The battle is over. If there are any survivors, they are few and scattered, and you doubt they have much left in the way of sanity after witnessing that endless parade of horrors. You dismiss them from your mind, and gather up the Greshspawn and the remaining deathless knights, leaving the slaughtered, trampled corpses to lie in the mud. It is a brief journey back to Southbend, and largely uneventful.
When you arrive you find a slight skirmish still going on. A few mages stand on the battlements, blasting zombies that stagger on the field. You realize that since you only ever intended the reanimation field to be a way to harass besieging armies, and the zombies aren’t actually under anyone’s control. Irritating. A simple wave of your hand is enough to keep them randomly wandering about, and you land on the battlements, overlooking your new army.
They stand in clumps. They might have sworn to you, they might have knelt at your feet, but they are still terrified, and some are beginning to regret their choice. Fortunately, you have the perfect cure in mind for that. You announce a grant feast, and cheers rise up from your soldiers – everyone likes not having to work. You suspect many of them are eager to erase memories of the long march down.
You also officially grant Lurrothel the rank of concubine, and make it clear exactly what this means. The sight makes an impression on the soldiers – seeing the sadistic witch who tormented them so horribly in that position makes it clear exactly what they have signed up for.
Once you are satisfied, preparations for the feast are begun. Great fire pits are dug, and men are spitted next to hogs and lambs. Crop storages are taken, the wheat nearly rotten and the fruits on the edge of inedibility, but delicious all the same. Musicians are sent for from Avar, from Henord Crossing, from the various villages which make up your realm, as well as other sorts of servants.
The feast is ready within two days, and it lasts for three. People lie everywhere, stuffed to the point of bursting, but they sit up and eat more. Dancers still dance, although they can barely stand, while soldiers sit around them, demanding more and demanding better, even as they can barely keep their eyes open from exhaustion. Fights break out, over this meal and this musician and this dancer.
Everywhere the Lord and Lady of Southbend are compelled to act as good, gracious hosts, cleaning and serving their guests, keeping food coming, offering any and every service possible. They cannot even cry, as you forbid them to show displeasure.
But at long last, the feast is done. All the food is devoured, the dancing is done, and men and women lie in heaps in a mix of contentment and misery. The entire castle is suffused with evil, of a different sort than usual. This is not the evil of slaughter and torture, but the evil of indulgence and selfish hedonism.
You roam among the feasters, picking out 20 soldiers, all recently recruited spearmen. Each one of them staggers up from the floor, fear sobering them up. You find yourself distracted, and three of them go mad when you implant the memories, their minds shattering into confused shards. The other seventeen take it relatively well, although they seem somewhat disappointed by the mission, except for two. They depart to begin spying, wings concealed by thin coatings of skin and heavy coats. It will be some time before they reach a useful location.
Caravans begin to flow north from Henord Crossing, supplied by merchants in the Avar Society, using lightly corrupted crops along with armor and weapons with subtle demonic sigils. Worms of Avarice nestle within the crates and hide in stacks of hay. Once more, it will take time for this to pay off, or even to test if it is viable – banditry is on the rise, and if people realize where these caravans are coming from, they may take matters into their own hands. Barrow Bows are put to work to both protect the caravans and destroy rival shipments.
You take one final step to ensure your version of events is what people will hear. 15 town criers are called forth, and imbued with something akin to the power of the Seducers, making every word from their mouth ring true. All survive the experience, even if they are a little shaken, and go north to spread word of treachery and murder.
Finally, as soon as rumors begin to spread that the Legion detachment was defeated or deserted or defected, the two loyal council members act, using the aid of the Ceaseless Consumption to make a political coup, driving one member from the council and replacing her with an ally, blackmailing two others into supporting them, and persuading a fourth to join with them. With a solid majority on the council, several votes are rammed through to funnel wealth into the pockets of your followers, and to fund the immediate raising and arming of a Civil Guard to help ensure Avendor and its surroundings are protected. The Ceaseless Consumption makes up about half their members, with Shapers working day and night to help enhance the strength of those involved. Recruitment efforts are stepped up, with more joining, including, amusingly enough, one of the resistant council member.
Meanwhile, Duthrax works in integrating the remaining Legion soldiers into your army, and Caliwick resumes lessons. Now that your Seekers and Seers actually understand the basics of magic, they learn new spells far easier. In addition, two more join the ranks of the Doom-Seekers.
Caliwick wonders if you wish to focus on any particular sort of magic. He suggests battle magic, support magic, or corruptive magic, but there are many branches you could have your mages work towards, including rituals.
Kreth departs to be among the Barrow Bows and spread further corruption.
What now?
Name: Klx-Dryklfx
Time: 9 months
Physical Might: 92 +6 ( +3 feasting, +4 evil, + 34 worship, - 8 leakage, -10 Worms of Avarice, -40 mutation, -15 Voices of Change)
Mental Might: ] 92 +6 ( +3 feasting, +4 evil, + 34 worship, - 8 leakage, -10 Worms of Avarice, -40 mutation, -15 Voices of Change)
Cults
The Ceaseless Consumption
Members: 7 seducers, 1 high seducer, 3 Shapers, 16 peons, 3 members of the city council in Avendor, 431 Civil Guardmen
Resources: 8 (+ 8 government corruption)
Power: 24 (10 spent recruiting, 3 spent training, 5 spent worshipping, 2 spent spreading rumors)
The Avar Society
Members: 1 seducer, 25 peons, 19 merchants, 11 artisans
Resources: 2 (+5 donations, -3 party)
Power: 4(4 spent throwing parties)
17 mutated spies
15 Voices of Change
Fortresses
Canord
Strong walls (45), Deep moat (25), Thorn Wall (25), Weak wards (15), Traps (15) Demonic crops, plentiful mines, Strong aura of domination.
Avar
Basic Walls (25), Living Ward (15), Demonic Mud Moat (20)
Castle Southbend
Strong Walls (35), Strong Wards (30), Moat (20), Gargoyle Guards (15), aura of reanimation (-4 slaves/week)
Demonic Realm
2400 Peons
1 Doom-Seer, 2 Doom-Seekers, 313 Slaves, 4 Dark Priests
75 resources (-20 trade, - 20 feasting)
+28 power/week, + 20 resources/week
Slight corruption
Demonic Armies
11 Reavers, 2 Doom-Seekers, 50 thralls, 100 zombies in Canord
The Broken – 821 chaff (46 thralls, 441 zombies, 227 skeletons, 17 wisp wights, 89 weeping sores), 701 light infantry (400 Spear-Thralls, 2 Spear-Thrallherds, 297 Sword-Thralls, 2 Sword-Thrallherds), 269 heavy infantry (27 Demon-Touched , 1 Demon-Touched Thrallherd, 199 wisp-wretches, 42 heavy swordsman), 332 ranged (313 Archer-Thralls, 2 Archer-Thrallherds, 17 slingers), 30 mages (2 Doom-Seers, 30 Doom-Seekers), 315 heavy cavalry( 5 mounted god-slayers, 310 deathless knights), 23 Infiltrators (18 Hunters, 5 Night-Stalkers), 28 support (15 Dark Priests, 1 Dread Priest, 12 Shapers), 10 siege (8 armored brutes, 2 crushers), 17 incorporeal(17 specters), 180 scouts (rangers), 17 flyers (17 Gresh-spawn) in Southbend
Barrow Bows – 168 scouts (rangers), 39 light infantry (bandits) in between Avar and Southbend
Champions
Kreth Woemaker
Physical might: 25 (+10 worship, - 8 corruption)
Mental might: 25 (+10 worship, - 8 corruption)
Other: Magic Cloak, worshipped by the Barrow Bows
Duthrax Soul-Render, First of the Thrall-Herds
Physical might: 9 + 1
Mental might: 5+ 1
Other: Duelist, skilled commander, zombie horse, Herald
Lurrothel, Weaver of Nightmares
Physical might: 3
Mental might: 8
Other: Necromancer, skilled at wards and dream magic, pregnant with your child
Caliwick the Arch-Necromancer
Physical might: 2
Mental might: 11
Other: Necromancer, Soulbond, Living Legend
Artifacts
Desecrator
+6 physical, +6 mental
Bringer of unholy rot, Reanimator, Focus of Power
Magic Cloak
Unknown properties
Herald
+2 physical, + 2 mental
Inspiring song, crimson regeneration