The aftermath of the events of just a few days ago had only just been felt. Kain Anathemas Nekronus von Darksol, the biggest ace-in-the-hole that the Darksol Empire possessed, was completely unconscious and utterly unresponsive, seated upon a throne so black that light itself seemed to flee from it and unable to leave until his form readjusted to the limiter Lord Wolfenstein had placed upon it.

This would normally have left a massive power vacuum that would have almost certainly have resulted in a continent-spanning civil war, but Kain had always shared his power with his wife, Alexis Draculina Nekronus von Darksol, which now meant that the Vampiric Primogenitor was the de facto absolute head of state. She now had the power to make Darksol and its vassals into anything she wanted, as Kain’s absolute authority now resided within her, albeit temporarily.

Alexis may very well have been a prideful, arrogant, rather selfish and cruel individual, but her time ruling the mass majority of the continent and seeing that respect and admiration were far better motivators than fear and pain had certainly changed her style of ruling. She was definitely smart enough to realize that any drastic deviation from the status quo would result in backlash, and while she could use the near limitless legions of the undead to suppress any revolts, she would essentially be proving to everyone that she was nowhere near as good a ruler as Kain was.

And her pride would not allow that; she had been told so many times by her husband that they both were equal that if she screwed things up it would instead prove that they were not. Yes, this was almost all her own insecurity, but as long as this insecurity did not drive the nation into the ground it at least had a beneficial purpose, right? So, as Kain slept, Alexis had to maintain control and find new ways to keep the nation moving. As luck would have it, some people to the Empire’s direct South East had a bone to pick with their new neighbors, and this would set off a chain of events that would invariably lead to Darksol expanding once again.

It would only be a short while before the might of Darksol had to face a certain Chosen One’s most hated and despised nemesis, a foe so terrible that its mere existence deterred him from ever finding one of his lost twin children. It was a mortal enemy of that Space Wizard Samurai Monk so cruel and unstoppable, that he loved his wife because she was its polar opposite.

As so Erwin Krueger would eventually remark regarding this foe; “At the end of that campaign, I grew to despise sand with every fiber of my being. It’s coarse, rough, and it gets everywhere, including places that it has no right to be.”

…

A missionary from a land that the Luminas Confederacy had never truly touched walked slowly to the border between his home nation and the new power on the block. Unlike in medieval Earth, the border between greater Darksol and everything else was easy to define, mostly due to the film of fog that hung like a veil on the very limits of the Empire’s territory. This permanent fog, while thin and easily seen through and only extending a few feet from the border before fading away, made a clear demarcation of where Darksol’s territory ended and that of others began.

Technically, the fog was actually inside the borders of Darksol, not outside or straddling the line between the two nations, with gave the people on the outside more room to do whatever they felt like doing. This was a conscious choice on Kain and Alexis’ part, as it meant that even stepping into the fog could be counted as an illegal border crossing.

This, and other reasons were why the missionary and his escorts were moving slowly and carefully out from the border fort and towards the wall that seemed to reach the very clouds themselves. He and those who had sent him were unsure of what properties the fog possessed, but what they did know was that it had only manifested recently and at nearly the same time that the land of Ititlis was reduced to a post-apocalyptic wasteland of fel energies and utter destruction.

Yes, they had been watching from afar, with the aid of several treasures owned by the one who had founded their nation and given them their main religion. But, unlike other places, there was no state religion, and this missionary simply belonged to one of the more popular ones. His mission was to find out what was going on in the former Luminas Confederacy and, if possible, convert the infidels and non-believers to a more acceptable faith. His other mission was to see if the wall of fog could actually be passed through without dying horribly, but that came second to everything else.

By now, the man of the cloth was just a few feet away from the wall, and taking a few more steps he was able to easily push his way through it with no problems. That was until he saw what was on the other side, of course.

…

“As I set foot beyond the misty veil that separated the Sultanate from the lands that would inevitably fall to it, I beheld a terrible sight. The land was being prepared for roads and civilization by hordes of undead, all of whom ignored myself, my escorts and the myriad peoples who assisted them in their efforts! It was so unholy that I half wondered if I had crossed into realm of eternal damnation itself, yet I knew I was pure of heart and therefore would not have fallen to such a terrible place upon death. I knew the Great Watcher was with me, and so I cautiously approached the one living human who seemed to be in charge over everything.

The man wore strange garb, as well as a helmet that was colored as bright as the vest he wore. He barked orders at the living and undead alike, and as I tried to talk with him, he directed me away from the work they were doing. He sent me to a small house, and when I stepped within, I could feel the temperature of the air change. It was not uncomfortable, but it was strange. Those within the ‘Portable Office’ instructed me to wait there until the proper authorities came to ‘deal with me’. I understood what they meant by that, and quickly left their lands. I would not be taken and turned into a risen corpse.

Thus ends my report. May the Great Watcher in the Heavens bestow His great abundance upon the Sultanate. The Eye is Always Watching.” – A report given to the Sultanate Intelligence Committee.