"Wu will supply you with every book in the kingdom of you need it" Ling swore "as for the research, please find a way to make humans immortal as we demons are."

@Kenny1

"As you command, Emperor," he spoke, soon leaving with Wu to his research post.

The study, as it turned out, was a spacious room on the bottom floor of the library. The large windows looked over a water garden, spotted with Koi and other unique fish native to the kingdom. The shelves were packed with books in every language spoken in Terra; Xianese, Orcish and even a few ancient books that seemed to be in languages long unused. Ut was clear every effort had been made to provide all the resources he could ever want.

Wu bowed as she explained the library's organization, and how to borrow books. As well she noted the study next door had been turned into a bedroom for him so he wouldn't have to wander the grounds to get home.

Once they were all finished they, at the order of Molkarg, reluctantly took off their crowns and placed them on the ground. Shadow enveloped them and their eyes turned black. They stood in a triangle and got out their knives. 'Inuziakxelonan, inu Thurgarkzabe, inu Thurgarkzabezark kad, Darthyxithruz. Inu sarku, kadgark sargu. (In our moment of weakness we make the 'Strong Three (Trinity)', we make it for you Darthyxithruz. Hear us and give us your strength)' Molkarg chanted, and a red mist appeared around them. Sanukdarok and Drikdarok looked around, wary, but Molkarg nodded to them to assure them all was well. They heard a whisper around them and words formed in their head 'You want eternal life, strength in magic, and skills in weaponry?' Darthyxithruz said.
'Orun (yes)' Molkarg replied.
'Then it will be done, on the condition that you remain loyal to me and do my bidding. The stronger I get the stronger you will become, but betray this oath and you will be reduced to the husks that you are now, for eternity. Know that you are under my control, acknowledge it'.
'Orun, unhsukh (yes, I am)' they all said, with Drikdarok and Sunkdarok following Molkarg's lead.
'Then my strength is given to you' the crowns glowed purple as he said this 'place the crowns that you have forged, have poured yourself into, place them upon your head and you will have my strength as well as your own'. With that the mist faded and they scrabbled for the crowns, placing them upon their heads and casting the binding spell. Their eyes changed to purple. They nodded to each other, and left through Sanukdaroks portal to complete the next stage of the plan.

Garkunig, Hell.

Shedanaran stood up. Molkarg, Drikdarok and Sanukdarok stood before him, crowns on their head, weapons unsheathed. 'Unh kadnotogu? Unh kadshiuk? (you betray me? you want to kill me?)' Shedanaran said.
'Orun, inu Darthyxithruzkogukh (yes, Darthyxithruz has commanded us)' Molkarg replied, stepping closer to Shedanaran.
'Shikh (So be it)' Shedanaran replied and threw a fireball at Molkarg.

Molkarg made a fire shield and the fireball washed over him, but giving him minor burns. Molkarg became very tired however, and the others could see he couldn't take another hit like that, so Drikdarok made a wall of stone around Molkarg, while Sanukdarok created a small tornado near Shedanaran. Shedanaran was thrown to the side, but he let off a string of fire at Sanukdarok as he fell. Sanukdarok blew cold air at the fire, and accidentally created another tornado, next to him. He was swept into it, but he quickly cancelled it and got back up to his feet. As this happened Drikdarok was shooting large boulders at Shedanaran, whom was either dodging or melting them into magma and throwing them back. He did this now, and so was oblivious to the super-heated air blast that Molkarg and Sanukdarok sent towards him. He was scorched badly, and fell to the ground. Drikdarok locked him down with stone, with only his face being left uncovered. Molkarg stood over him. 'Darthyxithruz kadkargakhzero (Your soul goes to Darthyxithruz)' he said to Shedanaran, drew his sword, dipped it in poison and stabbed it into Shedanarans face. Drikdarok pulled the stone off his body and a red mist left his body. A portal opened near them and a strange creature stepped out. It looked like a mass of tentacles, cloaked in purple shadow. It did not speak, but a large hole opened up and the red mist was drawn into it. The mist seemed to scream before it was consumed by Darthyxithruz. Darthyxithruz turned to them, and then left through the portal. A burst of strength seemed to enter the three Dru and they smiled at each other.

The Theolagian army closes in on the city of Shen, they make the ground tremble with every step of the march, it would almost seem like an earthquake, thousands upon thousands of troops move forward, itching for a battle.
(According to you I was going to be put in vaolos's place.)

Shen, The Kingdom of Xi'an
--------------------------

The city echoed with gongs, their clangs ringing through the narrow crowded streets. Thousands of earth demons, originally sent to block the river, now stand upon the city walls watching the enemy cross the snow blanketed valley. Ling's scorched earth policy seemed to have done some damage, having deprived them of resupply for the length of the trek.

Inside Shen the citizens were packed into the stone buildings at the center of town, including the castle of Lord Chung, the earth demon governor of the province. The narrow mountain passes had prevented their human enemies from bringing siege equipment, but one look at their carts told the defenders that the Theologians had not come unprepared.

With grunts of efforts the ground level warriors, outside of the walls, raised two artificial walls around the city. Creating a three tiered perimeter around the city.

"Destroy the damn" ordered Lord Chung, referring to the damn up river, which was blocking the Yuan river. A telepath relayed the order to his counterpart, and upstream fourth earth demons destroyed the structure sending a torrent of water into the valley. The tsunami raced down the dry riverbed, clearing chunks of forest and mountain with it. As the surge of water raced into the valley the outerwall of the city was struck by a boulder and crumpled into a heap, adding debris into the torrent as it hit the Theologian army crossing the valley.

The Theolagean army vanguard was devastated but there were still many more troops behind, the siege engineers set up the mangonels.
"Ready to fire, sir!" They called, the sergeant waved the loose sign and they were off, they hit the walls at high speed and easily broke through. the mangonels were then moved forward and tried a second time with the second wall.

Nanking, The Kingdom of Xi'an
------------

"Your Majesty the theologians have lay siege to Shen!" Shouted a general, running to catch up with the emperor

"Your tone is concerning general" Ling said emotionlessly

"It seems they focused all their forces on Shen your Majesty. We manages to kill tens of thousands, but their force is bigger than we anticipated"

"Any word from Lhasa?"

"No your Majesty. It seems their king wasn't foolish enough to split his force, opting for a concentrated attack on Shen."

Ling stopped walking as he thought, his face unreadable. This was indeed bad news. Shen only had a defense force of five thousand demons, because he'd never imagined a whole army would go after a small city on the fringes of the Kingdom. Even counting humans the city at best had 15,000 to fight the remaining army.

"General what resources would we lose if we lost Shen?" He finally asked

"Well the forests would allow them to build proper siege weapons, and Shen also controls our major coal supplies. But, nothing we can't afford to lose."

"Very well then. Order Lord Chung to evacuate the city and come to Nanking. His men's mission is to buy enough time to get the citizens to safety and burn the supplies they don't take with them. The earth demons are to destroy the city walls before leaving."

"Yes my emperor." The general said, bowing before running to find the court telepath to relay the message

Garkunig was home to much banging and clanging. Weapons of war being produced in the thousands, by demons and Dru alike. The fires of Garkunig were once again being used for crafting, which resulted in weapons so good in make, that a sword of Garkunig steel could slice through the steel of other mountains, like a knife through butter. Tunnels were being excavated to the slopes of the mountain, and great fortresses were being built there. Some mighty Dru were allowed the privilege of being changed, but only earth, air and fire magic was being used. Three divisions were formed, consisting of 100 Dru each. The Flame Hand, led by Molkarg Eternal Fire, The Mountain Hand, led by Drikdarok Mountain Mover and The Wind Hand, led by Sanukdarok Wind Walker. Each division was made up of changed Dru, The Flame Hand being Unigdru (fire Dru) The Mountain Hand being Darkdukhdru (earth Dru) and The Wind Hand being Saghdru (air Dru). Great enchanted weapons were made for them, swords that set their enemies on fire, axes that opened cracks in the earth and bows that shot arrows for 1000 kilometers (exaggeration ;)).

Nanking, Xian
A messenger, from the small sub-division of teleporters, opened a portal and stepped through it into Xian. They had been taught the Xianese language by Sanukdarok, as well as Theolagian. The messenger, a large ork that did not look like a messenger at all, rather a warrior, appeared in a courtyard in Nanking and asked for directions to the palace from a nearby demon soldier. He was escorted there by them, and requested audience with Emperor Ling, on peaceful terms.

Garkunig was home to much banging and clanging. Weapons of war being produced in the thousands, by demons and Dru alike. The fires of Garkunig were once again being used for crafting, which resulted in weapons so good in make, that a sword of Garkunig steel could slice through the steel of other mountains, like a knife through butter. Tunnels were being excavated to the slopes of the mountain, and great fortresses were being built there. Some mighty Dru were allowed the privilege of being changed, but only earth, air and fire magic was being used. Three divisions were formed, consisting of 100 Dru each. The Flame Hand, led by Molkarg Eternal Fire, The Mountain Hand, led by Drikdarok Mountain Mover and The Wind Hand, led by Sanukdarok Wind Walker. Each division was made up of changed Dru, The Flame Hand being Unigdru (fire Dru) The Mountain Hand being Darkdukhdru (earth Dru) and The Wind Hand being Saghdru (air Dru). Great enchanted weapons were made for them, swords that set their enemies on fire, axes that opened cracks in the earth and bows that shot arrows for 1000 kilometers (exaggeration ;)).

Nanking, Xian
A messenger, from the small sub-division of teleporters, opened a portal and stepped through it into Xian. They had been taught the Xianese language by Sanukdarok, as well as Theolagian. The messenger, a large ork that did not look like a messenger at all, rather a warrior, appeared in a courtyard in Nanking and asked for directions to the palace from a nearby demon soldier. He was escorted there by them, and requested audience with Emperor Ling, on peaceful terms.

As was the common practice in Xi'an the solider was brought to the throne room, with his weapons laid on the platform. Two guards of each of the elements framed the room, bowing as Emperor Ling entered.

The stone faced monarch sat in how throne and gestured for all to rise, raising his hands.

"Welcome to Xi'an messenger of Ocrad. What news has brought you to my nation?" Ling asked, genuinely curious

The messenger, having only a short time to learn the language, spoke ineptly. 'Ocrad wants a peace treaty with Xi'an, we want to wage war on Theolagius so we want a peace treaty with Xi'an. Yes (this is pretty much what Druka sounds like if it was English, lots of comma's)'. The messenger placed a sealed scroll on the ground in front of Ling. The seal had the insignia of the Trinity on it, a sword with fire to the left of it, a mountain below and some wavy lines to signify wind on the right of it. The scroll read.


The words were quite angular, as Sanukdarok had written it. The messenger waited for a response but had begun playing with a mini portal, poking a nearby guard with his finger through a portal.

Ling read over the letter several times, making sure that he understood completely it's meaning. It was almost verbatim what he had offered their previous ruler, mutual peace and a defense treaty. With a snap of his fingers a guard brought him ink, à brush, and paper.

"Indeed things have changed greatly since you were an honored guest in my home. I will happily agree to a permanent peace treaty between Xi'an and Ocrad, with a provision for mutual assistance in this war. While I can not allow your troops to station themselves in my cities, I will happily allow you and your men safe travel through Xi'an and permission to use our borderlands for camps.

His Majesty,

Emperor Ling

The messenger took the letter and departed through a portal. Molgark read over it and grunted. 'Xi'an sakgoghug Druzerogh, dru rakgoghugerughug, drukh rakgoghugerughug (send 200,000 people to Xi'an, 150,000 orks, 50,000 trolls)' he said to his military messenger, whom promptly started a round of teleporting to tell the western Daroks to mobilize this army. Molgark then made his way down the halls of Garkunig, many of which were freshly excavated, until he made it to his map room. Notunig was there, his second in command in charge of the Flame Hand. 'Unh o Unigsuk Xi'anzerogh (The Flame Hand and I will go to Xi'an)' he growled.
'Orun' Notunig replied, and left to rally the Flame Hand. Molgark sat in a chair behind his desk, a chair and desk that looked almost identical to Drikdaroks. He sighed. He remembered his days as a human. Hard, painful and long. He remembered the sense of weakness that had almost defined his life then. It was funny. He felt more out of place in Ocrad as an ork as he did a human and when he had been stationed in Xi'an, he had felt, almost at home. Even if their customs were strange to him, and even if he, as a human, still looked different to them, he had felt accepted. He was not longing for humanity however. As an ork he was stronger, bigger and perhaps even smarter than he was as a human, he was only wondering how things would've turned out if he hadn't excepted Shedanaran's offer. Shedanaran, who had changed his life for the better, and now lay dead, his soul consumed.
He suddenly had a vision. It was him, as a human. He was carrying a sword, bright as the steel of Garkunig, and a bow was slung across his back. Orks were attacking him, and he was dispatching them expertly. When the assault ended he bent down over one of the bodies and said some inaudible words. The body turned into that of a human, a female and Mol picked it up, carrying it into the distance. Molgark was snapped out of the vision, and shook the remnants of it from his mind. Now was the time for war, not fantasies.

OOC New story idea uses preview, it doesn't know how effective it will be! I've decided I'll write a book on what could've happened, don't judge me I'm bored. In any case expect progress soon!

Shen, The Kingdom of Xi'an
------------

"Your lordship, I have orders from Nanking" the telepathic earth demon said as he burst into the room. The messenger was a rather weak looking man, short and thin he could barely use magic at all. If it weren't for his rare talent he would've long ago been stationed as an earth tiller, rotating fields in the cold of winter to aerate and fertilize the soil.

"Well out with it boy, the second wall just fell" barked the anxious looking Lord, who had gotten fat from years of governing. Every movement made the demon's folds ripple like a sickening ripple.

"His Majesty has ordered the city evacuated, and the walls destroyed."

Another unhealthy looking demon, a toad looking woman plastered with layers of make up, spoke up "and how are we supposed to pull that off? We're about to be surrounded!"

Chung sent a brick from the wall flying into the woman's head, causing it to bleed "Lady Bei if you ever question his Majesty in my presence again I will have you launched over the walls to clear us a path yourself"

Biting back her fury she stewed in the corner, muttering to her self. Meanwhile Lord Chung pondered over the problem. Lady Bei wasn't wrong, the island was not ideal for escaping and Theocrats weren't about to allow a city's worth of humans to peacefully walk away.

-----

As the castle worked out how to evacuate an entire province's worth of humans and demons the defenders were hard at work fighting off an army. The central wall, weakened by the flood, had proved no match for the boulders being hurled at it. Within minutes wide gaps had opened up, allowing some particularly foolhearty Theocratics to engage the earth demons. Although the humans stood no chance in hand to hand combat their sheer numbers made it impossible for the demons on the ground to repair the wall. Instead they ended up creating artificial walls around them, made with the bodies of dead humans.

as more and more soldiers poured in, through the second wall, they placed shabby wooden bridges over the moat. from behind, soldiers with ladders raced towards the last wall, archers firing over them, hitting the opposing humans and demons, though they did not kill the demons they did kill a vast number of humans. the soldiers raised their shields high to defend against arrow fire, few died and many were injured, they would be replaced. they then climbed the ladders and moved into the city.

Corporal Ping, a grunt earth demon, was surrounded and saw the enemy sneaking into the city. For the most part the wall guards had managed to manipulate the wall to knock down ladders. But hundreds had made it into the city before all the ladders had been destroyed.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, he remembered a game he had played when younger. It was called mole rat, and had consisted of racing underground by bending the earth, the first person to the other side of the hill won. Jumping into the air he slammed his feet hard, bending the earth out of his way and sealing the exit behind him. Feeling the vibrations of the earth, as he had all those years ago, he navigates his way under the city and emerged inside the castle, scaring several civilians who packed the building.

Running hard, exhausted from the energy required to control so much earth, he panted heavily as he opened the doors to the command room.

"They've... breached... the walls" he panted, forgetting his formalities

Lord Chung slammed his hands into the table, splintering it into pieces. They were almost out of time and he hadn't figured out how to evacuate.

"How did a corporal get all the way here? You're supposed to be outside the city walls!" Barked Lady Bei

"Mole rat... your ladyship" he said, only now remembering to stand at attention

"You f-cking played games?!" The lord said incredulous

"No you damn fool!" She replied for the corporal "he solved our problem."

Addressing the whole room, which included an assortment of generals and human leaders she said "have the best mole rat players assembled, we are going to sneak out of here underground!"
----

The castle and mayor's mansion, where the civilians had been packed, we're quickly abuzz as the youngest and lowest ranking demons in the city suddenly became the ones in charge. Without any time to waste they began digging out tunnels from the basements, with the corporals and sergents rotating turns at the front to lead the escape in the inky black of the earth.

----

As soon as the civilians, and most of the army, we're safely out of the city, the remaining demons implemented the final phase. With the Theocrats scaling the walls unopposed by now the remaining one thousand demons sent the east wall flying over, collapsing into the river, exposing the city. Closing the tunnels behind them, and continuing to close them for a mile more, they escaped. The city of Shen was now in the hands of Theos, thought not its people.

(Ooc: you wouldn't be able to find out how they escaped. But you would gain all the food, alcohol and tools the city had)

The men rejoiced! A battle well fought and a reward of food and wine, but first the men kneeled to respect the dead.
The day ended.
This battle shall be known as "the one day siege".

I scouting force of 10,000 orks has been seen marching through Xi'an, in the direction of Shen and Nanking.

Molgark,

I regretfully must write you some bad news on this day. In the bright of day the whole of the army of Theos lay siege to the border city of Shen. The civilians were safely evacuated, along with most of the garrison. However, it came at a heavy price of a thousand Xianese troops and the loss of the city.

As I must prepare Nanking for the inevitable attack on Nanking I feel compelled to request assistance in dispelling these barbarians and regain my citizen's homes in Shen.

Wishing you well,

Emperor Ling