By: Hieyoko Posted on: January 06, 2008
He smirked as he looked out at his audience. It had been ages since one of his
stature had taken the time to address the entire City, and the size of the
crowd reflected their interest.
A small gesture of his hand, and all murmuring stopped.
"Greetings, City of Evil, and praises to the Twin Lords."
A unanimous "Praise, indeed," echoed his voice, followed quickly by the same
solemn silence as before. With a final glance across the room, he began, his
voice gravelly yet strong.
"I have served the will of Evil since long before the splitting of my Lord
Sartan into the Twin Lords that we serve now. My blades have tasted the blood
of innumerable heathens. I am as all of you should aspire to be - a bane to the
Light, the right hand of Suffering. The mere mention of my name in that wretched
town to the East causes doors to lock and windows to close. The weak flee before
my might, the strong beg for mercy before I remove their heads from their
shoulders, and all see my face in their darkest dreams.
"I have been with the City of Evil from its beginning. My blood stains the
stalagmite that we proudly sacrificed ourselves upon to free our Lord. I
proudly went to my death against our initial opposition, knowing that an
honourable death defending my home was worth far more than a coward's life in
the cellars, and I watched as our leaders led our return to greatness. My
blades were victory and triumph, and as Evil's presence spread throughout the
land once again, I was there, offering the spilled blood of innocents and
heathens alike to raise shrines to our Lords."
He paused for a moment, frowning. "I am disappointed, then, that my work has
not been more fruitful.
"I fought and died with nobility, with honour, and with the utmost respect for
the wishes and desires of my Lords - a feat which I doubt a single of you here
can claim. You have bastardised the Truths, you have smeared the name of Evil
by associating with weak, unprincipled cowards, and you have failed in your
duties to the Twin Lords!"
A dragon with bulging eyes, scaled skin, and elephantine legs opened her
colossal maw to speak, but he cut her off with a hostile gesture.
"Do not question me, useless harlot! You sell yourself to the one most likely
to grant you success, caring nothing for true strength! You claim to hunt for
the Lords, but your greed and inflated self-worth prevent you from serving how
is proper for one who claims to live for Evil. You have paid lip service to the
Twin Lords, but nothing more - and worse, you have inspired others in your
stead!"
His eyes ablaze with fury, he pointed directly at a fully-armoured Maldaathi.
"What do you know about Honour? What do you know about Respect? You whore your
blades out for unworthy causes, you hunt our allies for gold that you pocket,
you refuse even the most noble of duels - you are not worthy of your swords or
your title!"
He swept his arm in a grand motion across the now-restless crowd, raising his
voice to shout over the growing murmurs. "Simple-minded fools! Do the Truths
mean nothing to you? You besmirch the names of the Twin Lords by freely allying
with those who just months ago you slaughtered freely, you forgive even the most
treacherous of offences for a mere pittance - the glory of Evil is treated as
little more than a line in a book, able to be glossed over when inconvenient!
You sleep with Darkwalkers, you coddle those who seek to promote Creation, you
freely embrace those who tend to plants with more care than you tend your
duties as servants of Evil... not a single one of you is fit to polish my
armour! Y--"
An inhuman rending sound filled the air, drowning out the cries of the
speaker. As the Pit of Golgotha spread throughout the room, the bulging eyes of
a dragon with scaled skin and elephantine legs glinted dangerously, and he was
drawn screaming into the sulfurous gap in the floor, his cries vanishing into
nothingness.
She watched with pleasure as he disappeared, and lumbered forwards with an odd
grace, taking his former place near the edge of the smoking chasm in the floor.
As she did so, the noise of the crowd quickly dissipated, all eyes focused on
her massive frame.
A small whisp of smoke escaped her nostrils as she began to speak. "Ignore the
ramblings of that old fool. He has demonstrated weakness and actions contrary to
Evil, and as such, has been cast from the City and declared to be a formal
enemy. My Cityfavour and five thousand gold sovereigns to the first individual
to bring me his head - five thousand gold per individual if you need a group to
do so. I suggest that you wait near the Cave, as I have no doubt that he will be
returning from there shortly. Praise to the Twin Lords."
"Praise, indeed," echoed the reply, followed shortly by the beating of wings
as a small group set out to await their prey.