Chapter 2B2: Dendrin's Shadow


Year 20

"So Brother Cyrus and Brother Draven are going to be assigned to Rask soon?" you ask.
"That's what I've heard from Brother Gray. Them and a few others. Next year at the latest." Murk says
"Good idea, from what I've heard the Empire is always having problems with that area, though I think they'll start having problems in other areas too soon now that they're officially at war with the Felkan Kingdom."
"Personally I don't think we should be waiting around now, we should push things along even more." Brother Shade says. "In fact, I'm going to mention that to Master Ebon next time I see him."
"You don't think that he hasn't already thought of such a plan?" Talia asks.
"Perhaps, but let's just say I've been here a little longer than the rest of you, and while I know Master Ebon is just waiting for the right time to strike, he's been playing the waiting game a little longer than I think is necessary."

This statement from Brother Shade gets a lot of looks, but nobody says anything. Even you are surprised as this is the first time you believe you've heard something close to an open criticism about Master Ebon or the leadership structure in general.

Soon after his statement Brother Shade leaves to attend his duties.

"Brother Shade should watch how he talks about Master Ebon. Ebon speaks directly to Dendrin on a daily basis and knows best on how to proceed." Murk remarks.
"Then why did you not speak up, instead of just sitting there?" Sister Bianca asks.
"Uh…well…"
"Always trying to impress the ladies, eh Murk?" you chuckle and take your leave to go about your duties as well.

Later that night you fall asleep and have an encounter with someone you don't want to interact with unless you have to…

"So I see you're fitting in well after all. Glad to see it seeing as you still don't particularly hold a lot of faith in my help. You are a most puzzling creature Eternal." Dendrin says.
"For someone with god powers, you aren't very omniscient. As I said, I joined the Shadow Guard's cause because it's the best chance to bring down the Empire. Master Ebon is the leader and whether he's getting reliable guidance from you or not is irrelevant, he's who I'm following not you."
"Interesting, so you've just exchanged one Emperor for another."
"No, for one I actually have interacted with Master Ebon and understand his motivations and goals better. As far as I know about the Emperor and the Empire, they're just into power for power's sake. And what do you care? I'm following Ebon and he follows you, so shouldn't you be happy?"

At this point a low chortle pierces your brain.

"Perhaps I am. Perhaps I am. As always I enjoy our little talks Eternal."

Sometime later you wake up from your sleep, still wondering what the hell Dendrin's game is.

Year 21

"Besides the hidden cells we already have, I think we can definitely count on the elven population for support when the time comes, I don't think there's a single one that would defend the Empire, if it meant a true end to it. As for the human population well its hit or miss. We know we'll stir up any slaves and probably criminal types looking to take advantage of the chaos. The poorer folk might be a bit divided. Some are still brainwashed fools happy to toil under the iron fist, though happily a lot seem to be grumbling as of late. It'll probably go more to our favor when the revolution goes full swing." You tell your fellow shadows.
"Good to hear. The reports I get from Cyrus at Fort Defiance are promising as well. He says that he's made contact with the orc commander who has been stirring up a bit of rebellion in the orcs. He's been slowly transferring many of them to Rask and concentrating on having them all rebel there though. This Captain Gruz states it would be too risky to do it with the orc serving on the Felkan frontlines as well since he needs to keep his profile somewhat low and they're probably just going to get killed soon in that meat grinder anyway." Brother Gray remarks.
"And I still say we should've pushed further on sabotage on that front, not to mention try to convince Gruz to influence the orcs stationed there anyway."
"Yes, yes, so you've said. Brother Shade isn't it enough that your voice was heard on the orc issue at all? You should be satisfied with that fact rather than pushing for needless recklessness. Your idea contribution was utilized in the best way that will advance Dendrin's agenda. Be happy for such a thing brother." Brother Gray responds.

Brother Shade sits back down and scowls, but says nothing else except a few grumbles. He does glare at you as if you're to blame, but it's not your fault. You've been putting in just as much work as everyone trying to cultivate dissension and looking for weaknesses to exploit when the time comes, you sort of hope it comes soon though because even you are getting tired of the waiting around. You're still an Eternal and the desire for combat on a grand scale is still there.

After the meeting you head towards your room since you have no more duties for today. As you walk down the corridor Talia catches up with you.

"Where is Brother Murk, normally he's by your side talking to you after these things."
"He had to rush to the Delerg province; he had duties to attend to there immediately after the meeting.
"I see, for a moment I thought you were going to tell me he was attempting to unsuccessfully attempt to charm sister Bianca again."
"He probably still did that before he left."
"I don't know why he puts himself through the hassle. It is obvious she will never feel that way about him." Talia remarks.
"Oh I dunno, with enough time he might wear her down in twenty years."
"Perhaps, but his time would better spent elsewhere pursuing a mate. Certain people just aren't made to be together, unlike say us for example."

While you and Talia have grown slightly closer over the years, you weren't aware it was to that level!

"Okay Talia, you're going to have to explain in greater detail on this issue, because I'm lost."
"I intend to. Basically I am choosing you now as a mate. I think you know there is wisdom in this."
"Wha? Now? Me? Why?"
"Because even though we are all siblings and equals in the eyes of Dendrin, quite frankly WE…" Talia grabs your hand and puts it to her heart and then your own. "…are Eternals. We still have a bond that the others don't and you're the only one I believe is worthy for me. Besides, I'm sure you are sick of waiting around for the revolution to get started and are feeling the urge for combat a lot. I figure we could both blow off some of those urges with other intimate activities."
"…does that really work?"
"I dunno, I've heard it does. It's not like I've tried this before, I guess we'll have to find out, assuming you want to that is…you aren't like Brother Cyrus are you?"
"Hah, no. I just haven't thought about it a lot about it in general. I guess I've got a lot on my mind most of the time."
"I sensed as much, as you always seem to be deep in thought a lot. Is it anything in particular?"

You almost want to tell her how your whole experience with the Shadow Guard has most likely been a lot different from everyone else's. How you don't have faith in Dendrin and how you've personally had several frustrating conversations with him. And most importantly how you always wonder if secretly attempting to overthrow the Empire is even going to work in the first place.

You don't though because it's only going to complicate things and perhaps you should take the time to relax every once in a while. You aren't even going to wonder if getting it on with Talia is even a good idea at this time. You're just going to act on her advances.

The pair of you find a secluded spot and embrace. While it's a completely new sensation to the pair of you, it somehow feels natural. Not just the act itself, but rather who you're with. Perhaps Talia was right in thinking that as Eternals you do still have a bond that the others don't.

She was also right about another thing too, sex does help with some of the pent up energy you both have. The pair of you engage in this activity quite a bit in the months to come.

Near the end of the year, the time to revolt is still no closer, but it would seem a spontaneous riot has broken out in one of the smaller towns just within province and several have been on the verge of doing so. Ever since the Felkan war broke out, the Shadow Guard haven't really been assigned there since the Empire has soldiers coming in and out of the area most of the time so it keeps the idea of rebellion down with the masses.

However it would appear that's part of the problem in the first place as a lot of the soldiers have just been taking advantage such as supplementing their food supplies by emptying entire grain storages or fields. The rumors of worse things abound as well, but as always the Empire doesn't pay any attention to such things. The military and its conquest of the Felkan Kingdom is top priority. The peasants are just going to have to make do and suffer through it as always.

Normally soldiers would put down the dissension going on in the province, but most of the military is currently attempting to make a big push on the Felkan Kingdom to break the current stalemate and it doesn't really want to divert any more soldiers than necessary. As the Shadow Guard are supposed to be the secret police enforcers in the first place, your order has been assigned to take care of the problem and the Empire wants an example made of the town of Hewlif which has openly rioted to the point where they've murdered all the Empire soldiers within it.

While Brother Shade urges that this would be good time to openly strike, Master Ebon again says no and says the charade still needs to be kept. Even you find this to be a little strange since this would indeed be a good opportunity and judging by some of the other reactions of your fellow shadows they may be in agreement.

"But how are we supposed to hide any potential rebels this time? I mean this is a whole town that the Empire wants us to wipe off the map!" Sister Bianca exclaims.
"We aren't. We're going to obey the Empire on this one and do exactly what we're told." Master Ebon says.
"WHAT?! Are you serious? This is supposed to be what we're fighting against! These average ordinary citizens have displayed more courage than you by taking matters into their own hands!"
"Brother Shade!" Brother Gray snaps.
"NO, I will not be silent this time! I must speak! We have the resources, we have infiltrated enough! Now is not the time to sneak about in the background, Dendrin wanted us to be free and I won't let you or this doddering old fool hold us back with your indecisiveness any longer!"

Without another word, Brother Shade speeds himself up and moves in for the attack. He can't possibly win even if he does reach Master Ebon in time…unless you attempted to help him.

You stop the assassination

Brother Shade has gone too far this time in this foolish attempt at a coup. You didn't think he attempt such a thing, but maybe you should've seen it was coming. As such you feel like it's your duty to try to stop him before he can do any major damage.

You speed yourself up and fire your armbow at Shade just as he reaches Master Ebon and Brother Gray. It's not a fatal hit, since your bolt amusingly hits him in the ass; however it's enough to throw him off and whatever power Master Ebon has, he displays it quite prominently when Shade instantly clutches his head as if it's about to explode. While that doesn't happen, he does begin to bleed from his ears and nose. He lets out one long scream of pain before collapsing to floor.

Everyone else stands silent as Brother Gray checks to see if he's dead and then confirms it. You hear a quiet whimper of "I told him." come from the crowd. It must be Sister Dusk who was Brother Shade's lover. Even she didn't help him.

"This is a sad day for all shadows. To think that one of our own would…I cannot speak of it…(Sigh) I am only relieved to see that the rest of you still hold more faith in Dendrin than Shade did." Master Ebon say and then looks at you.

"And I thank you for reacting so quickly brother. I always know your loyalty to Dendrin to be impeccable. I think that's why you need to be one to be in charge of this mission. I know it's grim, but our order has done such deeds in the past. Just think of this as being a means to an end. A means to an end before we're all truly free."
"I…understand Master Ebon. And I accept your confidence in me."

After some discussion on the events that just occurred you are instructed to gather together some shadows to help you put down the revolt in Hewlif. You already know who you're going to pick though, Murk, Bianca and Talia, though you're sensing they have the recent event on their minds.

"It's just like Master Ebon said, this is just one of the things we have to do before we put our own plan into action." You say back at your barracks.
"I just don't know. I mean I don't agree with Brother Shade's actions on trying to kill Master Ebon, but he might've had a point about all this waiting around. When ARE we going to strike out against the Empire properly?" Sister Bianca says.
"Yeah, I mean I know we've had to kill a lot of innocent people here and there for the Empire to keep up appearances, but we're talking about an entire town here. I just don't know…" Brother Murk says.

You can't believe what you're hearing right now. Why all the doubts? Is this the so called faith in Dendrin? You're so frustrated that you lash out.
"Oh for…I thought we were all doing this to serve Dendrin! I mean Master Ebon gets his orders from him and then we follow Master Ebon! It's a hierarchy that I THOUGHT we were supposed to adhere to, that's why I tried to stop Brother Shade in first fucking place! I don't have time for this, look if you lack the stomach to do this, I'll wipe out the entire town myself, and won't think twice about it!"

You turn from your fellows and storm out of Gloom. As you're walking out you can sense other shadows that don't agree with Master Ebon, give you a few glares on the way out. You don't understand any of this. You thought Dendrin's brainwashing technique made them all utterly loyal, you can see now that it has its limits. Granted the only one that actually did anything against the order was Brother Shade, and he at least had enough courage to try to carry out his convictions, unlike the rest who just stood around to watch him die. You find it ironic that you're probably least faithful when it comes to Dendrin himself, yet your loyalty to the order is a lot more secure.

On your way to stop at Lenet, you sense someone following you. You turn and see Talia.

"It's you."
"And a big greeting to you too, brother! Sheesh, I thought you'd wait for me after your rant at least."
"I didn't think anyone was interested in coming with me."
"You should know better than that."
"So you agree with what I did?"
"Well, I have to admit…and I'd only admit this to you…I sort of thought Brother Shade had a point."
"Well of course he had a point. I mean for the briefest moment I thought about helping him."
"You did?"
"Yes, but I didn't because as far as I'm concerned I've chosen a side and for good or ill I fully intend on carrying out its mission or die trying. So if that means I've got to wipe out every town in the Arat province to bring the Empire down, well so fucking be it."

Talia smiles a bit at your statement.

"Now that is why YOU are the only one worthy of me."
"Oh, you just picked me because Cyrus turned out to be gay."
"Ha ha! Nah, I already knew what was up with him even back when we were all in Mistresses class. He was always staring that that one classmate of ours…what was his name…oh yeah Gerald. Can't say I blame him though, Gerald was probably the most handsome in class."
"Hmm. I didn't take much notice of any of that."
"No I wouldn't expect you would've. You tended to lurk in the background and just focus on the training and your orders. Though you're still focused on your orders, you're a lot more pro-active about it rather than lurking in the background now. I suppose that sort of unquestioning dedication is what makes you a great fighter though."

You thank Talia for her compliment. For the remainder of journey you and her keep the chatter to a minimum. After all it is true that you do prefer to keep your mind focused on the task at hand.

When you finally arrive near the town of Hewlet, you see a group a ragged Empire soldiers standing nearby. They hardly look like the Empire's "best".

"Are you the shadow people the Empire sent for?" one of them asks. He doesn't look very old, in fact he's probably younger than you are. All of them look like that. You didn't realize how bad it was on the Empire's recruitment front.

"Yes, yes we are and who are you supposed to be?"
"I'm private first class Jones and this is my squad. We're sort of supposed to be watching the town. To make sure none of the dissidents attempt to leave it."
"And?"
"And what…uh sir?" Jones asks unsure of how to address you.
"And so have any of them left?"
"Um, not really. Well I mean I guess a few did before we arrived, but it looks like the rest are hunkered down in the town. I think they're building barricades around it."
"How come the Empire hasn't sent a company in there to just wipe them out."
"Not sure sir, but they said it wasn't the army's priority right now and that's what you Shadow Guard were here for."

You shake your head at the absurdity of this. If there was ever a good argument for overthrowing the Empire this would be it. The sheer inefficiency of this is just ridiculous. Instead of having a group of snot-nosed recruits to play sentry, the Empire could've easily sent in a company of well trained troops to put down the fucking uprising and been done with it! Unless the war with the Felkan Kingdom is going a lot worse than you've heard of course. Right now you're glad you decided to aid the Shadow Guard despite your recent frustration with them.

"So uh, where are the rest of your people? Are they invisible or something?" Jones asks.
"No, it's just us." You answer.
"…just you? But there's at least two hundred people in that town!"
"Two hundred? Then that probably means only about fifty have any sort of combat experience, and maybe out of those, ten of which have beyond the basics. The rest…hardly worth thinking about. Still with only two of us here there are bound to be a few escapees. Oh well, we'll do what we can, the rest of you just stay out the way."

Due to your cold seriousness, Jones is at a loss of how to respond other than a yes sir. You look at Talia, who nods at you as an indication that she's ready.

The pair of you don't speed up or use any shadow magic tricks on your way to the town. The sounds of threatening shouts are blocked out as you approach. A few arrows are shot at you, but they are so pitifully aimed you don't even need to dodge most of them.

As you get closer, you feel the stirring of battle approaching and you can hardly contain yourself. Whether this will help the Empire or the Shadow Guard cause you don't care right now, because all you're thinking about is how finally you'll be getting into a proper battle.

You sense that Talia feels the same way.

The following is a bloodbath, the hapless townspeople are no match for you or Talia. You don't even bother speeding yourself up, you rely on natural raw skill. By the time you've butchered most of the combat capable people, the rest of the townsfolk have either run and hid or tried to run off completely. You catch most of the stragglers though when you find a group of small children cowering in their school house (after running one of their teachers through with a sword) you get an idea.

"Children, this is your lucky day, for today you not only get to be witnesses but also messengers. It is an important message that I want you all to spread to whatever other town you to run to. Tell the people that if they continue to cause trouble, they won't have to fear the Empire, but the Shadows. Oppose the Empire, and you will die. Oppose the Shadows and you will beg for a death that won't come quick enough. We have displayed mercy here today. Remember this."

You then dismiss the children with a wave of your hand who go running and screaming out of the room and probably in several different directions. When you leave the school, Talia waves at you.

"Hey are we chasing these kids down too? I just saw a bunch of them rushing out of the school crying the whole time."
"No, I sent them off with an important message."
"Oh, what was it?"
"Hopefully an incentive for when the big day eventually arrives, the people will be more likely to side with us than the Empire or at least more afraid of us that they won't oppose us. In any case we've done our job here and the Empire shouldn't be bitching about it anymore."

You and Talia take your leave of the newly created ghost town. You wonder if your small idea will have any effect, probably not, though you guess you won't really know until the day of the big revolt comes.
Year 25

You settle into the bed of the dead Empire captain for the night. Normally you'd be a lot more alert, but you've got an entire group of shadows here at the conquered Empire outpost, not to mention several elven freedom fighters. You're fairly confident that they'll wake you if a counter attack comes.

For now though you really need to get a good night's rest. You've been fighting non-stop for the past couple of weeks and you need a quick recharge at least. It doesn't help that the use of shadow magic drains you as well and probably why you don't use it much. Not that you really need to anyway, your natural skills work well enough.

While the rebellion has only just gotten started, a lot of progress has been made. All the provinces from what you know of are suffering revolts on some scale. The worst of the lot being Rask where Cyrus has taken control of Fort Defiance. The shadow/orc alliance seems to be working well up there and the rest of the towns aren't exactly in line to help the Empire. Apparently the strongest resistance is from the second Empire fort called Destiny and another Eternal called Captain Kane is in charge. You barely remember him from class, though you heard he made a name for himself wiping out various barbarian tribes.

Speaking of Eternals, one has been personally put in charge of attempting to eliminate the shadow striker cells like yours. A Captain Roldan. You do vaguely remember him from class. Tended to follow orders to the letter during training. Sort of like you in a way, but different. He was more extroverted you think, you guess that's why he was chosen to be a soldier rather than a shadow. You still don't know the reasoning was for making you a Shadow Guard candidate anyway, if you had to guess it was to try to spy on them.

Of course this all makes you wonder what if you hadn't been chosen? What if you'd been a regular soldier? Would you have been content on just following Empire orders and never knowing any better? You'll never know of course. You've chosen your path and it's best to make most of it. Not that you regret your decision as the rebellion goes well.

And with that positive thought you fall asleep. As you drift off you find yourself back in the numbness of the void…

"It's finally happened. Rebellion across the Empire. Are you finally satisfied?"
"I'm satisfied in that I'm glad we've finally stopped sitting on our hands. Why ask me anyway? You're the one that's been guiding the shadows all this time for centuries to rebel. Shouldn't you be the one that's excessively happy about it?" you ask
"Oh I suppose…"
"You suppose? I don't get you. You act like you don't care one way or another about it!"
"Perhaps the time has passed."
"What?!"
"Oh don't get me wrong, I once wanted to see the Empire fall because it infringed on my own control over the mortals that were worshipping me at the time. And it's been interesting how over the decades and centuries that my little followers have been building up their strength to defeat them, but quite frankly I figured they would've done it long before then. Now? Well its okay, but I've lost a bit of interest since that time."

If you weren't floating in a void of sensory deprivation you'd yell and scream at Dendrin so loudly that the rage would be felt throughout your body right now.

"But that's your fucking fault. YOU were the one guiding them! If you wanted them to strike before now, you should've made some sort of sign to Master Ebon, or whoever was in charge at the time!"
"Quite frankly I stopped giving them any advice centuries ago. I found it was much more interesting to see them figure out things on their own. The only time I speak to any of them is during the ceremony process."
"If that's the case, why all the indoctrination, if you're such a fan of free will?"
"How long do you think that actually lasts? It's only temporary! Just long enough to get them to have faith in me. Whether they continue to follow me or not is all them and on a related note, whatever so called signs the shadow leaders have been talking about are either ones they made up or made up in their heads. Glad to see Ebon finally decided to get off his ass and do something and be interesting for a change though."
"So I was right! I've been right all along! You're nothing but a fucking fraud. You're not a god at all."
"No, Eternal YOU got it wrong. It isn't I who is a fraud. It's the religion itself! I didn't originally call ANYONE to worship me. They did that naturally when one of those big hairless monkeys stumbled into a cave and messed around with some lost magical Derro object that opened up a portal where I dwelled. I was perfectly content spending infinity in my own realm until that time, but things change and I took an interest in these new creatures and their world. Wasn't my fault that they saw me as some deity just because they couldn't comprehend me in any other way."
"You didn't exactly deter that thinking though."
"Well you have me there Eternal. And I say so what? I gave these creatures purpose, meaning and even magical power! In return they worship me and serve. If you really think about it, is that not the definition of a god? And so what if I have lost interest in my subjects? True, they have proven loyal, but I grow bored with their antics. I seek other stimulus now."

As strange as it may seem you sort of understand Dendrin's point of view. He views humans and mortals in general as you would watch insects. They're interesting to watch for awhile, but after some time has passed you're ready to move on. And really who's to say that if you weren't some powerful being you wouldn't do the same? Still, you have more questions.

"Okay, but why not move on then if you're so bored?"
"Because I'm not quite THAT bored yet. Besides when you arrived things started to get interesting again. Never had anyone resist my indoctrination so strongly before. I probably could've increased it, but that might've killed you besides I thought it would be more interesting to see if you followed me even without the indoctrination. It's interesting to see that while you have decided to follow the shadow's cause, you have been nothing but indifferent to outright hostile towards the religion even before you found all this out. That displays a grain of imagination and it's mainly why I've been in contact with you. In fact you're about the only mortal I've spoken to on a regular basis in centuries."
"I guess I'm the lucky one then." You remark.
"Your sarcasm aside, you actually are lucky, because I'm about to give you some friendly advice. Namely, don't go back to Gloom."
"What? What are you talking about?"
"That's all you get Eternal. Heed my advice or don't, it makes no difference to me. Talk to you again later perhaps."

Once again you wake up though this time Dendrin gave you some direct information. Quite a bit of it really. You aren't even sure of what to make of all of it. You mean you always knew something was off with the whole shadow religion, but you didn't think he'd actually admit it all to you. Makes you wonder why he did, when he's been so cryptic in the past. Then against perhaps he knows you can't actually tell anyone, or rather you could, but wouldn't be believed and most likely attacked as a heretic. Perhaps that's his little joke on you. Yeah sounds like him.

Still he's also given you a warning of not going back to Gloom. Why? Is something terrible going to happen there? Does he mean forever or just in the near future or is he just trying to play head games with you as usual?

In reality, you aren't even scheduled to go back to Gloom anytime soon. Your job has been to sew as much chaos as you can across the Quala province. Still, if something bad IS going to happen there, maybe you should try to prevent it or warn somebody or something because right now Brother Gray and Master Ebon are supposed to be preparing a proper army of shadows to march directly on the capital, though not in the traditional way. Apparently they're going to try to use a magical gate to travel through the shadow world and pop up right in the heart of the Emperor's Palace. Such magic is very powerful to use, but also very time consuming and fatiguing. You know they have been going through some sort of long involved ritual which is involving several of the more powerful shadows to link their energy and even draw upon some of the weaker ones. You know Murk and Bianca are there rather than working in a shadow guerilla detachment. (They never quite looked at you the same way again after the incident with Shade.) Talia is also there, though she's one of those lending her powerful shadow magic skills to the ritual.

And despite one of the most important events occurring at Gloom right now, the ONLY reason why you'd return there to possibly risk your own life is for Talia. You've grown closer to her in a way that you never thought possible. The relationship you've experienced with her is just one more reason why fighting against the Empire is the best idea you ever had.

Still all of this might be for naught if something happens to Gloom. You still don't know WHAT that could be and for all you know it could just be something that will affect your life not anyone else's. (And from Dendrin's tone, not for the better)

You go back to Gloom yourself

Considering you willingly chose to oppose the Empire, you'd say you've already gotten over the whole putting yourself in great danger bit. You might as well go back to Gloom to find out what's going on if anything at all. If something is happening, then you need to help anyway. If something isn't, well nothing will have been lost except time attending your own duties you suppose. Still there isn't any reason for you to hold up the rest of your group. You call to speak to one of your fellow shadows that you believe to be the most skilled.

"Sister Yvette, I need to go back to Gloom and no I can't be talked out of it either, but I assure you it is incredibly important. I want you to take charge of this group until I return. I think you know your mission and I'm sure you'll do a fine job."
"But brother, your orders from Master Ebon are to stay with this group, and do not need to report your progress. He's busy performing the ritual at Gloom at this time, what is so important that you have to go back?"
"It's a long story, but let's just say I've had my own personal sign from Dendrin himself."
"You…you have? Is something bad going to happen? Should we all go with you?!"
"As I said, you stay here and carry on the fight. I don't know if something bad is going to happen, but if it does, we're going to need shadows like you still doing your job to help bring down the Empire."

Sister Yvette reluctantly agrees though it's apparent she would either prefer to go with you or for you to stay with the group. You don't know why, since she's actually been a shadow longer than you and should have more confidence in her ability to lead, but it's like with anything, some people are just naturally more gifted than others, even if they are supposed to be equals.

You make your way back to Gloom as fast as possible, even using some magic to speed yourself up. It's tempting to attack some of the stray Empire soldiers you hide out from along the way, but you need to focus on just getting back. One thing you've noticed though is that you aren't really encountering any soldiers heading in the direction of Gloom. You would've thought (even without the warning) that more Empire soldiers would've been marching that way. In fact this revolt has been going on for months now and there have been no attempts by the Empire to attack Gloom, they've just been focusing on putting out the fires you've been setting everywhere else. You don't know if that's because they're lacking the manpower to adequately attack it due to the Felkan War, if they're just biding their time or maybe it's just Empire incompetence due to them not anticipating this even happening and having a backup plan for it.

Eventually you arrive at Gloom the next night. You're a little tired, but you can't let that bother you. When you approach the rock formation you chant the usual words to reveal the opening and descend down the stairs. Gloom is normally a pretty quiet place. Rare is the time where you can hear lots of shouting or the clomping of footsteps.

Right now you're hearing both in abundance, followed by the familiar sounds of metal clanging against metal. Apparently your worst fears have been confirmed.

You rush down the rest of the stairs and peer around a corner just in time to seem half a dozen heavily armored figures chopping a shadow to pieces with axes. The figures themselves aren't very tall, almost squat like, but their armor still makes them look massive and you can't even see their faces.

It makes you pause a bit; these are a powerful unknown foe as you've never seen any soldiers like this before in the Empire military and you can only assume they're helping the Empire. You take a deep breath and cast a cloak on yourself along with speeding yourself up again before pressing forward with your attack.

You try to drive your blade through the armor of one of the figures, but it resists your attempts. The only thing you do manage is to do is knock him off balance long enough for him to tip over completely. You fire a bolt from your armbow at another one. It pierces his full face helm and knocks him back, but apparently not enough to kill him because he doesn't fall down.

The other four have now turned their attention to you and while you run around striking them with your weapon, your blades just aren't getting through their armor. With your cloak off and your speed wearing down, one of them helps their buddy off the ground and the one with the poison bolt in his face helm has rejoined the fight after having pulled it out. What sort of creatures are these?

You decide to back off a bit and reassess the situation, and then you make a complete retreat when the six of them start advancing on your position. Your saving grace is they aren't very fast in that armor and you easily find a storage room to hide in. You think you're alone, but you aren't.

"Brother… I never thought I'd see you again…" you hear familiar voice struggle to exclaim.

You turn and see Murk lying in a corner bleeding profusely. One of his hands is missing and he's holding in his innards with the remaining one.

"Murk? What's going on? What's happened here?"
"It's the Derro…they've returned…(cough) always heard they abandoned this place. Guess they REALLY want it back."
"The Derro? How? When?"
"A couple days ago brother. We've been fighting them off here for the past two days, but unsuccessfully I'm afraid. Everything was going well with the ritual and we would've been making a full invasion right in the heart of the capital if they hadn't just suddenly showed up. They disrupted everything. They came out of the damn walls and even from underneath the floors. They aren't as big as us, but the little bastards are the toughest things I've ever encountered and who knows what they look like under all that heavy armor."
"The Empire is probably behind this attack."
"Probably, but does it matter? They're killing us and no matter how much we try, we can't beat them!"
"They can't be invincible. Everything dies."
"Oh yeah, you can kill 'em, just really hard to, due to all that armor. Even without that, though they seem to have some natural magic resistance. (cough) I saw one of those fuckers take a full blast of shadow fire from Master Ebon himself, and he kept coming at him like a golem. It wasn't until Brother Gray stepped in to help that they turned him into blackened heap of melted metal."
"Where are Master Ebon and Brother Gray?"
"Brother Gray is dead. I saw him surrounded and literally torn apart by those things, I mean they (choke) ripped his limbs off like a rag doll…it was horrible. I don't…even want to…"

Brother Murk begins to get upset, but you really need him to continue so you can get a better idea of how bad this is and maybe find some way of turning it around.

"Murk, what about Master Ebon?"
"I don't know. Probably dead! Just like Brother Gray and (sob) Bianca…I tried! I tried so hard to save her!"
"Sister Bianca is dead too?"
"No, not the last time I saw her. A couple of the Derro were dragging her unconscious battered body in chains to one of their invasion entrances. I've noticed they've been doing that with several of the female shadows. I tried to save her, and what you see before you is the result of my attempted heroics. I know she never saw me as a potential mate, but…I don't want to think about what they'll do to her…(sob)."

This new information suddenly makes you ask the question that you're afraid to ask.

"Talia? Did you see them take Talia?"
"No, brother. I haven't seen Sister Talia since the interruption of the ritual. She may still be alive and fighting. Oh why didn't Dendrin prevent this destruction? Why wasn't this foreseen? We were on the verge of victory and now all is lost!" Murk cries out.
"Hey! All isn't lost yet! The Empire WILL fall, I promise you." You say looking at Murk.

He manages a faint smile, but his life force is fading fast.

"Perhaps it will brother, but I won't live to see it anymore …I'm sorry for…"
"Murk, you don't have…"

And you don't bother finishing you sentence. Murk is dead and even though you drifted apart slightly in last few years, you're going to miss him.

Right now though you need to figure out what you're going to do. Tactically, this looks like a no win situation. From Murk's last words, the Derro have already managed to slaughter most of the shadows and have successfully overrun the fortress. You've already tried to fight a few and didn't make much headway. You might do better to get out of here and inform the remainder of the shadows topside of the bad news so that you can regroup.

Of course the other part of you wants to at least try to find Talia, and even some other shadows that may need your help, because assuming you get out of this alive, you're going to need all the help you can get in continuing your plan to overthrow the Empire.

You leave Gloom

This place is a mass grave at this point, these Derro have left nothing alive and if anyone is, then they're probably dying like poor Murk was. You need to get out of here now and try to regroup the shadows above ground.

You make your way back towards the entrance; unfortunately the large group of Derro that were in your way when you entered are still in your way while you're trying to exit. They're guarding the entry gate to the stairway up which is now locked so you aren't going to be able to sneak past them and fighting them is obviously not a winning solution either.

You find a spot nearby to hide in and wait for hours hoping that the group moves, but they just stand there like statues. You don't even see them speaking to each other. After even more hours of waiting they still haven't moved and you have to change your hiding spot anyway, because another group of Derro starts approaching uncomfortably close to your position.

So you do the only thing you can think of, you sneak back to where Murk's body was and hide there. You figure eventually they will have to move on.

After one day passes you still hear the clanking of armored foot steps roaming about Gloom, you manage to sneak out again and to your dismay the Derro are not only still there, but they're in the same exact positions. At this point you're getting very frustrated; you need to get out of here!

Since you're trapped anyway, you decide to start looking for possible other survivor, though you're less optimistic now than ever. You spider climb on the ceiling and cloak yourself to avoid the Derro, but you don't find much save for massacred shadows and Derro patrols thoroughly searching Gloom. You can't believe how relentless this race is.

In your search you never do find Talia. Not even her body. You can only hope she somehow managed to escape and didn't suffer the fate of Bianca. You'd actually rather not think about it. You do find Master Ebon's body though. He was heavily wounded and alone in some forgotten room, not unlike Murk.

Two more days pass and you're still stuck in Gloom. You've managed to keep yourself going by raiding the kitchen for food and drink, but the Derro are still all over the place. (And still guarding the entryway) You don't know if they've permanently moved in here or what, but you hope that isn't the case because that's going to make escape even harder.

By day five you get desperate. You come up with a plan to try to kill a few of the Derro guarding the entryway. You fail utterly and are turned back, worse the Derro now realize there is still at least one shadow in the area so they double up on patrols around the entryway and other important zones like the kitchen

On day nine you're exhausted from evading Derro patrols. You don't know how the hell they've been managing to track you, but your cloak spell isn't working anymore. Just as well, because using your shadow magic is draining all your endurance at this point.

On day twelve you're awakened by several explosions followed by the stomping of metal boots at a much quicker pace. You can hear shouting in Derro tongue, but you have no idea what's going on except more explosions are occurring shaking loose the stones and dirt above your head. You step out from your hiding spot and feel the rumbling all over and the strong scent of brimstone and smoke in the air. The Derro have purposely done something to collapse the entire complex!

You immediately speed yourself up and rush to the entrance as you need to get out now or you'll be buried alive. Fully expecting that at least the entryway will be open now, you are in for a brutal shock when you see the same group of Derro STILL guarding it despite the fact that the entire place is coming down. If you could even see their faces, it probably would be a look of unconcern on them, because the Derro are still more or less not moving while standing guard.

With no more hope, you rush into battle in a vain attempt to escape. You don't make it far, though you give as good of a fight as you can. The battle ultimately ends with you getting an axe in your spine, which is then followed by another axe blow to your left hand severing it.

When you collapse to the ground mercy comes swiftly in the form of a large stone falling on your skull.