Years passed and Horaitio Lansyard was now the Abbot-General of the Imperial Paladins. News had arisen that a wealthy and mysterious traveler had entered the city and was holed up at the Imperial Hotel near the Palace. All the accounts of the traveler seemed to suggest that he had a "dark taint" about him, so Horaitio went to go see for himself. He took a carriage to the Imperial Hotel and entered the lobby of the Hotel, disguised as a merchant. He spied the target, who was laughing with some guests at a table. He saw it, the darkness seemed to flow from this man. He was stuck. He could not act without a warrant from the Emperor and Cleon I was not big on acting impulsively. He decided to question the man instead. He sat down and gave a false name and chatted with the stranger. The stranger seemed harmless and mostly talked about the flour mills that he owned in the bread basket regions of the Empire. Nothing he said or asked shook the stranger. As he left, he heard a voice in his mind, "I know who you are Paladin. It will be too late for you to do anything, my plans are in motion and I shall sit on the Imperial Throne." Horaitio looked at the stranger but the stranger did not look at him, rather the stranger was talking with the serving maid. Horaitio left the Hotel, determined to report his findings to the Emperor.
He walked into the massive Imperial Palace and spoke with the Viceroy, lord Kaleas Grimund. "Oh yes, the wealthy merchant, he is an odd one. Reports have reached our ears that he is spreading some gossip." said the Viceroy. "Can you punish him?" asked the Abbot-General. "No, not without a specific charge laid against him. The people insist on their rights and the Emperor respects it." said the Viceroy. "Is the Emperor in? Can I see him?" asked Horaitio. "Cleon is busy at the moment. You can wait in the main room." said the Viceroy. "Or you can leave a message with me and I'll handle it myself." said the Viceroy. "I don't trust the stranger. Keep an eye on him." said Horaitio. "We'll see what we can do." said the Viceroy. Horaitio left the Imperial Palace and returned to the Monastery on the other side of the city, that was the headquarters of the Imperial Paladins. The next day, some soldiers came to the office of the Abbot-General and handed him a sealed letter. He opened it and read the message. "You are to see the Emperor at once." read Horaitio. "Odd, the Viceroy said that he would handle the matter." he said to himself. "I shall come at once." said Horaitio. He went posthaste to the Palace by carriage and walked into the massive throne room, which he had only seen once before, as a child.
"There you are." said Cleon I, looking down on him from his throne, which was mounted on a large step platform. "Rumor has it that you desire my crown? Are you truly that insane?" asked Cleon I in an irritated manner. "No your majesty. I recently discovered a stranger that was spreading false gossip about your court my lord." said Horaitio. "Then why hasn't my secret police informed me about this plot? Very well. I shall order the tale-bearer to be arrested but at the same time, I want you to stay in the Green Room, as an honored guest, and so we can clear up this dilemma." said the Emperor. "As you command." he said with a bow. The Viceroy dismissed him and the Emperor turned to his sons to discuss the matter. Horaitio went to the Green Room and listened at a metal food-lift. He had discovered some years ago that sound travels best through metal. "Are you quite sure?" he heard the Emperor say. "Yes, I am sure, the Abbot speaks truly. The wealthy stranger might be a plotter of some sort." said Prince Menachem (who was named for the famous Elvish Tower) "Don't trust the Abbot. Remember General Riverford? He almost overthrew grandfather with an almost convincing tale that he was "off his head" and wasn't the best ruler." said Prince Donner. "I have no reason to distrust the Abbot." said the Emperor. "The wealthy stranger, lord Dumas, is here to see you my lord!" announced a page. "Bring him in." said the Viceroy. lord Dumas, the previously unknown "wealthy stranger" came in with his robe trailing and several servants, all of them carrying ornate wooden boxes. "My liege." said lord Dumas. "These are gifts for your Highness." he said. The servants opened the boxes and revealed gold, silver, diamonds, gems and even an automaton device. "This automaton device might interest you the most. Hold it in your hand and it gives you a crystal clear vision of the souls in your midst." said the crafty lord. "Bring me the automaton and Viceroy, take the chests to the treasury." said the Emperor. "Yes my liege." said the Viceroy. The Viceroy directed the servants to bring the chests downstairs while the Emperor tried out the new device. "Bring the Paladin to me." said the Emperor. He looked through the device at the lord and saw a bright light and when he saw the Abbot-General come into the room he saw darkness. "My lord, this abbot of yours has been spreading lies about you all over the Empire, he is demoralizing everyone and even my workers refuse to work because of him!" said the "lord" in an accusative burst. "Not even close to the truth my liege." said Horaitio. "I believe lord Dumas instead of you, this device makes me see your evil Horaitio!" said the Emperor. "Take him to the dungeon!" said the Emperor to the Captain of the Guard. "Hold him until tomorrow. Then we the Court shall sentence him to death." said the now-paranoid Emperor. "Wait! That device is a trap! The lens is flawed!" blurted out Horaitio but the Emperor was not convinced.
Horaitio found himself bolted against a wall in a stone-walled cell where all the other prisoners where. The screams of the prisoners being tortured echoed through the corridors. "I have to get back to the Monastery and rally the troops to dispose of this obvious imposter." thought Horaitio.
He remembered a teleportation spell that would take him directly to the Elvish capital at Menachem and he figured that he could use an ally at this point so he chanted the spell and within a second he was standing before the God-Emperor of the Elves. "My liege." he said in his best elvish, "I am come to ask for your aid in destroying an evil enemy of the Empire." he said. "Any enemy of the Empire is an enemy of ours." said the God-Emperor. "There is a detail, our Emperor thinks that the enemy is a friend and is being deceived by him." said Horaitio. "Then I shall come myself and clear up the deception." said the God-Emperor. The huge elf rose from his throne and chanted a spell and teleported both himself and Horaitio to the Imperial Throne Room of Cleon I. "Kelthas! This is a surprise!" said Cleon I, rising from his throne to greet an old friend. "Give me the device." said Kelthas. "Sure, why do you want to see it?" asked Cleon. The huge elf just picked the device up off the pillow and he began to pour pure light into it. The device exploded. Everyone in the throne room was knocked back. "That is why. It was a device of the darkness that could have only been crafted by a dark lord. I fear that Azzrius is back." said the God-Emperor. Cleon was shocked. He turned to the Abbot-General. "I almost slashed my own throat! I beg forgiveness my old friend." said the Emperor to Horaitio. "We need to track down and defeat this dark lord. How did he escape the dome trap?" asked Horaitio. "No idea, but we need to exile him to netherspace. This summoning will take three immensely powerful wizards and an immobilized dark lord." said the God-Emperor. "The sons of Haladir? They haven't spoken with anyone in many years. But I suppose we have no choice." said the Emperor. "Aren't they outlaws?" asked Horaitio. "Outlawed but not criminal. They are Red Mages. They dwell in the Western Lands and are outside of the protection of the Empire. We have never been able to claim the Western Lands because of certain magical force fields that our Battle Mages have never been able to take down." said the Emperor. Everyone in the room also knew that what he said was technically true but also misleading, the Western Lands were also claimed by the Sylvanian Dominion and the God-Emperor himself had the barriers put in place to keep the humans out of those lands. The Red Mages who controlled the Western Lands had a long-standing treaty with the God-Emperor to keep the Human Empire out of their lands. The huge Elven Emperor said nothing but he did frown slightly. "I shall talk to them." said Horaitio. "I shall teleport us then." said the God-Emperor. "The Blessings of the Gods of the Forest be upon your city and her Empire my dear friend." said the God-Emperor. "And the Blessings of the Gods of the Light be upon yours old friend" said Cleon I to the God-Emperor. The pair vanished and reappeared at Menachem. "Go quickly, I have arraigned for an eagle to take you to the sons of Haladir." said the God-Emperor.
Horaitio climbed on the back of a giant eagle and flew into the Western Lands. After a few minutes, the eagle landed and dropped him off at the Vermillion Tower. Horaitio knocked on the stone doors and a wizard opened the door. "What is your business?" he asked, peevishly. "The dark lord is back." said Horaitio. "I will send you upstairs." said the wizard. He was teleported upstairs to the main hall and the sons of Haladir were at the main resonating crystal. "The dark lord is back? That is grim news indeed." said Arch-Mage Gerry Haladir. "So you need us to send him to the Nether?" asked Second Arch-Mage Tirias Haladir. "We saw his return, in our crystal." said Master-Mage Donric Haladir. "Technically since we are neutral his return has to affect us in order to act but since dark lords have a nasty tendency to murder all the mages they get their tendrils on, we will gladly render our aid and assistance." said the Arch-Mage. The Mages gathered around the resonating crystal and looked deep into it. "He is traveling to the Artic regions. We must stop him before he builds a new Tower." said the Arch-Mage. "The Gnomes control that region, they would drive him out I hope?" asked Horaitio. "No chance, once he gets a grip on their minds, they are his to command!" cried Donric Haladir.
The Red Mages hit on an idea. They sent a messenger eagle to the dark lord to set up a meeting at a fixed location. The mages began their portal to the nether while the dark lord, excited at the chance to get powerful followers, teleported over to the trap. Once he appeared, the mages hit the dark lord with a wind-bolt and pushed the dark lord into the portal and they quickly closed it before he could escape. "Done. He will remain in the twisting nether forever. He will never escape." said the Arch-Mage. "Thank you. I am in your debt." said Horaitio. "Send a friendly letter sometime, and tell your Emperor that we saved his Empire. Perhaps he will allow us to enter his borders sometime." said the Arch-Mage. "Consider it done." said Horaitio. The three teleported out and Horaitio was teleported back to his Monastery. Later that day he explained to the Emperor the events that transpired that led to the final exile of the dark lord. "Good, good. Tell the Red Mages that they are Heroes of the Empire and that they are welcome to visit at any time." said Cleon I.
End of Part III
He walked into the massive Imperial Palace and spoke with the Viceroy, lord Kaleas Grimund. "Oh yes, the wealthy merchant, he is an odd one. Reports have reached our ears that he is spreading some gossip." said the Viceroy. "Can you punish him?" asked the Abbot-General. "No, not without a specific charge laid against him. The people insist on their rights and the Emperor respects it." said the Viceroy. "Is the Emperor in? Can I see him?" asked Horaitio. "Cleon is busy at the moment. You can wait in the main room." said the Viceroy. "Or you can leave a message with me and I'll handle it myself." said the Viceroy. "I don't trust the stranger. Keep an eye on him." said Horaitio. "We'll see what we can do." said the Viceroy. Horaitio left the Imperial Palace and returned to the Monastery on the other side of the city, that was the headquarters of the Imperial Paladins. The next day, some soldiers came to the office of the Abbot-General and handed him a sealed letter. He opened it and read the message. "You are to see the Emperor at once." read Horaitio. "Odd, the Viceroy said that he would handle the matter." he said to himself. "I shall come at once." said Horaitio. He went posthaste to the Palace by carriage and walked into the massive throne room, which he had only seen once before, as a child.
"There you are." said Cleon I, looking down on him from his throne, which was mounted on a large step platform. "Rumor has it that you desire my crown? Are you truly that insane?" asked Cleon I in an irritated manner. "No your majesty. I recently discovered a stranger that was spreading false gossip about your court my lord." said Horaitio. "Then why hasn't my secret police informed me about this plot? Very well. I shall order the tale-bearer to be arrested but at the same time, I want you to stay in the Green Room, as an honored guest, and so we can clear up this dilemma." said the Emperor. "As you command." he said with a bow. The Viceroy dismissed him and the Emperor turned to his sons to discuss the matter. Horaitio went to the Green Room and listened at a metal food-lift. He had discovered some years ago that sound travels best through metal. "Are you quite sure?" he heard the Emperor say. "Yes, I am sure, the Abbot speaks truly. The wealthy stranger might be a plotter of some sort." said Prince Menachem (who was named for the famous Elvish Tower) "Don't trust the Abbot. Remember General Riverford? He almost overthrew grandfather with an almost convincing tale that he was "off his head" and wasn't the best ruler." said Prince Donner. "I have no reason to distrust the Abbot." said the Emperor. "The wealthy stranger, lord Dumas, is here to see you my lord!" announced a page. "Bring him in." said the Viceroy. lord Dumas, the previously unknown "wealthy stranger" came in with his robe trailing and several servants, all of them carrying ornate wooden boxes. "My liege." said lord Dumas. "These are gifts for your Highness." he said. The servants opened the boxes and revealed gold, silver, diamonds, gems and even an automaton device. "This automaton device might interest you the most. Hold it in your hand and it gives you a crystal clear vision of the souls in your midst." said the crafty lord. "Bring me the automaton and Viceroy, take the chests to the treasury." said the Emperor. "Yes my liege." said the Viceroy. The Viceroy directed the servants to bring the chests downstairs while the Emperor tried out the new device. "Bring the Paladin to me." said the Emperor. He looked through the device at the lord and saw a bright light and when he saw the Abbot-General come into the room he saw darkness. "My lord, this abbot of yours has been spreading lies about you all over the Empire, he is demoralizing everyone and even my workers refuse to work because of him!" said the "lord" in an accusative burst. "Not even close to the truth my liege." said Horaitio. "I believe lord Dumas instead of you, this device makes me see your evil Horaitio!" said the Emperor. "Take him to the dungeon!" said the Emperor to the Captain of the Guard. "Hold him until tomorrow. Then we the Court shall sentence him to death." said the now-paranoid Emperor. "Wait! That device is a trap! The lens is flawed!" blurted out Horaitio but the Emperor was not convinced.
Horaitio found himself bolted against a wall in a stone-walled cell where all the other prisoners where. The screams of the prisoners being tortured echoed through the corridors. "I have to get back to the Monastery and rally the troops to dispose of this obvious imposter." thought Horaitio.
He remembered a teleportation spell that would take him directly to the Elvish capital at Menachem and he figured that he could use an ally at this point so he chanted the spell and within a second he was standing before the God-Emperor of the Elves. "My liege." he said in his best elvish, "I am come to ask for your aid in destroying an evil enemy of the Empire." he said. "Any enemy of the Empire is an enemy of ours." said the God-Emperor. "There is a detail, our Emperor thinks that the enemy is a friend and is being deceived by him." said Horaitio. "Then I shall come myself and clear up the deception." said the God-Emperor. The huge elf rose from his throne and chanted a spell and teleported both himself and Horaitio to the Imperial Throne Room of Cleon I. "Kelthas! This is a surprise!" said Cleon I, rising from his throne to greet an old friend. "Give me the device." said Kelthas. "Sure, why do you want to see it?" asked Cleon. The huge elf just picked the device up off the pillow and he began to pour pure light into it. The device exploded. Everyone in the throne room was knocked back. "That is why. It was a device of the darkness that could have only been crafted by a dark lord. I fear that Azzrius is back." said the God-Emperor. Cleon was shocked. He turned to the Abbot-General. "I almost slashed my own throat! I beg forgiveness my old friend." said the Emperor to Horaitio. "We need to track down and defeat this dark lord. How did he escape the dome trap?" asked Horaitio. "No idea, but we need to exile him to netherspace. This summoning will take three immensely powerful wizards and an immobilized dark lord." said the God-Emperor. "The sons of Haladir? They haven't spoken with anyone in many years. But I suppose we have no choice." said the Emperor. "Aren't they outlaws?" asked Horaitio. "Outlawed but not criminal. They are Red Mages. They dwell in the Western Lands and are outside of the protection of the Empire. We have never been able to claim the Western Lands because of certain magical force fields that our Battle Mages have never been able to take down." said the Emperor. Everyone in the room also knew that what he said was technically true but also misleading, the Western Lands were also claimed by the Sylvanian Dominion and the God-Emperor himself had the barriers put in place to keep the humans out of those lands. The Red Mages who controlled the Western Lands had a long-standing treaty with the God-Emperor to keep the Human Empire out of their lands. The huge Elven Emperor said nothing but he did frown slightly. "I shall talk to them." said Horaitio. "I shall teleport us then." said the God-Emperor. "The Blessings of the Gods of the Forest be upon your city and her Empire my dear friend." said the God-Emperor. "And the Blessings of the Gods of the Light be upon yours old friend" said Cleon I to the God-Emperor. The pair vanished and reappeared at Menachem. "Go quickly, I have arraigned for an eagle to take you to the sons of Haladir." said the God-Emperor.
Horaitio climbed on the back of a giant eagle and flew into the Western Lands. After a few minutes, the eagle landed and dropped him off at the Vermillion Tower. Horaitio knocked on the stone doors and a wizard opened the door. "What is your business?" he asked, peevishly. "The dark lord is back." said Horaitio. "I will send you upstairs." said the wizard. He was teleported upstairs to the main hall and the sons of Haladir were at the main resonating crystal. "The dark lord is back? That is grim news indeed." said Arch-Mage Gerry Haladir. "So you need us to send him to the Nether?" asked Second Arch-Mage Tirias Haladir. "We saw his return, in our crystal." said Master-Mage Donric Haladir. "Technically since we are neutral his return has to affect us in order to act but since dark lords have a nasty tendency to murder all the mages they get their tendrils on, we will gladly render our aid and assistance." said the Arch-Mage. The Mages gathered around the resonating crystal and looked deep into it. "He is traveling to the Artic regions. We must stop him before he builds a new Tower." said the Arch-Mage. "The Gnomes control that region, they would drive him out I hope?" asked Horaitio. "No chance, once he gets a grip on their minds, they are his to command!" cried Donric Haladir.
The Red Mages hit on an idea. They sent a messenger eagle to the dark lord to set up a meeting at a fixed location. The mages began their portal to the nether while the dark lord, excited at the chance to get powerful followers, teleported over to the trap. Once he appeared, the mages hit the dark lord with a wind-bolt and pushed the dark lord into the portal and they quickly closed it before he could escape. "Done. He will remain in the twisting nether forever. He will never escape." said the Arch-Mage. "Thank you. I am in your debt." said Horaitio. "Send a friendly letter sometime, and tell your Emperor that we saved his Empire. Perhaps he will allow us to enter his borders sometime." said the Arch-Mage. "Consider it done." said Horaitio. The three teleported out and Horaitio was teleported back to his Monastery. Later that day he explained to the Emperor the events that transpired that led to the final exile of the dark lord. "Good, good. Tell the Red Mages that they are Heroes of the Empire and that they are welcome to visit at any time." said Cleon I.
End of Part III
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