King Jerold II
After easily killing the Marquis, Lurue heads to the crystal room, where she finds a horrific scene. Many people are lying on the ground, around the crystal, with their empty eyes and pale skin. The captains are all two dead, the same fate was reserved for the loyalist guards.
'The Marquis nevertheless managed to sacrifice his prisoners.' Lurue can understand what happened in this room, just by looking at the current situation.
His gaze is also drawn to Fenrya and Lysandra, who are lying on the ground. But it seems that the two women only fainted due to the blow they received, but are still breathing.
"Sanryu! Sanryu wake up please!" Zaria's voice attracts Lurue's attention, and the latter turns her gaze towards the direction of the two boys.
Zaria is holding Sanryu's body, the boy appears to have fainted, after eliminating the corrupt guards who had surrounded him.
'He's run out of energy again...does he always have to act like this? He will always make me worry.' Lurue approaches the two boys, she notices that Zaria has a very worried expression. "Don't worry, girl, she's fine, she just needs to regain her strength." Lurue reassures Zaria, saying that she doesn't have to get too upset, as Sanryu is just exhausted.
"Lurue! I'm glad you arrived... we couldn't stop the Marquis's plan, he managed to sacrifice all the prisoners and as if that wasn't enough, he managed to escape." Zaria informs Lurue of the failure of their mission, the Marquis managed to sacrifice all those prisoners.
"It didn't fail completely, you prevented the death of some of the prisoners, and you also managed to avoid the opening of the portal. At least on these lands, there won't be an invasion of demons, and for the marquis you don't have to worry, I took care of it." Lurue corrects Zaria, they didn't completely fail the mission, they at least managed to avoid a demon invasion in the kingdom of Alterac.
"We also lost Endryu and Ros, and we couldn't save Commander Jery." Zaria turns her gaze towards the corpse of Captain Endryu, the latter having fulfilled his duty to protect his young lady, as he was ordered by her lord.
"They were ready for this, they sacrificed their lives to prevent disaster for the kingdom they swore to defend, they died honorably as you of Alterac see it." Lurue tries to cheer up the girl, to prevent her from becoming demoralized. "Don't be discouraged, Zaria, and use this event as a warning to improve your skills as a sorceress. And now let's try to take our companions away, the guards you freed will take care of all this mess." Lurue looks at the crystal in the center of the room. "But I'll take care of that."
The goddess stands up, she and she approaches the magic crystal, which still shines with her colors.
{Look who we have here, a little goddess, I feel the miasma of nature from your divinity...you are Diana's daughter.} A dark voice, made up of several voices together, is emitted from the crystal, and this time it does not speak only through the minds of individuals.
"W-what? Who does this disturbing voice belong to?" Zaria also hears the mysterious voice, and doesn't hide her fear of her.
"I see you understand my origins, but I don't know you. Who are you? You must be a god, but I've never heard a god wield this type of magic...particular." Lurue is not intimidated, even if a threatening sensation penetrates her skin. 'This bastard can make my skin crawl, not even a god could make me feel this way.'
{Little goddess, I am more than just a god, I once was, now I am something greater. I admire your bravado to face me head on, even though my aura has filled this room. This behavior of yours, yes I perceive it, you are also Thor's daughter, the bold one will sooner or later die for her boldness.} The entity also manages to understand Lurue's father, making it clear that she knew Thor. {It is not important that you know my identity, for soon I will be known throughout Ethia, indeed, I will be remembered again, as will my brothers. I hope you survive until then, little goddess.} The voice seems to disappear, it's immediately after, cracks spread throughout the crystal. And finally, the crystal breaks into a thousand pieces, scattered across the floor, which then dematerialize in the air, as if I do not belong to this plane of existence.
"He destroyed it himself, he probably didn't want it to end up in enemy hands, but I didn't intend to keep it, so much the better." Lurue stops her steps, she intended to destroy the crystal, but the mysterious entity has already thought of it himself." Lurue turns towards Zaria. "Zaria, let's bring our companions and let's get out of this gloomy place."
And so, the group exits the room, thanks to Lurue's help is Zaria. The two women explain to the loyalist guards, who were waiting outside the sewers, what happened in that room, giving directions to the men.
"For now let's return to our forest camp, there are still many negative influences in this city, we can't return as if nothing happened." Lurue warns Zaria that in the city of Strath there are still many corrupt guards and nobles on Walter's side, and they will not be discouraged by the latter's death. There will certainly be a cauldron of controversy created by the citizens of this city, it will not be easy for the Marquis's family to calm this wave of fury on the part of the civilians.
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During the time Sanryu's group was hiding in the forest, preparing for the assault in the Marquis' room, some merchants and adventurers also saw the state Deria was in. And it was clear that the city fell at the hands of someone, some of whom were brave enough to enter the ruined city, finding themselves in a deserted Deria devoid of life, at least on the surface.
They were greeted by a macabre scenario, many heads, both civilians and soldiers, were piled on pikes, or hung on the roofs of houses. A clear warning from the Skaven, to terrify the fools who dare to intrude into their city.
But the fools who dared to enter Deria never left it again.
Instead some had the good idea of staying away from Deria, and changing their route, heading to other cities or villages, spreading the word that Deria had been razed to the ground by an unknown enemy.
Panic spreads among the citizens, and the nobles who are unaware of the dark machinations of the kingdom are taken by surprise by this news. An enemy has managed to enter Alterac and no one has sighted anything, not even a single individual, which is surprising and instills a seed of doubt in the population.
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In the capital of the kingdom of Alterac, Oberon, where the kingdom's family, Ryleigh, resides. Oberon has a very dense number of inhabitants, we are talking about around ten thousand civilians, including normal citizens and illustrious people such as nobles. The capital is protected by high walls that reach six meters in height, topped with defense catapults. The city is protected by two thousand guards, two thousand soldiers and a thousand knights on horseback. Not to mention elite units such as knights on demigriffons and knights on griffins, the first is a heavy armored cavalry unit, and the second is an air cavalry, dedicated to patrolling the skies.
At the center of this capital, there is the seat of power of this kingdom, the castle where King Jerold II resides. At this moment, Jerold is sitting on his throne, despite being forty-five years old, he looks like a man in his thirties, although an aura of depression hangs over him.
"King Jerold, I have come to the capital to inquire about an expedition into the jungles of Lustria." In the center of the throne room, just in front of the stairs which lead to the king's throne, Vestija, the commander of the Impenetrable Keep, has asked for an audience with the king, to ask him about that expedition that took place in Lustria. "Is it true that you authorized this expedition, with the mission of collecting a relic from the lands of the Tabaxi? Even engaging a well-known mercenary, Kraven?"
The king does not seem to make any mention of his commander's statements, showing no sign of denial or surprise. "It's true, I authorized this expedition. We are not on good terms with those people, and I absolutely needed that relic. How do you think I should have taken it? By asking please?" Jerold responds calmly to Vestija's accusations.
'I wish he didn't know about this shipment, but apparently Jerlod authorized it.' Vestija is somewhat disappointed by her king's behavior, but she doesn't say it openly, for now. "I agree that it would have been useless to ask permission, but by entering their lands, stealing one of their relics, caused the tabaxi invasion of our kingdom."
"An invasion that occurred under the nose of him, commander of the Impenetrable Keep, Vestija." A third individual enters the conversation. The woman in question is the court sorceress, Camilla, the king's most trusted advisor. "If I'm not mistaken, these tabaxis have infiltrated right through your supervised borders and are protected by you. Isn't it your job to eradicate this threat from our lands?" Camilla appears to attack Vestija, affecting her honor.
"With all due respect, if I had even been warned of such an expedition, I could have provided countermeasures to a possible invasion. We were caught unprepared due to the sudden infiltration of the tabaxi, not to mention they are very talented at acting in incognito, and then they are only a small group, difficult to notice." Vestija tries to counter the court sorceress.
"Let's assume that these excuses are valid, do we also want to talk about the destruction of Deria? I don't think that a small group of tabaxi would have been able to cause the fall of an entire city. There is a much larger enemy that is wanders inside our kingdom, and has probably infiltrated the borders protected by you. I am the king we are starting to think that you are getting rusty and that you are no longer able to carry out your role properly, perhaps you should step aside part, don't you think?" Camilla insinuates that Vestija is no longer capable of doing her job.
"Nonsense! I have protected the southern borders for many years, there must be something happening in this kingdom, something big." Vestija is enraged by these accusations. "At the very least, tell me why you stole that relic." Vestija wants to know the reason for stealing a tabaxi relic.
"Stay in your place, Vestija, you may be a high-ranking commander, but you are still a servant of the rengo, and I am your king, remember that well." Jerold starts talking again. "As Camilla said, I should replace you from your duty, is to demote you...but to continue to honor my wife's choice, I will give you one last chance to redeem yourself. Eradicate the tabaxi intrusion, and discover the invader who has devastated Deria, and then I could look at you again as a talent worthy of taking on the role of commander, now leave! We have discussed enough, and I have other duties that require my attention." Jerlod does not want to reveal the reason for the relic, and orders Vestija to return to fulfill her duty, ending this audience.
"As you wish, my king." Very reluctantly, Vestija bows slightly and leaves the throne room, a foul taste in her mouth. 'Something is happening in this kingdom, Fynzia was right.'
This meeting took place a few days before the attack of Sanryu's group, in the Marquis' room.