Thank you guys for your interest in my Scrapbook. The following is a rough outline/Prologue for a story that's been in my head for awhile and is influencing others as well. The next few "Chapters" in this Scrapbook are not to be confused with additional chapters in this story, but other story-ideas and/or "Moments of Awesome" that are in my head, seeking their way onto virtual paper.

Thus, I request you, the Readers, to rate the stories and tell me what you think of them in the comments, especially if you'd like to read more, or simply if you enjoyed or disliked aspects of the story, the characters or any of the scenes. If you liked a specific character and would like to learn more about them, some such stuff :)

First Part:

“Your Highness! The enemy is at our doorsteps!” a middle aged man wearing armor shouted.

As if to accentuate his claim, thunderous noise echoed through the large chamber.

A haughty bishop wearing gaudy robes screamed half mad, “this is all the will of the almighty! It is because you have allowed magicians to be in your troops!”

“If not for the wizards, we would have fallen a year ago!” the armored man replied.

A tired looking man with gaudy clothes was sitting while twirling a crown with his left hand was muttering something. The emperor was looking at nothing in particular while ignoring the ravings of his advisors. Still he winced when another thunderous explosion detonated in the distance.

“Your majesty, you must repent for your sin of using these creatures in your army! You have strayed from the path of our holy crusade, so our lord has forsaken you!” The bishop was beginning to talk himself into a fervor, spitting saliva with his words.

“If you burn all the heretics that pervert his lord’s world with their unnatural magic, he will send down legions of angels to rid us of our enemies!”

Another man, this one wearing a simple robe that clearly had seen better days, looked left and right nervously before his gaze focused on an aide that was clinging to an oaken staff. The old man could probably reach his staff in time but wondered if would he have enough time to cast a spell? He sighed when he determined that he would have no chance if he showed such hostile actions. His fate would be tied to the other humans in the room. The explosions outside of the castle continued as spells rained down before colliding with an invisible bubble that flashed only briefly upon contact.

“Their barriers are the only thing keeping the Alliance army at bay!” the armored man shouted furiously. “If we start rounding up the wizards, not only would we lose the barriers, but think of the damages the infighting would do!”

“Pah...” the bishop spat out, “once these vile wizards have been expelled, our glorious lord will save us! But the longer we tally, the more of his furious anger you shall call down, your majesty!”

The emperor said nothing, still staring off into the distance. Would things truly develop like that if he executed the wizards? What would he have to lose, really? The wizards could not keep the barriers up indefinitely, so it was only a matter of time before the alliance armies would invade the city. Would his family be safe? Despite what they told the populace, the alliance army treated their prisoners quite well. But what about the ruling elite? They did start the war, so maybe the alliance leadership decided to make an example out of the royal family. But what if he surrendered now? Would they show mercy?

“A small contingent broke through one of the barriers! An elite squadron has broken through, we’re uncertain of their current location! The barrier has been mended however and no additional troops have made it into the city!”

The armored man was reading a small parchment delivered by a messenger bird.

“You see, your Highness! Surely the wizards let these troops inside as part of a deal. They are surely assassin’s come for you head. Your only salvation lies with our lord! Order the execution of all who possess the curse of Mana Manipulation so our lord can deliver us from this crisis!”

The wizards had betrayed him? With that thought the king’s eyes narrowed. Were there oaths of allegiance merely a ploy to catch him off guard? They might have been born as humans, but had they become corrupted by their desire for power? Thoughts began spinning in his head as the emperor began convincing himself. Their initial campaign had succeeded gloriously and within days they had freed the large swathes of land from the corruption of the demi-human … no, from the beasts that inhabited them. Surely the empire was correct. The humans were the masters of this world! Had he not learned this from the church, it was their divine right to rule over everything? No, not rule over everything, how could he have forgotten his proclamation at the start of his campaign. That must have been the reason why the lord had forsaken him. With a mad grin on his face, the emperor sat straight in his chair before proclaiming with increasing strength:

“Send word to all soldiers: We have forgotten our mission! These vile beasts were not meant to walk the same earth as us!”

“Your majesty, surely ....” the armored man began.

“Silence general! We must fulfill the will of the heavens!”

The bishop had a mad glee on his face. This was developing just as he intended.

“Bishop, order your priests to take over the barrier duty! Send word to the wizards they are to gather at their guild!”

“Majesty, but they are our allies!”

“We ordered you to stay silent! We have not forgotten our royal duty but this is a divine mission. We had allowed these beasts to stay alive if they bowed down to us, but this is how they repay our kindness? Gather all the slaves and herd them towards the eastern gates! And gather enough tinder and lumber so that we may show these beasts that we will not suffer their existence for long!”

“Surely you don’t mean … but if we do that ...” the general couldn’t believe what he had been ordered to do. While the alliance army was about to take their capitol and had already infiltrated the premises, his soldiers were supposed to massacre their own allies and all the slaves? And in front of the bulk of the entire alliance army? If they did that, then the alliance might kill every man, woman and child in retaliation.

“Excellent idea, your majesty! If you rid the capitol of all the filth that has been carelessly brought by the soldiers, then I am certain our lord will save us!”

“Aaahh!” suddenly a scream interrupted the continues explosions. The old wizard that had acted as an intermediary for the emperor and the guild had gotten hold of his staff, but was stabbed by one of the attendants. In return, the attendant had burst into flames after a quick chant of the wizard. Clutching the wound on his side with one hand, the robed wizard raised his staff.

“You see, already they betray you openly!”

“No,” the wizard uttered weakly, “but if you try to kill us, we will defend ourselves! We have not sacrificed everything only to be backstabbed now! If you do not rescind your order, I will not hesitate to cast us all into oblivion!”

While he spoke, silvery orbs of light were gathering around the tips of his staff and combining into strings of light illuminating his reddish blond hair that already had grey streaks.

“Your majesty, you must not falter! You must end him quickly before he can warn his brethren! If even one of them escapes, the lord will not forgive!”

“We will not yield to extortion! My orders are inspired by divine will! They are absolute! General, kill this traitor!”

Surprise was evident on the wizards face as he widened his eyes at the unexpected proclamation. He looked towards the general in hopes of finding an ally, but only found a pained face shaking dejectedly. Tears were threatening to fall on the old wizard’s greying beard.

“Your majesty, we… I warned you not to attack! I told you that his would be the most likely outcome. Still, my brothers and I, we upheld our oaths of service, not because we believe in our supremacy as humans, but because it was our duty! And now … now you wish to murder us? Are you even listening to yourself? We have protected the capitol for weeks from the enemy! We have maintained the barriers tirelessly without rest! Many of my brothers have already perished … some wanted to defect, to turn ourselves over … but I convinced them to stay … because … because I hoped I could reason with you … because I hoped I could turn you away from this path … this may be out last chance to sue for peace, but if you massacre all the demi-humans in the capitol then …”

“We do not negotiate with animals” was the answered in an icy tone.

“Think of your subjects! Think of you family!”

“His majesty has spoken! Guards, remove this vermin from his majesty’s presence!”

Several guards who had hesitated until now drew their swords. The wizard flinched, but with a deep breath, stood tall and prepared his spell.

“Then you leave me with no choice! May the spirits forgive …. *splurt*”

He never managed to finish. Instead he spurted out blood. His eyes wandered to his chest were a bloody piece of metal was sticking out of. WIth great difficulty, the wizard turned his head to look over his shoulder. A beautiful blonde female with sparkling topaz blue eyes had appeared behind his back and stabbed him with an ornate short sword.

“Caitlyn?”

A warm smile answered him. Despite the bloody scene in front of her, the blond woman in garb of a warrior priest exuded the air of a warm mother. She twisted the sword slightly before pulling it out. Intermixed between the strands of blood and guts long strings of silver connected the blade and the body of the wizard.

“You’re an … *blood spurt* … Inquisitor?”

The old wizard felt his life draining from his body with the blood that was leaving him. But something else was happening. He could sense it. His suspicion became certainty when he noticed the silvery strands of light connecting the ornate blade with his very soul.

“That sword … it couldn’t be ...”

“Ah, Sister Caitlyn, quickly trap his soul before he can warn any of the others!”

The battle sister bowed towards the bishop and then turned towards the wizard was bleeding  on the floor. With a gentle smile she began concentrating on the weapon in her hand and the silvery strings increased in numbers and density. Every now and then something seemed to travel along the strands into the ornate blade, and the wizard became weaker and weaker.

“Caitlyn … why?” The wizard asked weakly.

“Don’t worry, my love! Once your in my ‘Reaver’ you will always be at my side. That is what you promised me, right?” The blond priestess tilted her head to the side, the gentle smile never leaving her face. However in her eyes a mad glint appeared.

“It won’t be long now, just close your eyes and rest,” she urged him on with a motherly tone.

Then three things happened almost simultaneously, first, one of the aides that had turned away from the gruesome sight began screaming “the barrier is gone” while an explosion much louder and quite a bit closer rocked the chamber. One of the towers of the castle erupted in flame and the stones fell onto the ground, hitting unsuspecting soldiers and civilians quickly ending their lives. But perhaps more surprising was the sudden explosion happening right in front of the group, as the large double door was blown out of its hinges and the remains squashed some of the guards as well as quite a few attendants.

Four shadowy figures emerged from the smoke, a large man wearing burly armor with two horns on his head and a long tail following behind, a slender sensual woman with green hair that reached all the way to her hips and long pointy ears, another woman with large leathery wings and green scales on her upper arms and legs, as well as another man with long black hair and red eyes wearing a simple breastplate, a curved sword in one hand and two sacks dripping blood in the other. This man that was leading the quartet also had horns on his head, and a tail swished through the air like a living thing. His pointy ears, far shorter than the woman’s, twitched slightly as he surveyed the surroundings. His gaze stopped briefly at the sprawling wizard bleeding profusely on the floor and sighed with implicit understanding of the situation.

With a simple wave of his hand black tendrils extended towards the the silvery strands of light intending to cut them, but they were intercepted by an invisible barrier. The black tendrils fought against the shield even as the male demon turned his attention away from the dying wizard.

“You will not take my lover from me!” Cursed the blonde woman, throwing an angry glare at the interlopers.

“G-general, kill these intruders!”

The old general who had moved to protect the emperor shot a hateful glare at the babbling bishop. He was about to admonish the man for daring to give him such stupid orders, but he was interrupted by the booming voice of the opposing party’s leader.

“STAY YOUR BLADES!”

With determined footsteps the leader walked forward, stopping maybe ten meters from the throne and its cowering occupant.

“W-what have you done with the barrier?” Demanded the emperor with a loud voice, but unable to keep his voice from shaking.

“Nothing. But if I had to guess, once the life of that wizard was in mortal danger, it send out a distress message to the wizards maintaining the barrier ...” just as he said this, a tiny woman with butterfly wings sped through an open window and stopped before the winged demon.

The throne room was silent and only the jingles and chimes of the fairy’s voice could be heard. After the fairy had finished her report, she turned her head towards the humans, stuck out her tongue and darted off again.

“And apparently they all have teleported to the Alliance camp and surrendered.”

The demon smirked with a boyish grin that seemed out of place for the situation. As they were too surprised by the sudden arrival of the fairy and her message, no one seemed to notice the smile that crept on the wizard’s face, even as he fought against the soul sucking power of the Reaver blade his ‘lover’ wielded.

“For what reasons have you come before we, the glorious Emperor of the seven Kingdoms?”

The emperor stressed the last six words, as if to remind not only the present company, but himself as well of that fact.

No longer grinning, the demon tossed the two sacks towards the throne, but they hit the ground with a sickening sound after a few meters and continue to roll forward. The sacks opened up and two severed heads with wide open eyes and rolled out tongues were revealed, as they continued to roll, only stopping once they hit the raised dais of the throne.

“That’s … that’s ...”

“In the name of the alliance, we have punished these two for the crimes they have committed against our people. The leader of the slaver’s guild and, “ the demon breathed deeply, “and the second prince of the Seven Kingdoms.”

“You … you beasts murdered my son!”

Rising to stand with new found vigor, the emperor clumsily drew a sword that rested next to his throne, and the guards prepared to engage the trio that had infiltrated the castle.

The bishop held his staff protectively in front of him and began screaming in a shrill voice,

“Exact righteous vengeance on these foul beasts! Avenge the second prince! Cleanse the earth from these vermins”

Only the general kept a cool head, as he held back the raging emperor and continued to study the situation. Everything made little sense to him, especially now that the enemy commander stood before him and announced something akin to the end of the war.

“SILENCE!” An ear-shattering shout erupted in the throne room and quite a few people fell on their asses in surprise. Even the emperor fell backwards and sat back on the throne, his sword falling helplessly on the ground.

Black tendrils crept on the ground like growing shadows and the part of the room with the demon seemed to fall into darkness. The armored minotaur stepped forward menacingly, a giant warhammer in both hands, while the green haired elf brandished an ornate glaive with a single edged curved blade that housed several colored gems along its spine. The draconian female flexed her claws and spread her wings, and her golden eyes surveyed the room while she remained ready to jump and tear at anyone who made any sudden movements.

Not one of the human guards dared to move, the ones that fell couldn’t muster any strength to stand, and even the bishop who staggered backwards and slipped on a puddle of his own urine. Perhaps thanks to the general that shielded him, the emperor managed not to soil his pants, but depending on the how things kept progressing, that would surely change as well.

“Nooooooooooooooo!”

A scream from the warrior priestess broke the standoff and almost all heads turned towards her. The black tendrils that the demon shot towards her had finally broken through the barrier and severed the silvery strands that pulled at the soul of the wizard. Caitlyn’s face contorted into a pained grimace and she dashed towards the demon infiltrator with her Reaver held high. She moved so fast that she seemingly disappeared, but her figure became visible about a meter to the left of the demon. Caitlyn was launched towards the wall just as quickly as she appeared and crashed into it with an eruption of smoke. The minotaur stood next to the demon and rested his battle hammer on his shoulder. Most on the human side stared stupidly at the scene whereas only the general seemed to have realized what had happened. On the alliance side none spared the priestess another glance. Or at least they tried to, but Caitlyn started wailing and dragged herself towards the unmoving body of the wizard.

“This isn’t what you promised! You can’t die like this! Quick *HEAL*! Come on breath. You were supposed to stay with me until I died!” Caitlyn shook the still smiling corpse and even attempted to use a healing spell on him. The white mana gathered on her hands and entered the body but fizzled without doing its intended work.

“Sister Caitlyn! You dare attempt such a miracle for a measly wizard?” In the confusion the bishop seemed to have found his courage and stood up again.

“THIS ISN’T WHAT YOU PROMISED ME!” Caitlyn screamed at the bishop who was so taken aback, he fell back into the puddle he created. Holding the wizard’s head in her lap, the smile had vanished from her face and she started to cry. For awhile the only sounds in the room where the pieces of wall falling from the and the wailing of the priestess as she gently rocked the corpse of her ‘lover.’

Unable to endure the wailing anymore, the emperor began to speak with a subdued voice.

“So have you come to kill us, too? Purge humanity from this world to take it for yourselves?”

The scene just now had proven that no one in this room stood much of a chance to defeat the three intruders. Inquisitors were amongst the most powerful weapons of the church and the minotaur had easily beaten her. It was a testament to her strength that the Inquisitor still lived and only coughed out blood only once.

“No.”

Such a simple answer had left almost everyone speechless. Especially the general could not hide the surprise on his face. If they hadn’t come to kill, why were these four here? Before he could ask however, another fairy flew into the room, this one different from before, and stopped right next the demon’s ear. After whispering a few words, the fairy darted off not to be seen again.

“Just now I have been informed that our second objective has already been satisfied. Right now, we have rescued and released all slaves within the capitol. We have come to inform you that we will now cease all hostilities.”

The humans blinked. Cease hostilities? They were so close to a total victory and they were going to stop their attacks? The sudden turn of events had left everyone on the human’s side confused. Observing his opponents the general noticed that apart from the demon, the other members of his party were clearly unhappy with this turn of events. Knowing what had let to this conflict, he could hardly blame them.

“It’s a miracle! See, once you chose to slay those vile wizards, the Lord has granted us this ...” a black tendril shot into the bishop’s stomach and shut him up. Clutching his aching belly, the bishop was squirming in the still wet puddle unable to utter any more words.

“If you had heeded our warnings things would not have come this far!” The demon’s voice was laced with anger.

“For crimes committed against members of the alliance the second prince Bahram and the leader of the slaver’s guild Ulturk have been put to death.

Their crimes encompass:

Crossing the Alliance borders with soldiers,

burning of crops and farms in alliance territories,

pillaging of Alliance villages and towns,

raping, torturing and enslaving of civilians,

murder of innocent men, women and ... children ...”

The demon swallowed hard. His fury rose with every crime he mentioned and he could barely contain himself as he mentioned the last two. His companions were fighting down their urge to simply end everyone in the room as well, even as the draconian female barely held back her sobs.

“In accordance with the peace treaty of Kalimor, we, the alliance had repeatedly requested the Empire to stop these acts of aggression and hand over the guilty parties. Despite continued raids on Alliance territory, we had upheld the terms of the treaty ...”

The demon took another deep breath. The general was still protecting the emperor whose face was contorting into an angry grimace. None of the guards dared to move against the intruders, and they felt as if every word was a slap in their face.

“Despite numerous attempts to communicate and even sending three envoys, the Empire failed to adhere to the terms agreed upon in the peace treaty. The only response, in fact, were the dismembered bodies of the envoys …”

An accusatory glance swept the room, but none of the present humans dared to interrupt the demon. Only after the emperor asked in a feebly voice did the bishop dare to open his mouth.

“Where we supposed to hand over my son to you beasts?”

“The second prince was doing the lord’s work! He was a great hero to humanity!”

“HE WAS A CRIMINAL!”

Everyone shrank back at the sudden outburst of the demon. Since his cordial manner had barely changed from the beginning, the two had apparently forgotten who was actually in charge right now. The emperor remained undeterred however.

“He was MY SON!”

The demon bit back his anger before he continued his interrupted speech.

“Furthermore, despite the Alliance’s attempt to reach a peaceful settlement, the Empire attacked in full force on the second day of the harvest festival four years ago, destroying large parts of the eastern forest, home of the elves, raiding the mines of the dwarves, pillaging the minotaur dwelling in the western dungeons as well as destroying several nests of the dragon species.

In response to these unprovoked attacks without even a declaration of war, the Alliance has opened hostilities with the human empire.”

Again his gaze swept the room. The inquisitor still caressed the wizard’s corpse and was whispering promises that would never be fulfilled, whereas most of the human guards and attendant waited with baited breath.

Again only the emperor dared to raise his voice.

“So how many civilians did the Alliance kill in response? Tell these good folks what you did with the humans cities you have occupied!” With a theatrical sweeps of his hands, the Emperor motioned towards the other humans in the throne room. Everyone failed to see the bishop widen his eyes in sudden fright.

“After eliminating any resisting soldiers and executing any noble that refused to submit … nothing. We simply continued to march towards the capitol while leaving a bare minimum of guards to maintain order and security.”

The emperor’s smirk fell. This wasn’t what he wanted to hear. The bishop quickly jumped in to help the emperor.

“You lie, demon! Admit to you crimes! We all heard the stories of how you massacred the civilians of the occupied towns and gorged in their blood!”

“Wait, Alma … We did no such thing!” The demon stopped the approaching elf with one hand, before denying the accusations.

“You don’t expect us to believe you, do you? We all know that your kind cannot be trusted!”

“It’s true ...” one of the guards suddenly interjected.

Both the emperor and the bishop shot hateful glances at the shivering guard that dared to contradict official propaganda.

“I was ordered to infiltrate the northern kingdoms about 3 months ago … all the human cities were busy with harvesting and trading. There were a few Alliance guards but the work was done by humans … I even talked to some, and they weren’t slaves ...”

“Traitorous demon spy!” the bishop spat, but only the emperor seemed to believe him.

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“Guards, execute this traitor this instant! Then find his family and burn them all on the stake!”

The guard cowered, afraid for his life and the lives of his family, but none of the other guards moved towards him. It wasn’t only fear of the four invaders that held them back though.

Finally even the general mustered his courage to ask a question in a quiet voice.

“What now, then? What does the Alliance plan … what are your plans for the empire?”

“We’re done! There has been enough bloodshed … enough senseless killing … the Alliance armies will withdraw immediately. There will be no continued Alliance presence in imperial territory. This war is over.”

The human occupants of the the throne room blinked a few times, unsure of the words they just had heard. The commander of the Alliance forces had just declared the war over, and promised the withdrawal of all Alliance troops from imperial territory. On the eve of victory.

“What?”

“In fact, I have the following message from the Council of Elders: You win! We withdraw, you can have this continent.”

“We … win?”

“I have said it before, my mission was as follows: punish the second prince and the leader of the slaver’s guild and rescue any and all enslaved members of Alliance races. These two objectives have been fulfilled. And now we’re done. We’re leaving. And be aware that you will never see any of us ever again. This place is yours now, do with it what you want. We’re done with you.”

With these words the enemy commander turned around and began to leave. His companions looked at the confused expressions of the assembled humans and with a triumphant smirk also turned to leave.

“Wait … WAIT! We order you to wait!”

The demon stopped, breathed deeply and turned towards the emperor again. With a voice that clearly communicated his annoyance he asked,“what?”

“What about reparations? You murdered my son! And you damaged imperial property! And you caused casualties amongst my troops!”

The demon widened his eyes in evident surprise and looked around the room. He wasn’t the only one to give the emperor an incredulous look. They had just been granted a reprieve, a victory even, and the emperor was asking for spoils for the victor? Was he not afraid the enemy commander might change his mind and simply destroy the entire capitol.

“I said, we’re done. You don’t seem to realize what we mean, but we’re done! No more negotiations, no more treaties, no more trades, no more nothings. WE ARE DONE WITH YOU!”

The demon emphasized every syllable of the last sentence. About to turn to leave, he scratched his head before adding a final message.

“We’re leaving. In four … no, three days now, on the night of convergence, we will commence the World Shift Ceremony. After that, you will no longer be able to bother us, even interact with us. We will leave this plane and be merely a memory. Get it through your thick skull: You won, we don’t want anything to do with you anymore. So don’t ask anymore of us! Oh, yes, the magician’s guild is joining as well, so I doubt you’ll have any magic users left. Especially not after that stunt you tried to pull earlier.”

“So you accursed beasts will leave this plane? This world belongs to us now?” The bishop had a mad grin on his face.

“Well, in three days, it will belong to you … well, maybe …” and then the demon whispered, “if you survive that is ...”

“Your majesty, as I have predicted, the lord has blessed his chosen people with victory! He has decreed that all unnatural beasts will leave this world. All is as he wills it! The promised time has come. Humans will reign supreme under the chur … under your leadership”

Suddenly the demon burst out into laughter and everyone turned towards him.

“You really don’t get it, do you? We’re leaving, and with us any protection you might have had. Do you really think you could have thrived like this without the Alliance? Who taught you how to farm? The elves! Who taught you how to work metal? The dwarves! Who taught you how to use magic? My people, the demons! The merpeople taught you to sail and to fish and the minotaurs taught you how to build your houses with stone. And you could learn these things in peace, because we protected your borders from any outside forces. You have no idea what dangers exist across the eastern oceans or what terrors haunt the northern mountains.

Let me repeat this:

WE ARE DONE WITH YOU.

Protect yourselves.

Discover things yourselves.”

And with that, the four representatives of the Alliance left and with them the troops stationed around the capitol. The news spread like wildfire, and the church quickly spun the tale of how the heroic choices of the emperor, influenced by divine will, had saved the empire from the brink of defeat. Messengers were sent out to the occupied cities to find that, as the demon had promised, no trace of the Alliance remained. Any dissident that dared to speak out against the imperial rule, that even mentioned how peaceful live had been under the Alliance occupation was quickly silenced.

And after the third day, during the night, something extraordinary happened. During the night of the convergence, when the two moons and all the planets, even ones not yet discovered, had aligned in a straight line, a massive aurora spread from the northern territories. At first silver tendrils stretched out from the skies of the Alliance territories but soon other colors mixed in and bathed the night sky in fantastic light. The Church dispatched messengers to even the smallest of chapels to let the humans know that it was a miracle of their god, the Lord, and that through his will, all demi-humans of the Alliance would be gone by the next day.

The empire dispatched scouts towards the Alliance territories and mustered the remainder of their forces, a mere tenth of the several legions they had before, and marched into the Alliance territory. But no matter how much they searched, they could find no trace of any of the races. The forests that once housed the elves were even bereft of their wondrous villages that seemed to be grown instead of built. Inside the hills and mountains that the dwarves built their beautiful cities only long caves and large caverns remained. Even the great towers and mazes the Minotaurs had constructed, sights that usually could have been seen from miles away had seemingly disappeared.

Everything was just gone.

Second Part

Quickly the humans spread and claimed the territory that the Alliance once held. Within two years  dozens of new cities were built and even hundreds of small villages. The church made sure to strengthen their influence, gradually increasing their role in the apparent defeat and sudden disappearance of the Alliance. The emperor, distraught by the loss of his son, did little to hold back the church as it increased it worldly power, instead, he seemed to encourage it. The first prince took over most of the day to day workings of the empire, but without the threat of the alliance, the kings and barons of the seven kingdoms demanded more and more autonomy. During the third year after the ‘World Shift’ as the demon had called it, civil war broke out. The empire fell and nine kingdoms emerged, the one time capitol became their seat of power and the former grand castle became their citadel. The imperial family, or most of them, were publicly crucified and burned on the stake. The first and second princess were locked in the dungeons for half a year before their bruised and -repeatedly- shamed bodies were unveiled to the public before they were also executed via fire.

Despite the love the masses had professed for the princesses, the populace was greatly enticed and held a grand festival that lasted for three days.

The third princess, the youngest of the imperial family, was safely spirited away by an old man who was thought to have been in the employ of the imperial army as a mighty general.

The church awarded the position of Pope to a greying bishop that had been instrumental in the defeat of the Alliance, as most people came to believe. The story now was that with the Alliance besieging the capitol and the imperial family being close to admitting defeat after the apparent betrayal of the wizard order, the bishop with the help of only his most trusted inquisitors fought back a powerful raiding party, rallied the troops and drove the Alliance back across their borders. After the fifth year people actually started to believe the tales.

The blond Inquisitor Caitlyn was lauded as a hero, but disappeared the day after the invasion. Statues were erected in her honor and soon her name was forgotten but busts and statues of hers were heralded as the reverend mother that would bless any household that owned one of them. There are stories, however, of a blonde woman wearing the withered robes of the Inquisitor Order dragging a coffin with her who searched aimlessly for her lover’s soul. But since she never seemed to have aged, even after full decade, most people believe these to be old wive’s tales.

The civil war that started during the third year and grew to a full-blown conflict during the third, raged for five years with countless lives lost, villages pillaged and burned to the ground and more often than not, little change in the borders of the kingdoms. Warlords and Bandit leaders rose and cut out swathes of land for themselves, mostly in the occupied Alliance territories, and a kingdom of bandits was created. The population with quickly divided into three castes, the ‘Warriors’ that would raid nearby kingdoms for treasure, food and slave, the ‘Merchants’ that owned lands or stores and controlled the economy and lastly, the most numerous caste, the ‘Slaves’ that did all physical labors the other two castes refused to do themselves.

During the civil war, the Church accelerated their attempt of seizing control over the empire, creating a Divine State, meant to be a paradise on earth. They were mildly successful in the capitol, but only to those who ignored the rampant corruption, slavery and suppressions of any harmful ideas and discoveries. The papal citadel was kept clean and shimmered with white marble and golden works of art, but beneath the surface the slaves were put to hard work. And even now mothers warn their daughters not to walk alone in the streets near the papal citadel. The cities away from the papal citadel seemed resilient to the Churches influence and most grew in size and influence. But in the villages, especially in remote regions with little oversight by their local lords and barons, did the Church manage to establish a great following. Most people who opposed were quickly exposed as witches or wizards in disguise before they were burned at the stake and their assets seized by the Church.

In the seventh year, during the annual three day festival of the ‘World Shift,’ the Pope suddenly collapsed during a feast and died of an unknown ‘illness’ shortly thereafter.

Within hours a new Pope was elected, this one a high-ranking member of the Inquisitors Order who began to lose more and more of their power, both in performing Miracles such as ‘Heal’ and ‘Immolation,’ as well as political powers within the Church.

The Order was restructured into the Inquisition and orders were sent out to every member of the ecclesial to begin hunting for remnants of Unnaturals. In the war torn kingdoms many people were quickly ‘identified’ as being Witches or Wizards and sent to secret places where they would be tested. Almost two thirds of the people sent there were suspected of being witches, and none had returned during or after the three years of the Inquisition.

The civil war had entered a stalemate in which three kingdoms, the church and the bandit kingdom to the east, maintained an equilibrium of power without actually declaring any form of peace.

Everything changed in the ninth year after the ‘World Shift.’

Long forgotten were the warnings of the demon, as most people who had heard it were already dead. Ships were often lost in the eastern seas and most captains refused to sail further than a few miles out to sea, always staying in visual range to the coast. Some challenged the high seas but few returned. Those that did never told their tales. Most of those were being cared for by the Church, often with serious injury to both body and spirit.

To the north repeated sightings of strange creatures with thick white furs walking on two legs and carrying weapons were dismissed as the tales of madmen or some sort of illusion of the mind that sometimes haunted men that traveled alone for too long.

In the second month of the ninth year, several fishing villages seemed to be suddenly abandoned, and often times it seemed the villagers disappeared during their mundane tasks.

Only during the fourth month did they learn the truth from a frightened child.

Long ships carrying strange people landed on the eastern shores and raided the fishing villages, mostly plundering their meager wealth and taking the villagers as slaves.

Ignoring the child’s warning, the disappearances continued until one of the larger port cities was attacked by an armada of long ships. Within hours the population was reduced to one third but all that remained of the invaders were the corpses of the human soldiers and the destruction they had brought. No corpses of the attackers were found.

During the fourth month a large trading cities in the north was also attacked. The whole city was sacked in one day and the few remaining survivors were incoherent and provided little information. Within weeks several villagers and even large cities were attacked as well and only burned remnants could be found. Pools of blood and gore told of unspeakable horrors that must have happened, but again, there were either no survivors and the few that did were reduced to bumbling shells of their former selves.

The outlying kingdoms that appeared to be most at risk argued for a peace treaty with the five powers and asked for aid in their troubling times, citing the ‘successful’ campaigns before the ‘World Shift’ and reminding them of the need for unity in the case of outside threats. The five powers were not swayed however and silently bided their time, hoping for greater concession as more time passed and the outlying kingdoms became more desperate.

They were granted their wish and much more during the eighth month of the ninth year.

Massive armadas of long boats landed on the eastern shore and caught a path of destruction and death on their way towards the capitol. At almost the same time, massive armies of what often were described as giants, wearing white fur and easily a head taller than even the greatest of humans, approached from the northern mountains.

Before the fourteenth month of the ninth year almost half of the human territories had fallen to the invaders. The five great powers had dwindled to three, two of the original kingdoms and the Papal capitol, and still they had no clue against who they were fighting.

Some feared the Alliance had returned while others whispered about the end times prophesied by the Church. The armies of the kingdom proved to be of little use against the invaders as they had been easily outnumbered on every occasions. Had they put aside their differences earlier and put a united front while there were still five powers they might have stood a chance, but no all hope seemed to be lost.

It was during this time that the Pope ordered the great Cleansing of the Papal capitol and tried to burn down most of the building in a giant funeral pyre for himself. Leaderless and their forces greatly depleted by the mass-murder suicide, the Church and the Inquisitors were quickly swept from the board, even though their capitol was furthest from the invading armies.

Angry citizen and villagers are said to have stormed into the no longer secret dungeons and towers of the Inquisition to search for their loved ones taken from them during the ‘Great Inquisition.’ The raid on the largest of these, the ‘Black Citadel’ was said to be lead by the great Reverend Mother herself, a blond woman in tattered Inquisitor Robes. During the raid she seemed to have disappeared once more as she searched for ‘Lover’s Body and Soul.’

These stories were quickly dismissed however, as she did not have her signature coffin.

In what appeared to be humanities final hours, with the two kingdom armies facing off against the invaders in front and with the burning Papal City in the back, the war to once more save the human race began. The battles continued for days and just as the invaders almost routed the kingdom’s armies a horn blew to announce the arrival of a third force.

A young woman with an old man carrying a simplified version of the imperial banner appeared at the head of a small army, only a few hundred strong. Their hopes dashed, despair began to grip the hearts of the soldiers of the kingdoms’ armies. Thousands had already died at the hands of the invaders so they saw little hope for the meager reinforcements. A few commanders recognized the imperial banner, but quickly lost hope when they realized the number of troops.

The eastern invaders sent forth a fourth of their army to quickly defeat the new arrivals, but before their armies even clashed thunderous roars echoed on the battlefield and large explosions tore apart the invaders. Large metal tube on specially designed carriages spew fire with loud thunderous noise and cause carnage in the invaders ranks. The few horses they had managed to plunder grew frightened and escaped, trampling many of their ‘owners’ who were the leaders of the invading army. Within minutes the approaching forces had been reduced to only a few stragglers.

The eastern invaders quickly split their forces, leaving only a few hundred to deal with the already crumbling kingdom forces while two thirds of the invaders marched against the new troops. Again the large metal tubes spew fire and thunder echoed on the battlefield. With a slight delay explosion erupted amongst the eastern invaders, but they continued steadfast.

When they finally reached the range of their bows, the large ‘cannons’ went silent and the eastern invaders, despite their heavy losses of about a fifth of their forces, could already envision their victory. For as far as they could see, their enemies only had metal rods to defend themselves in melee and were only a few hundred strong,

Preparing their charge, for they had little in the form of bow and arrow, preferring to slaughter their enemies up close and personal, the invading army failed to realize the true purpose of the metal rods. As the enemy approached, the new forces had arranged themselves several parallel lines while the front line was aiming their metal rods towards the enemy. Only then did a few of the eastern invaders notice the similarity between the weapons.

Suddenly the first line of metal rods spew fire, just like the larger counterparts, although the noise was significantly lower. Even before the first volley hit, the first line moved out of the way and began working furiously on their metal rods. The second line took aim and fired. Then the third, the fourth and the fifth before the first fired again. With every volley almost a hundred of the approaching enemies fell at the same time and barely after a minutes half the enemy forces had been felled by the continuous burst of weapon fire.

The new arriving army had reduced the eastern invaders to a fifth of the forces in less than an hour. With most of their leadership gone in the second battle, the eastern invaders retreated back to the shores and even left without collecting their dead.

The young woman ignored the summons of the kingdom’s army, especially the demands for the metal rods that had decimated the eastern invaders, and quickly marched her troops to face of the northern invaders.

The same scene repeated and the ‘Valkyrie Princess,’ as she was called by the soldiers of the kingdom’s armies, beat back both invading armies in less than a week with no casualties to enemy forces. At the dawn of the ninth day, the end of the week, did the Valkyrie Princess arrive at the remnants of the Papal City, her former home. Not minding the stench of burnt flesh and hair, the young woman walked the once white roads and surveyed the area. At some places the fire had grown so hot that even some of the gold statues had begun to melt turning the once impeccable human forms into monstrous figures. Leaving with the words “And now, the statues resemble the hearts of those that commissioned them,” the woman ordered that all members of the church were to be brought into the city and forced to clean it, no matter what position they might have had in the Church.

After she had left, she would never again set foot in the city she was born in. Instead choosing a city in the central plains as her new capitol. The two kings and many of the Churches Cardinals and Bishops tried to hinder her, demanding to be handed the technology behind the weapons and threatening her with their armies. Their resistance proofed futile as the masses, who feared another civil war, quickly rose up in rebellion and ousted their former masters. Even the Church, once the symbol for human salvation, had lost much of its grandeur in light of the atrocities committed during the Inquisition and all the fear the people had were burned down along the Papal city.

After consolidating her power and implementing a revolutionary system in which the people would vote for a council of leaders from amongst them that would govern their immediate surroundings, as well as a representative for once where the kingdoms, that would meet with her in the new Imperial City to discuss what steps must be taken to not only defend the new Empire, but also to improve the lives of the common people. The nobles feared their loss of power and quite a few began plotting against her. The ‘Valkyrie Empress’ however enjoyed learning new things and by imperial Mandate ordered the construction of an Academy for Higher learning and many schools, even in the furthest parts of the countries, which all children had to attend for a few years, so they could learn how to read, write and do simple math. Soon the curriculum increased to include the simple history of the Empire, despite threats from the Church for changing their ‘official’ version, and sciences as the people from the south, where the princess discovered the new weapons, would teach them.

Great fortification were built to the north and south, and they were armed with the new weapons, so they could better defend against future aggressions. What the Princess hid from most of her advisors however, was that she searched for a way to reach the races of the Alliances, but she failed to do so. In the hopes that the Alliance was somehow watching and might decide to return if she built a great empire that welcomed all, the princess began to put many projects in motions and she secretly began to study the ways of magic.

She led her people for more than ten years, doing her utmost to improve the lives of the common people and unraveling the mysteries of magic. During her reign both the northern and eastern invaders returned a few times, probing the defenses. While a few villages were unfortunately lost, any larger forces that appeared were quickly beaten back with the new weapons, the ‘Muskets’ and the ‘Cannons’ the ‘Valkyrie Empress’ procured, but no armies as big as the earlier one reappeared.

And once more, with the constant threat of the invaders seemingly having disappeared, the nobles began to openly voice their discontent. But while the tinders of civil war were once again beginning to erupt in the new empire, the ‘Valkyrie Empress’ traveled to the northern reaches of the empire with only her trusted aide at her side. The nobles quickly seized upon the opportunity and send out a small contingent of their own troops to assassinate the empress. They were joined by like-minded leaders of the Church that had faded almost into obscurity, barely hanging onto their power in the farthest corners of the Empire.

They had tried to publicly condemn the Empress for her disregard of the Church’s teachings and the introduction of subversive ideas, but had found little purchase with the population.

What they needed was a divine intervention that would show the people what happened to individuals that went against the teachings of the Lord. And if the Lord wouldn’t provide one, than they would help themselves.

During the third day of the third month, the ‘Valkyrie Empress’ arrived in the northern lands with only her most loyal retainers. She penned three letters to be opened should she fail to return the next day, that would include her instructions and her wishes for the future of the Empire. Despite heavy protests she traveled only with her eldest companions, the trusted aide and one time general that had rescued her all those years ago and taught her so much over the years. The man had grown old and only with the help of the Empress did they finally arrive at a stone altar that once was home to the Council of the Alliance. Along the way, they met a young blond woman in tattered robes carrying a large wooden boy with her. Although the aide seemed to recognize her, he refused to tell the Empress who the young woman was, even though the woman joined them on their journey.