As they approached Yebin Illadri bid Senani to land. Argent would strike fear into the entire settlement if he entered in his current form. She quickly taught Argent the method to transform into a humanoid creature. To her surprise, he became a human of the same size as Senani. The Heart Scales he had collected remained as the only cover over his bones. Illadri continued to teach Argent for the next 2 days. In that time, he learned to move between humanoid and dragon form at will as well as to create the illusion of clothing. Though even with the illusion of clothing one could not hide the deadly purple eyes. Now that that issue had been resolved, Senani and his group entered Yebin and moved straight toward the tome of the nameless one.
Seeing the arrival of the group, Patricia was rather surprised. She had not anticipated that Senani would find more allies, and one of the new individuals was clearly some form of undead of immense power that far exceeded even the Death Knight. Patricia quickly escorted Senani and his group to the tome. She had more haste even than Senani for she knew that once awakened the powers Senani possessed would elevate the Coven back into a truly formidable place in vampire society.
Senani placed his hands on the tome and felt a great force flow into his body. His body began to absorb all the pent-up power that had been building for centuries. Once he felt he was at the verge of being torn apart by the energy, the voice sounded once again. "You have done well "human" with the powers of the Draco-Lich and the corpses from the battlefield, I will absorb this backwoods planet and regain some semblance of my old power. You will become my link back into the mortal world. Now relax your mind and disappear."
As the voice spoke, a great pressure could be felt upon Senani pushing his consciousness out of his body. Senani fought against it with all his mental powers. Yet this was proving futile, even an extremely weakened Ancient Anomaly was more than a mere mortal could face alone. With that realization in mind, Senani fed into his link with Maximus and Argent and gathered them into himself. While the trio could not force back the nameless one, they did allow Senani to stop being forced back.
Illadri was a wise and ancient dragon. She could sense the war raging in Senani's mind. She quickly touched the back of his head to lend her own mental powers. As soon as she entered, the nameless one began to retreat. She quickly cut off his route and forced him back towards Senani. Senani reached out his hand and to his surprise he began to absorb the lifeforce of the nameless one into himself. This continued for what felt like an eternity. Yet in time, the pressure began to fade away, and Senani regained full control of his mind and body. He placed his hand fully on the tome once again and absorbed the entire room down to the stones. Senani began to glow with an intense purple light. A tremendous amount of power entered his body and the bodies of Maximus and Argent, and they began to glow as well.
Illadri stepped back to admire her handywork. Senani passed out.
When he awoke, he had a great surprise flash before his eyes.
************System Activated************
o Nameless One absorbed. "The nameless one sought to destroy your mind and claim your body to regain its hold in the mortal realm. Instead, you managed to devour and absorb him, thus gaining his inheritance and many powers."
o Gained candle of the nameless one. "You absorbed the powers of an Ancient Anomaly. Now you possess the candle to become one."
o Gained ability Land Grant. "A land grant is a secondary dimension that exists within your mind. (A secondary dimension is a place that exists outside of the primary world that can be accessed by special people. These vary in size and design.) If your mind is strong enough, if you can think it, you can do it. This is an extremely rare ability. As you grow in power your land grant will also grow. Battles will be significantly easier in your land grant as members of your faction will gain +100% power while in your land grant.
o Gained Nameless One's dimension. "This vast empty swathe in the immortal plane now belongs to you. This will prove an extremely powerful benefit in the future and will allow you limitless growth potential. Feel free to move things between your secondary dimension and the real world with merely a thought. Members of your faction will gain + 125% power in your dimension."
o Absorption ability fully unlocked. "The nameless one granted you a portion of his ability to absorb power. Now you possess it in its entirety. You may absorb not only the life force of others, but also any other form of energy. With this ability your growth potentials are endless."
o Holy Icon Gained. "You now stand among the ranks of the Anomalies by possessing one of the ancient powers. Your Icon will appear on the crest of all your Champions. You will gain 50% of the lifeforce that your champions obtain. Your champions will gain 50% of the lifeforce the undead that serve them gain. Your icon is that of a great white colosseum with a purple fire forever burning in its center."
§ Your Icon may only be applied to members of the undead and will double their power rating.
§ Current Max Icon Grants is 3.
o Necromantic ability Gained. "You may now control and create the undead. As your powers increase the quantity of undead you can control will also increase. Bear in mind, those that bear your Icon will be limited by your own power level. For each you grant your Icon, you will diminish greatly in power. This however will not stop you from creating a vast army of zombies or skeletons."
o Gained Coven faction, unnamed. Faction renamed "Deviants" "By absorbing the nameless one you now truly control the Covenant present on Orion. While this is not the only Coven of vampires in the galaxy, nor the most powerful, it is the only one that considers themselves THE Coven."
· Gained Ability, Covenant. "You may now enter into a contractual agreement with living individuals. If the contract is signed with the blood of the living individual, they may not break it without you releasing them from the terms of the contract."
As Senani regained his vision, he was rather surprised to see the icon described on Maximus breastplate as well as on the forehead of Argent. The room had now become completely bare. Yet, Illadri stood by Argents side, and Patricia lay on the floor. She had been the nameless ones only true servant on this world and while she did not bear his icon, she knew what he intended to do to Senani. As such, she merely lay on the floor trembling in fear. She hesitantly spoke as her voice trembled violently.
"Senani I am sorry for luring you here to have your body claimed by the nameless one. Had I interfered with his plan, he would surely have killed not only me but the entire Coven. I felt no one could defeat the Ancient Anomaly, and I truly desire to see the Coven rise back to a position of power. For far too long we have been stranded on this backwoods planet living in squalor. Do as you wish with me but please spare the Coven."
Senani found this rather amusing. Patricia had proven she would do as instructed regardless of the consequences to herself. As a vampire she was also already a member of the undead. As such, Senani rolled her over, placed his hand on her forehead, and granted her his icon. "Patricia, you will serve me as well as you did the nameless one. I grant you my icon, and I rename the Coven. You are now forever known as the Deviants. My secondary dimension will therefore be known as Deviant Home. This represents a new chapter in the lives of all of us. Manage my assets on Orion. Increase the strength of our gladiators and by doing so we will increase the strength of the Deviants. If any of the gladiators wish to become vampires and prove themselves worthy of the power vampirism brings, grant them their desire."
As Senani finished, Maximus's commanding voice filled the empty space.
Begin patrols of the areas surrounding Yebin. Our journey has proven these lands are not safe for any decent people. This is our home, and we need to ensure it remains safe."
Patricia did not comprehend what Senani said. Not only would she not be slain, but she would also remain at the head of the newly named faction the Deviants? Senani must truly be a mad man. Those were the thoughts that ran through her mind as Senani granted her his Icon and in turn grew his own set of vampiric fangs.
Senani then turned to Illadri. "Who are you really? You were able to turn back the powers of an Ancient Anomaly. You are not just a normal dragon."
Illadri replied, "Mirror is my husband and the father of Argent. Like he I also serve Ezyrth. Before I entered your mind, I used my link through her icon to ask for aid. She lent me a large portion of her powers. It is Ezyrth that truly saved your life. Though admittedly, she would have done anything to remove the threat of the nameless one permanently. What do you now intend to do with your newfound powers? Will you follow in the footsteps of your predecessor and try to consume all life?"
Senani replied without hesitation, "I truly do not know what I will do, as I still have not accepted that all of this is reality, and yet I can tell you I seek to protect life. I know that is odd for one with my abilities to say, and yet I hope that I have proven to you that it is a truth."
Illadri then spoke with a new voice, the power held within could destroy planets. "I am glad you feel that way Senani. It is a pleasure to meet you and to be rid of the nameless one that has plagued the galaxy for eons. I am Ezyrth. You managed to save Argent which is one of my children. In that deed we are now bound together. Do not be so bold as to mistake my aid for weakness, you saved Mirror and Illadri, without causing me to break the Ancient Anomalies accord, therefore I saved you.
You are still a danger to us all. You possess the abilities of an Ancient Anomaly, without the restraint formed from the accords. This puts you in a bit of a grey area. As such, some of the Ancient Anomalies will seek out your destruction. If they realize the origin of your powers, far more will seek to destroy you. I will therefore grant you a small chuck of land to place in your secondary dimension. I would advise you to bring your people there as soon as you are able. They can help it to grow and prosper and will be able to grow as well. The secondary dimensions possess many abilities that the mortal world does not.
Illadri has requested to leave my service to be near Argent. I have granted her this, however I do request that you keep her within your secondary dimension. My enemies would love nothing more than to use her to get at me.
As a last bit of advice, you are strong in the mortal realm, but in the realm of abnormalities, you're merely a baby. You possess the title of Anomaly, yet you do not yet have the power to back it, as such, you will be challenged by many of the New Anomalies. Defeat them, but do not absorb them, instead recruit them to your side and create a pantheon as Zeus and many others did before ascending to godhood. This is the only option you have, as you must gain the strength to survive.
Bring the dragon corpses into your secondary dimension, if you raise them, they will not possess the intelligence they had in life, but even the strength of a mindless dragon cannot be underestimated. Under Argents command they can become a force that will keep you alive should you be attacked."
· Quest Received, Eye of the Storm. "The nameless one's death has caused an uproar among the Ancient Anomalies. This is not due to his passing but rather due to the founding of the Deviant Faction immediately after. This faction bears the status of an Ancient Anomalies domain. Many will begin investigating the nameless one's demise and will eventually discover you."
o Required tasks.
§ Survive the next 30 days.
o Optional tasks.
§ Gather 1 of the New Anomalies into your faction.
· Quest reward. Icon Grant +2 and the ability to create ability stones.
Senani moved Illadri into his secondary dimension as he had agreed to do. She immediately placed a large flat white marble foundation an acre in size under her feet. Senani now possessed his first bit of land in his new realm. This would truly be his domain. He was rather pleased as he placed his new Anomaly candle in the middle of the foundation. He then moved to Argent and asked him to retrieve the corpses from the battlefield and send them to his new realm. He would take all the corpses that remained. If he were to face armies, he would need to build one of his own. The undead would prove to be the cheapest new recruits.
Senani then called upon Patricia. He had two tasks in mind, first he would speak to the King of Yebin and hopefully enter a Covenant. Second, he would be taking a portion of the Deviants into Deviant Home to begin building his new palace. They would begin with a Faction Hall with a tome for registration, then an armory and a treasury to store the groups gains. Patricia agreed without hesitation. She would send half the faction to Senani's secondary dimension, focusing on any that knew how to build. The half that stayed would provide building resources and continue to run their operations on Orion. Patricia then took Senani before the King of Yebin. He was a jovial human man with a scruffy brown beard and a full head of hair only slightly shorter than Senani. His brown eyes were gentle yet shined with a wisdom beyond his age.
Senani took the lead and addressed him directly. "I am sure you have heard my name in the past days good King. I am Senani. I am also positive you know of the existence of the vampires, as Patricia has brought me here, so I will be brief. I now head the vampires that reside within your city walls. They are now called the Deviant Faction. I wish for you to enter a Covenant with me to join the Deviant Faction. In return I will offer you my protection and help you to secure and expand your borders. What do you say?"
The King replied, "I am Yebin, King of Yebin, and I am no fool. I have heard of your exploits in the battle near here. Your Draco-Lich slew an army of goblins and defeated an ancient dragon. We heard the dragons screams for days while your unholy fires tortured him. With the power of those fires alone I would not wish to be your enemy. But that is not all you are capable of; you also control the vampires in Yebin. Their strength and fighting abilities are far superior to that of my guards. Yet even that is not enough, for you are also creating a gladiatorial school from the stables of Azriel. Freed gladiators working under contract to Senani. Soon to be the army of Senani, I am sure. Your power exceeds my own by far. Why offer me anything? You could after all merely claim Yebin for your own."
Senani smiled as he stated, "I am a fair and just man. I do not take that which belongs to others. I and all my people do live in Yebin however, and as such I need some assurances that we will remain welcome and not be betrayed. This Covenant will ensure that for both of us."
Yebin considered his words carefully before he dared to speak again. "If I agree to this, will I then be a puppet king? My family crest to be replaced with your emblem. It truly isn't as though I have much of a choice…Just the thought of your dragon is enough to keep one from sleeping. Not to mention the undead you have patrolling through the warrens that your vampires have dug under my city. This Covenant would greatly reduce my stress level though. I fear for the safety of my people daily, the roads in all the realm are plagued with goblins and bandits. If you can protect us, I will gladly accept your offer."
Senani replied, "A portion of my Faction will be leaving soon, and they will take the majority of the undead with them. This should reduce the sounds you hear at night. I have no desire for your troops to wear my Icon. They have not earned that right. My Icon is reserved only for the highest ranking amongst my followers. True elites like Maximus and Argent the Draco-Lich. I will not interfere in the day-to-day activities of you and your people. I find such things to be tedious and boring, though if you need help you have only to ask. I will request some building supplies in return for the aid of my people in keeping your borders safe. I prefer stone or metal, but wood would also be acceptable. I will take as much as you are willing to spare. If funds are required for their acquisition, inform Patricia, she can have it paid for from my coffers."
Senani then created a Covenant from thin air. This would place the King and his people as official members of the Deviant Faction under the terms that the Faction would provide them protection and increase the security of their borders. They would also setup a faction hall, and recruit members directly into the Deviant Faction to aid with the patrols. Senani tasked Maximus and Patricia with ensuring this was managed. He also had Maximus recruit from the gladiator school to create more patrols.
Senani next anxiously waited on Argent to return from the battlefield. Once Argent returned, Senani tasked him with retrieving the hordes of the fallen dragons. This would also be sent to his secondary dimension as Argents own hoard. Argent would be able to lie amid his hoard and absorb the energy the other dragons had imbued into their own hoards. This should allow him and Senani to continue to grow at a rapid pace.
With that bit of business completed, Senani moved to Azriel's old estate. It would be nice to relax for a few days.