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[agentaaa]

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Raal smiled, his horse standing next to him, as he motioned for his undead sailors to weigh anchor. Raal quietly complimented himself on this new usage of his undead - the motions for sailing were far too difficult for those foolish necrolytes and death knights of his home world to properly cause an undead to perform. Not for Raal, however, who had long ago figured out the art. Of course, now to see if he was truly a match for Gul'dan, as he pointed his truncheon at the front of the ship. He'd been building up energies and incantations for weeks now, in the hopes of causing this. dark energies shot downwards, partly channeled by his own undead's energy stores, as a deep rumbling came from below. He hoped he'd learned well how to do this spell from assisting Gul'dan in the past, as the water shook and shivered, creating large waves. Minutes later, after much tumult and chaos, Raal had finally finished his spell. moving forward, he smiled, his undead behind him, as he claimed his new island.

[agentaaa]

The staircase would be unguarded, but as soon as they opened the door, they would find a small army of undead warriors in waiting with various weapons, some using axes, swords and shields while others employed spears from a distance.

[Quantum Rain]

Jaxe stopped cold in his tracks, avoiding running right into one of the undead that awaited them. He did not expect guards to be waiting for them behind the door. At first his face was calm and collected, but quickly morphed into that of annoyance and irritability. "I don't have time for insects." He snarled, calling up runic symbols on his hand as he called his scythe into existence. Araman unsheathed a katana, entering a combative posture as soon as he saw the multitude of skeletal guards.

[agentaaa]

The skeletons would attack, seemingly doing their best to surround the pair from all sides, in order to strike. most struck with axes, swords, and the occasional mace or club, and the spears would be thrown with decent accuracy. The skeletons did not lack all technique, but were not as good with their weapons as a truly trained warrior, and knew more offensively than defensively. such was the horde's fighting style, as Raal knew it...

[Quantum Rain]

The duo deigned to advance forward, seeking to stretch their forward line thin. To compensate for the fact that they were getting surrounded, however, the two advanced back-to-back, at the discomfort of both and entirely out of necessity. Jaxe took the lead, utilizing telekinetic control over his scythe to act as a third combatant of a sort while he used his runic magic against any foe that got too close. Araman, on the opposite end, resorted to using his ice magic to freeze the foes in place and then swarm them with ice-shards, utilizing his katana in a defensive manner, countering when necessary.

[agentaaa]

"Powerful invaders - but none too cautious." a voice suddenly said from the next hall, as Raal strode in on his deathcharger. his aura was filled with enough power to be visible as a large mass of energy around him, but the energy suddenly dispersed as Raal focused it first into his hand, and then dispersed it from there. A sickly sound could suddenly be heard all around Jaxe and Araman, as the skeletons, suddenly beginning to dissolve themselves, took a defensive stance, intent on not letting the invaders leave their trap, as Raal unleashed the force of Death and Decay upon them.

[Quantum Rain]

Just as Raal unleashed his attack, Jaxe muttered two words which echoed rather eerily, as if multiple voices spoke simultaneously. "Tenbrais Praesi." He said calmly as a symbol glowed brightly in his hand, and several more formed a circle around the duo, creating a black flamed barrier around them. It did not completely stop the toxic air, but it should be noted that any of it that seeped through the shield did not affect the two demons as much. Araman had cast an icy armoring over himself, and it sizzled and popped in response to the air that surrounded him, but did not affect the being himself. Jaxe merely stood there, a shadowy aura turning him into a silhouette with dark red eyes. He was just glaring at Raal as his body regenerated any damage it took.

"Necromancer, I am in no mood for petty games such as these. Cease your hostile actions before you go beyond annoying me with your undead servants and ignorant attacks." His voice echoed to Raal, again seeming as if multiple were repeating the same statement.

[agentaaa]

Raal would be momentarily surprised at the aura he felt and the strength from Jaxe, and feel a little intimidated, but he regained himself quickly. He had faced demon lords and gods before, and he knew that to grovel was to lose all respect. "Breaking and entering is also considered a hostile action, you know." Raal responded drily, nonetheless stopping his spell, though more due to it's ineffectiveness than anything. If need be, he knew a host of others to deal with such. Regardless of the being, Raal refused to surrender his regained mortality to them.

[Quantum Rain]

"Perhaps, but your guards do not exactly recognize a guest from an intruder." Jaxe replied sarcastically bitter. "I am here to seek a potential ally, although I would not mind harvesting your souls for more power if it comes to that. The choice is ultimately yours necromancer." Araman kept silent, listening to Raal and Jaxe's "civil" conversation, but was more focused on the undead that were surrounding them.

[agentaaa]

"Hmmmm? I'd be willing to discuss such alliance... if you were to show me such an alliance would be to my benefit, at least." Raal commented, keeping his voice even. "At this moment, what have you to offer from such an alliance that would interest me? Other than my 'pathetic life', I've heard that offer before." Raal said, looking at the pair. If all went badly, though he had yet to perfect the spell, he might just end up having to improvise on his old spell formulae.

[Quantum Rain]

"Necromancers such as you lack the capacity to truly make a better army, an army that I require. As such, I will be willing to offer you what your kind are so fond of: Power, and all I ask in exchange is service." Jaxe stated to Raal, paying little attention to the others.

[agentaaa]

"Hmph. I won't allow myself to be grouped with other dabblers in the subject, as I am no mere necromancer. Back when I was on a world where the name was still known, people had referred to me as a death knight." Raal said finally. "If we're to be working together, it makes sense to get our terms straight."

[Quantum Rain]

"Then that is to be the case, know that I am Death Incarnate. If this were any other universe, I would be your superior in every way." Jaxe stated coldly in response, contemptuous of such titles. "Titles and terms matter little in a world and war such as this. You and I know that to be true. Now then. Your response to my offer?"

[agentaaa]

"Hmmm... If you truly offer the power I seek, then I will join you. However... I will not be led on by false promises, and if I end up with reason to believe you might hold out on your end of the bargain, I will regard the deal as broken. I am no fool who will follow forever an empty promise of power." Raal stated, as much trying to put out his terms as he was regretting the fact that he did not follow such tenets earlier in his life.
The demons that held sway to his people had made a similar promise, and yet never followed through, giving the orcs only the barest hints of power... and they fell for it, like idiots.

[Quantum Rain]

Jaxe shood his head, annoyed. "I cannot teach you everything, for you are not capable of everything. I will teach you what you need and want in that it would be beneficial for us both. Nothing more." Jaxe countered Raal's terms of the deal. "I cannot trust you anymore than you can trust me in this alliance. I would be an ignorant fool to grant you all of my knowledge, as much as it would also destroy you alongside myself. Even so, we require the other's assistance if we are to be free of this accursed world."

[agentaaa]

"So long as you have something I would need or want, I suppose this is a decent contract. Hmph." Raal said, a few seconds later giving a flippant wave that the undead left. "You said you were looking for allies. Am I the first, or should I expect anyone to appear soon. 'and smash my skeletons by the truckload as well" Raal thought to himself.

[Quantum Rain]

"I have resources of my own, but I would not desire to broadcast this fortress's location. The fact that it has remained hidden for so long is either out of amusement or underestimation on our enemies' part. Either of which I can use to my advantage." Jaxe stated, walking up the staircase toward Raal and the fortress beyond. "At least, I assume it is a fortress?" Jaxe asked, reverting to his normal form. Araman cautiously followed Jaxe up the stairs, keeping an eye on the undead minions.

[agentaaa]

Black stone would surround them as they continued, punctuated by skeletons just about everywhere, manning defensive positions or simply standing at attention in formations. "Yes, this is the first of the fortresses I plan to build. I've yet to give it a name - there's truly no point when only one in the fortress is capable of vocal capacity. Still, as far as it being undiscovered, that is in good part because the island this fortress exists on did not exist until I made it so." Raal commented. "Though as you said, sheer luck keeps a patrol from coming near here at this moment, not to mention the distraction of this war."

[Quantum Rain]

"In my experience, relying on luck is liable to destruction. If I could find this place, so could any other being." Jaxe replied back continuing forth. "But as I said, any circumstance I know of is advantageous for me." He remained silent for a few moments, and then spoke up again. "There is much to do, and little time to do it in. I believe the gods are moving again, and if so, this army is going to be challenged very soon. You need to learn how to better manipulate them, and quickly."

[agentaaa]

"If I was relying on luck, I wouldn't have bothered fortifying the place." Raal responded to the criticism. "And it'd be easier if I didn't have to build everything I know of necromancy practically from the ground up. The necrolyte's I inherited these abilities from barely knew how to make them walk, let alone fight." Raal told him. "As it is, I'm only now beginning to grasp how to get them to use such simple things as siege engines."

[Quantum Rain]

"Then I shall teach you what they themselves failed to realize." Jaxe stated, and as if to emphasize this, several undead that were formerly of Raal's command came walking through the doorway, following their new master. Each had an odd runic symbol on both of their hands. "As well, we are going to need a larger army very quickly."

[agentaaa]

"While my limit in size is unlimited, my capability of creating them is limited by the amount of energy in a day I can expend." Raal told him. "I can only create a few hundred per day, at this point."
Inside, he felt unease at what it was Jaxe currently did, but decided it was best left unsaid for now. still, he'd have to keep in mind that his own army wasn't stolen out from under him - he refused to be cheated yet again by another being.

[Quantum Rain]

"We are going to need thousands... I hope you're prepared to learn very quickly, Death Knight." He stopped and turned to Araman. "You should train as well, we need experience fighters." He said to the younger demon. Araman looked at Jaxe incredulously. "I can handle myself." He shot back. Jaxe continued forward. "Explain to me what you are capable of with your minions."

[agentaaa]

"currently, I've managed to get them to the point they're able to match human fighters in strength and speed, and while the technique is still off, I should eventually be capable of making them match the skill of a veteran fighter." Raal told him. "only recently have I made them capable of using the spear, and their accuracy is still somewhat lacking, but by myself I would have that error corrected within a week. Moreover, I've been working, with success, on instilling continuous magic essence within them. Doing more with this capability is still out of my reach, but eventually, they'll be capable of casting simple spells." Raal told him. "as it is, I was right now correcting the minor details necessary to aim catapults and ballista properly for them."

[Quantum Rain]

"Instilling magical essence into an empty husk is quite easy for me to do. As for the others, I am no expert in necromancy. I leave such to my Gravelords, but I may be able to show you what I have learned from them." Jaxe replied to Raal's list of accomplishments. Unlike the other undead, the ones Jaxe had risen were walking like a normal human, without problem and almost without sound.

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