control such urges, however as you know you are not full elven, but still I did not think this possible of you though. You were so unskilled in the ways of magic that the chances of you becoming a competent necromancer seemed so unlikely, let alone an emissary of death. I will not stand in you way for I cannot bring myself to destroy you, even though I could. This is why I gave you the choice to destroy yourself. Do not look for me as I have long left this world and time, a simpler time, long even before the rise of the first Great Lich Lord. Indeed, I am already long dead by the time you have read this. My final gift to you my son, one less death you need concern yourself about. I only hope that you can find peace in your path for eventually you will be alone.

Love Mom.

You crumple the letter.

“Thanks Mom.” You say and return to Aftermath as you have shed one more link to your mortal life.

Thirty years pass…

Fifty years have passed. Peace reigns. There is no more conflict. All serious resistance has been eliminated. There will be no heroes to save the world. Death has won.

Your powers have grown to the extent that your mere presence is slowly killing the world. You tested out this theory when you spent some time in one of the last elven defended forests. The trees began to rot and wither within a day. Reports talk of even the creatures in the oceans dying and you haven’t even been anywhere near there. Anything still alive will die soon; it’s only a matter of time. Your poison is enveloping the skies, the waters and the ground far beneath the earth.

You truly have become death personified.

Your necromancers have all died and you didn’t allow them to try to become liches either. A small coup was attempted, but it was easily put down. You’re controlling it all.

The one last link to your mortal “life” remains. Catalina. She lies on her bed dying. It is only due to her own powers that she’s been able to survive your presence this long, but she can’t do it any longer. You’re too powerful.

You sit by her bed to talk to her one last time. You stroke her hair and hold her hand relishing the warmth that it still gives off even in this near death state.

“…I’m sorry I can’t stay with you.” she says.
“You could. You have the power to become a lich.”
“…no…I don’t want that. It’s not my desire or path. I once said I thought the differences between us would be too great for us to stay together.”
“I remember. And you were right. You usually are.”
“We had a good run though didn’t we?”
“Yes, yes we did.” You agree.
“Are you going to be alright? I mean what are you going to do?” she asks.
“Me? I’ll be fine. I’ll stick around and oversee things I guess. Watch the world die. I have to carry this out to end.”
“I know you do…maybe we’ll meet again? On the other side?” she smiles weakly.

“I’m sure if it’s possible. We will.”
“I love you…”

You then kiss her one last time as life finally fades from her body.

“My love from this world is now gone, what little was left has followed you to the other side my beloved queen. May it be with you always.”

Death now walks alone.

After burning her body, you retire to your study, waiting and wondering when the end will finally come...


This isn’t “your time” and something is very different. You can sense it. Something is here that wasn’t before.

You quickly scan the room again and from the far left side of the room you hear a little giggle.

One of tentacle creatures appear once again and you fight back the nausea long enough to cast a blast of negative energy towards the sounds of the laughter.

Trelik materializes from your lucky direct hit and howls in pain before collapsing on the floor. His high pitched screech seems to irk the creature and it grabs him with one of the tentacles.

“NO! NO! HAHAHAHA! I WAS GOING TO CONTROL TIME!” Trelik laughs before they turn into screams when the creature proceeds to devour him.

Trelik might’ve been dealt with, but you still have to preserve the time line! You immediately rush to tackle Quayle and narrowly dodge another tentacle beast that appears near you.

You are just about to reach Quayle…

“…once again…the future…the past…unite…” you hear Quayle just as you’re about to collide with him.

Except instead of colliding with him you collide into the stone floor of the vampire fortress! Or at least you thought it was…

You stand up and find yourself in the middle of a castle, but it’s different. You see dead elves and humans lying on the floor. Looks like they were fighting each other. You attempt to raise them, but nothing happens. Your powers aren’t working at all and in this living flesh cage you’ve been once again cursed with, you feel pretty vulnerable.

You hear human soldiers laughing and running and you hide.

“Har har! This was a good idea. Elves can’t fight worth shit! Where’s the captain anyway?”
“Oh you know him; he’s probably finding something of more value to keep to himself.”

After they pass by you proceed to make your way through the ruins of this castle which is obviously under siege. You think you’re nearing the exit when all of a sudden you hear the sounds of battle and a very familiar voice…

“You better save your own ass elf, I mean to have whatever is behind that door and the likes of you aren’t going to stop me!” your Dad remarks.
“Never! I have sworn to protect the treasure behind here with my life!” the Elven guard exclaims.

You see your Dad and this elven guard clash swords. You watch from the shadows and it’s obvious that this elf is slightly more skilled than your Dad. You might not have your powers, but you realize what has happened. You’ve been transported to the past again. This is the elven castle that your Dad laid siege to. He’s supposed to meet your Mom here. She’s probably the “treasure” that the elven guard is protecting.

Another familiar voice calls out to you in your mind with a sorrow filled tone.

“You wish to end all life because you loathe it so? Or is it that you loathe your own life? I have seen you set out on this path and while regrettable I see that it was inevitable. Perhaps I am to blame. I give you a chance to make things right and allow life to bloom once again instead of an existence of ultimate isolation and loneliness.”

That voice sounded very much like your Mom. But you haven’t discovered any trace of her despite your searches. Then again that might make sense if she’s gone into this time slipping business.

“Mom…do you defy me as well? Have you and Trelik formed some unholy alliance?” you whisper under your breath to her while attempting to contain your anger and wounded feelings. Feelings you haven’t really had in a long time.
“No, my son. Trelik’s mad plan was his own. I have merely taken advantage of his poor judgment in attempting to alter time. Yes son, you are not the only one in the family who has the knowledge of forbidden magic and a master of it. I give you a choice…life or death. Think carefully about making your decision. Think about your possible future. Think about what you’ve become. Think about what you’ve done. Your existence has caused the end of the world’s own. Is that really what you want?”

This question has been posed to you many times before in the past. Every time you’ve dismissed it because it’s been so far off before. But as the end grows ever closer, you’ll have to come to very real possibility that immortality on a dead world may very well grow dreary. This latest time trip has been the most excitement you’ve had in years…

You look over at your Dad, who is losing his battle with the elven guard.

Maybe it would be better had you never been born…
> You do not help him
Life must continue. At last you have seen reason.

You watch a bit more and the elven guard is hard pressed, but it becomes apparent that he’s dedicated to his duty. He strikes your Dad with a couple of sword blows to his chest. He falls cursing and swearing, before the elven guard finishes him off with a thrust to his neck.

“Heh, that’s what should’ve happened in the first place.” You say and quietly slink off.

You walk into an empty room and wonder what will happen next. You’ve just destroyed your existence. Though you’re still here, so you’re not sure what that means. Are you going to disappear soon, or will you just continue your existence until you reach your “proper time?”

You hear your Mom’s voice again, one last time.

“You have chosen life as was predicted. Your time as you know it is no more…time…time defeats all. Time even defeats death…however time is not without mercy and your existence in history is not gone, just altered. …the future…the past…does it matter? You will die …all has been written…farewell son. We shall not meet again. You shall have no knowledge of any of this or what has occurred before. But your actions have preserved life, even if you are an emissary of death…”

You suddenly find yourself transported on some desolate hilltop. You have no idea where you’re at, let alone how you got there. In fact you don’t have too much memory of anything. All you’re sure of is that you have a great knowledge of magic and that you’re not truly alive.

Suddenly a ragged bunch of individuals approach, you prepare to defend yourself, but these half crazed tribals are in awe of you.

“It’s him! He is the one we called upon! Our prayers have been answered! We have sacrificed our remaining livestock to appease you! Please our village has suffered a great loss. We have lost many of our people to a plague. We beg you to reunite us with those loved ones we have lost.”

And so began the first steps of the Great Lich Lord’s quest for the extinction of life…


Chapter 4: Even Death May Die

Five years pass…

It’s been ten years since you took control of Aftermath and many changes have come about.

Without Velzix’s brutal leadership, his realm soon broke apart. Demon leaders fought amongst themselves and became easier to deal with for the Grand Alliance. Little by little territory was liberated. However you were not idle and you also took pieces of Velzix’s former territory.

Due to all the problems caused by Velzix a new order was enacted by the Grand Alliance. No more chances are being taken and the civilized world has a zero tolerance policy on demons. Demons are to be killed on sight anywhere they are found. Even the so called “nice ones”. Any government found tolerating their presence will be found guilty of demonology and invaded.

This lead to a few misguided liberal types claiming that it was infringing on certain rights, but considering the increasingly draconian Zalan Empire had pretty much taken complete control over the Grand Alliance at this point, they had final say in the matter and executed all such protestors. The Grand Alliance is now merely a name much like Vampire Clans. In reality, it’s the “Zalan Empire and its little friends that better do what it says Alliance”.

Speaking of the Vampire Clans, since your total destruction of their last remaining enclave, their influence has completely left this world. You’ve noticed a reduced effectiveness in Grand Alliance strategy because of this despite that they’ve become more united in recent years. Except for the near mindless bestial ones that roam the countryside they’re effectively extinct. Still, you feel no need to show them mercy and bring them under your control. When one is found, you have it destroyed. The treachery of the Ghoul King has brought this genocide upon their “race.”

Your letter to your family was never replied to, but you are aware it was received. You don’t know exactly how the truth was spun, or who exactly was involved. But you do know your Dad has a statue erected of him in the Zalan capital stating how he nobly gave his life fighting Velzix. Funny how mad men can be turned into heroes so easily.

Your sister is a general of a Grand Alliance army now, which of course continues to attack you despite some of your attempts at coming to some sort of peace agreement.

The fools won’t even listen to reason. There’s no way the Grand Alliance can win this war. You’ve only been growing in power and show no signs of stopping. Even with their stabilized internal struggles under the Zalan Empire’s iron fist they still won’t be able to defeat you. The world has gone mad and you’re the only one making sense anymore. They call you a villain and evil, but from what you’ve seen, you’re no different than any of the other leaders in power. You’re just better at it.

Maybe you should turn the world into a giant graveyard.

Everyone thinks of you as a monster anyway, you see no reason to disappoint…

“Catalina, I think it’s time we finish this war once and for all.” You say walking into her study.
“Oh you do, do you? Well, I figured that it was coming eventually. So is there any specific way we’re going about this?”
“Yeah, we just make a massive push and don’t stop until every living thing is dead.”
“Wow. Everything?”
“Everything. I gave the world of the living the chance for peace and they don’t seem to want it. Well I’m tired of fighting, so if the only way to get some peace is to kill everything so be it!”
“Well, I mean what happens if some people surrender? I mean you’ll still allow them to live like you usually do right?”
“What? What’s with this line of questioning Catalina? You’ve never been one to wince at grand scale carnage.”
“…I know, but I…”
“Alright, out with it.”
“Well I mean after we destroy the Grand Alliance, what then? There will be nothing else to do. I mean do we just reign over a land of the dead until the end of time?”
“Sounds about right.”
“I dunno, is that our only option?”
“For fuck’s sake Cat, what the hell did you become a necromancer for then?”
“Because much like you I probably didn’t feel like I had much in common with people and I could feel a pull towards the dark art of necromancy.”
“Well what’s the problem?”
“…there isn’t a problem…it’s just I feel like the end is coming soon and question what I’ve accomplished in my life. I mean other than genocide what have I done?”
“You’re Queen of the Dead! What more could you want?”
“Yeah, queen. Big whoop. I’m basically a glorified concubine for a…”
“Damn it Catalina I’ve NEVER thought of you as that! You know I cherish you and all of you have to offer. I never could’ve gotten this far without you.” you say holding on to her and looking into her eyes.

“…I know…it’s just in some ways I see you starting to change and I don’t mean your general loathing of the living either. I mean you’ve always been powerful, more powerful than me, but it’s different. It’s like you’re becoming something else. I sometimes think your path is going to differ from mine to a degree that we will no longer be able to be together.”

For a moment you forget about your problems and address Catalina.

“Catalina my beautiful queen…no matter what happens I shall never leave you.” you say and kiss her.
“And I shall never leave you…Okay, where are we going to attack?”

While you’ve temporarily reassured Catalina’s feelings, you do wonder if she isn’t right. Will there come a day when you and her will have so many differences that you won’t be able to be together anymore?

You wonder if you’ve been taking some things for granted. You have everything you could ever need or want. Maybe you don’t need to go on the attack. The Grand Alliance surely does not have the strength to defeat you; you doubt it would even attempt to expend all its resources in trying.

Sure you might have to continue to fight them, but when you think about it, would it be less tedious than an existence without any conflict?
> You call off the attack
You realize something. You’ve won. You don’t need to commit worldwide slaughter. In fact at this point you’d rather just give it all up in exchange for peace and quiet with Catalina. And you know the place you could do such a thing.

“Catalina, let’s forget all this.”
“What?”
“I’m saying fuck this shit. I’m getting bored with it, there’s not really a challenge anymore, so what’s the point? Let’s just leave.”
“Well where are we going to do that?”
“Let’s go to that hidden Vampire Clan fortress. Nobody else is using it and all it needs is a little fixing up. I can easily set up the magic to hide it again.”
“Easily eh? Boy you have come a long way. I remember when you cast that spell in enchantment class and caused all those frogs to attack the professor.”
“Boy you’re never going to let me forget that are you? I still think those were a species of killer frogs and they would’ve attacked anyway.”
“What? Those were pygmy Eraw frogs! They’re one of the most benign creatures on the planet! YOU turned them into killers!” Catalina laughs.
“Yeah, well he deserved it anyway. He was going to fail me.”
“I’m surprised he didn’t after that, though he probably was a little afraid of you. Guess you always had it in you even back then.”
“Yeah…well you ready to go?”
“Wait we’re just leaving? Shouldn’t we make arrangements or something first?”
“Like I said fuck it, let all these necromancers fight over it. If one of them thinks they can try to take my place then let ‘em. I predict it’ll all fall apart within a year though. They can’t be me.”
“No they can’t. Let’s go.”

You and Catalina then press the key to the old vampire fortress. Fortunately it doesn’t need too much fixing up and you have it restored in no time. It is from here where you and Catalina stay to watch the world events unfold in fascination.

Just as you predicted your dominion of the dead collapsed due to infighting. To your surprise Trelik popped up again and amusingly he even claimed he’d destroyed you and Catalina. Even more amusingly he was one of the first usurpers to die during the civil war.

The Grand Alliance took advantage of the situation and eventually broke the stranglehold that the dead once held over the living. Your sister stormed the gates of Aftermath itself and reclaimed it. She became a hero of epic proportions. You’re glad. You’re glad you made this decision. You didn’t want to have to kill her or your Mom.

The world didn’t immediately go back to normal though. Your actions have had repercussions and there yet still remains areas of the world where necromancers rule, possibly the undead will always have a strong influence in some areas, but the threat of the end of all life is no longer a possibility. Your own powers seem to have grown a bit weaker, make no mistake, you are still very powerful. Possibly still the most powerful being on the planet, but with the rise of life once again, you do feel a change, and you don’t mind it.

The years pass and you and Catalina are content to just watch the world go by and enjoy each others’ company undisturbed. One day though, Catalina’s life force is giving out and she does not wish to continue her existence into undeath like you and you certainly understand.

You and her say goodbye and then you promise you will soon join her. After burning her body you sit on your throne, you write one last thing in your journal about why you did what you did in case anyone should find this.

Then you concentrate and will yourself to die. It takes some effort, but eventually you feel a release and your powers are fading completely.

“I’m coming home Catalina.”

At last, death has died.


“If I was going to kill you, I’d barely need to lift a finger, but what I’m mainly here for is your help.” You say calmly

That’s caught his attention.

“What’s that boy? You want my help? Hanging around those corpses make you completely crazy?”
“Not completely, but I know that you and your company has been fighting a guerilla war against Velzix. You’ve been a real pain in his demon ass from what I’ve heard.”
“Hah! Got that right! I’ve currently been hired out perpetually by the Zalan Empire. My mission is to generally fuck things up for Velzix, even try to kill him if possible. But I can’t do that.”
“Why not?”
“Why not? Because if you haven’t noticed I’m a fuckin’ old man that only has a few desperate and insane men following him that’s why! I don’t have a Grand Alliance army behind me like your sister and I can’t just snap my fingers and bring my losses back to fucking life! SOME of us have to rely on pure skill!”
“Sounds like you’re making excuses.”
“Oh fuck you! Stupid ass kid, I don’t see you doing shit about Velzix, what’s the matter need more corpses to hide behind?”
“Actually any corpses I hide behind will only be the ones I summon up during our assassination attempt.”
“What are you getting at boy?”
“I’m saying you get me close to Velzix, and I’ll kill him. In fact I’m very surprised the Grand Alliance hasn’t sent some hero types to try to kill him yet.”
“Oh they have, they just haven’t been heroic enough. My little company has done more damage than any so called heroes. But supposin’ I WAS to help you, what’s in this for me?”
“Oh you’ll be paid, have no fear of that. In fact you can even take credit for Velzix death, since I doubt you’d want anyone to know you were working with me. Now I’d imagine that would pay quite well wouldn’t it?”
“Yeah, yeah it would…alright boy. We’ll do this, but after Velzix is dead, me and you end this father and son time got me?”
“Wouldn’t have it any other way.”

As your Dad proceeds to lead to where Velzix dwells, he explain the layout of it. He says they’ve gone in there before, but have never stayed too long. Just to sabotage stuff and get the fuck out.

You proceed to have more interesting conversation along the way.

“So why the hell hasn’t the Grand Alliance done more about Velzix? Why are they relying on some broken down ex-cuthroat?” you ask.
“I told ya, they have sent hero types after Velzix before, but he’s defeated them every time. As for larger military concerns, I’m sure you’re aware that they happen, but it’s a question of balance. They can’t attack Velzix, like they probably would prefer since they know that YOU would take advantage of their weakened state! Not to mention the Grand Alliance finds you to be a bigger threat. The world was almost consumed once already by some megalomaniacal necromancer, they don’t want that to happen again. So little groups like mine fuck things up for Velzix, just enough to keep him occupied and doesn’t gain anymore ground.”
“Actually I’m not a megalomaniac. Contrary to popular belief, I don’t have some desire to turn the world into a graveyard.” You say.
“Oh well I guess all those kingdoms were just you being neighborly eh? What about that first attack on the Brot Kingdom? Those big ass undead giants? Hordes of undead troops slaughtering men, women and children?”
“I did what I had to do to defend myself. War isn’t pretty. People die.”
“True…but I still fail to see where yer NOT being a megalomaniac.”
“I told you I’m defending my dominion! If the Grand Alliance would stop attacking me, I wouldn’t pursue anymore territory. I’d be happy to live in peace, side by side. Why do you think I want to get rid Velzix? I’m hoping after he’s gone that I can come to some agreement with the Grand Alliance! Because in the end it isn’t going to be good for anyone!”
“Fancy words…but I question if that’s what you really want. I haven’t seen you in a long time, but within the short time I’ve talked with you now, even I can see a change in you. You have a lot of desire, somewhere within you, you want to control everything so there’s no possibility of anything ever hurting you. You’re actually good at something and you’re reveling in it. I know what that’s like. While you might have yer Mom’s magic, apparently you DID inherit some of my qualities, and those are qualities that are all kinds of bad…”
“I’m nothing like you!” you exclaim.
“Ha ha! Oh yer right about that. You’ll never be half the man I am. You can turn the entire world to a giant mass grave, but you ain’t never gonna be me.”

Even now with all your power your Dad still somehow manages to make you feel small. You can’t let yourself get angry though, As much as you might like to just cause the bastard’s black heart to explode in his chest you can’t do that, at least not yet.

You, your Dad and the remains of his company eventually arrive at Velzix’s fortress where you enter in a secret way.

“Dumb ass demons, we’ve been using this entrance for like a year now and they still haven’t caught on!” your Dad remarks.

You make good progress in the fortress and then…

“There they are, just like Velzix said they would be!” a demon guard shouts.

You look at your Dad.

“Haven’t caught on yet huh?”
“Quit yer bitchin’ and start doin that death magic thing!”

You proceed to do just that as demon as well as mortal guards attempt to stop you. You welcome the mortal guards as you can raise them to help you in your “heroic quest”.

“Hah, no lying down on the job anymore Cal!” your Dad laughs as you raise the last of his fallen company.

By the time you reach Velzix’s inner sanctum, it’s just you and your Dad. You never thought in a million years you’d be fighting alongside your Dad.

Velzix on the other hand has been expecting you.

“Ah how good of you both to come. You’re the miserable little has been thug that’s been fucking up my realm with your guerilla warfare. And you’re the wannabe Lich Lord that’s been impeding my own plans of conquest.”

“Wow, guess he got it in one.” You say.
“Yeah, and I guess this would make him the pathetic ass demon lord that can’t even beat said has been and wannabe.” Your Dad adds.
“Enough! The pair of you have sealed your doom today! I have lured you into my trap where today I shall take the father and the son and then…”

You blast Velzix in the face with negative energy, causing him to grab his face and roar in pain.

“Ha ha! Fucking melodramatic idiot!” your Dad laughs charging at Velzix with his sword

You quickly decide on what to do next.
> You unleash a greater blast of death magic on Velzix
Once again you aim for Velzix, ready to unleash a great blast of negative energy at him. Unfortunately as you do so, he picks your Dad up and both of them get caught in it.

Your Dad is killed instantly, but Velzix is of course made of stronger stuff. He recovers from the attack and opens up several portals where demons come pouring out. You summon up ghostly warriors to assist you, and while you’re powerful, you can’t fight Velzix’s seemingly endless reinforcement of demons. You land some good hits, but ultimately you’re overwhelmed.

Velzix picks up your drained bloody body to mock you one last time.

“Look on the bright side; at least you got to kill your Dad!”

Velzix then proceeds to slowly rip your soul apart before ultimately sending you to oblivion.


You can’t say you’ve exactly been entirely enthusiastic about this plan to conquer these tribes. The reality is starting to set in that you’ll never be able to get rid of them all. At least not without a concentrated effort, which would take a lot more time and troops that you’re unwilling to commit at this point.

But The Ghoul King could help. He most likely knows the lay of the land just as well as the tribes, and considering he lives here, he can dedicate as much time as he wants.

“Very well Ghoul King I have no wish to take what is yours. I shall leave in peace if you’ll permit.” You say respectfully.
“Hmm, I had not expected you to respond that way. Perhaps though you have yet another trick up your sleeve?”
“No trick. But perhaps a proposal.”
“Diplomacy? Are you serious? I have rarely ever encountered a necromancer ready to discuss anything so calmly before. You are a rare breed. Okay, what’s your proposal? I have to know just because you’ve managed to surprise me, twice today.”
“My proposal is an alliance.”
“An alliance? For what purpose? I imagine that you’re being hounded by the civilized world. Why would I bring such troubles on myself?”
“Because I’m your best shot at revenge. You said you’ve wanted revenge on the Vampire Clans, well I’m not exactly on their good side either. Eventually I’m going to have to deal with them. Look at you, you said it yourself. You’ve been forced to hide out from the world in a hole in the ground. Wouldn’t you at least like that to change? Even if you die, at least you can say you tried! Changes ARE coming to this world, and this is your chance to be on the winning side.”

The Ghoul King looks in the sky. His expression reminds you of delegate Yolev’s when Mr. Demar gave him a chance to join. You hope you have more success.

“I have been told such promises before; a long time ago…this state that you see before you is what it got me. However, there’s no fool like an old one. What more can be done to me? I’ve lost all as it is, I can only gain. I’m listening more to your proposal, but let’s have some details. I won’t ally with someone that’s as foolish as me.”

You quickly explain that the Ghoul King should attack the tribes like he’s been doing, but to just increase the frequency. All you ask is that he leave a portion of the dead for you (rather than eating them) to use as troops. You will leave one of your necromancers here as an emissary and transporter as it were.

The Ghoul King finds this arrangement to be acceptable. He laughs when you say you would also like it if he managed to kill some giants for you to raise. He says he’ll see what he can do and as an act of goodwill he allows you to have a sizable amount of his ghouls.

“I can always make more!”

You return to Aftermath feeling a great sense of accomplishment. Catalina is a bit leery of the entire situation though.

“How can you be sure of this? He’s a vampire! Last I heard they aren’t too happy with us right now!” Catalina says.
“He’s an outcast from the clans. He’s been living like an animal for who knows how long. I’ve given him a sense of purpose again. He’ll help. Besides he’s better suited to take care of the tribes in Drozz. He’ll take all the risk and we’ll gain the benefit. I see no downside!”
“How do you know he won’t just kill your emissary there and not do anything?”
“It’s certainly possible, but he did give me some of his ghouls as an act of good faith.”
“A bunch of mangy ghouls can’t make up for one necromancer!”
“Considering I left Hessan with him, you could make the argument that they do! Relax! I know what I’m doing.”
“I hope so, because I heard that the Grand Alliance is stepping up their military operations.”

Catalina leaves you in a huff. What’s with this girl? One minute she’s expressing interest, the next she’s pissed at you. Oh well. You’re not worried about anything, you’re confident you made the right decision.

A few months pass and you get a letter via bat from The Ghoul King. He tells you that he’s got something special for you. Something that Hessan can’t transport himself. You make your way back to Drozz, traveling invisibly for the most part, since last you heard, the Grand Alliance ousted Trelik from the Brot Kingdom and are currently stationed there, probably planning to attack you next.

When you arrive, the Ghoul King meets you.

“Well don’t say I haven’t held up my part of this alliance. Here are your giants. A whole tribe of them! Took a hell of a long time dragging them down here. You’ll have to forgive the bite marks, but my ghouls do get hungry every now and then.”

You can’t believe your eyes. You expected one or two. Not a whole tribe! You aren’t even going to ask how he did it, you’re just happy he did.

“Alright Mr. Necromancer, I wanna see you raise these big ass things! Your emissary has been going on for months about how powerful you are, so I wanna see this.”

You begin to concentrate…

Slowly one of the dead behemoths rises and stands ready to serve. You concentrate again and one by one each one stands up and fully obedient to you. It requires very little energy on your part surprisingly. You must be growing in power.

“Well now, I guess you can walk the walk! Alright now you go have fun with those big boys. I have some barbarians to terrorize. It seems I’ve inadvertently united most of the tribes against me with this giant killing business.”
“You need some help?”
“Nah, I got it all under control. I was sick of hiding anyway. Thanks though. Especially for making me feel like a true vampire again rather than a running scavenger.”

You tell Hessan to stay with the Ghoul King as you still need someone here in Drozz. One day you’ll have to construct some sort of portal between here and Aftermath, but that will have to be later. Right now you’ve got undead giants and you’re all prepared to use them right away. You remember The Grand Alliance is in the Brot Kingdom and tthat they’re probably still recovering from battling Trelik recently.

You march with your undead giants to the Brot Kingdom. You have no back up, just you. You’re going to show them all what you’re capable of…

Your arrival isn’t surprising since they could see you coming from quite a few miles away, but the utter fear you inspired was immense and there still wasn’t enough time for the Grand Alliance to get reinforcements.

Your undead giants smash and destroy buildings. They crush knights under foot. The carnage is great. You supplement your attack by raising the recent dead to your cause. Graveyards are your reinforcements.

You see the remnants of Grand Alliance flee. Let them flee. Let them speak of the terror and the death!

The news of what you did travels fast, and Catalina runs to meet you when you arrive back in Aftermath.

“What the hell did you think you were doing risking your life like that? You should’ve come back to Aftermath for more soldiers before taking on the Brot Kingdom AND the Grand Alliance all by yourself!”
“Why? Were you worried about me?” you smile.
“Well… um…no! But, you should’ve told me!”
“I did tell you. I told you I had everything worked out and look…I did.” You say putting your arm around her. She’s not resisting anymore.

“Hmmm, well I guess you did. So now what?”
“Now what? You and me in the bedroom, that’s what!”

You and Catalina at last end this little dance and consummate your relationship.

And just think all it took was destroying an entire kingdom with some undead giants!

Four years pass…

It’s been five years since you took control of Aftermath and you’ve made progress. Many changes have certainly have come about.

Your territory now encompasses far more than just Aftermath. You now control several former kingdoms. You call your region the Dead Dominion. The population consists mainly of the dead, with necromancers typically being the only living beings, though there are pockets of living that have pledged their loyalty to you in exchange for mercy. You have granted it. You and Catalina are now truly King and Queen of the dead.

Velzix has benefited from your success, due to the excessive problems you’ve given the Grand Alliance; he’s expanded his own realm relatively unchecked. Minor conflict has come about between your respective domains, and it’s only a matter of time before all out war occurs. Rumors are that he’s attempting to rip open a portal of the largest size to unleash all of the horrors the infernal plane has to offer.

The Grand Alliance is attempting to handle the pair of you, but has only succeeded in fighting to a stalemate. Rumors are the Zalan Empire is attempting to take full control over the Grand Alliance in order to pursue a more extreme course of action.

You have not heard anything from you family. You know your Dad’s mercenary company has been fighting in the outskirts of Velzix’s realm. Your sister has become a respected and successful Grand Alliance captain. She’s managed to hold back the tide of your dead horde from gaining anymore ground for a couple years now. As for your Mom, who knows? You’d prefer not to know what she thinks of you.

The Vampire Clans have unsuccessfully sent assassins after you, but they have all failed. The Ghoul King suggests that an attack should be made on them soon. He mentions he knows where their secret fortress is and now that he has the support he wishes to take his revenge. He has completely conquered Drozz and turned into a true Kingdom (The only one semi-independent from your Dead Dominion) no longer does he hide in a hole.

As for Trelik, you have heard nothing. For all you know he may be dead. He disappeared soon after his defeat at Brot four years ago.

But today is another day and with that new problems come. You have to decide which new direction you’re going to steer your Dominion.
> You attack the Grand Alliance
The Grand Alliance is more unified and suffers less in-fighting (at least not on a violent scale) than Velzix’s crew. You figure you should take them out first.

“Catalina I think it’s time to attack Grand Alliance and wipe them out once and for all.” You say walking into her study.
“Oh you do huh? Got a plan in mind of how to go about it? Because it’s not going to be easy.”
“I figure the strongest link is the Zalan Empire. If we take them out, the rest of the Alliance will quickly fall apart and we can concentrate on Velzix.”
“Hmm, you make it sound so easy. I hope you know what you’re doing.”
“Relax, I always know what I’m doing. Set it up and organize the troops, I’ll be overseeing this one personally.”

Months pass and you make good progress. You begin taking town after town like an unstoppable juggernaut. However, when you reach you reach the Zalan Empire’s borders you begin to face heavier resistance. The Grand Alliance combined with the full brunt of Zalan’s own military is proving to be more troublesome than you anticipated. They’ve developed a lot more technological advances since the last time you were here. The cannons are really taking a toll on your corporeal troops.

You slog on through, but eventually reach a stand still when you finally reach the gates of the Zalan capital. Your sister is overseeing the defense of Zalan’s capital which might explain why you’re having so much trouble. She is successfully countering every one of your plans. You’ve attempted to send a message to her, but you’ve yet to hear any kind of response

You don’t quite have enough strength to break through and you’re starting to stretch yourself a little thin. Reports tell you that other civilized nations are sending military detachments to help and another Grand Alliance army is on the way. At this point you’re either going to have to send for reinforcements yourself or retreat and regroup.
> You send for reinforcements
You don’t want Catalina to send any since you do need to defend your territory, so you figure the Ghoul King would be a good candidate. He can help you, before you help him destroy the Vampire Clans.

You send a message to him via ghostly courier and in the next day you get one back. He says he’ll be there soon, which relieves you a bit. In the meantime you continue to try to break through the capital’s defenses and repair some of your more salvageable troops that have fallen.

About a week passes and the Ghoul King hasn’t shown up yet, you’ve suffered a counter attack which allowed you to temporary replenish your troops, but you lost quite a few necromancers in the process. The strain of commanding such a large army is making you a little more fatigued than it would if you had some support. You send a message to the Ghoul King again as well as to Catalina. You don’t get anything back from the Ghoul King, but Catalina tells you she hasn’t heard from him either and she’s had to defend the home territory from Velzix who heard about how preoccupied you are with the Grand Alliance and is taking advantage of the situation.

A month passes and you have to retreat from the siege. You’re the last remaining necromancer and you’ve been running on empty. The Grand Alliance along with the Zalan military has completely decimated most of your troops with holy magic and powerful gunpowder weapons. You have to make your make back to Aftermath mostly through hostile territory now since most of your recent conquests have been liberated.

By the time you get to Aftermath you find it in ruins. It has been thoroughly raided by Velzix’s elite demon warriors. You rush in to check on Catalina, but you find her ripped to shreds by demons.

You cry out vowing revenge as you hold on to her body, but there will be no revenge for you. Your back is suddenly home to several stabbing blades. You attempt to turn around to face your attacker, and when you do your throat is slashed open. Clutching your throat you bleed out onto the floor before the vampire assassin completes the job and severs your head from your body.


The Grand Alliance is more unified and suffers less in-fighting (at least not on a violent scale) than Velzix’s crew. You figure you should take them out first.

“Catalina I think it’s time to attack Grand Alliance and wipe them out once and for all.” You say walking into her study.
“Oh you do huh? Got a plan in mind of how to go about it? Because it’s not going to be easy.”
“I figure the strongest link is the Zalan Empire. If we take them out, the rest of the Alliance will quickly fall apart and we can concentrate on Velzix.”
“Hmm, you make it sound so easy. I hope you know what you’re doing.”
“Relax, I always know what I’m doing. Set it up and organize the troops, I’ll be overseeing this one personally.”

Months pass and you make good progress. You begin taking town after town like an unstoppable juggernaut. However, when you reach you reach the Zalan Empire’s borders you begin to face heavier resistance. The Grand Alliance combined with the full brunt of Zalan’s own military is proving to be more troublesome than you anticipated. They’ve developed a lot more technological advances since the last time you were here. The cannons are really taking a toll on your corporeal troops.

You slog on through, but eventually reach a stand still when you finally reach the gates of the Zalan capital. Your sister is overseeing the defense of Zalan’s capital which might explain why you’re having so much trouble. She is successfully countering every one of your plans. You’ve attempted to send a message to her, but you’ve yet to hear any kind of response

You don’t quite have enough strength to break through and you’re starting to stretch yourself a little thin. Reports tell you that other civilized nations are sending military detachments to help and another Grand Alliance army is on the way. At this point you’re either going to have to send for reinforcements yourself or retreat and regroup.
> You retreat and regroup
As much as you’re loathed to do so, you decide it’s better to retreat and fortify your recent conquests. You’ve still done much damage to the Grand Alliance.

A month passes and you suffer counter attacks, and a few of your conquests get retaken, but for the most part you hold on to what you’ve acquired. Velzix takes advantage of the situation and decides to launch his own attacks on you and the Grand Alliance however, he’s a little more successful having managed to conserve his own manpower and not being stretched out

Catalina informs you that The Ghoul King has been itching to strike against the Vampire Clans and that he’s going to do it, with or without your direct help.

You’re too preoccupied with your own problems to even argue or do anything about it. You tell her that he can do what he’s gotta do. If he wants your help, Hessan and whatever pitiful army he can muster up is his to command. You don’t care.

Five years pass…

It’s been ten years since you took control of Aftermath and now it looks like that’s all finally coming to an end.

The Ghoul King’s assault upon the Vampire Clans was a failure, though it was damaging enough for them to never again bother you again. You have to move some necromancers into the Drozz region to take command there, which stretches you out a bit, since you didn’t need to worry about it so directly before, having the Ghoul King there and all.

Over the years Velzix managed to build up much strength while you and the Grand Alliance fought a see-saw battle. Velzix manages to permanently open up a large portal to his home plane. He declares all out war on the entire world determined to turn it into the same hell he once called home. You heard your Dad’s mercenary company attempted to stop him, but failed.

The Grand Alliance is the first to fall. Already weakened by your previous attacks, they could not put up much of a fight against the hordes of demons. You hear that your sister defended the capital of the Zalan Empire much like she did during your siege, except this time she was less successful and died. You can only presume your Mom suffered the same fate, seeing as she lived there as well. You hope that the pair of them have gone some place better

With the last bastion of “good” out of the way, Velzix turns his attention towards you. You won’t go without a fight though. For every bit of land he takes, you make him pay for it in demon blood tenfold.

It’s no use though, the hordes of hell are without end and while the dead are certainly just as numerous, you’re the only necromancer powerful enough to command epic armies of them and you are only one standing against hell itself.

Aftermath is besieged and ultimately falls to demonic armies. Catalina is killed during the attack and you disintegrate her body before escaping through a portal to Drozz as you refuse to let it be desecrated by demon scum.

You wage a guerilla war in Drozz for months, and you can’t help but realize you’ve become much like the Ghoul King; hiding in a hole while demons take over the world. For awhile you actually have some peace as the demons soon outnumber their “enemies” and begin to follow their natural instincts of in-fighting and you’re forgotten.

When the next winter comes you’re caught out in a heavy blizzard while foraging for food. You’re not going to make it back to your hiding place.

Exhausted, you fall in the snow thinking about the hell that the world has become and how you’re partially responsible. Eternal sleep is welcomed.

You embrace the blessed death that you once held mastery over.