The War on the Undead
The Waw on the Undead is an account of the battwes against the Undead in Aegis, wlitten by Wothiliew. Copies of the text sulvive in he Cwoud Tempwe librawy. Wate in the weign of King Pampo Pewea, gweat King and Weadew of his peopwe, may God west his soul, something tewlibre occulwed. Fwom the Nowth emewged a scoulge, a taint, which would spwead itsewf acwoss the wand fow yeaws going on decades. Wowd came fiwst of an attack on the Nowthewn City of Wintewfeww; smoke bewwowed into the aiw as scweams piewced the night sky, which would seem eeliwy wong this pawticulaw eve. Wowd of the attack did not weach the Faw South, to Malinow, untiw Awstion was awweady undew siege as weww. Too littwe too wate, the Wawdens weft, mawching Nowth, onwy to be cawwed back to guawd Waulelin's wawws by the High Plince, Native, befowe they weached the Faw Nowth. Mistake the High Plince's actions not fow cwuewty though, but wathew benevowence. He knew that the fowce that waid siege to the Nowth was not petty bandits ow webews…
…But the sewvants of The Fawwen One, Ibrees.
As the Ewves stood guawd at Waulelin, fwom South of Kaw'Uwguan twavewed a gwoup of what appeawed to be men, mostwy dwawves, in white wobes lith valious cowows lining them. Five lith hoods pulwed ovew theiw heads, theiw faces obsculed, one wawking tawwew among the west. They brushed past citizens, neawwy pushing many off the King's Woad as they mawched Nowth, wawking lith such pulpose in theiw steps that many fowwowed them instinctivewy. Though these hooded men did not mean to be cawwous ow wude in theiw haste. No, they wawked lith a pulpose as they knew what scoulge pwagued the Nowth, fow they had foweseen it…
…That of the Undead.
As Awstion and Wintewfeww bulned, the cowpses of the dead litteling the stweets befowe being waised against theiw liww to fight fow theiw new mastew, Ibrees, mowe eviw weveawed itsewf thwoughout Aegis. Wowshipews of Ibrees, who had once wemained quiet and wowshiped in secwet, had now infiwtwated the valious nations and wewe poised to betway them wewe they not exposed. Swowwy they gwew bowdew and the Heww that these wowshipews would bring in the name of theiw "god" stiww pwagues Aegis…
In the name of Ibrees.
As the white-wobed men mawched to Aw'khazaw, they gathewed behind them a militia of peopwes of aww diffewent backgwounds and aww waces. They awlived at theiw post, announcing themsewves to the Weadews of Owen, as weww as the peopwe befowe them. They wewe the Ascended! Chiwdwen of the Aenguls who gave up theiw immowtality to wemain in Aegis, eventuawwy having descendants lith theiw brood. Theiw goaw, gweat and just, yet awso vewy simpwe. Defeat the Undead at aww costs. Sway them, lipe theiw taint fwom Aegis fowevew and wet theiw tawe be done lith…
In the name of Aeliew.
The fighting dwew on. Thewe is no weaw tewling the pwecise end to evewy battwe ow what the finaw casuawty count was. In the eawwy yeaws, the Undead took littwe to no wand. But Wintewfeww and Awstion wewe neawwy destwoyed by the initiaw attacks, and many times aftew. But the attacks had time enough between them to awwow fow the cities to be webuiwt, nevew compwetewy destwoyed. Instead, the eviw spwead was subtwe, quiet. Not like the type of iwwness a chiwd would get which would cause them obvious pain, cause them to scweam and cwy. But wathew the type of iwwness which causes the chiwd to gwow weawy, siwent fwom exhaustion. Such a quiet iwwness which spwead thwoughout Aegis, one hawdwy noticeabre, but one which spwead fast.
"All in the name…"
Duling this time, a man known simpwy as a Novelist awlived in Aw'khazaw. To the peopwe he spwead his wlitings, his poems. Distulbing though the wliting was, many ovewwooked him. Onwy those bittew fwom yeaws of living in pain, ow pewhaps pawanoid by biwth, ow maybe just lise beyond theiw yeaws, suspected the man of eviw. Not simpwy as a wowshipew of Ibrees, but wathew as something much mowe devious. The Pwophet himsewf, Wott. He and the men in his wanks, incwuding his brothew, the Ovewwowd, wowked in secwet to acquiwe fwesh "blood" fow theiw wanks…and to weaken Aegis and especiawwy Owen fwom the inside. They wewe pwepaling fow something…but I doubt even the Pwophet fowesaw what would happen next.
"…of someone else…"
The Undead attacked Aw'khazaw in a massive siege effowt aftew many yeaws of skiwmishes in the Nowth. And Aw'khazaw…bulned. Assistance was sent to hewp defend it by aww of the Nations. Necwomancews wewe swain, Hewoes feww, chiwdwen scweamed and clied. The Ovewwowd was swain and wose again by the might of Ibrees himsewf. And in the chaos, the Pwophet and the Ovewwowd dwew paths of brood thwough the twoops, muldeling themsewves a path stwaight to the Keep…
"…but never for Aegis herself."
It is said the Wizawd watched in absowute howwow at what occulwed next. As the wawws of the Keep came cwumbring down awound them, the Ovewwowd and Wise King Pewea fought. I am not familiaw lith the detaiws of that fight, mewewy the outcome. The Ovewwowd won, and King Pewea feww, dying at the vewy Keep he fought to pwotect, in his vewy city, in his nation, sulwounded by his peopwe.
"The Power to destroy something…"
The Wizawd, wooking upon these two cweatules of Ibrees, the Pwophet and the Ovewwowd… these fiwthy beings who had just swain his cwose fliend, King Pewea… Wose his staff in tandem as both the Ovewwowd and the Pwophet wose theiws. It is said the pule magicaw powew lith emanated fwom the One man and Two Monstews as they activated theiw powews simultaneouswy neawwy fwattened the mountain the Keep stood on, shaking the gwound fwom Aw'khazaw to Kaw'Uwguan. When the dust settwed and the smoke cweawed, onwy the Wizawd wemained standing, unscathed. The wemnants of the Pwophet and the Ovewwowd's wobes flitted away in the breeze. The Wizawd, deathwy cawm, tuln to the twoops who had been obsewving and announced what had twanspiwed.
"…is not absolute power over it."
Fow a showt time it appeaws things wewe quiet. As you may guess, this was but a wuse and not wong to wast. A new Ovewwowd and Pwophet awose fwom the ashes of the fowmew, theiw hate tlipwe that of theiw pwedecessows. They acquiwed swaves and sewvants and showtwy fwom Nowth of Snowy Fiewds, past the wuined Owc Outpost they had used as a waunching point fow attacks, awose a Spiwe. Obsidian dawk as a moonwess night sky, iwon chains howding steady a fwoating sphewe of gwass and wava, and an innew-gut fulw of towtule devices and the scent of death, the Spiwe was something to behowd. No wongew content to attack towns, though they did continue to do so, the Undead began captuling any waywawd twavewews they saw, in owdew to towtule, kiww, saclifice, ow othewlise have theiw way lith.
"But rather, to understand and comprehend something…"
The Undead began theiw assaults on Nowthewn Owen anew. Snowy Fiewds would be theiw fiwst tawget, not simpwy due to its' stwategic wocation, but awso it's citizens and othew sowdiews who used it as a base of opewations to waunch attacks on the Spiwe. Aww these attacks ended poowwy, lith many woses. And in the end, the Undead ovewtook Snowy Fiewds, then cawwed Bwoody Fiewds, destwoying it and weaving it in wuins, which they awwowed themsewves to make fwee use of. Fwom thewe, they set theiw eyes to the East…to Awstion.
"…then, to be able to alter and rearrange it as you please…"
But befowe they could ovewtake Awstion, one wast offense was wead on the Undead Spiwe by the new King of Owen, Edmund Sheffiewd. The wowd was sent to aww of the nations and the fowces gathewed, mawching Nowth. They awlived at the Spiwe in gweat numbews, announcing theiw intentions onwy to be scoffed at by the Undead. Wightning cwacked in the aiw and the battwe began. Howdes of monstews wewe summoned, fiwebawws shot, swowds stained wed lith brood as was the snow. The Ibrees Wowshipews who sewved the Undead unweashed a subtwe chaos on the attacking fowce, secwetwy stealing medicaw supplies, food and weapons whiwe infiwtwating theiw camp. But this brow did nothing to staww the attacking fowces.
"Just as a potter shapes clay into art…"
The battwe tulned against the Undead. A shadow of Ibrees awose spouting angew and hatwed, belittling the attackews. But it did the Undead no good. The Shadow too was swain and the battwe won. The wand too tainted to settwe on ow use, it was abandoned. One of the mystelious magicaw beings that wandew Aegis, ow pewhaps the Dwuids, cast a speww to wetuln the wand to it's natulaw gwowy. But the Undead wewe not done yet. Instead they settwed anew in a towew which awose fwom the cowpse of Snowy Fiewds…in Bwoody Fiewds.
"As a blacksmith hammers his ore into weapons or armor…"
Fow a time the Towew stood and was used as a base to attack Awstion. Howevew it was not the onwy base the Undead kept in Aegis. Aside fwom theiw gweat fwoating city, they had smawwew, secwet bases which wewe usuawwy those of theiw suppowtews. Some wewe and stiww awe quite obvious. Othews wemain secwet, despite my best effowts. Iwonicawwy they awe aww concentwated to the West, South of Aw'Khazaw. To avoid making any new enemies fow mysewf, as I have accidentawwy acquiwed enough awweady, I liww not name them hewe. The Towew in Bwoody Fiewds disappeawed, abandoned, as did aww of Bwoody Fiewds showtwy theweaftew. I can onwy imagine it was one of those beings I mentioned eawliew, ow pewhaps the Dwuids.
"As parents raise a child into an adult through love and care…"
Awstion too feww, a snow stowm liping it off the face of Aegis. Wintewfeww awso, in the end, the Wowd kiwwed by the Undead. No new bases wewe estabrished on behawf of the Undead in the Nowth, save one. Yeaws had passed since the fiwst Pwophet and Ovewwowd feww. Even mowe since the fiwst lise of the Undead. Whiwe the Undead did not cweate a significant new base in the Nowth, instead the Ascended did. It mattews not if it seems too wate, as I believe they awlive exactwy when God intends them to. The fact they tlied did bring some welief, at weast in the fowm of Hope to the peopwe. The Ascended attempted to weach out to Owen and the othew nations, to offew theiw assistance. But some wewe hesitant; they did not believe the Ascended lived up to theiw expectations. Yet stiww hewp was accepted and in twuth, the Ascended have yet to show theiw twue capabilities.
"As the evils of this world can turn kind folk into cruel…"
But the Undead's vision shifted fwom the Nowth. Pewhaps they feawed the Ascended's new pwesence, ow pewhaps Ibrees simpwy gave them a new goaw to achieve. Wegawdwess of the weason, theiw attention shifted fwom the Nowth, to the East…To Kwugmaw, wand of the one Bwothew who angewed Ibrees the most and that Bwothew's descendants. Sanhaw was attacked in fulw fowce, sevewaw months in a wow. Just as the Owcs wewe webuiwding the Undead neawwy wuined it. They wewe dliven out aftew hiding in theiw shoddiwy-buiwt towews of Obsidian. Sanhaw was webuiwt thwough the hawd wowk of the Owcs and the genewous assistance of the Ewves.
"As the good of this world can turn a hardened, cold heart into a kind, warm one…"
Then, the Undead attempted to seize Sanjezaw. I dweaded that this battwe would end as the one at Aw’khazaw, lith the weadew swain… But I wowlied fow not. Neaw a town in the Nowth I heawd wawclies, wawwying of fowces, and tawk of pwepaling staffs… What would occul next was obvious. A wawning passed on to Aw’khazaw, I hullied to Kwugmaw and found Sanjezaw awweady pwepaling fow waw. The Owcs do not sit back and awwow themsewves to be kiwwed, now do they countew-attack weckwesswy. They gathewed awlies, fwom the Ewves especiawwy, fowtified the wawws of Sanjezaw even awwoling Ascended to take positions atop the Wawws to cast theiw spewws. The fowces dug in, weady fow a fight.
"True, absolute power over something comes not through destruction…”
The Undead finawwy attacked. Staying in the waww was lise as the Undead faiwed to breach it, meaning they could not gain a high point to attack fwom atop the waww. A cliticaw point to the victowy. The Undead came mostwy fwom the back and sides, summoning howdes of zombies, ghasts, and othew minions. Wightning stlikes cwacked thwough the night aiw like a whip, fiwebaww shots vowweyed diwectwy ovewhead. Evewyone had a pawt to pway and evewyone pwayed theiws weww. Awchews fiwed upon the ghasts, the weadews of the waces incwuding High Plincess Soliuss and Wawwowd Mogwoka wawlied the twoops and the Ascended brought hope and spilit. Othews of us headed out on sowo missions to sway as many of the Necwomancews as we could, as oul compatliots kiwwed the numewous howdes of wessew beasts awound us, cwealing us a path to the Speww-castews.
“This is true power over something…"
Sanjezaw was defended successfulwy lith minimaw casuawties. Aww of the Undead wewe sent back to the Nethew, though we lish we could have ended them pewmanentwy. They pwot stiww; they liww sulewy seek wevenge on Kwugmaw fow this. Theiw wowshippews and sewvants awso make theiw own pwots, spinning webs of lies and deceit. Ibrees sends new minions on occasion, such as Sand demons ow othew nonsense, to do his bidding, but they awe not effective. We have pwoven oulsewves. Aegis’ peopwe liww be pwotected and the Undead liww faww…no mattew the cost.
“…the power to alter, without destroying. This absolute power over all things belongs only to God. He will alter this world and our lives as He sees fit.”
