(Three years earlier) June 2015
The sun began to set as the wind blew causing the dust to swirl in the canyons of Caslavic. It was known as the red territory as the bulk of the surface was comprised of very dried out red clay.
The region was Chulak. It was the fifth rim of Chardonacic, well outside the city proper. It was a very important place in the Dylonian Empire as it was the city in which the Dylonian's used to mine most of their iron ores.
The hooded stranger made his way, quietly and unseen, down the base of the Caslavic canyon. Silently he crept toward the ore melting facility.
He had heard the Emperor of the Dylonian's, and his entourage were making a visit to the mining facility to discuss why it was not producing the necessary amounts of ore that the empire required.
They appeared to be hell bent on increasing the size of their armada as of late. What could be behind it all he the stranger wondered?
He crept closer to the facility and entered undetected through two guard's outposts. The stranger was the best the Council of Elders had when it came to not being seen. That is probably one of the reasons that he was one of their most decorated assassins. He was not here for council though; today he was here to help satisfy a more personal vendetta.
He was as close to the group as he dared to get. The Dylonian's spotting him was not the problem as their eyesight was not the best and his skills in hiding were phenomenal. The problem in this situation was if he happened to get in range of the Lizardmen's sense of smell.
Even with the smell of iron and sulfur throughout the plant the stranger was not taking any chances in getting caught as that would be certain death. Besides with his hearing magnification device he was plenty close enough to here, even over the constant hum of the smelting equipment.
"Sez moltac arnag di ses ma cag", the largest of the Lizardmen said to another in attendance.
Oh crap, how could I be so foolish the stranger thought to himself as he reached into his pocket? Removing the amplifying headset, he placed another somewhat smaller device into his right ear. He then placed the headset over the device.
The emperor responded. "Colzdekavik snaz de kempliar. Boznavich kev and I want you to know that Muskavalcic is not happy about the entire situation. We are falling behind on our weapons manufacturing and armor production. If we are ever to make the Desmonian Empire pay for their past crimes, we must have more iron and steel to increase our armies potency. I pray you have good news for me."
The other Dylonian kind of gulped.
This made sense to the stranger as the other Dylonian must have been responsible for the plant's production of the iron ore.
"I am afraid we are working the slaves around the clock, but their production has not improved. The orcs make terrible miners. They fight amongst themselves and the other slaves deterring us from our operation. The gnomes make fantastic miners but there are so few of them that they cannot bolster production in the amount that we need to meet your requirements. I am sorry your majesty I beg your forgiveness," the creature said with a slight bow of his head.
"It is not my forgiveness you must beg Lavajuk, but it is the forgiveness of our Lord. Take him," Emperor Ravacik said to two of his guards.
Turning to the Lizardman to Lavajuk's right he said, "You are in charge now. Do not disappoint me."
This Dylonian also gulped as he bowed to the Emperor. He was learning just what disappointing the Emperor would get him as he was the fourth plant foremen in the last two years.
The guards took Lavajuk out of the plant, against his will of course as he was kicking and screeching the entire way.
Emperor Ravacik and his entourage followed suit. He was confident his message was received. He half smiled, as he thought and if it wasn't received, Muskavalcic would eat well again another day in the not-so-distant future.
The stranger waited several minutes after the Emperor left before he made his move to leave. Within minutes of his departure, he was ascending the side of Caslavic Canyon. Minutes after his ascent, he found Cruiser (his proud stallion) hidden within a cave some two miles from the canyon.
He rode Cruiser several hours to his destination, the Alovikan Abyss. It was rumored that all sorts of things nasty and vile creatures lived in the abyss, so no Dylonian's ever went near the place. A perfect hiding place for his weather balloon the stranger thought to himself.
He smiled as he rode Cruiser into the base of the balloon. He had learned quite a bit on this journey he thought to himself.
It was a week ago, when he had heard through his normal lines of communication he was monitoring, that Emperor Ravacik was going to be paying a visit to the ore facility in Chulak. He surmised then that this may just have been the break he was looking for. Getting to Ravacik in their home city of Chardonacic had proved too difficult even for his considerable tracking skills.
He had learned much from his encounter today. First of all, he learned that the Dylonian's were planning an attack on the Desmonian Empire. Where and against whom they would begin their attack was still very much up in the air. He would continue to monitor the situation to acquire the information necessary to him, given what he was contemplating was critical.
And the second and probably equally important piece of news was that someone or something had taken over as the leader of the Dylonian's. They called him Muskavalcic, and he was the unequivocal leader of the Lizard men. They called him lord if his memory served him right and it always did. The assassin frowned as he had heard that name before, he was sure of it.
* * * *
Three weeks and nearly a thousand miles later the stranger entered the private quarters of the Council Leader Czelak.
"You have news for me then," she asked.
"I am sorry Councilor, but I was unable to discover if any of your concerns were valid. If the Dylonian's are up to something they are keeping it from the general population as I put several of the vile wretches through the typical tortures. None of them were aware of any of the happenings you feared," the stranger responded.
"Very well, perhaps it is my overactive imagination. Thanks again for putting your skills to use for Desmonia," she said as she nodded toward the door indicating their meeting was at its end.
"My pleasure Councilor Czelak", the stranger said bowing and then exiting the chambers.
~~~~~!!!~~~~~
More than two years had passed since the stranger's trip to Chulak, it was now August of 2017. He had learned little since that visit despite his vast expertise in the art of information extraction. For some weird reason no one seemed to know anything about what was going on.
All he could surmise from the various Dylonian's he had captured was that the empire had their smelting facilities operating at full capacity in their production of ore. The weapons and armor manufacturing forges were continuing at extremely high production rates. And lastly, the army was training and preparing for war.
When he probed his prisoners further, they did not know whom the empire was going to attack although many of them assumed it would be the Elves. And to the very last prisoner not a one new anything about a Muskavalcic; and to think that Emperor Ravacik was not in charge of the empire was absurd to them.
In all of his investigations the only thing that disturbed him was the fact that, other than a select few, no one seemed to know exactly what was going on. It was clear to the stranger that he was going to have to pay a visit to Emperor Ravacik and that meant getting captured.
That prospect did not sit well with the stranger, but he knew it to be a necessity.
~~~~~!!!~~~~~
The stranger made his way via Cruiser to the city of Chardonacic (the Dylonian's Capital city). Earlier that day he had informed the Council Leader that he was embarking on another scouting mission that was vital to the success of what they were trying to plan, in regards to the Dylonian's.
It wasn't a total lie he thought as he remembered the conversation, but he smiled in spite of himself. He was getting eerily good at the art of deception.
September 26, 2017, after more than one month of travel via horse, the mountainous region near the capital city of Chardonak was now coming into view. It was a sight for his weary eyes as all he had seen over the past several weeks was the vastness of sand and desert.
The stranger kept his speed low in the hopes of not being spotted. He was not far from the city when the area around him started to develop into patches of trees. The stranger spotted a large heavily thicketed forest area and steered Cruiser into the area to hide him. It was the hopes of the stranger that the thick vegetation would help hide his horse.
From there he took a small platform boat across a large lake. It was getting dark now and neither moon was very bright in the sky so his chances of being detected were slim, he thought to himself.
At the opposite bank of the Volstak Lake he disembarked from the pontoon type boat and exited onto the shoreline. He changed his course and turned his path toward a more southerly direction, until he was very close to the main road.
The darkness of night offered him the protection he needed from the prying eyes of the Dylonian Empire. He advanced slowly. The stars shone brightly in the sky now, as the waves from the Volstak lapped up against its shore. The clouds in the sky parted and the moons glowed brightly as the light bounced across the nearby water. The stranger was thankful this was not the case a few hours ago or he may have very well been caught.
He pondered why it was that such beauty was wasted on vile creatures. It was also a shame that his life had led him down a path that had brought him to this particular moment.
A sound off to his left pulled him from his thoughts. It was three of the guards assigned to walking the three mile stretch of road from the city of Chardonak to the main road. The road he had passed about a mile back, the one close to where he had left the flat bottom boat.
The main road was filled with all different types of shops and merchants. He could not have used this as he was not granted access. Only the friends of the Dylonian's could journey there and to his knowledge the only friend to the Dylonian's were other Dylonian's. It was not a complicated race. Kill everything that doesn't look similar to what you see when you get up in the morning.
The Lizardmen were not a peaceful race. Their race was built on destruction and greed. They did what they wanted and took what they wanted, mainly from the lesser races nearby. They have for centuries wanted to get even with the council and the races that comprised it for forcing them out of several sections of Delmar Forest that provided so much prosperity for them.
They also desperately wanted to be back ruling over the Briar Elves of Delmar Forests, with all its riches and precious metals. There was also the fact that the Elves made fantastic slaves. They were just what the lazy Dylonian's needed to continue to prosper.
He hunched on the side of the hill as the guards walked by him unaware of his position. Oh, how he wanted to jump at them hacking them from limb to limb sending them down to the eternal abyss. Alas that was not his mission, and those actions would not serve his purpose so he held his sword and dagger in check.
Silently he watched as they passed. The creatures were between five and six feet in height. Two of them were quite stocky and the other was a bit on the gangly side. The stranger knew more than most about these creatures but still his knowledge paled in comparison to the knowledge he needed to make him comfortable with this mission.
He knew that there were two types of Dylonian's. There were the Thug's or Fighter's and then there were the Seer's. The Thugs were a larger more brutish type. All they knew was the steel of their weapons and the brute of their strength. They had limited intelligence and preferred to hack and bash things until they no longer moved. They comprised the bulk of the existing Lizardmen and its potent army.
The Seer's however, were the real threat within the empire. They were intelligent, almost as much as Elves and Humans. They were tricky and conniving to the point there was often distrust among themselves. And lastly, they had the ability to use various types of spells.
The stranger knew the spells they utilized were all about making their victims suffer. They were mostly from the plague and disease lines of spells. They were not spells one would cast for quick kills, but they were perfect spells to torture ones targets or to make an example out of rule violators.
The stranger refocused on the guards that continued down the road heading away from town. They were twenty feet by him now, but he continued to study them hoping to discern any new tidbit of information.
Hearing nothing, he continued quickly and quietly along the bottom of the hill that ran parallel to the road. Within ten minutes or so he had managed to creep to the walls of the city. They were made of rough stone to which he easily could put his agile hands and feet to work. Within minutes he had scaled the twenty-foot wall. He hung there at the top as he waited for the two guards walking by on the top of the wall to pass.
Again, the urge to crest the rise of the wall and strangle the life from his victims, welled up inside the stranger and again he fought it back.
After the guards passed, he climbed the remainder of the wall. He silently crossed the six-foot expanse that was the top of the wall and proceeded down the other side. Too lightly for anyone to hear, his feet tapped down on the ground within the city.
This phase of his mission was a success. Now all he had to do was get by the crowds of people and passed all of the guards then he was home free. Luckily, he had just the plan and the secretive nature of the Lizardmen would play right into this plan.
He walked up to the back of a building and dug into the pack he had strapped to his back. Finding the can he was looking for he removed it from the pack. Removing the lid, he began reciting the words of the spell as instructed. He was not a spellcaster by any stretch of the imagination but with the black soul stone he held out in front of him he did not need to be as speaking the magic words released the spell that was contained within. First his face and then his hands began to change, he could then feel the rest of his body change. Lastly it was his feet that changed and were cramping his shoes. Quickly he removed his shoes and placed them in his bag.
In looking at himself he noticed that his face resembled one of the Lizardmen he so despised. His hands were larger and now were comprised of only two large fingers and a thumb. His feet had also grown in length and hardened and now he sported only four toes instead of five.
He no longer had any hair on those parts of his body. His body worked as it normally did as he only took on the appearance of the Lizardmen. This was not a full polymorph spell. It was also not something that would last very long so he knew he had to hurry.
Looking over to his right he saw three small bushes. He stashed his pack among them as he figured this would cause too many questions and he hadn't the time.
He picked a busy spot to enter the main road. Waving through the waves of pedestrians he made his way towards the large castle in the center of the bustling city. Nearly one million lizard folks lived or worked in Chardonak. It was the largest Dylonian city in the entire empire.
It also had the most neighboring cities sitting among the foothills to the north and east of it. The Dylonian culture was not big on crowded cities, but they were more fond of the open plains of the tundra and vast open expanses where they could practice the art of hunting.
The stranger estimated the population near the city to be thrice that of what was actually contained within its walls. It was the combination of both inhabitants that left the city constantly bustling.
The visitor quickened his pace as he knew there was not a lot of time before his secret would be known to all around him. At the moment no one gave him a second look as he entered the main hall of the castle.
From here he could only guess. He followed the main corridor until it branched off into three directions. It continued going straight to where it opened up into a larger room some one hundred feet ahead, or he could go left or right. Both of those options turned the corner about fifty feet or so.
Straight ahead of him were two guards. His indecision making had now gotten their attention. This was as good as plan as any he thought to himself.
He walked straight up to the guards. "I am here to see Emperor Ravacik," he said with as much tenacity as he can muster.
The two guards looked at each other and then back toward the visitor. "Only Chancellor Cavacik can schedule you an appointment with the Emperor. I am assuming you have no such appointment for if you did you would know how to proceed upon your arrival. Now be gone or we will have you entranced by a Seer," one of the guards responded.
The stranger assumed this was like being imprisoned or worse and was not inclined to endure this avenue, but he was too far involved in his plan to back out now.
"Then take me to the Chancellor it is urgent that I speak with him," the visitor said as pleadingly as he dared.
Both of the guards are now looking at the stranger very curiously. "What are you", one of them said to him as his disguise began to falter.
"A human," the other one answered with much disgust in his voice. The disguise had almost fully vanished at this point.
"We know how to deal with humans," a guard said as he came up from behind.
The stranger turned around to see three more of the Lizardmen to enter the fray. Two of them were Thug's which brought the total to four and one was a Seer. The four Thugs were most definitely not beyond his ability as he was an expert in hand-to-hand combat.
It was the third time in his brief stint on this planet that he entertained the thought of using the hidden dagger to slice the throat from a few of these foul wretched beings. Again, his mission parameters came flooding back to him. He would not violate that which he set out to do two long years ago.
The four Thug's advanced toward him, as they did, he played his final card. "I do not think the Chancellor, or the Emperor will be pleased to learn that you thwarted their one chance to eradicate the Minlavian Council and its planetary members." He said this to all of them but in secret he had hope the Seer among the group would be more informed and the idea would carry some merit.
Luck was with the stranger in this instance as the Seer that was with the group was no ordinary Seer. This was Seer Parcavik. He was the assistant to the Chancellor. As such he was afforded many the opportunities to obtain information vital to the comings and goings of the empire.
Contained within this information pipeline was the ongoing plot to enter into war against the council. Only a handful of Dylonian's knew of this endeavor. How was it that this stranger was aware of the happenings within the empire when most of its members were not privy to this information? Was it a guess or a ruse as everyone knew the feelings the Dylonian's had toward the Minlavian Council?
This stranger gave Parcavik extreme pause. Should he let the guards kill him and be done with it? If he was here to assassinate the Emperor, which seemed the only plausible reason then his death was deserved. Something seemed out of place with this human and it disturbed him, but he just couldn't put his finger on it.
In the end the information the stranger provided was not enough to overrule the four Thug's who wanted desperately to kill this vile creature. The Seer decided that he would lend a hand.
The stranger noticed the contemplation going on within the Seer and he could only hope the outcome would be favorable to his position. After seconds of agonizing torture, it became apparent that he had not provided enough of a reason for his life to be spared.
In a last desperate but calculated attempt to avoid this confrontation and possible save his life, he played his final card.
"I wonder what Muskavalcic will do to those who killd the one who could have brought to him an opportunity to win the upcoming war against the empire," the stranger said to Dylonian's closing in around him. In truth the question again was more directed at the Seer then the four Thug's. He had guessed all along that the Thugs were not privy to any of the information concerning the upcoming war.
"Silence Dog, there is no use begging for your life. I would concentrate on begging for a quick death if I were you," one of the Thug's snarled at him.
This last comment hit home with the Seer, however. This stranger was far to intelligent to travel halfway across the realm to assassinate Emperor Ravacik knowing that the move would be pointless given the fact he was no longer in charge of the empire.
The stranger must know of this if he knew of the red dragon which he clearly did since he knew of Muskavalcic. This was all he needed to hear; this last piece of information was going to save the strangers life. At least for now, Parcavik thought to himself.
"Halt", Parcavik snarled to the advancing Thug's.
All four of the Thug's turned in the direction of the Seer. "This stranger knows far too much for his own good, but I am not convinced that killing him here and now is what the Emperor would want. We must present him to the Chancellor. Only he can decide on the stranger's destiny."
"You cannot believe this barnacle dwellers rambling's," the same Thug that silenced the stranger earlier, now responded to the Seer.
"You are a pawn to the Empire. You are tolerated for your obedience toward our Empire. It would be a pity if that obedience were to end," Parcavik responded in kind.
All four of the Thug's looked at each other not really sure what to do as they really were not sure what the Seer had just threatened them regarding.
Parcavik walked up to the Thug who had been doing all of the talking, Skorn was his name.
"My dear Skorn, you cannot begin to understand the possible importance of this stranger's appearance as you do not understand the will of the empire. I know of the plans and therefore I know of the desires of Emperor Ravacik. You need to think of this from a different light. If you kill this man against my wishes, I must report it to the Chancellor. If it is learned that you have hindered the advancement of the Empire, I shudder to think of how dim your future looks," the Chancellor's Assistant said in a very concerned voice.
He could tell that his message was getting through the very thick skull of Commander Skorn so he continued.
"Besides my dearest Skorn, think of the possibilities should the stranger be right. If he has a way, he can help us take down the Minlavian Council. Think of the battles ahead and the glory to be found. Think of the slaves to be tortured. Glory will be passed to all who have helped the cause. Among those perhaps there is no greater glory to be had then by those that brought the key to the war to the emperor's chamber. Think of the reward, General Skorn perhaps," Parcavik said in a somewhat enticing manner.
The smile that sprayed across the face of Commander Skorn told Parcavik that his play had been well received. He knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Commander Skorn would do everything within his power to deliver this stranger to the Chancellor, unharmed.
The Seer then walked over to the stranger and said in a hushed voice, "I cannot comprehend how it is you know the information that you know. Nor am I going to attempt to ascertain that information in front the likes of this crew here, but I promise you, that should you be attempting to thwart our advancement or should you pose any harm to the empire your death will be most unpleasant."
The stranger nodded that he understood.
"I will now bind your hands and remove any weapons, any resistance would be unwise," Parcavik said to the stranger. He then instructed the stranger to place his hands behind his back.
"Bundavak", the Seer said as he pointed a tiny wand at the hands of the stranger.
Green sticky strands shot forth from the wand binding the human's hands behind his back.
"Placing too much resistance on these binds will be most unpleasant for you. I would advise minimal tension if I were you," the Seer said as he began to search the stranger.
He quickly found and removed the long knife that was strapped to his side, under his cloak.
The stranger winced as he hated to be apart from this object, but knew it was necessary. "If you prove your worth your life will be spared and your knife will be returned to you," he said as he gave the stranger a slight shove moving him forward.
The prisoner was relieved that the Seer did not spend any time questioning him about how it was he came into the knowledge he possessed or to further question him about what he did know as he had very little details to offer him.
The information that he did have to offer, the information that would hopefully save his life was not something he wanted to offer to a lowly assistant.
The group walked into the depths of the castle. They ascended to the fifth floor once they had made it to the rear of the castle. The proximity of the Chancellor's office was no doubt designed to offer him maximum protection. There was little doubt that the Emperors room would also be out of the way and difficult to find should he have to try and find it on his own.
They passed many of the Lizard folk all of whom paused to watch the procession. None of them could remember the last time someone other than a Dylonian had been allowed to enter the sacred castle of the Emperor and never before had the visitor been a human.
Considering the escort of this particular vile creature, few considered taking any actions against the prisoner.
Once up to the fifth floor they backtracked to the front of the castle. They came upon two guards standing in the middle of a cross section. The guards watched the approach of the procession with great concern.
They knew the Seer that approached them was the Chancellor's assistant, but they also knew too well the punishment for allowing unwelcomed guests in the Chancellor's suite. A human guest to say at the very least would be an unwelcomed one so they were very much in a predicament.
One of the guards moved forward to block the group's path. "Halt, state your name and your purpose," he said with as much tenacity as he could muster.
"You bloody well no my name, so why do you block my path," Parcavik said very disturbed by the interruption.
"Aye, I know your name and I also know too well the Chancellor's attitude towards unwanted guests," the guard responded as he nodded towards the prisoner.
Parcavik chuckled as he too knew what happened to uninvited guests.
"Your conclusion then," the Seer asked of the guard.
"Permit me to talk to the Chancellor of the situation and pray he does not filet all of us," the guard asked almost dreading the response.
Parcavik knew what the guard wanted but he was not going to let him out of this predicament so easily. It was nice to see a Thug sweat over the power of a Seer. He was not about to take that away by stating that he would inform the Chancellor.
"Permission to inform the Chancellor granted but hurry up as this delay disgusts me," the assistant growled somewhat menacingly.
The guard shrunk back into the hallway heading to the Chancellor's room. He knocked three times and then entered the room where he had the distinct feeling, he was about to make two Seer's upset this day.
That was never a good day he thought to himself.