In rememberance we keep honor alive,
lest in our darkness, our ancestors die
The snow fell lightly to an unbroken ground, not yet tainted with the blood of the children of Aegis. The town of Snowy Fields, once a place of peace and stillness in the frozen north, has now become entrenched against the hostilities of the undead lords reigning from the obsidian fortress across the frozen lake.
"They have become bolder, walking into Al'khazar with their hoods drawn so that we would not see there bloody faces." A fellow Oren guard told the young dwarf Bazian as they passed the time at the guard house in Al'Khazar. "Lets get moving up there, we do no good asking for Name and Business all damn day."
The young fire-headed mountain dwarf was Bazian Blackaxe, an exiled dwarf from an exiled clan trying to make some mina to support the clan. He was a niieve beardling that only had experience fighting some undead minions at Kal'Domhain, but never dreamed that he would see an undead lord.
Quickly the young dwarf bought a house in the northern town and began patrolling with his fellow guards and citizens defending their homes. The cold stillness of the north is cut only by the shadow of the undead fortress where the lords call down lighting and shoot balls of fire to smite the people of the north. "They act like angry gods with a lust for violence." A war-torn veteran of the guard once lamented. "They are the curse that effects all beings, sadly it is the only thing that keeps the races united."
We raided up and down the frozen shore of that bloody lake, killing off any undead minions we might come by. No matter how may we slew, the lords would summon more from the dark pits of the Nether. There were many times when we attempted to face off with the undead lords at their fortress but this proved all for naught. Their obsidian walls infused with the dark powers of Iblees proved no match for our picks. We quickly became their play things as they brought down the wrath of dark magics. Truly they were wrathful gods.
When the day came for Snowy Fields to fall, the lords of the undead did not attack us in our beds. Rather, they rode their lightning like demons laughing at tortured souls. Even at our most defensible, the considered us little more than ants underfoot. They came first for the gate, shooting fireball after fireball , slowly weakening the reinforced gate. Arrow fire was exchanged by the guards but to no avail. The undead responded by summoning hordes of beasts within our walls and on top of the walls. The garrison quickly became overrun. They rallied quickly to clear the town of the cursed undead minions. Being a hot-headed beardling, Bazian quickly became infuriated. The mountain dwarf vaulted over the edge of the walls to a frozen part of the moat below. One thing burned in his mind, that of slashing through the robes to the rotting flesh of an undead lord. He cut his way through the few minions that littered the battlefield until he reached a lord at the gates of Snowy Fields.
Instantly, the dwarf frozen. For when he peered behind the darkness of his hood, he saw the rotting face of the undead, the rotting of the soul that he once was. The lord looked as ancient as he was cruel. It was like the feeling that you would have it you lost someone close to you, it happened many years ago but you have forgotten and only just remembered. It was a sickeningly churning cruel feeling, like all the light has left the world and the only thing that remained was cold and grey. In that moment, Bazian changed forever. Perhaps more importantly, Bazian could not move. The smile the lord gave was quick but the slash from the golden staff was quicker. Before the dwarf knew it, he was falling backwards into the frozen moat, blood flying from his left eye. That is the last the dwarf remembers of the fight.
Bazian awakes in Al'Khazar surrounded by other bloodied people from the battle being treated for injuries. His injuries were left untouched as there were more pressing injuries for the healers to tend to mostly for burns and missing limbs. Looking to the north, smoke bellows to the sky as the undead create the effect of a false storm with their many lightning strikes, putting the fear of these undead gods in the heart of all the races.
"Damn the bloody Ascended, th' supposed deliverers ov th' undead." Bazian says in disgust. The Ascended were too busy working on their fortress in the south called "Haven." In the end, this would lead to the coruption of the north and the downfall of the three strongholds that held it together; Snowy Fields, Alstion, and Winterfell. After these key points fell, there was nothing left stopping the undead from setting its sights on Al'Khazar, capital of the Oren kingdom and perhaps the most racially diverse city of all time. Never again did that dwarf trust the Ascended.
The old dwarf puts down his quill and goes to huddle by the fire to keep the chill off from the long dwarven halls. He traces the scar that scored across his eye in deep rememberance. A bolt of lightning from the storm above jumps him to his feet with his blackened axe drawn to his hand. Remembering where he is, the dwarf slumps back to his seat and put his face in his hands.
The Ascended finally showed up after the town has fallen.
OOC: Yea guys, back then there was drama too.