VOHU MANAH
Civilisation: Sidar
Author: KillerClowns
Mel'ash smelled them before he saw them. The living. But not Austrin. No, no, not Austrin at all. Austrin stank, dirtier than many animals. They stank of toil, of work, of the wilds. But these living... yes, they definitely smelled human. But what sort of human? There were workers and laborers, but they smelled cleaner than any Austrin could hope to. And there were other smells... perfumes, like those the Scions of the false Patria held so dear. But different sorts of perfumes. Foreign perfumes, from somewhere beyond the world known to D'tesh and his Legion.
So Mel'ash went forward, driven by a mixture of curiosity and greed. He's be rewarded well for bringing D'tesh a new supply of slaves. Soft, he reckoned they were from the smell. But they could be made useful in time. When he gazed out towards the newcomers, however, his confidence faltered. They were armed, yes, and armored. Leading them was a woman, a woman who smelled like mist. They were pale, as though dead, but they still smelled living. Slaves they would be. But those weapons... arms and armor Mel'ash had never seen before, in the hands of his kin or the Scions. They were dangerous, so very dangerous... perhaps, Mel'ash thought, he should speak with them. Deception and trickery, after all, where just as good as slaughter, though not half as fun. And Mel'ash could be mistaken for living, well enough anyways.
Mel'ash muttered a spell, to grant him the power of tongues. He then slipped out from his hiding place, approaching the foreigners. He was immediately surrounded by the pale men. Their swords, he noticed, were elegant, nothing like D'tesh's own glorified meat cleavers. An aesthetic people. They had also been placed at his throat, even though he'd been alone a second ago. "Come," said one of the pale ones. "Vohu will see you." "Who is this... Vohu?" Mel'ash asked. His captor responded, "Vohu Manah is the leader of the Sidar Expeditionary Force." The woman who smelled of mist approached. Mal'ash assumed that she was Vohu.
Vohu said, "Explain yourself. Who are you, and who do you serve?" "I am Mel'ash, servant of D'tesh, the eternal lord of this world. We are... willing to live in peace with your people, so long as we come to the... proper... understandings." "Who is this D'tesh?" "Why, he is the greatest of all wizards, a man who, since the Age of Magic, has been granting eternal life to those... powerful enough, to take it." Vohu examined Mel'ash. "Eternal life? No, I think your D'tesh offers only undeath. We cannot tolerate such abominations. We will cleanse your kind. Guards, dispose of this corpse!" The Sidar obeyed, rending Mel'ash before he even knew what was happening.
...
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I just stopped there because that is where the game itself begins... In the desert, with the initial population from the Amurite Empire. To then wreak havoc on neighboring empires.
