=-=Year 444 - 445 Usoma
Arctic Silence=-=
Figures appeared on the arctic tundra, moving slowly across the wasteland in the cool winter air. The large figures were only stopped by the pending misty aura infront of them, a vast ever moving storm unnatural in its appearence which swirled infront of them, and coming to the front was Tubaj Bloodaxe of the group, gripping his axe. The Tusab were covered head to toe in seal skin, patches of fur from various animals making up their cloths. Their destination was beyond the winter vortex, and even the elite backbone of the Bloodaxe tribe feared to venture forward. Tubaj himself was nervous, for he knew full well what was beyond the vortex of winter snow and mists. Pulling their sleds and keeping their weapons tight, the Tusab ventured forth and felt the sudden rush of icy hell upon them.
Tubaj held onto his axe like a staff, guiding himself as the Tusab ventured from cave to cave, ridge to ridge, snow laden fjord to snow laden fjord. The damnable place was not natural by any standard, and temperatures dropped increasingly to a point which even made the Tusab freeze. Few if any creatures called this middle land their home, and only one creature had dared such a thing.
"Chieftain! Look! Wrad!" Yelled a scout, peering beyond the current camps. Tubaj had gotten up from the warm fire to look across the wasteland, noticing the barely visible black figures of the Wrad moving about. Tubaj grunted as the scout held tight to his weapons in fear.
"Calm yourself, fool. They will not attack us."
"My chieftain, how do you know this? They are undead, for all we--"
"If they planned to harm us, they would have done so by now. Now keep your weapon close. We approach Tara'suga soon."
The Tusab worryingly packed their sleds and moved onwards through the increasing winter hellscape, some warriors before even reaching the first signs of the Wrad civilization had simply dropped to their knees and died, their companions leaving them as they shivered and froze. When the Tusab warriors arrived, they saw the massive blackened walls and crumbled spires, countless and huge. Vast was the ruins of middle Usoma, and no creature knew much of its history except the Wrad themselves. As the Tusab grew closer, the ice storm ceased, but warmth did not come. The warriors camped from ruin to ruin, and came across the scattered remains of the Wrad who dwelled in that land, avoiding the Tusab as they camped.
The closer the Tusab came closer to their quarry, the more disheartened they had become. Tubaj and his warriors had gotten lost for a time wandering in the ruins, having to turn back around and hike across a vast bridge just to get to the other side of some massive canyon. When the Tusab had gone by a local settlement of Wrad, seemingly wandering aimlessly on some stone manor which was better preserved then others, the warriors found members of their own kind as revenants, slavishly working away at random and pointless tasks. Tubaj wondered as he witnessed a revenant seemingly 'plowing' some ice ridden field what it all meant. The warriors debated to attack the Tusab and free their brethren of this fate, but Tubaj silenced the group and forcefully marched them onwards.
At long last however, the Tusab were at the gates of Taga’suga. The land of Taga'suga resembled a great stone library, massive in scale compared to all the buildings around, almost like a palace dedicated to some long begotten education crumbled in time. The gates were guarded by Wrad dressed much like medieval knights, but their armor was very silverish and their swords ornate. The Tusab, running low on food and having no other source, decided to attack the settlement from the rear entrence, guarded by armored Revenants. Tubaj and his warriors attacked a side entrance and carried away the revenants after a fierce battle, and ate the frozen corpses, drawing the attention of the necrotic populace.
The next day, the rear entrance was fortified with several more revenants and a Wrad commander, and Tubaj and his warriors again smashed into the city again, but abeit with less success. The revenants were much more easily downed, but the Tusab lost a warrior and the Wrad commander successfully retreated, and injured several other warriors. Tubaj was inside Taga’suga and camped within a long forgotten reading area. The Tusab barricaded the entrances by piling books, but in doing so, they had grievously angered the Wrad inside. The Wrad refused to attack the barricades, but instead picked away at it by collecting the downed books and retreating, followed by armed revenants who kept the Tusab at bay. Skirmishes soon turned into all out fighting, as Tubaj was personally challenged by Taga’suga's horned Herald. A powerful wraith crashed into the camp by jumping from a higher balcony and slammed into the ground, causing a mass of ice and snow to swirl around him. Tubaj and this wraith dueled for some time, but magic got the better of the chieftain and was nearly killed. Only the timely intervention of one of his warriors prevented him from being killed, and Tubaj was soon tearing apart of the ghostly enemy by ripping away his cloak and armor.
Just as Tubaj was about to deliver the killing blow, his massive fist felt a sudden crack of pain, his hand going numb and his began to feel extreme cold. His warriors began to drop to their knees in pain as the Herald got upon it's 'feet' and collected itself. Tubaj turned to a new figure who entered into his barricaded room, a more formal wraith with a silver crown, and who's robes were silver lined. Tubaj tried to go for his axe, but his pain did not cede and he collapsed.
Tubaj awoke hours later, he had opened his eyes to find nothing but darkness. He blinked a few more times and scratched at his face, but he felt weight and a freezing pain upon his arms. Tubaj realized quickly he was in darkness and felt the bindings of his hand, feeling what felt like ice, linked like chain, to some surroundings. He heard faint whispers and a distant whimper as he got up, hearing the shackle of his bondage to realize he was bound by arm, leg, and neck. He peered around the darkened room.
"Call out, how many of you are still alive." He had assumed at least most of his warriors were still alive. Several loud grunts and yelps confirmed he was surrounded by his warriors. Tubaj wandered in this dungeon, waiting and waiting, until he heard a door open. Tubaj peered into the sudden introduction of light and felt more blinded by it then the darkness. A number of Wrad entered the room, and in doing so, Tubaj's freezing shackles began to become much more colder then before. He nearly fell to his knees, barely able to move as the Wrad simply prodded him along with their weapons.
As Tubaj walked up into the library, he noticed how darkly lit the place was. He was annoyed by this, but understood the Wrad in some sense. Being of the most fanatical warrior, he understood undeath and its limitations to some degree, and as he was led to the inner chambers, he began to realize just how foolish he had been. He had assumed the city of Taga’suga was little more then a ruin, a library, a easy victory for him. However, he was shocked to find countless Wrad wandering in the courtyard of some place ruin, much of it being suspiciously rebuilt by a small army of Revenants who worked around the clock to restore the monuments and structure long since abandoned to time. The wraiths had repurposed much of the land it seems, which was unusual, due to the Wrad being religiously conservative. As Tubaj was brought into the main hall of this library palace, he winced at the opening of black doors and was forced to enter a dark room.
Upon entering, he found himself in the darkness, surrounded by the nothingness as the Wrad forced him to kneel. He didn't realize until a glimmer of light had shone through the door being closed that there was a throne in front of him, occupied by the wraith who had appeared at the end his failed skirmish. More strange, the wraith, likely a powerful king of sorts spoke, its voice filling his mind and the room with lonesome horror.
"I admire your zeal, beastfolk, but your bravery is little more then foolish vigor." It began. Tubaj was shocked it spoke his language at all and squinted at the creature.
"Pray tell, what manner of madness brought you to attack my people, injure my slaves, and nearly kill my lords."
Tubaj spat upon the ground in defiance "I answer to no creature but Zuuldrick, fallen thing! My god brought me here to listen, and you dare stand in the way of the gods chosen!"
There was a pause as Tubaj heard the wraith get up and walk forward, coming clearer into his view.
"Barberous and foolish. I am aware of your mission. You know who I am?"
Tubaj looked up, curious but still angry.
"I am Olam'per, King of Julania, Emperor of what you creatures call Usoma. Before you were but servants of your gods, my people walked this world. Now you are here and I have you message for you, but you have also earned my eternal spite." It calmly said
Tubaj listened, but refused to believe it. "You have been called, for the time has come to make this land the home of the gods once again, and you will be my herald upon which shall trumpet my coming."
"I shall play music only for the gods, not your wretched kind!" Tubaj replied. "Kill me or free me, I shall plunder this library ti--"
"You will be silent" The wraith replied, Tubaj paused but began trying to speak again. Only this time, not words came out. He began to scream, but only produced silenced. The wraith came closer, kneeling to him till Tubaj peered into the dark king's cloak. He saw a frozen body of some ancient being, eyeless and dry, inside. It was warped far beyond compare, but it was definitely not beastfolk he had known, it almost looked elvish. Olam'per's hand touched the left side of Tubaj, and again he felt pain in his body. Tendrils of dark blue shot out across his face, covering him. Tubaj continued to scream, but again no words came out. This continued for a time, before long the wraith retracted its hand and stood back up. Tubaj winced, and the guards prepared to bring him back outside. Yet, in a sudden jolt of energy, refusing to be treated in such a manner, Tubaj knocked aside the wraith guards and tackled them. He grabbed one of the guard silver halberds, and attempted to skewer the dark being in front of him.
Instead, Tubaj's heart fell and his face turned to terror and confusion. He tried stabbing forward towards the wraithm but he couldn't. He tried in difficulty to harm the dark king, but his arms stopped him. He realized perhaps a bit late that the torture was not for cruelty's sake. He tried to slam his weapon upon the dark king who only looked him with a emotionless glare from his black hooded form. With a flick of the Olam'per's fingers, Tubaj suddenly felt the overwhelming urge to kneel, and did so. Angry and furious, heated with burning hatred, the Bloodaxe chieftain knelt before the dark king and his frozen shackles began melting away.
_______________________________________
Usoman politics could be very brutal if not handled correctly, but this wasn't exactly on the mind of those in the city of Ghustbov. Ghustbov was the southern most city near Greater Talania and its overseer was always deeply worried. Not by the aggressive policies of the southern most neighbor, but by groups of wandering Okan around the city. The Okan, while a slave race under Usoman law, held a much more comfortable position then even the Kevian second class. Race tensions between Kevians and Neusians in Ghustbov reached a boiling point when a Neusian teenager who had strong connections with the local militia had accidentally killed a Kevian boy in a brawling accident at the local pub. The incident had caused tensions to boil over, but the Okan seemed utterly fine with this since it was very obvious they were profiting off the situation.
Being small and simple slaves, along with being annoying pacifists in their politics, Okan were not above smuggling weapons and helping the sale of weapons. Kevian and Neusians bought weapons in bulk from weapon smiths in other cities, and used Okan to distribute them since they were so close. The overseer knew the Okan had secret markets across the city, and he cracked down with no success in breaking them. He didn't wish to challenge the social and economic hierarchy of Usoma, but neither could he avoid a full blown riot. The Okan, being dispersed across the city's sectors in good housing, could quite easily make their sales and hide their caches. Having had enough of this foolishness, the overseer dedicated a segregation policy was needed to clean up the black markets.
The Okan were placed into camps outside the city and placed under heavy guard, but a couple Neusian militia used this recent event for their own selfish ends. A Militia commander of the city put in charge of the Okan placed huge ration token taxes on the slaves just to have the 'privilege' of living in their own tents rather then sanctioned (and much more warmer and insulated) homes of humans they were assigned to. Complaints ran high, and the Militia commanders demanded more and more of the Okan. Eventually, the Ghustbov overseer heard the pleas and tried to replace the commander, but the complaints only grew, as the new commander was 'shipped off and swiftly replaced' by the previous commander. The Militia commander soon held the Okan ransom, demanding higher rations and smaller schedules, or the Okan would face brutality. The Overseer, pressured by angry fisher guilds, agreed.
However, the troubles in Ghustbov has created a unstable environment for spies and agents to make their home, including amongst the corrupt militia commander Yolban Hue who organized the operation. Personal animosity between the militia and the overseer only grew further, when the Okan returned to their holding malnourished, tortured, and sick, inadvertently spreading disease into the city and the race were again placed into quarantine. Okan, demanding vengeance, refused to fish for the Militia and actively stepped up their support for the Kevians. Tensions runs high in the city, with only bloodshed seemingly what is ahead unless something is actively done.
