The day of the fortress attack winds down, the prisoners have been properly secured in a cell and the corpses throughout the valley that could be raised either again or for the first time have been raised and undead are being healed by undead mages. Yorun sits atop the tallest part of the fortress looking out over the valley, there is some noticeable damage to the surroundings but overall its still fairly untouched and the damage that is there is being reversed by the magic coursing through the land. Yorun smiles looking out at all of this as Raeknar appears next to him.
"What has you smiling?" Raeknar asked
"I know you don't need to ask but it's still nice that you do. To answer your question though? My kids would have loved this view, they always loved mountain ranges" Yorun said
"Well once your quest is done, this place should still be under your control lest you give it up between now and then. You could bring them here" Raeknar said
"I may just do that" Yorun said
"Yorun, you should go speak to Sunhale and Golanier in the map room" Raeknar said
"Least I had a few moments to take in something normal for once well fairly normal" Yorun said before standing up
Yorun walks by Raeknar as they disappear, he heads down the fortress passing by the undead that guard the halls until he finally gets to the map room, within the room stands a long table with many maps and documents scattered across it, the whole world laid out in front of them even some external dimensions. Golanier and Sunhale are standing there already looking at the maps.
"Hello you two" Yorun said
"Hey Yorun" Sunhale said
"Hello we have a problem" Golanier said
"Fuck, what?" Yorun asked worried
"Well it's one we kind of expected, the magic we have is not enough to actually keep these defences up long term, Sunhale goes a long way to staving that off but eventually the defences will go down" Golanier said
"Training to increase our magic would be good as per usual but it will likely not happen soon enough so we should get some more magically attuned allies" Sunhale said
"I know one person who may but I do not know, other than her anyone you can get Sunhale?" Yorun asked
"I could ask some people but they'll likely be focused on the elven side of the war and as such won't help us like that. I think our best plan to to get some human mages from closer to here to join us. your imperial family does have a good many people that hate them" Sunhale said
"Is there any villages nearby that may have magic users?" Yorun asked
"Given the information from documents and the prisoners, there are a couple villages around that do have mages and specifically they are there as back up magic for the fortress basically" Sunhale said
"Alright, Golanier you mind going to try and get them?" Yorun asked
"Why me?" Golanier asked
"Because it'll likely end up with some fight happening there, you are the best of the three of us with that and a disembodied soul in an undead body saying Raeknar sent them has more credence" Yorun said
"Alright fair point" Golanier said
"Once you're ready just tell me, I can teleport you there using the magic in the valley since the villages are somewhat connected to it" Sunhale said only getting a nod from Golanier as he walked out
"Leaving?" Onarin asked as he stood outside
"Yeah actually gather some undead and come with me" Golanier said
"Fine, master is safe here" Onarin said as he went off to gather some soldiers
Golanier teleports to the top of one of the fortresses walls and looks out over the valley.
"Raeknar" Golanier said
"What?" Raeknar asked as they appeared next to him
"You previously allowed for use of the curse for information gathering, you know with the current rate of magical gains for Yorun this is going to take a long time and now with the war having started we do not have that time" Golanier said
"I know what you are going to suggest Golanier, so out with it" Raeknar said with an annoyed tone
"You know the power I held 1000 years ago while much of that was my own power I had thousands of souls bound to my own, while in this current state if both me and Yorun were to do that the newly bound souls would be limited to Yoruns strength it would still be a massive boost especially if he got many" Golanier said
"As the god of justice this is a terrible thing to do and I need to judge those souls whereas as the god of death I'm meant to take the souls to the afterlife. However should you ONLY do this to evil souls I'll consider it their penance but you will release them when the penance is done and I will tell you when that is do you understand?" Raeknar asked a threatening tone in their voices
"Fine, fine, guess its better than nothing" Golanier said
Raeknar disappears as Onarin walks out of the fortress with a small force of undead soldiers, Golanier jumps down next to them making a small hole beneath himself upon landing. Golanier telepathically tells Sunhale and then suddenly he along with Onarin and his undead teleport away not too far from one of the villages. Golanier leads the undead towards the village which is fairly sized certainly bigger than the kinds of villages Yorun once lived in and that were around his village, the guards are also far better as they quickly organise and form a wall outside the village upon noticing Golanier and the undead. The captain of the guard stands behind the wall of guards and looks at Golanier.
"Who the fuck are you!?" The guard captain shouted getting merely a smirk from Golanier in response
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Golanier doesn't say anything immediately merely standing there as his eyes light up their magical green as a thick mist appears throughout the area quickly obstructing the guards sight, the guards immediately group up more getting back to back with each other to keep an eye out everywhere but soon enough green eyes begin to approach them from all sides and just as they are about to attack in front of them they're brought to the ground on their hands and knees by skeletal arms forcing them. The guard captain is the only one this doesn't happen to and as he begins to look around frantically at the eyes coming at him he lights up a fireball and that action alongside some more magic pushes away the mist around him and standing right in front of him is Golanier towering over him and Golanier grabs the captains throat lifting him into the air.
"I expected better than this" Golanier said with the smirk still adorning his face
The guard captain quickly shoots a glaring fireball into the sky not even trying to hit Golanier with it and despite being chocked he smirks slightly.
"What's got you smir-" Golanier was quickly cut off by the ground rumbling
While any living person is looking around terrified and the undead look around trying to see what's causing this Golanier merely smirks again as he tosses the captain to the ground.
"Oh you have made me a very happy man" Golanier said as he began to laugh
Soon enough the rumbling grows louder and is more intense none who stand stay upright save for Golanier and he hides himself as 3 giants quickly run to the village towering as high if not higher than the mountains around the fortress. One of the giants who is clearly the oldest among them and most experienced in fighting given the fact he lacking his right arm looks down at the humans and the undead and he begins to widen his eyes as he looks at the undead.
"Wait are those un-" The giant is cut off by a voice that visibly freezes him in fear
"Hello Joolak" Golanier said after having teleported onto the giants shoulder
Joolak slowly turns his head to Golanier as to not make any winds that would through Golanier off, his eyes widen in horror as he sees Golanier.
"Bring your hand here" Golanier commanded
Joolak without a second thought dropped their sword to the ground shaking the ground once again then he brought his hand up to his shoulder and Golanier jumped onto it, Joolak then raised his hand out in front of himself to look directly at Golanier despite how hard that is as Golanier is the size of an ant comparatively.
"Good seems you remember your place" Golanier said with a smirk
"Sir why are y-" One of the other giants said before they were cut off by Joolak
"Shut up! That is an order!" Joolak shouted much to the surprise of the other giants
"So Joolak, seems you never got a replacement limb for the one I took" Golanier said
"S-so that is really you... how?" Joolak asked
"Fine I'll grant an answer to that, you know as well as I a necromancer is extremely hard to keep dead. The curse that sprung from my dead body? I am sure you know of it, I used it to bind my soul to that cursed lands and now a new necromancer bound me to them" Golanier said
"There's another?" Joolak asked fear in his voice
"Oh who said you'd get another question?" Golanier asked with an annoyed tone
"S-sorry" Joolak said
"So you are a mercenary? Haha! Such a far cry from the military general of the giants you used to be, did failing to take me down really do that much to your credibility?" Golanier asked
"That and it has been a long time, I am older combine those two with my lost limb and well they really didn't want me anymore" Joolak said
Nearby the other two giants are doing their best to whisper to each other and using some magic to make it even harder to hear them given their giant nature whispering alone would not be enough.
"Why is the boss doing this? He looks terrified of that little guy" One of the giants said
"Yeah I know, this little thing we should just crush, the boss has to be losing his mind to think this little guy took his arm" The other giant said
"Planning to crush me hm?" Golanier said his voice growing more demonic as he turns his head to the two younger giants
Joolak quickly looked at the two giants himself and looks rather sad.
"You damn fools" Joolak said as he looks away
Golaniers smirk disappears from his face as he snaps his fingers and the two giants eyes light on fire the green flames clearly sending memories through Joolak alongside the screams of the two giants who quickly drop to their knees with pain causing an earthquake.
"Get yourselves home now!" Joolak commanded
"I did not say they can leave!" Golanier shouted, his voice louder than Joolaks
Golanier used his magic to block the twos magic so they couldn't leave and he then grabbed his greatsword as he flew to the two giants and sliced into the neck of one of them going into their neck and then proceeding to spin his greatsword around in the neck with magic slicing through all parts of the neck then he cut out the other side of the neck and left to do the same to the other giant. Once Golanier was done with that he flew out of the second giants neck and floated in front of the two paralysed giants.
"I left enough in there to allow you to live though barely. Now leave" Golanier said glaring at them as the green flames on their eyes disappeared
Joolak quickly teleported the two away and then looked at Golanier.
"Can I leave Golanier?" Joolak asked
"Fine, know this Joolak I haven't forgotten what you were like in the old days and 1000 years of solitude made me think on it regularly. If you leave and I never see you again, anyone you take with you I won't kill. I do this out of respect which I rarely have for anyone" Golanier said receiving a nod from Joolak before he teleported away
The people of the village are all wearing the same shocked and horrified expression and all of them get further away from Golanier as he lands on the ground.
"The one who controls my soul was sent to bring justice to this world by your god Raeknar, we have already taken the fortress in the mountain range. Those of you who are mages get your asses up to the fortress to charge the defences as you'd normally do got it?" Golanier asked his voice returning to normal
The mages of the village quickly teleport up to the fortress and the remaining non magical guards without the guard captain there to order otherwise get back to their normal duties though they are still horrified.
"Onarin, leave some of the undead here to make up for the guards that are no longer staying in the village and some extra just to make sure the place is secured" Golanier said
"Right Golanier" Onarin said and he ordered half of the undead to stay in the village
Golanier and the undead make their way to the other village and this village has a less eventful confrontation and the mages still get brought up to the fortress. Only Golanier and Onarin teleport back to the fortress as the other half of the undead were left at the second village and upon their return those mages from the first village when they see Golanier they quickly get to the other side of the fortress from him, Yorun who is there watching them run away looks at Golanier.
"The fuck did you do?" Yorun asked
"Oh nothing, met an old friend" Golanier said as he walked away beginning to laugh which grew demonic quickly
"Onarin come tell me and Sunhale what happened" Yorun said as he walked away with Onarin to the map room where Sunhale still resides, Onarin then explained exactly what happened
"Great, so theres at least someone around from back then, maybe that'll convince the giants not to get involved and we'll have an easier time" Yorun said
"Maybe but they could also decide the opposite purely because of the fact Golanier is around" Sunhale said
"Urgh I hope not, giants would be useful in our army but if we could raise them right now Golanier would have killed those two so hopefully the former happens or at least let the latter happen in a while when we can raise them" Yorun said
"Regardless we need to plan our next move, in a few days supposing information of us taking this fortress doesn't get out a transport of food and other supplies should be brought here from the city of Deranel" Sunhale said
"We'll use that, you could infiltrate the city it comes from" Yorun said
"Wouldn't be a bad idea, should we do that it would give us an in and I can find people with evil souls and magic for you to do the whole curse thing that Raekanr is allowing now" Sunhale said
"Then I believe that's our next step, in the meantime I'll keep training, need to learn how to make the damn curse" Yorun said
Yorun and Sunhale left each other for the day as it finally begins to wind down, fear of Golanier is rife among people from the first village he visited and across the world new fear of him spreads among the giants.