Deacon, Ralph, and Amanda made their way north to Desentes keep. The fighting in the streets has calmed down and they only ran into a few knights burning corpses. The gates to the keep were swarming with at least three rows of knights in full armor at the ready. There was even a knight balancing on a floating stone platform. Every now and then he would zip to another section of the walls and back. It was all bizarre to Deacon. Since he’s been here, he’s seen things he could never have imagined back on Earth. In his mind this was all out of the fantasy section of Barnes and Noble. Ralph nudged him on the shoulder and brought him back to the present as they approached the gate guards.

“I’d like to speak with Lord Desentes.” Deacon said.

“We are busy repelling an invasion, citizens are asked to shelter provided at the next gate. Thank you.” Replied the knight not even looking at Deacon.

“I have valuable intel, hey fuck face, pay attention.” Deacon yelled as swords were drawn by every knight in a ten-foot radius.

“What my fellow Adventurer’s guild mate means, is we just fought a Vasilly Lord down in the southern district and we need to report what we know to the leadership.” Said Ralph as he quickly stepped in front of Deacon who started curling his hands into fists.

“What proof do you have of any of this? You could be Vasilly spies.” replied the dismissive Knight leveling his sword at Deacon’s face. That’s when Deacon dropped the armored breast plate with a loud clang.

“Now take us inside or send a messenger or fist your asshole. Let’s get this done before the next phase of the attack.” Deacon growled. Amanda grabbed Deacon by the shoulders and pulled him aside.

“Fighting with the King's Knights will not get us anywhere. How about you let Ralph handle this part and calm down.

“Your friend is going to get you killed.” Said the Knight before sheathing his sword and glaring daggers at Deacons back.

“I owe him that much. Please if you could just let Lord Fenris or Lord Antonio know it would be very helpful.” Ralph pleaded.

“I will take this armor in with me as proof of your claims. Now step aside in case anymore civilians need instructions to the shelter.” Answered the Knight as the armor floated up beside him. Deacon once again gritted his teeth as everyone around him casually used no cost magic. Just then a person appeared from a nearby shadow walking up to Deacon.

“I have a message from Mr. Clean. He has secured the entrance to the mines. You are asked to join the Cardinal Unit in their search for the vampires. Is there a return message?” said the little rogue.

“We are debriefing Lord Desentes about an encounter with a Vasilly Lord, the Vampire was instructed to pull attention to the north of the city as a ruse. Be careful.” Deacon replied more seriously than Amanda was used to. The rogue slinked back into the shadows as the knight returned and beckoned them forward.

As they entered the open area behind the gate, they could see knights practicing with their spells and training formations. It must have been strange for them trying to incorporate abilities they never had before into their preset strategies. Once again that knight on the floating stone platform moved to another section of the wall. They came up to a table where an exhausted looking Fenris Desentes sat. He had two dozen communication crystals arrayed in a grid on one section of the table over a map of the city. Several Knights stood over him and the Lord Antonio Desentes spoke with the Knight Captain in a tent over his shoulder to the right.

“Lord Fenris, here are the people claiming to have brought down a Vasilly noble in the southern part of the city.” Said the accompanying knight. Fenris looked up and when he saw Deacon, he let out a big sigh.

“Deacon, right?” Fenris asked.

“Nice to see you again.” Deacon replied.

“No time for pleasantries. Tell me what happened?” Asked Fenris.

Ralph went directly into an explanation of the events in the graveyard. He covered the lines of people outside the gates of the graveyard as well as the Vasilly soldiers found within. Ralph couldn’t confirm whether or not there were more soldiers still in the area but when he explained they killed one of their ruling class Fenris perked up. Fenris then mentioned that it would have been better to capture it for interrogation when Deacon stepped forward and waived his hand. A transparent green outline of the Vasilly Lord appeared to all in attendance. Fenris jumped back from seeing the apparition.

“It’s ok. You can ask it whatever you want. When we are done, I will consume it.” Deacon assured. Ralph immediately ran into the tent where his father and the Knight Commander were arguing. It was long before all three came back out followed by a fully armored Eobard. He seemed to have trouble walking in all the armor.

“What is this?” Asked Lord Desentes.

“It’s an ability I have to speak to the dead. We killed this ruling class snake man and figured you’d want to wring some details out of him.” Deacon replied noticing the looks of concern from passerby’s.

“What is your plan for this invasion?” Lord Desentes asked jumping at the opportunity.

“We will destabilize Iron Mountain Plateau, remove its leadership, claim the ascent road in the southern half, enslave its populace, and occupy this territory for the glory of the empire.” Answered an ethereal voice in the kingdoms common language. Apparently, SAYance changes the answer into a language the user understands. Deacon thought that was good to know.

“How were you going to take the southern half of the city?” Desentes asked.

“Hypnotize the population and control the city’s entrance and exits. This will force the leaderless nobles to flee deeper into the Griffin Kingdom. Blood shed would be minimal, and infrastructure would be intact.” Spoke the apparition.

“What was your fallback plan? How many troops did you bring?” he asked.

“To raze the city. One full company of Vasilly troops and a thousand slaves. All led by my brood brother and his Conjuring Guard.” Warbled the spirit.

“What is the conjuring guard?” asked the Knights Captain.

“Your doom.” Was the answer they received as the spirit went from translucent green to pale white and started lurching towards Deacon reaching out with one clawed hand. Deacon immediately consumed it getting a prompt.

New Ability- By using SAYance you have learned Vasilly Hypnotic Gaze. Your race is not compatible with this ability…Rule Breaker has activated; you can now use Vasilly Hypnotic Gaze. Your eyes will resemble that of a reptiles for the next week while you have access to this ability.

Vasilly Hypnotic Gaze- Once eye contact is established you can insert instructions or thoughts into the mind of the target. This ability is based in the Astral tier of Arcane Power. Suggestions will last hour per level of the user.

Deacon grabbed his head as the apparition disappeared. His palms clasped tightly to his head as he grunted curled into a ball on the ground. Ralph reached down to comfort him only to pull his arm back at how cold the immediate area around Deacon was. Lord Desentes came around the table to see what was happening. Eventually Deacon stopped moaning and got up to one knee. Standing to his full height the others could see a few droplets of blood coming from his closed eyelids.

“Ok don’t be alarmed, this is only temporary, I wasn’t aware this was going to happen.” Deacon said as he opened his eyes to gasps from the crowd.

“What the hell happened to your eyes?” Ralph asked grabbing Deacon’s head.

“Unintended outcome of doing the right thing.” Deacon answered.

“Armand was right about you. Crazy doesn’t do it justice.” Fenris said.

Just then the knight riding the slab of rock came crashing down into the courtyard yelling contact. All the knights started to move to the side of the keep he just came from. The whole group by the table ran up the stairs to the parapets to look out onto the fields where they saw orderly lines of troops with about a thousand people of various races all chained together. There was a deep red and black pulsating light coming from behind all the troops. With a deep thrumming and a pop a voice carried over the wheat fields and up the six-story cliff wall to the keep.

“Surrender your city to the Vasilly Empire or be destroyed.”