Descent into Darkness
Prologue
The sun threw its final rays of light into town. In the diminishing twilight, the town only began to come to life. And a peaceful life it was. Semel was the oldest known town in the lands. It predated the reign of Corsix and even before the First Animus War centuries before. Now the town lay at a crossroads. It no longer was as bustling as before the founding of the big trade and social centers of Terthius and Aridus.
People bustled back and forth from shop to house to the magical town center that provided a haven from the evils of the outside world. Warriors and mages bustled about selling wears and swapping tall tales of previous adventures. The best known showed of their skills in swordsmanship and magic. All was at peace...
Or so it seemed. As the sun finally vanished a lone figure walked quickly into town. The figure wore a dark brown robe lined with glistening jewels. His steps made not a sound but all that his feet touched withered and died. The bustle of the town died as people stopped to look at the stranger.
He approached the town square and stopped. He turned his cloaked head from side to side surveying the magic squares of the town center. Hesitantly he raised a foot and set it down on one of the many black blocks. The square glowed for a second then turned to a bloody red. The red color flowed forth from the square like blood engulfing the whole town center.
With an evil chuckle the stranger threw off his robe and pulled himself up to full height. His body was tall and emaciated, his face scarred and solemn. His whole being was covered in a blood red armor that refused to reflect any bit of sunlight. The armor had once been of the Mystic Plate variety, an armor treasured by warriors for its strength and durability. This armor however, was cracked and discolored. Where once gold veins of energy flowed now pulsed veins of pure darkness.
With a wry smile the stranger raise up a hand, palm pointed to the sky. A small ball of red energy formed in the man's hand and grew into a massive globule. As the smile vanished from the man's scarred lips, he hurled it into the now bloody Town Square. A crack of lightning arced down from the sky where the ball of energy had hit. More lightning bolts arced down from the now bright as day sky.
More globes of energy raced away from the main globe and peppered the surrounding ground. Where each one hit, appeared a magical portal. In moments hundreds of portals had sprung up in Semel. The sky was lit by a hellish glow that emanated from directly above the town center.
By now the adventurers and mages in town had assembled into a small group and prepared to combat whatever was about to descend upon the city. Civilians ran about in a heated panic. The stranger stood calmly on the town taking in the chaos around him. He raised his hand again and then swung it ground ward. A pulse of energy radiated outward and washed over the portals.
The air became deathly still and quiet for what seemed like and eternity...then the portals burst outward with a legion of undead warriors. The skeletons poured out of the portals and began to tear the town apart. An entire legion of undead warriors soon had engulfed the town. The fighters, paladins, and mages in town desperately tried to fight back the hoard of skellie warriors to little avail.
Swords tore through armor and bones as bolts of energy disintegrated entire ranks of undead. In moments however, most of the sword bearers were brought to their knees and slaughtered. The mages fared slightly better. They managed to transport themselves further from the fight and continue the relentless bombardment of the undead horde. In minutes even the most powerful mages expended their energy and were forced to submit to the evil they had fought so valiantly fought to vanquish.
As the last resistance was blotted from the town, the leader of it all stood in the center of the once glorious town smiling evilly. He raised both hands above his head and let the energy build up in them. Red lightning bolts arced from the hellish sky and struck the growing black orb above his hands. Once it had reached 3 meters across, the stranger hurled it into the ground.
A massive pulse of energy raced outward from the impact vaporizing the town and surrounding fauna. The pulse raced along turning the living into undead warriors at incredible speed. In five minutes it had reached the Iterum River and ceased. Behind it the once fertile land was dead and desolate. The sky was darkened beyond anything a normal night could achieve. Winds ceased, birds disappeared, and insects chirped a mournful melody.
Above the once great town of Semel clouds lit by Hellish glow circled. A spire had risen out of the ground. It reflected no light but appeared to radiate its own evil light. It grew slowly skyward. In mere hours it reached higher then the highest mountain on the Old Continent. Lightning bolts arced from dark spire to dark spire.
At the towers' massive base sat the stranger that had decimated Semel. His throne was made of human bones with blood pouring from it like a fountain. Around him stood his generals, the reanimated corpses of those slain in the Semel battle.
In his armored right hand he clutched a staff of bone topped by a single human skull. Reddish fire glowed from within the eye sockets and blood poured forth from the open jaw. The stranger glanced out from his raised position over the ruins of Semel.
Before him were lines of thousands of skeleton warriors and daemons. He smiled wryly as he surveyed his troops. Legions of the finest undead warriors and more awaited his signal in the Nexus. The time for Evil had come...