Prince of Darkness

[Marko]

CHAPTER XXXV
MARSUTAN'S STORY CONTINUES:
WISDOM AND PROPHESIES

In Amon 73 they entered to the city of Gigia in eastern shore of the sea. The wizard Dragnost of Gigia presented to Marsutan a Blitzen Spell to help them fight against Stygians. Travellers rested in the city and discussed the situation.

"Sad that the Hermit died before he could tell us what to do after visiting the Castle of Mhyrr" said Vladimir. "Seems that the Count of Mhyrr tries to use us for his own purposes like the sultan did. There are much better things to do than to hunt pirates. Like protecting the Great Library from Stygians as merchants advised."

"We don't have the wisdom to decide what we should do or not to do." answered Marsutan. "Only thing what we can do is to trust prophesies and hope that we are strong enough for our task. If the Hermit advised us to go to Mhyrr and the Count of Mhyrr asked our help against the corsairs then it must be the right thing for us to do."

"But the merchants near Mhyrr advised us to got to Tugalete and defend it. I think that there is already time for us to stop the travelling and start fighting!" said Vladimir.

"I understand you" told Marsutan "We have travelled already 10 years without finding what we are looking for. But I feel that the end is near. Is it good or bad I can't see. For the time being, we can do both: protect Tugalete and fight against Corsairs. You'll go now to Tugalete, I'll organise the governing and defences of Gigia and then follow you. During the time when we fight against Stygians the warship is built and sent against the Corsairs."

Vladimir was a halfway between Gigia and Tugalete when he heard that Stygians had just captured the city. The Great Library had fallen to the hands of Stygians! Vladimir turned his horse around and rode back to Gigia.

 

[Marko]

CHAPTER XXXVI
MARSUTAN'S STORY CONTINUES:
THE DEATH OF KNIGHT

In Anubis 72 Vladimir reached to Gigia and found Marsutan in black thoughts. He had already heard about the fall of Tugalete.

"I afraid that Stygians found an ancient scrolls about The Chamber of Black Arts from The Great Library" said Marsutan. "If they did, then there is little hope remained for our world."
"When the warship will be completed?" asked the knight.
"After 15 months by my estimation" answered the wizard sadly.
"15 months! We can't wait so long! I'll go north and convince the rulers of the barbarian cities Busiris, Pithom and Edfu to join with us" said Vladimir.
"I can't come with you. The warship in Gigia is too important. There is a danger that Stygia will attack the city and one of us must stay and defend it."
"Call me when Stygians appear" said the knight and rode to north.

In Seth 72 he reached to the barbarian city of Pithom. The City Council decided to join with Vladimir's cause.
In Anubis 71 a messenger from Marsutan reached to Pithom and told to Vladimir that Stygians are approaching to the barbarian city of Baiona south-west from Gigia.

Just when Vladimir was leaving the city to travel back to Gigia, he was suddenly attacked by many flying demons. The knight managed to kill 3 demons but the fourth killed him. The Quest of Lord Vladimir was ended.

 

[Marko]

CHAPTER XXXVII
MARSUTAN'S STORY CONTINUES:
THE HUNT FOR CORSAIRS

Marsutan felt the death of the Knight immediately. "Things are turned very bad. The Stygians are winning. I have to complete The Quest alone. But am I enough strong for it? The Quest was Vladimir's destiny. My destiny was to help him. Now when he is gone, do we have any hope at all?"

In Osiris 71 the warship was completed at last in Gigia. Marsutan sent it to find the corsairs. He himself decided to remain to the city and protect it in case of Stygian assault. After four months Stygians captured Balona. "Their next target is without doubt Gigia. Time is running very short" thought Marsutan. Fortunately Stygians stopped their offensive and didn't attack Gigia.

The warship hunted corsairs almost a year without any results. And in Anubis 70 she met her doom near Tugalete. Stygians attacked and destroyed the ship with their Blitzen Spell there. But in the same month second warship was completed and sent to sea in Barachaldak.

 

[Marko]

CHAPTER XXXVIII
MARSUTAN'S STORY CONTINUES:
CAPITAN VALASQUEZ

The second warship was a bit luckier than the first. In Horus 70 she found the Corsair ship and attacked it. A fierce battle follows and Corsairs prevailed. They won the battle and sank the warship. Heared this, Marsutan understood that there is nothing to lose now. He took the Blitzen Spell and traveled himself along the coast toward the battle-place.

In Osiris 70 Marsutan found the Corsairs and attacked them with Blitzen Spell. He managed to destroy their fleet and capture Capitan Valasquez. Valasques told that the Stygians enchanted him. But he remembered that far to the north of the Land of Euphrattis is the Sea of Illusion. "Hidden within is the Seer of Illbab. He knows many secrets you desire" said Valasques. He also gave to Marsutan the knowledge of Heroic Arms.

"This Sea of Illusion sounds familiar" thought Marsutan. "I must have heared about it before. Ah yes! The sultan of Euphrattis told me that he sent an expedition to far north and they found a strange Sea from there. It was so close! Had I only paid more attention!"
"Now I need to get back to Euphrattis very fast. For best safety I'll move by walk as much north as possible and trading ship from Gigia will follow me along the coast." Deciding this, Marsutan began his travel back to Euphrattis.

In Nephthys 69 he reached to the land of Illubabori. There he learned a new Expelling Spell. With the help of Illubabori's wise men the spell was able to transport him immediately to Babylon.

 

[Marko]

CHAPTER XXXIX
THE HOPE NEVER DIES
Horus 69

So ended the story about The Quest. But The Quest itself was not finished yet. "Lord Vladimir is dead and there is only little hope remained for us" said wizard Marsutan. "Still I must not give up the Quest. I have to go to the Sea of Illusion and I need a warship and two heroic infantry units with me."

"You will get them" said emperor. "But are you sure that the Stygians are so great danger for us? They are very aggressive and attack our cities but there is nothing what my armies can't handle. Thank to you we have now Heroic Arms and once the army is upgraded with the new weapons nobody can challenge us!"

"Don't underestimate Stygians. They are backed by far greater forces you can imagine. If we don't stop them, they will open The Gates of Hell and destroy the world as we know it" answered the wizard.

"How you plan to stop them?"

"I don't know yet. But it was prophesied to Vladimir that there is a solution. I hope to find the answer from The Sea of Illusion."

 

[Marko]

CHAPTER XL
THE BATTLE OF DARIUSH KABIR
Osiris 69 - Thoth 69

In Seth 69 Marsutan left from Nineveh with warship and two infantry units. The third expedition of the long quest had begun.

At the same time intensive fighting with Stygians around southern cities continued. Stygian descent conquered Dariush Kabir a month before Marsutan's departure. It was the first time during Murabi's rule when a city was lost to enemy. Emperor was furious. In Menua's advice he appointed Nebut as military governor of Ergili region and gave him the task of liberating Dariush Kabir.

For Nebut it was a chance for restoring his good name after his mistakes eleven years ago when he was the commander of the Southern army. Whole Eastern army (2 knights, infantry, 2 catapults and 2 archers) was given under his command for the operation. Menua sent a warship from Eastern fleet to the area too.

The Battle of Dariush Kabir was fierce. Warships sank one Stygian Dragon boat after another. When two damaged warships tried to leave from the battle-area then they were attacked by many flying demons. It was incredible bravery of sailors combined with a pure luck that saved both ships at last.

In land an infantry unit what was moving toward the city met suddenly Stygian Hell Fire unit and was destroyed. The Stygian unit was trapped and killed in next month. And in Thoth 69 Dariush Kabir was liberated by swift assault of knights.

 

[Leowind]

Just thought you'd like to know your great story here has inspired me to play this scenario myself. Having great fun! Keep the story coming!

 

[Marko]

CHAPTER XLI
LUCIFER
Ptah 69 - Amon 69

Emperor was very satisfied with the fast victory achieved by Nebut. At first he wanted to appoint Nebut as a commander of Eastern army but Plengor was very strongly against it. He pointed out that Nebut lost one heroic infantry unit during the battle - a loss what shouldn't happen.

So Murabi decided to form Ergili province from Ergili, Dariush Kabir, Larsa and Athribis cities and appointed Nebut as the governor of the province. All military units in the region were left under Nebut's command and the Eastern army was to be re-formed in Amaia.

But in Amon 69 terrible news came from eastern part of the Empire. Previously unseen Stygian creature Lucifer descended from Northern mountains and attacked Samaria. All the city garrison was destroyed and the city was occupied by Stygian Ghost Riders. Later the Lucifer, who moved with incredible speed, attacked cities of Tyre and Nineveh killing all their garrisons.

 

[Marko]

CHAPTER XLII
THE WAR COUNCIL
Amon 69

The emperor called Plengor and Menua to his palace for urgent War Council. "What to do against this new Stygian assault?" was his main question.

"I don't know" answered Plengor. "Our best unit for defence is heroic infantry. But if the reports are true then they have no chance against Lucifer. We can only hope that he will go away."

"But we can and we must liberate Samaria from these ghost riders" said emperor. "Where are our armies?"

"Coastal army is entrenched along the Western Sea. The bulk of Northern army is in Istakhr, few units are in Pilona. Southern army is in Khorasan. Eastern army has only a catapult unit now because all its units were sent to Ergili province.
Northern army is the only available force but we need to transport it back to Pilona" concluded Plengor.

"Warship is now returning from the battle of Dariush Kabir. After 3 months it will be ready for transporting the army over" said Menua.

"In future it is neccessary to form a reserv army for such cases" said emperor. "But now the Northern army must liberate the city of Samaria."

 

[Marko]

CHAPTER XLIII
CAN WE FIGHT WITH LUCIFERS LIKE WE DID WITH WOLVES?
Isis 68 - Re 68

In Isis 68 more bad news arrived to Babylon. Another Lucifer came from Northern mountains and cities of Sardis, Pilona and Jubriga were under attack. All garrisons in these cities were destroyed and messengers from Sidon told that the city is under strong attack by Stygian Ghost Riders.

"We must find the breeding place of these monsters and occupy it" thought Murabi. "Just like we did with the war wolves ten years ago."
He ordered to send an expedition to Northern mountains with this task. Units for the expedition must be provided by coastal army who has big reserves in Borazjan.

The next month brought even worse news. Many more Lucifers appeared. They were everywhere in eastern part of the Empire. Also more Ghost Riders descended from mountains. Sidon and Hamadan were occupied, several other cities in danger. Great cities Akkad and Ur were emptied. Northern army lost some units near Istakhr, and forward units of The Expedition were killed.

 

[Marko]

CHAPTER XLIV
THERE MUST BE A SOLUTION!
Re 68 - Anubis 68

The Murabi's Empire was falling apart.

"This is the biggest crise in our history. And it happens just in the year when I plan to celebrate my 15th years of rule!" he thought. "There must be a solution! All earlier crises have been solved. We have to defend our cities against these Ghost Riders until the expedition finds and occupies the monsters breeding places. Also maybe Marsutan will find some new weapon against the Stygians. When Marsutan returns?" asked the Emperor.

"By my estimation not before 5 months." answered Menua.

"Then we are on our own. I give you two weeks for working out our strategy in this situation" said Emperor to Plengor and Menua.

In Anubis 68 Tyre and Jinjan fell to Stygians. The warship what was going to Istakhr was sunk too. These were the latest news when the new war strategy was discussed in Emperor's palace.

 

[Marko]

CHAPTER XLV
DEFENCE LINE
Anubis 68

"We don't have much hope" said Plengor "The Lucifers wipe out our armies with ease. Fortunately they don't capture cities, this task is left for Ghost Riders. The later ones are strong but beatable.
The Ghost Riders attack from north. We have alrady lost all our northern cities except Sardis and Borazjan. Sardis is doomed to fall, Borazjan maybe not.

Our main task is to defend Akkad and Ur against Ghost Riders. City garrisons will be destroyed immediately, so we have to protect roads to cities. Sometimes happen that Lucifers don't attack units just outside cities and this is our only hope" finished Plengor.

"If our defences fail then we have to seek refuge" added Menua. "I see only two possibilities. The first is Nimrud what is our best defended city. Maybe we can hold it. The second way is evacuating to some island where Stygian land units can't come. The best candidate is our Quinsay colony. But it is very far and there is danger that Stygians sink our ships during the travel. In my opinion we have to evacuate at first to some nearby island, for example to Kephesori island east of Ergili. Later we can move to Quinsay."

"How is the situation with our navy?" asked emperor.

"Eastern Fleet is destroyed except the warship what was sent to Marsutan's quest. Perhaps it is sunk too. Western Fleet has 3 warships, two of them are heavily damaged by demons" answered Menua.

"I am very worried about the Stygian war wolves" said emperor. Lucifers are killing our spearmen who guard their breeding places. When the guards are destroyed, wolves can appear again and move to our defenceless cities. I can't see any good solution against this threat."

It was decided that as the Northern army is isolated in Istakhr, the Coastal army will provide units for defending Akkad and Ur. The Expedition will try to move around Hamadan by north-west and then proceed into the Dragon Mountains. The Tempest Spell will be moved from Samarra to Nimrud. Also a warship will transport settlers to Kephesori island and establish a colony there.

 

[Marko]

CHAPTER XLVI
CHAOS
Nephthys 68 - Horus 68

In Nephthys 68 city of Sardis fell to Stygians and Uruk and Borazjan were emptied by growing number of Lucifers. Northern army was completely destroyed in Istakhr but the commander of army, Mehmet, was reported to be still alive and organising defence of the city.

As Lucifers were so close to Babylon now, disorder and panics broke out in the city. Murabi decided to move to Ergili province because it was the safest place in Empire at the moment. Menua went to the Fortress of Nimrud. Only Plengor stayed in Babylon with his military headquarters.

Next month two Lucifers attacked Babylon. The city garrison were wiped out and Plengor survived from death only thank to his good luck. Nimrud was also under attack and lost several units. As emperor had foreseen, wolves descended from unguarded mountains and captured Nineveh. Stygians made a descent with Hell Fire units south of Ellipi. The descent was destroyed by Coastal army with only a great difficulty.

The Empire of Euphrattis was falling into chaos.

 

[Marko]

CHAPTER XLVII
THE SEER OF ILLBAB
Osiris 68

In Osiris 68 Stygian Ghost Riders broke through the weak defence line and captured Ur. Also Ergili province was the first time under Lucifer attack. Only the capital of province, Ergil, escaped from destruction. Fortress-city Larsa was captured by Stygian descent.

The same month last remnants of once powerful Northern army were destroyed and Istakhr fell to Ghost Riders. Army commander Mehmet didn't escape this time and was killed in the city.

But there were good news too. Wizard Marsutan arrived to Borazjan and was transported to Nimrud with warship. As Emperor was in Ergili, the wizard met with Menua and Plengor.

He told that in Amon 69 his warship reached to the Sea of Illusion. In the island middle of the sea Marsutan met The Seer of Illbab. The Seer granted him the secret of True Faith and taught the Spell of Conflagration. "Do not squander this gift. It may only be used once" said the Seer. He also advised to learn the secret of Holy War from the Khan of Xingchang.

 

[Marko]

CHAPTER XLVIII
MARSUTAN'S STORY CONTINUES:
TREK OVER MOUNTAINS

When Marsutan returned from the island, the warship's captain warned "There's a storm brewing, sire. And it doesn't look natural." Soon the storm attacked and damaged the ship. Marsutan decided to go back to Euphrattis by walk directly over mountains. He took one infantry unit with him and sent the ship with second infantry back by sea.

In Anubis 68 travellers were closing to Hamadan when they met with war refugees from the city. Refugees told that terrible creature Lucifer had appeared along with Stygian Ghost Riders and Hamadan had fallen to enemy. Hearing this Marsutan decided to go to Borazjan.

Next month Marsutan met with the expedition sent to search for Lucifers breeding place. He heard all the latest news about Stygian assault against the Empire. The Wizard sent his heroic infantry unit with expedition and went himself to Borazjan with the Conflagration Spell.

 

[Marko]

CHAPTER XLIX
THE SECRET OF HOLY WAR
Osiris 68

"What to do now?" asked Plengor from wizard Marsutan "All our defence plans have failed and we are virtually helpless against Stygians."

"I can advice many things" answered Marsutan. "But I don't know how to destroy Stygians or how much hope we still have. The Quest is still uncompleted.
The first thing what you need to do is to get the secret of Holy War from the Khan of Xingchang. Then I'll teach to your priests a new powerful spell which I learned in mountains. This spell is able to twist the minds of Stygians. So we can get some of their units under our control. If we'll manage to take control over a Lucifer then we have a chance to survive."

Plengor ordered diplomats to immediately take contact with Xingchangians. Xingchiangian emissary told that they were under heavy attack by Stygians too. Already one-third of their cities were lost. But Xingchangians refused to give the secret of Holy War, even after they got a gift of 500 gold. At last, when Plengor was going to give up any hope to get the secret, Xingchangians agreed to trade the Holy War for Heroic Arms and a treaty of military alliance.

 

[Marko]

CHAPTER L
THE DEATH OF MARSUTAN
Hathor 68

In Hathor 68 Akkad fell to Ghost Riders and Lucifers attacked two last cities - Ergili and Ashur - which had stayed intact until now. Murabi and Nebut were hiding in underground tunnels below the city during the assault. Murabi ordered that all cities in Empire must build such underground shelters against Stygians.

Fortress of Nimrud was second time under Lucifers fire. Enemy was forced to retreat again but this time with high cost. Wizard Marsutan was killed during the battle alongside the last warship.

His last words to Menua and Plengor were: "You must discover the secret of Divine Intervention. Then it will be revealed to you how to win Stygians. New wonder.. archangels.."

In the same month Euphrattis' priests made counteroffensive using the Marsutan's Spell. Results were spectacular! The Spell twisted the minds of Stygian units in Larsa and Nineveh. These cities were liberated and enemy units inside taken under the control of the priests including Stygian Lucifer in Larsa. Capturing the Lucifer was a major victory.

 

[Marko]

CHAPTER LI
A NEW HOPE
Hathor 68 - Seth 68

Murabi saw that there is still hope to save his empire. And as the Ergili province was now also under attack, he travelled back to north and came to the Nimrud Fortress. He thought: "I must be in the center of events. During last months when I have been away, Plengor and Menua have ruled the empire. The only thing what hold them back from overthrowing me is that they don't trust each other. But it is only a question of time if I remain in Ergili."
The Lucifer, controlled by priests, came also to Nimrud sinking a Stygian Dragon Boat on his way.

"Ur and Akkad have fell and all our cities are in danger" said Emperor to Plengor and Menua. "But thank to Marsutan's Spell we have new hope. We have one Lucifer and have ability to get more under our control. We need a new war strategy in this situation. Which are your proposals?"

"Marsutan's Spell works best against small cities" said Plengor. "We must build new settlements around our big cities and use them as buffers against enemy offensives. Our Lucifer will destroy Stygian Ghost Riders, wolves and ships and also protect the fortress."

Emperor agreed with Plengor's plan and Lucifer was sent out. He killed many Ghost Riders and then returned to Nimrud.

 

[Marko]

CHAPTER LII
THE FALL OF BABYLON
Thoth 68 - Isis 67

In Thoth 68 three Lucifers attacked Nimrud. They all were beaten but the defending Lucifer was almost mortally wounded. Stygian Ghost Riders captured Uruk.

Many new buffer villages were built around the Empire. In Nimrud there were small celebrations for Murabi's 15th years rule. Next month the twisted Lucifer was killed in Nimrud. Also Eridu, Nineveh, Pilona and Larsa fell to the enemy, followed soon by Jubriga and Athribis.

For a short time Euphrattis priests managed to liberate Eridu and get half a dozen flying demons and a ghost rider under their control. But they all were soon killed by Stygian Lucifers.

And in Isis 67 Borazjan, Samarra and Babylon fell. Any organised resistance ceased.

 

[duke o' york]

Cool!
Marko's back!
Bribe some more Lucifers. And keep up the great storytelling.