The Circle of Five
Prologue
Author: TUCfan.
Pairing: Korinia/OC.
Rating: T, because the game is likely meant for older teens.
Description: The Aetherials had threatened them for too long. It was time to destroy them once and for all.
Disclaimer: I do not own Grim Dawn (I have bought the game and all available DLC, though) or Crate Entertainment. I am simply writitng this for my own sake, not for gain.
Author's Note: Hello everyone. Welcome to my very first self-written multi-chapter story here on FanFiction. The first one listed on my profile is a continuation of someone else's story, so I don't really count it as my first. This chapter is just the prologue for the story. The Aetherials have their own language, so I will be writing it all out. Fear not, though, I will also write a translation.
Song: Written while listening to the old piano version of Just Give Me One More Day by Alej on YouTube.
There were few things that Orin Vostra wanted in the world. One of them was total domination of the human species. Was it possible? Perhaps. It wasn't even all that unreasonable. After all, they had almost done it.
Almost. That bitter word filled him with rage. They had managed to take over the capital city, Malmouth, and very much beyond it. All the way down to Devil's Crossing, in fact. And then he showed up. That awful Dervish, who was hell-bent on ending their reign. There was nothing special about him, except that when Allostria failed to possess him, he gained some of their Aether abilities. Why then, did he have so much power? How was it that he, a mere man, was able to slaughter the Master of Flesh himself and destroy the entire plot they had crafted to take over?
There was absolutely nothing left for them. They had started in Crown Hill and made their way through Malmouth, then taken Port Valbury, and even Burrwitch. That damned Dervish had managed to kill the Warden Krieg, take down their associate Darius Cronley, entirely rid Valbury of their presence, secure a path from Devil's Crossing all the way to Crown Hill, and had take down their top fighter. The only thing they still had in their favor was that he did not know where they resided, and even that could be in jeopardy.
As he sat on his throne, Orin could not help but feel a hint of fear. The Dervish was so skilled at defeating them that it was a reasonable assumption that he would find them. The only hope they had was that the followers of the dead blood god would become too powerful to ignore, and thus allow them a chance to slip away farther north.
As much as he hated the Ch'thonians, he could not help but be grateful that they had begun their mad conquest, even if the two peoples had fought.
Ah, what was he thinking? Who in their right mind would ever try to take over the world for a higher power? Everyone knew power was best taken the self. Shaking his head and muttering about the insanity of the Bloodsworn, Orin continued to wait for the rest of the members of the Circle to arrive.
When they finally did show their hideous faces, he sat up straighter out of respect and nodded to each of them. The Third of the Circle, Gadrus Ellostern, sat on his right. While Orin was in charge of communications with all Aetherials below the Circle, Gadrus oversaw the plans and schemes that would be carried out to take over humanity. His strategic brilliance was unmatched, which earned him his role.
The Second of the Circle, named only Harbinger, was the strongest of all of them. He was the warrior who protected the Circle, and sat just below the Mighty First of the Circle, Haladron Filius, who was the wisest of them.
Below Orin in rank was Tyvest Dredgel, who was the spirit of the Circle. It was unknown fully how he operated, but he was the one who drove the Aetherials to constantly strive for domination. Orin was quite certain that the Fifth of the Circle only had four people he could not influence, and it was those above him. Still, they respected him greatly, for his power was very necessary to their cause.
As per usual, all waited to speak until Haladron addressed them. "Shavat, Celkora est minius," he hissed. "Palter, tlesta mesk, waltaeka strestuso dis werta hyla ilk jhet wolder?" Greetings, Circle of mine. Pray, tell me, what standing do we have in the world?
It was Orin's duty to relay all he had heard from his subordinates. "Jhet Mulstro est Fola un droedst. Olus geraust einomust Ares fresta host ilk jhet Folawrokst," he reported. "Erestast bolus host crusumed. Norastast reliamas." The Master of Flesh is dead. Our great enemy Ares felled him in the Fleshworks. Everything below him crumbled. Nothing remains.
"Ust un welsa thya ilmagest. Tlesta mesk, waltaeka lyedia tik tust?" he asked. It is worse than imagined. Tell me, what led to this?
"Olascorredos," said Orin. "Hesta tyogus hesta culos fresa jhet Dervish." Overconfidence. He thought he could fell the Dervish.
"Suka aro est olus wrokst ust gorus?" cut in Gadrus heatedly. "Hewast culos tust halasto?" So all of our work is gone? How could this happen?
"Ares un mas sorteusta thya werta perdapet fisk," said Orin, a bitter taste in his mouth. Ares is much stronger than we prepared for.
"Stildu host. Suromas Allostria et hyla hast tlesta est host," said Haladron. "Uteas thuo, diamosta." Study him. Summon Allostria and have her tell of him. Until then, dismissed.
The Third, Fourth, and Fifth of the Circle each stood and bowed to the First, before stepping down from their thrones and entering the riftgate at the end of the room. As they went, Haladron sighed and gazed at the door to the Aether that loomed over all of them. It would be so much work to start again.
Oh well. All in the name of power.
To be continued. Happy reading!