The Lord of the Slaads-The Heart of Chaos

Chapter VII-The Rise of the Slaads

In the palace deep in the centre of Tirian, Rickalas is laid in a dimly lit room with who the elves call the high elves who are priests to the Elder gods and the All'maker. They wore white sparkling robes with golden studs going from their arms to their shoulders, than from their ankles to their thighs and there's also the image of faery on the chest of their robes. They're humming and chanting in an ancient and long dead language and there's six priests altogether. Rickalas is screaming and shouting' always in and out of consciousness while he's in agony and the pain's indescribable.
It's a large circular room with a high ceiling, Rickalas is in the middle of the room laying upon a table and he's also strapped down to it so he doesn't hurt himself or anyone else around him. Around the room is a load of shelves, cabinets and bookcases which are all filled up with potion vials, ancient books, scrolls, enchanted objects and many other things of the supernatural variety. The room's quite dark and spooky looking and only lit up by a few torches and unlike the city outside which is built with wood it as more of a dwarven architecture to it as the rooms built out of stone.
Another elf entered the room, they all bowed to him and then rose as one of the high elves followed him outside, they're in a long corridor, "King Tirian," he said, the king nodded to the high elf and thus began to speak. "What is your report," asked the king, an elf walked pass them both so the high elf waited to speak. He explained that they're not quite sure and that the patients been in and out of consciousness since he arrived and he also explained that they've not been able to get anything out of him and that his comrades found him in bad shape.
King Tirian began to scratch his chin whilst the high elf continued to explain the situation, he told the king that the Guardians are here if he would like to speak with them. The king then proceeded to scratch his cheek, nodded and then spoke, "no, just bring me the half'pyr," the high elf nodded as King Tirian turned and walked away. The high elf went back to the other priests to tend to Rickalas.
******
The Guardians and Ki'lak are all in the dining room on the first floor enjoying an excellent meal, they're all sat upon a large table, Scarr's sat at the head with the seat on his right side empty and Johnkal on his left. Niklaus is sat next to Johnkal, Lucyia's sat next to the empty chair, Spiros is sat next to Johnkal, Kelsia's sat next to Lucyia, Ja'nel's sat next to Spiros, Rosarlea's sat next to Kelsia, Trogen's sat next to Ja'nel, Damo's sat next to Rosarlea and Ki'lak's sat at the opposite end of the table. There's a big massive bird in the centre of the table resting upon a silver platter with lettuce surrounding it.
The table's covered in food from all sorts of foreign realms from as far as New Haven to the east and Stone Haven in the west even exotic foods from as far as Earthrealm. They all looked around the room and it's medium in size, there's twelve oak pillars surrounding the room each with their own stick torch rested upon it. "So, what happened to Rickalas, Scarr," asked Lucyia, they all cocked their heads to face Scarr, for they're all thinking the same question. He explained that he didn't know for sure and he explained about the tomb and also the dark spirit. He told them only Rickalas can tell them what happened.
He also told them not to worry as Rickalas is strong willed, they all became sad as they didn't want to lose their friend and he really is a good man. Johnkal looked at Scarr for awhile until he looked back, then he nodded towards the entrance as if he wanted to speak alone. Scarr nodded in agreement and began to head towards the entrance, Johnkal followed shortly after. "What is it Johnkal," asked Scarr, Johnkal looked down and pulled the letter from his robes while he looked at Scarr with a saddened expression because he knew deep down that the letter isn't going to be good.
A good man died to make sure this letter reached Scarr Thesulac and through Johnkal it finally arrived at its intended destination, Scarr's eyes are firmly fixed on the letter as Johnkal passed it to him, "what is this, I see before me," asked Scarr as he held the letter firmly between his fingertips waiting for Johnkall's reply. He then told Scarr that he didn't know and explained the details that transpired of this letter finding its way to him. Scarr eyed the letter very closely and recognised the seal of the lord of Faryal, he decided to read it later so he placed it inside his robes. "Should we go back inside brother," he muttered.
Johnkal nodded yes, so they both walked back inside to rejoin the others. They sat back down in their seats as an elf walked into the room and he went over to Scarr and bowed, "master Thesulac, King Tirian wishes to speak alone," says the elf. Scarr said it's ok and he also asked if it's concerning Rickalas, they all turned to face the elf hoping for good news. The elf said no and told them that the king would like to know what happened in the desert. Everyone turned back to their conversations and their food, all except Scarr. "Fine, lead the way master elf," he said, Scarr got up and followed the elf out of the building.
******
In the Embleton desert in the ruins of Hydra a man is walking down the tombs in the depths of the night, he's wearing long blue robes covered in small and large yellow stars, he has a staff in his right hand and a long sword strapped to his waist. He also has green eyes and a long black beard and moustache and yes he's the evil spirit that attacked Rickalas. Although this time he's flesh and bone, he looked at each of the tombs and shouted, "awaken," once he said it spirits from each of the tombs approached him and stood motionless in front of him. "Great wizard," they all whispered, there's five spirits altogether.
The wizard approached each of them and called their names, "Doragar, Chamillion, Sukumvit, Baron Windsor and Thom Scay," he shouted. As the wizard called their names he touched them returning them to flesh, using magics that are far beyond our understanding at this moment, "so few, so few have returned," the wizard paused, "the one'being. Still collecting his jar of hearts, no matter we recruit," he stood there pondering for a moment when a man long in years with scars edged deep upon his face spoke, "how long, master. As it been for us," asked the Baron, his hair's long, scruffy and dark, his face unshaven. His eyes were deep and dark with the smell of death upon his breath and his clothes are nothing but rags.
The wizard turned to face him and told him it's been one thousand and nine hundred years since the blood moon curse was broken, "since we fought to conquer this world in the name of the one'being," he finished, I suppose you would like to know about the one'being and the curse of the blood moon, well for the breaking of the blood moon there's nothing I can say about that at this present time, but never fear all will come clear in time and the one'being well let's just say it's the god to the Slaad lords and blindly to the rest of the world they do its bidding.
They say time itself is being orchestrated by the one'being, always remember the truth is never as it seems, all will be revealed at the correct time. "What are our orders," said Sukumvit, Sukumvit is no man and he's not even human' in fact he's more reptile and fish and hybrid of the two. His scales are red and he has both the ability to breath in and out of water, he has deep and dark oval shaped eyes with two slits for a nose and his teeth are sharp and long. The wizard began to tell them their orders and that was they are to split up, undercover they must go, to a city he assigns them too and they must remain there until further notice.
He also stated that death will be a mercy for the one discovered, the wizard spoke again saying he has a meeting soon, "with two other supporters who would greatly help our cause and also one as an army behind him," he finished then proceeded to tell them what city each of them would be infiltrating, "now, go my Slaads, I do not want to see any of you tell the Azzard is once again within my grasp," and as he finished speaking the Slaad lords began to vanish in a puff of smoke one by one, the wizard remained behind and thought to himself, "soon the entire world will know of my return," just as he himself disappeared into a puff of smoke, leaving Hydra once again in its peaceful slumber.
******
Scarr's inside the palace standing outside the throne room waiting to be called in whilst there's also two guards stood outside with him. He's stood within a large corridor and he's watching all the elves walking back and forth past him as they all went about their daily business and as he continued doing what he's doing for a few minutes the large oak doors to the throne room swung open and an elf approached him. "The king will see you now," he said, so Scarr followed the elf into the room which is grand and large. The ceiling's arched and all around the sides of the room there's pillars supporting the ceiling except the back wall of the room which is reserved for the throne itself. All around he could see the coat of arms of Tirian which is of a great white oak tree and it also resided upon the chest plates of the royal guard.
The throne's raised upon four steps, it's made out of wood and not the traditional stone other inhabitants of the Azzard use. Sat upon the throne looked to be a wise man with long blonde hair which appeared to grow in a straight formation with not a single hair out of place. His eyes are a deep shade of blue while his face is cleanly shaven and he wears the brightest purple robes. Sat upon his head is the crown of the king, the crown of Fasingworld. Now as you know from previously we are not in the Azzard anymore the city of Tirian lies just passed the border, you may even recognise the bright looking character upon the throne as King Tirian himself.
Although when Caleb was telling his story, Tirian was but a young elf and newly crowned king. Scarr carried on approaching the throne but as he did, he brought his attention to the portraits surrounding the entire room, the portraits are of kings that came before King Tirian. The king isn't alone in the throne room as he's surrounded by his most loyal advisers. Eventually Scarr reached the steps before the throne and stopped, placed a knee upon the ground and slammed his right fist against his heart, "arise Scarr, son of Scabies," said Tirian.
Scarr did as commanded and stood up whilst waiting for Tirian to speak, "what happened in the desert," asked the king, Scarr has to think about his answers very carefully because being a Guardian he's under oath never to lie to a king, "I do not know my king, but I will tell you what I can, I know for a fact something powerful happened there," whispered Scarr. The king frowned upon him and leaned closer to Scarr intrigued at his answer and asked why he would say that. Scarr choked and his breath became heavy as he then proceeded to ask the king to keep an open mind, Scarr sighed and then the king approved.
He started by saying a few days before any of this happened he had memories of Rickalas, Johnkal, Niklaus, Lucyia, Ja'nel, Rosarlea and Trogen being part of the Guardians for as long has he can remember, he continued, "but now I can not remember anything about them before three to four years ago," the king stared him deeply within the eye but Scarr broke eye contact with him, "interesting, very interesting, please continue," asked the king politely, he continued by saying that they're never going to really know what happened until Rickalas tells them himself.
He told the king that he found him the way he is now and he knows just as much as the king knows in this moment in time, "but we can not ignore the fact that what happened there affected my memories and perhaps everyone else's at the same time," Scarr continued, he explained that Rickalas is a strong willed man and it would take something quite powerful to bring him down like this, "but it was dangerous enough for him to want to summon the war council and I trust his instincts better than my own," he continued, he then proceeded to tell the king that something is amiss and he urged the king not to ignore it, he finished speaking.
King Tirian told Scarr about the war council in Plutopua and that the majority of the lords of the Azzard have been summoned to discuss all that as transpired. Scarr then asked the king when the date is for the council, "six days hence upon first light," Tirian answered, Scarr quickly spoke again, "ok...there is something else, upon my journey to find Rickalas I had some kind of vision," he muttered.
Scarr than proceeded to explain the vision in vivid detail, "...and than a voice proceeded to say 'Scarr, beware the third great war, I have no idea who the voice was only that it rang through my head like a thousand bells," explained Scarr, he also asked if the king knew what any of the great wars were while he looked around the room at the faces present. "I fear I do not," even though he was there during the second great war he truly didn't know much about it, "only myths and legends but where ever you go on the planet they all change and are told in different ways," he then told Scarr to speak to the oldest known man in the Azzard.
If anyone knows details it's him, the king explained and then Scarr realised and spoke, "of course, my father, how could I miss that, I shall be seeing him soon but first after Rickalas has recovered we have business in Faryal for reasons unknown to me as of yet," whispered Scarr, as Tirian quickly replied, "than I bid you luck brother and eagerly await our next meeting in Plutopua in six days, farewell General Thesulac," said the king excitedly, Scarr bent his back slightly towards the king, smiled, turned around and slowly walked towards the exit of the throne room and as he exited through the door he looked back and the door snapped shut behind him.
******
It's just before dawn on the 18th Poseidon 1900 ABM, Scarr had summoned the Guardians and Ki'lak to the courtyard in the centre of Tirian. The courtyard's still dark and they could barely see anything, it's a large area and unlike the rest of the city there's no trees around only flowers of rare varieties, benches and water fountains creatively designed. Scarr, Johnkal, Niklaus, Rosarlea, Trogen, Lucyia, Spiros, Kelsia, Ki'lak and Ja'nel are all present, they're eager to find out what Scarr's going to say but they suspected that they already know. They thought it'll be about Rickalas and they'd be right although it's not the only reason he summoned them.
Scarr looked at them all and noticed one of them isn't present, "where in the Nether is Damo," Scarr asked curiously, he looked at them all but not one of them knew where he was and so he decided not to wait for him. "My friends I am sure you all have questions, I do not think I can best answer them in the detail you would like," whispered Scarr, he then began to explain that he couldn't say what happened to Rickalas as he doesn't know and only Rickalas could truly explain what happened to him. He did tell them that he opened and entered a tomb of a Slaad lord as he believes they're called.
They all couldn't look Scarr in the eye as they're all saddened to hear about what happened to their brother and so they just silently watched the floor whilst listening to their leader. "It attacked him with the darkest of magics and I have to be honest with you now my brothers and sisters, depending on Rickalas's will power, there may be a chance he will become like them," they all felt sorrow in their hearts for their friend but they're hanging on to his every word. Lucyia gripped hold of her chest as her heart felt as though it would explode as she heard what Rickalas is going through and her breath also became heavy.

Upon the peaks of Mount Krill, there's a massive volcano with the top already blown off, it stood silent, growling and groaning every now and again, almost letting the world know it hasn't had its day. There stood a cave almost shaped like a mouth as if it's the jaws of hell itself, the caves dark and gloomy and the sound of dripping water bouncing of the floor could be heard in the silence that's Mount Krill. A man's stood upon the edge of the cliff looking up at the moon, the bright moon's reflecting of his pale face as he gripped the sword that hung from his waist, his other hand also gripped a staff.
The air's hot and foul and burned his throat with every breath he took, it's raining but that didn't help to cool down the air, the walls of the cave are hot to touch. The man standing outside the cave looking up at the stars is smiling as the rain dropped down his face. He looked over the side of the mountain and noticed a monster climbing up to him from the shadows that blanketed the ground floor. The man near the cave is hooded and cloaked in grey robes but even a fool could tell that this is the wizard.

Meanwhile back in the city of Tirian, the Guardians are still having their meeting, "what is a Slaad," asked Kelsia. Scarr looked upon her for a moment biting his lip, he told her that he didn't know and that Rickalas mumbled it in and out of consciousness, "if you need to prey to the All'maker for Rickalas now would be the time," said Scarr, he then proceeded to explain that that's not the only reason he called them here and began to tell them that before he and Ki'lak arrived at Ghunwah he had a vision, "it was a terrifying lucid vision," Ki'lak started to remember what he's on about but he couldn't understand why he didn't tell him before.
Scarr told Ki'lak that he may want to prepare himself for what he's about to say, "in the vision I was stood atop the grand palace of Warican and all before me I could hear the screams of women, the cries of children and the sound of warriors battling in the streets," it affected Ki'lak greatly, he couldn't listen so he turned away, he then began to tell them that they were fighting a fiend he had never seen before and that they were made up of nothing but black dust floating in the air while they also adapted the stance of a man. "Their battle cry still makes me cringe," he said as a shiver shot down his kundalini.
He then spoke of the voice that said to him, Scarr, beware the third great war and Scarr could feel the vision had strongly affected them but he knew they needed to know the truth. "Where in the universe is princess Alcmene," asked Ki'lak, Scarr didn't know he did tell them that it was a vision of the future and he didn't know how he knew that, all he did know is it couldn't have come at a worse time. "Agreed," they all said, Scarr looked around, looked each and every one of them deep in the eyes, took a deep breath and began to speak again.