WIP Update #4 (WC = 5352)

On to chapter 2!

Chapter 2 sees the introduction of some of the antagonists of the story, the titular Lords of Torementhias. The chapter is set in the accursed city of Torementhias in the netherworld of the Obsidious. Torementhias was once a populus city built by a race known only as the progenitors. They were the first settlers of the Obsidian plane but they were twisted and corrupted by the Torementhian stone and through their malicious intent they birthed the Dark Scion Nethriziin. Their reverance and worship of him as a god of war saw them lay waste to the entire world around them as he instructed them in the ways of dark magic to seize more power. Fuelled by the power of the suffering born of the Obsidious's civil war, Nethriziin set his sights on the Aetherealm, a realm beyond his sight but with a power he found irresistable.

However, in his shortsighted aggressive move. Nethriziin crashed back to the Obsidious. His return led to the deaths of mnay progenitors due to the meteoric impact.

After his initial attempt to wage war with Alaris failed due to the magical barriers along the Anmorian Axis, Nethriziin realized that he would need an army to take the last plane of existence beyond his reach. The Lords of Torementhias were a group of seven Grand Edarians, Edarians created by Nethriziin with specific traits to fulfill a role in his grand conquest plan.

Narak was created as the first of all Edarians and gifted the ability of soul sight, to see a soul's entire timeline from first birth to their last death in an instant. As the first created Edarian he was most similar to Nethriziin and assumed the role of leader of his kin. Narak also was granted the ability to interact with the Torementhian stone and to direct its power, however some of the mysteries are still beyond his reach.

Hidar was the second Grand Edarian created by Nethriziin to work the Soulforge and create weapons and armaments for the Edarian army that Nethriziin was creating to storm the Aetherealm. Although bereft of typical combat magical powers, he was able to endure the intensity of the forge and to imbibe the creations with a variety of spell reinforcements

Nethriziin considered that if he had developed an army there was a possibility that Alaris may have decided to follow a similar approach. He thus created a third Grand Edarian to function as his watcher who would spy on Alaris at a distance.

Realizing that he would need a siege engine at the vanguard of his army, Nethriziin created Berak as the fourth of the Grand Edarians. Tasked as the Master Spellbreaker he was inately resilient to light and arcane magic and the armor he was granted made him an indestructible war machine. Berak would spearhead the Edarian assault and break through any magical barriers that would prevent their entry to the Aetherealm.

Nethriziin's next several incurssions also proved unsuccessful despite his growing power and the continued expansion of his Edarian army. Against the legions he had created, Alaris remained resolute standing alone against the might of the Obsidious

Alaris was more tenacious than he had originally believed, thus Nethriziin created three more Grand Edarians.

Tolbetrius was created as the Emissary of Darkness. He had the ability to slip between the planes unnoticed to spread the Obsidian influence to the mortal realm. As darkness fell across the galaxy with the shroud of consuming war, Nethriziin's power grew further. In addition, Tolbetrius proved to be a more trustworthy spy who could keep an eye on Alaris between his other duties.

Dijana was created as the Master of Despair as his Fear Weaver. She would seek out the deepest fears of a soul and created elaborate curses and hexes that would plague her victim through their dreams and haunt their waking hours. Through her continued maninpulation and machinations she would erode and break the will of even the most stoic enemy. She gained her experience assisting Tolbetrius in his campaign to spread strife through the Maelinthian before Nethrziiin tasked her to break Alaris's will.

Azora was the last of the Grand Edarians created to conjure the dark Ichor, remnants of the blood of the slain progenitors of Torementhias mixed with the debris of smelted souls and fragmented metals from the Soulforge. His ichorous magic was soon adopted by several other Edarians as a pasttime to torment the mortal souls further evoking terror and despair in the Obsidious.

Together the Lords of Torementhias would marshal his forces and herald the age of darkness.