Ward History
Chapter 9- Fallen King
With the defeat of the empire at Evergreen, the Human King turned to a power he did not fully understand. He began to work alongside with the necromancers about their studies. Taking to the discipline with an unnatural vigor he formulated plans to build a large undead army that could wipe out the Orcs, and finally take the City of Evergreen. The king started small launching attacks on Orcish war posts that were now erected outside of the forests. With every fallen Orc and Human, the king raised them back to live as his servants. Eventually, he became far more proficient with the summoning of the dead than even the necromancers under his command. But with this power, madness soon followed. The King saw how quickly he could amass an army to assault Evergreen again, but he needed more. He began to see that his undead soldiers were completely obedient to his orders, and more effective than the living.
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The King began an assault of the Orc war compound of Dur’Grob. The battle was short but extremely brutal. The Orcs were still far too strong and bloodthirsty for his soldiers. For every Orc that fell in battle, a dozen undead and men would fall. The King brought as many soldiers back to life as he could, but the battle was lost, and he was forced to flee again. With the humiliating defeat at Dur’Grob Orcs grew confident and began to attack Human settlements, killing all and leaving nothing but burning wreckage in their wake. The King could do nothing but watch as all he worked for began to crumble to the might of the Orc Legion. The Orcs rampaged across the countryside putting dozens of settlements to the sword. The king and his advisors threw everything they had at the Orc host, but nothing was slowing them down. Day by day the Orcs grew closer to the capital of Westgard. Defenses were set and traps were laid, and then the day the king feared had arrived. From over the rolling plains a tide of stinking green skinned Orcs descended on this once proud city. The Orc Legion began to assault the Human capital of Westgard. With the capitols armies emptied from all of the skirmishes, the city would not hold, and the empire would fall.
The King toiled in his high tower for days. No one had seen him since the siege. Pacing back and forth the king cursed the Elves for their arrogance, he cursed the Dark Elves for creating the unnatural Orcs, he cursed the Orcs for destroying his empire, but most of all he cursed his own people of being stupid and weak. He had gone mad with anger over the idea of losing everything that the Old God had charged him with. All of the long years and work gone in but an instant. He devised a plan if his own people can’t handle the Orcs then he will just have make them. He gathered a small group of his generals and lieutenants and slipped out of Westgard in the dead of night. He knew the city could hold off the Orcs for a while. He traveled from town to town and tried to build a new army to repel the Orcs and save Westgard. But the fear of the green skins had infected the minds of his people. Growing more and more frustrated he did the unthinkable. He ordered his generals to put his own people to the sword. One way or another he would save his city. The King’s own commanders refused the order to kill their own people. Disgusted by the order his men began turning on him. But the king had been blessed by the power of the Old God and infused with the death magic of necromancy. He started with his traitorous generals. He tore away their flesh and turned them into hulking skeletal knights. With his now loyal knights he unleashed them on the town. Murdering every man, women and child. Many tried to surrender and offer themselves to the cause but there was no reasoning with the king for the madness had truly taken over his mind. Months passed as the king crossed the country converting every village, town, and city he came across. Entire regions were left void of life as the king gorged his army on the very people he sought to protect. Knowing he must return to Westgard soon the king looked at his army. There was nothing but silence and creaking bones. Tens of thousands of skeletons, zombies, ghouls, and patchwork abominations stood silent. Months had passed and the siege of the Orcs had taken its toll on Westgard. With an overwhelming number of dead and rotting creatures the king unleashed his army in a pincer maneuver on the Orcs. The Orcs were strong, but their over confidence had left them vulnerable. Many undead were destroyed, but their numbers were too great for the Orcs to stop. The capital had been saved.
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The King marched into the city with his army. Rather than cheers of a savior, the citizens of the capitol watched in horrible silence as hundreds of ghouls, zombies, and undead knights entered into the city. The King marched to his keep and locked himself away, alone with his madness.
It did not take long for fear to set in. Any who opposed the king were turned into one of his undead servants. The constant fear radiated throughout Westgard. Thousands more died in the years to follow, and the rest left to far off lands to escape the terror of the newly appointed Undead king. With the capital now void of Humans to worship the Old God he abandoned the king. The fury and madness of the king reached its peak after the Old God left. To spite the Old God the king sent out his undead legions to eradicate every living creature in the former Human empire. This further aided the Undead Kings madness. As now he had no subjects, no society, and no God he decided that he would be the new god of Ward and began plans to end all life so no living creature would ever worship the Old God again. The empire of man had fallen and in its place the Kingdom of the undead king now ruled.