Lords of Darkness (WHF CK2-Ish Quest)

The Lady
In the Realm of a Fey Forest, where Grail knights patroled and the Green knight Knelt before a lake of purest water praying to his godess...the lady, an Elven Goddess of Ulthan, strolled along the banks in both Befuddlement, Annoyance, and Fear. The mortal's of her realm, the one she cultivated for the fighting force NEEDED to keep the forces of the arch enemy away from Precious Ulthan were failing. Not just failing, but tearing itself and being rent apart by forces within and without. Perhaps she concluded that she was mistaken to keep to some elements...but it had been so worth it back then. The Knights had been so splendent, so worthwhile as they practiced what they preached...if only maybe she had paid more attention, enforced more of her edicts...or perhaps placed a trial before the quest for the Grail...She would have many more knights and forces...

Though through this madness of a mess, she could only blame three entities so far...herself, Tzeentch...and whoever was in control of Moussilion, had become a God...one she began to rightfully fear as his power began to rapidly grow. Normally a god took decades if not centuries to grow strong enough to do what this new one could do...Yet right now he held the allegience of one of the greatest powers on the mortal plane. One that could match if not surpass the servants of the old ones if properly wielded. One Her people only dared to try and rouse to their wars.

Dragons...and not just any normal dragon...

She paused and listened through the forest surrounding her lake...even now she could hear that primordial song, one that was whispered, roared, cried, and shattering the very fabric of the warp with its presence. The serenity and forceful nature demanded respect, adoration, and rightful terror. Power that if properly harnessed could shape the fabric of reality...the true power of the dragons lay not in just using single winds of magic, no...she remembered a time when The Father Of Dragons walked...and that one had been the teacher of his kind...True High Magic, able to shape reality to their whims...

She knew not how the world was before the old ones walked the world. Only that it was a place where only the strongest survived, and those few that survived the extermination of that the old ones had done...were terrors of their own. But still...she had to know what this power was, and how it had risen...so with a heavy heart she began to search her grail knights...even her Mage Knights...her final weapons against the coming storm of chaos. Each one could eliminate armies and shatter nations, yet she could not reveal them to lightly, otherwise the four would escalate even further then before.

The Lady...No...Lileath, Elven goddess of dreams, pysker/magic, innocence, and fortune stared at her lake even as she began to make a gamble...turning to her green knight, the mortal she cared for dearly that was loyal unto the very end of existance, and she knew no doubt he would step directly in front of her to protect everything she knew dear if she asked of it, even if she didnt...yes...he would do with a small escort.

"My knight...please listen to me..." she called as her knight rose from the edge of the lake in attention.

"Go to Moussilion, take with you a small band of Grail knights, seek out what made the new realm of darkness...test whoever did it, but do not sell your lives dearly...for this god will be no laughing matter, and if he is who i may think he is...then you must not strike at him foolishly, only use force if nessessary. I must know who undermined Bretonnia...and where he stands in The War." she commanded with a calm calculating face. Her knight nodded before he could leave however, she touched his armor, imparting a small blessing she could manage. With a heartfelt moment between the two, she let the mists rise to cover him and his warband of grail knights...before they faded away she turned to her lake. Seeking more answers from the darkened depths...then a whisper came from around her...

"'I give my body, heart and soul, to the Lady whom I seek.' such a noble cause...yet all for the sake of a lie..." an aged voice called from the darkness around lileath.

"What?" Lileath whispered as she turned around, her mist swirling around her yet finding nothing...

"No plea for help shall find me wanting. No obstacle will stand before me. No evil will taint the lands bequeathed unto me, indeed brother...they say it, but such hippocrisy outstands me even to this decade." Another voice echoed along with the first.

"Show yourselves! in the Name of Ausuryan i command it!" she called out with her mist swirling deeply while magic crackled along her lakes surface...the dream shifted and readied...wait...the dream...it was...not answering her call?

"When the clarion call is sounded, I will ride out and fight in the name of Liege and Lady, i do beleive she is finally starting to get it brothers...and about time, a shame though...i had bet our brethren back in the Realm of Dark, Fire, and Ice a few claw-fulls of precious jewels from my own precious hoard that she would take longer then this to figure it out." A third raspy and cruel voice called out...and all three chuckled in the darkness as their crimson red glowing eyes the size opened in the shadows, each large enough to fit a man standing upright within the slitted pupil itself.

" Encarmine Dragons...no...Your not just Encarmine dragons...Emperor Dragons" Lilith whispered in horror as she stared at the three eldest members of the most sinester breed of dragons.

Then Deep, Broad, and cruel laughter echoed throughout the area of the lake, dispersing the mist and revealing somthing even more foul and sinister then a Encarmine Dragon...

The lady took a shuddering breath, even as a intermediate godess...who held worshippers of both man and elf...she knew the true terror before her now.

Beings that could threaten her own dominance with her domain of Dreams...

"Nightmare Emperor Dragons...The Three Seers of the Realm of Dreams..." Lileath whispered in quite horror as she beheld the three ELDEST dragons of the Encarmine Line, who had become the Winds of Death themselves...

The three grinned, somehow showing many rows of fanged teeth within armored shells of pure shyish winds that snapped and ground themselves sharp like beaks of a bird or a armored primordial fish when they opened and closed.

then they continued to speak...

"That which is sacrament, I shall preserve. That which is sublime, I will protect. That which threatens, I will destroy, for my holy wrath will know no bounds, How strange, and how wonderful that the godess of innocence is such a thief and a LIEAR!!!" the three snarled out as they glared at the godess as she stood her ground, her fear fadding away as she prepared for her own defense...before they continued on...

"Honour is all. Chivalry is all. Rejoice, for we, the Knights of Bretonnia...will be your shield, such were your words goddess...the one you created when you gave the first 12 knights their oaths to these lands...and yet how many died questing for a partly cup? How many has you made scheme doomed? How many of our kin died at the hands of some foolish knight? Little Lemmings are all that you have made, and each of your grail knights are either bitter of the world or too consumed by their own hubris that they cannot see the suffering before them. No, these words have rung false with the test of time, and you little godess have failed our fathers test, just like the rest of your pantheon so many ages ago." the three chanted as they began to fade away...

"Wait!! I demand to know why you are here!" Lileath called out as she glared at the three calling upon the winds of hysh to help her battle the three beasts before her.

" I give my body, heart and soul, to the Song which I seek. No plea for help shall find me wanting. No obstacle will stand before me. No evil will taint the lands bequeathed unto me. When the clarion call is sounded, I will ride out and fight in the name of My Lord and Kin. That which is sacrament, I shall preserve. That which is sublime, I will protect. That which threatens, I will destroy, for my Great Wrath will know no bounds. Knowledge is All, Power is All, The Song Is All." Rejoice little Goddess...for soon you shall witness the rise Of the Dragon Knights, and the Dragon Lords of old once more. This time, No elven God shall steal our Unity, Mind, and Souls. No Elven Goddess shall slay our flesh as a beast to hunt. No Evil Shall Claim our Souls and neither the Dread Moon or the Touch of the Enemy shall hold sway to us or our kin. We The Dragons of Old have returned...and revenge shall be ours once more." The three beasts called out from the darkness as the nightmare dragons flew into the dream of their kin...

Leaving behind a fearful goddess who wondered if she had not sent her knights to their ruin...and then she saw the pillar of darkness rise, and heard the birth of a god...and saw the largest dragon she had ever beheld even in the days of old...one so vast and mighty its very back could have become a mountain range itself! And so, lileath, goddess of the elves fled the scene to her own lands, to her own domain as she beheld the beast behind her rise, and so many calls of the souls of dragons echoed with their song. Granting it greater and greater power then ever before...so quickly...far, far, FAR too quickly.

Shylla

Shylla was not a violent goddess, nor was she a goddess who shied away from danger or from great trouble. If anything she was perhapes the most cunning and the most devious of the godesses out there, for where she did not strike with blows of fiery retribution, she strove for mercy. Where chaos thrived in the hearts and minds of men and women, she gave comfort and directed them to better ways. Healing their bodies, minds, and souls and hopefully directing them to a better path.

Even now in the lands where she was most worshipped and honored her work was needed, tiring, but needed. Where beastmen and orks attacked the ruined lives she tried to comfort if they lived and escaped...if not she wept for them in tears of blood. Where people flocked to her temples she directed her priestesses and priests to heal and administer to them all that they could give. Even now her most hated foe turned his pestilant gaze to the lands Lileath/The Lady of the Lake claimed yet did no minister properly. Honestly, that elven goddess could at least use her little pretty head for more then dreaming in naïve/manipulative ways. How much stronger could she have been if she had allowed the mortals who fought in her knights armies to honor her more?

How much strength could she have gained if she had attained their loyalty and had given them at least some semblance of survival instincts? Too many knights she had seen walk into her halls either half dead or having to be cut down before their time when they challenged a foe far greater then they were and did it in the most ridiculous ways possible. Also what was this about no ranged weaponry? She had known that the knights were for all they sprouted...well...some words should not be said in polite company (dammit Ranald...) but even the knight orders in the empire knew when they needed at least a javalin or a few heavy bows to take down beasts far to great for them to fight in close combat.

Shylla sighed as she rested for a moment in her dove form in a clearing of a glaive in the realm of bretonnia...she would need her strength when the rot-tide came to help stave off the worst of what was to come...yet when she had but rested for a few moments great crashing noises came, alarmed she looked around and came upon both a thrilling, terrifying, and horrifying sight all in one.

A Emperor Dragon, wreathed in Ice groaned as it chilled the air and ground around it, slowly it stalked into the clearing, missing an eye and with numerous wounds upon its body. As well as frozen and iced over Gore and Blood covering its Maw, Claws, and Tail. The Great Beast walk until it was in the middle of the clearing, as after casting a spell and judging there to be no hostile intent nearby, collapsed on his uninjured side as it began to tend to its wounds.

Shyla was no violent goddess...but she was not one to turn away even the most horrible of things that were harmed if they truly wished to be cured of their ailments...even mutants she took into her arms and healed them as much as she could from the malignant touch of the Arch-Enemy. And so with gathered courage the dove/avatar of Shylla flew to the colossal beast, and began to examine its form.

It took a few minutes, but after judging which wounds needed the most tending to she landed near the opening and began to peck at certain little spots she saw around the injury. At first nothing happened, but slowly and surely the beast began to notice the curious little bird that was pecking at its form. While irritating it was not truly hurting it...untill it dove its head into the largest of his injuries and began to peck at the inside of it.

With a cry of rage and pain the dragon prepared to freeze the little bird and shatter it into splinters before it noticed it had begun to carefully and quickly pull out some kind of...malignant...tumor or worm of sort. Examining it thoroughly the dragon was disgusted to see it was a horrific parasite of a poison and tumor mixed as one, no doubt some kind of enchantment of the Evil Beasts had placed upon their blades. The dragon kept its breath weapon readied as it examined now more closely at what the curious little bird was doing...and now that the Emperor Dragon of Ice could look closure...there was something quite off about this little bird. Something almost...Divine...

Something it had only heard of its few victims in the past when they had tried to take its hoard in olden days...

"Little Shylla" the dragon whispered under its breath as it began to use its magical sight to examine exactly what the dove was doing, until at least the tumor/parasite was pulled free and quickly pinched/crushed under her little beaks touch...the dragon had been confused for but a moment, baffled at the sight of a seemingly non-violent godess tearing a enity to pieces...until a quick look with the light of Hysh revealed the truth. The tumor/parasite was the representative of warp corruption, even if his magic could have taken care of it, it would have scarred that area, weakening his scaled armor for future attacks...

A deep foreboding shudder ran down the dragons spine as it remember the fallen one...and another mutter escaped its maw...

"Chew, never Swallow...remember Galrauch..." the emperor dragon rumbled as it began to lay still and allow the bird to do its work, pecking, cleaning, and crying little tears of blood and water into his wounds...soothing old aches he could not remember having, nor watch in amazement as scales mended as splendent as they had been in perhaps centuries ago.

The Emperor Ice Dragon watched slowly and with careful claw allowed the dove when it noticed to hop onto his claw as he brought it to his face to examine it more closely...

"So you are Shylla..." the Dragon Rumbled out as the little dove tittered and chirped in afirment.

"I see, i supposed i shall be having to reward you for this service then..." the Dragon Muttered as it turned its head to the side before the bird began chirping in protest.

"What do you mean 'i Cannot accept such a thing!'?!?" The Dragon recoiled as it turned its gaze back to the brave little bird who chirped again.

"I have met Men, Elves, Dwarves, and other beasts and creatures, all cowered and begged before me, treated me in manners either by blade or by word...even elven lords of old knew to deal with me fairly...but you...you cannot accept a single boon that i could grant you?!?" The dragon ranted as he brought the bird closer to his eye.

"Why?!?" The Dragon Demanded as he looked imperially at the bird before him, who with the gaze of a healer having enough of their patients shit began to titter and whistle and chirp in exact, firm, and uncompromising tone began to lecture the colossal dragon who merely could not help but admire the Brave, foolish, and possibly insane little divine bird.

Then the Darkness rose within the sky brining a end to the little birds ranting. The dragon and bird turned to watch the pillar of darkness rise...and in it hanging from the sky was the largest beast of all time...

"Father..." the Emperor Dragon of Ice whispered with almost joy and awe while the bird just looked at the enormous being...before going back to to tittering at the Ice Dragon for being a Bad Paitent.

The dragon was unsure what to do, for one claw its father had returned...the father of all dragons had risen once more! Yet on the other hand it couldn't help but want to recoil like a chastised hatchling in their mothers nesting hoard for playing near dangerous magical artifacts again, and he couldn't tell what was worse...the fact that he could not leave to his fathers side until the little bird gave her price for healing him and sparing him from a fate worse then death, or the little lectures the bird was doing about bedside etiquette and how he should be taking greater care of himself.

And to be honest to himself, the little bird certainly had its priorities in order...he just knew without using the Light of Hysh and Heavenly Azyr that the little bird would be flipping in the air about the rise of his father, but for now it was distracting itself to keep its patient alive and well.

After about almost what felt like days but was only a half hour the little bird finally ran our of chirps and twitters to throw at him as the dragon reclined and tried to rest even as the bird continued to talk to the dragon as it worked and ranted about his "Poor Health-care".

"Very well then, i think i shall be coming with you little bird." the Dragon decided aloud as the bird stopped what it was doing and LOOKED with all the imperial authority of that of a healing being denied on WHY the patient should not being doing something so ridiculous.

"Your going to need a gaurdian, and i need to repay the debt so that i may face my father again with pride of my deeds...what greater one then to repay a goddess from a favor to a favor yes? Then let us be off little bird...i think we shall be in for the grandest of journeys yet!" the Dragon chuckled/rumbled aloud as the bird began to protest as he began to get up and move to someplace else.

"Then you best guide me little bird, for I'm NOT letting you out my sight so easily now that I have a debt to pay." The Dragon Emperor of Ice Rumbled as the iced clearing slowly began to warm up again as the frozen trees began to exhibit life once more and winter began to pass.

If one were to listen and feel the winds in bretonnia, one could Feel the ice chill of the highest peaks of the world and the soft touch of the wings of a dove upon their skin, and hear the tittering of a little dove and the rumbling laughter of a Dragon as they began a quite strange journey ahead...and with the barest of a gaze they were being watched by the Dracul/Aleksander...the Father of Dragons.