"Through the ages of man and beast have we, the Herald Of Flames, studied the Arcane Arts of Life. To the heathen of Rune Midgard, it is forbidden to practice these ancient arts, but to us, the Herald, it is but the very essence of life itself. We, both human and beast, have no place in this world without the Arcane Arts of Life. To master it is our goal and to exercise our power is our right. We will not be deprived of our rights and our heritage. Nature itself demands that we hold the reins of power, for it is we who were born of power and it is we who have the sole right to wield it. The heathen who inhabit the world of men are but fools, who do not understand their own world. They will be cleansed and we will carry out this holy duty that is bestowed upon us. We are the Herald of Flames and in our burning fires, all shall be cleansed to receive the blessings of Life."
- The words of Sidor Galenhan, Maxima Impellar, the Herald Of Flames
"The first and second phases of our plan have been accomplished, Rodhan Impellar. The Churches of Glast Heim now dance to our music! Several of their priests have already converted to our beliefs. As you ordered, we have begun modifications on their physiology.", the hooded figure said, kneeling beside his superior, Tanjar Mordavir, the Rodhan Impellar of the Herald Of Flames.
"You have performed your task well. However, it is unfortunate that certain elements have decided to interfere in our plan.", Tanjar said, looking at the hooded figure, kneeling two feet away from him.
The castle had always been the Rodhan Impellar's favourite residence. Although there had been a lot of wear and tear in the past hundred years or so, the castle still retained much of its magnificence. Tanjar had but to look out of the side window, in the hallway, to see the deep moat of the castle. Its still waters gave him great peace of mind and he spent many an hour simply staring at it every day. Beyond that, there were the evergreen forests that seemed to grow everywhere in this part of the world. This was one place that human civilization never seemed to touch. Despite the clumps of villages that sprung up in small clearings, about ten kilometers apart from each other, the forest still seemed to continue growing. All efforts at cutting down the trees had simply resulted in an increased growth rate. The forest resisted human expansion and Tanjar loved every second of it. He had taken great pleasure in cutting down many of the persistent woodcutters who kept coming back for more. Nature would thrive in this place and the Herald Of Flames would see to it. Their magic kept nature at its best and gave it every possible defense against human intrusion. None of it, Tanjar knew, had been done out of pure generosity and concern for nature's well being, despite what the Herald's criers told the people. The forests offered powerful protection against any siege that could be launched against the castle and Tanjar knew the reasons for such precautions.
No son or daughter of the Herald could forget that massacre of the past, when the Crusaders of God had rode down upon them on their massive Grand Pecos. There had been nothing the Herald could do to defend itself. The surprise attack had complete overwhelmed them and thousands of people had been slaughtered. Of course, that was how the stories told it. The Rodhan Impellar had seen and commanded the might of the Herald and he knew they could never be beaten or slaughtered as easily as the legends said they had been. But as far as he was concerned, those stories had been extremely useful for the Herald since they generated a lot of sympathy among the less…devout…of the Glast Heim Churches. Their propaganda had taken a few months to spread among the various Churches of the Jewel of the North, but it had spread and eventually, it had gathered quite a large following. That, of course, meant the Herald could face even greater danger should the capital city of Rune Midgard ever come to know of its activities. Hence, the spells had been cast to create the impregnable forests and they were constantly patrolled by the Flame Knights of the Herald. The castle itself had been modified to a great extent since the alleged 'massacre' of old and Tanjar now looked at the fortified gates and the drawbridge of the castle. The gate was guarded by four large towers, manned by ballistas and crossbow men. Steel had been used extensively in fortifying the gates and refining the weapons used by the guards. The steel itself had been difficult to acquire and Tanjar remembered the expeditions into the mountains of Mount Mjolnir. They had lost twenty good men in the long abandoned mines of the mountain, but had managed to gather a large booty of steel and iron. The Herald's forgers had taken care of the rest. It had been risky to carry out all those operations without being detected by minions of the capital city, but the Herald had managed to pull it off without any problems.
The result of their efforts had been a virtually impregnable castle with fortifications that would match the capital city itself. In a way Tanjar knew they were better since the Arcane Arts had been used for even better fortifications. The ramparts of the castle walls were patrolled by the Dryads and undead Druids, spawned with the power of the Arcane Arts of Life. It had been difficult and had required the sacrifice of a virgin. Even Tanjar, who had participated in many such rituals, had shivered slightly as the undead spirits took over the girl's body and transformed her agony into a devastating curse. The Rodhan Impellar remembered the chanting of the priests and the prayers of the acolytes as the shrieks of the dying girl enveloped the room. Those shrieks had died slowly and the remnants of the sacrifice had then risen to everyone's amazement. It had been the first time that had happened. Usually, the bodies tended to stay dead while the demons spawned at the beck and call of the priests. This time, the body had risen and Tanjar had recognized the undead spirit within. The agony and the pain it had suffered while living still tormented it and the Sohee had been created as a result of that torment! Tanjar had laughed, thinking of how the priests of Prontera would react to this. They would have called it abomination, cursed it for the damned that it was and conducted their own rites to banish it to the nether world. But the Herald? What would it do? Tanjar grinned as he remembered the elation in the voices of the priests. Their chants grew louder and the acolytes could be heard all over the castle as they laughed like demons possessed. Their bodies began to burst and blood poured all over the floor. Tanjar himself had tasted it! He remembered…the blood of the damned, how sweet it had been! The end result had been the creation of the guards on the ramparts, the Dryads and Druids from the bodies of the acolytes.
Some priests had moaned the waste of the acolytes' flesh. It could have been used, they had said, for creating some intelligent demon instead of brain dead guards. But the ritual had been completed and they were forced to keep their peace. The Herald had no time for the complaints of maggots. Rituals and experiments formed the basis for evolution and progress with the Arcane Arts of Life. The Rodhan Impellar knew the necessity of all the experiments, even the one they were currently undertaking. Its risks were profound and threatened the very existence and future of the herald, but so far it had yielded wonderful results.
"Like this one.", Tanjar thought looking at the stalker kneeling beside him.
A great deal of resources had been spent on the creation of these stalkers. Tanjar had, for once, agreed with the priests who still complained about wastage of resources. Not only were the skilled thieves, required for the transformation, difficult to capture, but the number of blood sacrifices required for the process to be completed was also hideously large. The Rodhan Impellar had feared at one point that they would exhaust their supply of sacrifices. But someone had come up with the bright idea of using some villagers for the same purpose and it had been greeted with enthusiasm of wolves stalking their prey. The process had been completed without any hitches, but doing it again would require more resources.
"Which is why we are conducting this particular operation, aren't we?", Tanjar thought, still looking at the stalker beside him.
They were obedient and submissive, these stalkers, and the Herald had no trouble in controlling them. They were deadly too, their strength and speed altered to intensive the power of their skills. Their intelligence had been reduced to produce a more subjugated nature, but not so much that they were mere zombies. That would have been a true waste of resources…intolerable! Tanjar went through the entire plan again. His own physiology had been altered to serve higher purposes. His intelligence, strength and constitution were far superior to many serving the Herald. The entire plan, of course, was extremely risky. But so far it had worked very well. Gaining control of a majority part of the Glast Heim churches had allowed for free access to the city. The Herald had been surprised at the extent of political connections that some of the priests had, but it all served the purpose well enough.
"Yes. We must remember the 'purpose'. It is supreme and must be achieved!", Tanjar thought.
Once uninterrupted and unquestionable access to the city had been gained, the Herald's agents had set about scouting the entrances, the strength of the city's army and most importantly the sewers.
"Ah, the sewers of Glast Heim! What treasures do you hold? What has the Order of Crusaders of God sealed in your depths?", Tanjar thought, running over the plan's basics once more.
Finding the artifact of legends was of supreme importance, but the Rodhan Impellar also aimed to control most of the city by the time the operation was complete. However, the recent intrusions had been very annoying.
"Are you certain the acolyte has not disturbed our activities?", Tanjar asked.
"No, Rodhan Impellar, he has simply been eavesdropping and spying on us. We decided to hold back and ask your permission before wiping his existence off the face of this damned planet.", the stalker said, obviously savoring the moment when he would slay the acolyte.
"And what of this other element? This crusader who fights with the assassin as we speak."
"We have learnt much about him, Sire. He is Hijo Ramurao, a former member of the Crusaders of God!"
"Hijo Ramurao…", Tanjar muttered, "…yes! I remember him. He has been mentioned many times in the stories as well. He was part of the assault on our people. Yes! I remember him well. Was he not the one who found the artifact that we seek?"
"Yes, Rodhan Impellar, the then Crusader Hijo is said to have been given the Sword of God by Odin Himself, although the legends never say what he did with the sword later."
"Bah!", Tanjar roared, "Sword of God, my foot! Odin gave him the Jewel of the Damned! The same Jewel that we seek! The sword belongs in our treasury where we may use it to fulfill our purpose!"
"We believe this Hijo Ramurao now seeks the sword, Sire."
"No, he does not.", Tanjar said, running through the various bits of information stashed away in his mind.
"Sire?", the stalked said, not understanding his commander.
"He does not seek the sword. Hijo had turned the sword over to the Crusaders of God when he left their Order. He does not know what has become of it and if I am correct, he has forgotten completely about it."
"Then why…"
"BE QUIET FOOL!", Tanjar roared and the Stalker tried to hide in a dark corner of the hallway, "Your duty is to serve and do as you are told! Thinking in you is encouraged only to a certain extent, slave, do not forget that! Serve! That is your purpose!"
The stalker bowed his head and waited as the Rodhan Impellar composed his thoughts. Tanjar hated shouting at his subordinates. They were usually smart enough to understand him and know when to shut their mouths. This one was obviously inexperienced or lacked the necessary education. No matter, the Herald had ways to deal with incompetents.
"The acolyte Joshua has obviously given Hijo information regarding the sewers, but he does not know what he will find there. Obviously, his connections with the Crusaders of God have long since been dead. He ventures now into the unknown and that can be used in our favor. You will not attack him. Let him fight with the assassin. He will win. That one had some defects even after modifications. Hijo will find a way to kill him. You will simply follow him to the depths of the sewers and allow HIM to reveal the location of the sword. Do you understand? Under no circumstances are you to engage him and waste his time any further. FOLLOW HIM and keep your distance!"
The stalker bowed once more and scrambled out of the room. He wanted to get as far away from the Rodhan Impellar as possible! Tanjar gazed at the castle moat once more, allowing the crystal clear waters to calm his mind. If Hijo was alone so far, that meant the Crusaders of God did not know about their plans. At least that much was good news. But one Crusader, former member or not, was enough to cause an indefinite chain of problems. Delays could not be tolerated. Hijo Ramurao would have to be eliminated. But it would have to be done carefully! The Crusaders of God would undoubtedly ask questions about Hijo's death. Oh yes! It had to be done very carefully.
"There are ways and there are ways! You just have to look hard enough.", Tanjar thought, bursting into laughter that echoed throughout the palace.
