And with the final blow, the skull cracked, and the ritual subsided. The heroes in the Gate’s Rest Tavern succeeded in stopping the horde of undead that had started to claw their way through the ritual circle. Though the battle was won, the realization of what this was finally set in. The map the Arcane Sons provided was something far graver than an idle threat…
* * * * *
A shadowed figure drifted along the floor of a citadel deep within the heart of the Chaos Wastes, encircling a horrific, extravagant ritual. As the figure passed over each rune, placing an arcanum tarot card over it, the rune lit up with a sickly pale glow, with a dark and destructive energy radiating from it. With all the runes and the ritual circle activated, Necrophitus shifted his view toward the rising sun beyond the window, along the horizon.
Scribing a rune into the air with arcane power, a gutteral, malicious voice crept out from the shadow,
“Your meddling has taken you far in this quest for triumph, but I bid you, this is where it ends. You hear me, do you not? You… all of you across the face of this ugly rock, listen well… I am Necrophitus Arcane. I have toiled for millenia to ensure the success of my purpose. In this time I have built legions of the undead, I have taken the powers of this world and subjugated them to my will, and I have put into motion actions you could not hope to stop…”
From the top of the citadel’s spire, an orb of all-consuming shadows had begun to form; the swirling black miasma creeping outward. Like a great wave, the shadows washed across the sky, until they raced toward the horizon as if to envelop the sun.
“Look now to your skies. See the darkness crawl above you and settle. This will be the final day in which you watch your sun rise and bring you comforting light. You will live out the rest of your miserable existences under the shadow of my will. Look to your sky and despair…”
Necrophitus returns his attention to the dread ritual at the center of the room and makes his way to it’s core. From within his ethereal form, emerges a magnificent and eldritch card. He faces the card toward the window at the rising sun for a moment before placing it down, revealing the face; the World card. Suddenly, the shadows explode outward from the top of the citadel, and cover everything in a thick fog of darkness before fading.
“Do you feel your strength leaving you; your will fading into nothingness as you helplessly try to cling to your powers? You may have taken that fey from me, and freed the faeries from my grasp, but I will sap away your heroic prowess.”
The sun rose, but the calming warmth it radiated did not strike the face of the morning farmers. The light brought no comfort to the child fearing the monsters of the dark. Instead, a low rumble seemed to race across all the continents of Arawyn. From deep within the bowels of so many cities, rituals were completed as cultists of the Arcane Sons sacrificed themselves. Gateways opened and the hordes of the dead rose up, clamoring through the underground until they found the surface. As light shined upon the arm of the first skeletal champion to reach the city streets of Alieander, terror welled up in the hearts of all the common people of Arawyn. The undead were unfazed by the light of the sun.
“Soon, the countless swarms of the undead will envelope your homes. You and your loved ones will be slaughtered and raised to join my forces. There is no stopping what is to come.
I will not be prevented from extending my reach beyond the stars!”
Panic began to ensue everywhere. Heroes, who once returned home, took up arms alongside the guards and protectors. They understood now what was happening. The people knew where their hope would have to lie, and so they began their fight, to protect their homes and families until those would would defeat Necrophitus succeeded. Brigands and highwaymen helped in their own ways; for now the need to rob the wealthy was trivial compared to the need to live. Unlikely alliances were forming and some old hatreds put aside to keep back the armies of the dead long enough for those who could find a solution, to do so.
This fight was their chance to give back to the town that saved the world countless times. While they fought, Travance could focus on their mission.
