Arachnomancer

The war has begun..... Well, there is no fighting as of yet. A group under Spider picked me up along with Inival, Set, Xelu and Nemesis. Drun and Farblight are working for Ravel at the moment while I"m planning on leaving Vulki and Kess behind to look after the nest. I really hope Tessa doesn"t cause any problems.....

After we got picked up, we we"re led out of the woods into a large series of destroyed fields. The wretched had not just attacked the towns and cities of the drow but had also dug up the soil and devoured it. Years and years of care for the land had been wasted.... On top of that destruction I can see large chunks of land torn out probably from the Zephyr Lord that the drow had to deal with as well.

We walk through this wasteland and eventually come up to a blue cobblestone pathway. Me and Inival need to stay concealed so we accept masks and cloaks from Spider"s subordinates. Xelu and Nemesis enter a carriage that they had left here. A large blind lizard pulling it as one of the drow take up the reins.

Spider"s subordinates wanted me to enter as well but I want to see the different sights as we go along. Inival and Set who is attached to me remain as well..... The road keeps going on and on. The pocket is rather large so getting to the Union will take a while. After about two hours of walking the road converges with several others and changes from blue cobblestone to a brown asphalt. I can see several other carriages and cages on wheels. Inside are plenty of strong looking people of dozens of different races. Even some drow are locked up in there. I ask one of the subordinates that are transporting us and he replies that they are among the last batch to be transported to the border for the war.....

The drow apparently save hundreds of thousands of slaves to use in times of war..... We move for a couple more hours until we reach a keep that is absolutely ma.s.sive. I look to my sides and it seems to go on indefinitely. It was built as a countermeasure against the wretched..... Now, it also serves as a place of residence to those who lost their homes. Of course it"s not entirely out of goodwill. A lot of crops are needed to feed the Drow Theocracy. The farmers will need to "repay" them with crops leaving just enough to live off of.

Other than the size of it, a catching feature of this keep is the material it is made of. Most things at this depth are made of blue stone. However, the keep seems to be made of a jet black stone that has green veins flowing through them. Quite beautiful in a weird way. As I"m drawn to the keep I see a crowd near the gates. It seems that a group of preachers are?.... ehhh????

"The end is coming my friends! That "Queen" and the religious liars are only contributing to it! Have you not heard of those who return to their families with red and blue skin? Are they really the same people? No! Fakes made to replace them! What will you do when you are being replaced and have no one to look to for salvation? Join us and- ughhhhh!!!!!" Drow Preacher

They seem to be trying to recruit people into a new faction and eventually the guards tackle and subdue them for blocking the gates of the keep. This place is basically a military base that holds civilians. Not the best place to preach. What suprised me was that their faction was built on my actions.... I should probably ask Ravel or Farblight about this..... As far as I know, only small religious groups and the n.o.bles aren"t in on the conversions....

After the group is subdued a guard in full black armor comes over. She raises her visor and nods to one of Spider"s subordinates. They converse a little and eventually she speaks up.

"You guys came a little early ehhh~ Good! We"ll send you over to the border momentarily!" Drow Guard

She lowers her visor and leads us through a seperate smaller tunnel into the keep. It opens up to hundreds of buildings built on the side of the wall and a secondary inner wall lies ahead past some fortifications, ballistas, catapults, and a ma.s.sive moat filled with oil. Inival speaks up seeing this.

"It"s been a little while but, I know the place quite well. We used it before going towards the forest to try and subjugate the wretched. Krychek should still be the commander. I hope we don"t encounter him...." Inival

We continue being led on and enventually get close to the inner wall where a ma.s.sive circle filled with magnificently carved engravings lay. The engravings seem to be individual letters but, if you look at it from a distance it looks like a picture of an eye that is cut in two. The grooves are filled with fine transparent crystals as well giving it a very mysterious vibe.

We wait a few more minutes before a ma.s.sive man about four meters tall comes out of a side pa.s.sage of the wall. Farblight was the largest drow I have ever seen but, this guy has her beat. However, no trace of fat lies on him. A bald muscle man through and through. He wears some black greaves that go up his legs and comnects to the bottom half of some plate mail. A pair of gauntlets extend the legth of his arms as well. After seeing us his eyes light up as he strides over. Inival slowly slides behind me and stays a few feet back. She is technically my bodyguard so she can"t leave, otherwise, she would probably sneak into the carriage.

He is quite a energentic man as he shakes the hand of Spider"s subordinate with a weird fervor. The guard lady who led us quickly leaves after giving a salute. It seems that this guy is troublesome in some way. Eventually he focuses on me. He comes.....

I feel like a dwarf as he lowers himself to eye level with me and then nods.

"Mage huh? At least he has some basics of combat beaten into him. WELCOME TO MY LITTLE KEEP BOY!" Krychek

He clenches both of his arms on my sides picking me up and setting me on his shoulder....? What is going on? I feel another force drag me off as I end up laying in.... Inival"s arms. Set is babbling something but, I fail to make out her words as they seem a little weird.

"Krychek! Stop!" Inival

Inival shouts at the goliath and he gets a huge grin plastered on his bald face as he probably realises who Inival is.

"Did you come back to accept my proposal of marriage then, Inival?" Krychek

"No, I have already found the person I belong to!" Inival

He is stunned for a second, looks at me, then he brings out a small notepad and pen and crosses something out. He chews on the end of pen as he stares at the notepad for a few seconds, eventually pocketing them.

"Only 79 candidates left out of 279. Am I really not that attractive?" Krychek

He whispers that but, it is still highly audible. A little pitiful. Especially with the expression of grief that he is making. Inival shouts at him a few times and he evetually gets himself back together.

"Right the teleport thing, ehhh. I don"t have anything to do with that." Krychek

"Then why are you here!?!?" Inival

"I"m the commander?" Krychek

He asks in a confused manner leaving Inival dumbfounded. I think he means to say that he is the commander and can be anywhere in the keep. At least I hope that"s what he means by asking. Hmmmm....? Who does she belong to? Cant be me right? I"m human(ish). Perhaps Drun. She could also want to be with Ravel and Wetho as well.....

Not important. So if this guy has nothing to do with the teleportation procedure then who does? While Inival and Krychek play the idiot and the retorter game, a small mousy girl stumbles out of the same pa.s.sage Krychek came from. Krychek focuses on her and a huge grin appears on his face again. He"s not going to-

"Did you come back to accept my marriage proposal then, Mede?" Krychek

Almost word for word.... This guy.... Despite her size the girl has a hot temper and growls at Krychek.

"I"m here for work Krychek! I have already gone through this with you! I don"t like you at all! Even with your seduction attempts, it"s impossible! I"m almost a fourth your size! I would die!" Mede

"Playing hard to get ehhh~! Two can play at that. Dummy~!" Krychek

I get a feeling of horror as this goes on. Even more than when Xelu was created or when Vulki was turned into a ball of flesh from eating Xelu"s webbing. Seriously, this guy.

"Anyway, Wetho gave direct orders to have you teleported to their direct army. I suggest you guys hide in the carriage before being teleported. Their army is being watched by the s.h.i.t-sp.a.w.n n.o.bles so it"s best to remain hidden" Mede

"Hey, hey, Mede, I"m a n.o.ble you know. I am part of Madam Farblight"s family so it"s not like all n.o.bles are bad~. Krychek

"You are an especially evil n.o.ble. Lets get this over with so I can escape from this s.h.i.t-stain!" Mede

I get in the carriage along with Inival. Spider"s subordinates are supposed to stay behind to make sure the next batch of slaves are brought to war.

*errrrrrrrrr

A blue glow envelopes the air as it begins. I expected a whoosh or zoom but, being teleported had a grinding noise.... Similar to a metal rusty door opening. I open the door of the carriage to see another magic circle but in a different place. In the distance are hundreds of tents with a ma.s.sive one taking up the center. I see a few familiar faces approach from the circle"s side. A war is really beginning huh.