Villains: Seed Vicious (Chapter 1)

[Mutant_Lorenor]

((~Villains Jack Frost~ (http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?t=21965)))

From all the corners of Althanas, the creatures of darkness were called to a common cause. Never before in all the history of the great land had such a force of darkness rose together under one common banner. Lorenor was calling together the agents of evil, and they would eventually rise against The Ixian Knights. The balance had to be maintained and Lorenor knew it. Though Lorenor currently had a shaky alliance with the man known as Sei Orlouge, The High Priest knew that this alliance could not last. Sei had forsaken the ways of The Spider Magi. This would eventually make Sei a threat.

Like the old heroes, it was oft the case that the villains were sometimes the heroes' closest allies. Lorenor overlooked the town from the hill he stood on. It was sleeping now, and it was on the district of of Jadet. The town was named Jayneth and was a sister town to the kingdom of Jadet. Though it was nowhere near as heavily fortified. The township had carts moving in and out of it, as a single road lead into it that trailed in from the East. A breeze came in from the West, Lorenor felt the tingling sensation touch his skin.

Lorenor looked up and saw the moon through a series of small clouds. Stars twinkled in the dark canopy overhead. Lorenor was sitting atop the hill in deep meditation. They were all standing on the outskirts of Concordia Forest. It was a Raiding Party. One hundred Undead creatures stalked the sleeping town of Jayneth. These individuals were lead by Lorenor. High Priest of N'Jal, Herald of N'Jal, The Grand Primus. Lorenor was now the leader of The Undead on Althanas. As he sat quietly listening to the will of N'Jal, the mutant knew what lurked in one of the buildings of Jayneth. All over Corone, The Undead were marching. Lorenor turned to look at the recent recruit: Seed Vicious and nodded to his position. Then, the mutant turned to face the town that they were about to storm. Yes, there would be no rest for Corone that night.

Like a sleeping dragon, The Undead were scorned for far too long. No longer would they suffer the fate of greedy Necromancers usurping their souls for their own power. Now, The Undead had their own free will and had grown in strength in the darkness. The hill slightly overlooked the sleeping town, and the mutant observed it in silence. He stood up and turned to look at Seed Vicious for a moment with a slight nod.

"Our objective is there. When we enter The Vault you will be able to take whatever you wish for yourself as payment for your services this night." Lorenor said calmly. "Mainly, I want you to survive."

[The Soulforged]

Seed licked his lips, and sniffed the air around him. Frowning, he leaned in a bit closer, and took a deeper whiff of the stench before him. It was something familiar, something he couldn't quite place. And yet, it was at the tip of his tongue.

"Got it. Cheese. That's what you smell like Fred. Don't mind if I call ya Fred, do ya?" Seed asked as the zombie before him. "Yup Fred. You smell like old cheese. With a bit of onion, if I'm not mistaken. And tomatoes."

Wait, that wasn't right. Fred smelled like a decaying corpse; Seed was just thinking of the turkey and cheese sandwich he had eaten for lunch. It had been a good sandwich. In fact, now that he thought about it, he still had some left.

"So, you a ladies man Fred?" Seed asked as he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a day old sandwich; he hadn't eaten since his lunch yesterday. Shrugging, he unwrapped the slightly stale half-sandwich.

"I only ask cause Nancy over there's giving you the eye. Ya know, I can put in a good word for you, if you want," Seed offered as he munched on the pitiful remains of yesterday's meal. "Well, let me know, will ya Fred? Take care!"

Finishing his food, Seed carelessly tossed the paper he had wrapped the sandwich in aside, and lazily walked over towards the hill that overlooked the town below. As he chewed at a few bits of cheese that had gotten stuck between his teeth, he wondered why he was here again.

Not why he was part of the undead legion next to him (not that he was anywhere close to undead). No, he remembered that clearly enough; the job had sounded like fun. Sure, not the best of reasons, but there were worst reasons. Like money. Seriously, who would sow chaos, cause havoc, and spill blood for something so superficial as money?

Well, Seed would, for starters. But if Althanas thought he should be put up on a pedestal and glorified, then the legion of darkness beside him really wasn't necessary.

He let out a chuckle, it would come to him sooner or later. After all; undead minions, helpless town, there were really only so many ways this could go. He didn't think they were there to deliver flowers.

He yanked a few wilting flowers from the earth and stuffed them in his tunic, just in case.

It was at that point that Lorenor nodded at him, and reminded him of what tonight's task would be. It looked like Seed would not need those flowers after all.

"Mmmmkay. Standard raid with party of zombies, done it a dozen times. Or have I partied with a bunch of zombies a dozen times. Some of my friends, not quite right in the head, ya know?" Seed said as he gently tapped the side of his forehead to better illustrate his point, laughing in a slightly unhinged manner. Then the rewards were mention, and that if everything went according to plan, Seed could snatch whatever he wanted from the vault. That piqued his interest.

"Well, for starters, that sandwich was goddamn dry." Seed spat the remains of the cheese out of his mouth. "I need a drink."

Then, without warning, he broke into a maniacal fit of laughter.

"I GUESS I'D LIKE TO LIVE TOO! THAT BE GOOD, WOULDN'T IT? I'LL TRY MY VERY BEST! PROMISE!"

[Mutant_Lorenor]

There was something about the kid. He couldn't quite tell what it was, but it reminded Lorenor strangely of himself. As he studied Seed's erratic behavior, he thought of himself as a younger ghoul. There were definitely similarities in the psychosis that Seed displayed, where Lorenor was still just completely insane. As he studied Seed, he knew that the hour had come then. All that was needed was for N'Jal to give the word and the dark deed would come to pass. Jayneth was the prize that night. Lorenor clenched his fists tightly in anticipation of the battle ahead. Though this wasn't a direct Raid against the township, Lorenor knew that his target was The Vault. Somewhere in one of the municipal buildings, The Vault was ripe for the taking.

His best Magi were there with him and he would need them to disarm the powerful Wards likely located in The Vault area. Lorenor shivered at the thought of what those Wards would do to him. Shaking his head, he waited for the scouting party to return to him. When they finally did, The High Priest nodded to the leader of the party. The man carried with him a document, it was a detailed survey of the area around the town and within the town of Jayneth where they could get in. Lorenor took the small document in his hand and studied it. Facts. Statistics. Numbers. The mind of the master-manipulator began to work. He doubted he would face anything terribly powerful, but there would be a local police force. Lorenor saw that there was a law enforcement building in place within Jayneth.

That could pose a problem. Though their attack force was formidable, they needed only The Vault that night and a fast exit. Lorenor could provide both, and plenty of blood as well. Lorenor would attack anyone who got in his way. At that point, Lorenor drew a prevalida longsword. He was ready, the tiding had come. All that fell that night would be sacrifices to N'Jal. The thought made Lorenor smile. Quickly, the anticipation of the battle ahead was getting to him. Lorenor looked at Seed for a moment.

"Take what you can from the guards we slay." Lorenor said calmly as if he'd done this very act a million times. "New equipment will be procure on site." Lorenor then gave a hand signal. The minions of darkness were already on the move. "There is someone in Jayneth that I must confront. Be prepared Seed. We are declaring war on Corone." Lorenor said. And he began to make his way towards Jayneth and The Glory that would be his.

[The Soulforged]

Seed stoop on the tips of his toes, the better to peak at the paper that was unrolled before Lorenor. Facts. Statistics. Numbers. All sorts of shit Seed couldn't care less about, much less comprehend.

No, that wasn't right. He could comprehend it, he just didn't care to. Right? He frowned, and his eyebrows furrowed in a quick experiment.

"All right! I can comprehend it! Seed said to himself (and all nearby zombies). "Just got to carry the seven, wait...no...that's not right...carry the five maybe?"

He shook his head in frustration, and clenched his fists. Why was is so hard to concentrate nowadays? It didn't use to be like this. There was a time where he could look at a paper, and not give himself a migraine trying to figure the damn thing out. Wasn't there?

Whatever. Figure it out later. Important things to do now. Why does my side itch so much anyway? Oh, right, the flowers. With a chuckle he reached into his pocket, and tossed the flowers back onto the dirt below him. No need for them now; Seed cocked his head.

But that one there looked so pretty; it wasn't wilted like the rest. Best to keep that one. He slowly reached down to pick it up, and as tenderly as a mother would hold her newborn child for the first time, placed it back inside his pocket.

It was at that time Seed felt eyes upon him. Well, not eyes per say, more like two small vortexes of crackling energy. He looked to find Lorenor staring at him, and could not help but feel that the...whatever it was, was sizing him up.

Seriously. What was Lorenor? Man? Woman? Ghoul? Zombie? Reincarnated slumbering god? Half man, half demon thingy? Wyrm? Evil demoness with a horde of demons behind her?

Okay, that was just stupid. Lorenor didn't have demons, he had zombies! Plus the mutant’s (or whatever it was) tits were pretty small, and Seed was certain that a demoness had to have a nice pair. It was a rule or something; he swore he had read about it somewhere.

Still, gazing back into those sockets (for lack of a better term), Seed found himself a little uncomfortable. It made his stomach feel queasy, being held under Lorenor's gaze. Perhaps it was because Seed felt that he was looking into raw power that his stomach upset.

He suddenly let out a loud burp.

"Goddamn sandwich!" Seed spat as Lorenor drew forth a magnificent blade. "I knew I should’ve ate around that bit of mold! I just knew it!"

Okay. Lorenor’s eyes (or whatever they were) weren't the problem, indigestion was.

"Right, be prepared. Gotcha," Seed muttered as Lorenor advanced his legion. "Guess I'll go take a dump or something. That oughta help."

As he rubbed his upset stomach, he noticed that he was standing by himself. Lorenor’s legion (hey, that was kinda catchy) was already on the move.

“Oh! Oh! You meant be prepared for the war! Not indigestion! I gotcha.” Seed ran to catch up with the rest of the force. “Though, I guess inflicting a bad bout of indigestion upon oneself isn’t the proper way to prepare for a war with Corone. Ooops.”

As he ran to catch up, he slapped a zombie on the back.

“Don’t tell on me, all right Fred? If ya do, I’ll tell Nancy about that bad case of crabs you got! We wouldn’t want that, eh pal?”

Seed suddenly broke into a maniacal fit of laughter.

“Wait! Forgot you’re dead! Dead don’t get crabs, they get maggots! Get it? Get it? AHAHAHAHA!”

His mind then processed what it would look like to have maggots down there. During sex. With Nancy.

“Oh shit,” Seed muttered as he held his stomach tightly. “I think I’m gonna hurl! Goddamn it! No more eating day-old sandwiches before going to war!”

What? Seed was a pretty liberal guy; freaky zombie sex didn’t bother him in the least.

[Mutant_Lorenor]

Lorenor walked in silence as he planned for what was coming. Once again, he was arriving with the forward attack party. The rest of his combat force would remain behind. Seed would accompany him and hopefully prove to be an asset and not a liability. Lorenor clenched the grip of his favored weapon tightly as he walked quietly forward. He could hear Seed making small talk, a sign of nervous tension. Lorenor smiled at that, was he ever green? Walking forward Jayneth was ahead, a township that required a leadership body. As was requested, much of the attack force stayed behind a few yards up the road from Jayneth. Lorenor would give Jayneth a chance at doing the right thing.

A small group of guards were posted at the front gates. Lorenor sized them up quickly. They wore decent equipment, but none of them would pose a direct threat to the mutant. Lorenor walked directly towards them and stopped about a few paces in front of them. His attack party also stopped. Lorenor gave a hand signal to Seed as a hint that he should stop as well. Lorenor's weapon was pointed down towards the ground. His smile never left his face. One of the guards approached The High Priest and a nervous tension filled the air. Lorenor could taste it in his mouth.

"What in the name of Lord Draconus are you?" The guard asked. "I suppose you don't have a Gate Pass." The guard continued. "No Gate Pass, no entry, period." Lorenor's smile became a grin.

"Such arrogance. I do hope that all of the guests of your Leaders are treated with such arrogance. It will justify tonight's bloodshed." Lorenor said carefully. He wanted to laugh. There was a humor in all of this.

"Leaders? You mean Commander Bishop?" The man suddenly asked. "I don't have any guests registered for today you'll have to..."

"You don't get it do you?! We're going to force our ways into your beloved city." Lorenor counted ten men. The man in front of him would be dead in a matter of moments. "You have robbed from N'Jal. Your fate has been sealed. So has the fate of all of Althanas." Lorenor said and was on the move. He suddenly bounded towards the dumbfounded guard at full speed. A moment later, gurgled sounds from the man's throat filled the air and the other guards were reacting at the attack. Blood poured from the neck-wound. Lorenor could taste the blood. He removed his sword from the neck of the man and moved into an elegant swordsman stance. His eyes were locked on the men who were approaching. They were still shocked by what happened to their fellow. By then, the members of his forward party were attacking as well. Two more went down in a matter of moments.

Lorenor grinned. "If you surrender now, there will be less bloodshed on your part..." The High Priest offered. He knew they would not surrender...

[The Soulforged]

"It's missing something. Just not sure what," Seed muttered to himself as he stared at his work. His greatest work of art was nearly complete, but it still needed something. What was it?

With the grace of the most careful artist, he ran his hand over the wood before him. Lorenor had halted his forces to do something, but Seed had quickly found himself bored, so he figured he'd indulge in a bit of art. His short-attention span could very well have been some sort of attention-deficit disorder, if he thought that stuff wasn't a load of bull. No, Seed was just a tad off-center, that was all.

"Took long enough to remember the guy's name. Thought it was Bayushi for a second. Wonder why? Ah, no matter." Seed began to pick his teeth with one of the small throwing daggers he kept about himself; he carefully studied his masterpiece.

Taka could not overcome his misdeeds

At this point, a splinter stuck on Seed's dagger (he had used the weapon to carve the words), lodged itself in his tongue. He cursed, swore, blasphemed, and had an epiphany all at once. After he spat out the splinter, he quickly carved a few more words, laughing with glee as he did so. The side of the house now read:

Taka could not overcome his misdeeds
He is also a dung-humper

Content with making his mark against Althanas, Seed chuckled, pocketed his knife, and turned about to see what else was going on in the town. It was at this time he saw Lorenor skewer a man's neck with his blade.

"Whoa! Scary scary!" Seed squeaked as two more men bit the dust in a very red and bloody manner. He heard Lorenor offer the guards a chance to surrender, which seemed like a pretty good idea, especially when the guy you were going up against could kill you in a move or two.

It was at this time Seed found himself face to face with a rather burly guard who had not yet been caught up in a fight. The man drew his sword and glared at Seed, who just shrugged back at the guard.

"What?" He spat angrily at the guard. "Taka couldn't overcome his misdeeds! That's the unvarnished truth, I read it somewhere!"

Seed tumbled away as the guard swung his blade.

"Can't we talk about this?" Seed yanked his own sword, a worn and second-hand weapon, and clashed it against the attacking guard's own, very well taken care of, sword. Sparks flew as the warriors spun about; his opponent was only average at best, but as Seed was below average with a blade, this could really only end one way.


"Oh gosh! That's gonna leave a mark!" He joked as the guard sliced open Seed's forearm. It wasn't too deep, but it was enough to cause him to drop his sword. The guard moved in for the kill.

"You're a dead man," The guard seethed as he drew closer.

"No, I'm a mad man. That's a dead man!" Seed responded as he jerked his thumb towards the direction of the first man slain by Lorenor. Enraged at the sight of his fallen comrade, the guard charged blindly forward.

With a mad laugh Seed evaded the blow, reaching into his tunic as he did so. The guard stumbled past, as Seed withdrew another small throwing dagger. With a flick of his wrist, the dagger was in the back of the man's knee.

"AHAHAHAHA!" A wild and crazy laugh. The guard was kicked face first into the dirt, the worn blade was picked up gingerly. With a maddening gaze, Seed drove the tip of his sword into the base of the man's neck, severing the man's spinal cord, as well as his connection to this world.

"I love doin 'em from behind!" Seed shouted, reveling in the savagery Lorenor had brought to the town. He leaned down and grabbed the dead man by his hair, pulling his head up out of the dirt; the better to talk to it.

"Get it? From behind? Like during sex? Eh? Eh? Ah, everyone's a critic!" Seed cursed angrily as he shoved the deceased man's head back in the dirt. He stood to leave, but then remembered Lorenor's orders before the beginning of the battle.

"Oh! Gotta procure new equipment on site!" He quickly tore away whatever he could from the dead guard. Finding a small bag, Seed dumped the contents into the dirt, and began to run his fingers through the various things that had spilled onto the earth.

"Nothing! God damn it!" Not finding what he desired, he began to furiously kick at the corpse. "How am I suppose to procure new equipment if you! Don't! Have! Any!"

Each word was accompanied by a fierce kick to a man who could no longer feel anything at all, much less pain. Sweating from his workout, Seed turned around to find two more guards. Their swords were drawn, and the look in their eyes made it very clear what they were about to do with those weapons. He frowned, and looked back towards the body he had just finished desecrating.

"I, uh, didn't do it?" He offered sheepishly. The two men answered by attempting to separate Seed's head from his shoulders, which was very impolite, to say the least.

[Mutant_Lorenor]

(Bro, feel free to bunny any of the Allied NPC's, even the larger attack force)

One of The Forsaken near to Lorenor's position noticed the rookie, Seed, screwing around. Frowning, The Forsaken warrior saw that two of the guards were inbound towards Seed's position. Acting of his own accord, after all, The Followers of N'Jal looked out for their own, the warrior brandished a wicked mythril longsword that had Undead aesthetics and design influences. It was a masterwork weapon that glowed with The Living Dark. The Forsaken warrior ran towards Seed's position to provide an assist. Running towards the general direction of one of the rapidly advancing guards, The Forsaken attacked.

(Feel free to show the actions that happen at that point)

***

The battle had started. Lorenor felt his blood burning hot as he felled warrior after warrior. Jayneth had a clear military budget and could not afford to train the type of soldiers that Jadet had in it's possession. They had already stormed past the front gate. Some of Lorenor's Forsaken compatriots were feasting on the corpses of the fallen. Cannibalism. As one creature died, it made another stronger through the feasting of the flesh. Lorenor himself had fed from one of the fallen guards. Wielding a short-sword in one hand made of plynt, and his longsword in the other, Lorenor was in his element. The Living Dark seemed to cascade around his person as he maneuvered into the city. The Forsaken gathered around his person, except for the ones who stayed to assist Seed. Lorenor placed his short sword on the ground and took out his Aero Wand.

Pointing that device at the sky, a large burst of potent Manna-Arkanos flew upwards several yards. Like a missile, the projectile burst when it reached a certain distance in the sky creating a brilliant show of light. That was the signal for his army to march forward. Several guards' squadrons were preparing to advanced on the incoming invasion force. Lorenor grinned at that fact. Somewhere in the city of Jayneth was the waiting Mayor, and potentially, a Marshall of Corone's army. Those were Lorenor's primary targets. When he'd given his army the signal to march, Lorenor replaced The Aero Wand back in his packs and watched forward. People were staring at him and his attacking Forsaken with shock and fear, unsure of what to do. Lorenor wore a grin on his face.

"Show me to your precious Mayor!" Lorenor called out to the townfolk who simply stared incredulously as they were cut down. One by one, the folk of Jayneth were cut. Lorenor had taught his people to show no fear, to show no remorse, and to fight without mercy. The fallen were then assimilated back into the growing undead army. A man suddenly appeared before Lorenor. The High Priest detected a great amount of power from that man. He walked forward and stopped in front of him. "You are not The Mayor, why do you stand before me?" Lorenor asked. Though his prevalida sword hungered for more bloodshed, The High Priest kept the thirst at bay.

"Why are you doing this?" The man asked suddenly. "If it is bloodshed you seek, there are bandits and rogues all over Concordia Forest you can hunt down. Why lay siege on us?"

"You are not answering my question. You are not giving me a reason to spare you." Lorenor said. Another Forsaken warrior approached the man but stood alongside Lorenor.

"It would not be wise to upset The Grand Primus." The Forsaken warrior said to the nobleman.

"I can take you to The Mayor!" The man suddenly said with his lips quivering. He felt the cold steel at the back of his neck from another Forsaken that had got the drop on him. There was no killing blow made, only a firm movement to convince the noble to give Lorenor what he wanted. "Just don't kill anybody else."

"I cannot guarantee that. Whilst we are wasting time here, your people are dying one by one. Take me to him. Perhaps once I have settled on a surrender of your city, I will decide what to do with your pathetic lives." Lorenor taunted. His eyes were filled with pleasure...

[The Soulforged]

Seed coughed violently as he was slammed against a wall, the very wall he had just carved a bit of graffiti on. With a violent shudder, he dropped his sword to the dirt; the guard tightened his grip around his throat.

"Oh dear! Seems like I'm in, quite a pickle!" Seed barely managed to chuckle. His breath was short and raspy, his laugh was hoarse. The guard gave him a curious look.

"You'd laugh at your own death?" The man asked softly as his companion looked on.

"Life is one big joke," Seed gasped. "A plethora of misery mixed with excess. A maelstrom of suffering and pleasure, with the one commonality of death." With a gaze of strange lucidity, uncommon in the young man's eyes, he looked at his captor.

"We all die. You. Your mayor. Me. Lorenor. Her." The last word was spoken with a sharp intake of air, as if the very mention of the whoever he was obviously thinking of drove a dagger in his spine.

The man holding Seed's neck screamed as a mythril blade sliced through his arm. The guard screamed in agony as he fell to his knees, clutching his bloody stump of an arm. The other guard moved to assist, as Seed picked his aged sword of the floor.

"You have to laugh at death," He whispered softly as he plunged his blade into the guard's stomach, the man crumpled ground bleeding profusely. As the blade was withdrawn, blood and bits of entrails began to spew from the wound; Seed stared at the other man. The man with no arm, struggled to survive as a several zombies began to surround the helpless man.

"If you can't laugh at death, you cry," Seed whispered as the surviving screamed in torment. The zombies began to tear at the man’s flesh with their teeth, a grizzly sight. Bone was gnawed upon, tendons were ripped apart. The man was not laughing.

Seed turned his gaze to a whimper behind him. A young boy cried, sniveling in a corner. The child did his best to shrivel up under the mad man’s gaze, but to no avail. Seed to a look at his bloodied blade, drench in red with strips of flesh, and then jerked his head angrily at the town’s gate. Taking the hint, the child fled as fast as his feet would carry him. Would he make it?

Seed shook his head, this wasn’t how he was suppose to be feeling! He buried his face in his hand, better to hide from his thoughts there. A shake of the head to shove away the sanity, a closing of the eyes to hide from the horrors of reality.

He returned his gaze to the sky, and saw Lorenor’s bright signal. The light brought him back, and Seed screamed.

“FRED!” Seed bellowed as he charged across the town. He cut down an unsuspecting guard that had just stabbed a zombie in the chest, and then fell to his knees.

“Oh Fred! Speak to me buddy!” Seed shouted in mad lunacy as he shook the zombie. “Hang in there pal! You can’t go out like this! Think of Nancy!”

The zombie, paying little attention to the rant, shuffled back to his feet.

“But you were stabbed in the...oh, forgot that you’re a zombie,” Seed chuckled as he stood up. “Guess it doesn’t matter if you got stabbed in the heart cause, ya know, it really wasn’t beating to begin with. Well, off to burn the town then?”

He then snapped his fingers, and ran back to the guard. Seed quickly began to tear away at the man, searching for something important. At last he found a small satchel, and dumped its contents onto the ground.

“YES! SCORE SAUCE!” Seed bellowed as he held up his prize. With a grin he unwrapped the small, cylinder-shaped object. Round, candy like objects spilled into his waiting hand, and with a grin he popped one into his mouth.

“That’s better!” Seed smiled as he munched on the indigestion tablet. “Come Fred, off to see Lorenor! That’s him there, you see? Next to the noble, who may or may not have pissed his pants. Call your buddies, and let’s go say hi.”

As the two began to walk, Seed struck a leisurely chat.

“What? No, of course the wound doesn’t make you look ugly! Chicks dig scars dude. What’d ya mean you’ve never heard of score sauce? It’s a perfectly legitimate term! Why yes, I do have my own brand, thank you very much!”

[Mutant_Lorenor]

Confronting the leaders of another city was another matter all together. This city, Jayneth, was on the boarder of Jadet. In recent weeks, The Forsaken's army was campaigning across Althanas searching for the relics of N'Jal long ago lost before The Demon's War. Lorenor smiled at the leaders of the township. His men were busily tearing people apart even as The Mayor looked at Lorenor with a clear expression of terror on his face. This man was not fit to lead, he would be an empty trophy. Lorenor looked at the nobleman that had lead his forward troupe towards The Mayor. Lorenor smiled. A trap. Well played Jayneth, a costly play, but a well played one. Lorenor saw a platoon of several heavily armed soldiers.

They were surrounding a man who was clearly his target: The Mayor. The Grand Primus smiled as he saw the sight. He closed his eyes for a moment or three and then approached the obvious ambush party. Simple tactics. Deadly tactics, they were being taken seriously. Lorenor could hear screams coming from all around the city. The screams brought The Grand Primus great pleasure. As he made his way towards The Mayor, he gave a hand signal for his men to wait where they stood. Lorenor saw that the soldiers parted their phalanx for The Grand Primus to approach The Mayor. In a few short months, Lorenor had declared war on The Empire. As he looked The Mayor dead in the eyes, The High Priest continued to smile.

"There you have been hiding." Lorenor said carefully, choosing his words. "Clever, clever, clever. Mr. Mayor, hiding behind his platoon of Elite soldiers." Lorenor held his sword in a relaxed position, tip pointing to the ground. "You have stolen from N'Jal Mr. Mayor. We are here to retrieve what you have stolen. That is why your precious city, Jayneth, is made to suffer." He could hear the growls of the soldiers that surrounded him. They were beautiful odds. Hearts beat in powerful unison that would soon belong to The Dark Lady. "In your Jayneth is a structure known as The Vault. It pre-dates The Demon War. That is why we are here. The Vault. Your citizen's lives are meaningless to us. We are here for the relics of The Thayne that your people have stolen from us."

To show how serious he was, Lorenor suddenly slit the throat of a nearby soldier. His prevalida sword easily cut through the armour of the soldier and tore the flesh of the man. A stream of blood splashed across The High Priest's blade as he followed through with the slashing movement. The soldier gurgled audibly as he clutched at his suddenly slit open throat. The man fell backwards and caused a panic in the ranks of The Mayor's soldiers.

"Time is against you Mayor. The longer you deny us what we seek, the more your city will suffer. We will hunt down every man, woman and child until they have all joined our ranks and torment those that are still living." Lorenor wore a deadly serious expression on his face. He turned his blade towards the general direction of The Mayor and pointed it in an accusing gesture. Lorenor waited for The Mayor's response he was seemingly shocked by the events occurring all around him. "Time is wasting Mr. Mayor." Lorenor waved his hand again and The Forsaken began to tear into the soldiers' platoon that was gathered around them. The Grand Primus kept his eyes locked upon The Mayor as he inched closer and closer. His hand kept the sword pointed towards him.

Several soldiers were felled in a matter of moments. Jayneth would fall and become an undead stronghold. Lorenor grinned at the thought, his men were well trained. When Lorenor covered the distance between himself and The Mayor, he suddenly heard a loud yell coming from The Mayor.

"Stop!" The Mayor suddenly cried. Lorenor could see the man's lips quivering with fear. He could taste the fear. "I will take you to where you want to go, order your men to stop!" The Mayor said. His eyes filled with terror.

Lorenor spoke. "I am afriad that I cannot tell my men to stop. They are obeying The Word of N'Jal. As long as The Vault remains in your possession, you will suffer deeply. My men will continue to kill until there is not a man left alive. We are deadly serious. Corone is our enemy. Your forefathers have stolen from N'Jal and now we have come to collect what is due us."

The Mayor understood the meaning of The Grand Primus. Each second lost, meant more lives lost. The Mayor turned away from Lorenor, and The Grand Primus pondered stabbing him in the back for just a brief moment. However, that was no longer plausible as The Mayor held the secrets he needed. And so, The Grand Primus, accompanied by a small number of Forsaken, as well as Seed Vicious, walked towards the secret location of The Vault.

N'Jal would not be denied what was rightfully hers.

[The Soulforged]

"Oh, so much death! It sickens the stomach! Or, that may still be that sandwich I had. Meh. Either way, lead the way!" Seed offered as he regrouped with Lorenor. The Dark Lord was well on his way up in the villain scale, killing plenty of people and wracking up the bad karma. Not that Seed actually believed in that type of crap.

Then the mayor showed up, or rather was found, with his elite guards. Well, Seed assumed they were elite guards, what with their shiny weapons and soldier-stuff. Was this suppose to be an ambush? It was a pretty poor ambush; more talking than fighting. Seed thought you were suppose to kill stuff during an ambush, but hey, he was neither a dark lord nor a town mayor. He was, however, an aspiring artist. Perhaps he should draw a sketch of the talking?

No, no that wouldn't do. People were dying again. Lorenor had just slit another throat (he did seem to enjoy that), and the zombie horde had descended upon the soldiers. Blood, guts, mayhem...bad day for Jayneth.

"Eh? Eh?" Seed suddenly said, as the mayor offered to take Lorenor to the vault. "We won? It's over?"

It was at this time, a rather large axe nearly removed Seed's head from his neck. He rolled away, just in time. A rather large man advanced towards him, but Seed just shrugged his shoulders, and pointed behind the man. Three hungry zombies devoured the axe-wielder's flesh as Lorenor told the mayor that he could not stop his men.

Well, yeah. Those zombies looked pretty hungry. If there was one thing Seed had learned, it was never get between a zombie and his brains. Unless of course you had something to make them go BOOM with. Or a stick. You could beat zombies back with a stick. Or a boomstick! That would work wonders, or so he had been told.

"So...it's not over? M'kay." Seed unsheathed his sword, and then drooped his shoulders while letting out a long sigh. He put the sword back in it's sheath as the mayor offered to take Lorenor to the vault anyway. God damn situation was changing faster than a street-side hooker's clientele.

"All right! Vault time!" Seed shouted as he rubbed his hands together, and followed the small group deeper into the town. He wondered what type of vault would hold a dark artifact of archaic power?

"Do you think it'll have puzzles?" He asked Lorenor. "I like puzzles. Can I try the first puzzle? You think it'll be a riddle? Riddles are fun!"