Thread: The Weight of the Crown (JellyFish & Greeneyed23)

The search and getting Aretha ready had taken far too long for the poor girl because just as she reached her placed the mirror sprung to life illuminating the room, indicating that both the sun had risen and with the falling silent of the bells that the Souled had arrived. This was confirmed when the doors to the throne room were flung open. The Souled continued to walk slowly, moving toward the Jade Dragon. The court announcer tried to speak to him but was silenced somehow. The Dragon moved to the chair made in the image of one of his many cousins and stepped in front of it and finally stopped walking. he stood still as stone for a moment his hood still covering his whole head, his hands hidden by his long sleeves. The room was entirely silent and for the moment seemed just as still as he. Then he pulled his arms away from each other revealing his large and powerful dark skinned hands. He raised them toward his head and pushed his hood back. This revealed a face with skin dark as knight and with no way of telling the age, but a sense of alien nobility that could only come from a Dragon. His eyes were closed for the moment as his hood fell back onto the heavy braided dreadlocks that seemed to pour out of his head. He raised his head having left it bowed and after taking a long breath opened his eyes making everyone in the throne flinch. They were a deep, but bright, poisonous green. Little Dragon eyes held the same danger of those of their larger brethren. Fortunately after the rather chilling effect of his bare eyes he shaded them with his first eyelid a clear one that served as some sort of magical guard for all but the very weakest minds. Still it was not wise to look too closely. He stood waiting for something until Patis remembered himself. Welcome friend of the Dragons...how may we give aid? The Dragon smiled warmly. He spoke with a deep warm voice but with a powerful gravely growl to it. My Lord King Patis. All the court of Ethlberg. I thank you for your greeting. We have much to discuss. He sat upon the Jade Dragon settling in comfortably. After a long moment he spoke again. The tides have brought forth a new threat to the safety of all mortal races. We dragons have dealt with them before and they do not threaten us. But out of gratitude for your kindness I have been sent to inform and aid you. The Rezda have emerged yet again. No one knew who or what he was talking about but he seemed unconcerned. They are a race of beings from the deepest and darkest abysses of the waters. They have come to conquer your land because they have destroyed their own. They are vast in numbers, have might warriors and arms, and their will to destroy all that oppose them is bested only by we Dragons. My name is Hama Tritail. I have come. With that he fell silent as without warning the court fell into a chaos of shouts and accusations. No one wanted to believe him, and no one had heard of the Rezda. He let this continue without concern as he studied the people in the hall. Especially the royal family. His eyes made the younger one's cry, the adult tremble, and made Nila and Patis both clench the arms of their chairs nervously. Through everything he had kept that same rather odd little smile. Finally Patis was able to decide on a course of action. He looked at his chamberlain who pounded the floor with his staff sending a booming note through the room before shouting above everyone. SILENCE!!! Obedience was immediate. Patis sighed looking at Hama. My friend Dragon i do not in any way doubt your word but you understand we must verify. We know nothing of these creatures. Hama nodded. But of course. it is the way of mortals. Patis let that go. Now- Hama cut him off. Are the representatives of all the other mortal races here? Patis was caught short by that but it was a good question. he looked to his chamberlain who surveyed the room. After a moment he blinked. Nay my lord. the delegates from both Elves nations, The orc nation, the dwarves, and the Amgi are not here. Send for them at once! Yes my King. Like the Dragon's the other nations and races, including the hundreds of smaller races, all had embassies within Ethlberg itself. In less than ten minutes processions of Elves, both Dark and Light, entered, along with the Orcs, the dwarves, and several delegates for the other lands. Last came the Amgi. They all apologized profusely to the King and to the Souled but they explained they had been delayed by certain messages from their prospective capitols. There some new threat emerging and everyone was very alarmed. In fact they had been about to speak to the King on the matter. After hearing these identical explanations from all of them Patis turned to Hama. The Rezda did you say? The Dragons were the only race that history and they themselves had proven to be truly immortal having been present at the very forming of the endless land according to their memories and magics, and their own histories. But the Elves, both races, and the Amgi, the beings of nearly pure magic, were at least almost as ancient as the Dragons. of course they were not as hardy as the Dragons and did not have the same seemingly infinitely long lives but they were the closest of the lot. The dwarves and orcs were just a few years, by their tellings, younger than the Dragons as well but no one was sure. At the mention of the Rezda however all five delegates looked at each other in horror. Hama noted this and smiled. Ahh so you do remember. how lovely....my lady Amgi...would you be so kind? The lady in question, a humanoid female made entirely of sapphire sparkling with lightning within named Jesa Yra, jumped but nodded. I would be honored Friend Dragon...but I have not the memory... Hama waved a hand. I do. She gulped but nodded moving to stand beside him. She carefully removed her gloves revealing her sapphire hands, her flawless face twisted with worry. Hama held out his hand and she took it in both of her's. Instantly the throne room vanished. They were now on the sands of the Vast Desert that covered the entire western edge of the land. Hama spoke calmly. While we Dragons were still eating you and your fellows in the Great War, and you were killing us, there was a man. Born in a small village here in the Vast desert. While he spoke a group of travelers reached and oasis and settled there soon having built a rather worn but sturdy little village. As they watched a very handsome and powerfully built man was seen hauling water from the oasis to the houses providing water for each family. his name was Tzechtl Rha. A fine kind man who loved and lead his people well. The man is indeed popular and is very kind, playing with children, bandaging their hurts, helping his neighbors with anything they ask, and even delivering babies, and serving as the nightwatchmen and driving off wolves, bandits and other threats without complaint. One day, while delivering water, Tzechtl Rha noticed something in the distance. The man had just poured a large serving of water into a very old woman's reservoir when he saw a large dust cloud racing toward the village. He only just had time to grab the old woman and cover her with his body with the dust cloud, actually a small but incredibly powerful sandstorm struck his village. Everyone was forced into cover, but to his horror Tzechtl Rha's beloved wife and children were caught in the storm and his youngest daughter was ripped apart by the high speeds of the sand. her screams had not yet faded when the storm suddenly softened only for the village to be set upon by a group of creatures no one could recognize, their weapons making many buildings explode and making the old woman's house collapse upon them both killing her and trapping Tzeechtl Rha. Hama spoke again. Behold the last confirmed sighting of a tribe of Tioa. The delegates all spit upon the floor in their rage and disgust. the Tioa had been a race of murderous thieves unable to do anything for themselves they had killed to steal what they needed and wanted and despite not being seen in millenia they were still despised for their evil ways. The Tioa tore the village apart slaughtering and eating men, women, and children as they went, as well as raping those that pleased them, age and sex not making a difference. Tzechtl Rha, trapped under the old woman's fallen house was forced to watch as his wife and children were raped, then tortured to death. finally when the Tioa noticed him, having killed everyone else, they laughed and made great sport of him torturing him with their mockery and their weapons but leaving him trapped. they then befouled the village with their waste, including on him and the corpses of his family, then had set the village to burn and left. With nothing. they had no come for water, nor any riches as the village had none. merely for the delight in killing. Tzechtl Rha was near death. But somehow all of these actions triggered something within him. the man shifted and with a enraged roared pulled free of the rubble destroying his body in the process but somehow he managed to crawl on. there was no sign of his family or anyone else, the flames having eaten their remains away. Tzechtl Rha himself had been engulfed in the flames and was still burning as he crawled screaming in his mad rage. Something of his sanity remained however as he crawled to the oasis and into it. perhaps he hoped to drown. it was unclear. But at least the flames were extinguished. Tzechtl Rha died in that water. But someone or something took pity on him. Perhaps one of the Old Gods? i know not. But no matter. Tzechtl Rha had indeed stopped moving. he hung in the water lifeless and dead for days. But then his skin began to regrow. His face return to his normal state. but there were alterations. He now had gills. His eyes were wider, his body more powerful but yet more compact. And his teeth became jagged. Finally when his skin had turned a not unpleasant shade of blue he awoke taking in a lungful of water. in his panic he burst out of the water and gasped surprised to find he could breath normally as well. He looked at the sand covered remains of his village and snarled. he spoke in a tongue filled with hate but no discernible words. Hama spoke softly. The first words of a Rezda. He said 'Blood shall quench my hate. The story then followed Tzechtl Rha's naked trek through the Vast Desert. he found the tribe of Tioa and by himself and with only his bare hands slaughtered them mercilessly. His strength was far beyond even that of theirs combined, he was impervious to their magics, and their weapons did not harm him. When he found the men that had raped his wife and children he ate them. let them scream as he took weeks to devour them bit by bit. And he had his revenge. but he found he longed for more. So it was that Tzechtl Rha became the first true Rezda. Driven by hate of life and a need for blood he began to hunt. they watched as at first he just ate more people. but then eh came across someone like him. angry and seeking vengeance. Tzechtl Rha took the man into a nearby well and when they emerged there were two Rezda. This continued until soon there were a dozen. Then a hundred. Then a thousand. Then a hundred thousand. Before long there were millions of them. they swarmed the vast Desert cleansing the land of the Tioa and thus seeming a friend to the other races. But when you kill all of your prey one must survive. And so having destroyed one rather minor threat, Tzechtl rha and his Rezda became a far more dangerous one. The Rezda broke free of the vast Desert and swarmed across the land, slaughtering mercilessly and swelling their number by the millions. The only race immune to their magic, and eventually the venom they formed to change their victims, was the Dragons. hama showed how the Rezda's appearance had been the true reason for the quickly arranged peace between the races and why the mortal races built such strong cities with so many walls, with magic imbued upon them everywhere. Hama himself appeared fighting the Rezda as alone the entire race of Dragons, thousands upon thousands of them fought the Rezda forcing them back across the desert. The Dragon's flames could utterly destroy their bodies and the Little dragons were just as strong as their opponents but the Rezda had numbers. So the Dragons used their magic, their brutality, and most of of their incredible gift for destruction to force the Rezda back. They destroyed outposts, evaporated water sources, enveloped their foes in flames sucking up all the oxygen drowning them in their own blood, and bit by bit all but annihilated the Rezda. Tzechtl rha, king and First of the Rezda led his remaining thousands on a flight across the desert pursued by the dragons who snapped up their stragglers harried them burned them and clawed them, tearing their bodies apart. Finally the reached the edge of the vast Desert itself revealing a even more vast body of water. We call it the Tua Tir Kani. The water of death. On the beach the Rezda fought a final stand but they could not withstand the fury of the Dragons. Again Hama himself was seen fighting with Tzechtl Rha himself tearing at his mind with his magic learning all of this. But Hama was forced to release his foe unkilled to save the life of his nest mate, a huge golden dragon with red eyes that was being torn apart by the Rezda's fangs. Tzechtl Rha and his survivors fled into the sea. The image went black while Hama spoke. in that time we have investigated every body of water carefully for signs of the Rezda. We found none. they hid from us well. Until five millenia ago. They emerged from a mountain lake far to the north. The image showed a massive castle being destroyed in a titanic battle between Dragons, Rezda, and creatures of the deep that resembled both the dragons and the Rezda. they have used their powers to corrupt the flesh of out water cousins. We them now the Rezdi. since they emerged our other water cousins have banded together and joined us serving as our sea arm in this battle. We have fought them in secret for generations. but we have never been able to find their capitol, nor had we seen any sign of Tzechtl Rha but we knew he still lived. his people worship him as a god. they are now numbering in the billions. And they are marching upon this land. We have seen it. The image did indeed show a mass of Rezda as to be innumerable emerging for the sea, along with millions of Rezdi of various sizes, some even flying above the massive army. At their head floated a massive Rezdi and on his nose stood the very recognizable Tzechtl Rha. He and his forces now wore scale armor and bore tridents and spears, as well as curved short blades. Male, female, and even children it did not matter. tehy all marched mindlessly after their god-king. Hama spoke. he has taken his faithful and given them purpose and training. this wave of death will wash over the land before the new year. That was six months away. We are marshaling out forces and will join battle with them before them. but we will not do it alone. I have come to alert you. to prepare you. and when the time comes join you in battle against the most deadly foe m our world has known. The image broke and Jesa Yra backed away from Hama in terror. She was weeping ruby tears and only just managed to covered her face before a desperate sob broke from her lips. Hama watched everyone with that same smile. What say you? Patis looked at Nila and his family then at the delegates.He then stood. ASSEMBLE THE ARMY!!! While this order was obeyed and the delegates left to make their own arrangements. Hama stood the Jade Dragon rising up to follow him. He nodded to the King. i go to rest. he then turned toward the door leading to his embassy, which took him right by Nila's side. he stopped there and bowed kissing her hand. You are even lovelier than i had heard Your majesty. He started forward then saw Aretha. he ignored the others as he looked into her brown eyes and let her see it as he blinked for the first time since he had arrived then as all three of his eyelids opened to her he smiled revealing seemingly normal human teeth. His eyes were ancient beyond ancient and held knowledge that she could not imagine. But he did not unleash it upon her. Did no drive her mad nor kill her. he simply smiled. My my my... such an interesting girl. You and i shall have to talk later Princess Aretha. Yes. We have much to discuss. He took her hand and kissed it, his lips warm and soft but filled with a burning, hungry, power that she could feel. before she could react he had walked past her through the door followed by the jade Dragon. he left the door open as he walked right up to the embassy doors which swung open for him and the chair then slammed shut making the further door slam as well. Nila had watched him go as well and only now sat back with a weary sigh. My gods...no wonder he woke us up...I doubt I'll ever sleep again after seeing all of that. The children amongst them had been spared the images somehow but they sensed the adult's fear, though their tiny bodies were also dragging them off to dreamland. Nila noted this. take the children to bed. let them rest. Aretha...you five? i want you back here within the hour. You may go wash and eat but return immediately. Patis was already consulting with his generals. the very first thing was to gather the army and begin training. this would begin this very day. Secondly they would have to be fed, clothed, and armed. this would require an immense amount of coin. fortunately the treasuries were full to bursting. Still everyone was very nervous. Patis managed a moment and flopped into his throne clutching his shoulders his hands crossed under his chin as he glared at a spot on the floor murmuring to himself. His family could hear him saying. What do we do? Over and over. At the moment no one had any idea.