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[IceJack]

Am zis ca o sa va arat cel mai recent proiect al meu.In urmatoarele randuri veti citi prima parte a uunui proiect din 3 parti.Initial povestea s-a dorit a fii pt un mod la Morrowind pe care il face un prieten dar din fericire am fost luat de val si am facut mai mult pana s-a ajuns la ce vedeti si ce veti vedea dupa ceva timp.Povestea are loc in universul The Elder Scrolls dar numa prima parte si jumate din partea a 2-a se vor defasura in lumea TES restul actiuni avand loc in o alta lume daca pot sa-i zic asa(mai degraba un alt continent inconjurat de un ocean urias).
Prima parte a fost facuta doar de dragul de a fii facuta,de a experimenta si de a ma lauda(orgoliu asta) deci unele lucruri care pt mine si inca caitva reprezinta sare si piperul unei povesti excelente lipsesc(romantism,personaje evoluate,detali mai multe).Toate acestea se vor gasi(unele sunt deja)in partea a 2-a si a 3-a,parti care vor fi cam de 2-3 ori mai bune ca prima parte(sper eu) atat ca marime cat si ca impresile ce le vor lasa.Poveste este scrisa in engleza si desi a fost verificata unele greseli de ortografie inca mai sunt deci ca vor sa ma scuzati pt ele si sa incercati sa va exprimati opinile fara sa le luati in seama.Vreau sa le multumesc anticipat celor care vor avea rabdarea sa citeasca povestea si imi cer inca odata scuze pt ca nu m-am chinuit mai mult cu prima parte si pt sfarsitul care este cum este.

-=The true Myrth’Eras (Part 1) =-
<The brave sacrifices his life so that the Innocent can live>


"What do you know about a cult named Disciples of Va’RIen?" said the emperor to me. He had waked me in the middle of the night to ask me of some stupid cult. As I cursed the gods I heard the king’s voice again:
"Aonir...Aonir, wake up!"
"Oh...I'm sorry my lord"
"Well, what you know about the cult?"
"Nothing at the moment my lord” I said as my eyes tried to stay opened for as long as possible. "But I will look into it first thing in the morning"
"Now Aonir...look into it now!"
I could see by the mod of my lord that any attempt to argue with his decision at this time will have cost me my head, so I bowed respectfully and left the room again cursing the gods for my luck.

Luckily for me, the blade activity slows at night so I was able to steal an hour of sleep before my contact, Rat, showed up .Even after 4 years working with him I'm still not sure why he is called Rat.
"Aonir...Aonir...AONIR" shouted Rat as he hit my face with ice cold water
As I jumped up from my place confused, I saw the smile on Rat's face...I think he had been wishing to do that for a long time. "Wh...What...ah it's you...HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU...",I yelled at him hoping to make him hide that smile but since my attempt failed I had to think of a reason for yelling, so, as I lowered my voices I said: "We’re suppose to be secret not to draw everyone’s attention on us"
Of course Rat must have had a better night then mine cause he once again directed some ice cold water my way "Aonir ,are you awake, look around, there isn’t no one in here but us...night birds"
Realizing that Rat was more awake then me I sat down and promise to make him pay for getting my cloak wet.
"Yeah, well your a bit late...night bird"
"By the looks of your face Aonir you would have thanked me If I was a bit more late. Anyway why did u called me, certainly not to get you wet, even tough I'll do that for free any time" said Rat laughing.
"Ok, ok you had your fun it's time for work...his royal highness..."I said with a sarcastic touch while I tried to see beneath Rat's smile"...wants us to look into a cult called Disciples of Va’RIen. So now you know your task...get moving..."and as Rat left the inn "AND WHIPE OUT THAT SMILE".
For o moment I thought victory was mine, but from the darkness outside I heard Rat's words: “Not today boss...not today"

While Rat and his fellow blades searched the Imperial capital and Imperial province for rumors about this mysterios cult, I went to the secret library where I spent two days and two nights with out sleep searching in the secret empire records about anything related to this cult. In the morning of the third day I gave up hope, and started making my way towards the door thinking this was a joke since neither I nor the other blades had found anything about the Cult of Va'Rien.
I was just a couple of feats from the door when I tripped on a book, a very big book. Angry I grabbed the book to throw it away but was strucked by it's title "Ancient rumors or facts from Morrowind" .I wanted to leave but something told me that if I didn’t read this book I will lose more then my sleep so as I opened the book and hastily read a couple of random pages...one of them came lose and landed on the floor. As I picked it up and read the first line I realized I have found it, or it has found me...the clue that I needed:"...but Va'Rien was not defeted, even with him dead his legacy survive...his loyal followers as well as many of his priests were still alive and continue to draw others to their dark path"
Only then did I realized the mistake in my search...I have alwaysed thought that no more then one crisis can come from one area at the time...with the blight hitting Morrowind I never thought anything else can come from that placem,anything bad that is...yet I was wrong, and I had the proof in my hands. I sat down on the table and started reading this strange book, only the next morning could I close the book convinced I knew everything about Va'Rien and his disciples.

I rushed in the throne room and meet up with the Emperor's concern look.” I found It my lord...I know of this cult you seek"
His face seemed to light up and he asked me to accompany him to one of the gardens and tell him everything there...
"Tell me Aonir ...I want to know everything about our new enemy"
I was surprise to hear the word enemy, I thought of the Disciples of Va'Rien as an annoyance not as an enemy, but I realized that no emperor will send most of his Blades searching every house and every hole in the ground for a cult unless he thought It was a threat and a possible enemy. “Enemy my lord?"
"First tell me what you know...then I'll tell you what I know"
"Yes my lord...well Va'Rien was a Dark Elf from Morrowind who sold his soul to an evil Daedra, an ancient god of Morrowind, in return for god like powers which he used to make his own army to fight the Tribunal and the legions of Emperor Pelagius the first. His army of demons, undeads and loyal followers won a couple of victories against the legions and the Tribunal(who was also fighting someone called Dagoth Ur In Vvardenfell).It is rumored that the assasin who killed Pelagius was hired by Va'Rien.Even so,one week after Pelagius assasination,Va’Rien's army meet up with a combined Tribunal-Legion force, led by an unknown holy knight of the Tribunal, somewhere up the river Velothi .The battle lasted for 3 days and 3 nights during which time many lives where lost, on the morning of the 4'th day Va'Rien meet the holy warrior and was defeated by him. With his death many of his demons left our plane of existence, and the remaining forces where slaughtered. Va'Rien's body couldn't not be destroyed so he was buried deep underground, in a tomb protected by traps and evil beasts. On top of his tomb the tribunal build a grand fortress to keep anyone from entering the tomb and raising Va'Rien. In order to keep the tomb's location a secret from his followers and the maddens of man no one was informed what the fortress was truely guarding. Unfortunately many of Va'Rien’s priests escaped and hid away to prepare for Va’Rien return. They have never been found and it is belived they have grown in numbers, and infiltrated key command posts In Morrowind"
The emperor stood amazed and for a couple of minutes he hesitated before telling me something, but after a while, convinced he was doing the right thing he said:
"Do you believe In fate...Aonir?" The question took me by surprise so I sought a defensive answer:
"Do you believe in fate...my lord?” I could read no surprise on his face; it was like he expected the question
"Let me tell you about two dreams...no...two nightmares I had recently, but first sit down...it is...a long story"
I sat down and the emperor began his story: “A couple of months ago...I had a dream...in it a mountain was throwing red rocks at the statues of 3 Dark Elves:a warriors, a female and a magician...but the statues where not completely black, they where half black and half gold and they raised a ghost wall to enclose the mountain and protect them self from the stones ,but some rocks passed throw it, one by one by one, until a mountain of small rocks was formed outside the wall, and then all of the small rocks crumbled on the three statues and buried them...the wall fell and a gigantic red boulder flew from the mountain and hit a wall painting that represented all the emperors that precedet me, it made a hole in the painting and crashed on top of a statue of me...destroying me and the wall painting. And then the hole scene started again...this time,when the small stones started to make a mountain a ship,bearing my banner unloaded a Star and a Sun in front of the mountain, and under them a being was created...he was as bright as the sun and the star. Then the sun and the star united and formed a ring, which the being took and used it to destroy the mountain of small rocks, then he entered the big mountain and destroyed the giant boulder...that’s when I woke up"
I stared at the emperor amazed...
"When i wook up..."continue the emperor” I thought it was all a dream until I learned that I had a prisoner of unknown parents...born under a sun and star...I also found out that the 3 statues are the 3 members of the Morrowind Tribunal and that they have raised a Ghost Wall around the Red Mountain to protect them self from the blight"
"And what did you do?" I asked fascinated by his story
"I sent the prisoner with one of my fastest ships to Morrowind under the command of Caius Cosades ...your old friend...and I know he will stop the boulder that was meant for me and the Empire because for a while I had no more nightmares” after a brief pause his face sadden again and he said "That is until 4 nights ago when I had an other, this time different...It started with some one saying <Disciples of Va'Rien...our time has come>then 2 armies,one bearing the banner of a skeleton and the other of a tear marched against the other...they meat near a small house who had the banners of the legions and the tribunal...but instead of fighting among themselves they razed the house, from the ashes a dark spear rosed and it stabbed a picture of Pelagius the first and mine...shortly after a huge banner of the legion caught fire and became ashes.
Before the dream could end I heard a kind voice <the 2 must not meet, the house must not burn, when in need the holy one shall come and a new army shall arise with him, he alone can defeat the spear,he alone can save the empire. You will know him when the time is right>"

I didn’t have the chance to say anything because a massager arrived bearing urgent news...
"My lord...my lord...excuse the disturbance but I bring an urgent message from lord Drake, he says that the cities of Necrom and Tear are rebelling our troops there have joined up with the rebels..."
"So...the wheels of fate are moving...the armies of Tear and the armies of the skeleton are rising..."Said the emperor talking to know one in particular, then to his advisors that where waiting in the doorway...gather the council...we are marching to war!"

I don't know what got in me but I requested to go with the emperor, so in 2 weeks I was on board the royal war ship sailing for Morrowind along 300 others war ships, carrying 70.000 soldiers. We had marched north from Cyrodiil and into Skyrim where we had meet up with more troops. We had embarked on the ships at Winterhold and we were bound for Morrowind’s inner sea, the detour was partly due to the fact that not enough troops could assemble for a single major strike and partly because the enemy could not defend well against an attack from more then one direction, so as we sailed the sea,2 more armies where marching on land towards our enemy. General Thrar Nailo with a force of 40.000 man was supposed to bypass the Velothi mountains and enter Morrowind from black marsh, then advance towards Narsis and then further inland towards Tear. General Hakon was supposed to cross the Velothi Mountains from Cyrodiil,meet up with a force advancing from Blacklight and then advance along the coast to meet up with the emperors forces.
As we reached Blacklight part of the fleet and 30.000 soldiers split up to land on the northern corner of Morrowind in order to advance towards Necrom, while our army sailed south to land near the mouth of the river Velothi the biggest natural barrier between Necrom and Tear...a river with fast waters and few bridges capable of supporting large forces. As planed once we landed we meet up with Lord Drake, who's forces have been trying to slow down the advance of our enemy.
"Welcome to Morrowind your majesty” said Lord Drake respectfully
"What’s the situation Drake, where is Hakon and his forces?” asked the emperor visibly shaken by the number of troops that awaited him,there should have been more...many more.
"Bad news my lord...the armies of Tear, have taken most of the forts from Narsis down to the cost and is curently besieging NarsIs. Hakon has reached the east bank of the river Mauri but the troops from Blacklight have been delayed by bad weather he doesn't want to risk a crossing of the river without them since the enemy seems well fortified. As we speak Thrar is trying to lift the siege of Narsis but the enemy is resisting him, both Thrar and Hakon have reported that the forces of Tear are using dwarven war machines. Our reports from the East Indicated that the forces of Necrom are laying siege to every fort and city that doesn't surrender, but they have not assaulted any of them, they look as they are In a hurry to get some where really fast. They did however manage to take quite a lot of strategically forts along the main road from Necrom to Almalexia."
"Those where not the news I was expecting, what Is the situation of your forces?"
"My forces have been decimated my lord...I've lost 15.000 soldiers during this weeks, I have 5000 loyal soldiers along with 1000 mercenaries left. We have fortified ourselves In a horseshoe position around Almalexia with the tip at Myrth’Eras, a fortified town that dominates the river approaches to Almalexia." said Drake with a sadden, defeated look on his face
"What about the tribunal forces? where are they? how many?"
"Part of them are hold up on a defensive pocket that stretches from the River MaurI to the river VelothI, however they are surrounded on all sides by enemy forces and will need help to brake out. Around 20.000 tribunal soldiers are in the east side of MorrowInd, most of them besieged and encircled...however 2000 are retreating to a defensive line on the road to Almalexia with another 1000 representing the garrison of Almalexia. Also 5000 tribunal soldiers will be arriving from Vvardenfell in 2 days; they should land to the west of the Mauri River to assist Hakon in his crossing.” After a brief pause he added “as u can see my lord...our situation is dire, we have a little over 50.000 soldiers against the estimated 100.000 soldiers of Tear that are marching towards Almalexia and 300.000 Necrom soldiers advancing from the east along the main road"
The discussion about what to do with the small forces at hand prolongude it self well into the night. Knowing my need for sleep the emperor dispatched me with orders to get some sleep "I will need you well awake tomorrow" he said

The next morning everything was planed...lord Drake would take his 6000 man and reinforce the 2000 tribunal soldiers guarding the main road in an attempt to slow down advance of Necrom while the emperor and his 40.000 soldiers would march down river and ambush the Tear forces just south of Myrth'Eras. At the Silk Pass we waited for them to arrive, only after half a day of waiting did we hearted the familiar sound of marching men. As they entered the pass they broke formation to make better progress,they seemed unaware of the danger that awaited them. The demons dremora where at the front of the advance, unlike the other soldiers they seemed rested and strong despite the heavy armor and weapons they carried, in sheer contrast the rest of the army, a rugged band of legionnaires and mercenaries seemed very tired barely keeping up with the dremora, and at the back where around 500 riders, wearing heavy black armor and black lances, guarded a group of mounted man wearing dark robes, however there where no sign of the dwarven war machines Drake had told us about.Then I hearted a buzzing sound, like a million flies where moving my way at the same time.The next second the man next to me fell to the ground...with an arrow in his chest...I turn my eyes towards the sky and saw 3 boat like vessels hovering above us each carrying 5 man,4 of whom carried bows...all of them had the banner of Tear. I saw one of the archer aiming his bow at me;fortunately before the arrow left the bow a lighting bolt went past my head and hit the boat witch exploded sending hundreds of wood piceses falling on our heads, Immediately the emperor gave the word and we all got up and started delivering a deadly rain of arrows upon our enemy, some of whom panic and started running. However many, inspired by the dremora disciplined charged up the slopes into the rain of arrows, blocking them with their large shields. It wasn't long till we had to draw our swords, maces, spears and daggers and stormed down the slopes to meet them as arrows and destructive magic flew from every direction; amazingly the dremora seem to know no fear and several of them cut their way throw our ranks making it up to the top,charging our archers and mages, then one of them reached me, he slashed his big axe from left to right and, as I barely dodge the blow he cut my bow In half, as he raised his axe above his head I saw my chance and in a flash I drew my dagger,stab him in the chest and ran pass him, as I turned to face my opponent I was stunned to see that, even though a lot of blood was coming from the wound, the dremora was running towards me with my dagger still in his chest. As I back stepped I tripped on a rock and fell and,as I started saying my prayer, the dremora suddenly stopped and a sharp ebony blade piercing his chest from behind...as the blade retreated throw his body and the dremora collapsed to the ground I saw a Dark Elf behind him holding the blade that saved my life. Before I could thank him he threw me a short sword "This works better then a dagger" he said as he left...before I could get up the sound of battle, which I had failed to hear during my fight with the dremora, ringed in my year again. As I looked around I could see man fighting man and dremora and also i saw lots of bodies...wounded cried for help, men screamed in pain or anger or fear, and the sound of slashing and bashing could be hearted all over the pass...
I grabbed the short sword and headed for a group of enemy archers but before I could get to them a burning boat crashed right in front of me and exploded...the blast from the explosion throw me several feats into the air... and,as I hit the ground again,i was knocked unconscious...
As soon as I came to my self I jumped on my feat ready to fight, but there was no one left to fight, smoked rosed up from burned out remains of flags, wagons and boats, craters evidence of the destructive magic used,and arrows littered the pass, shaken soldier where gathering up together or searching for friends, the cries of the wounded could be hearted all over the pass and blood and bodies covered the battlefield...as my heart slowly returned beating on the normal rhythm and the stench of death filled my nose I suddenly regurgitated my lunch...for a couple of minutes..."what am I doing here?” I said to my self ” I’m no fighter...I'm not even a good archer...I am. I was a thief and not even a good one" I said as I moved throw the bodies until I found a familiar face...It was the Dark Elf who had saved my life...he was dead, I could tell by the dremora spear that had pierced his armor and exited through the back...the body of 3 dremora laid around him, one of whom had my saviors ebony sword sticking oddly out of his neck...as i approached the body of the dark elf I noticed he wore a strange amulet. Upon closer inspection i could see a fraze inscrived on itt <The brave sacrifices his life so that the innocent can live> I tooked the amulet and spoke a prayer for my savior, then I moved towards where I saw many soldiers gathering, now not by a long shot as many as they where when we first started this battle.
As I approached I hearted the familiar voice of Commander Anareng Dedralen "We have killed around 70.000 of our enemy...but we have lost around 25.000 of our own troops. The enemy seems to..." he paused for a second "...the enemy seems to have retreated” as I came closer I saw the reason why he had paused...a make shift bandage was covering his neck and was stained by blood, also his armor had been priced in several places, most likely by arrows.” We did not expect them to have flying boats" said an other commander which I didn’t recognize, as he holstered his broken long sword.” The daedric where more of a problem then we had anticipated" said a lieutenant..."yes not even our magic is that powerful" said on of the surviving magicians...
Holding a daedric two hander, probably a trophy the emperor raised his hand so the others will make silence "Enough...this is not the time nor the place for this...we won an important victory but this is not over...not even by a long shot...we have too few forces to keep this pass and the enemy will return ready this time, also don't forget that there Is a 300.000 men strong army marching towards Almalexia as we speak, If we had this much troubles when the enemy was unsuspecting then lord Drake and his man will not hold the line for long...we march for Almalexia...gather the wounded...there is no time to lose"

It was already dark and we where barely half way to Almalexia when a strange fog began to envelope the forest which we where passing throught...as we came closer and closer to Myrth'Eras I had the strange feeling that we where being watched but I could not be certain and I couldn't see anyone in the darkness...then at one point we reached a small clearing in the wood where 12 men laid dead.
"A Myrth'Eras patrol my lord" said one of our tracker Dark Elf "they must have been running from something cause they came fast out of that way..." he pointed at Myrth'Eras "...and gathered in a circle here...but the enemy was to fast...almost to fast for a mortal"
"Gather around...form a circle” ordered the emperor
"Hmmm...this is strange..."said the tracker again "something was dragged that way..."and he followed the tracks..."hmm...this is indeed stre..." he suddenly turned around and started running...but before he could make 10 passes he fell to the ground with a dagger in his back "Get ready...get ready" shouted the emperor
As I gazed into the darkness I saw a pair of red eyes...then another 2...then more..."We are surrounded my lord" shouted a soldier...shadows moved throw the trees as the fog closed in upon us...I could barely see the fellow in front of me...yet I could hear a lot of movement..."They are coming...get rea..." the man was interrupted and I could hear his last breath...in the next moment the maddness began, and fighting could be hearted from every side..."Fight...fight...kill them all" "don't let up"..."protect the emperor" I could hear a lot of things yet I could not see much...the fog had become so dense that I could barely see my hand in front of my eyes, I hearted some one hit the ground behind me...I turned and I saw a decapitate soldiers with his sword still not drawn...what in the name of the gods was going one..."Arghhhh..." "Noooooo...stay away...".As I desperately looked around for anything I sensed a dagger barely missing my head then I barely heard someone running towards me...I turned to see my opponent and saw just a red eye shadow almost flying towards me, out of pure reflex I threw my knife at it oddly enough the dagger hit it between the eyes...the shadow collapsed at my feats...as I turned the body around I saw a hooded Dark Elf...as I bent to get my knife the elf opened his eyes and hiss mouth revealing 2 sharp fangs...vampires...the word struck my mind like a lighting...hastily I raised my sword and cut of the head of the beast..."Vampires...they are vampires" I shouted hoping some one could hear. Fortunately some one did and I heard a couple more shouting "Vampires..."..."We are fighting Vampires...""Cut of their heads" "Pierce the heart" I made my way to where most of the commotion came from because i figure it was better and saffer in a group...as I jump over the bodies of soldiers and got closer to the center of fighting I hearted a large explosion and barely dodge a burning vampire flying in my direction, probably hit by a fire ball...I rosed up "I have to get to the mages...I have to get to the mages...I won't die by the hands of an undead" I said to my self as I got closer and closer...I could feel the vampires watching me but I couldn't stop, fear and reflex guided me...I dodged several knifes flying at me...Including some arrows from our archers who thought I was a vampire, everywhere I looked I saw dead bodies, blood and shadows fighting. Suddenly a vampire jump in front of me but before he could attack a soldier jumped him while an other impaled a spear throw his heart. I finally knew I was close to the emperor and the mages as I saw a large number of fireballs and lightings flying in all directions in front of me...some of them hit something while others just faded away in the darkness...when I was 10 feet away I saw a lighting projecting a vampire over my head while an other lighting barely missed my head...as I jumped to the ground I yelled "HEY WATCH IT...I'M WITH YOU GUYS"...from the direction of the lighting I hearted "SORRY...COME OVER HERE FRIEND"...I had finally made it...I jumped over the soldiers that where forming a wall of spears and shields. As I looked around I saw one mage holding his staff high making a light while 3 other mages shot fireballs and lightings at the vampires,in the middle of the circle the emperor laid wounded on the ground,while another magician was casting a spell on him.
While planning my next course of action we saw arrows flying over our heads and a couple of vampires screamed.Then a powerful gust of wind scattered the fog and the moon illuminated the clearing. Locking around I could see many dead body most of them where Imperial troops but here and there a dead vampire laid, some decapitated, some had swords, arrows or spears piercing their hearts while others where still burning, the result of fireballs or lighting...but all had a dark spear painted on their back.
"Friends coming" I recognized lord Drake’s voice and I turned to see him...he was wearing, as usual, his ebony armor but this time some holes and bents where visible on it, with him where about 50 Hooded persons...most of who where dark elves, each carrying a short sword and a longbow...
The battle was over but most of the soldiers were dead...and the king was seriously wounded. The few of us that survive the carnage marched to Myrth'Eras,the closest safe place. On the road I found out why Lord Drake was here and not with forces protecting the main road...he had no more forces. Apparently Necrom had send an advance force and by the time Drake reached the fortification the Tribunal forces had been defeated and a 50.000 man strong army was waiting for him...the battle was short and
bloody...only a handful of soldiers escaped the slauther. In his belief some one had betrayed him and the empire, and that someone was going to pay.

"Poison" said the mage
"Cure him..."
"In all my years of knowledge I have never seen such a poison.."
"I said cure him!” ordered lord Drake to the magician
"U must understand my lord that I do not know how"
"Great just great..."
"We must take him to Cyrodiil...the archmage might know a cure” said an other mage
"Let's go then"
"Drake..."said the emperor” Drake...don't let the tear and the skeleton meet..."
"My lord...I don't under..."
"Do it Drake...Aonir knows...knows all...ask him"
"Aonir?" Drake looked at me as if trying to see my soul "Yes my lord...I shall do as you command...Aonir fallow me"
We left the house and I told him the whole story,which I didn’t fully believed.
"So they spoke the truth...interesting...this is much worse then I fear"
"They?” I asked curiously
"They..."he said and pointed at the group of hooded men that was with him in the forest "They claim to be a secret organization that was created by the tribunal to hunt the priests of Va'Rien, priests who in an effort to keep their knowledge and enlarge their ranks became vampires. I didn’t belived them but they did save me from a couple of those vampires, they claimed that Almalexia isn't our enemy's target but the tomb of Va'RIen."
"You...yes you come here" he said to one of the hooded man...a Dark Elf "What is you name”
"Wing Domescilo my lord"
”Ok, Wing...I believe your story, where is the tomb of Va'Rien"
"We do not know my lord, that knowledge was stole from us by the cursed ones"
"Who commands the armies? Is it Va'Rien?"
"No my lord...his soul cannot ever return to our world"
"So what are they looking for” Said lord Drake obviously annoyed by the answers this Dark Elf had
"His soul cannot return...but his powers can...they are trying to take his powers in order to achieve his will, and only the holy one can raise a new army and stop them once they have taken the power"
"So...who is this holy one?” I asked not wanting lord Drake to take his frustration out on this elf
"We do not know...he has not yet revealed him self...but it is said he we'll be the one to become Neraverine of the Ashlanders and Horator of all the great houses"
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[IceJack]

The Last Prince of the West. (The prince of exposition / The Free States :P)

"Who goes there", shouted one of the burly guard outside the gate. "The castle is closed to all but the defenders of Newt, be on your way least you wish to die here when the bastards from the Est arrive". a not stated 'with us' in his tone of voice.

"I am Larian, friend of Gunther and the Free States. I've been summoned.", Larian responded, making sure to show of his pointy ears and watching as recognition settled on the guards faces, of course he was Larian the Elf, what other elf would approach the gates so brazenly, especially when everyone else was going the other way.

"Larian the Elf" the guard shouted into a pipe leading to the top of the ramparts, after a while "Message for the last Prince of the West, tell him to wait" could be heard down the pipe.

"I heard" Larian told the guard before he could repeat the message, cringing at that nickname, true to a point, although it was grading whenever the common folk used it to show respect completely oblivious to the fact that it was supposed to be an insult, meant to remind him that he was a coward, a traitor, exiled prince to a few thousand people who didn't want him, king to a kingdom that didn't exist anymore. Uttered first at the gates of Vale, now known as Erin, when his own people had refused him entry, calling him a coward for not coming hope to die like the rest of his kin in the West when it had been invaded by the Dark Elves. A coward and a traitor because he had begged, on his knees, for help from their eastern cousins. If it had been up to them the people of the Vale, like the rest of the Western Alliance would have prefered death or enslavement at the hands of the Dark Elves then rescue at the hands of the Esterners, that hate ran deep indeed.
Uttered the second time, and this time on a podium in front of a hundred of thousands of people at his hero celebration, the reason why everyone in the south now called him that, by his friend Gunther, not meant as an insult, but as an answer to his constant requests to free Vale as well, he'll be damned if he would ever call it Erin. A way of saying "Aye, I'll come with you to free Vale, I'll bring my armies, my allies and their armies and all the soldiers the Free States can muster, and we'll free Vale, only we won't, in their eyes you're a traitor, for them you'd be just another conqueror, no worse then the Sharan and the Erin'Ei, you are not one of them, and you will never be." Only in not nearly as many words, Gunther had a way with words. Short and to the point.

So now he waited, exiled of his own accord, glorified messenger, occasional hero, when the Free States required it, battered by wind outside the gates of Newt. He understood the idea behind it all, the enemy was fast approaching, spies and saboteurs would try to infiltrate the city before they arrived, if you weren't known, by someone inside personally, you wouldn't get in. It was how the Free States had survived as long as they did, the way they had survived the Dragon War, The Dark elf invasion, the Saran invasion, and the many other wars and invasion by petty kingdoms or another Free State when tensions got out of hand. The most capable person of each household would join the army, usually the garrison, the city-states of Free States didn't really take the field individually, unless they were fighting each other, send the rest of the family to allied city states and wait for the rest of the city states to laconically gather a combined force, decid upon the commander, after a days long heated arguments, no doubt, and eventually come to their aid. A time consuming process but also inevitable.

Looking at the guards in front of him and those he could see on the walls he knew that they knew as well, by the time the Grand Army of the Free States (as it was generally called whenever it formed) arrived they would all be dead and the city taken, Newt wasn't vital in the defense of the Free States, it wasn't on the direct approach to the Hermidon from the North, it wasn't in the direct path of any Saran advance, which the Free States always prepared against, it lay to the est, and none expected the Dutchy to attack, and as such the walls hadn't been nearly as heavily invested as those of Burd or Orilinon. And yet the Dutchy was attacking, and with a force large enough to take Newt and more, not force the Hermidon of course, it had taken the greatest human empire half a million men and a week long blood bath to get across the Hermidon, and the human nations no longer had that sort of power, even the Saran empire was a shadow of it's former self, a massive, scary shadow, which was why Burd and Orilion had such massive walls defending them, but a still a shadow. But that was fine, it was the way the Free States worked, the city would be taken, the Free States would retake it, no matter how long it took, and their families would return to their home. All the defenders of Newt had to do was hold out for as long as possible, give their friends and allies time to gather armies, and if they held out long enough the Grand Army of the Free States would find some of them still alive. It was a lie, they all knew they were going to die, the thirteen thousand troops the Duchy of Eight was sending their way would see to that, Newt couldn't hold out long against that. If anything their deaths would force the Free States to invest into thicker walls when they took back Newt, now that even The Duchy had proven to be hostile to the freedom of the Free States.

"Here you go sir!" A young and tired girl said, handing him a sealed lettered, she couldn't be more then 16, Larian figured, he had spent enough time among humans to know by now, "everyone has to do their part" the motto of the Free States popped into his head for a second as she saw the hopeful expression on her face, she was scared of course, they all were, but she was trying her best to hide her fear and hope that one of the great heros of the Free States would make it easier for her to do that. Of course, like all heros of the Free States, they were only heroes because they had done what needed to be done and sacrificed what had to be sacrificed for victory, a hard lesson but one that heros who wanted to win and be alive did in the South, the fields and hills of the south were full of hero's who were unwilling to sacrifice and as a result had lost and were not remembered by anyone. He gave her his most reassuring, I'm here, everything is going to be fine, smile and her face lit up. "Now be on your way, everyone has to do their part, no" he said, still smiling as he began reading.

"Listen up! All of you listen up!" He shouted as hard as he could." I'm being sent to Burd to take command of a reliving force, help will be here soon, I, Larian, friend of Gunther and the Free States, promise you this, I will return, if I have to personally use my own ears to poke every single one of those lazy bastards in Burd to do so." Humor always helped with speeches in the Free States, humor and city rivalry. "Hold on! Be brave! Show them how strong the people of Newt are! Show them why we are still THE FREE STATES!" He rode of as a loud cheered rose from the walls.

It was all a lie of course, nothing was going to be fine for that small girl, or any of the defenders of Newt, he knew it was a possibility when he was coming to Newt, he was certain when he saw the seal on the scroll. Gunther's seal. Newt was doomed, and no one could save it, some of them knew it, but for the rest of them, the only thing Larian The Elf, Friend of Gunther and The Free States, Last Prince of the West, could offer was hope and silent prayers. It was going to be a long road to Burd.







"Larian, my friend, I know you, you know me, you already know what I wrote here most likely, but just for the sake of it all I'll still continue:
- Newt is lost, you know this.
- Burd will be lost as well, but unlike Newt, it is in a useless position for this war. Orilion isn't , Orilion is key. If it falls we'll be the one the wrong side of the Hermidon and we don't have half a million souls to make another bridger over it. You know this as well.
- Go to Burd, throw my name around, throw everyone's name around, including yours if it will help, get them to abandon the city and reinforce Orilion, the stubborn fools will refuse, of course, as always, get as many men as you can from them, take the foreign troops, at least I have control over those and get to Orilion.
- Don't huddle behind the walls of Orilion, like one of those cowards, use it as your base but keep striking out, don't let the Duchy wall us in there, we need to get out when I can get the rest of the crying sheeps in line, I swear it takes longer to do every time.
Good luck my friend! Do what must be done! I'll see you when I see you. I'm getting too old for this"
====== Gunther of Iva

That lost bit kept nagging at the back of Larian's head as he rode off towards Burd. "Oh, you bastard!" but he had to admit 'Larian of The Free States' had a nice ring to it.