Chapter One : Origins
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Madness Descends Upon
All
The Choosing Days.
The highest ranking caste Angels are sent to the entrance to the Hall of the Gods.
To engage in a secretive ceremonial rite of passage, to become fully fledged archangels and become Beings equal to champions of the gods; in both prowess, wisdom and battle strength.
—History Of The Damned
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Crowds are bustling, merchants selling wares, and no petty thieves in sight.
All due to the Ordo Hereticus’s influence. You’re most likely wondering “ What could this mystical, peacekeeping order be? “ well, to start with we have to view their domains. They keep “peace” over the world of Jamin Karr, a plethora of cultures,technology and resources. Commonly traversing the realms, they do their damage and just vanish. The three realms, The Heavenly Realm, The Huntas Realm, And the Terran Realm. The Ordo’s belong to the Heavenly Realm, and they discipline the realms to a devastating degree.
A knighthood formed by the previous Archangel of War, Archangel Grimdark who intended to lead this newfound order into glory and be his personal honour guard, but ever since the Battle Of The Gates.. Their influence increased through corruption of Caste Official’s, and their primary purpose twisted into their own agenda. The power of the Hereticus is a double edged sword however, common back stabbing in the order, assassinations and conflicts between one another, and the double edge situation? --
-Archangel Ulthimuz
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-The Three Cities Of The Four Castes-
The Heavenly Realm, an intricate triangle of ruins, palaces and cities.
The Hal’vati Caste, reside in the clouds and govern the security of the realm.Their city is protected by towering triple layered walls, blessed by all six archangels and is unofficially named the capital city.
The Tul’zuni Caste, their humble abode, a castle keep in the mountains. I don’t know much about, but after talking to some merchants i learnt that they usually keep to themselves but participate in trade with the merchants every now and then for necessities.
The Ze-
- The damaged book Utopia by John Terimon
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“ The crowds are hearty, eager to see me become a archangel? “ Horti sarcastically stated as we walked through the Hal’vati caste’s cloud temple. As I contemplated what he meant by hearty, he said “ Look Ulthimuz, at the amount of angels, the merchants and the exotic animals! “As he swiped a intricately designed curtain out of his direction “ You’d think one couple of archangels would go
unnoticed.” He said as we both peered out of the windows. A overflow of angels, barely kept back by the Hal’vati Temple Guard, Specialised angels trained for crowd control. Replica’s of our legendary weaponry up for sale by craftsmen. Combat tournaments, griffin riding competitions and artisan wares.
As the two stared in thought of the ceremonies to come, the grand doors released a overwhelming amount of wind, that is for the average warrior. Turning their heads to each other, they nodded in confirmation, a sign of a bond. A bond of brotherhood, a bond of friendship, a battle born bond.
Donning their battle scarred helmets, a blue hue resonating from their ‘eyes’ as they strode across the marble floors. As the duo approached with haste, Ulthimuz felt a.. tug on his mind but he paid it no heed thinking it was the burden of responsibility, they stepped through the portal. Eventually being sucked into the void within, he bore arms with Horti and waited patiently in the wormhole, awaiting his time to strike fear into the hearts of his enemies again.
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Two Years Prior
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“ Hold The Line! “ Ulthimuz yelled with his overwhelming might, his armor torn. Only a single pauldron remained and half his chestplate, plus damaged gauntlets and greaves. A Demonic Energy Infused Spear lodged in his right shoulder, lowering his combat efficiency by leaps and bounds. Waves upon waves of demonic forces, wretched spawns with corroded weaponry poured onto the trench lines, never giving the Castes a spare breath. The Tul’zuni caste was wiped out due to the first wave being led by the Demon King himself.the Hal’vati holding the last line of defense between the portal from the Heavenly Realm to the Demonic Realm. In the gritty atmosphere, squadrons of angels, griffin corps and angelic knighthoods fought empowered by the thought of going back to their families. And in this one sided battle against the angels, only one heavily armored demon stood out amongst the rest. Demon King Farsight, standing alongside his lieutenant Thousand- Eyes Samik.As he was overlooking the battle from a cliff just above the trenches, observing and plotting a way to get his army over the fortified trenches a projectile, faster than what speed could provide and swifter than any assassin. Pierced his lieutenant and destroyed him thoroughly, leaving no traces of the legendary demon behind. Before the Demon King could react, Archangel Grimdark un-sheathed his longblade, it’s name lost to the ages but well known to Ulthimuz.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
“Your reign of terror is over!” Grimdark roared, with the authority of a thousand rulers and the persuasiveness of a haggler. Standing atop a obelisk of shining cobblestone like material, was Archangel Grimdark, The Archangel Of War, Wearing a standard paladin’s uniform six reinforced steel plates strengthened by runes and cloth that’s heavily resistant to damage to put it all together, but a pauldron on his right shoulder stood above the uniform. Blessed with unknown skills and qualities, Grimdark was the only one who knew the first skill.
Furious that the Archangel had killed his son, Ripping his twin battleaxes from their holds, Farsight lunged at Grimdark in fury, and as Grimdark put his blade in a blocking stance he activated the first skill.
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The Demons.
‘Usually small skirmishes, they attacked the gates, only about a dozen per raid.
The Tul’zuni held them off easily for the first few years,Then small armies came.
Overpowering the Tul’zuni, the small armies merged with the main army of the demon king’s son Samik.
Then this full scale invasion of the gate to the Heavenly Realm by the demon king himself.The Council sent Archangel Grimdark to assist in fending off the invaders, but i am not sure if it is enough. I thought this as a wave of demons crashed against the trenches.
My luck..’ Ulthimuz pondered as he decapitated a demonic warrior. Stepping over the body, he looked at his command station at the gate itself. Originally comprising of thirty Ordo Hereticus Veritiable Officer’s, only a handful remained. Veritiable Officers, equal to the rank of Commander in the angelic military. And is the highest honor and position for an average Ordo Hereticus paladin. They lead their own squadrons, they induce fear wherever they walk, atleast that was what they were told.
Being the sole survivor of Grimdark’s trials and training, Ulthimuz was appointed the rank of Honour Guard Archmaster. A master of all weaponry, and taught the ways of dimensional travel and combat. Ulthimuz cast his gaze on his surroundings. The angels took a catastrophic amount of casualties therefore Ulthimuz began analyzing the amount of damage the trenches took due to the losses. De moralised angels constantly slashing demonic entities , losing their sense of humility in the process.
Griffins with fiery orbs in their grasp released them during a routine bombing. If one were to look upwards they’d see a terrifying yet mesmerising dance, meteors falling out of the clouds themselves looking as if the gods themselves were angry. As he was accessing the damage, Ulthimuz noticed that the makeshift stone walls and barricades around the trenches were mostly destroyed, by demonic trebuchet volleys and siege ogres(for reference see to LOTR and those ogres attacking the walls are what i mean) The last remaining were the ones blessed by Grimdark , giving it an godly endurance of weaponry and magic alike.
Then i saw it.
As i was scanning the battlefield I could see that Mentor Grimdark was on the floor, bleeding heavily, with the demon king nothing but a puddle leaking off the side of a cliff, resembling a bloody waterfall. Leaping from the trenches to the far away cliff, gliding using my wings (Ulthimuz is my CosmicTerror Logo on my profile) i landed next to my mentor and leant on one knee, lowered my head and put my right arm on my leg as a show of respect.
Two giant gashes from the lunge on his chest, ignoring the paladin armor and inflicting demonic wounds.
Grimdark untied the straps that held his pauldron and his golden mask and put them in front of me.I procured the items, holding onto them with my left arm. Grimdark handed me his long blade shakily and as he put it in front of me he said obviously strained from his wounds “Do not give in to the whispers, at all costs”
I nodded in confirmation at my dying mentors words.
As his eyes closed, eyes that have seen a lifetime of war and death. His life stripped him of his decorated bearings and his soul drifted to the tethers of the gods to be given eternal rest. Ulthimuz realising what the demons had done to the realms and his mentor, he wept silently; shedding beautiful blinding white streams of essence.
With a newfound somewhat naive determination to destroy demonic forces and aspire to his master’s power and standing he equipped the mask as well as the pauldron.
Then the realm ripped apart.