Lust for Power

Lord Kall : “If I want to become the One True God, I need Omniscience. Only then will I be able to reach the skies for me and only me”.

The mages of Helheim had been tasked some months ago to study the Eyes Of God enchantment. It was a powerful spell that allowed the mage who cast it to See the whole world. When the secrets of this magic were finally uncovered and mastered, Lord Kall did not think twice before deciding to use it for his own purpose : He had to see Everything.

It was early winter, and the frost had reached its peak for the next 3 months. A period that Lord Kall loved as he was in his element, where he felt the strongest, where he was himself at the peak of his power.

These last months he had joined the other mages at the Banefire Forge, in the midst of the Black Peaks mountains, to help them craft the magical items needed for the wars of the kingdom. There was not yet a castle there and the encampment was still a bit harsh. But in this cold he felt so well that it didn’t bother him. And he thought that it would be a delight to perform such a strong magic during a snowfall … as a result, he chose the peak of the highest mountain to carry out this enchantment.

The spell required a lot of Astral Power and it took him two long weeks to prepare himself for the complex ritual, drawing signs of power, casting charms to protect him and his followers for what was to come. Furthermore, the place he chose did not help as the logistics to gather all the materials were made even more complex. But that was worth it, from there he already had a glimpse of what was to come, a view of all the surrounding lands, a foretaste of True Omniscience.

And so on a sunny morning began the ritual. The first step was also the longest, as he started to call on to the powers of the Ether from every single place in the world. And the world was huge ! During 3 days and 3 nights he pulled Ether strings one by one, weaving them into a magical enchantment that for whom could see it looked like a huge wool ball from which countless strings reached out. It was as if he had created a web of the World, connecting every place to a single point in space.

During these 3 days, the weather had been getting worse and worse, and at the time all of these energies were finally bound one to the other, the place was stuck under a heavy blizzard. And he needed it, he needed that beloved frost to sustain him to go for the final phase as he was starting to be completely exhausted. And so under that screaming wind began the ultimate and most delicate part that would open him to the Knowledge. As such, he started to bind every part of these strings into his own eyes. All of this huge power he gathered in these two small organic things that had allowed him to see the matter world during his whole life … until now. Because, now, they would allow him to See Everything.

When the magic energy started to dissipate, he Saw. Everything. Nothing could escape his Eyes now. Not a single thing. And so after a few minutes of silence, completely stunned by his new perception, he started to laugh … laugh … laugh like a madman ! “Hahahahaha ! I see everything !!! I see everything !!! Ha ha ha ha ha !” … and then fell unconscious, drained to the bone by the ritual and the huge quantity of informations now flowing through his brain.

A wind of panick started to spread amongst the mages and followers stationed in the Forge. Their God, Lord Kall had been unconscious for 7 days, 7 full days ! His sleeping body had been taken down the mountain as it was no place to stay for long … But even back in that more civilized place he had not awoken. He looked alive, for sure, but would he ever wake up again ? Wasn’t that crazy spell too powerful for him ?

But when under the full moon, right in the middle of winter he finally woke up, the look in his eyes left no doubt : not only he was back, but he was even more powerful and determined than ever. “Summon the scribes ! I need them in my tent as soon as possible ! I will suffer no delay !”

And so during days Lord kall told what he saw, and the scribes wrote and started to create a huge map where everything He saw was written up. And, when they finished, he sent this map to the High council of Helheim. He also made a small copy with minimal informations to reward his friend from Therodos. Finally, from what he felt, he created a magical beacon from which any sensitive enough mage could feel the real power of every pretender. Through that constantly emitting beacon, he planned to make himself indispensable to his opponents so that they would think twice before launching a war against him. Indeed, why attack the one that provide so precious information ?

That feeling of power, a power over the Whole World was thrilling. He sensed, somewhere, that it was only a fraction of what it would be when he would become the new Pantokrator. Because, yes, now there was no doubt, this new power was the key to victory, even though it was quite irrationnal at the time, he sensed it to the core of his soul : nothing could stop him now.

With eyes so deep and a vision so clear …

Knowledge is Power

His new Eyes did not only allow him to See everything, but also to Feel the relative power of every nation and enemy pretender. Be it their gold, their magical gem income, the faith people had in them, the size of their armies and how advanced was their knowledge in the arcana of magic. These informations he had decided to share with the other pretenders, as a tool to manipulate them, to make them accept His power rather than try to counter it.

But what information it brought was almost a surprise : Helheim was one of the most powerful nation of this world ! His wise policies of peace and conquest had bourne their fruits and Helheim had the largest territory and was unmatched both in gold and gem incomes. These large resources gave a margin for risk and errors, but they had to be used wisely.

However, what was the most interesting was to identify his main contestants to divinity. He already believed from the wars against Ur that Marverni and his hordes of boars were highly dangerous, and this was confirmed without doubt. He was clearly his main challenger. Or should we say It, because Marverni god was known to be a Fountain of Blood. A powerful spirit embedded into this monstrosity from which blood flowed continuously. His followers often came there to drink the red liquid in some despising rituals. Lord Kall didn’t like using living blood as a magical tool, and what represented this thing was beyond what he could bear. But, through the trades he had more or less befriended with that thing. Furthermore, it looked better to keep it that way and to focus on weaker ennemies. Fighting Marverni was already out of the question before he had the Knowledge … it was even more after.

Because, indeed, the second major information he had on his opponents was that of the pretender that called himself The Desert Lion. That creature was a huge lion with a heavy skin made of gold, and both his size and thick skin made him a fearsome creature for any to fight. But the most scary of it was not how strong it was, but what was known of him. It was said that he had been once the right hand of a previous Pantokrator, his most fearful and respected general. His skills in that regard were the ones of legends, for it was said he was the one who had cast down his Master’s opponents in the most cruel wars. And it was also said that his skills were also responsible for his own demise, as when his Master came to power as Pantokrator, he couldn’t stand to have such a powerful being by his side. So he had banished him in a desert that he had then been haunting for millenias. Hence he had become The Desert Lion.

And at last free from the Pantokrator banishment, the lion had become the God of the lizard Kingdom of C’ti. And from there he had went back to what he had done in these ancient times : build an army to help his master become the new Pantokrator. But this time, he was his own master, and it was clear in his mind no one would stop him from gaining that power that he deserved.

Lord Kall didn’t know much about him before then, but through his new Eyes, what he saw scared him. The lizards of C’ti and their god had managed to master the most complex magic rituals. They were way, way ahead of anyone else in that regard and that was a promise of a formidable opponent on the battlefield. And so, even though he was only third or fourth in terms of raw power, his potential in the long term was fearsome. The only thing that was reassuring was that his territories were still far from Helheim’s ones and that as such, if a war would happen, there was time to prepare for it.

A strategic analysis

What the Eyes showed gave Lord Kall a deeper understanding of what would be at stake in the future.

In the south-east, Therodos and its spectral legions looked rather weak, and they still had to finish off Machaka.

To the south, Ulm had a huge territory and was about to conquer the dying kingdom of Caelum.

Next to him on the south-west, Niefelheim looked tiny and was fighting both Caelum and Ulm. However, his army was known to be very large and he wasn’t to be taken lightly.

On the western marches, Marverni was destroying Ur of which he had just captured the Capital and banished his God, Nemok the Man-eater.

And so in the north-west large territories were still held by Ur, and were now free for conquest.

Finally, to the north stood Mictlan that was seemingly fighting a bloody war against the empire of Tien’Chi. From what Lord Kall saw, the conflict looked quite balanced with no clear victor. However, Lord Kall despised what he knew of Mictlan and their wide use of Blood magic. In the near future they would have to be taken down, and that was even more likely that the armies assembled to finish Agartha could then easily reach that frontline.

Last but not least, in the East, the ocean. Atlantis looked like the future ruler of the seas, but some significant opposition was still there. Despite their political chaos, Oceania was still managing to hold a decent territory and R’lyeh was still a fierce contestant to Atlantis’s might. So in that regard, an invasion from the depths was not very likely and could be ignored in the strategic assessment.

The other parts of the world were really far away. Some growing powers were there, but not as strong as Marverni or C’ti. May be in some future some alliance could be made to counter either Marverni or C’ti, but that was not anytime soon.