Central Calendar 17th May, 1640
Doors of the World, Kingdom of Topa, Land Bridge between Grameus and Philades
""Fuck! There's so many of them!"" some garrison soldier yelled.
Gunshots and explosions continue to ring out. Soldiers shot and quickly loaded another paper cartridge into the breech, then shouldered and fired again. Bullets whizzed down the walls, smoke was getting so thick, the view is being badly obscured. At this point, the soldiers are firing blindly. The smell of black powder was so strong, it was almost sickening.
Below the walls, a gigantic swarm of goblins and orcs are assulting the wall. There was no way to defeat the garrison aside from a direct assault, hence they were trying to force a breach. However, with only the goblins and orcs they barely scratched the talus. The assault was going nowhere at the moment.
However, Colonel Raul knew something was wrong. There has never been a swarm so large before. This time, the monsters go as far as the eye could see. Usually only small raids occur. Large raid usually devolves into chaos and infighting. However, this swarm is united in trying to take down the walls, which is unsettling.
Colonel Raul took a quick glance from the top of a tower. Watching the elven sharpshooters pick off the goblins, hitting a near 97% hit rate was awe-inspiring. However, the swarm of monsters below look like the ocean and that is a problem.
Colonel Raul called up some major.
"Tell high command we need more troops and suppljes. We will need help if we want to thin out this massive horde," colonel Raul said. "Hurry!"
The major ran off to the manacomms room. Colonel Raul then returned to his command post to lead the garrison in defending the doors of the world.
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A couple of kilometers back, Nosgorath's camp
"My lord, we have begun probing the defenses of the Doors of the World," the red ogre reported. "So far, we have established that they have firearms. Breech-loaders, rapid-fire multiple-barreled firearms and some artillery."
"'Good, pull the swarm back, that is enough probing for now,'" the demon lord ordered. "'We will wait for the air and artillery support to arrive. Surprised some of the ancient weaponry in the hands of the Oni still works somewhat.'"
The red ogre thought a little. Something has been bugging him. He didn't dare to bring it up, but the logistics of this assault will start to become very messy if they don't win soon. With tens-of thousands of beasts under them, it would be painful if they couldn't take the wall down quickly. However, he didn't dare to question the demon lord's plan.
"'Ah, you question the logistical issues concerning the assault. You're worried about how we could supply these troops,'" the demon lord said. This was met with silence from the demon lord. "'Don't try to hide it, I can read your mind.'"
Before the red ogre could say anything else, the demon lord said: "'I am fully aware of the risks of this operation. However, you need not worry, I have a way to quickly neutralise the Topan troops.'" His face morphs into a cruel grin.
The red ogre recognizes that grin. It is the look he gives when shit is about to go down. That look practically reassured the red ogre. He now knows that they are going to be victorious.
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Not far behind the lines, Grameus continent
In the place, several crescent moon-shaped craft are being reassembled. It has a cockpit on them, but no canopy because the average Oni pilot would be too big to fit into one. The yellow ogre used manacoms to report to the demon lord regarding the situation.
"My lord, the flying craft are being assembled. If the estimates are correct, they will be done just before nightfall. Now assuming that the estimates are correct, we would be able to launch the strike mission just after nightfall. Unfortunately, the canopy is long gone, which also means that we must use some very crudely strapped-on displays," the yellow ogre said.
"However, I must admit that it is impressive that the thing still flies. Both the magic grav cushion and the discharge engines are functional," the yellow ogre added. He did not dare to bring only bad news to the demon lord.
<<Very well, keep me updated on the situation,>> a voice can be heard from the comms. <<Right, what about the canisters we brought out? Can they be fitted onto the Alqamar craft?>>
"Yes, my lord. We could," the yellow ogre said.
<<Very well, wait until the artillery crew under the blue ogre is fully assembled. If you dare to launch a sortie before I give the signal, I'll rip you limb to limb,>> the demon lord instructed.
"Understood," the yellow ogre said before heading back to work.
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Doors of the World, Topa Kingdom, Land bridge between Grameus Continent and Philades Continent
Colonel Raul watched in disbelief as the swarm retreated. This never happens during a raid, especially in this manner. When monsters retreat, it tends to be because morale was low and it was more of a route. This was different, they slowly retreated, in an organised fashion as well. Colonel Raul had never seen anything like that. This is telling him something is wrong.
"Get high command, inform them that the swarm is organised. I repeat, the swarm is organised," Colonel Raul ordered an underling. He will need more reinforcements to deal with the swarm, if he is right about them being organised.
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Great Dining Hall, Paradis Palace, Esthirant, Empire of Parpaldia
In this large, luxurious dining hall, typically used for feasts, Remille sat, finishing her food. She now waits for the drinks to come. What she would give for a good cup of wine.
A maid of elven descent with blonde hair, pale skin and blue eyes walked out carrying an ornate golden cup. Remille felt that something was off. Indeed, Remille could remember most if not all of the maids that serve food. Therefore, it was unlikely she would find a single face unfamiliar. However, this maid was…different.
"You there…you look…unfamiliar, are you new here?" Remille asked the maid.
"'Yes, your imperial highness, I joined a few weeks back,'" the maid said.
Remille felt something was off. If she had joined a few weeks back, she would know. This is rousing her suspicion. Remille decided to ask: "What is your name?"
"'Eleanor, your imperial highness,'" the maid answered. She is appearing more and more nervous.
"Very well, Eleanor, I want you to drink this wine that you have served me," Remille said.
The maid suddenly appeared much more fearful. "'But…this wine, it's prepared for you, your imperial highness, I am not supposed to drink it!'" the maid said.
"I'll allow it," Remille said. "Go on, drink it. Actually, I insist." she said, handing the cup to the maid.
The maid was hesitant to even take it. Remille smiled. She knew what was going on. "It's poisoned, isn't it?" Remille asked. "If so, tell me who did it," she said. "If you don't, you're going to the dungeons, then I'll show you why they call me the 'mad dog'."
The maid remained silent, tears seemed to roll down her cheeks. "They have your family, Eleanor, don't they?" Remille asked. Eleanor nodded, silently. "They forced you to do this?" she asked. Another nod was given.
"Very well, I'll assume it's the socialists, since they're the only ones who are likely to operate here in Esthirant. Am I right?" Remille asked. There was no response. But she really suspects that is the case. The socialists have wanted to assassinate members of the imperial court and bloodline for ages. Perhaps they have finally made inroads, Remille thought. Perhaps she wasn't even given info on who they were.
Then Remille gave her an option. "The way I see it, there are two options, Eleanor. Since you have tried to assassinate a member of the imperial family, punishments have to be given out. I could have your thrown into the dungeon, and have you slowly tortured to death. Rest assured, it will be slow and painful," Remille said, with a grin, as if she anticipates to have a lot of fun doing so. The maid appears even more fearful, but she did not start begging for her life, likely out of fear.
"Or…the more boring option. You drink the cup of wine you just gave me. I cannot guarantee that it will be painless, but it will be faster. Your choice," Remille said. The maid is quiet. She is on her knees, stumped at what to do. "10 seconds," she said. "9…8…7…"
The maid quickly reaches for the golden cup and drinks all the wine. "What a boring choice," Remille said. "Should have just called the guards."
The maid then suddenly started clutching her throat and fell on her back. Not too long later, she started frothing from her mouth and died. "Damn, the carpet's all dirty now," Remille said while kicking the corpse a little. She left to call some maids to clean up the place. Later, she would order that the palace security be strengthened.
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City Square, Esthirant, Empire of Parpaldia
Royal Guards carry the naked body of a young elven woman onto the streets, much to the curious look of onlookers. The soldiers found a pole and tied a noose around the corpse's neck, then hung it on the pole. Below it, a sign was placed. On it, it says "Attempted assassination of Her Imperial Highness Remille d'Lusignon".
Many would gather to see what is going on. When a crowd gathered, a guard yelled: "THIS WOMAN WAS CAUGHT ATTEMPTING TO ASSASSINATE HER IMPERIAL HIGHNESS REMILE D'LUSIGNON. ANY WHO ATTEMPT TO HARM OR DEFAME THE IMPERIAL HOUSE WOULD SHARE HER FATE!"
This caused a lot of murmuring, then the guard yelled: "LEAVE THE CORPSE HERE FOR TWO DAYS, ANY WHO ATTEMPT TO TAKE IT DOWN WILL ALSO SHARE HER FATE!"
For the next two days, people avoided the square like a plague due to the bad smell of rotting corpses, save for a few curious individuals. The corpse itself didn't have much flesh left by the time it was taken down due to vultures picking on it.
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Not too long after nightfall
Doors of the World, Topa Kingdom, Land Bridge between Grameus Continent and Philades Continent
Colonel Raul was busy writing up a report about the strange occurrences during the large swarm raid. He knew that it was an organised raid, but he only knew of one entity that could lead such a large swarm of monster without troubles, and he shuddered to think about what would happen if that was the one leading the raids.
He stopped writing and headed to the top of the walls. He wanted to breath in some of that fresh air. When he reached the top, he saw some yellow flashes off in the distance and instinctively knew what it was.
"ARTILLERY FIRE!" Raul screamed. A few seconds later, sections of the wall detonated and collapsed. Troops began setting up crude barriers. Spare gatlings were rolled out and set up in preparation of the horde returning to use the breeches to swarm in. However, all seemed quiet. There was not a single goblin or orc out there.
Then, he heard the roar of something flying overhead. They looked up, only to realize that there were four crescent moon-shaped crafts flying over them. They did a loop, then dove towards the walls. Instinctively, everybody got down. The craft released some pod-like objects. One of which landed on the wall near Raul.
Raul approached the pod-like object. It didn't look like a bomb. In fact, Raul could not tell what it was. Seconds past, there were no explosions.
And then, all the sudden, tubes protruded from the pod. A strange smoke bellowed out of the tubes. It had a weird pungent and irritating odor.
All around the walls, strong winds suddenly picked up. The weird smoke is redirected to envelope the walls and its immediate vicinity, choking out anybody trying to hold the position.
The call for help was sent out through the manacoms, but it was cut off as the operators died gruesomely.
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Central Calendar May 18th, 1640
Ruins of the Doors of the world, Topa Kingdom, land bridge between Grameus Continent and Philades Continent
The great swarm marches through the breeches in the wall. By now, most of the town just beyond the world has been deserted. However, a few families remained. They were shown no quarter and were mercilessly murdered.
The demon lord lands on a portion of the wall. Looking below, he noted that the grin mist cannisters have done their job. He noted the brutal deaths og the Topan soldiers. All have their skin badly burnt by the mist. Some literally coughed out chunks of their lungs. He inspects a dead Topan soldier and his weapon. Interesting weapon, the demon lord thought. Ingenious, but still crude compared to the envoys, the demon lord thought. No matter, this can be used to equip my troops.
Under his orders, the goblins started equipping themselves with the Parpaldian exported rifles. Armories were raided so they could get more ammunition. Everything from small arms to large artillery pieces are brought in and incorporated.
Food from the town is also taken. This goes from conventional food to the citizens remaining in the town. Most of the townsfolk left in a hurry, so there was enough left for the short term. The troops start repurposing the place into a forward operating for the invasion of Philades.
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Palace of the Golden Spring, Berngen, Kingdom of Topa, Philades Continent
King Rados XVI was distraught. Yesterday, they received communications from the Doors of the World, signaling that they were under attack. The troops up north under Colonel Raul requested for reinforcements, which are still being put together to be sent north. Then, there was another report, claiming that the army was retreating, meaning it wasn't an unorganised raid.
The final report came at night, when the operator said something about the air turning poisonous. The transmission cut off abruptly and they were not heard from since. King Rados XVI feared the worst, that the doors had fallen. There was even a chance, however slim, that the demon lord had returned.
King Rados XVI did not like whatever was going on. The doors falling would be extremely bad for his kingdom. There is only one thing left for him to do: call in the Parpaldians.
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Parpaldian Embassy, Berngen, Kingdom of Topa
King Rados XVI himself never stepped through the doors of the Parpaldian Embassy before. However, he has to. At this point, he is begging that the Parpaldians send troops north to help him defend his kingdom. While he is aware that such an act will reduce the power of the Topan monarchy, if the rumours are true and the demon lord has returned, the alternative would be burning, and he much preferred living.
King Rados stepped through the door, the clerk at the desk was stunned. He got off her chair and bowed. "'Your royal highness, what has brought you he-'" the clerk troed to speak.
"'I need to see Ambassador Arielle now!'" the king said. He knows that the Topa Kingdom is in trouble, so his tone is forceful. This took the clerk aback. He wanted to object, but because of the status of the man in front of him, he obliged.
"'Follow me,'" the clerk said, leading them to an office room, in which the Parpaldian ambassador in Topa is.
Ambassador Arielle was sitting at the desk when the Topan King walked in. She instantly shot up and got on her knees.
"Rise," the Topan king said. "I have a request for the Imperial Parpaldian government."
""A request?"" Arielle asked.
"A request for Parpaldian military deployment in the Kingdom of Topa," the king said, to the surprise of Arielle.
Arielle shot the king a stern look. ""That is a serious request. May I ask why you would suddenly want such a thing?"" Arielle asked.
The king started explaining: "Yesterday, our troops at the doors of the world reported a large force of goblins, orcs and other unidentified beasts assaulting the wall. Not too long later, they reported a retreat from the horde of monsters and requested aid. Then that night, they reported that the air was being poisoned. In the first two reports, they noted that the monsters attacking looked organised."
"There are rumours concerning the attacks. Some are stating that it is the return of Nosgorath. In light of this, I wish to request that the Parpaldians send troops north," the king said.
""But, if this humble woman may be so bold as to ask, are we sure that it is the return of the demon lord?"" Arielle asked.
"No, but I'd like to be cautious, hence the request. Many of my best men died up north defending the walls, and hence we have a shortage of good troops. We will need the extra manpower," the king said.
""Very well, I'll forward your request to my superiors,"" Arielle said.