Kain had learned from the various history lessons and documentaries that The Creator had watched and knew that fighting a two-front war was undesirable. The first entrance into the Anglond front had ended in disaster due to the intrusion of the last surviving Hero, but now that said Hero was now on his side Kain intended to stamp out the flames or resistance once and for all. Shortly after his wife and his Court Mage were sent packing, the Anglish forces were in general disarray, but now that enough time had passed, they had begun to start on their own offensive. Occupied Francus was now beset by the living, and Kain’s garrisons were being forced into a corner. Kain had endured enough, and with the Francusian people starting to rise up he was left with no option but to spare the carrot and utilize the stick.

If the people wanted him to be the Abominable King so much, he would grant them their request. In the banquet hall inside his castle he addressed the crowd who wined and dined on the finest of meals. As he raised his hand the crowds fell silent and waited for his words.

“Masters and Mistresses of the Night, Seekers of Knowledge both Natural and Unnatural, Great Warriors and Tacticians, Rulers of the Beast Within; Answer my call!”

Kain slowly walked down the steps that separated him and his wife from the rest of the crowd.

“Darksol is growing, but it has still not reached the heights it once had achieved. Sadly, time and the effort of our foes has reduced our once glorious and insurmountable nation to but a shadow of its former self. We now are beset on two sides by foes that desire to undo all we seek to remake.”

Kain paused for effect as he walked over to the section where House Moreau had decided to gather.

“They hound us, attempting to reap the bounty that they have sown among the human populace, that of the dogmatic fears and misinformation they have spread.”

Kain turned to Grathe Moreau himself, who stood only just shorter than Kain himself, but likely would have been much taller had his body been able to straighten from his bloodline’s hunchbacked and bestial stance.

“They defile our crypts, they destroy our monuments, they seek to erase us from existence as they attempt to hunt us like animals! Shall we not prove to the world that WE are the hunter and they the hunted? Shall we not end their infantile notion that they are anything more than prey, and we anything less than predators?”

Kain moved over to House Brandou and spoke again.

“Their hunters seek us out, their agents worming their way into the smallest of cracks in our edifice. They think that they are more cultured, more civilized than we who have had ages to foster the arts, we who have had eons to cultivate our styles of rule.”

Moving over the Dion O. Brandou, Kain put his hand on the House Founder’s shoulder.

“Their interference keeps us from maintaining the delicate balance that holds the world together. When we look at how they have run the world in our absence, what do we see? Technology has either grown stagnant or has regressed, the numbers of intelligent beings that once were many are now much less. Can they honestly say that their ‘noble bloodlines’ and ‘magnanimous merchants’ have ruled better in our stead? Can they truly point to their fifteen hundred years of decline as something good? They need us to pull the world forward and out of the quagmire of corruption that they have dropped themselves in.”

Kain left House Brandou’s area and moved over to House Nefarius.

“Through the time they have had to themselves, what have they discovered? Did they make great breakthroughs or achievements? Did they push the boundaries of science and magic and reach beyond what was once possible? No. They did not. They have dragged the world, kicking and screaming, back into a dark age. Under their stewardship, what has happened to the great texts that the learned wrote? Ah, yes, that is right…”

Kain spoke partially into Alec Nefarius’ ear with his booming voice for all to hear.

“They burned them. What did they do to the aqueducts we designed and built? Yes, they tore them down, down beyond even the foundations. And the discoveries we made in regard to magic, the movement of the heavens and more? Those too were erased as they abandoned the mind and thus destroyed their chances at making the world a better place.”

Kain stepped before House Carmilla and began to speak again.

“The liberation of the self that we brought to them has been cast aside as well. Any so called ‘deviant’ who exists in their lands they must hide themselves or face ostracism at best and a pyre at worst. The sexual liberation that once let men and women be who they truly were has been replaced with the chains of conformity and conservatism. No one in those lands can express themselves, let alone proclaim their heart’s feelings for another. Do you know why?”

Kain risked his wife’s anger by stroking Elileth Carmillla’s hair as he told the crowd why.

“Because love had been reduced to a deal. It is no longer something honest and true, but something to be bartered for and sold like any other commodity.”

Alexis cleared her throat and Kain’s hand left Elileth’s hair.

“Love does not truly exist in their lands. Wives and husbands are bought and sold, all in the aim of securing power, wealth and land. And what of those who love another of the same gender? They are viewed as freaks and monsters, forced from their homes and made to wander the world with nowhere to stay and no future to have hope for. The liberties and joy we gave them in Darksol’s heyday have been left by the wayside, and only the regressive and abhorrent taint of their twisted dogma is left to give people purpose.”

Finally, Kain stood before the ‘Blood Dragons’ of House Dracones. They were wearing their armor and standing at attention, hoping to look far more loyal and dutiful than the two who had been erased had been.

“So back to the beginning of this little speech. Yes, we have foes on two sides. Foes who intend to erase us and everything we have created. Foes who treat their warriors like disposable pawns and who view honor and dignity as things that can be cast aside in the pursuit of total victory. They are people who use antiquated weapons of iron against our steel, they throw numbers at a problem and hope it goes away. They have shown through their disregard for the liberties we gave them in ages past, their hatred for knowledge and progress, their attempted destruction of our culture, their antipathy to the very concepts of honor and chivalry and their numerous attempts to hunt us like animals that they are without a doubt a foe that must be crushed!”

Kain gazed into the eyes of Valka Dracones and smiled.

“I trust that all of you realize what I am getting at?”

Kain once again paused is grand speech and climbed the stairs up to the balcony that overlooked the ballroom. He grasped the railing with his hands and with a booming voice that echoed throughout the room, he voiced his desires.

“Anglond. Must. Fall. I care not how, but It. Must. Fall. A war on two fronts cannot be abided, so gather your servants and answer my decree! By the time our preparations for the reconquest of what is now Teutonia are complete, Anglond must be no more and its people, land and cities must belong to Darksol! Now is the time to prove your loyalty, now is the time to show that the whims of the Luminas Confederacy are nothing compared to the might of our great nation! They believe that they are safe as long as they leave our new conquests and flee like frightened cattle to their homes, but we will show them that they are nothing but livestock so long as they have even the slightest will defy us!”

Kain raised his hands not the air as the ballroom erupted into cheers, clapping and the stomping of feet.

“The Night is Young, and our prey is unprepared! After this night is done, return to your lairs and gather your strength, for the endless night shall fall upon Anglond!”

The chant of “Glory to the eternal Darksol” was heard long into the night as the various undead and living servants of the eternal empire plotted and schemed the rest of the night away. When the guests finally left, each House had decided upon its own course of action.

When Anglond had begun to retaliate it had rolled the dice. Now several months later the result of their roll had begun to be seen, and it did not look good for them.