Blood and Ice (Collaborative Fanfiction) [Four Factions ]

[Argas]

The fields were slick with the blood of the Haslan. A host of war ghosts grinded down the Haslanti forces, supported by great zombie hordes, and horrific automatons crafted from flesh and bone. A giant made of pulsing flesh charged into a tightly formation, sending the armored warriors into the air while many-armed monstrosities trampled more Haslanti. It was glorious. Life Lingering in Shadows smiled under her mask, the cold winds not bothering her much at all. They were doing it! Her creations were doing it! The Lover had forbid them from fighting the Haslanti League, but even the Deathlord would be unable to argue with these results. What was there to fear when these people could do nothing but die when the dead rose against them?


"Mistress, our reinforcements have arrived," the Ghost-Blooded necrotechnician muttered, "what are their orders?"


Shadows shrugged, "grant mercy to the living. Such is the role of all that is dead. We will free from from their painful existences. We will be their liberator."


Renlir nodded and left. Shadows watched him go, wondering where his sister was. No matter, they were loyal with a tendency to do what they thought was best. She returned her attention to the battle. Everything was progressing as planned and she could not see a way for things to go wrong. Yet there was that nagging feeling. It was probably just her but she wanted to make sure. Hopefully, her two companions were not busy on the frontline. Otherwise, it would be nearly impossible to find them.

 

[lockepick]

Ten's place wasn't in the fray. His damage was done before the battle had even started. Key soldiers and relays were missing in action, deserting their comrades and hiding out in the nearby environment waiting for Ten to come and give them whatever they need. There was some that thought they were eloping, some though they were going to be bribed, some simply feared what would happen if they did show.


He was late to rise, only doing so because the noise of the battle woke him. Letting Shadows finish talking to the man who looked official before making his way over. His voice is sweet, the sound of a lover waking up and rolling over to talk to you, "How's the big battle going?"

 

[Argas]

Shadows ignores Ten's tone, "we seem to be winning, but I'm no general. At the very least, my creations are being tested."

 

[saganite]

In the very midst of the fighting, Crowned with Sin fought with courage, valiance, and most of all, an ever-hungering lust to see the cities of the Haslanti League razed to the ground and their populaces slaughtered to the very last man. Or something like that. As he messily cleaved his nearest enemy in two, Sin's unnatural senses caught wind of something approaching the slaughter. Something... different. At least different from the foes he was fighting. Curiosity filled his mind as he decapitated yet another foe, his massive blade swinging fully through his victim to catch and disembowel another startled defender behind the first.

 

[Argas]

Shadows smiled as she watched her reinforcements join the fray. They were ten feet tall abominations of stitched flesh and bone carapace. She had made them in imitation of bonestriders and magitech armor used by the Seventh Legion. They were far less impressive, but also far easier to create. War ghosts rode inside, stitched to the abominations so that they could control them. Haslanti crossbowmen broke under the assault of her creations. She cackled for the famous crossbows of the League could do little against a mass of flesh and bone. Even now however, she was still not at ease.


"Ten, I have something I must investigate. Please try not to squander my creations while I am gone."


Shadows lifted up the book that hung from a chain around her waist. With a single touch, the book rose on its own and opened, flipping to the spell she desired. She drew her mind inward, barring herself from the noise of battle to cast the spell to summon a cirrus skiff. She opened her eyes, mouthing the words she would not speak. From the clouds descended a single small white puff. Her cirrus skiff.


"Renlir!" She waited for the Ghost-Blood to come closer, "you will assist Ten Things They Need until I am back. He has little knowledge of necrotech so he will have to rely on you."


The Necrotechnician nodded, bringing his hands together in front of his face and bowing. Shadows boarded her cloud and immediately ascended. The view of battle from so high was brilliant, but that wasn't what she was here to check. The Haslanti had something up their sleeve, something Shadows and the others didn't plan for.

 

[lockepick]

Ten Things They Need


Ten looks up with a start at the mention of his name, as if being roused from his slumber. He brings a hand to his chest, fingers spread wide in a dainty-looking motion, "Me? Squander? I haven't the slightest what you mean." He leaves it open if he means his reputation or simply his vocabulary.


He gives the ghost-blooded a big smile and offers to shake his hand. A pleasing enough gesture from an obvious superior just to watch him squirm, "Just remember: I'll take all your credit, but thrust all the blame on yo~ou..." He talks in a sing-song lilt, like a single line in a drinking limerick.


His hands come up behind his head to cup the back of it, watching the fight from the vantage point for a whole few moments before he gets bored of it. A sigh escapes his mouth as he just tries to stay out of Reniir's way.

 

[saganite]

Crowned With Sin


As he eviscerated yet another foe, Sin's dark senses erupted, the nightmarish whispers of the Neverborn screaming in the corner of his mind. Without thought or reason, he neatly sidestepped and whipped his Grand Daiklave towards the direction his back had been facing. With an ear-splitting ring, the massive Soulsteel blade struck the spear of flowing silver that had been intended for him. As it careened off and away, Sin watched its flight, his eyes widening as he discovered both its origin and point of return. There, on the hill to the east, no more than a quarter mile away, rose a cloud of ice and dust approaching their position with alarming speed. As he peered closer, Sin cursed himself for being so blind.


Beastmen.


The beastmen horde charged down the hill with unrelenting fury, their shrill howls singing over the cacophony of the battle. This did not spell good fortune for the forces of the Underworld. Beastmen alone would have been difficult, another nuisance yet to deal with, but Sin was keen enough to realize they were not alone. The Beastmen were led by Lunars - the spear was proof enough of this. Signaling Ebon Phoenix to hold the line against the Haslanti, Sin charged to meet this new threat with an unbound fury of his own.

 

[Argas]

Life Lingering in Shadows


The Daybreak saw the beastmen horde but could do nothing about them. Yet the beastmen were the least of her worries. She listened for the Whispers, hoping that they would warn her. The simple fact that They whispered nothing of Lunar interference worried her. It was not entirely unexpected for the Lunars to interfere. Still, it was not part of their plan. Renlir would do something about it once he saw the new threat.


---


Renlir gives the deathknight a polite smile before turning to his troops. He loathed the one known as Ten Things They Need. No love for the Dead Arts. The Dragon of Profane Crusaders was thick in the fray when one of his adjutant caught his attention and pointed to the northeast. Renlir nodded and motioned to the bannermen that controlled the ebb and flow of the necrotech creations. Their handlers would see their orders and herd their creations. If only the mistress was more engrossed with necromancy, she could probably do this herself. Renlir sighed, that would never happen unless something drastic occurred. That meant he and his sister would still have some way of surpassing their Abyssal master.


The bannermen took a few moments to switch the flags but they were drilled and disciplined war ghosts from before the Great Contagion. Any hesitation or slowdown on their part was because they were overjoyed at the prospect of actual war with the living. The first unit to see the change in orders was the talon of Profane Crusaders. They immediately withdrew and advanced east while a mob of meat puppets crashed into the vacated space. Even the ferocious beastmen would be no match for the mistress' creations.


---


The Whispers nearly caused Shadows to lose her concentration but she forced herself not to. The cirrus skiff depended on her concentration and she wasn't about to fall to her death. She look east. The beastmen were still there but that wasn't it. West, nothing. North! Just the League's rear lines. Then... Up! She swore as she saw three Haslanti airships appear from the clouds. Swarms of insects detached themselves from the floating vessels. Gliders! Shadows swore. This was not part of the plan! The weather should've prevented any aerial reinforcements! They're brokered deals with local gods to ensure that this would not happen! She raced back down to the ground. If they could withdraw now, they might cut their losses.

 

[lockepick]

Ten Things They Need


Ten remained calm through the battle. He wasn't really attention too much to the discussion on preparations and tactics. He had done his part, well, he had done enough to claim he did his part. His aloof view on the fight left him not understanding that these new forces were a problem. Even if he could have warned either of his comrades, he didn't think there was anything to warn them about.