With Territh's royal family turned to statues, John wasted no time installing new governors to oversee the island's integration into his growing Sorcerous Empire. Word of the kingdom's fall and the invincible power of Eldaria's ruler spread rapidly across the seas.
In neighboring realms, monarchs grew fearful of John's ambitions. Some began marshalling their forces in hopes of arresting Eldaria's expansion before it was too late. But John's network of spies was far-reaching. He caught wind of these plots before armies could be fully mustered.
In response, John unleashed surgical strikes of elemental fury upon the conspiring kingdoms. Palaces were razed, navies sunk, cities left in smoldering ruins overnight. Soon no ruler dared defy Eldaria openly for fear of facing John's wrath alone. Through displays of brutal dominance, all came to understand true power had arrived from across the waves.
Within a year, a dozen territories spanning sea and shore were brought to heel. John ruled from his fleet as it prowled the coastlines, accepting the capitulations of vanquished monarchs. His growing dominion was a patchwork of cultures united under the banner of magic's supremacy.
Yet ruling such disparate lands from afar posed challenges. It was time for John to establish a new imperial capital at the heart of his expanding realm. On a verdant plain within the conquered kingdom of Alaric, construction began on the gleaming city of Sorcerygrad. Majestic spires and towers rose under John's watch, built with magic and bound by his elemental will.
When complete, John staged a lavish ceremony to inaugurate Sorcerygrad as the shining jewel of the Sorcerous Empire. From this seat of power, his rule over a continent would be unassailable. A new era of sorcery and conquest had well and truly begun. But greater glories still awaited on the frontiers...
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With the inauguration of his imperial capital complete, John turned his attention to further conquests beyond the established borders of the Sorcerous Empire. His network of spies reported of more lands and peoples untouched by magic's dominion to the far east and south.
From Sorcerygrad's highest spire, John gazed out over the verdant plains that now owed fealty to him. "Soon all shall know the blessings of my rule," he murmured. His destiny was to forge a dominion spanning the entire globe, with every nation bowing before his elemental supremacy.
John summoned his top generals and commanders. "We embark on a new campaign of expansion," he declared. "Two legions shall march eastward into the Forest Kingdom of Aredhel, bringing word of our coming with flame and steel."
John's other generals received orders to embark on great fleets, probing the uncharted southern seas for new territories to bring into the imperial fold. "Go forth and conquer in my name. Any who resist are no better than animals and shall face my wrath."
Within weeks, the empire was on the move once more. As John's legions tramped into Aredhel, they were met by woodland guerrillas harrying their flanks with hit-and-run ambushes. John's retribution was brutal - entire forests were burned, villages put to the torch. Soon the forest king submitted, his crown and life spared only through complete surrender.
To the south, John's fleets encountered strange new lands and primitive peoples. The empire's legionnaires easily overpowered tribal warriors with magic-forged weapons and sorcerous discipline. One by one the islands and coastlines were absorbed. Only the vast southern continent remained uncharted, its mysteries begging to be uncovered.