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[Darrien Church]

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Darrien moved slowly and methodically about his inner sanctum, dressing for the first time in many years in the garb of the high-priest of Oblivion. This was the moment he had waited his entire existence for, his enemies within Oblivion’s faithful purged, the ancient relics totally his nothing stood in his way.

How foolish Admoreth and the others had been, these light bringers, all mortals infact could be oppressed and “converted”, there was only one solution, only one way to bring peace to the troubled realm he long called home…the convergence.

Only by freeing all mortality in undeath could Darrien truly create one, holy and secure Empire, only by plunging Sosaria into the abyss itself could Darrien achieve his purpose.

Tonight he would make his presence known on Sosaria…tonight he would begin his final crusade, his cleansing of the realm. The Stygian Empire would rise again…

Muttering a few prayers to himself Darrien lifted the ancient text of the Lich Lord Nizar into his skeletal arms wrapped protectively in his heavy plate-armor. Turning he made his way out onto a large balcony overlooking the city the undead had built mere miles away from their former home in Caina… “Ladil Rikhte’sonuz” Darrien had called it in his tongue, or New Stygia in common.

The moment The Lich Lord stepped into plain view the great multitude of undead gathered at the palace snapped into attention, the Death Knights saluting sharply. This Lich had made it painfully apparent shortly after his ascent that insubordination, disrespect or failure carried with it one punishment and one punishment alone, annihilation.

Turning to a large gate constructed totally of black rock he noted with pleasure the presence of three Necromancers at it’s base, who in turn bowed their heads formally.

Tyranthraxus, Cecil and Janus…hand selected for the task at hand.

Turning sharply to the undead amassed at the palace’s base the Lich throw open his arms and launched into a long expected sermon which; until his exile from Umbra during the reign of Norture had been a weekly affair:

“The Lich Lord Darrien Church, Axaris Nuzoth, High-Priest of Oblivion, Keeper of the Sacred Dogma, Guardian of the Temple, wearer of the sacred ring, keeper of the Mirror of Morgaz, holder of the spell book of Nizar, protector of the scholomance, black rose of Umbra, Prophet of the Convergence, anointed messiah of Oblivion, herald of the second Stygia brother and heir of the Lich-Lords Nizar, Azalin, Admoreth and Levas, Lord of all Undead bid you true servants of Oblivion Xalo kas Xun! (formal Stygian welcome)

When we were wrongly cast out by the heretical mockery of the Umbran Order, Oblivion saw fit to remove it’s infinite graces from the city and the Order and strike it down. We watched with sadness as the Paladins were permitted by divine will to strike at the heart of our former brothers and raze the Order to the ground.

How fitting then that the Dark Throne should elect us, humble Necromancer and Priest to bear the burden of Lichdom, to rule, to guide, to Shepard to protect you…without us, without the Lich-Lord remember dead ones…you are nothing!

We are Lich thus we rule!

The cries of you poor cattle have been heard by your master…to ensure the success of the convergence, the consummation of this world and the protection of the faithful –WE- and we alone have elected to rise up, break our long silence and strike at your enemies. Tonight we shall use our immense power, and in our magnificence tear the veil between worlds in two calling forth the Infernal Lord, Beleth who has served The Dark Throne for ages. With his legions and our uncontainable power the land of Sosaria shall be taken, dominion shall be handed over to our kin, a magnificent dynasty shall rise…the Stygian Empire shall consume all territories and states…life all life shall be extinguished in our name!

We are the avatar of Oblivion…we are the god of the void!”

Turning fiercly Darrien pointed to the palace’s tower where a great number of humans stood bound, Darrien’s hooded clerics moving about them holding large sacrificial daggers.

“Humans and elves taken from every, city province and territory of this realm…their blood…their weak and limiting blood shall be shed to purify and mark this gate…

For Stygia…for Oblivion for the Lich Lord!”

With that the mortals were cut one by one deeply across their necks, their blood filling drain-like gutters pouring large quantities of deep red blood atop the gate and Darrien himself.

As the blood poured in force Tyranthraxus, Janus and Cecil could not help but take several steps back…

Rapidly and almost incoherent Darrien in a frenzy began to mutter the words of the ritual as the gate began to glow a vivid-purple color the blood sizzling and boiling from the sheer heat of the magical force.

With more and more intensity at each syllable Darrien barked out the ritual in the Stygian tongue and nature itself seemed repulsed as his dark doings. The trees bent with all their might away from the palace as the Island itself began to quake. Darrien now clearly in agony simply screeched in an ear piercing fashion barking out among his pain:

“I am the chaos that tears starts apart!”

A blinding flash, a blackened sky and it was done…with a growl and several heavy foot steps The Daemon Lord looked at Darrien with longing and hateful curiosity:

“Where is it Lich Lord?”

Darrien could only laugh lightly to himself as the gate closed behind Beleth, sealing him in Sosaria.

[Beleth]

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The summoning had been as success. As a cloud of pure darkness covered the newly constructed Blackrock Gate, the Daemon Lord once again stepped forth onto the shores of Fire Island, very near where he had first entered this land many, many years ago. Finally his prize was at hand… What he could never possess before, while he served the Lich Lord Azalin, he had been promised by the new up and coming Lich Lord Darrien Church.

Pleasantries were of little use to Lord Beleth and he was straight to the point, “Where is it?” he demanded. The Lich Lord’s skull produced a look that could only be described as a grin and it began to tell its tale.

“The Ebon Skull is no more…” Those words bit into the Daemon Lord like silver into Undead flesh and with them an anger began to stir, an anger stronger then Beleth had ever felt before… But he let this rotting bag of flesh continue its story as he was now stuck in this realm and both knew this. The portal that had been opened was one way only and the powers of the Well of Souls had diminished greatly with time.

“We have In our possession the fragments of the Skull and offer them as well as much more to you Daemon Lord…”, the words flooded Beleth’s head as Darrien continued, “We seek an alliance, an alliance that will rid this world of the living and allow you to bring your kind into this realm with ease…”

With that, Beleth looked to Darrien and said… “Take me to the fragments Lich Lord.” An alliance of the Undead and Daemons had been formed, an alliance of the Damned.
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[Pestilence]

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A loud rolling thunder could be heard in the distance... It came from the sea in the direction of the Daemon Temple on the Isle of Fire. Kaziganthi rose from the snow, which now seek to strangle the opening of the Well of Souls. He had been there since his confrontation with the Lich Lord Darrien hoping, listening for some sign of his past faith to point him in the direction that it willed. All he heard was silence; the Well had grown weak since the collapse of Caina and the disappearance of the Order of the Ebon Skull.

His eye flared as they stared across the sea... something was happening on that island, he felt drawn to it. Summoning his ethereal steed he shouted words which were lost to the strong winds of Caina. Appearing at the foot of the Daemon Temple, everything around him was in an uproar. Circling above were hundreds of the lesser daemons that frequent the isle, below them fire spewed from fissures in the ground... Something had happened, and beyond the temple he saw a tower had risen in the distance. As the death knight approached he saw it had a gathering or orc and undead, circled up around the base of the Sepulcher. He dismounted and pushed through to the front. There stood Darrien Church, in the eyes of Kaziganthi, a betrayer to the death knight’s old faith. Screeching he clutched his bardiche and began to walk towards the Lich Lord.

"You have failed Oblivion... you have caused the Order to dissolve... You are responsible for the destruction of the Ebon Skull! You, Darrien Church, shall pay for your failures!" His eyes flared, "Oblivion wills it!"

Just as he approached, out from behind the Lich Lord, stepped the damned one... Lord Beleth, Lord of the Daemons.

"My Lord... you have returned?!"

Beleth stood there, arms crossed and looked down upon the Death Knight. "Have you returned to server me, Kaziganthi?"

"I have come to deliver the hand of Oblivion to the lich that stands next to you... I have come to slay Darrien Church!" Had this been in the past, a short wave of his hand and the death knight would of stood down, but the powers that swayed over him had passed with the destruction of the Ebon Skull.

As Kaziganthi raced towards the Lich Lord, Beleth stood unmoving. The full thrust of the Death Knight raced towards Darrien, but just as it was about it hit, the lich raised his hand and Kaziganthi was thrown back to the ground.

He spoke, “Misinformed skeleton, you know not the past of the skull... your actions will be meet swiftly." He looked at Beleth and was met with a nod. "Dispose of this "death knight"!" he spoke almost laughing at the foolishness of Kaziganthi. The gathered crowd around the tower quickly acted upon his words, swarming the death knight.

Broken and shredded parts of the skeleton lay across the ground. Lord Beleth walked down the steps and reached to the ground, grabbing the skull of the fallen death knight. "I wish to raise him once again... he can still be of use to us... I have plans for this undead."

"So be it. Consider it a show of our newly formed alliance." Spoke Darrien. "Uus Corp!" And Kaziganthi reformed...

Defeated and weakened, he kneeled before both Lords... asking for forgiveness. His blind rage led him to defeat and now stands to serve the alliance of Undead and Daemons. The Damned was his new faith to follow. The will of the Lords was his doing.

Speaking the Litany the death knight rose to his feet, "Though light may oppose me, and life may deject me, I remain obstinate to their petition. When the luminance of day culminates, I am its destiny, its final resting place, when the vehemence of life reaches its end; I am its killer, the extinction of totality." With a screech he faded into the mass of the crowd.
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<Admoreth> Ain't nuthin' but an e-theng.

[Cecil]

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After the grand events earlier in the evening, Cecil was instructed to travel to his old place of office in Moonglow and announce the return. Sifting through his bag of reagents, Cecil mumbled a few magic words, "Kal Ort Por," and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Upon reaching the City of Honesty, Cecil found the land quite devoid of any officials or militants. Disappointed in the lack of useful ears for his words, Cecil hastily recalled to Umbra- to find a more interesting pair of ears.

She was pulling a mule with her kitsune slave and an unknown wastrel when Cecil made the announcement. The windy chasm over the drop into the void surrounding the city rippled his dark, heavy cloak and his cloth-of-silk threads- it magnified his voice and added a touch of majesty to the aging mage's tones.

"Ceinwyn, in the name of the Lich Lord I have brought before you a reasonable and grand request. Yourself and Fong, if you bow and pay homage to the Lich Lord, you shall gain much and lose little. To capitulate in this is wise; to hold out like a rotten, spoiled child foolish. The Demon Lord returns, Lord Beleth walks once again upon the soil of our worlds.

Send Fong this message, for I could find him not in Moonglow."