The spoils are good, and our people grow in number. The Queen has decided that we would align ourselves with other powers in the world, but such is not the Mazurian way. We have always been to ourselves, and for many of the more conservative leaders, this is a nightmare scenario. Or at least, it would be if our successes wouldn't be so numerous. Calling any Solar a friend is a hard to digest concept for many Mazurians, but the Queen decreed those who fight under the blue flag are our allies. Allies against the storm of war. Allies against the storm of death. I for one, welcome these changes when I look at our successes. Perhaps the previous Mazurio lords were wrong?
-Kicks-The-Buckets Lizardman Chieftain to his battle-kin
POV Carmilla Bloodcrested, Daughter of the Red Queen
The world burns, and it scares me.
Eden's plan is rather insane. A coalition between our nations was thought to be impossible, and I was sure that mother would have blocked it from going through. Apparently, by the time I returned home, there had already been multiple spatial incursions. Even now, the *things* from beyond rampage throughout all the lands. Not a single nation doesn't notice them. Mother rapidly agreed to the coalition, something that truly scares me.
She would never ally with an imperial, a pirate, and one of the spatial creatures we fight normally, but this is far from normal. Our main opponents are the Eastern Wardens, and the greenskins. On top of the spacethings we have been fighting of course. How could the mortals so easily throw their lives away? Why are they so careless with something they already have in short supply? Truly, if Esstrey is anything to go by, mortals are all naturally insane.
Insane as they are, they are not to be underestimated. Today I am up against the greenskin hordes, mostly to keep them in check, so Eden doesn't have to divert his already stretched supply against them as well. He is surrounded enough as is. While the loud greenskins are annoying to fight, I am happy that I am not deployed in the western part of the lichdom against the wardens. Xygar was deployed there, and the wardens have a long history of fighting the undead. Their magics specializing in dealing with undead make them the reason the eastern Empire doesn't fall.
"WAAAAAAAGHHHHH!!!" The noise of the next wave is sounded over the hill, as orcs covered in warpaint charge at a thin line of skeletons. The orcs carrying goblins on their backs like mounted knights would, the orcs crude attempt at intimidation fall on dead ears. A sickening glittering fog envelops the land, a cloud of spores that enhance rage. Had the orcs been fighting a human, the spores would turn the fight into a crude brawl. Shifting the fight to favor the more physically inclined orcs. Instead of facing berserked humans, they face the armies of the Lichdom today. The bones do not feel emotion, and the spores do nothing except for making them glitter in the sun.
Unfortunately, disciplined bones can only do so much, and the greenskins smash through the lines with ease. The greenskins roar victoriously, and I give the signal to deploy the Knechts. The celebrations of the orcs is short lived, as heavily armored corpses burst from the ground. Striking at them from below. Most goblins are still high on top of their orc steeds from the fungal spores, and victory. Even as the orcs below them fall to the ground. I myself shift into death mana shaped like a cloud of bats. Most plans rarely survive contact with the enemy, but the plans of the undead have always been rather resilient.
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A lich enters the battlefield alongside me, blasting death magics on the beleaguered greenskins. It quickly devolves from a frantic melee to a slaughter, and more are added to our number for every that falls. Until the lich gets hit by a blast of fire magic himself, and is forced to retreat out of the battle. A goblin wearings skulls surveys the battlefield, and a disgusting life spell is cast. Dying and dead greenskins each stand back up, they lock their weak gazes upon each other. The dead are kept moving by the lich, while the dying are kept moving by the shaman. The lull in battle is interrupted by the Knechts. Systematically cutting a way through the horde. The living versus the dead. The shaman starts blasting life magic on the Knechts, aiming to cripple our armored core at distance.
His casting is interrupted by an angry cloud of bats forming into a pale woman.
"Мен сені таптым! Сіз Ұлттар Коалициясына көп қиындық тудырдыңыз, брат!" I say it in fluent greenskin, and I recognize his garb along with his terror. That is an acolyte of the great shaman.
(I found you! You've caused a lot of trouble for the Coalition of Nations, brat!)
The goblin takes a pouch out of his rucksack, and sniffs at it. Disgusting. Some shimmering powder is left as residue on his nose.
"VAMPÏR!" The shaman screeches it, growing more enraged by the moment. He starts flinging many different types of magic in my direction. I dodge to the sides to the best of my abilities, despite me being a superior being to this green little shit, he is still chosen by the great shaman. Underestimating the magical capacity of mortals has been recorded to be a frequent demise of cocky undead. The goblin proves my assessment correct, when he never seems to slow with flinging spells. This is how Esstrey must have felt when she fought The Demon Lord. All my effort is being spent on evasion.
The shaman, as powerful as he is. Is not very capable of forward-thinking. The goblin believes he has me backed into a corner, only for him to get hit by a death beam. The goblin managed to deploy a barrier against it at the last moment, but the dying skin on the goblin speaks volumes of how close it was. A lich emerges into the battle, the same one as before. It is only now that the shaman notices I have been leading him away from battle, away from his forces the entire time.
He gets enraged, and starts hitting both me and the lich with a renewed offensive. Snorting the entire contents of his rucksack while doing so. I can hear his heartbeat speed up beyond mortal limits. He will not survive this battle regardless of the outcome, but before he can fully make use of it, he is decapitated from shoulder to side by a knecht. It had snuck up on him after they were victorious in the battle below.
The knecht gives a short bow to both me and the lich, and takes his leave. I dust off my clothes a bit, and the lich approaches me.
"I do not often enjoy things, but seeing greenskins die in such large numbers does bring a smile to my skull." Brynkarr was my assigned backup for this section, and has a large preference for offensive magics.
"Thanks for the assist Sir Brynkarr, the greenskins are a greater threat than I had foreseen." Before we can prepare for the next wave, a new signature enters the battlefield. Another of the living approaches the land of the dead. Brynkarr is already charging up another spell in preparation.
"Hold your fire, it's a friendly." A harpy with light blue armband, and a crudely painted blue kettle helmet on her head.
"I bring message from scary fish! Is for... uhhh... Lady Sucky!" I sigh, yeah, that sounds like Esstrey alright. As much as The Coalition has aspects of it that I would prefer that don't exist. The sheer fact that Xygar has been telling me about Warden defectors joining his ranks is most baffling to me, and more than makes up for the... crude language my allies so frequently employ.
"Yeah that's me." Brynkarr is doing his best to hide his smile, but his lack of lips is not enough to hide it from me. I try to read the letter, only to be interrupted by a new noise in the distance.
"WAAAAAGHHHH!!!!!"
"Goddess dammit!"