In other news, I have started writing up this RTD as a book.
Introduction
A harsh wind blew through the town as citizens ran about, doing everyday tasks. The smithies and workshops were buzzing with activity, forging and repairing weapons and armor. A priest stood in the center of the town square, preaching over the noise and bustle of the town; few paid him any attention, as most were focused on the ever-growing army to the north. The war had been raging on for 20 years, and the citizens were tired of it. They wanted peace, but their foe was not one that could be bargained with, for they wanted nothing but the complete extermination or enslavement of mankind, to subvert and twist the land to their own uses when there was no longer anyone to oppose them. Demons.
Nobody knew their exact origin, but the main source of the demons was the Great City of Schalade, formerly the capital of the Piren Empire. Perhaps it was some cursed agent already serving the demons, or maybe it was accidental, but for some reason the great academy of scholars in the center was destroyed by a massive explosion, and when the dust cleared all that remained was a gate... a gate to Hell. Demons swarmed through, quickly subduing the unprepared city guard and seizing the city. Statues of the Saints were torn down and replaced with monuments to their fiendish overlords. Houses were burned and wicked spires that acted as a barracks for the demons were erected in their place. In under 4 hours, the center of the Piren Empire had been completely changed. The Imperial Army was mustered to take back the city, but the soldiers found themselves fighting in quite literal hostile terrain, for the gate to Hell also started corrupting the land around it until once fertile grasslands became dry and cracked, overrun with nettle-like weeds and poisonous vines.
The Imperial Army fought hard and valiantly, their superior training and tactics regularly routing the demons. The demons had a concrete advantage over the army, which soon became apparent after the fighting continued for a number of hours; the human soldiers grew hungry and thirsty, suffering from wounds and fatigue, while the demons fought relentlessly without paying any heed to their own wounds. Over time the demons simply overran the Imperial soldiers, and proceeded to muster their forces and prepared to invade other cities and eventually other countries as well. That was 20 years ago. Now, the last remnants of human society have been forced into border keep and outposts near the southern ocean, the last untainted land in the world, in a desperate gambit for survival...
Chapter 1
A slight man dressed in indistinct gray sat in the corner of the city park, pouring over a thick book. The townsfolk gave him a wide birth, for they were instinctively distrustful of magic in general, especially the dark magic of necromancy. They tolerated him however, because he wasn't currently trying to kill them, and the demons were. It was that simple. 20 years ago, necromancers were prosecuted by the Bane, a government-sanctioned organization of hunters that brought in outlaws, bandits and occasionally rogue mages. For understandable reasons, people had an aversion to seeing dearly loved Aunt Beth walking around after they buried her last week, especially when it was known that animating their corpse temporarily prevented their soul from resting in the afterlife. When the demons invaded however, people suddenly became a lot more tolerant of them, given they were able to raise large armies to fight against the demons, armies that like the demons, didn't grow hungry or tired.
These undead armies bought time, but they didn't do much else, for the supply of skeletons and zombies to fight against the demons was limited by the number of dead humans, while the number of demons to fight was limited by... well, nobody really knows. Still, maybe time was all that was really needed, for demons still come through the gates of Hell, but in smaller numbers than they used to. The invasion has slowed, but it is still progressing. Priests have found a way to stop the corrupted land from blighting their fields, but fertile lands to grow food is still rare. In short, life is somewhat better, but things still look grim for humanity... especially when several hundred demons have gathered to the north, while the city guard only consists of 80 men. It is this precise reason why humans still tolerated magic use these days.
Author
Topic: Arcanum Octet II: Forbidden Lore [Turn 81] (Read 233383 times)