Not Afraid (part 3)
War time is an extremely busy time for the deities who ferry the dead to the afterlife and make sure the dead do not die in vain. So it was for the Devourer. Gone were the days of her youth when most people died of natural causes. No, the war brought people who were dying with both fear and hatred in their heart, much more than usual anyhow. That, coupled with her efforts to defend her home country from invasion was beginning to take its toll on the goddess.
She was not alone in her suffering. Icthlarin was there too, at least half there. Until he found Freneskae, his attention was divided. Even so, the war front shifted often and for the most part, southward. Even with two gods of death defending the Kharidian Empire, even with the forces of the Old Man landing on the shores of the southerns sea and charging northward though the myriad civilizations still loyal to the Sleeping One, even with the Elves loyal to the Crystal Goddess and the bird-men of the self proclaimed Lord of Justice pressing in from the west, the empire of the Empty One expanded.
It was then that the Devourer gave even more power to her priests. They spent more and more time prowling the border in the same form that their goddess adopted, that of the fearsome two tailed rump spiked lion. But even with the added presence of the priests, the combined forces of the warriors of the Kharid Empire and the slayers that were trained by the Devourer were fighting a losing battle. It wasn't until Icthlarin returned his full attention to the war and brought the tribe of mages he had adopted along with it that the advances of the Empty One's hordes were stopped and reversed. And the war front was pushed far north, farther than the land the Mehkmets had originally claimed. The push north left the corpses of many fantastic beasts behind; corpses that would later be studied in great detail by the Devourer and her slayers. When it was decided that the defenders of the Kharid had gone far enough north it was discovered that only a few members of the tribe Icthlarin had brought into the world were needed to be at the new border of the Kharidian Empire to keep the empire safe from invasion. The Mahjarrat, Icthlarin's adopted tribe, took turns guarding the border. Azzanadra and Zamorak in particular relished the opportunity to defeat the great beasts and armies of the Empty One and volunteered to defend the Empire at any chance they were given. The rest of the Mahjarrat were then turned to the affairs of defending the Empire from within. And in this, their ability to change their form to that of any subject of the empire, any beast of the forest, any bird of the air, or any fish of the seas was a great advantage. They became the faceless ones, the stern judges, the eyes and ears of Icthlarin.
The Empire was no longer ruled by the Pharaoh and the four gods of the Kharid. The Pharaoh was merely a figurehead and the influence of Tumeken, Elidinis, and the Devourer declined. The Empire grew to depend on the Mahjarrat and by extension, Icthlarin. There was peace for the Kharid. The dependence of the empire on the dark arts of the Mahjarrat and the lord of death, Icthlarin, was slowly turning the hearts of the people toward the cold and the dark.
But there was peace.
She was not alone in her suffering. Icthlarin was there too, at least half there. Until he found Freneskae, his attention was divided. Even so, the war front shifted often and for the most part, southward. Even with two gods of death defending the Kharidian Empire, even with the forces of the Old Man landing on the shores of the southerns sea and charging northward though the myriad civilizations still loyal to the Sleeping One, even with the Elves loyal to the Crystal Goddess and the bird-men of the self proclaimed Lord of Justice pressing in from the west, the empire of the Empty One expanded.
It was then that the Devourer gave even more power to her priests. They spent more and more time prowling the border in the same form that their goddess adopted, that of the fearsome two tailed rump spiked lion. But even with the added presence of the priests, the combined forces of the warriors of the Kharid Empire and the slayers that were trained by the Devourer were fighting a losing battle. It wasn't until Icthlarin returned his full attention to the war and brought the tribe of mages he had adopted along with it that the advances of the Empty One's hordes were stopped and reversed. And the war front was pushed far north, farther than the land the Mehkmets had originally claimed. The push north left the corpses of many fantastic beasts behind; corpses that would later be studied in great detail by the Devourer and her slayers. When it was decided that the defenders of the Kharid had gone far enough north it was discovered that only a few members of the tribe Icthlarin had brought into the world were needed to be at the new border of the Kharidian Empire to keep the empire safe from invasion. The Mahjarrat, Icthlarin's adopted tribe, took turns guarding the border. Azzanadra and Zamorak in particular relished the opportunity to defeat the great beasts and armies of the Empty One and volunteered to defend the Empire at any chance they were given. The rest of the Mahjarrat were then turned to the affairs of defending the Empire from within. And in this, their ability to change their form to that of any subject of the empire, any beast of the forest, any bird of the air, or any fish of the seas was a great advantage. They became the faceless ones, the stern judges, the eyes and ears of Icthlarin.
The Empire was no longer ruled by the Pharaoh and the four gods of the Kharid. The Pharaoh was merely a figurehead and the influence of Tumeken, Elidinis, and the Devourer declined. The Empire grew to depend on the Mahjarrat and by extension, Icthlarin. There was peace for the Kharid. The dependence of the empire on the dark arts of the Mahjarrat and the lord of death, Icthlarin, was slowly turning the hearts of the people toward the cold and the dark.
But there was peace.