from the Journals of Morningstar 776 Series C, Warforged Wizard
by Richard Smyth
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Date: 10 Olarune 997YK
Since being singled out by the Lord of Blades for recruitment as a general in his army of fear, I have often been relieved of the more mundane tasks of soldiering in order to begin my training. This has involved accompanying him on inspections, interviewing lesser officers, and discussing strategy as we pour over maps of the Mournland and surrounding areas. He speaks of mounting invasions into Darguun, Zilargo, and Valenar. The more I come to know him, the more I come to see him as insane--driven as he is by this singular quest to overcome and subjugate our former masters.
On the morrow, the Lord of Blades plans to purge the army of suspected traitors, and he intends for me to prove myself and my loyalty. This is another aspect of his insanity--this constant fear of betrayal, this scrutiny of all for any sign of disloyalty. It manifests as abject tyranny, as when, last night, he shredded the tendinal roots of Gauntlet in front of the whole regiment, leaving him in pieces on the ground, broken yet still living. All for merely failing to show him the proper respect.
I must make my break in the morning, or I will be forced to kill my own kind, for suspicions of a paranoid megalomaniac.