Dark Age Legends

[Xorlak]

Draven stroked his chin with another chuckle.

"Heh, this 'Haraldur' has many names and is known as Ragnar in these parts because that is the name he went by before he turned traitor to the Dark Empire.  Although he somehow absorbs other things that are also angry at the world, or something... one of them could have been named Haraldur.  Minor details...

"Yes, I've heard of this Telsa before and I believe I might have caught a glimpse of him yesterday, in fact...  As for the other settlement you mentioned, one of my... associates... has taken care of it..."

He grinned a bit.

"Although the reasoning for your concerns is somewhat laughable, my friend.  What other sort of government is possible other than 'autocratic systems', as you call them?  Are you suggesting he is promoting anarchy?  Once that arises, that state is immediately given away to rule of the strong, which is what we have in place now, is it not?  The strong will always govern the weak.  It is the will of nature.  In this world, there exists men who can kill 100 others with the mere wave of a hand or the chanting of a spell.  Are these men not fit to rule?  No?  Then stop them.  How?  Oops, you can't.  They're at the top of the food chain...

"Now as you can see, Ragnar is simply an insane fool with a bit too much power.  The alliance I have formed has defeated him before, and will succeed again.  Once the head of the snake is removed, the body will die.  There is simply no one else strong enough to carry on his delusions, and his followers will simply be crushed and forgotten."

Draven leaned back in his chair and began to pluck off a few grapes from a plate.

----

Ven took a step towards the three, but there was a rustling on in a bush on the other side of the field.  The short necromancer suddenly burst out of the foliage, leaves flying in all directions, waving his staff above his head angrily.

"Hss!! HOW D-DARE YOU!!  CRETINSSS!!  FEEL THE WRATH OF DEGZRONZO!!!  COME, MY CHILDREN OF DEATH!!!!"

The ground rumbled.  Ven wearily brought his blade in front of him, ready for the worst...

"Uhhhhhhhhhh...."

The zombies began to crawl out of the earth... all... two of them?

"Huh?  Only two?"

"WHAT?!?!?! ...  B-b-blassst...!  Musst of ussed too much energy ssumoning the lasst one!"

[Zeros']

Zeros' looked at Duilin from below, and to his sword. He considered Haraldur's offer for a moment, until, he felt the planet's pain. (Zeros' has a direct link with the planet, which means, anything that happens to it, he can feel. So, he felt Tesla's manipulations of Gaia.)

Zeros' shook his head at Haraldur.

"No, Haraldur. I have no wish to call parley. You have asked me countless times why magic and technology cannot co-exist, and I have told you because they can't. One has to die out, and the other has to rule. I know you can travel to other dimensions, as can I and I'm sure others could. Have you visited a dimension where magic and technology had co-existed?

"Oh sure, there are countless ones out there that HAVE co-existed with each other... But, not peacefully. I'm sure you've seen these. What makes you think YOUR society would be any bit different? The people who had no magic would become jealous of those who had the ability, it's human nature. The people who could do magic, and did things others could without technological advances, would think they were superior.

"Now, tell me Haraldur. How do you THINK you can change this?" he said, stuffing his hands into his pockets, and staring at Haraldur through half-lidded eyes.

[D. Ein]

-"Birds have names? Odd."
Ein jumped aside, just in time, as the lasers hit the ground where he was standing. "Damn, i'm lucky that didn't hit me..."

He ran around behind a tree, and took out one of his bolts. He quickly muttered a protection chant, putting a yellowish-orange pentagram over and around him. //sound familiar, haraldur? Smile\\ Then he started drawing a series of complex circles, lines and symbols on the ground, chanting at the same time.

EDIT: //I finally decided to show what Ein's diagrams look like, to avoid confusion... here's an example:

dudeman saw me make one of those Smile\\

[Haraldur]

"Whether or not their aims are possible, Emporer, is irrelevant. They are still dangerous. Should certain segments of the populace, namely the slightly more educated peasants, learn of this, they will find the ideas attractive (you know how they are, I certainly do, and how to crush their revolts). This is a direct threat, whether or not this Ragnar remains alive.

"Remember, also, that "an insane fool with a bit too much power" is a dangerous fool, and dangerous fools, through history, have a tendency to stir things up too much for governments to last long."

Salazar sighed. "However, this is not the point. The point is, I wish to see them stopped, and every one of their population wiped out, all of the population of Laus, like I did to the peasants at home with similar ideas. Do you understand me? Their ideals should not leave the walls of Laus. I am, of course, willing to assist."

____________________________________________________________________

Haraldur shook his head. "You are obviously not as... well travelled as I am. There are many such places in the multiverse, places where there is a stable integration of magic and technology... [whisper]of which I played... no small part[/whisper].

"Jealousy does not occur when it comes to things which are possessed by all the population Zeros'. People are not jealous of those with food when they are all well fed. People are not jealous of those with magical knowledge or ability if they have similar such advantages. Do you understand me? You or your friends may have noticed that my followers are universally of magical ability (some of which granted it or trained by myself), inluding my new ones, the citizens of Laus... now. My gift to them.

"My new associate, who is fighting with your associate, is obviously not one who has been born with magical ability, you can tell by the way he uses it. I would not be surprised if he had learnt it from a follower of mine.

"Anyway, are you going to call Duilin off my new associate? I would so like to learn his name before he might die."

____________________________________________________________________

The prophet arived near a small outcrop, and turned around, and saw a giant dragon following him, and swore a curse so unexpected from one so venerable.

He lifted up his quarter staff, and swung it around his head, sending cylinders of blue light tumbling towards Hyperion, which woul cause dangerous burns if they hit.

[Kahn]

Hyperion couldn't react in time to dodge at least one of the cylinders, which hit his left wing. Due to his lack of flying opponents in the past he never relied on the ability, however it was a blow to the ego to loose it so quickly in battle.

"I wasn't expecting this."

As he was already falling he swooped down and swung his tail full force at The Prophet.

[Zeros']

Zeros' shrugged. He had heard Haraldur's whispered words, thanks to his superior hearing, but, put them in the the forefront of his mind.

"I don't really care. Duilin can handle himself. It looks like your subordianate is the ones who's in trouble. But, again, you assume something else Haraldur. .. You cannot simply snap your fingers, and give them the ability to use magic. They have to be born with the ability, and then LEARN how to use it. Of course, with you, you simply take magic from somewhere and shove it in their bodies, giving them the ability.

Also, you have something else to think about. What happens when your people might get better ideas, and not follow your rule anymore? They can use the magic you granted them against you. While none of them even compare to your power, many and many of them could eventually overpower you with just sheer numbers.

Did you ever think of that, Haraldur?" he asked mockingly. "And don't give me your all 'I'm-so-powerful-I-can-kill-and-decide-anything.' speech, either."

[Haraldur]

"Cannot snap my fingers, you say? You are quite mistaken. It is quite easy to snap my fingers, but not a method often used. If you are assuming I did so without the consent of the populace, you are mistaken. We split the city into two halfs, in one half for magic ability, other for not. We told people who wanted magical ability to go to the releveant half. They all did. And are now receiving training, Zeros'. This has the potential to free humanity from toiling at physical labour.

"Better ideas? What would they be, pray? There are none. Most of my comrades agree with my ideas, and all of them with the fundamentals. Also, if I continue to increase their quality of life, I doubt they would spontaneously start disagreeing with me without outside influence..."

He paused and sent a transparent globe, but for a few sparks when it hit dust in the air, down towards Ein, an impact and energy shield which sparks outwards when hit. It will survive 12 impacts the size of a room-sized fireball. //Use your own judgement, Duke Ein.//

"As you can see from what I have just done, and my response to your attack, I value the lives of my comrades, and yes, they are comrades, not followers. Myself and Tesla have no authority to give orders just suggestions. Everything happening in Laus is voluntary, people are allowed to leave, but choose not to (although, admittedly, they cannot get very far what with the Crimson Empire being to the north of us), they do not have to follow my suggestions, but they choose to do so. Those men you just killed, Zeros', if this is any consolation for you, were not conscripts, they volunteered. They even volunteered for that particular tower (because it is near the kitchens, I have no doubt), indeed, two of them I knew personally. Quite the ideologues. They are a representative sample of the rest of the tens of thousands of Laus residents.

"Now, Zeros', if myself and my comrades are defeated, what do you think will happen? Will the Crimson Empire just let them live to move around the country, spreading my ideas around and causing discontent? Will other countries and their governments allow that? If you stop this, you will be personally responsible for the deaths of nearly 100 000 people, and I will know that I am not to blame. They knew the risks, and agreed with me. But for you, it is a different situation. Do you wish to be remembered as a mass murderer (although that will obviously not happen if everyone is wiped out)? Do you wish to be remembered as the protector of privelege and autocracy? I myself, all ten of us,  would not wish to have such a reputation, or such things on your conscience. And, even you will not be able to stop the Crimson Empire from doing so, with the help of its allies, or soon to be allies, who are grouping together even now as we speak.

"However, since you are a hypocrite, this will obviously have no effect on you whatsoever. Why did I waste my breath? The satisfaction, it made me feel good to tell you these things. Now, leave us alone, we have enough problems as it is without you adding to them."

Haraldur turned, and dropped down lower. He was just 100 metres above the fight.

My new comrade must not die so soon after becoming so.

[Haraldur]

The Prophet was hit full on hard in the face by the flailing tail, and was knocked backwards a few metres.

"What is the world coming to? Murderers and revolutionaries and no respect!"

He dropped his staff, which transformed into a huge serpent, with a saddle and reins. He sat down in the saddle as the serpent kept floating above the ground, swimming in the air.

____________________________________________________________________

In the swim bladder of the serpent, air was being let in, a little, to rdeuce the vacuum, increasing the density of the serpent.

____________________________________________________________________

The serpent dived, dropping down and towards the falling dragon. It caught up, and the prophet  directed its head to the offending flailing tail. The head quickly opened into a large mouth, with four large, hollow, venom filled fangs, lunging towards the tail in an attempt to bite it and poison the victim.

[D. Ein]

//since dude man doesn't seem to be in any hurry to post, i'll continue charging my attack then...\\

Ein drew the final line on his diagram, and continued chanting quietly. As he was doing so, his shield was suddenly hit by an orb of some sort. "Hmm... strange. This orb doesn't seem to be corrupting my shield, so i'll assume it protects me. I wonder who sent it...?"

[Haraldur]

Bernard Goujon sat at a table in the kitchens eating from a bowl of soup as breakfast. He was aone, having arrived late. He had just returned from seeing the first attack on the revolutionary city of Laus. He had been right at the edge of the dead zone surrounding the tower during the attack, and hence had only just survived. He had seen also the quick replacement of the tower with a new one with a memorial on top, for his brother and for six other comrades.

Some other comrades had suggested he go down for some soup to steady his nerves. The soup was cooling in front of him as he thought about the fast moving events of the last few days. A few days ago he would have been toiling in the fields to grow grapes to make wine for the upper ranks of the Crimson Empire military. He smiled as he thought of how the loss of the principal wine-making area was causing a shortage of wine for the officers of the Crimson Army.

That day that Haraldur and Nikola had come, and had burned the garrison alive had been such a euphoric one, with the feeling of euphoria now stronger than ever. They had given speeches explaining their new world view, and it made perfect sense. Then theyhad said that all those who wished to become magically able should move to one half of the city, and everyone, including him did. He smiled as he caused the spoon to orbit his head, dripping soup in a circle all around him.

As well as euphoria, now there was grim determination, when they had been informed by Tesla exactly how much force woul be used against them. It was the force to wipe out an entire population. Todays events have now completely convinced him of this.

Now some strange people had been released from a sort of suspended animation, some earlier followers, with those tatoos of the symbol. It had ow become quite popular fashion, although not all took it up (he had not), and Haraldur had no tatoos, in fact no scars at all... odd.

He looked down at the two neckerchiefs he was wearing around his neck, a red one and a red and black one. They could be seen all over the city, worn almost universally, including by Haraldur and Tesla.

He finished his soup, and decided to go to the pub, his comrades would probably not have too much trouble as Haraldur was out at the front. And he wanted to drown his sorrows.

//Xenai is still at the pub, right?//

He walked down the street into the militia's bar, and walked in and asked for a vodka. He was given it, with no charge. Yes, money had been abolished too, as well as private property.

He sat down, and looked along the bar towards a strange person, no revolutionary colours, but looking a tough person.

"Hello, stranger! What are your opinions on the glorious revolution?"

[Zeros']

Zeros' dropped to Haraldur's height and shook his head.

"As you know, the only reason I'm joined WITH the Crimson Empire is to defeat you. I'd rather sooner join a circus and become a clown before letting the Crimson Empire take over the rest of the world. As for killing the people, what makes you think I did kill them? Did you even bother to scan the traces left over from the attack? Of course you didn't. You and myself are alike in many ways. We assume things too fast.

"If you want to know, that tower was simply transported into a pocket-dimension I had created. As for now, they're in Limbo, not able to do anything. They're basically in coma. You want proof? Here's the proof," he said, and waved his hand. A shimmer appeared to the side of Haraldur, and, the bodies of the men in the tower appeared, looking peaceful, if not abit restless.

"As you know, even with all the power I have, it is almost magically impossible to bring someone back from the dead - even you cannot bring someone back. Sure, I could manipulate the bodies into doing my biding, but, if you can their souls, you'll find they're alive and well, with their own souls. Your city would of been erdicated earlier, if I was not joined with the Crimson Empire. They had planned a blitz on the city, to reduce it to rubble.

"Draven can be remembered as whatever he wants. I, on the other hand, am not going to be seen as a mass murderer. I have never hurt, or killed, anyone that wasn't fighting against me. Stop assuming, Haraldur," he said sharply. The bodies of the men were still floating idly beside Haraldur, bobbing up and down with random gusts of air.

[Haraldur]

//Zeros', how is my character supposed to "scan" anything, if I myself do not know what happened? In order for that to be valid, you would have to tell me explicitly, out of the storyline, what happened, so that my characters could reasonably "scan" things. "OK, yep, I have just released all the population of Romme from Limbo!" This could be used as a tool for revisionism (assuming that is not what you have done), so that anything done by the characters in the past is completely cancelled out. Apart from that, this "scanning" stuff is a complete cop-out. If your character kills, then that which is killed is dead, even if killed by your "holier-than-thou" character.//

"You should stop assuming too Zeros'.

"It is not my city, Zeros'. I claim no ownership of it. Only autocrats claim ownership of cities, and I am no autocrat. You may call it semantics, but it is an important distinction. I am a leader, yes, but not a ruler. I lead, but I do not rule. The populace rules.

"Would have beens are irrelevant Zeros', what matters is the future and the now. And you will be remembered as a mass murderer, if the Fascists of the Crimson Empire and its allies eradicate Laus. Why? Because at this time you are objectively Fascist. For all intents and purposes, you are on their side. Therefor, you will be directly responsible for the deaths of 100 000, whether that is your intention or not. Whether or not you are directly involved with the killings, they would still be a result of your actions. Do not fool yourself.

"As for bringing people back from the dead, I have some good news for you. The Prophet is once more alive, and with personality intact. I released him at the South Pole this morning. I am sure you cannot construe his death as being moved to Limbo."

He caused the air currents to blow the soldiers over to the city walls, and to blow the memorial away into the sea.

"The only thing worse than an objective Fascist is a real Fascist, and the only good real Fascist is a dead one. Think about that."

[Dude Man]

"Bah!" Duilin shouted. "The coward is using a barrier!" He looked and then saw Haraldur and Zeros' were not fighting. "Odd..." He noticed Haraldur, added protection onto Ein's barrier.

"Looks, like Haraldur cares about you..." Duilin said to Ein. "To bad, nobody else here seems to..." He examined Ein, hiding behind the tree with his barrier chanting something. 'That barrier looks strong, but I still wish to break it.'

Duilin begins to gather up heat, and charging up energy, mixing up a large energy\fire ball....

------

Rink, hasn't really found anything more of interest, so he chooses to go view the battle happening outside. 'Zeros' and Haraldur have stopped. Yet, Duilin and the other one are still fighting...I suspect the battle may go on for awhile, but the way Haraldur is protecting him, he won't allow Duilin to kill him. I hope he doesn't. He's killed to many people already.'

[D. Ein]

-"Coward? Maybe i'm shielding myself because i don't want to die? Can't have someone LIVING, now can we?!"

Ein finished chanting, took out a crossbow bolt and stabbed it in the earth right in the middle of his diagram. Suddenly a lightning erupted from his bolt, completely breaking his own and Haraldur's barrier. The lighting then made an arc in the air, and hit the ground next to Duilin. The earth started shaking, and the place where the lightning hit slowly rose. Then a giant black scaly claw could be seen clinging to the formed crevice, as if something was trying to get out of the ground.

[Haraldur]

Haraldur called to Ein, "Comrade, be cautious. Whether your opponent lives or dies is of little matter, I know him better than to consider him an enemy, but enough to know he is objectively Fascist. Take care of yourself, I wish to learn of your name after this, and from your own lips."

He dropped another pretection orb on Ein.