-Offer the king (and everyone else) the chance to swear loyalty to us.
-If he refuses, mutate him into a shambling monster, lich-like in appearance, and set him free, to roam the world as an example of what happens to those who oppose us.
The Titaneghoul continues to wander about the lower levels of the keep, picking up bits of rubble, or corpses that it had missed previously, and snacking on them. Eventually it grows tired, and with one last shriek- which unnerves your spectres and causes howls of agony from the upper floors, sinks to the floor to 'sleep'.
Morning comes, and with it, a large portion of your army. You assume a relatively humanoid form; four arms, wings of fire, and alight on a balcony near the top of the keep. In your nicest voice you ask to speak with the king.
After some deliberation, the king emerges- flanked by his guards, and protected with so many magical wards that the air around him glows. Not that they would stop you for an instant.
You smile broadly, spread your arms. "Malcolm!", you say, "How nice to see you. How are things? Me? Oh, I'm doing great. I just destroyed half your army, fed a
really hungry Titaneghoul in the process, and here's me, speaking with
royalty!"
The king keeps a straight face. "Begone, foul beast", speaketh he.
"Malcolm, buddy. That hurts. Foul beast? Please, call me Crinkle."
"We shall never surrender!"
You scratch your head, as if puzzled. "Yeah, no, that's not working for me. I'm thinking like this: you do surrender, you pledge loyalty to me, and serve me as a willing vassal
or I place a demonic curse upon you, slaughter your soldiers, and take your wife and or daughter to do with as I will."
A brief crack appears in the king's otherwise flawless pokerface.
"You shall not harm my family or my people, demon."
"Actually I probably will. It's just, I might harm them
less if you agree to join me."
"NEVER", shouts the king, throwing his hands up and making to walk away. With a thought, you freeze him on the spot.
"Now Malcolm. This isn't very kind. I'll give you one last chance. Join me, or your beloved daughter will know the true extent of my powers."
The king strains against the bonds you placed on him, turns around to face you once more. "Kill him! Kill him now!"
His guards comply, rushing forwards to strike at you with enchanted swords, as from within the keep, mages prepare a barrage of magical attacks. You swallow the guards whole, erect a simple shield against the magical attacks, and stride into the keep, striking down all who stand against you. You find the king standing between the remainder of his guard, who have drawn crossbows, with silver-tipped bolts loaded.
"I warned you, Malcolm", you say, wearily,"And now you pay the price for your stubbornness." You then speak several unutterable phrases in demontongue, causing the guards to blanch and lower their weapons, whereupon you pour evil into the king, who quickly begins to change. He cries out as moisture drains from his body, leaving his skin drawn taught against his bones, his eyes bulging hideously out of a skull-like face. He gibbers as magical energy flows through his body, discharging randomly from his fingertips, leaving scorch marks on the floor. He howls in agony as his various silver knick-knacks start to burn his flesh, snarls in rage as bony wings emerge from his back, his armour and garments falling to pieces, and tattered black robes swirling into existence around him. All that remains of his former attire is his crown, which is resized to fit his head perfectly; metal merging with bone as that it may never be removed, and all may know that this was once King Malcolm the Wise- and know what his wisdom bought him before a demon.
You leave the keep, as the former king starts assaulting his guards with blasts of dark energy, whilst the guards dare not strike back against their king. Cackling madly, the king swoops through the keep, killing dozens with his newfound powers, then heading downstairs to show off to the crowded soldiers. A few do not recognise him, and throw rocks at him; these he shoots out of the air with a thought, and then, in a raspy voice, speaks; "What matter, do not recognise Kiiiing?"
The soldiers recoil in horror, as the beast swoops overhead, killing the occasional soldier with a bolt of darkness, until he reaches an open window, out which he flies, in the direction of Dolnar, cackling madly.
When you request surrender from the kings direct subordinates, there is much less complaint. They fall down before you and beg mercy- as do most of the survivors. The wanderers and elder wizards mount a token resistance; you
-Break their minds and use them as slaves
-Kill them.
You then turn to the surrendering forces. Of the nobility, you
-Accept their fealty; allow them to 'rule' their former lands as your puppets.
-Accept their fealty; seize their lands and have them serve as warriors in your armies.
-Accept the fealty of some; of others, have them sacrificed to you- picked at random.
-Just kill them all.
Of the common soldiers, you
-Accept their fealty; add them to your armies
-Enslave them, send them to work your fields and mines
-Enslave some, accept some.
-Kill them.
You learn that whilst most of the army marched here, a small garrison was sent to every town in the kingdom to bolster the local militia. If their 'rightful' lords return to the towns, they would probably surrender easily; otherwise, you will have to send forces to conquer/convince them to join. You will deal with the remaining towns by
-Leaving them in the hands of their 'lords' (requires not killing all the nobles).
-Sending armies to conquer them (requires armies)
-Sending acolytes and cultists to slowly convert them.
Dolnar specifically will not surrender easily at all. Though much of the garrison joined with the army, those that remained had permission to arm the peasantry if things went poorly, and the city is well prepared for a siege. Even if you capture the town, you would be dealing with resistances and uprisings for months, if not years. So
-What? A few rag-tag resistance members won't phase you. Conquer the city, let them play at rebels.
-Besiege the city. Starve them out until they surrender voluntarily.
-Corrupt the city slowly, until they join you willingly.
-Kill them all. Let the Barr run red with blood, and none but the dead stalk the streets of Dolnar-on-Barr.
As an aside, you need to do something about the Titaneghoul again. You should
-Put it back in its cage.
-Leave it in the keep. Reinforce the walls with a little magic, and it'll provide an excellent Titaneghoul playhouse.
-Use it in your next conquest.
-Send it on a rampage outside the kingdom. Out of sight, out of mind- except in that the chaos and destruction it brings will hasten the land's fall to evil.
Whilst you're at it, maybe you should do some work on the kingdom, now that it is all but yours. For example, you could
-Expand the mines at Barrspring. Really dig deep. Like, HFS deep.
-Work on corrupting the land in general; continue corrupting the Barr, but also spread Akatrees and fill the soil with evil.
-Organize some sort of new governance for your territory, as that you may train new soldiers more efficiently.
Manychoices turn. Basically, you win Barrtal; now what are you going to do with it?
Name: Krlnkir Yrlvnt
Physical might: 140
Mental might: 150
Other: Corrupter.
Demonic Realm: PENDING DECISIONS.
Demonic Armies: 240 Armed Cultists, 25 Sergeants, 20 Living-Polybolos-Wielders, 250 Armed Zombies, 400 Skeletal Warriors, 25 Skeletal Knights, 15 Amberärsh Packs, 25 Giant Rat Packs, 100 Spectres, 5 Greater Spectres, 20 Haunted Armours, 100 Beastmen, 30 Armoured Sintaurs, 10 Living-Polybolos-Wielding-Sintaurs, 100 Ghouls, 4 Armoured Baneghouls, 10 Black Dragons, 6 Water Elementals, 50 Red Imps, 25 Yellow Imps, 5 Green Imps, 25 Blue Imps, 5 Catapults)
Cults:
The Mad Flames: Low organisation. 35 Cultists in the Church of the Flames of Madness. Led by Balthanor the Necromancer
Power Level: 15
Resources: 120 (+3/week: Workshops)(+9/week: Received from Barrspring)
Cultists: 12 Cultists, 20 Acolytes, 3 Invocators
Servants: 10 Amberärsh Packs
Other:
Followers of the Tall Man. Very high organisation. 72 cultists in six locations; Dragonsnest, Greywinde, Port Hope, Goldhall, Easthall and Narsis.
Power Level: 14
Resources: 0
Cultists: 66 Cultists, 6 Acolytes
Locations: Dragonsnest, Greywinde, Port Hope, Goldhall, Easthall and Narsis: 11 Cultists, 1 Acolyte each.
Other:
Missionaries of the Alternate Faith. High organisation. 27 members in five locations.
Power Level: 9
Locations: Noragan (9 cultists), Sal'Sarrin (9 Cultists), Barrsmouth (3 Cultists), Cleomenople (3 Cultists), [Major City] (3 Cultists),
Other:
Champions:
Alyshtr Yrlvnt: Half-demon. 5.5 months old.
Physical Might: 2 (+1: Imp bodyguard Squad)
Mental Might: 3 (+1: Imp bodyguard Squad)
Equipment: Red Imp pet (fire magic and demonic tales), pet slave, Black Imp pet (metal working and demonic ales), Green Imp pet (illusion magic and demonic wails), Yellow Imp pet (shapeshifting and demonic grails)
Knowledge: Demontongue, mind-corruption, basic fire magic, granting demonic power to mortals.
Personality: Chaotic. Cruel, with a twisted sense of humour. Cares about her mother.
Other:
Consort: Mother of Alyshtr.
Physical Might: 3
Mental Might: 2
Knowledge: Faint ken of Demontongue, sort-of-half-forgotten basics of Necromancy.
Mutations: Refined Cannibal. Increased Strength. Slight Resistance to disease/poison. Excessive moonlight causes fits of rage and insanity; during this state she is capable of performing advanced necromancy, which she does- killing and consuming all around her, shrieking in Demontongue at the top of her voice.
Other:
Dal'Kahh the Avaricious: Warrior with demonic strength, armed with Darkbarr armour and Barrsdoom.
Physical Might: 7 (+3 Axe) (-3: Injuries)
Mental Might: 4 (+1 Axe)
Equipment: Barrsdoom (Axe; +3 to physical might, +1 to mental might. Inspires friendly troops, causes fear in enemy troops)
Knowledge: Tactics, Leadership.
Other: Suffered severe blows at battle. Heavily bruised; may have dislocated something or broken something else. No worries. He's had worse.
Nameless: Former Akataki Guard. Being corrupted. He will fight for you... but only in defence of your consort.
Physical Might: 2
Mental Might: 1
Other:
Balthanor the Necromancer: Travelled to Akataki to join your cause. Has considerable knowledge of magic and necromancy.
Physical Might: 4 (+2: Living Polybolos)
Mental Might: 13 (+5: Dark Crystal)
Equipment: Dark Crystal which emanates evil energy (+5 Mental might. Requires basic knowledge of necromancy to use). Living Polybolos (+2 Physical Might, Ranged)
Knowledge: Magic, Necromancy.
The Titaneghoul: A massive monster made of steel and flesh.
Physical Might: 40 (-10: Major Injuries)
Mental Might: 5
Other: Indescribably tormented minds: Requires considerable effort to control; almost entirely immune to hypnosis and illusions. Omnivore: Will eat anything. Friend, foe, or scenery. Unstable Biology: Physical might will rise and fall at random. Terror-inducing-shriek: May randomly shriek, causing terror in all around it. Only entities which are entirely incapable of feeling fear (greater demons, greater angels, elementals, entirely mindless undead) are immune.
Fortresses:
The Church of the Flames of Madness. Formerly Dolnar Asylum, HQ of Barrtal monster hunters.
Mighty Walls (50). Moat (5, slows attackers). Dark Wards (30). Evil Stones (cause illusions and madness to attackers, also act as a second set of Weak Wards(10)). Rampant Spectres (cause madness to attackers. May randomly attack enemies)
Sacrificial Chamber: An excellent location for worship and sacrifice.
Workshops: A large forge and a series of workshops allow cultists to refine resources much more efficiently. With the resources sent from Barrspring, the Cultists can use the workshops far more effectively than before.
Library: A library and series of studies allow cultists to learn the arts of magic. Contains a host of information on both Magic and Necromancy, enabling Acolytes to be upgraded to Experienced Cultists, and for a wide variety of spells and rituals to be learnt.
Sending Circles: A pair of raised daises, linked to a similar pair in Barrspring, which can send and receive objects given a source of power. Balthanor's Dark Crystal powers the circles.
Amberärsh Furnace: A horrific device which industrializes the summoning of Amberärshs. Animals go in, Amberärshs come out.
Author
Topic: Demonhood. -Slumbering for an indeterminate number of Strange Aeons- (Read 237200 times)