Ward History

Chapter 10- Empire of the Damned

 

Over 10 years pass with the fall of the human empire. Ward is in turmoil with no authority to lead it. Out of the chaos came the Holy Order. This new faction denounced a ruling King and instead focused on the mission of the Old God. Their mission was to cleanse all demonic, undead, and any other creature they felt was a plague to society. The Order was mostly humans, but invited all races to join. Even some Orcs turned themselves over to the Order.

 

The Holy Order spread far amongst Ward. They purged the lands and converted new followers to the faith. The Old God directly spoke to the High Priest, and issued him missions. These missions ranged from new settlements to convert, or even entire kingdoms to wipe out. All was done in his name, and his word was final.

 

After years of the Order growing in power and influence, The Undead King took notice. His minions that were spread through the land began to drop in number. One of his armies was destroyed by a crusade, flying the banner of the Old God.

 

With this, the Undead King began his long-awaited conquest of Ward. He amassed every unholy thing under his control and set forth from Westgard as the Empire of The Damned.

 

The Empire of the Damned engaged the Holy Order in the open field. The battle was long, with the Damned losing 1000’s of troops. But in the end, The Holy Order was forced to retreat. With every dead Holy Order soldier, a new Damned was added to the Undead Kings army.

 

The Damned moved across the land like a horde of locus destroying a field of crop. One by one every living thing in sight was killed and added to the Undead King’s army. Humans, Orcs, Elves, Dragons, and even Dinosaurs were now under control of the Damned.

 

The Holy Order continued to battle against the undead. They won some battles against small platoons of roaming ghouls, but if they came across an army, they fell victim to the Undead King. 

 

The Grand Priest branded the Undead King as the God of Death himself. He used this title to increase moral amongst the soldiers and told them they were battling not only for the Order, but for the entirety of Ward itself. 

 

The Old God began to worry about the Empire of the Damned. He could not fathom how a normal mortal man could attain so much power as to threaten the very fabric of his world. 

 

The Old God began to come to terms with the idea that the Damned may destroy his Holy Order. He could not imagine the idea of another one of his great societies falling to the madness of the Old King he originally appointed.

 

The Old God then met with the Red Dragon Arie, and bestowed upon them the gift of Gods. With this power, the Dragons were able to combine their flame with the Old Gods cosmic power. From the cosmic ash of the flame, the eldest of the dragons was given a power so great, that he rivaled the Old God himself. The Eternal Dragon was born.