Editing
Kyuad's Stuff he knows
(section)
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
==The Heavy Hand of the Shadow== Erenland lies firmly under the hobnail boots of Izrador’s orc legions and at the mercy of the dark god’s priests, the Order of Shadow. Seemingly limitless numbers of orcs and goblinkin have spewed forth from the frozen north to occupy every major town and city, raping the land for the supplies they need to continue the war against the fey. Supporting this vast army are the traitor princes and false sussars, petty nobles and administrators who have sold their souls to the Shadow for privilege, as well as thousands of human mercenaries who are willing to fight and enslave their own people for a few scraps from the legates’ table. ===Servants of the Shadow=== ====The Night Kings==== Directing the occupation are Izrador’s lieutenants, the four dread Night Kings, immortal creatures that were once champions in the fight against the dark god. =====Sword of Shadow===== In the occupied lands, the best known of the Night Kings is Jahzir, the Sword of Shadow. Once the Lord General of all the armies of the Kingdom of Erenland, Jahzir was captured and twisted by the dark god, and now commands armies of darkness instead of those of light. It was his knowledge and skill that allowed the dark god’s hordes to slice through the already weakened armies of good without breaking stride. He now commands the loyalty of many of the largest orc tribes and has unquestioned control of the orc legions. As the king of Erenland, he has the authority to command the forces of the traitor princes and can conscript troops from the enslaved population to serve as fodder for elven arrows and dwarven axes. Militarily, he is unchallenged by either the Order of Shadow or his fellow Night Kings. He often rides abroad with his armies, but also holds court from his palace in Alvedara and is known to frequent Theros Obsidia; wherever he goes, however, he seems to relish his control over the kingdom he helped to destroy, and does all he can to bleed its shattered remnants to feed his armies. =====Sorcerer of Shadow===== Possibly the most dangerous and least known of the Night Kings is the Sorcerer of Shadow. =====Priest of Shadow===== Controlling the dark god’s legates is the Night King known as the Priest of Shadow. This gaunt figure, once believed to be a Sarcosan holy man, is responsible for the sacrifice of tens of thousands to Izrador each year. He is reviled in the Sarcosan south for turning the once vibrant city of Cambrial into a vast necropolis. Rumors of his creations, including creatures built from the remains of man and beast and legions of undead soldiers marching to war, are told in every town and village south of the Ardune. =====Wrath of Shadow===== The most savage and openly destructive of the Night Kings is the mighty dragon known as the Wrath of Shadow. Thankfully, this creature is rarely seen outside of Highwall or above the battle lines of Erethor. Where she goes, destruction follows, and few live to tell of her attacks. The fey call her the '''Scar’garath, “doom of Erethor”''' in High Elven. The dragon is the most powerful creature on Eredane and there is no hero left alive who could withstand its terrible power. ===The Order of Shadow=== Administering the occupation are the legates, also known as the Voice of Izrador or the Order of Shadow. From the dark tower of Theros Obsidia, the high priests of Izrador issue orders to the greater legates scattered across Eredane. These latter act as Izrador’s viceroys, spreading both his commandments and his wrath. Each arc, the dark god demands the sacrifice of hundreds of sentient beings, their blood and souls flowing into the dark mirrors that reside within his temples. It is known that these mirrors leach both the life force of Aryth and any arcane magic that comes near them, but what purpose these energies are bent toward has not been fathomed. The Order has extended its tendrils to every facet of the occupation and the ongoing war. In cities and towns throughout Eredane the legates either rule directly or through a closely controlled local noble or orc warlord. On a wider scale they fight an unseen but deadly battle for control with their supposed allies, the Night Kings and the traitor princes. The legates’ power stems from their direct connection to their dark god, the only deity on Aryth who still answers his supplicants’ prayers. Only the Night Kings are more closely connected to Izrador and as empowered to interpret the god’s desires. Speaking with the dark god’s voice gives the legates the authority to command his spawn, including the orcs, oruk, and goblinkin. Izrador also grants his priests a portion of his divinity in the form of divine spellcasting; that tainted gift allows the legates the ability to crush spirits, break bodies, and corrupt souls, turning the twisted remains of their enemies to the service of the dark god. Many believe that a legate can see into your soul in search of disloyal or treacherous thoughts, so few are willing to meet a legate’s baleful gaze. ===The Traitor Princes=== Completing the Shadow’s hierarchy within occupied Eredane are the traitor princes, leaders of noble houses who betrayed the Kingdom of Erenland and their own people for an extended, though tainted, lifespan, as well as the power over their fellow men that they’ve always coveted. Lesser in stature but just as greedy and malevolent are the false sussars, petty southern nobles and administrators of Sarcosan descent who have become puppet rulers throughout Southern Erenland. Both types of leaders command their own (largely human) troops, establish their own laws, and conspire against their peers for the Shadow’s favor. Izrador’s gift of long life has heightened the character flaws of the traitor princes, leading to dangerous forms of insanity and instability, while the false sussars long for the dark gift whose cost they cannot fathom. While the areas controlled by the traitors still retain the veneer of civilization, they can be far more dangerous than areas controlled by the legates or even the orcs. ===Orc Warlords=== The legates and traitor princes rule in occupied territory, generally what was once the kingdom of Erenland. Those areas that were strongholds of the resistance or are closer to the free realms of the fey, however, like the battle lines drawn up against Erethor and the Kaladruns, are firmly under the control of orc warlords. These regions are often devoid of human settlements, and those who remain are as likely to become food as they are to be slaves. Meanwhile, north of the Pelluria in the decimated and thoroughly destroyed lands of the Dorns, orc tribes have begun to migrate out of the Vale of Tears to resettle in deserted towns and villages. Tens of thousands of the creatures have settled in the hills around Fallport, up and down the Ishensa River Valley, and throughout the barren lands to the north and east of Highwall. The orcs consider anyone in these lands to be their property to use or kill as they see fit. If the migrations north of the Pelluria continue apace, the orcs will soon outnumber the Dorns. The power of the orc tribes continues to put pressure on the traitor princes, who watch as the whispered promises of Izrador fade away with each passing year. In the east, Gregor Chander has been denied the rich farmlands of the lower Ishensa River Valley that he had fought for in the Third Age. In Bastion, Chandering, Port Esben, and Steel Hill, the princes are forced to house orc legions that “assist” them in maintaining security. Tension between human and orc troops is clearly visible and more than one human or orc patrol has gone missing in areas devoid of resistance activity. Open warfare between orcs and traitorous men has been avoided, however, as the punishments from Theros Obsidia and the Night Kings for such impudence would be swift and merciless. Orc warlords and even traitor princes can, after all, be replaced. However, those princes that survived the fall of the Shadow and those orcs who have clawed their way to leadership are not fools, and know well how to disguise their blows. The Shadow allows the weak to be culled as long as it does not detract from the war against the fey
Summary:
Please note that all contributions to RPGnet may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here.
You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see
RPGnet:Copyrights
for details).
Do not submit copyrighted work without permission!
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)
Navigation menu
Personal tools
Not logged in
Talk
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Namespaces
Page
Discussion
English
Views
Read
Edit
View history
More
Search
Navigation
RPGnet
Main Page
Major Projects
Categories
Recent changes
Random page
Help
Tools
What links here
Related changes
Special pages
Page information