The Justice of the Grave, and the True meaning of Fear

[Cho'Gall]

As the Duke sorted through his mail, he found a black envelope conspicuously at the top of the pile. As he took the tattered letter from its casing, he read aloud in shock.

"I Cho'gall Dentarg hereby denounce the Imperial republic of Shireroth and all her leaders. The County of Agnesia henceforth secedes."

As he looked upon the envelope once more, he realized that no light seemed to appear on it. As he reached for it once more, it was cool to the touch. Leo then gazed out the window towards Agnesia, pondering how to proceed.

(OOC, This is RP related)

[Allot]

"How incredibly melodramatic," said Isabelle.
Leo jumped in his chair and spun around.
"How many times have I told you not to read over my shoulder!"
"Sorry, but you have to admit: black envelope, a one sentence letter. I must admit, this pales in comparison to Nehani Eiserdion's denunciation of Duke Mirkdale. Yes, I have read about that," she said, before Leo could ask. "I thought it might be a good idea to-"

"Hey!" said one of the guards, poking his head through the door. "Stop developing your character and let the Duke work!"

[Andreas the Wise]

OOC: This could be done marvellously in SCOWL too ...

[Leo Fenrir]

Continued from "The March"

"Excellent then you are off to Agnesia my dear."

"But- You can't-" she spluttered, her regal attitude dropped in favor of how she actually felt.

"Ah but you see... I can. I'm the Duke!"

"And what pray tell am I to do in Agnesia? It full of spiders. Not that I'm scared of them or anything. But even you have to admit that they are creepy."

"Yes well Cho'Gall has come out of his long hibernation long enough to spit in my face and vanished once again. And I don't exactly have the time to deal with it myself at this moment seeing as the host is marching imminently. But I have a plan!"

"Does this plan have to include me?"

"Yes Isabelle it does. Actually you are key. You see, if you are able to seduce the count then he should be more then willing to stop this foolish plot before the Khan gets involved, or the Ouroboros is completed, but that is too be seen."

"That is a joke right?"

"Nope. I'm completely serious."

"Is this about me not calling you 'Your Grace'?"

"Do you actually think I am that petty Isabelle?"

"Yes actually."

"Ah. Well you are departing for Eliria in two hours. Cora will fly you there and I have made arrangements to have Tyen meet you there. I'm glad we had this little talk."

Leo flashed Isabelle a hart warming and sincere grin.

Isabelle stormed out (quite literally actually, her anger distorting the fragile narrative causality of Araxion causing a localized shower) at approximately the same time as an officer of the ElwynnBrigade came rushing in.

[Allot]

"Well you don't exactly have a choice, do you?" said Eldynuil, staring at Isabelle as she paced angrily up and down the hill. She turned on him.
"Are you insane? Who in the nine hells does he think he is? If he thinks for one minute that he can just prance in here and control my character, then he-"
"Isabelle," said Eldynuil soothingly, "Don't be too hard on the Duke. It's a tough job. He was probably just stressed out, and I doubt anyone has even bothered to explain basic role play regulations with this war going on. Your father had just as much trouble."
Isabelle was speechless.
"I'm sorry for using logic, but it usually works with you," said Eldynuil, smiling.
"Well...I... Oh, you're right, as usual. But I'm getting permission in writing this time. I don't wish to repeat the incidents of last time." Unconsciously, the touched the pointed tip of her ear.
"And I am not scared of spiders!"

[Leo Fenrir]

"You aren't fooling anyone my dear." said the voice of a sheeplet who had just swooped in from who knows where. "Leo sent me to give you these papers. He also wanted me to remind you that the lower the cut of the dress the better. Or nothing at all, but that was optional." And with that swooped away.

Isabelle threw words that were as close to solid matter that any word would ever be, after the sheeplet.

Eldynuil merely shook his head.

Somewhere on the front lines of the war the Khan suddenly shivered while yet another violation of nature was allowed to continue its existence.

[Allot]

"The next person who calls me their dear will suffer some very Ardashirian wrath..." said Isabelle darkly.
"To Eliria!"

[Cho'Gall]

Back at the dukes office, a soldier promptly rushed into the room. He then proceeded to place a video tape upon his desk.

"Its a video log from one of the soldiers that was on patrol. I think you ought to watch it," the soldier said, as he placed the video into its appropriate player.

A soldier on the tape started speaking.

"Sarge, are you sure we should be here?"

"Boy I told you, we have orders to investigate seismic activities in the area," his CO quickly replied.

"I know sir, but the spiders are starting to creep me out," the soldier said as the camera panned towards the Ohl'tar soldier walking roughly five feet from him.

"I can hear everything you speak, human," the Ohl'tar snapped back, clearly frustrated to be placed with these soldiers.

A voice came from the cameras operator, "you'd better not say anything naughty spidey, we've got these loggers in our helmets now."

The Ohl'tar grunted and kept moving.

Large seismic hiccups began to shake the ground. Whispers started to be heard in the camera.

"Kaas naraga ger ger ger."

The soldiers reached for their guns.

"Sarge, what was that?"

"Probably what we're looking for boy," the sergeant replied crouching down whilst signaling the rest of the squad to do so.

The ground began to shake, for a distance away a chitinous shell began to rise from the soil. It was soon followed by two scythelike claws which slashed and tore the earth. A third blade rose out of the earth, ending in a head with several eyes the size of oranges. Jaws the size of swords lay at the bottom of the head. The backside of the shell began to rise from the soil revealing large multi jointed legs. Dark blue was the color of the shell, and small insect wings fluttered from the spaces between shells. If Ohl'tar were spiders, this was a beetle. The creature began to speak, saying:

"Hasavaratir naraga"

The Ohl'tar said: "The fallen kings have returned."

The beast swung its claw and the video cut out.

[Percy Rutherford]

EDITED BY IB SUPER-GNOME

Dear Mr. 'Gall,

On behalf on the IBO, I must sincerely apologize for Mr. Rutherford's actions. He has been disciplined as per Chapter IV, Section B, Part 5 of the Vade Mecum and concordantly with the International Compendium of Revenge Tactics (ed. Ardashir Khan). Please note that his actions do not reflect the IBO.

Sincerely,

GOD
IB SUPER-GNOME

[Aurangzeb Khan]

Order to be executed by means of the generous application of flammable liquids.

[Leo Fenrir]

[Disclaimer : Due to copyright issues Isabelle Allot will be played by the conveniently named Isabell.]

Isabell had to pee. She was a dog so it was natural of course that her patience was limited. So was Cora's flying speed though. On a whole it was turning out to be a... err... come on guys keep the prompter rolling... guys? Where did everyon- You! What are you doing in here? Is that a- now is that really necessary? Can't we work out a compromise or som- No! No ok I got it....

...
.

*clears throat*

[Notice : The character of Isabelle will be played by Isabelle from now on.]

***

Light broke the horizon, momentarily blinding the two figures who were flying just between two layers of cloud. Isabelle was securely fastened to Cora's chest so as to make the flight as comfortable for the two of them as possible. Despite their proximity, talk had been kept at a minimum partially due to the fact that the act of opening ones mouth at the speeds they were travailing at, resulted in a solid wall of air being forcefully shoved down your esophagus. Cora had apologized for not being able to simply teleport but she explained that ever since Isabelle's return, Narrative Causality had been acting quite disciplined and was not allowing disruption of the plot-time continuum. This of course took almost twenty minutes of "whaat!"'s and "I said its your fault you &^*@#$*"'s to convey.

The trip took a total of two hours and by the time Eliria came into sight both women were desperate to be free of each other. Cora alighted on the upper ramparts of Eliria Castle where Tyen was waiting.

"I swear to god if that sheep loving fool ever uses me as carrier ever again, not that I didn't enjoy meeting you my lady, I will personally hang him by his underpants from the ramparts of Echo Manor." There was a moment where all three that were present pictured the scene. Isabelle and Cora proceeded to burst out laughing. Tyen was not amused.

"When you two are done I have further orders from the Duke."

"Oh stop being such a dullard."

Tyen bared his fangs and growled softly. "Cora we have a job." He turned to Isabelle. "You are required in the courtyard presently." He bowed and made a gesture for the two women to proceed first.

The door opened into the courtyard and the party of three were bombarded by sound. A full regiment of mounted horsemen were marching by closely followed by a regiment of foot soldiers.

"What division is this?" Isabelle asked. "Are they part of the ElwynnBrigade?"

Tyen grinned. "No my Lady. This just so happens to be your guard of honor. Compliments of the Duke. Its a backup you see. Just in case your womanly [note : he struggled here] pieces prove ineffective against Cho'Gall."

A small man in a white coat split off from the marching column and joined the small group. No sooner then he had reached them he burst into a high mousy speech. "I am Lucard Wrend Eliria branch director of the ISI. I will be accompanying you to act as a lesion with the ISI should our how should I say, 'services' be needed. Pleased of course to make your acquaintance Lady Allot."

A loud horn brought the attention of the group to a Jeep that had just swerved to a stop on the south side of the yard. That would be our ride m'Lady" Tyen intoned.

[Cho'Gall]

After a long trek, the "caravan" finally arrived in Agnesia. The land did not look like it did the last time Tyen had visited. The grass was a sickly shade of green, as if the land was scarred. There were no signs of civilization anywhere, Ohl'tar or otherwise. It seemed a bad Omen to continue forward, but the group pressed on. The most unsettling thing about Agnesia was the sky. It was a sickly white, with dark lines culminating towards a central point. And that point was Maigrentar.

Maigrentar was the new city constructed after the destruction of Alumelith. It was to be dedicated to all those who aided during the crisis. To Tyen's knowledge, construction was still ongoing, kept posted by continuous letters from the Count. It was made entirely of marble, with glorious white walls and gates built upon a serene green plain.

As the group kept pushing onward into Agnesia, friendly banter began to stop. Howling winds that sounded like screams chilled the air. Soon they began to see mutilated corpses of humans and Ohl'tar alike, hung from trees and impaled on rocks. These omens seemed to get worse as they neared the city. One soldier went to a nearby pond to wash his face. He needed to be carried after what he saw there. Another soldier found what looked like a survivor. What he found was a corpse tied to a walking stick, cleverly leaned upon it to give the illusion that it was standing.

Finally the group stopped about 100 meters away from the closed city gates. Something began to shake the earth, and this caused some soldiers to vomit. Slowly the ground opened, and a large creature rose from the earth. It resembled the one from the video log only this one was a shade of red. Around him, certain Ohl'tar climbed out of the earth. They resembled normal Ohl'tar only they had spiked joints and claws.

The captain stepped forward. "We have direct orders from the duke, His majesty Leo Dine of the sheep, to see count Cho'gall Dentarg." The beast's jaws moved in a way that seemed to resemble talking. It spoke in a deep vibrating tone that seemed to echo within the ears of the listener. "The count is not seeing any visitors at the moment." The captain replied: "He MUST allow us to speak with him. It is Shirathian Law!" Calmly, the beast said again: "The count is not seeing any visitors." Clearly angered, the captain yelled: "If he refuses to make our acquaintance then we will enter the city by force! Stand aside!"

And then, a laugh. A laugh so dark that it tore the false courage and bravado from the face of every soldier present. A laugh so ugly that it chilled the blood of everyone there. A laugh so evil that it was burned permanently into Tyen's ears. A laugh that said very clearly, No.

"You and your count will face justice, coward!" said the Captain.

The voice spoke again, "You speak of justice, of cowardice, how amusing. I will show you the justice of the grave, and the true meaning of fear!"

The beast swung its claws at the captain, hacking him in two and sending him flying into the air. The soldiers sprung into action, strafing outwards and firing at the beast. Tyen grabbed Isabelle and dived behind a stone. The new Ohl'tar jumped forward and grabbed soldiers. They dug their claws into them and mutilated the terrified soldiers, spraying their blood upon the earth. All the while the beast continued to slam and rip apart the ranks of soldiers hurling them in pieces into the air.
At this moment Tyen turned to Isabelle and said, "We're getting out of here." To which Isabelle responded "I can't leave these men to die Tyen." "If we don't get out of here we'll die with them!" Tyen shouted back, the screams of pain and gunfire continued. "NO TY-" but she was interrupted by a swift blast of air that came from Tyen's snout. Tyen then proceeded to pick her up and run.
Just then one of the Ohl'tar saw them and screamed, "THE BLOOD OF ARAXION IS HERE!" The Ohl'tar began to run after them. Tyen leaped into a jeep and gunned the engine. Just as the Ohl'tar grabbed onto the back of the car, it began to move at breakneck speed. Tyen yelled: "GET HIM OFF!" Isabelle searched around the car for a weapon, and found a revolver. She aimed for its head and pulled the trigger. The gun almost smacked her in the face, but it killed the Ohl'tar. They continued moving at high speed.

Eventually the jeep ran out of gas, and the duo proceeded to continue on foot. There was a lack of conversation between the two, they both had enough to think about. As they began to near a forest, Tyen finally broke the silence, "We can find some shelter in that forest, I'll try and radio Eliria." Just as they began to enter, Tyen stopped Isabelle from walking. "Shhhhhh," he said, "We're not alone." Tyen began to draw his gun. As they inched deeper and deeper into the forest, Tyen notice they began to see less and less. The forest was a perfect spot for and ambush, and Tyen fear they were walking into a trap. The trees seemed to go on forever, one could barely see the canopy they were so high.

"Vat does the Baron of Nordland vorship?" called familiar a voice from the trees. "Sheep!" shouted Tyen, "Who asks?" The voice called out again "Oh, someone you should know." Tyen replied "Cease you trivial games! Who are you?!". Out of the shadows appeared Roger carrying a bolt action rifle, "It's good to see you again Tyen."

[Allot]

** I think the Allots are just born with ninja skills in their veins. Very well written.**

[Erik Mortis]

Having just received word on the matter. Monty Crisco supports this rebellion!

[Leo Fenrir]

"Roger! Finally a friendly face. What the hell is going on out there?"

"None of us know any more then you probably do. The things just descended, or I suppose that burrowed is more appropriate, into Maigrentar and took out the defensive regiments from the inside. It was a slaughter house. It was half a miracle that the count and I managed to get out of there alive."

"Cho'Gall is here?" Tyen asked in a dangerously level tone. "Bring us to him please Roger." The Ohl'tar nodded in assent, though obviously confused by the werewolf's intonation. The three denizens moved purposefully between the trunks of massive pine trees which had the unpleasant habit of shifting every once and a while in the eerie half-light of pathetic fallacy.

A dim glow announced their arrival at a small grove of evergreens which was sheltering a badly beaten car, which Tyen assumed was the count's escape vehicle, a small tent, and Cho'gall himself. When he heard the footsteps he whipped out his pistol and demanded the answer to the same riddle Roger had posed earlier. Only when this was done with did Tyen, Isabelle and Roger step into the light of the fire.

"Ah the mutt. Did the Duke send you to do his dirty work again?"

"Why you little scum. How dare you slander Lord Dine!"

"Yes, yes whatever. And this is?" Tyen made a visible effort to calm himself.

"I am Isabelle Allot. A pleasure to make your acquain-"

"Right. Now we have a problem."

Tyen bent down so as to whisper into Isabelle's ear. "I think you'll need to boost the Cleavage Factor. He doesn't seem too impressed."

A distant rumble, accompanied by a bone shattering vibration cut the conversation short. Cho'Gall spoke up once more. "Damn. I didn't think they would come here yet. We have to move now if we want to make it to the Oracle." But he was once again cut off, though this time in a much more dramatic fashion, by a giant spike exploding out of the ground. A moment of chaos ensued and then Tyen and Isabelle found themselves alone once again.

They had just enough time to recover their senses before a swarm of the corrupted Ohl'Tar began clambering from the hole in the ground. "Quickly Isabelle grab this." He threw her a second pistol. "Take my back. We need to try to make a opening. As soon as you see one I want you to run while I cover you."

"But what about you!"

"No time for that!"

And the bugs descended on them. Tyen was using a combination of his revolver and his claws and took down the first three that broke line. Several gunshots whent off behind him and he turned to find six of the bugs scattered in front of Isabelle. "Tyen! Watch your back." She proceeded to kick off the ground, executing a back flip, at which point time almost seemed to slow down as the DreamWorks team watched over her. About halfway through this maneuver she swung her arm and caught the Ohl'Tar point blank in the face.

"Thanks for that." Tyen said, slightly disgruntled, after she had landed.

Another wave of the bugs arrived and suddenly Tyen's barrel clicked empty just as an Ohl'tar jumped to take a swing at his head.

"Fu-"

The body exploded mid flight as a shotgun went off with a loud bang. The sound of other guns firing brought down the rest of the corrupted bugs and soon Tyen and Isabelle were left standing alone. Lucard Wrend and a small group of ElwynnBrigade soldiers made their way out of the darker forest.

"Lucard! How in the seven hells did you find us! Tough I must say your timing was impeccable."

"Well it just so happens that your collar has an embedded GPS device that the ISI can track. Handy no?" he continued on before Tyen could respond, which was probably a good thing. "I see you keept the young lady here safe though." Isabelle and Tyen exchanged looks. "In any case this was no less then an atrocious failure. From my perspective the only option we have left is to return to Echo and rally the army from there."

"Most wise Lucard, but how do you propose we get back? And what of the count. He is in these woods."

"I've alredy taken care of it. But the count? Well his life is his problem. His protection was forfeit from the moment he seceded. If he were to die in this mess he would probably deserve it. Now the ISI has prepared a helicopter to come pick us up 7 km north of here." The rest was lost as the group began to make their way through the woods.

Tyen pulled Isabelle aside.

"We never speak of this again. Deal?"

She winked. "You owe me big time mutt."

[Allot]

"Well," said Isabelle, fiddling with the frayed hem of her outfit, "that about wraps it up for this dress." Isabelle, Tyen and the rest of the EB brigade that had saved them from the Ohl'Tar (NOT that they needed saving, but anyway) were currently navigating the forests of Nordland in order to get to the helicopters that would eventually take them back to Echo. Lucard Wrend, somehow still in his immaculate white coat, was fidgeting with a small device that occasionally went ping. It went ping. Tyen flinched as the high pitched noise soared down his ear tubes and rebounded off his over-sensitive ear drums.

They continued walking. Occasionally, a flying sheeplet would attempt to attack them, but the narrative causality forcefield emanating from Isabelle was so strong that they rebounded and went flying in the opposite direction, where they quite failed to hit anything humourous. The device that went ping went ping several more times.

Eventually, they emerged from the trees into a deep valley, surrounded by rolling (yet snowy) hills. Atop one of the hills sat three helicopters, looking the way helicopters do. Helicopterish.

"Finally!" said Isabelle. "I can't wait to get back to Echo."
"Ahem," said Lucard Wrend, mousing his way through the troops to face Isabelle and Tyen. "Fortunately for you, my lady, as I have just been informed," he raised the device that went ping. It went ping. He continued: "Your services are no longer required. Therefore I have been instructed to inform you that you should return to Araxion as soon as possible."

Isabelle's eyes widened. It took about three point three three repeating seconds for the bewilderment to transform into acute rage, which, unfortunately for Lucard Wrend, was about to be directed at his shiny head. Had the scientist seen Isabelle's eyebrows draw together in a very Andrewish fashion, he might not in hindsight have ventured his next comment.

"Clearly," said Lucard, "you failed to accomplish your mission before the Count lost power over Agnesia, so logically it must follow that if the Count no longer has a role, concordantly the person assigned to seducing the Count also has no role, and ergo should depart the de facto war zone, if not only for their personal safety, vis a vis a helicopter."

He raised a finger.
"Please," he said. "You are currently pondering the possibility of physical violence. I must inform you that it is futile, although you are welcome to try. You will return to Araxion and this time, you will stay there."

49% of Isabelle wanted to punch Lucard Wrend very hard in the solar plexus. Fortunately, Isabelle was a democracy. She deflated. "Whatever you say, Mr. Wrend," she said. "Lead on,"

Lucard nodded smugly and started up the hill. He quite failed to notice, even as they got into the helicopters, Isabelle leafing through her pocket copy of the International Compendium of Revenge Tactics, v3 (Ed. Ardashir Khan).

[Cho'Gall]

"We should at least go back and try to find them," said Roger, as they proceeded to walk away from the scene of the previous battle.
"Roger," the count said, "He didn't look like he was about to trust me. Being the protocol type he is he'll probably bring another battalion or something to try and fight them. Stupid."
"Maybe if they bring in-" Roger began but was cut off.
"Were you at Maigrentar Roger?! They killed the entire guard!" the count said very explicitly, "They don't die Roger!"

They began to walk silently. The only lead they had was what dying Ohl'tar scribe had told Roger. "Seek out the oracles of Sethak, for the fallen kings have returned." The Oracles of Sethak were a mythical place said to be at the farthest east of Agnesia where the forest meets the ocean. The only unsettling thing was that the forest seemed to go on forever. The only change that seemed to take place as they pressed on was how less and less light was coming through the canopy, and how the trees began to get larger and fewer spaces between one another. At one point they decided to stop,"Lets make camp," the count muttered.

After a couple of hours making a fire, some makeshift shelter and cooking whatever sheeps or hares they could scrounge up, they duo sat by the campfire pondering what had happened to them the previous day. Finally, Roger broke the silence with the question "What do you think they will do if their second attack fails?"
"Well," the count spoke, "As soon as the next push into Agnesia falls on its ass, and the current Duke being who he is, he would call in Ardashir to try and clean up the mess."
After a brief pause, Roger spoke again: "And then?"
"He'll try and blow them up," the count muttered and then paused to think. "If they can just come up from under the earth and leave just as quickly, whats to say they wont just dig in so deep that he cant reach them."
This thought put them both on edge, but they decided they should each sleep some. Cho'gall and Roger each slept separately for 3 hours, both of them taking time to guard one another. When they awoke they put out the fire and proceeded onward.

After several hours of what should be called nerve racking tension as they continued to trek Eastward, they began to see they light of the ocean gleaming back at them.

"What will the Oracles look like?" asked Roger, squinting his eyes as they approached the beachhead.
"Maybe," the count deliberated as he surveyed the beach, "That."

The count pointed towards several stones stacked in a formation that seemed to resemble a sun. As the duo began to walk towards the formation, it was apparent something was waiting for them. An outline of a man made in what resembled magical blue energy stood facing them in the center of the stone.
It spoke in a manner that seemed to directly contrast the gigantic beetles. The voice seemed to sooth the ears, as if ones love was whispering tales of solace and beauty.

"Hello Human and Sethak, this one has been waiting for a long time for you to arrive."

(PS 50th post Yay!)

[Allot]

[[OOC: Shock and awe. Truly deserving of a 6.]]

[Aurangzeb Khan]

From above the cloud cover over that forsaken city a vast craft of steel and tungsten descended so that it was in the plain sight of the infernal creatures which had swarmed into Cho’Gall’s folly.

The situation in Agnesia was getting ridiculously out of hand. Conventional forces had fail, the warlocks and magicians of Kildare had delivered only a temporary reprieve from the insanity. And now, once again, some hellish netherworld from another reality entirely, had started to bleed into our own world, disgorging from the depths of Micras itself still more unfathomable legions of the irredeemable vileness. It was time for a new strategy – biocide. No more subtle distinctions, no more equivocation, no more troubling to distinguish between ‘good’ and ‘evil’. The purity of the world must be upheld, and all that is non-human must die.

Captain Kratas, commander of the IRS Jayatar, relished the prospect. His first active command with the Imperial Strategic Forces, a force assigned to be the last line of defence against anomalous or technologically deviant foes, and there was no foe more anomalous than the Ohl’tar, except perhaps for the ‘Reflections’. From the situation reports on the fate of Gralus, Kratas had found himself wondering if in fact the two threats were perhaps connected, two symptoms of the same fatal disease, that of another reality infecting our own, subverting, corrupting and devouring it, to leave in its wake a myriad of horrid abominations. Could it be the end times already? If so, Kratas was sanguine about the prospects of humanity since even Balgurd had no answer surely to gravships armed with ion cannons, well not ion cannons exactly but any daemon struck with a burst from a high energy laser would be too busy reassembling his dismembered parts to quibble over the difference.

And now the good Captain, from the bridge of his ship, was able to survey the carnage down on the ground below, and he exalted in the fact that he was about to add to it – a hundred fold.

“This is it then? That, down there is Maigrentar?” he cheerfully called across to his XO, an obligatory character in this sort of scenario as a facilitator, interlocutor and general presser of buttons at helpful moments to move matters along to their combustive conclusion.

“Unless there are any other cities around these parts constructed entirely of glistening white marble and overrun by an army of homicidal beetles and spiders, I’d say yes.” Attempts at laconic wit are also obligatory character traits for budding XOs, who have to be thoroughly subservient to their commanders but also retain a residual capacity for independent thought just in case circumstances force them to take command. Imperial Strategic Defence officers are trained in the Babkhan School, which makes them excellently ruthless commanders, but which also leaves them prone to increased instances of early death and insanity.

“And it’s in roughly the right spot too. OK then. Helm; bring her to a full stop. Adjust the levitation fields.

“Helm aye.” Replied one whose name wasn’t important.

“Ops Room. Activate primary weapons systems.” The order was relayed via the intercom to the Tactical Command Centre.

“Ops Room, aye. Order Acknowledged. Twin Gatling 105mm are online, High Energy Lasers charging, Mark 41 launchers primed.” Replied another who did not speak accept in response to questions, but who was in fact a sensitive soul who enjoyed classical music, walks in the parks of Ardashirshahr with his two favourite spaniel dogs whilst on shore leave, and was only just coming to terms with the terms of his divorce from his wife of sixteen years, who had kept custody of their only daughter. Unfortunately the nature of the narrative prevents us from devoting any more time to exploring the Petty Officer’s complex personal circumstances.

“XO – do we have targeting data?”

“Visual, infra-red and ground radar sir, cross-referenced to a live-feed from a Panopticon Horus.”

“Excellent. That’s more than we need. Ops Room, find me a target.”

“Already got one sir. The gondola has spotted a tunnel, well more of a crater now, 100 yards from the Count’s Palace… what’s left of it. There’s a lot of Ohl’Tar activity down there.”

“Underslung Gatlings. Engage. Five rounds, on my mark… NOW!”

The Bridge of the Jayatar reverberated with the monotonous rhythmic boom of each 105mm shell being hurled with tremendous force against the tunnel entrance, which was now being displayed on the Bridge’s main screen. It was all that Kratas could do not to cheer at the explosive impact of each high explosive round, and the sight of hundreds of Ohl’Tar being tossed around by the dispersing kinetic energy as though they were mere rag dolls, albeit of the eight-limbed and unspeakably hideous variety.

“Sir!” It was the Ops Room on the line again. “Gondola reports a massive… beetle… and it’s on the move… street level… it’s making for a collapsed building… must be a tunnel entrance.”

“Lasers! Roast that bastard. Don’t let it get away…”

The High Energy Lasers swiftly matched their aim to the giant beetle’s desperate scurrying movements and fired, boiling the beetle’s vile sulphurous insides, cooking it inside its own exo-skeletal armour and resulting in an enormous explosion of yellow puss that could only be described as being of ‘epic proportions’.

“OK Helm, take us up to angels 15. Move us back off five km to the North. Gondola, when you are ready we will transfer control to you for you to begin the bombing run with the City-Killer Munition. Understood?”

“Perfectly Sir.”

[Leo Fenrir]

Two Hours Earlier - Eliria Courtyard

Leo stepped out of the Jeep into the Courtyard of Eliria Castle. Near was the second person to exit the car and narrowly avoided receiving a fist in the face as Leo stretched. The journey from Petersburg had been a long and tedious one with the only entertainment being provided by Near who couldn't tell a joke to save his life. The man was all suits and protocol, no fun at all. He was also slightly dejected by the fact that his participation in the war had been cut short thanks to the untimely apearance of an IB gnome. Who knew that Amokolia had them too...

Leo was sure that no one had announced their arrival and yet a series of servants and attendants had already begun to cluster before the Duke bowing their heads in respect. There was something extremely disturbing about the whole thing that set him on edge. The butler spoke up in a tone that reeked of years of polite and practiced servility. He announced that his chambers had been prepared and that dinner was to be served in an hour. Near however noticed the Duke's expression and stepped in and announced that they would be leaving for Echo presently and proceeded to usher the Duke away despite the explosions of protests from the butler. When they were out of ear shot Leo spoke.

"I don't know why it bothers me to see them like that."

"They all have salaries your Grace. Its not like anyone is forcing this on them."

"I get that Near. The past is like a spurned lover is it not? Unforgiving, it comes back to bite you when you least expect. With a women at least there is the chance you can outlive her, but how can one outlive their own past?" Near just gave him a blank look.

"I understand that you are a man of emotion your Grace but we to focus on the present. There are many matter to which you still need to attend. For one we still have not had any further communication from either Tyen or Lucard, and I do not need to remind you of the devastation of Cape Farewell's coastal cites?"

"Ah yes of course. I must admit I find myself slightly curious as to Lord Cho'Gall's fate. Quite a shocking move on his behalf. If I remember correctly though, Lucard was the only ISI liaison stationed in Eliria. His absence poses a slight issue with contacting the ISI."

"Has EDEN not been integrated yet in Eliria?"

"Not as of yet. Focus has been on the MINERVA up until now. Now that its done I'm sure it wont be long though."

"Then Echo is still the only option."

"Indeed. I wonder if it wasn't to harsh of me to send Isabelle off like that. It isn't exactly fair of me is it."

"I'm sure your familiar with the term 'tough love' your Grace and I would bet your best flock that she is too."

"Your painfully blunt at times Near."

"It's my job your Grace."

Twenty Minutes Earlier - Echo Manor Helicopter pad

The helicopter landed lightly on the roof of Echo Manor and Leo, Near stepped out.

"I swear to the Great Sheep that if I have to ride in a single other mode of transportation today I will loose it." Leo exclaimed with a laugh. "Damn its good to be home."

But fate, (or whatever other entity it was that was cruel enough to further postpone the consumption of a bacon sandwich) it seems was not in as jovial a mood, as Tyen and Lucard Wrend appeared in the door to the roof. Leo sighed. Tyen was radiating a nervous urgency that was noticeable from a mile away.

"Your Grace I have the unfortunate task of relating to you that your first attempt to locate and seduce the Count failed quite miserably." said Lucard, somehow managing to not take a breath. "An unforeseen factor resulted in the loss of the EB dispatch that you assigned to Isabelle and almost resulted in our termination as well. I have, however, been able to calculate an approximate area in which the Count might be found, using basic triangulation, Tyen's eyewitness account and the average walking speed of a human and an Ohl'Tar."

"What 'unforeseen factor' Lucard."

"Well after a proper analysis of the situatio-" Tyen cut him off.

"The bugs are attacking again Your Grace except now they have these even bigger ones that our rounds can't pierce."

"Another war? Great Sheep above what have I done to deserve this?"

One Minute Earlier - EDEN Terminal, Echo Manor

"There is no point in sending more troops if all we are doing is sending them to their deaths. In this case our best bet is to bide our time and asses our enemy. Actually... Lucard, get me a live satellite feed of Agensia right now." Lucard proceeded to fiddle with a few buttons on the terminal screen and a giant projection lit up the wall of the board room. "Lucard, what is the possibility percentile of these creatures?"

"Calculations have them at 2.438% possible."

"So Isabelle should have no problem dealing with them then! Her continuity field can deal with up to 36% possibility if I'm not mistaken."

"She was sent back to Araxion since her initial purpose had become obsolete."

"Well that was foolish. Near I want you to contact her and ask her, politely of course, if she could return to Echo city? Now for Maigrentar." The focus of the room shifted to the image of Agnesia from above. "What is... Lucard magnify the North wall fo the city. What the hell is that?"

"EDEN has identified it as a Jayatar class graveship your Grace. Local scans a showing that it is preparing its 'City-Killer Munition'."

"Under who's authority is this ship acting?"

"The Khan, your Grace."

"The light protect that man because the next time I see him is not going to be pretty. Get him on the phone Near. If that ship doesn't disengage I'm, going to throw everything the ISI has at it. I'm not losing another city in that damned county!"

[Allot]

The helicopter pilot grimaced as the dagger pressed against his throat.
"Alright! Alright! I'm not moving! I shut the engine off, okay? Back off with the knife!"
Isabelle lessened the pressure, but kept her eyes on the controls of the helicopter.
"What are you even waiting for?" asked the pilot, exasperated. "We're on top of a bloody mountain."
"Just you wait," said Isabelle. "It'll happen soon enough."
The pilot sighed and leaned back in his chair. Isabelle withdrew the dagger and slipped it back into her boot. Several minutes passed. The pilot opened his window and lit a cigarette, inhaling deeply with his eyes closed. Isabelle was trying to convince herself that she hadn't made a mistake. Had she overestimated Leo? Or underestimated? Would the Khan be there? She had no idea. She wondered what had happened to the IB gnomes that she had employed to find the Khan's son. Presumably nothing had happened with them. She was about to ask the pilot to fly back to Araxion when the satellite phone rang. The pilot's eyes snapped open. He reached for the phone, but Isabelle was quicker.

"Hello?"
"Ah, Isabelle, I presume you are still on your way to Araxion," said the unmistakable mousy voice of Lucard Wrend.
"In a manner of speaking, yes. What do you want?"
"Duke Dine would like for you to return to Agnesia, if it's not too much trouble and aid with the battle against the Ohl'tar."
"I see. With my feminine charms again?" said Isabelle, smiling.
"Aha." said Lucard, without any humour, "No. I believe it has something to do with narrative causality. You are, of course, aware that you have latent causality powers?"
Isabelle froze. This wasn't what she had in mind.
"Er...yes, but I don't really know much about them. Eldynuil knows a lot more than I do, and I don't they even work outside of Araxion."
"Hmm. That is most annoying. In that case, please fetch this Eldynuil person and bring him with you. We will be waiting for you at Echo Manor."
Isabelle was about to reply when Lucard Wrend hung up. She had essentially achieved her objective, so she made a slight rearrangement to her ToDo list, with "Kill Lucard Wrend" slightly closer to the top.
"OK, let's go." she said.
"Where to now?" asked the pilot.
"Araxion. But you might want to re-fuel. We'll be going back."

[Cho'Gall]

As the targeting specialist grimaced over what used to be the beetle's corpse, he began to closely examine what looked like the remnants of the shell. He stared intensely as to where these things came from. As he pondered the question, he almost didn't notice the shell beginning to move. The cracked pieces began to darken, and as if magnetically drawn to this point, began to drag themselves towards towards the crater of the explosion. Black tentacles rose from the earth, and moving in a way to reposition the shells in the right place. Suddenly, the beast began to regrow itself, first its scythe arms and then its legs. Finally its head reared from its neck and let out a shriek like roar, grabbing the attention of the operators.

"Operator," the captain said, "What was that?"
The operator was frightened almost equally by what he anticipated the captains reaction would be, and the monster being reborn before is own eyes.
"Sir," the operator said fearfully,"I think that was the enemy that we just killed."

The captains response was cut off by a horribly loud cackling, coming from what appeared to be the land itself.

"Ah ha ha ha ha........" the mysterious voice said, "DID YOU THINK YOUR INFANTILE SPECIES COULD HARM US?!" As the voice rang out, the room began to shake. "DID YOU THINK YOUR TRINKETS COULD DESTROY US?!" the voice said again. The voice was not that of the beetles, but a voice of something much much worse. Although it sounded human, it had a terrifying edge that seemed to freeze all the men on the ship cold. "YOUR ENTRY HERE," the voice began again,"WILL ALLOW US TO RISE THE SUNKEN KINGDOM!"

And what appeared to be instantaneous was a tremor in the land. The city of Maigrentar collapsed unto itself as something began to rise from the earth, the monsters were not fleeing, they were entering their home. Rising to the sky was a unholy castle of gargantuan size. Obsidian in color, it was adorned with dark skulls with glowed with sickly power. Upon the top of the citadel was a dark chimney which billowed clouds of black smoke, blocking out light. Green pulsating beams rose to the mouth of the skulls. Upon further inspection, an entire city lay upon the terraces of the castle. One could see the Ohl'tar and the beetles scurrying about the old city. The buildings were constructed with Obsidian bricks, seeming to directly contrast Maigrentar.

At last the voice spoke again, for the last time. "YOU WERE WARNED NOT TO ENTER THE SPIDERS LAND, PRIDE HERALDS THE END OF YOUR WORLD! THIS LAND WILL BE YOUR TOMB!"

[Leo Fenrir]

OOC: Annnd there goes the city....

[Allot]

((OOC: *cough* Orobouros *cough*))

[Aurangzeb Khan]

Maigrentar

"I suppose" said Captain Kratas, "that if we proceed to detonate the thermobaric device over their heads, that the bastard little beetles will simply re-materialise themselves much as before."

"And that God Awful obsidian ziggurat tower thingy will still be largely in tact." muttered the XO disconsolately.

"On the other hand though, their Ohl'Tar followers will be naught but dessicated charcoal and the bugs will have to go through the inconvenience of pulling themselves back together. We proceed as before. Gondola you have control of the ship."

"Acknowledged Sir. Beginning bomb run now."

And with that the Gravship began it's renewed descent, the Gondola adjusting the altitude, pitch and speed of the gravship to achieve an optimal release position.

"Bomb Loose. [static] Bridge - this is the Gondola, munition is released. We are controlling its glide towards target but you can get out of dodge now."

"Erm. You saying we have control of the ship again?"

"Affirmative Sir."

"Right then. Helm, adjust the gravitational field - reverse full."

"Reverse full, aye Sir."

"OK gentlemen," said the Captain addressing the crew on the Bridge "I doubt that the mere inconvenience of suffocated and roasted alive will stop those creatures for long. We withdraw to Echo City. It'll be for others above our pay-grade to figure out what happens next."

And so the thermobaric munition continued its graceful glide towards its intended fate the IRS Jayatar initiated it's precipitous retreat towards Echo City.

"Sir, you know - people are going to raise... concerns... about using a weapon of mass destruction on a city." The XO broached the subject as delicately as he could.

"A city that has been overrun by immortal fiends and transformed into some overblown fortress of ultimate darkness? I'm sure there will be a measure of understanding this time around."

(OOC: A thermobaric weapon kills outside of its immediate blast radius by drawing oxygen into a gathering and thereby suffocating any creature to hand. It would take several to produce a Dresden style fire-storm. The Citadel, though scorched and significantly damaged in places, will still continue to stand - unfortunately. There will however be plenty of dead Ohl'Tar and reconstituting bugs decidedly unhappy with the turn of events.)

Fort Foley
Le Khan Enragé

The Khan was on the phone, having to contend with an angry Duke of Elwynn. Such things do often come to pass. "Leo, in Zurvan's name calm down man. Must I remind you that county is already in revolt, that city already overrun. I have no moral obligation to spare the lives of anyone complicit in that rebellion. This is an Imperial matter now. As Steward and MoMA I order ISI to commence the targeting of these bug & Ohl'Tar infestations with everything that Orobouros system has. The vermin have to be slowed down at the very least. I suppose we will have to get some consulting Magician in to figure out what in Ahriman's Pestilent Pit is actually going on and how to combat this."

[Cho'Gall]

"You come with questions, both of you. The human asks why his county is besieged by the fallen kings, and the Sethak asks why this one is referring to him in his birth tongue, for he is among the new generation, one who was locked in time with the champion of truth," the oracle said dryly, without a shred of emotion in the same soothing tone that it spoke with beforehand.

"This one will answer both questions with a single answer," said the oracle. "Open your mind young Sethak, for this one is about to unlock the secrets to your past. Your ancestors were once members of the mighty Sethak empire. This empire would control nearly all of Shireroth. Most of the civilians would look like yourself, with the royal caste appearing as the fallen kings do now. They would be the benevolent leaders to the mighty empire lost to lies. The Sethak empire would proceed to rule nearly all of Shireroth for decades to come. Until a dark prophet would surface. This prophet would herald the Shepard of lies, Tolal. The nation would begin to worship this evil tyrant, until the last high king, Maigrenox would call for any still loyal to truth to follow him. His brothers would not be so kind to his cause, they would label him and his followers Ohl'tar. Your nation of Ohl'tar account for less than a single percent of your race. You are part of the banished ones, Ohl meaning banished and Tar meaning people. T The ones who exiled you are know as the Tassa'tar, or the Faithful people. Their attempts to control the Shepard's magic would cause the same shift that would bury the entire Sethak race beneath the ice and ground."

Roger fell to his knees, realizing that his entire history was a lie. Unphased by this, the oracle continued. "While fate was kind to the Ohl'tar, The Tass'tar were locked beneath the earth, watching as the new and young species stole their land from its rightful owners. They soon vowed vengeance upon all life. There is where the kings fell from grace, as they pledged themselves through blood to the shepherd of lies. Tolal appeared to them and spoke as their ruler, offering them vengeance and immortality if they were to help him enter the physical plane. The Tassa'tar gladly obeyed, and Talol began to put his dark plan into action. He ordered the construction of a Black Citadel, to be constructed under the ice. However, he knew that the earth would never beckon to his will, and that only the innocent blood of the champion of truth would allow for his rebirth. So the Shepherd waited, waited and pondered his plan. Fortunately for us, the murder of Maigrenox did not have the expected effect upon the soil, only weakened the cavern, allowing for the Tassa'tar to break free from the earth, but he would have to wait, wait for the guilty people to return to Agnesia, and that time is now."

At that moment Cho'gall looked upward to see the Black Citadel rise from the earth. Again unphased by this turn of events, the Oracle continued once more. "Now this ones final purpose is to be achieved. I must retell the prophecy."

The next words began to be told in a much more dire tone, as if the balance of the entire nation depended on it.

When the blood of the fallen returns to this land, all shall tremble in fear. For the return of the Faithful and the lord of lies shall begin anew. Crying to the winds will hold no avail, for the sky will call: Turn away from your heroes, for they are powerless. The one who will save and bring truth anew shall be born in the name of lies.

[Leo Fenrir]

When Isabelle entered the room it was to a very strange sight indeed. Leo was rhythmically banging his head against a wall, Near was looking from his tranquilizer to the Duke thoughtfully, and Lucard was tapping away at a screen should could not see, seemingly unfazed. When she offered a hesitant greeting all three heads whipped around with the same expression of thank the great sheep.

"Isabelle! You timing is impeccable." said Leo. She stifled a laugh when she saw the giant red mark on his forehead.

"I assume you spoke with the Khan then?"

"Yes!" He rubbed his head unconsciously. "As infuriatingly level headed as per usual. And to top it off I made a fool of myself! There I go trying to protect another city if not for the populous then for the culture and suddenly some citadel pops up and I'm shouting at a man who is trying to do as his job."

"This does tend to happen when dealing with things that surpass reason."

"Ah yes! Thank you for reminding me. One of the reasons I called you here was so that we could discuss your strange Causality Aura. Lucard over there thinks that given time, the scientist at the Liberty center could harness this 'field' into a generator. You can of course see the uses of such technology, especially here in Nordland."

"Well I have metioned it before but I'm not sure that this even works outside of Araxion."

Lucard cut in at this point "I can personally attest to having seen your field repel more then one sheeplet in Agnesia. My theory is that Araxion by nature is simply a more plausible location then Nordland. If I am correct then it is simply the overall low possibility of Nordland's existence that is suppressing your field's full potential. Again, if this is correct, then it would indicate that this ability is inherently linked to you and not Araxion."

Leo took over once again. "The sooner that this technology can be developed the better. If we can managed it soon, then we may even be able to set up a barrier of possibility to isolate this seemingly impossible threat, maybe even turn it into a weapon."

"You would of course need to undergo a few tests so as to determine the physical nature of your ability but luckily for us Echo does have the necessary facilities, and the test should take no more then a day." Squeaked Lucard.

"No one is forcing you to do this of course but it would be for the betterment of the Duchy. In the mean time, the Khan has authorized the use of SDI to combat the threat and I will be contacting the ISI immediately to give them orders."

[Allot]

Isabelle pondered.

On the one hand: Leo is being polite. A chance to prove that she was more than Andrew Allot's daughter. Saving lives from evil demons. Not having to seduce anyone.

But then again...Working with the Khan...Probably pissing off Cho'Gall (but who really cares about that?)... Finding out...

Finding out what?
What am I afraid to find? That I am more than my father's daughter? That I can't save lives... The pathetic legacy of Allot...

Leo waved a hand in front of Isabelle's eyes, which had gone blurry staring into neutral space. "Isabelle?" he asked.

"Isabelle?" said Andrew Allot.

Isabelle stared at the man in front of her, who had somehow appeared out of nowhere. He looked... familiar.
"Who are you?" she asked.
He took a step forward. She gazed into deep blue eyes. Somewhere inside her memory, a brain cell finally found the relevant folder and thrust it aloft with a cry of victory.

"Dad?"
He smiled. "I'm glad you remember me," he said.
"Really? Why the hell now?" said Isabelle angrily.
"Excuse me?" said Andrew, startled.
"Why, out of all moments, did you pick now to appear and offer fatherly guidance. Kind of late, aren't you?"
"I... I think... I meant..." Andrew stuttered.
"I know what you thought!" snapped Isabelle. "I don't care. I don't need you anymore. So for once, just leave me alone!"
Andrew Allot blinked, once, then shattered like a mirror and left a worried Leo in his place.

"Isabelle?"
Isabelle blinked and re-focused on Leo. "Huh? What?"
"The tests, Isabelle."
"Oh. Yes. Yes, of course."

[Cho'Gall]

Several hours earlier....

The oracle faded away, as its purpose was complete. The count and Roger stood up to ponder the prophecy. What could it mean? The lord of lies was obviously Talol, but after that, nothing seemed to make sense. The Cho'gall pondered the meaning of "The name of lies." He began to play around with the names of people currently involved with the situation, but none of them matched. Half an hour went by with no progress. Both were equally stumped, but they weren't about to admit it. Then Cho'gall thought, "What if the sky was a metaphor for Leo?" after all, Leo was obsessed with his space projects. But Leo happened to be one of the most honest people the count had met, he was not the one the prophecy spoke of. Ardashir was the next to go under scrutiny, for the "Blood of the fallen" was upon his hands, but again he could not find the correlation between him and the rest of the prophecy. He began to play about with the letters of the villain's name, Talol. Tolal, lotal, lolta, atoll, atlol, allot!
"Roger!" the count cried out,"THE DUKE!"
Roger looked back at him with puzzled eyes,"Leo?"
"No, no, no," the count responded quickly,"The one before him."
"Nathan?" Roger asked again.
"No the other one, the one who died!" Cho'gall yelled back.
"Allot!" Roger said victoriously.
"YES!" the count replied, "His name is an acronym to the Shepherd's name! Does he have any heirs?"
"The girl Cho'gall, her name was Issabelle Allot!" Roger replied.
"Dammit!" Cho'gall exclaimed, "She must be back in Echo by now!"
"If you need to find her," a voice said from the forest,"There's a helicopter not far from here. Its at a military base that was evacuated. The beasts searched it and found nothing."
"Well now, lets go get that," said Cho'gall.

[Leo Fenrir]

"Weird." Said Leo. "For a moment there I thought that... No never mind." Lucard got up and motioned for Isabelle to come with him.

Echo University Research Labs

"Well that was rather less... Intense then I expected." Said Isabelle from behind a screen, as she changed out of the hospital clothes.

"Well I must say the results the tests have produced are astounding! If these readings are correct then the laws of physics as we know them could be drastically altered." Lucard's squeak got increasingly delirious as he spoke.

"That sounds a bit dramatic if you ask me."

"Have you ever hear of the schrodinger equation?"

Isabelle sighed and shook her head. She sensed a speech coming on.

"In simple term it is an equation that states that any possibility that can exist does exist until observed by an external object observer at which point the equation collapses and reality is what remains. For this example try visualizing it as a sin wave, am I assuming you know what they are, with deviation from the plausible or realistic as its amplitude, the larger it being the less possible the reality created. Now, the function responsible for regulating this 'amplitude' is usually constrained by the conventional laws of physics, meaning that the sin wave was constrained. This however only can to pass since physicists chose to ignore a variable that they couldn't explain, its symbol being ℵ, and set it at a constant of -1. My time in Nordland though has proven that this variable ℵ (Narativity) is actually not a constant but instead dependent localized forces. With the tests today though I have finally isolated ℵ and its energy signature. For some reason or another your presence is able to boost the local value of ℵ and reduce the amplitude on this theoretical sin wave. As to the exact strength of this field you posses I can only speculate it to be something near to 0.32ℵ give or take a few. Now as you can probably deduce, Nordland's base ℵ value is much lower, nearer to -4 thus minimizing your ability. The best news in all of this though is that now that I have isolated the energy signature it shouldn't be impossible to develop a generator that can increase local ℵ."

He stopped to take a breath.

"There is of course the issue of increasing ℵ to 0. At this point the equation ceases to exists, so it follows logically that reality would cease to exist. In which case I would recommend that you stay away from locations that have a value of ℵ greater then -0.4 or you may cease to exist as well. This could also however have some extremely practical uses if the field could be confined to a plane, in which case you would produce a surface that cannot be breached, because it doesn't exist."

He concluded with a triumphant squeal that reminded the slightly distracted Isbelle that she was supposed to be listening.

"In any case Lady Allot, the tests are done so are free to return to the Manor when you see fit. I will be sending these results to the ISI immediately so that construction can begin immediately." He reached into his coat pocket a muffled ping was heard.