The day after the meeting between Yorun and Isaile, the elven monarch sits on their throne thinking over the whole meeting and the current war situation before standing up with her cane to stabilise themself yet as they does that the shadows behind the throne warp and form the body of Reifal as he then walks out from behind the throne with his arms behind his back before bowing to Isaile.
"Good to see you Reifal, if you wouldn't mind can you please summon the others to the meeting room?" Isaile asked
"As you command Isaile, do you wish for me to take you there first?" Reifal asked the younger though older looking monarch before him
"No, no. May as well give them a little time to ready themselves there plus these old bones need the walk" Isaile said with a little chuckle
Reifal nodded and his body sank away into the shadows while Isaile slowly walked the halls of the palace the magic within the bark walls following the monarchs journey while the guards all kneel as they pass. It takes several minutes as Isaile enjoys the walk to the meeting room yet the guards at the door kneel then open the door to the room for Isaile. Inside sit a group of four elves as well as Reifal all of whom quickly stand and bow to isaile.
"I am glad you all got here so quickly, there are matters to discuss" Isaile said before walking to the head of the table and sitting down after which everyone sits down once more except for Reifal who stands next to Isaile
"Do you wish for us to give updates on the war?" One of the elves asked
"Yes go ahead and for matters of record state your name and title as you do so" Isaile said as they looked to Reifal who covers the room in darkness before Isaile uses their own magic and a scroll appears on the table
One male elf stands proud in his armour with a deep scar over one eye that's been clearly blinded by the wound the scar was.
"Virtalias, Master of the land and as such lord commander of the armed forces upon said land" Virtalias said with each word appearing on the scroll before disappearing, magic clearly in play yet no one bats an eye
"Process then Virtalias" Isaile said as Virtalias then conjured a map of the Fiernian empire with several locations highlighted
"We have a total of ten separate sieges ongoing within the Fiernian empires territory, most of them are military installations and the last few are cities, however before coming here I was informed that the sieges of the city Kirovitan, Fortress Destarin as well as Fortress Ritaln had broken through and likely over the course of this meeting will either be captured or close to being such" Virtalias said crossing out the locations with crossed blades as he mentioned them being broken through
"Any recent battles to report on?" Isaile asked curious
"As previously reported to myself and then I sent to you Monarch Isaile, we had the siege of Colstarn Castle broken through by the necromancer who then called upon our forces there for assistance in defending a city he had taken. I will hand this over to the Master of the Seas to report on" Virtalias said before bowing and seating himself back down before another elf stands up this one a woman also wearing armour but rather than the master of the lands metallic armour this one is lighter armour with metal covering only the areas requiring the most protection
"Tilaster, Master of the seas and as such Lord admiral of the naval forces upon said seas" Tilaster said before receiving a nod from Isaile to continue, a map of the seas around the wooralian and Fiernian empires is conjured replacing the land one from Virtalias
"As reported by Virtalias the necromancer asked for land forces aid to protect the city of Kelinrask from the invasion of Honaril Ghohalan, he had previously been destroying our fleets out in the seas firmly keeping naval superiority in the hands of the humans however after that battle in which he was killed alongside his fleet suffice to say the balance of power has shattered. With our rebuilt fleets we have attacked several fiernian ships and began taking Fiernian outposts used as staging grounds of supply points for their ships to aid their cities though we know the necromancer also took the Zeilna islands which is depriving the humans of a good trading place with all empires" Tilaster said
"The necromancers involvement has had positive effects then?" Isaile asked gauging the potential response to the alliance
"Very much so however soldiers and their families have voiced their misgivings about the elven bodies being used as undead by the necromancer" Virtalias interjected receiving a nod from Isaile in response
"Other than that however with the seas opening up we have been able to supply our land forces better and trade with other kingdoms via the seas as well, before Honaril would sink any of our ships be it military, commercial or civilian so it has been a boon" Tilaster said as she sat down with another male elf standing up he is wearing minimal armour at the moment however magic surrounds him enough to protect as much as any armour could
"Arlan, Knight Commander and Master of Relations as we've had minimal fighting on the Homefront which didn't even require the knights I shall focus on relations" Arlan said
"Has the war impacted our relations with other nations all that much?" Isaile asked
"Not really the humans are generally belligerent and with certain important figures gone other nations are even more favourable towards us right now. What has impacted relations however is the necromancer both for the better and for the worse depending on the nations views on such things" Arlan said as he conjured a general map of the world with the nations borders marked the details of the closest ones being more defined
"The necromancer caused a stir across the world as their notoriety rose other nations became aware of them and that we helped him a couple times, some places such as the giants became aware of them very quickly and have become very wary however apparently an old soldier who had faced off against the previous necromancer and has met the current one has made the giants more accepting and trusting of this one, similarly there is the very religious nation of Ghozaln that has heard this necromancer is the chosen of a god of death and justice so they are very intrigued by him. However there are several nations and peoples that are more wary or outright afraid of what he'll do and as such are disapproving of us having ties to him, they're either scared we'll have him ally with us to attack him, scared he'll do it alone or in the case of most of them terrified he'll bring Ghairlakriars corpse to life and rain down death upon nations similarly to how the last necromancer did" Arlan said
"That corpse is effectively a superweapon in his hand plus the fact he killed her at all is enough to cause concern" Tilaster interjected
"Indeed, however some of those nations more opposed to his presence are also possible to appease, the necromancers abilities and some of the things he has are of interest to them it'd just be a diplomatic nightmare for envoys and such right now with the war and his presence plus all the fights between the gods as a result" Arlan said
"And if we were to align ourselves with him throughout the rest of this war? How do you think that'd effect relations?" Isaile asked knowing they have this alliance now and either way its happening yet wants the opinion before the knowledge is given
"Well it'd not surprise some of the nations and it'd add legitimacy to the necromancers fight possibly giving him inroads to relations with some other empires but for us it'd lose us some trading partners for a little while which while it'd effect some things we could weather that storm and re-establish relations later, the worst possible scenario would be a couple nations maybe giving more supplies to the Fiernian empire and as such elongating the war though how much I cannot be certain given how delicate these matters can be" Arlan said before sitting down again letting the last elf stand up this one also a woman with the most magic of the four masters
"Celemina, Master of Magic" Celemina said receiving a nod to continue from Isaile
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"Throughout the war we've had to develop a lot of different magics or further improve our magics to combat the human developments, for example our siege craft magics for creating golems to batter defences as well as our own magics for barriers and such. As our master of the land could attest those sieges that were broken through before this meeting had mages who had developed stronger golems or better magics to disrupt barriers and their connection to the ones generating them. One thing we can give the humans is they certainly got better after the last war, though admittedly some of the advances in magic we've used has been from the deeper look into the archives for certain incidents into the past, seems the humans rapid growth was spurred by similar investigations. Namely into the war from a thousand years ago, seems necromancers are good at quick sieges" Celemina said
"That much is very true, the necromancer has taken a good bit of territory including the Fortress in the Kolakinta Mountains right at the beginning" Virtalias interjected with a tone of mild annoyance and respect
"Anyway our advancements both forward and backward in terms of the stuff from the archives has been progressing well in keeping our side in a good state but we can't underestimate the humans" Celemina said before sitting down
"Is it the Master of intelligence's turn?" Arlan asked
"Actually it is mine" isaile said as they stood up now drawing curious eyes
"You'll no doubt have heard of the meeting that took place yesterday, the necromancer here in the palace with me. Well we have a proper alliance with him and his forces now, the agreement is simple, we'll have commercial and military pacts between our territories both during the war and after and after the war all elven bodies will be handed back to the empire for the proper rites of burial. Further more any elven soldier who dies in the field can be raised by the necromancer to further quicken this war to its end" Isaile said drawing shock from all four masters
"Not to question your decision but are you sure?" Arlan asked
"Very, besides the deal is done going back on it now would be to draw the ire of the necromancer and his god. During this meeting you all mentioned times or actions related to the necromancer, he is strong and useful, a long war is something none of us want and with his direct aid we could strengthen ourselves and lose less people" Isaile said
"You mentioned even after the war we'd have agreements with him, am I right in assuming he plans to take over the Fiernian empire?" Virtalias asked curiously
"No, the one to succeed Durinkal will be his son Helimiral, the necromancer however will be taking the ruined city of Gantoral and its surrounding area as well as the Kolakinta mountain fortress from the empire. He says he will not rule the areas but rather he does not want the people there under an empire" Isaile said
"Interesting but he'll have the corpse of Ghairlakriar even after the war?" Tilaster asked
"That he will given what I gleamed from him. This may be better than any of the empires having it plus if he's our ally it hardly matters to us. Makes those who may want a fight with us afterward more wary in doing so" Isaile said
"True enough, why the ruins of Gantoral and its surrounding area though? He first showed up there right?" Celemina asked
"Indeed and the reason is simple, one of the villages in that area is where he is from, turns out our necromancer was but a humble farmer whose life was ripped away from him by Durinkals greed" Isaile said
"Well if this alliance is set in stone already then I suppose there's nothing left to do but announce it" Virtalias said
"Suffice to say I think Durinkals about to panic" Arlan said with a chuckle
Isaile stands up and once they do they float the scroll back over to their hand it furls itself before glowing with elven text on it then it gets teleported away by Isaile. The four masters all stand, bow then teleport away after which Isaile teleports to another more open area of the palace with a pedestal upon which a magical conduit is located. Isaile takes a deep breath then channels their own magic into the conduit before a live magical version of her face fills the skies above the cities and villages of the Wooralian empire as well as capital cities of other empires with finally sparse locations throughout the Fiernian empire but in particular the capital city of Jurgehal being last. When this happens everyone looks up with human mages going to shut it down but stop as the words pour into the skies.
"From this day forward, I Monarch Isaile of the Wooralian Empire of elves on behalf of said empire enter an alliance with the Necromancer chosen by the human god Raeknar against the Fiernian Empire. Today marks the first such alliance of our nations recorded history with that of such a small and powerful group, Emperor Durinkal, let us see if you can weather the oncoming storm" Isaile said before the images of their face disappear from the skies
While the elves begin to celebrate a little even if the idea of the undead is unnerving to them they all the same celebrate an actual ally in the war while the humans of the Fiernian Empire begin to panic, Emperor Durinkal stood on a balcony of his palace gripping the ornate banister till it was crushed in his hands, as he turns away the white cape on his back flows behind him with his family crest of a golden hand balled into a fist with swords surrounding it emblazoned on the cape. The emperor angrily walks back into the palace heading to the throne room before sitting down however he notices two others walk into the room who kneel quickly, the two individuals being Helimiral and the emperors only other son Hykalin. Durinkal moves over to his throne and sits then lifts his hand slowly at which point his two sons stand.
"My sons, the elves ally against us with forces so dreadful and ever growing they pose a true threat. I want you both to go out there with your best soldiers and stop the necromancer, without him I am sure we can defeat the elves but focussing on them would just deplete our forces while theirs would continue to stay the same due to the damn necromancer" Durinkal said
"I would be happy to go defend the empire if it is your will father" Hykalin said while lowering his head
"Good then, Helimiral? What of you?" Durinkal asked still seething in cold anger
"The capital while well defended requires upgrades for its defences, the soldiers here also require training, with your leave I'd leave the frontline fighting to my brother while I ensure the capital can weather any storm coming, if we can hold out for the foreseeable future then suffice to say any attack they bring we can counter and then in their weakness push back" Helimiral said
"A fair enough assessment, a combined undead and elven siege would be difficult to defend against with what we currently have, go down to the old war vaults and gather anything you think is needed there. I know that you shall do well, once you believe we are well enough prepared I want you to join your brother, for now however this will suffice" Durinkal said as he pulls Hykalin close with magic and grabs his forehead, a glowing hand shape appears on his forehead and Hykalin feels his magic and general strength increase as his soul forcibly opens to release more power into and out of his body
"Argh, what was that father?" Hykalin asked
"Simple, a magical boost, I had given the same boost to Honaril, you shall feel the boost in your primary magic, he could make giant storms that could go across the empire to target certain peoples if he prepared enough but it seems he underestimated our enemy. A mistake I hope you will not repeat" Durinkal said
"I will either return with the necromancers head or not return at all. They are a chosen of Raeknar after all, that will be a big hindrance plus reports indicate he has gotten himself armour made from dragons" Hykalin said
"I know, the bastard killed the biggest dragon in the world, he could bring it to life and have it breath so hard it'd destroy most of the empire and more just from where it sits now but he hasn't. No doubt Raeknar dictates too much life would be lost 'undeservedly' in such an attack" Durinkal said thankful for that fact
"With your permission I will leave with the forces under my command then I will set up base in one of the nearest locations to the necromancers border that isn't likely to be attacked next, I'll prepare there then go after him" Hykalin said
"Go swiftly then my son, you too Helimiral I want our capital defences at its finest as soon as possible so you can accompany your brother" Durinkal said
Both scions of the emperor bow before they leave the throne room though as they walk the halls Helimiral turns to Hykalin grabbing his shoulder.
"If you go after the necromancer then don't throw your life away if you are going to lose, better to live and fight another day right?" Helimiral said
"I will defend the empire to my dying breath, however this goes we shall see. I hope you can join me soon brother, it would be great to fight alongside you once more even if it ends in our death" Hykalin said with a smile pressing his fist to Helimirals chest, he then teleports away
As Helimiral stands there for a minute he then sighs and heads to his personal armoury in the palace, retrieving the two greatswords previously owned by Golanier. As he stands there starting to float them around him alongside some other blades, he then puts a hand to his chest as he tries to feel his own soul as he makes a smaller copy of it however as he peels it away with a connection between the real and copy yet some magic flows through it filling the copy slightly as a clone of his own body, clothing and armour appear around the fake soul. A clone substantially weaker than his normal self stands before him, the clone then teleports away all the way to Derenal with his presence quickly noticed by the guards who quickly summon Captain Wonakri to the walls.
"Prince Helimiral? Been a while, challenge Raeknar to another duel?" Wonakri said with a bit of a sarcastic tone
"I need to speak to him" The Clone Helimiral said as he floated up to the wall and stood on it
"I see you're a clone, let me guess this is about that alliance between him and the elves that's just been announced?" Wonakri asked
"Indeed" Helimiral said
"I'll send someone to go ask for his attention, take it this is news he really needs to hear?" Wonakri asked
"That announcement? Well its made him target number one, my father is now focussed on getting rid of him" Helimiral said
"Hardly a surprise but he does need to know that, it'll impact future operations" Wonakri said as he looked to a nearby guard and nodded
As the guard teleports away the Captain and clone of Helimiral look around and await Yoruns attention yet they know not that several others have called for the attention of Raeknars chosen at the base of his power...
