text: [Themes: grimdark fantasy, war, villain protagonist, grimdark]
  
  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.
  
  > 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.
  
  > 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.