Year 32

"It's not just a celebration for Roldan, it's the celebration of the victory over the Felkans." You remark.
"I know that, but why is he getting a special parade? Roldan wasn't the only one who brought down the Felkan Kingdom! He wasn't even the only general!" Alison exclaims.
"He was involved in the brunt of the major conflicts, including most of the vital forts and cities and most importantly the last siege on the Felkan capital." You reply.
"As I recall YOU played a major role along with several others!"
"Well Roldan's also been making great progress in eliminating the gnolls tribes on our western borders too. We probably won't be having any trouble with them anymore at the rate he's going."
"And as I recall YOU also played a major role in that during the Felkan War! Hell, so did I and continued to do so long after you got transferred to the frontlines! Shit, if it hadn't been for us keeping those mongrel barbarians back who knows how the war would've turned out?"
"Alison why are you so angry about this?"
"I just don't understand why you aren't getting a big parade or accolades either." Alison says as she finishes getting dressed.
"I dunno, I'm not really concerned about it though." You reply apathetically. "Besides you know I don't care for all this kind of pomp and flash that comes with these sorts of celebrations anyway. If I didn't have to be here out of formality I wouldn't even be attending."
"Maybe, but it doesn't seem fair that you've been getting punished just because you married me."
"Here we go, this concept again…"

Alison goes into her usual rant about how since you got married to her, you've been getting less important assignments. She feels that the Emperor has been punishing you by keeping you in the background while allowing Roldan to take more of a prominent role such as sending him to conquer the gnoll tribes of the west.

You can see this argument, and you have even entertained it a bit from time to time, but ultimately you've dismissed it, mainly because despite everything you're still reporting directly to the Emperor. You're still his most trusted of all his advisors.

You're still his son.

Besides its not like you're sitting around doing nothing. The Emperor has just been keeping you closer to home because this is where you're currently needed. With the recently acquired Felkan territory and the westward expansion, the Eyes are a little stretched so you've mostly been trying to eliminate the new bandit havens popping up in the old Felkan territory along with helping to fend off any desperate gnoll raids that attempt to sneak through. You're also supposed to be making sure the new "citizens" aren't planning to rebel, but given how badly they were beaten down, they're just glad that you're allowing them to live. So far no seditious activity has been detected.

True, you'd rather be out there conquering new lands in his name and getting into the heat of battles rather than playing super sentinel, but at least you get to see Alison more often. It's a good trade off as far as you're concerned.

As far as Roldan is concerned you aren't worried about him being "favored." This large celebration for Roldan is more Jacob's idea mainly because Roldan has largely become well known along with being well liked throughout the Empire. Not just by the military, but by the normal citizens as well. He's generally regarded as a hero of sorts.

Jacob practically begged the Emperor for this special celebration because he felt it would be good for overall morale throughout the Empire. Well that, and the fact Jacob feels "vindicated" that his own influence on the Eternals has proved successful. Though you sort of had a major role in Jacob's fortune in that endeavor as well, something else Alison mentions in her rant.

"You know, I might be getting sent to the unexplored land east of Nalin. There's been discussion about expansion in that direction." You say to Alison in the hopes that it will calm her down a bit.
"Yeah? Well I certainly hope you'll get your own special celebration when you conquer whoever lives there. I'm sorry. I don't know why this is getting to me. This doesn't bother you, so it shouldn't bother me. You're right anyway, I guess if you'd really fallen out of favor you would've been sent to go tame the inhospitable usksha desert south of Nalin alone in a loin cloth welding just a wooden sword."

You chuckle at Alison's scenario.

"Okay how do I look? Do I look presentable for the Emperor's palace?"

Alison stands before you in a black dress. It isn't excessively fancy, but it's certainly not something peasant would wear. While you've seen Alison in civilian clothing before, you've not seen her in something so elegant.

"Really you didn't need to dress up for this thing, I certainly didn't. I just made sure I didn't have a tear in my trousers and polished my armor."
"Maybe that's because visiting the Emperor's palace isn't that big of a deal to you. For me however this is a new experience. Just glad my mother's old dress fit me, since it's practically the only fancy thing I own."
Well, you look lovely and dangerous as usual. The rapier on your hip is a nice touch. Didn't realize that's what all the upper class ladies were accessorizing with nowadays."
"Ha ha, I said I wanted to look presentable, I didn't say I was going for high society. I'm still a soldier by nature, I'm not going anywhere without a weapon. "
"That's my girl, let's be on our way." You remark and the pair of you set off for the capital in a carriage.

Alison's mood is much better the closer you get to your destination. When you arrive, the capital is already pretty busy along with the surrounding countryside. The city guard and a few soldiers are busily trying to keep order and keep the path clear for the parade later. The palace is certainly less chaotic and you take the opportunity to show Alison some of it. She mostly enjoys the ancient armor and weapon displays along with some of the statues. You have to admit, before you came here with Alison, you never really admired them before.

Doesn't take long before someone who knows you approaches. It's Jacob and a brunette woman who looks about your age. She must be a soldier of some sort because she's dressed in armor.

"There you are, I was wondering when you'd arrive! When did you get here?"
"I don't know, a half hour ago I guess. I was showing Alison some of the palace since she's never been here before."
"Ah yes, Alison! It's a pleasure to finally meet you face to face! Better known as Major Krozer for those of us that have only known her through her military deeds. I heard how you were instrumental during the Felkan War on the gnoll front! That was great work! Between you and your husband here you really paved the way to the destruction of those barbarians."
"Thank you for the recognition." Alison remarks politely. Ever the professional, she knows not to bring her personal feelings into a setting like this.
"Everyone should remember that even though a special parade is being held for General Roldan, all soldiers who did their duty during that terrible war are to be honored and respected. Actually scratch that, ALL soldiers of the Empire should be." Jacob says as he looks over to the warrior woman.
"Oh I'm sure I didn't do anything nearly as impressive as my husband or even the major and her husband here. But I suppose can be glad that the kobold and usksha population is a lot lower due to me." the woman says.
"Brenda, don't sell yourself short! You know you've done great things as well." Jacob says.
"Brenda?" you ask. You didn't even recognize her, but then it has been quite a while.
"Yep, it's me. Been a long time. I figured you wouldn't recognize me right away. Oh, sorry about all that y'know…back in class."
"As I've told everyone else Brenda, all in the past. All in the past." You say.

The four of you speak for a moment exchanging general pleasantries. Jacob seems even happier than Brenda about Roldan's celebration. In fact in the whole time you've known him, this has to be the happiest you've ever seen him. Eventually the four of you head to one of the palace's large balconies where you can view the entire parade.

Three of the five known Eternals are here, and it makes you wonder where your other classmates are since it seems like they would be important enough to be here. When you ask Jacob this question, Jacob says Warrick is indeed here, but is currently working as head of security for this celebration being Sightmaster of the Eyes and all. As for Kane, Jacob stumbles a bit over his words.

"Well, erm…Kane is having personal problems…he's been reassigned to Rask while he uh…works things out. They're always having problems with the occasional giant lumbering down from the mountains and the stray feral ogre bands there anyway."
"Jacob, I'm well aware of Kane's condition, you know."
"You are? Yes…I suppose you would, considering you've visited Gnome's Home in the past. (Sigh) Well then you know its best that he's not around other normal people, even other soldiers. He's still loyal to the Empire, he just has to be isolated. So he's at a very remote outpost at the edge of the northern Rask Mountains. He keeps a look out for potential attacks and if he…gets hungry he's away from civilization and has the beasts from the mountains to prey upon."

You shake your head.

"Jacob, I can appreciate that you're trying to help Kane, but I wonder if his reassignment is really a good idea. What's stopping Kane from losing complete control and wandering to a nearby village and slaughtering it?"
"He won't. He's extremely far away from the nearest civilized center and even Fort Defiance. The only victims of his will be giants and the like. And they're enemies of the Empire anyway. Look, can we discuss this later? The celebration is starting." Jacob says.

You nod and return to Alison to watch the parade. It is indeed a lavish sight. You see soldiers in impression armor marching in complete unison performing drill techniques with perfect timing. You see wizards creating small extraordinary feats of magic to entertain.

As you sit there watching you do sort of lose yourself in the moment and actually enjoy just being a "spectator". Being there with Alison certainly helps make you feel normal for a while.

Then comes the big moment. General Roldan arrives on a giant extravagant platform carried by a dozen or so elven slaves. He stands there in very shiny ornamental armor with an equally ornamental weapon by his side. He waves to the crowds on both sides and accepts their cheers. Brenda and Jacob are both smiling and Jacob is shouting louder than anyone else on the balcony.

"Sheesh, you'd think he was the one married to Roldan." Alison remarks.

You snicker at her comment and then suddenly as you're watching Roldan wave on the platform, you get a very bed feeling. You don't know why or how, but all your instincts scream out at you that something very bad is going to happen…

And then it does.

A cloaked figure suddenly materializes right behind Roldan. From this distance you can't be sure, but it doesn't look entirely human. As the crowd's cheers become sounds of horror, you see this figure draw two curved blades and in one quick move decapitates Roldan before he even knows there is an attacker behind him.

His body and head don't even hit the surface of the platform before the cloaked figure disappears again. The elven slaves at this point panic and drop the platform, this is soon followed by the rest of the citizens generally running all over the place and soldiers swarming the streets trying to maintain order. The city is in chaos.

Jacob is just sitting there in shock. Alison has immediately ordered everyone on the balcony to get inside the palace. Brenda on the other hand has already left; you imagine she's taken to the streets to go find her husband's assassin herself.

"That was a fucking shadow." You say to yourself.

You secure the palace

If this is some sort of shadow attack then the first thing you need to do is keep the palace secure, in particular the Emperor. Besides the city streets are going to be mayhem, you doubt if you'll be able to track down the assassin that killed Roldan. Hopefully others will get him though.

Despite Alison getting most of the people back into the palace, Jacob is still sitting on the balcony in shock.

"He…he…he's not…he can't…" Jacob stutters.
"Jacob get your ass inside now!" you shout and drag him inside.

You and Alison both start taking control of the situation telling the guards to lock up every opening they can and the mages on duty to magically seal up the rest. Alison tells the guests to find some place safe to gather, but you don't really care about any of them. Your number one concern is the safety of the Emperor.

"Alison, I need to…"
"I know, the Emperor. Go. I can help with keeping shit together here."

You rush down to the Emperor's den constantly looking around the whole time. You keep thinking that a shadow, or whatever that was that killed Roldan is going to suddenly materialize at anytime.

When you get inside the Emperor's chambers, he's in bed asleep. You don't want to wake him, but he needs to know the situation.

"Huh? Mmmh? Oh hey…(cough cough) what're you doing here? Are the festivities already over?" he asks.
"Emperor, there's been an assassination. General Roldan was killed during the parade by what I think was a shadow. We're currently trying to secure the palace just in case this is part of a greater attack."
"Sounds like a lot happened while I was taking a nap. Shadow huh? Thought we killed all of them. Guess they were just playing a waiting game as usual. Always a few loose ends aren't there? (cough) I imagine Jacob isn't taking Roldan's death too well."
"Not at all, he's pretty much in shock and was babbling the last time I saw him."
"Hmm, well it is a shame. Roldan did turn out to be one of our best generals. I'll have to make sure he gets a nice funeral. If we can't celebrate his successes in life, at least we can honor him in death. (cough cough)…what's wrong my son?" the Emperor asks when he notices that you're looking slightly troubled.

"I was one of the ones chiefly in charge of hunting down the shadows. The fact that I missed one or possibly several so that something like this could happen…I feel like I failed." You explain.
"Nonsense, you did what you could to the best of your ability. I've always known that. Don't even start playing what if for this situation, because it's not worth it. While this event has certainly been tragic in that it ruined what was supposed to be a happy day, this really isn't excessively serious in the scheme of things. (cough cough) If you were worried about me, don't be. Even in my less than magnificent state, I'm more than able to handle a shadow or even a dozen of them. Assuming they could even get in here in the first place. Its probably just one crazed shadow that somehow hid under a rock all these years from our purges and thinks this one act is going to bring us down. Foolish of course, but what can you expect from such fanatics?"
"You don't think this sort of thing could cause instability in the Empire?"
"Hardly. (cough cough) The citizens might panic about things for awhile, they'll be fearful of the big bad shadows' return for revenge or whatever stories they'll make up, but ultimately it all works in our benefit I'm sure you know. (cough cough) We get to continue to display how without us they would be at the mercy of dangerous forces that would have destroyed them long ago."
"So…what did you want me to do now?" you ask.

The Emperor begins to sit up a bit more before answering you.

"Nothing. In fact (cough cough) after things calm down a bit, you can return to your regular duties in the newly acquired Gan and Ibim provinces. I can handle things here in the palace and the city, just get Jacob down here and I'll start hammering out the plans."
"You really don't need me to do anything?"
"No, your talents are far more useful doing what you're doing right now. Besides, with Roldan dead you might be needed more than ever on that side of the Empire. Last I heard there were still gnolls running about. (cough cough) I of course appreciate your concern as always my son."

The Emperor begins to slowly get out of bed and you take your leave. When you get back upstairs everything is more or less peaceful. Alison and some of the other officers have been making sure the palace is secure. Alison tells you there have been no signs of any potential attackers. Reports from outside the palace are about the same, other than Roldan's assassination the only other causalities have been from soldiers trying to maintain order or from people getting trampled in the initial chaos. No shadows or anything else like that.

"So what's the next move? What did the Emperor tell you?" Alison asks.
"He told me not to worry and when things calm down outside to just return to my normal duties." You respond
"That's it?!"
"That's it. He wants to see Jacob though, is he in a more coherent mindset now?"
"Compared to before? Yeah, but he's still pretty shaken up. I know he's been crying."

You walk over to Jacob who is sitting quietly in a chair with his head in his hands. He's still very upset. You have to repeat yourself twice when telling him that the Emperor wants to see him.

You and Alison stay at the palace for a few more minutes, but when you get news that a carriage is able to take you back to Fort Stalwart you decide to leave immediately. Its hectic trying to leave at first since there is still a bit of turmoil in the streets as well as the surrounding countryside, but once you're a few miles from the capital the ride becomes more relaxed.

Alison asks you if you're certain about leaving.

"The Emperor told me to just return to more normal duties and not to worry, so that's what I'm going to do. If he says he can handle this incident himself then I have no reason to doubt that. Besides, he also said with Roldan dead I might be needed more on the western borders anyway." You say.
"Hmm. I guess all those times I worried about you being punished seem sort of silly now…sheesh…today was surreal. I mean I've seen a lot of stuff in my years of service, but nothing like this. The general consensus seems to be that it was a shadow that killed Roldan. Certainly looked like one from where I was sitting." Alison replies.
"I don't see what else it could've been. Similar style of clothing, invisibility, incredibly quick, sneak attack, the elements were all there. (Sigh) Damn."
"You alright?"
"I just…well I dunno. I just can't believe we…I missed a shadow. Really thought we got them all when I killed Cyrus. The Emperor said it wasn't my fault and I know it really isn't but I still feel like this is a major loss."
"Yeah, I can imagine you'd feel that way having worked together with Roldan during the Felkan War."
"Heh, well to be honest Roldan and I were never close. I mean we were professional and civil, but we never really did become what you'd call friends. Still though he didn't deserve to die like that. He wasn't just an excellent solder and general, he was an Eternal and I guess that bond was there to an extent even if it was faint. Now there's one less of us."
"I guess given that you all grew up together and were subjected more or less to the same training, the other Eternals are sort of like, your siblings?"
"Yeah, I suppose in some ways they are. Funny that I never thought of that before." You remark.

As you reflect on all that's happened, Alison reaches out to touch your hand, you look over at her and return her smile with one of your own. Happy that you have her.

Then your smile disappears when a bolt grazes your ear and hits Alison right in the eye. Her blood splatters on your face and her body slowly goes limp in your arms.

You turn your head around just in time to see the assassin hanging outside the carriage window with one hand and his other arm reeling back from having launched his bolt from his armbow.

It's definitely a shadow, but from this range you can also see it's also not human. The face is either severely burned or rotten. It grins at you with blacken teeth and before you can react, it rapidly climbs up which is followed by brief scream from the carriage driver and then the ride gets a lot bumpier really quick.

The shadow has probably killed the driver and is probably in the process of detaching the horses. Meanwhile you're still holding the body of you beloved Alison.

You chase the assassin

With revenge filling every inch of your body you immediately open the carriage door with the intent of climbing up to meet your attacker. No sooner have you opened the door when a rotting hand from above attempts to stab you in the face with a dagger.

The blade superficially wounds you as it slices across your cheek. Unfazed you immediately grab the hand and pull down as hard as you can. The moment you do so you suddenly feel an unnatural drain of energy. Magic is definitely at work here and it's sapping your strength. Despite this, the shadow tumbles off of the roof, but on its way down it grabs your own arm with its other hand and the pair of you fall from the carriage.

Unfortunately, when you're pulled out of the carriage you don't clear it completely and your ankle is run over by one of the back wheels of the carriage that is still in motion. The bone snaps and you know it's broken along with your nose when you fell flat on your face on the hard road.

The shadow has recovered from his own fall much better having landed on his feet. You push yourself up just in time for his foot to kick you in the ribs. You roll away struggling to put some distance between yourself and the attacker.

"Y'know when I was brought back I was given very specific instructions not to kill you…but I believe I will ignore them. After all I'm already dead, what else can be done to me?" you hear the shadow hiss in a raspy tone.

You attempt to raise your hand to cast a flame blast, but the shadow grabs your wrist and you feel an even greater drain on your strength than you did before. At this close range you can smell the rot more strongly.

"Oh no, you burned me once before, not again." The shadow hisses as it drains your energy. With its recent comments, you realize this isn't just a shadow or even some undead horror possibly masquerading as one. It's Cyrus.

Your whole body feels like its been beaten with a stone pillar yet you manage to muster the strength to pull your dagger and stab Cyrus repeatedly. You aren't even aware of where you're aiming, you stab it in the arm, in the shoulder, in the chest, in the face and wherever else you can reach until it lets you go and staggers back with your dagger still in its body.

You're dizzy, weak, and have only one good foot, but try to stand up anyway. Cyrus pulls the dagger from his body and does his typical shadow speed tactic in an attempt to rush into you with the dagger. You barely manage to put up a small force shield to block the blade from going into your stomach. Still the impact of the hit knocks you back down to the ground breaking your concentration on the spell. Cyrus kneels down to grab your neck, he's not even squeezing and you feel the life leaving your body. You start to fade in and out of consciousness.

"Now I'm going to show you something truly eternal. Death. They say the dead feel nothing, but that's not true. It's a lie just like the lie I believed about Dendrin meeting me for the afterlife. You know what I experienced instead? A very dark place filled with pain until I was ripped out of it and put back here on this mortal realm. That's where you're going brother. You're going to a very dark place filled with pain and I'm going enjoy every moment putting you there."

At this point you have no idea what the hell Cyrus is speaking about, all you know is he's more talkative in death than he ever was in life and that if he's going to kill you, you wish he'd just shut up and do it already.

Things get fuzzy again just as Cyrus' fingers release your neck. What happens next is a blur. You do hear familiar female voice though.

"This one is not yours to take, revenant."

This is followed by an inhuman scream and a bright light which is piercing even with your eyes nearly closed. Between the screaming, the bright light and your weakened state it's all too much for you and start to pass out.

You see a female shape with long hair standing over you, but you can't make out the face.

"…Alison?" you struggle to whisper.
"(Sigh) Blind to your true allies and lovers as always." The figure says and then lays your dagger on your body. "Here, I know how much you treasure this gift to you."
"Oh…fuck…" you say as you pass out.

You don't know how long you're out for, but when you come to you're in a spare bed in the Emperor's quarters. Your ankle and nose feel tender but they don't feel broken anymore.

You look to your left and see the Emperor standing nearby with a walking stick in hand.

"Ah, you're awake and looking much better too. You looked about as bad as I do when Jacob first dragged you in here." The Emperor remarks, sitting in a chair near you.
"Jacob found me?"
"No, actually Warrick and some of the Eyes picked you up off the road when a travelling patrol reported coming across your body and an overturned carriage crashed into a tree a few feet away. I requested that you be brought to me personally when I heard the news. You were severely injured, and I was damned if I was going to let anyone else bumble in the attempt to help you get better."
"Alison?" you ask.
"I'm sorry son, but she's dead. If that bolt to the eye didn't do it, her neck was broken in the crash." The Emperor remarks.

You want to cry out, but you just don't have the energy right now. You still feel woozy for one thing, the other is you had little hope that she was still alive anyway. The moment you saw that bolt in her eye, the moment you felt her blood on your face, the moment you felt her body go completely limp in your arms…you knew then she was dead.

"Did you need some time alone?" the Emperor asks.
"No…I suppose I already knew." You respond. "I'm sort of overwhelmed by everything that happened. I imagine I will grieve later for her."
"I know how much she meant to you. I know she was also a loyal soldier and officer. She will be missed not just by you, but also by the Empire as a whole. Whatever type of funeral you wish for her, you know you've got it. I mean if you want a holiday to…"
"That…isn't necessary. I believe I will just have a simple funeral for her. She was like me, she didn't seek out a lot of attention."
"As you wish. Remember though, whatever you need. You got it."
"Can you manage an execution for a certain svelk bitch?"

The Emperor starts one of his coughing fits before answering.

"I assume you're talking about Mistress. Yes, I fear I did uncover some evidence that it was she that was behind all this chaos. How did you know about her involvement though? Is she the one that attacked your carriage?"

You explain to the Emperor what happened. He seems surprised to hear that the shadow wasn't alive and was in fact undead. He concludes that Mistress must've raised Cyrus from the dead since she certainly has the skill to do it.

"Necromancy eh? Raising the dead is dangerous stuff to dabble in, especially when summoning something as powerful as a revenant. (cough cough) Very difficult to command something that's dead, yet still control of most of the skills they possessed in their old life. Too willful. Still I didn't think that even she would be insane enough to try something like this. Her obsession (cough) with you must be great indeed. I'm not even sure what she hoped to accomplish, other than more chaos and strife I suppose. Hmm, well I guess that does sound like a svelk."
"All I know is she deliberately set this up. Her standing over me as if she was my savior. I'm not fucking fooled! Next time I see her, she's dead!"
"Well unfortunately Miss Semra D'vessa has fled the Empire and who knows where she's gone. There aren't even many svelk mercs within borders of the Empire anymore. There still might be a few in Rask, (cough cough) if you'd like I could make that law to have all svelk executed on sight. Hell, I think I'll do that anyway. Someone needs to take the blame for this and it'll certainly make the citizens happy to have mass hangings of dark elves. I know the elves will love it."

While the Emperor's attempts to cheer you up with small acts of genocide are kind, you begin to feel the need to be by yourself. Your silence and your eyes looking downward are all the signs that the Emperor needs to take his leave.

"Don't worry son. We'll get her." He says and then leaves you to your solitude.

You sit in bed for a long time trying to take everything in. Alison is gone. You'll never see her smile, you'll never feel her touch, you'll never hear her voice, you'll never enjoy anything involving her ever again. You almost feel like you don't want to go on living and you never thought you'd ever feel something like that especially since survival has been beat and ingrained into your very being.

That isn't the worst of it though. You didn't even get revenge on the one that killed her. In fact her assassin would've killed you as well if you hadn't been saved, but that's still not the worst of it.

Semra…Mistress…svelk bitch…whatever you call her. She saved your life.

As far as you're concerned that's the worst of it. However you'll get over it and grow stronger from this experience. You always do.

All it takes is time.
Year 35

While you've never been excessively fond of these important meetings because they take you away from the battlefield, you like them even less nowadays due to having to see the Emperor in such a weakened state. You remember when he first started displaying the signs of being unwell; you dismissed it and thought that he'd eventually get better. Five years have passed since you found out and he's only gotten worse.

He barely gets out of bed anymore. Most of these important meetings take place while he remains horizontal under his blankets. He's still mobile, but he tries to conserve his strength for when it's necessary.

He's never even told you what it is that's causing his decline, though you've never thought to ask. (And Jacob certainly hasn't) It may just be old age finally catching up with him which means there is nothing that can be done hence why he doesn't bother bringing it up.

Its funny how when you first met him that he looked so healthy. You thought he was immortal despite him telling you that he really wasn't. Now you know he wasn't just being humble.

You and Jacob have been doing your best as usual in carrying out his most important orders. Though today the order is given specifically to you. You have to go meet with Marik.

Marik's been running a secret experiment for the last sixteen years and says that its finally ready. The Emperor knew about it and actually told him to abandon it on more than one occasion, but Marik insisted that it would be a good idea, so the Emperor relented as long as it didn't interfere with project that would be of a more direct benefit for the Empire.

When you arrive at Marik's underground lab, he takes you through a metal door that opens up to a platformed level, which overlooks a huge room. It's nearly the size of a small hamlet you think. There are several ladders that descend down to the lower level which contain translucent containers all hooked up with tubing and connected with each other and large strange machines. Even from this distance you can make out figures floating in liquid within the containers.

This experiment: Breeding a new army of Eternals. The derro has been growing them in these tanks. Literally hundreds, possibly even a thousand.

"So…this is what you were hiding behind this metal door when I came here over ten years ago. Knew something else was going on." You say as you stand on a balcony overlooking all the rows of tanks.

Unlike you and your siblings these Eternals were practically "made." From your understanding they went from some woman's womb to the tank immediately. (You can only hazard a guess what might've become of the mothers, but nothing good no doubt) From there they've been getting "grown" into the perfect soldiers.

Marik has explained to you the "science" of what he's done, but some of it is going over your head. Personally you don't even think Marik understands all of it himself, he just believes it all works. While Marik did use human babies for this second generation of Eternals most would probably tell you that there isn't anything human about them. Given what's been said about you as well you can't really disagree. You are better than the average or even above average human in every way.

You watch as two of them are released from their tanks, already teenagers and able to understand everything that is told to them. They're given weapons and display great skill with them when ordered to fight each other. Probably just as good as most Empire soldiers.

Still, there's something about these Eternals that doesn't sit right with you. Maybe its because Marik was involved and that his experiments can be hit or miss. Maybe its because you feel that without the experiences of training they don't truly know what its like to struggle and earn their place.

Whatever the reason, you don't feel like they are Eternals. As little in common as you have with your own siblings you still feel a small bond there. You have nothing in common with these tank babies. They're something else as far as you're concerned.

However, none of this matters. What does matter is if these so called new Eternals are going to actually be an asset to the Empire. From what you've seen they aren't without skill, but they're going to need to be field tested along with drilling the concepts of loyalty and duty into them.

"Sure, they look pretty, but can they fight?" you say after seeing the demonstration. This annoys Marik. He starts sputtering and stammering to the point where you think he's going to go into a seizure.
"You just SAW what they're capable of! How can you even say such a thing?"
"Yes, they were okay for children. I suppose we can find a place for them somewhere. Perhaps we can…"
"Bah! You're just jealous!" Marik interrupts.
"Excuse me? Jealous?" you ask.
"Yes! They're already the perfect warriors and didn't need any training at all! They didn't need all the hand holding nonsense that you had to go through to become a killing machine. Face it, these Eternals are the future!"

You stare at Marik in disbelief that he dares to say such a thing to you. To his credit, Marik doesn't back down, he stares back at you, ignoring your eyes burning through him.

"You can give me that stare of death all you want Eternal." Marik remarks.
"Alright…open up ten of the tanks. Let's put them to a real test."
"What? So you can incinerate them with your magic?"
"If they're truly as good as you claim then my advantages shouldn't matter, but since you seem to be unsure of your creations now. I'll make it easy for you. Open up twenty of the tanks and I won't use one damn cantrip."

Marik starts making that annoying high pitched laugh you hate so much then he suddenly gets very serious.

"Were you planning on fighting them right now?" Marik asks.
"While I'm sure watching me slaughtering twenty naked teenagers would prove my point, I said I was going to make this easy. No, you go equip your twenty creations with whatever armor and weapons you wish. I'll wait."

You wait as Marik orders twenty tanks opened up and has a few of his derro friends herd these children into another room presumably to get outfitted. Marik soon follows behind to oversee personally.

While you wait, you reflect on the fact that they're all the same age as you were when you first got to meet the Emperor. It was one of the greatest days of your life when that happened. This happy moment passes very quickly when you have to dwell on the fact that the Emperor is now on his deathbed. You have no idea what's going to happen when the inevitable happens. Sometimes you look at the Emperor now and you wonder if that is what you have to look forward to when you get old.

Is that the fate of everyone? No matter how powerful? What's the point of it all? Will the Empire even survive when the Emperor dies? He doesn't have a successor. You have often wondered if you would be it, but he's never mentioned it. Even if you were, you can't imagine ever doing the job better or even as well than he could. Leading armies is one thing, but an entire nation? You don't know if you'd have the patience for it. You're a soldier not a ruler and yet you couldn't dream of serving any other ruler except the one you think of as father.

Your mood starts getting worse because you also start dwelling on less pleasant aspects of your sixteenth year before you met the Emperor. It always comes back to her. Why the hell can't you get her out of your head?

Even now the woman hasn't been seen in three years and yet she still comes back to fucking torment you.

Alison's dead, the Emperor's dying, these new "eternals" are obviously meant to replace you, your own future is uncertain, Semra still haunts your thoughts…

At this point you wonder if it wouldn't just be best if you let these damn tank babies kill you. It would at least be a warrior's death and you'd die when the Empire was going through a second golden age of sorts.

You had some good times and saw several major threats to the Empire destroyed. Why stick around to see a man you have nothing but respect for continue to whither and die? Why see the potential slow decline of a nation you spent all your life trying to keep from the brink of chaos?

Maybe it is time to step aside gracefully and be replaced…

You continue your duty

Sometimes the most dangerous enemy you can have is the one in the mirror. You quickly snap out of your defeatism.

All this self doubt and self-pity is for weaklings. What would the Emperor say if he knew? What would Alison say? You were trained better than that. You don't have time to worry about a potential future; you have a duty to serve the Empire. And right now part of that job is to test these tank babies.

The only death you should be focusing on right now is theirs.

Doesn't take long before twenty tank babies along with the other two that were involved in the first demonstration come out fully decked out in armor and weapons. Surprisingly the derro didn't deck them all out in the heaviest body encasing armor they could give them, though there are at least half of them dressed in such a manner. You can't help notice that the derro didn't limit their weapons to close combat, you see some with firearms.

"Well here they are. The future of the Empire. I imagine you'll want to…" Marik says and then he realizes what you're doing…
"Lying bastard! Get out of the way NOW!" he shouts and runs back into the room they just came out of and slams the door. The tank babies don't entirely understand, but they soon do when you cast a bolt of chain lightning at the lot of them. The lightning arc easily fries the tank babies in the metal armor, even the ones dressed less conductive material are standing so close they suffer the shock as well. Combine this with the gunpowder weapons and you even get a couple of small explosions which take out a few of them.

After you're done with the spell a couple of them are crawling away desperately trying to find cover or escape. Bodies lie on the floor still sizzling and charred from your attack. You walk over to the carnage and put your sword through the chest of one still struggling to breathe. You stomp on the neck of another who is cursing you. Another one actually begs you for mercy; you show none when you hack the top of his head off.

As you continue to check the twenty two bodies for signs of life, Marik finally emerges from behind the door along with some of the other derro.

"Thought the derro didn't fear death." You remark.
"We don't, but we're not supposed to be the fucking targets today! You lied Eternal! You told me you weren't going to use magic!"
'Actually I think my exact words were I wasn't going to use a single cantrip, and I didn't use a cantrip."
"Bah! Trickery!"
"I prefer to think of it as outmaneuvering your opponents assumptions. This was not a battle of honor. I have nothing to prove to these children and even less to you. I went into battle against superior numbers, I'd be a damned fool to not use all of the tools of killing that I have at my disposal. Whenever you go into a combat situation, you ALWAYS use whatever means to destroy your enemy. Fair play, rules and honor have nothing to do with any of it."
"Hm, well you don't need to tell me about it." Marik responds.
"I wasn't telling you, I was teaching this important lesson to this young girl here, trying to play dead." You say suddenly grabbing the collar of one of the female tank babies. You lift her up by the collar and can smell the singed flesh and leather wafting from her body. She can barely keep her eyes open, but she's definitely still alive. She's the only one that is.

"Now heed this lesson tank baby. You are NOT an Eternal. Nor are any of your siblings. You will NEVER be Eternals as long as I live. You only exist to serve the Empire and if you die in the process you will be grateful to do so. Remember this." You say as you grab her face to look into her eyes. You see the fear. She understands. Good.

You let the tank baby go and she falls back to the floor while you address Marik.

"I believe I'm going to have trainer come in to teach these children properly. I'd do it myself, but I don't have the time. Perhaps another Eternal like Brenda or Warrick can do it. Oh and make that one on the floor a squad or platoon leader of some sort. She obviously was strong enough to survive. She at least shows potential. Finally give them a different name as well. I don't care what, but I meant what I said, they are not Eternals."
"And you think you can presume to give me orders surfacer?" Marik says.
"I don't presume nothing, I'm doing it right now! I was given orders by the Emperor himself to handle this the way I saw fit! And I'm telling you WHAT I want done! You don't like it? Well, I can always go report to the Emperor about your unwillingness to follow the chain of command, unless you'd actually like to go see him yourself that is. Tell me when was the last time you actually took time out of your schedule to do that? While you sit around down here playing with your toys and walking experiments, I'm actually out there making a damn difference and serving the Emperor with ever fiber of my being!"
"Now listen here you fucking sun lover, I knew the man BEFORE he was the Emperor! We fought side by side together during the Troll Wars! I saved his life and he saved mine! You have no damn idea the bond WE share. You can't tell me shit about how I should or shouldn't act and you damn sure can't tell me that I'm not helping the Empire! I'M HIS FUCKING FRIEND!"
"Friend? So what have you done for him lately?"
"Done? DONE? I just made a legion of soldiers for him, you little kobold shit!"

You look over the tank baby bodies lying dead all over the place. You look at the female one unconscious on the floor and shake your head.

"Yeah, as I said, what have you done for him lately? Maybe he's your friend, but he's my father. I'm not debating this anymore Marik." You say and take your leave.

Marik begins yelling at you in his deep guttural derro language. A slew of curses and other insults fly out of his mouth. While you're semi-familiar with the derro language you can't make out all of them. They're probably pretty vicious though.

Either way you're hardly concerned, Marik will follow orders because he respects the chain of command and as he said he is the Emperor's friend. The other reason is because he probably won't even be angry in another ten minutes. He'll probably be cackling about some joke he made up in his head.

You've had a lot to ponder this day. You were once concerned about the future of the Empire and your own, but you see now that both will continue on even after the Emperor dies. You still have that zest of life within you and you are not ready or willing to just stand aside yet.

You've come to the decision that when the Emperor dies you will be the one to take his place. While he's never said it, he doesn't have to, it's just a situation that's understood between a father and son. Still, you think you need to discuss this matter at some point with your father so that he knows that his legacy will live on after him and you will continue to make him proud.

In the meantime you make your way back to the capital and the palace to report to him. What comes next is a bit of a shock.

"F…father?" you ask.
"Yes, its me son. I believe that's the first time you've called me that." The Emperor says standing before you.

He looks exactly like he did when you first met him; in fact he even looks a little younger. A fit fortyish man dressed in fine clothing. You just continue to stare in disbelief.

"Ah, yes this. I suppose this would be a bit puzzling. As you well know I haven't been feeling one hundred percent for oh…about five years now. Had to conserve my strength and power quite a bit to reinvigorate myself. This state I'm in right now isn't going to last very long, but it'll be enough for where I'm going."
"What? Where are you going?"
"Home. And you'll be coming with me."
"I will?"
"Of course! This will be a momentous occasion when I return home and your presence will be necessary just as it has been here in the Empire!"
"Forgive me father, but I'm a little lost right now. What is going to happen to the Empire and where is home?"
"Nothing will happen to the Empire son, it can survive a couple days or so without us around I should think. We'll let Jacob worry about it! Hah! As for my home? Well it's very very far away. It's an island to be exact. You can't get there by any ship though…at least not any more. But you don't need to worry about that, I know how to get us there. All you need to do is take a day to relax and prepare yourself for the journey."

This is all so overwhelming you don't even know where to start or what to say so you just ask the first question that comes to mind and something you thought was inevitable.

"Father, are you going home to die?"
"Die?" the Emperor says and then walks over to you.

"No son, I'm going home to be reborn!" he says and then laughs slapping you on the shoulder. "I'm sorry son if I worried you, what with me coughing all the damn time and dragging my ass around like a dead man. (Sigh) We probably should've taken this trip sooner, but we still had to finish off those damn gnomes now didn't we? Plus I wasn't sure if it was going to be necessary yet and then you got married, then Semra's bullshit, it just seemed like stuff kept cropping up. Well now is the perfect time for us to take this trip. I bet you're glad though now that you know I won't be dying anytime soon."
"Yeah…" you answer

The Emperor goes on to say that your report on Marik's experiment can wait since this trip is much more important. He then tells you that should go rest up and to meet him here tomorrow. You agree and take your leave.

As you make your way to your private quarters in the palace, you don't know what to think now. You were so certain that the Emperor was dying. After years of denying it you at last came to accept it. You were ready to take his place.

Part of you feels relieved that the Emperor is going to live. Part of you feels confused about this whole situation. And then there's that part of you that feels cheated. That part of you that wishes the Emperor was still lying on his deathbed.

You think back to what you said to Marik, YOU'VE been the one out there doing things for the Empire. YOU'VE been the one destroying its enemies and keeping it stable. What the hell has the Emperor been doing? Giving orders from his easy chair? Ranting about gnomes? Lying in his bed hacking up a lung? You should be running the Empire not him.

"I can't believe I'm thinking this. What is wrong with me? This man is my father!" You whisper to yourself. You didn't want to "step aside" for those tank babies because your time wasn't up. Why should the Emperor step aside for you? You begin to feel deeply ashamed of your thoughts

While you're having your moral quandary, Jacob is standing outside your quarters.

"We need to talk." He says.

The reveal...

Jacob and you enter your room. Jacob looks almost as bad as the Emperor once did. He hasn't been the same since Roldan died, but he's also been overworked since the Emperor has been sick. The man is in his late sixties, but nowadays he looks more like he's in his late eighties. The stress has been taking a toll.

"Jacob, I really hope this is important because I've got a lot going through my mind right now." You say.
"I'm sure you do, but you'll have a lot more after you hear what I have to say. Though after you hear it you might just decide to kill me instead, but that's a risk I'll just have to take."
"Can't be anything worse than anything I haven't thought myself today." You say.
"I highly doubt that, but I just want you to at least hear me out before you make a decision."

You sit down and nod telling Jacob to go ahead.

"Okay. I know you just came from a meeting with the Emperor and his revitalized condition. I'm also guessing he told you to that he wants you to go back home with him."
"Yes." You reply.
"Do you know where his original home is?"
"He said it was a very far away island that couldn't even be reached by a boat. That was about it."
"Figures he'd be cryptic. His home is Mortos, an island of necromancers. It's not a well-known place to the average person. Most that have heard of it just believe it's a myth, but it exists."
"What?"
"The Emperor is a necromancer. I mean it makes sense doesn't it? How else would he have the knowledge to extend his life for so long?"
"Okay, so what?"
"You are aware of what necromancers do don't you?"
"I'm aware of the branch of magic. Most just believe it's about raising the dead, but it deals with life force in general. Healing mages use it all time at a cost of course. Only the strongest of wizards can use the art, let alone master it. Hence why there aren't many around and why stories about necromancers creeping about graveyards raising armies of undead horrors are mostly reserved for parents trying to scare their children." You say.

Jacob gets a little frustrated at your apathy at this revelation.

"Perhaps I'm not making myself clear enough…the Emperor is a necromancer. Roldan was KILLED by a revenant. YOUR WIFE was KILLED by a revenant."

That got your attention. You stand up and Jacob can't help but step back even though he knows you'd easily catch him if he tried to run.

"You're treading on very thin ice Jacob."
"Believe me I'm well aware."
"Then you must also be aware that you sound crazier than Marik right now. What you're implying doesn't even make sense."
"Why not? It does if you really think about it."
"Semra was responsible for my wife's death and Roldan's death! She is also a powerful sorceress that is more than capable of raising the dead!"
"Yes, and she's also a perfect patsy for your wrath. The Emperor wanted you to think it was her, but it wasn't. Think man, even if she did have your wife killed why would she bother having Roldan killed? She had no grudge. There was no profit in it. Chaos for the sake of chaos? Not Semra's style and you know it. That woman didn't do anything without purpose even if she was chaotic about it at times. Besides if she REALLY wanted to kill your wife, she would've just done it herself."

You think back to when Alison told you she met Semra face to face and entertain Jacob's theory.

"Even if Semra wasn't responsible, why would the Emperor have Roldan and Alison killed?"
"Because of you. It's all because of you."
"Me? How? Why?"
"(Sigh) It's a very long and complex plot. I've only been piecing some of it together myself. I'll try to tell you what I know."

Jacob starts off by explaining that it all goes back to your birth and the Eternal Project. You and all of your "siblings" were picked for it for a reason. You weren't just to become super soldiers for the Empire. One of you was going to be chosen to be the new vessel for the Emperor, but only if that Eternal showed promise. Apparently you did. Jacob explains that while the chosen needed to be a great warrior with magical skill and be put to the test, the Emperor didn't want to risk your life excessively, hence why he initially wanted to keep you out of very heavy fighting. Also he didn't want any of the potential vessels to complicate things by potentially producing offspring so sterility was something that ensured during your "enhancement" period as a baby.

You were a perfect soldier that was utterly loyal, so much so that you saw the Emperor as your father. Then Alison came along. Alison was the only other person that you had a close relationship with and that distracted you from your duty. Or more precisely, it made your loyalties potentially divided. The Emperor couldn't take a chance with another person turning your devotion elsewhere or corrupting his influence over you so she had to die.

The assassination of Roldan was just a simple matter of taking out a potential future rival. Roldan's fame was at least as much as your own, and he was probably better liked. Even if Roldan was loyal, the Emperor couldn't take a chance of another potential domestic rebellion with a charismatic leader. Jacob also believes that the Emperor also just did it out of mean spiritedness since he knew how proud Jacob was of Roldan.

On top of everything else he could lay all the blame on Semra.

Jacob isn't sure exactly how the Emperor plans to transfer himself into your body, but given that it involves a trip to the island of Mortos, he's sure it can't be good and that you as a person will cease to be so that the Emperor can continue his immortal reign.

While this is all very interesting from a conspiracy point of view, you aren't convinced.

"So are you seriously telling me the Emperor has been molding me into some container that is to be filled? You're telling me that this man who I see as my father and treats me as his son has been lying to me from the beginning about everything? Even if this were the case and I highly doubt it is, HOW do you know all this? What evidence do you have?"

Jacob at this point is extremely nervous.

"I…I have no hard evidence. I mean I've seen a few private writings, but I dared not to take them."
"So what you're telling me is that you've been snooping into the Emperor's privacy and can't even back up your accusations."
"No! I also have another person who can back up these facts! She…"

You stop Jacob.

"She? Jacob, I really hope you aren't talking about who I think you're talking about."

Jacob ignores your warning and blurts out what he has to say as quickly as he can.

"Look, I pieced together some of the assassination myself, but Semra told me about the true purpose of the Eternal Project. But this isn't about just you. This is about a potential danger of world proportions! The Emperor isn't just a ruler seeking everlasting life; Semra says he has a more sinister agenda that he's been planning for centuries and given that I've recently learned his original homeland is Mortos I'm inclined to believe her."
"Believe Semra? Really? Then you're a damn fool along with being a traitor! Just how long have you been in contact with Semra? WHERE IS SHE?!" you ask and slam Jacob against the wall.

"Please…I'm telling you the truth! I'm no traitor! I'm loyal to the Empire first and foremost and I see the Emperor's actions as something that will harm it in the long run! The Emperor needs to be stopped, whatever it is he has planned. You can't go to Mortos with him! You have to kill him!"
"I'll kill YOU for speaking such treason!" and begin squeezing Jacob's neck.

"(Sigh) I told you this wasn't going to work Jacob. He's too hopelessly brainwashed to listen. Not even the death of his beloved Alison will cause him to believe that the Emperor means him ill. I guess I should've just killed him long ago, but as they say love makes you do stupid things."

You turn around and see Semra. You don't think, you just lunge, only to pass through Semra and crash into some furniture. Its not really Semra, its just a magic projection of some sort.

"I suppose I should be flattered that you still want to get your hands on me." Semra remarks.
"After I'm done killing Jacob, I'm going to find and kill you, bitch." You say getting back up.
"I'm sure, but I don't have much time so I'm going to make this brief. Unlike our sniveling associate over there, I'm not going to appeal to your logic or reason, because its always been hampered by your warped sense of mindless duty. I'm going to appeal to your sense of desire and survival, because despite your warped sense of mindless duty, you can't suppress those."

You draw your weapon and walk past Semra's image to butcher Jacob who pleads with you to spare his life.

"Okay here it is, you WANT to kill the Emperor. You WANT to rule the Empire. Don't tell me you haven't thought about it. I know your desires better than anyone else. Even if the Emperor isn't planning on taking your body as his own and is going to just rejuvenate himself in some other way, why would you still want that? Isn't it time for him to accept his demise and step aside for someone else? Who better than you? Are you truly happy just surviving and serving like a drone or are you going to finally step up and take what is rightfully yours? You've already had a major hand in expanding the Empire and holding it together, why not take the next natural step?"

You stop yourself from killing Jacob and turn back to Semra.

"You don't have to like me, you don't have to believe me, just listen to me lover. I've always known what's best for you. Kill the Emperor now while he's at his weakest, there has never been a better time. You were born to rule. Its in your blood, its in your heart, its in your soul. Seize your potential and do what's meant to be." Semra says.

With Jacob's damning accusations and Semra's words appealing to your ambitious aspirations, you now don't know what to do. Should you dismiss everything they say as lies and stay loyal or should you not take any chances with your own survival and kill the Emperor regardless of reasons?

You serve

There's no way you'd ever murder your father least of all over allegations from Semra and Jacob. None of this makes any damn sense anyway.

Semra's lying and trying to manipulate you as usual. She's taken her treachery to its next logical level, attempting to overthrow the Emperor. As for Jacob, the man is just a weak willed traitor that's easily fooled by her lies. He's also probably harboring a petty grudge for the countless times the Emperor scolded him for his incompetence.

Without another word you turn back to Jacob and quickly run him through. He looks at you with a mixture of pain and surprise as if he really though Semra's words would reach you. He makes a slow groaning sound as the life drains from him. Meanwhile Semra's image continues to look on at you shaking her head.

"And now your subservience is complete. I believe I really am truly done with you now. I've tried to always make you see the truth, but you continue to insist on remaining ignorant. Even when you betrayed me with your little monkey shield maiden by marrying her I at least knew you weren't completely a tool for the Emperor. I knew you at least had a modicum of free will and your own mind even if it was lost on some crude human trollop. Now? I can see I was just wasting my time and at your core, you'll always be a mindless drone longing only to serve"
"Enjoy your taunts now Semra, because you won't have time to run off at the mouth when I'm cutting out your tongue."
"Chances are this will be the last time we ever see each other. Enjoy your trip to Mortos, perhaps there you will finally see the truth. Of course by that time it'll be too late, but at last you will see it. Goodbye Eternal."

Semra's magical projection disappears and you're left alone in your quarters with Jacob's dead body. After a bit of clean up, you go back to see the Emperor.

"Hello son, is something wrong? You're a bit early for our trip." He remarks.

You explain everything that just happened about Jacob and Semra.

"Can't trust anyone these days can you? I mean Semra, I knew she'd pop up again trying to cause trouble, but Jacob? The man could be so timid at times, though sometimes those are the ones you have to watch right? Still, I can't believe he'd be foolish enough to actually try to talk you into siding against me. Guess Semra's lies were good enough to convince even him, not you though it seems." The Emperor replies.

You don't respond. Despite the fact that you've dismissed what was told you as lies, you can't help but wonder.

"I see… I guess maybe their words did convince you more than you're letting on. So what is it that's troubling you exactly?"
"Everything I suppose. I don't even know where to begin and I know I shouldn't even be entertaining anything that Semra says, but…(Sigh) Semra said something that I DO know to be true. She said that I harbored a desire to kill you and take over the Empire."
"And is that what you want to do?"
"No! You're my father. Other than Alison, you're the only person in this world that's always been there for me. I owe you a debt that can never be repaid other than my everlasting loyalty and servitude. However, I can't deny there have been moments where I've felt negative feelings towards you. Granted they've been very fleeting, but they've become more frequent lately. As much as I don't like it, Semra does know me and if she told the truth about that, then I can't help but wonder if she has told the truth about other things as well."
"Well the best liars do mix the truth with their lies. Svelk do it better than most and Semra is definitely a master. First of all with Mortos, I do intend on rejuvenating myself, but I need your help because you're the only other person with magical aptitude that I trust and I'll need your sword arm as well. Let's just say when I left, it wasn't on good terms and my return may be met with hostility."
"Why didn't you tell me that before?"
"I'll admit I probably should've told you about my former homeland a long time ago. Honestly, I didn't because its partly because I have my own feelings of shame tied to that place. Yes, there are things in my past I do regret. Not many, but what happened there is definitely one. Which bring me to one of your other concerns and believe me son; I had nothing to do with the murder of your wife. It is true I didn't approve, but that was just because I've had my own experiences with love and loss and didn't want you potentially going through the same pain. Pain that is greater than any wound that could come from a battlefield as I'm sure you know."

You nod silently in agreement and the Emperor continues.

"That lost love of mine you might even say is one of my other regrets. You are special. Unique even. Its what makes someone like you or me powerful. But it's also something that makes us doomed to follow a lonely solitary path. I knew that long ago, but I also knew you had to experience it first hand, so I let you do your own thing. Who knows though, if it hadn't been for Semra, you may very well have had a long happy marriage or you may have grown out of love due to unforeseen differences. I know this is of very little consolation, but at least your Alison died knowing you loved her and she loved you. A lot better than what I experienced…but that's a tale for another time."

The Emperor's words make you feel a little better now that he's explained himself and defended his position a bit. Still, he didn't address your last concern.

"And what of my other fear?"
"Oh, yes that. Your hidden desire to kill and replace me. Heh heh. Well I'm not too worried, not because I don't think you couldn't do it, but rather because that feeling is probably no different to what all children have felt towards their parents since the beginning of time. You're not always going to think positive things about me, nor would I expect you to. As you said, Semra does know you and she just played upon your emotions. She forgot though, I also know you and I know you would never willingly harm me in any way. If you did hold that desire, you would've never killed Jacob and told me all this. You would've came busting down the door and challenging me instead. And you certainly wouldn't have been troubled about your feelings over it."

Funny how the Emperor can make everything seem okay with just a few words. Maybe that's why he's right about you and that's why he knows you'd never kill him. With this last concern put somewhat at ease, you feel much more at ease. You have to ask though…

"Are Eternals really unable to have children?"
"Yes. An unfortunate side effect of your enhancement I'm afraid. Another regret I suppose. I do not know if you ever desired to have offspring with Alison, but if you did, you have my everlasting apologies."

With this last piece of information the matter is now at rest or at least you feel less apprehensive about going to Mortos now. The Emperor says that with Jacob's death he's going to have to promote another bean counter, but that it can wait until you get back.

"The Empire isn't going to suddenly collapse just because its ruler and second are gone for a day or so."
"But who's technically in charge then?" you ask
"Good question. I suppose Marik!" The Emperor laughs.

The next morning you meet the Emperor in one of his preparation rooms where you used to practice the magic that he taught you. It is there you see a large glowing blue portal and the Emperor standing right next to it. He looks tired.

"Glad you're here, I'm anxious to make this trip. Whew. I really should've had you help me open up this portal; I underestimated how taxing it would be. No matter. Are you ready?"
"I suppose so, but is there anything I should really expect? I mean will there be a horde of undead horrors? Will there be ghosts trying to attack my mind? Will there be creatures as powerful like the one I faced during my wife's murder?"
"I wish I could give you better information, but I don't have any since I myself haven't been there in centuries. I can only suggest to be prepared for all of the above. Though I will say there probably won't be something like a revenant there. Unlike Semra, the necromancers of Mortos have enough sense to not go around creating powerful free willed undead. Well, usually anyway. You probably should just stick close to me the whole time; Mortos can be pretty unfriendly to the living."
"Well I would imagine so."
"No, I don't just mean the undead roaming about, I'm talking about the very land itself. The entire island feeds on life energy, you step in the wrong area and you could suddenly find yourself transformed into a thousand year old skeleton. As you might expect the population's life expectancy isn't exactly a long one save for the necromancers."
"Wait, there are living people that exist on the island?"
"Sure. Quite a lot of them. Mostly in magically protected enclaves thanks to the necromancers. Mostly humans, but eh…I'd hesitate to call a lot of them that anymore. Let's just say living in an area filled with undead tends to make people either very pragmatic or bat shit insane or both."
"So they're basically tall derro that live on the surface?"
"Ha ha ha! Yes, I suppose is some ways they might be."

With this little joke to lighten a potentially very grim trip, you and the Emperor enter the portal. Before you know it your surroundings are very different.

All around you land is dead. Dead trees, rocks, barren soil, cracked ground. Everything has a gray looking appearance mostly due to the unnatural sky. Its not night, its not day, its just a dull gray and you get the impression its always this way. On top of all this you have no idea where the Emperor is. He isn't by your side and you'd start to worry, if you suddenly didn't hear his voice in your head.

"Son? Are you there?"
"Yes. I'm here. Where are you?"
"I'm at the location. I'm communicating to you psychically since my powers are enhanced here. Blasted portal still didn't work properly though. I'm sorry son, but you're going to have to walk over here. Your destination is a small isolated temple; you won't miss it if you keep walking west from your location. You aren't too far, but you're going to have to walk through one of those inhabited settlements I was talking about earlier. Be on your guard. I'd tell you to go around it, but there's a lot of harmful energy in the area. I wouldn't want you to step into a negative zone. I'd also keep in contact with you, but I believe I'm about to be attacked by the guardians of this temple. Seems they upgraded the defenses since I was here last time. I can handle it, but do try to hurry."

Acknowledging the Emperor's directions, you begin heading to the west

You haven't been here a few minutes and you start to understand what the Emperor was talking about as far as it being unfriendly to the living. You can feel a slight loss not just of endurance, or even mental fatigue, but almost like hope and zest. Like the place is slowly telling you lay down and die. While it's certainly not a pleasant feeling, after years of mind fuckery from Semra, you're more than capable of shrugging off the effects.

Eventually you stand on the outskirts of a small deteriorating village. You don't see anyone about at first, but then you do notice a few figures peeking out from the windows of nearby houses. Since your presence is most likely already known; you figure the best bet is to just run through as quickly as you can.

You pass by several houses and begin to hear a combination of hisses, snarls and howls. Eventually the figures that you've glimpsed start to make their appearance and pour out of their homes.

They look worse than you imagined. All of them have a sickly appearance with either grayish or yellowish skin and wearing either tattered rags or in some cases nothing at all. Deformities plague most of them; some have missing limbs or extra ones in the wrong places. Unsurprisingly they begin screaming at you in whatever bizarre language they speak and give chase.

You don't get unnerved too often about dangerous situations, but the combination of their disfigurements, their numbers, the unnatural sounds they make and how they lope after you is a bit unsettling. You need to stop or at least slow them down quickly.

You cast a lightning blast

You attempt to stop the horde chasing you by casting a lightning strike at it. It fries a couple outright, but the chain lightning effect isn't as effective as you'd like since none are wearing anything conductive and they aren't even slowed down, let alone stopped. If anything they now seem to be more charged up (literally!) and excited.

Not having any more time to cast something else, you turn and run. As you run through the village more of them are coming out their homes ahead of you. Several of the inhabitants attempt to grab you and while you manage to chop them up, they slow you down enough that the bulk of them chasing you catch up.

Dozens of the damn things gibbering, slobbering, laughing and howling in your ear as you try to get free of their clutches. Several misshaped hands attempt to pull you down and deprive you of your weapon. Teeth sink into your armor and some even manage to find exposed bits of flesh.

You fight the best you can and slay several of the creature, but for every one you kill it seems like two more take its place. Things don't get any batter when another large group of the creatures come from the direction you were originally running towards show up as reinforcements. The sheer numbers are bad enough, but what's really making things worse is the slight drain of your energy from the very air of this accursed place.

Several of you fingers are bitten off, your armor is stripped off and eventually the creatures manage pile on you so much that you fall to the ground. In your last moments you scream out for the Emperor to help you, but nobody arrives and the creatures finish eating you alive.