End of arc II
The young Fallen Eldritch Priest stood at the small mountaintop and overlooked the lands of Rosmorre. His twelve hands were calm, yet his forty-eight eyes were far from it. They burned with embers of rage and grief.
It was a deep night in the Riftlands, west of the human borders.
The disciple of the late Sword of the Undermoon temple learned something new today. So many of his brothers lied their heads today and yet their deaths were in vain. Young Priest understood that the only reason any of them were left alive was that humans didn’t chase them. If they would decide to chase the fleeing brotherhood, every brother who decided to follow his call would lose their life in this disgusting plane of brown and green.
Young Priest was not happy about his survival. He survived, yet something in him died for good. Icy wind touched the skin of Eldritch standing still as a statue as other survivors grouped around him and waited for his guidance.
“Brother, what shall we do now?” a Priest asked him.
The young Priest didn't answer for some time. After a moment of contemplation, he finally decided how to proceed.
“Under the guidance of Moon Mothers, we don’t take names on our flesh. We are born as equals and we shall die as equals, that’s the rule and that’s the tradition,” the young Priest spoke, “And that is the tradition which I will break today. I will take a name upon myself. Not in arrogance as I am no better than you, my brothers. I will take a name because I will become my name, my name will become me. From this day forth I shall be called Death and death I will bring upon my enemies.”
Priests around him were his closest brothers. They understood how he felt, and they felt the same. Hundreds of Fallen Eldritch Priests shared this moment with each other in the alien plane so far from their home.
“We understand your feelings. Trust me, we do. But elders will oppose you, brother Death,” a different Priest said with a slight tremble in his mental message, “It goes against our ways as set by Moon Mothers. You will be shunned as a heretic, and If you will not deny your name when asked so, dead you will become.”
“They will not be able to oppose us.”
“How so?”
“We are birthed in our levels high as no other. Yet we are not as strong as the creatures whom we fought this day. Why so?”
“Moon Mothers open their wombs to us only in nights of no mist.”
“Exactly, my brother! Exactly!”
Death turned his eyes towards the nightly skies of Rosmorre and other Priests followed his gaze. High in the sky hung three moons of Rosmorre in all their glory. Acute senses of Fallen Eldritch Priests could feel the mana seeping from them down to this foreign plane. Moon mana was abundant on this night of defeat and sorrow. Mana bathed Priests in it, all they needed to do was just reach out and take it for themselves. And when Priests noticed it, most of them did exactly that. They meditated and absorbed the moon mana right there and then.
“Brother Death, do you think every night in this realm is night with no mist?”
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“I think so. There is no other explanation for why these creatures were so strong.”
“We need to go back and call all of our brothers to this realm. It is the greatest discovery we had in centuries.”
“Not yet. Elders might not let us go back as it is against our traditions to leave our home temple. We will stay here for some time and gather power. When we will return to our home, we will bring change with us. Our old ways must go and leave a way for a new path.”
“What will be our new path?”
“Way of war, my brothers.”
The remains of Fallen Eldritch Priest warband stood in silence as moon mana washed over them in waves of power. And with moon mana Priests grew in power themselves.
Their time will come.
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Tree Sentinel – Lvl 55
Hermic Seeker – Lvl 41
Merlo left the tree line behind his back and ruined remains of Delver Citadel filled with dread. The city was collapsed and in disarray. People walked around in a daze, excavating the rubble and trying to dig out survivors and their livelihoods.
“Divines! What happened here?” Seeker Merlo hired was in shock.
“Disaster struck, obviously. Do what I pay you for and lead me to my daughter!”
“I already told you thousands of times, I can’t do that now. I can use my Hermic Vision once a month, giving me direction and distance from my target. It is still 10 days left until I can use my perk once more.”
“But you have other seeker perks?”
“I have, but I will have to be very close to your daughter before I will be able to catch her scent.”
“Then we better start searching the city. Beyond this point is only Riftlands.”
“I will be damned if I will step my foot outside the Empire.”
“You going to do what you are paid for,” Merlo said with no hint of kindness in his voice.
Merlo seemed a lot older, and his hair started to retreat leaving his forehead free.
There was no trace of kind Elder left, in his place was a man on a mission to find his only child and bring her home.
Merlo and his guide stepped into the ruined city with a confident step.
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“Thank you for bringing us along,” Jack Mors said to the caravan master who sat in the driver's seat of the caravan's lead cart.
Jack marched beside his cart and 14 more carts followed behind. They were traveling through the forest deeper into Empire leaving Delver Citadel behind them for good. The Green of the forest granted them a peaceful respite from the desolate wastelands they traveled through in the Riftlands and Fallen strata.
“No problem, pal,” the fat caravan master answered in a cheerful manner, “When Citadel turned into chaos, I didn’t bother to gather all my guards. Time is in essence when you flee a city under attack. Your levels are low, but you might still be helpful if we get attacked by brigands.”
“Of course. You are a smart man for putting your life in the first place.”
“But I will not pay your team, you understand that? You will get food and water during our stay together. You lot can keep the clothes we gave you if drive with us to the city of Golden order. If you prove yourself as mighty men and woman, we might speak about future employment then.”
“Can’t wait,” Jack answered and looked back at the cart in which sat Orla, Linus, and Zaun.
Jack smiled and waved at them.
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“What do you mean, when you say four Delvers, who brought Eldritch upon us, are nowhere to be seen?” Orbol of the Iron fist asked the guard captain with anger.
“Sir, they are nowhere in the city. Nor dead, nor alive. We looked everywhere.”
“Don’t scream at the poor lad,” Onisian said to the giant, “Troublemakers probably fled from fearing the consequences of their actions. It’s just the nature of humans.”
“If they fled, then so be it,” the giant turned towards the guard captain, “Get guards who saw them and make mind pictures of all four of them. If they want to run, then we will have to catch them. With my authority as Pillar of the Empire and head of Delver Order, I declare them criminals under the laws of the Empire. They shall be brought to the imperial court to be judged dead or alive. Talk with the coin meister. He must put a generous bounty on their heads from the vaults of Delver Order.”
“Yes, sir!” guard saluted and ran away to comply with orders given to him.