Duke Madrigal was waiting for him when he and Ophirian arrived. He offered a respectful bow, “Your Majesty, Stormstride stands ready to heed the call of Teldin. What would you have us do?”
“First off, introductions. Duke Madrigal, this is Ophirian the Great Serpent. Ophirian, this is Duke Madrigal. Madrigal is my most key advisor and the one who runs things around here when I’m not present. Which, quite frankly, is most of the time. Without him, the kingdom would fall apart.”
“It pleases me to meet you.”
“It is a pleasure to meet you as well.”
“OK, status report time. I assume the Legions are already prepared to mobilize. What other forces can we bring to bear?”
“About that, Your Majesty. We have five full legions we can send but I recommend keeping at least one legion home should any neighbors decide that this is the opportune time to grab some of our prosperity for their own.”
“Pahst.”
“Just so, Your Majesty.”
“Very well, keep a Legion home for defense, but if they are truly needed, I will call for them. Do we have anyone else?”
“The militias are being formed. They are mostly craftspeople and adventurers. Discipline is not their forte and the adventurers are likely to split off into their own parties immediately.”
“They may be more effective in their own parties than in formations, so while we shouldn’t encourage them to split off, we shouldn’t prevent it. Maybe it would be even better to use them as scouting parties or quick-reaction forces. We have no real information about these invaders, do we?”
“None whatsoever. The invasion point is on the far side of the world. You are the only one that can get there quickly, so unfortunately, it is up to you to scout this threat out for us.”
“As expected, although Mira and the Iron Reaver may be able to help in that regard. I have to reach out to our allies and make sure we have a Portal network set up to get their forces to the front lines as well. I’ll contact her and see what she can tell us before I head out. Let’s gather our leaders here in one hour and solidify our mobilization plans.”
“One hour. Good luck, Your Majesty.” Duke Madrigal hurried out of the throne room to get everyone together.
Ophirian gave Duke a pointed look. He responded, “What?”
“You are going to try and leave me here while you go scout the enemy.”
“I was definitely considering it, but I think your senses will be helpful in scouting out the enemy, whomever they are. So, I think I’m going to need you with me when I-“
An intense gust of wind blew the tapestries around the room off the walls as it swirled around the room. Duke’s throne blew over as the pair fought to remain on their feet. The wind intensified as if in the center of a terrible storm. Duke grabbed Ophirian’s arm to steady him as he used his FLIGHT Ability to stabilize himself. And a moment later, the wind coalesced into a single man-sized form that stood before them.
“Apologies for the dramatic entry,” As the form spoke, it took on the shape of a man that Duke recognized.
“Orgath?”
“Indeed, yes. It is I.”
“I assume you are here for a reason other than to re-arrange my furniture.”
“Who is this man? I sense nothing from him.”
“He is one of the gods of Teldin.”
“Indeed I am. I know you received the great quest. Even we gods received it. But we are prevented from taking direct action by a decision that Aehocho made in the distant past. We can, however, provide aid to those who can take direct action. So, they sent me because we are on good terms. Ghastul wanted to come but I figured that would not end well.”
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“Good call. What is it you can provide me?”
“You are uniquely qualified to accelerate the defense of Teldin. Here, have a quest.”
*** You have been offered a Quest!
Quest Name: Gather the Troops!
Quest Description:
The world of Teldin is under attack and most have risen to defend her. But few are able to get to the fight on their own. Create a Portal network to bring the world together to face this threat.
Quest Rewards: One experience point per Portal use per individual traveler, unknown
Do you accept this quest? (Y/N)
***
“Well, that’s both inside and outside my Abilities. I don’t know where everyone is to set up Portals for them.”
“Accept the quest and check your map, Duke. This much we can do for you.”
“What is he talking about?”
“I’m not entirely sure, but here goes. I was going to try and do this for our allies anyway.” Duke accepted the quest and pulled up his map of Teldin. His jaw nearly hit the floor. Each and every city, village, town, and hamlet were now marked on his map along with a number of monster settlements. There were tens of thousands of markers on his map, maybe more. There was also a large area marked as “Staging Area” near where the invaders were marked.
“Now that you have accepted the quest, Malkiavic will send out his own worldwide quest to enter the portals and prepare to fight.”
“This all seems a bit contrived, far too fast, and unbelievable.”
“It does. But when our very existence is threatened, we are not going to hesitate. This threat is real, and it is going to kill countless numbers of the faithful. We did not choose this fight, but we will give our children everything we can to fight it. Vithshrek even offered to remove his curse for the fight.”
“Don’t bother. I have no use for swords at this point.”
“I might be able to use one though. You have a good one to offer?”
Orgath laughed, and then sized up Ophirian, “You do not strike me as much of a sword-wielder, are you?”
“Well, no. But who am I to turn down a gift from a god. I’d learn to wield a sword if a god were to give me one.” The fact that the serpent was able to deliver the line with a straight face was beyond impressive. He deserved an academy award. What he got…was a sword.
Orgath pulled a sword out of the air and handed it to him. When Ophirian took the handle, the god did not release the blade. He said, “Just remember that you committed to learning how to use it. Do not fail in that commitment or there will be consequences.”
“So, Duke, how do I use this thing?”
“Oh, you are so asking the wrong person about that. I affirmatively can’t use a sword. You’re on your own on that one. Good luck with it.”
“I have stayed as long as I dare. Remember, Duke, the Storm is your Ally. Do not hesitate to call upon it should you have need. And Ophirian, the pointy end goes into the soft parts of your foe.” With that, the god turned into a fog bank and flowed out of the room.
“OK, you stay here and try and figure out how to use a sword. I have a Portal network to set up.” Duke did not wait for a response, instead he TELEPORTED from marked location to marked location, setting up Portals all linked into the central staging location. Despite his speed, this still took him a long time to complete. At a few seconds per Portal and tens of thousands to set up, the task took him two days to complete.
When Duke returned to his throne room, Borondar was there with Ophirian. He was instructing the serpent in swordsmanship. It did not appear to be going particularly well. Ophirian’s sword was continually out of position and the Guard Captain was having trouble getting him to realize how bad that was.
When they noticed him, they stopped. Ophirian spoke first, “Everybody that is going has already gone through the Portal. Are you ready to go through?”
“I suppose I am, but I am exhausted. Give me a few minutes to rest. I’ll be right back.” Duke didn’t wait for a response, TELEPORTING himself to the cavern system in Havenreach. There, he took a minute to craft himself a comfortable bed and sealed himself behind a wall. Sighing, he collapsed into the bed and went to sleep.
Duke woke refreshed and returned to the throne room, startling the pair again as Borondar was deep in “instructor mode” as he called it. They both leaped back from his sudden appearance, holding their swords at the ready.
“I’m back but I guess you already realized that.”
“You haven’t been gone for more than ten minutes, Your Majesty. How can you be rested already?”
“Ancient secret power,” Duke quipped. “Are you two ready to go?”
“I must remain, Your Majesty. If anything happens in the city, then I need to be here to handle it. My guards have been reduced to a skeleton crew, but the Fifth Legion is still here for now. I have been told that they could be pulled to the front to fight as well. I cannot in good conscience leave the city so vulnerable.”
“I understand and support your decision. Honestly, I have no idea what we are dealing with. It could be something that the Archmage’s Council may be able to handle on their own. I don’t think that’s likely as the call went out across the whole planet but there’s no way of knowing until we get there. Are you ready, Ophirian?”
“I could use a few years to learn how to actually use a sword. It’s so ridiculously difficult. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“You were thinking that you were going to get a shiny divine present.”
“I suppose you’re right about that. It’s nothing like using my fangs. I thought it would work just the same. I was very wrong.”
“Guess so. Good luck Borondar and I hope you don’t need it.”
“Me too, Your Majesty. Don’t risk yourself unnecessarily. We need you to come back here. The kingdom needs you.”
Duke felt a heavy pang of guilt knowing that regardless of the outcome, he was being pulled away in a week or less. Time was running out for him. He returned Borondar’s salute and TELEPORTED to the staging area with Ophirian.