Nightmare Faction

She walked in the beautiful landscape, looking over its perfection plants and tree there where nowhere to be seen in Azeroth. She did so for hours, maybe even days, keeping track of time was quite difficult in this realm.
In the ended she ran into a Dryad with black hide. While she looked quite unique, Lerania bowed to show respect towards the keeper of nature. 'Come with me.' the unknown Dryad stated, which Lerania did with mild curiosity. As they walked, the landscape gradually changed from green and wild to grey and dead which was simply impossible in this realm, which explained why the Dryad wanted to show Lerania.
Terrified by the environment, they continued towards what seemed to be the heart of the corruption, in the end the Dryad stopped in front of stone altar.
Without a word nor sound, the Dryad suddenly turned to ash, leaving a mere pile on the ground. Instead, a figure would slowly start to appear by the altar. Soon enough, being visible enough to be acknowledged as the shape of a gigantic scorpion. 'What's your name, young druid?' it asked with a cold echoing voice. Feeling the immense aura emitting from the scorpion, as far as Lerania knew, it was at least at the same level as an Archdruid, if not more! Lerania could only answer. 'Lerania..' the being repeated to itself as it kept its gaze upon her.
'Stay still, and you should not be harmed.' it stated as it approached her slowly, then extending one of its giant claws towards Lerania, only to end up putting it at the top of her head as the claw started to glow slightly with a black color.
Lerania's head were a mess during the process, feelings and impressions were tumbling around without any kind of direction, she could not think a single thought straight.
Luckily for her though, it did not last for long, a bit shorter than a minute at most. Afterwards, she did not feel very different, she noticed one thing however, she did not find the dead and desolate place disgusting anymore, in fact it was quite pleasing to look at from her point of view. 'I am known as "Kelaera".' the being told her afterwards, then giving Lerania specific guidelines on how to contact her with telepathy, though it turned out much more complicated than mere telepathy.
Anyway, the following years were spent on expanding her druidic abilities with Kelaera's guidance, however taking a different path than the average druid. Her powers gradually changing with her mind.
It eventually reached a point where her very touch could kill a tree and take control of over it if she put her mind into it.
Around that time, Kelaera hinted that it was Lerania's job as her chosen one to recruit followers. And so, Lerania went to Stormwind to start spreading rumors about a new god whom granted powers to those who proved themselves to be faithful servants.
Not many came at first, but the reputation spread quick afterwards in the more shady parts of Stormwind. Eventually reaching a point where Lerania had enough followers to call her gathering a cult. In reality, the ones that came in search for power were living experiments that Lerania practiced her ability to corrupt and manipulate a persons mind, which was always successful due being 'blessed' by Kelaera, however the time needed was reduced over time.
As Lerania didn't feel like imitating a prophet she asked Kelaera to find someone suiting to do the job instead. And so, weeks later, Lerania was informed about a certain warlock who commanded a large group of demons.
She played the part of someone madly in love with his abilities, only to get close enough to put his head between her hands as she infused the powers of the Nightmare into him, corrupting him within seconds.
It was a bit too soon to command him to do something just yet, while he wouldn't do any harm to her at the moment, he was not exactly a subordinate just yet he needed time before reaching that stage.
However, happy with the result Lerania played the part of the new gods prophet for a while longer. She suddenly got interrupted in the middle of a big ritual with the fanatic cultists when Kelaera called for her from the Nightmare. She quickly meditated to enter the Emerald Nightmare to meet up with Kelaera, as it turned out a young green dragon had found the corruption within the Emerald Dream, luckily deciding to prove herself/himself rather than flying back to inform Ysera and the other dragons. Said dragon was as said young(by dragon standards) and somewhat inexperienced which allowed Lerania to go toe to toe with it in battle.
It was a fairly long and exhausting battle but eventually Lerania would stand on a giant root which traveled forward as to impale the dragon's chest. However just before impact Lerania would leap of it, landing on the dragon's back where she once more repeated the process of corrupting the target, however due the dragon's being mentally strong beings, she had to ask Kelaera for assistance to speed up the corruption.
In the end, she had gained a very powerful servant that would grow even more in strength as time passed, a lengthy investment one might say.
And so, Lerania found herself as the leader of an cult.
​

Thousands of years later (about 10 000), Lerania lied on a stone throne, covered by dead roots in the middle of some ruins in Felwood, stroking a seemingly lifeless flower's petals gently with her legs comfortably hanging over the armrests. 'How dire is it?' she'd ask with cold tone without her gaze leaving the flower. 'I fear the rumors are true, master. Azeroth face complete obliteration.' the elf next to her throne would answer with a slightly worried tone. 'Azeroth does not interest me, I am fine whatever the outcome.' she'd comment with a slight grin on her face.
'Excuse me, master, but that -does- include your forests and everything you've worked for.' the elf stated bluntly. Lerania's eyes narrowed as the flower in her hand literary turned to ash as literary all life was absorbed from it. She gazed towards the elf before speaking. 'And what do you propose then, Fenus?' she'd ask with her cold and slightly echoing voice which only seemed to be heard when she was annoyed or angry.
'With all due respect, we must leave Azeroth! We'll be blown into our own demise at this rate.' Fenus answered while attempting to keep her tone calm.
'What kind of fool do you take me for? Die to some pathetic spell? me?' thick roots would slowly rise upwards. twisting themselves around Fenus's ankles and legs.
'When I said "we" I meant we as in your cult! Not you personally! A few of us might be able to survive but we're speaking about less than a dozen out of thousands, you'll lose everything you've built up if we don't leave Azeroth! everything will be for naught.' Fenus spoke with a slightly panicked tone as the roots had reached her shoulders at this point.
'I.. see your point.. send out word that those who hold their life dear are to gather here. You'll also get a hold on someone powerful enough to open the portal, understood?' the roots had twisted themselves around her neck pressing against it slightly as to threaten her about what could happen. However they slowly moved downwards once more to return to the soil as Lerania seemed to accept her words.
'Very well, I shall see to the preparations.' Fenus bowed once the roots allowed her to, before heading away with quick steps.
After passing a few dead trees Fenus heard a voice beside him. 'Did it go well?' the voice seemed to the rather deep and spoke bluntly
'She saw reason.. I should not have done so though, I overstepped my boundaries.' she'd massage his throat casually as he recalled the moment. At the same time he looked for the origin, spotting a elf to his left. Said elf being covered in elegant elven armor with a dark purple color.
'She'd kill whoever brought up leaving the forest, she values you, you had to be the one to do it.' the knight looking elf pointed out as he put his hands crossed in front of himself.
'I know very well, it had to be done, Herod. That does not necessarily mean I had to straight up oppose her, I could have done it differently.' Fenus argued back with an slightly annoyed tone
'We got no time for a political game, Azeroth as we know it may cease to exist within days possibly sooner.' Herod stated with a calm yet harsh tone to his voice.
'Since you're the one who got me into this, you'll have the honor to find me a mage strong enough to open a portal.' Fenus ordered as she walked away from Herod
Herod simply snicked quietly to himself as he pulled his fingers through his hair.
​

'Feed him to the soil' Lerania commanded as the mage fell to the ground on the undiscovered lands, exhausted after opening such a large portal. Such was done by a few of the cultists which painted the ground in the unknown forest. Meanwhile Lerania walked through the blood - barefoot, towards a giant oak looking tree which she put her hands against as she started to chant silently to herself, her voice echoing as a dozen voice seemed to mimic hers. After a few seconds a very loud 'swoosh' sound could be heard as heavy corruption rapidly extended outwards from her position, killing every plant and tree within a hundred meters within a few seconds. The roots from the giant tree would move upwards, breaking the shell that we call ground, slowly forming a elegant throne where Lerania sat down, panting slightly.
'You all got work to do. My children, extend our territory outwards, I have given you a decent start already. Send out the imps and satyr to scout, I want a warning in good time if a problem would appear.' she declared with a loud voice, making sure everyone could hear her.
'Yes, Lady Lerania.' was heard as a whispering as a large number of black robed elves with black feathers stuck on both shoulders and headgear. Meanwhile the satyrs and imps replied with a 'It shall be done, master'.
'We'll bring corruption and chaos to this land, I hope this world proves.. entertaining..' she'd mumble to herself while displaying a wicked grin. As if that wasn't a scary sight enough, some claimed to see a gigantic half transparent scorpion watching over her just behind the throne.
​

Within the dead forest where Phantom resided, barely any sound could be heard. A few of the dark clothed elves with raven feathers attached to them sat by various small fires talking in minor groups among themselves. The sound of sparkling fire was almost higher than the voices. Together with the apocalyptic environment and late hour it gave the surroundings a very gloomy setting. Nonetheless, a distant sound could suddenly be heard very much resembling the flapping wings of a bird, a huge bird. As the sound became more and more noticeable, the mumbling druids in the dusky glade gazed upwards towards the sky, no one seemed to notice anything different so they slowly resumed their previous talk.
Yet the sound of flapping wings grew ever clearer, more sounds could be heard, the roots and branches of the gigantic tree at the very center of the glade started to move restlessly which undoubtedly caught the attention of the surrounding humanoids. Their voices seeming quite louder than before as they ran around in seemingly random directions into the dark forest, just to return minutes later with multiple cultists in tow.
Giant creatures would crawl up from a cave which led into the ground just by the tree, letting out silent growls as they peered out over the glade. The closer cultists backed of quickly leaving the creatures alone by the tree.
One of them emerged from shadows of the tree, sitting down in front of the others revealing its actual shape and colors. It turned out to be a drake of medium size by the standards of its own kin, the color of the scale would seem quite odd to most though, it was a mix of black and white while the eyes alone glowed brightly yellow. One would not be able to inspect the rather beautiful being as a roar that made quite a few leaves fall off the trees would be heard just above them.
Moments later a huge dragon of the same kin as the one who lived beneath the tree would land in the vale, this one being bigger quite a lot bigger than the others. Once the dragon's paws touched the ground it would slowly lower its head towards the ground and as the nose was a bare meter from the ground a black hooded figure would slide down the head as if standing on a skateboard and landing fairly graciously on the ground.
The figure pulled back her hood to uncover her quite elegant face, revealing her long white hair as she looked around, during this time nothing would be heard but the fires in the background.
'Hail.' Lerania declared with her usual cold tone while she casually stroke the scales of the dragon she just jumped down from.
'Hail, lady Lerania' was the echoing answer given as silence once again resumed.
'I bring.. interesting.. news to all of you." she grinned wickedly as she looked around while making a dramatic pause. 'In this strange land I've tracked down an orb with a certain.. property. And tonight I've brought it back to my forest. It shall be the key to our main power source, bellow the grand tree in this very glade I have something resembling what my kin refereed to as a Moonwell. However, with this game it will be a.. quite unique creation.' Lerania took a deep breath after the quite long speech, she then reached inside of her tunic as she brought out an transparent orb, very much resembling a pearl with the white color tone.
She chanted silently for a few seconds and suddenly the orb glowed faintly purple before cracking and slowly turning to powder. Afterward she walked nonchalantly towards the dragons by the giant tree to enter their cave. The dragons willingly moved aside and let her pass. Meanwhile the gigantic dragon which brought her back would shapeshift into the form of an Elf whom silently watched Lerania as she left his side.
It took a few minutes to get to the Moonwell even when knowing the way in the labyrinth of tunnels. She dropped the powder into the well as the sacred blue water turned purple within minutes.
'The orb absorbs most energy it comes in contact with and with all the corruption around here, this water will become very.. convenient..' Lerania chuckled silently as her gaze seemed lost in the waters in front of her.
​

Herold looked upon a small but rather tall house on a rather privileged street. Some of those behind him move restlessly as they waited. 'Patience.' Herold spoke silently without turning his head around to look at his subordinates. After a few minutes, screams and the sound of iron scratching against iron was heard as armored soldiers was running.
Herold looks in the direction of the commotion, quite a bit far away a few houses would be on fire. 'He will turn the whole street to ashes at this rate, tsk he overdoes it." he muttered to himself. But nevertheless he made the silent sign to attack towards the building in front of him. The few hooded subordinates he brought with him dual wielded shortswords which they used to slash the door down within a short period of time, however making quite a lot of noise by doing so. Luckily the fire kept most people busy at the moment.
Either way, they stormed into the house. Multiple bookcases covered the otherwise plain walls, the kitchen was very simple did not consist of many luxery items not much money was spent on food or tools related to it, Herold noted. He turned his attention to a single bottle of alcohol on the food table he uncorked the bottle and took a few quick small sips.
'Cheap ale..' Herold stated lowly to himself as he put the bottle back where it belonged.
'He's not anywhere upstairs!' one of the cultists shouted from above.
Herold crossed his arms and tapped his foot inpatiently as he was thinking, doubting that their target would be elsewhere. 'He's likely in the cellar, go find him!' he suddenly shouted back, truly hoping that such was the case.
As luck would have it, their target would indeed be in the cellar. Herold slowly walked down the creaking stairs as he inspected his surroundings. The cellar would be quite large and the sides being filled with tables and racks of numerous vials and pots with all kinds of powder and tools. A lone human would be on his knees in one of corners as a few of the hooded cultists had their weapons pointed towards him.
'You seem to have made quite a fortune as of late.' Herold pointed out as he made a wide gesture with his hands to indicate that he was talking about everything in the cellar.
'J-just take what you want.. a-and leave! Don't.. k-kill me please!' the kneeling man exclaimed with panic shining through his eyes. Herold let out a sigh as he inspected the man with an quite uninterested gaze, though it would not be noted by anyone as his helmet covered his face.
'We're simply customers, I want to order something from you, alchemist. However, my master require you to work on our lands as she does not trust you entirely.' Herold spoke as he leaned against the closest wall.
The kneeling alchemist suddenly burst into laughter. 'Your master.. is a woman?! how pathetic. You're truly--' he got interrupted by a rough kick to the stomach by one of the cultsists which was followed by multiple others. 'Enough, his screams will make it harder to escape. Just carry him.' He made a sign to follow him as he walked upstairs to the first floor. 'He will not eat until the next sunset though.' Herold added with an annoyed tone as he could not punish the alchemist for his words due their need of him.
Days later over at the glade, the alchemist had produced results, Lernia had requested ink that was extremely hard to remove by any means. The ink was then used to tattoo the symbol of Phantom on each member, the tatto being placed on different location depending on preference.
​

One of the first days of arriving at the unknown island a few of the cultists would be missing from the night patrol. Seeing as it was impossible for them to leave the island, the higher ranking cultists decided to report it directly to Lerania once she had woken up.
The sun had barely shown itself before Lernia would come out into 'The Glade' from the cave beneath the tree.
However, unexpectedly the lame reply from Lernia would be 'I know.' she then explained to the surprised cultists that she could feel if anyone set foot in her forest, she knew they had left and not returned to her territory, however the cause was unknown even to her.
Lerania's glew slightly for a few seconds as suddenly a root shoot up from dead ground and launched her high into the air, however landing on the back of a flying dragon, perfectly balanced. Said dragon let out a roar as it flew at great speed to the edges of the corrupted part of the forest within the island. At first, it was hard to see anything due the tree crowns. However it was quite different once they came closer to an area with multiple hills, generally lacking in terms of trees. However still being full of green plants and a overall nice environment. Suddenly the dragon let out a loud snort as it had found the remains of the missing cultists. Lerania was notified through telepathy from the dragon which she stood on, she simply made an agreeing grunt as the dragon dived downwards towards the location where the bodies lied, or the bones rather as the flesh was cleanly devoured by something, but parts of their clothes would lay around.
Lernia glared around her before letting out a loud shout full of anger as she wide explosive gesture with her hands with resulted in a bright purple explosion with a loud bang meanwhile a bright purple beam would be sent towards the sky like a missile. However the beams twisting and bending until it formed a large symbol, namely the logo of Phantom. Most animals within many miles would likely notice the hovering mark in the sky, likely remembering the symbol for the rest of their lives as the day it appeared would be a massacre if the local wildlife.
Lerania waved her hand dismissively as the dragon returned to 'The Glade'. Meanwhile Lerania would summon a gigantic root from the ground which she rode on, very much resembling a skateboard regarding usage but thirty times bigger in terms of size. While charging forward on the root her whole body would be covered in black and dark purple flames which continuously sent magical bolts flying wildly around her effectively harming the whole area as she tread through the area most animals around her being affected by incredible pain, many not surviving it. About half an hour later loud roars would echo among the hills as multiple dragons would be seen in the sky. Lerania's loyal dragons had come to burn the savage animals to ashes. The merciless hunt would last for hours, barely leaving any wildlife nor plants remain in the area. However Lerania beleived she had made herself clear and as such they returned.
The next day Lerania would travel back to the hills. However continuing further until she came to parts where they had not purged the wildlife. She found an adult panther drinking from an small lake, she made roots come fourth from the ground to restrain the animal. The panther struggled ferociously as it continuously growled. Lerania closed in on the animal as it continued to growl and bared its fangs. Lernia would smile coldly as she opened the middle part of her tunic, revealing her flat stomach, but more importantly the mark of Phantom which was drawn on her skin. The growls would quickly turn to whimper as the animals recalled the horrific night that exact mark appeared.
Lernia laughed silently as she let the roots lost its grasp around the panther and allowed it to run away in fear as she closed her tunic again. The mark had gained the respect and fear of the animals. Lerania had even greater plans though, merely scaring a few animals would be rather pointless. She intended to make them guardians of her isle, and in due time she would command them like her other minions.​

The large group of people marshed through the woods during the middle of the day, by barely listening one could tell that it was not an army, or a group of people who were used to travel in groups due the footsteps being at differents paces. It looked more like a pack wandering north, rather than mashing. Either way, their destination was unclear. They walked until they came to a rather uneven ground, there were multiple hills around here. Exactly where they were was unclear, but somewhere south-east of 'The Glade'.
Suddenly a voice could be heard, clearly a male judging by the tone.
'Here our ways part, faithful ones. For you shall make your own lair even further south of here. You will return here, at this very spot once a week to report your progress in demon summoning. I shall mark the sky so everyone finds their way.' The voice would be heard clearly even among the previously chatting cultists as the voice's owner would have strengthened his voice with magic. But the cultists were not satisfied to just hear the voice they wanted to know where he was so they looked around them. Until they spotted him, an figure covered in a rugged robe and a very strange mask. Judging by body build it was likely a elf, but it was impossible to tell which type by just looking.
After a brief delay, the masked man continued nonetheless.
'Any kind of sabotage will result in.. proper punishment. Same goes for not achieving something worthy of one of our members when you report each week.'
Others took more time than some before they left, over the hills to summon demons to build them lairs wherever they seemed fit.
'You will keep an eye of them, wont you, 'Puppet Master?' another voice would be heard as everyone but the masked man had left. Moments later, an elf with a bare tattooed chest and long white hair would jump down from one of the trees.
'There is no need for concern, Fennus. The demons will be summoned at good pace, as Lady Lerania commanded.' 'The Puppeteer' replied replied with an annoyed tone.
'I have no doubts. If I had, I would not allow you to be in charge here. However, there is another issue with the orders you gave just now.' Fedus stated bluntly as he locked his piercing gaze onto the masked man.
'And.. what would that be? Please, do elaborate.' The masked man asked with an quite uninterested tone, as if he already had enough of the conversation.
'Skip the sarcasm. They will be spread all over this area - which is quite large. If we were to get attacked from the south of here, they will be taken out on by one, this is not pleasing for me, nor Lady Lerania.' Fenus kept his usual tone, not showing any emotion to judge him by.
'First of, I could not care any less if it pleases you or not. Secondly, it's needed. They will not be distracted by eachother that way, which will increase the results.' 'Puppeteer' snapped his fingers right after speaking making him disappear in a bright green flash.
Fenus blinked a few times before smiling coldly. 'I will judge if you are proven right by next week then, Puppet Master..' he spoke lowly to himself as scales would slowly show themselves on his skin while growing in size at the same time. After a few seconds, his shape would have changed as well, not being the largest among Lerania's dragons.​

Kerling Harbor's location was as the name implied just by the vast sea, mainly dealing in various goods that was transported by ships and boats, while offering various merchandises from the quite exotic jungle from the island where the harbor resided.
But even while having a focus on trade, it had a remarkably large military strength as the jungle was huge and mostly unexplored as very few dared to venture far into it, the dangers and threats were, well, unknown for the most part.
Either way, during the more busy work hours of the day, around lunch time for most, the Baron who was highest of rank and in charge of the whole harbor sat in front a huge table, full of various plates, each plate containing a separate dish , perhaps indication his wealth and power. He chewed a big piece of meat, the animal was unknown by just looking at it, clearly nothing common, the meat dripping slightly, leaving small taints in his short beard as he was somewhat distant due reading a report from the Captain of the local rangers.
The report was not exactly of very dire importance, but it was an interesting, or odd scenario described in the report, depending on your personal perspective. It described the 'random' increase in causalities for the rangers the last month. The baron had been in charge of the Harbor since the very beginning as he was the one who provided funds for the construction, he noted that this many rangers dying to the creatures in the jungle while hunting were higher than ever. According to the baron, this was highly unfortunate, but nothing critical. What he found interesting however, was the fact that the increase of 'accidents' started about the same the same time as the very strange mark appeared on the sky one month ago. The few mages in the harbor had various - loud, debates regarding the source. It varied from curses to archmages, one even went as far as to suggest that it was a work of a god, a sign of some sort.
There were also rumors going around town among the common folk, many claiming that some of the animals had changed both appearance and state of mind, among them the rather beautiful panthers whom were previously hunted for their fur, rather than the meat. However, not a single one had been brought back to town the last month, at least not to the baron's knowledge, which made the situation even more strange.
But, surprisingly, at the very end of the report there would be a small additional note, seemingly quickly scratched onto the parchment. 'Please come to the Ranger's Hall as soon as possible, or send someone, we've got our hands on a panther but we do not want to show it to the public.'
The baron scratched his beard as he stared at the late note with a confused look on his face, after a few seconds of consideration he stood up from his comfortable chair as he ordered a servant to get his cape while he headed for the entrance of his estate, apparently interested enough to inspect the panther himself.
Once he arrived at the Ranger's Hall he was let in without any delay, he was led to the main hall which was usually used for various games and drinking, pretty much serving as an inn for the rangers during the evening. However, this time around the attention would be on one of the table at the very center which was crowded. The baron almost has to brawl his way through to see whatever it was on the table.
The table would have a panther on top of it, however not one of the ones they were used to seeing. The skin would be dark purple, the eyes would have a grey color and the tongue would be black. The size would be quite admirable too. The baron drew the somewhat hasty conclusion that it was infected by a demon of some sort. Meanwhile, while the baron was thinking, the rangers showed him the stomach of the panther. Engraved into the skin would be a strange, yet beautiful mark, the same mark as the one seen in the sky one month ago.The next morning, the baron was woken up by one of the servants. The baron cursed loudly as he asked 'What the fuck do you wake me up for?!'. It was common knowledge to not wake up one's lord, the servant was well aware of this, however he had been given orders from one of the sergeants to request the baron's presence, as as they judged the situation at the gate to be of dire importance and required the barons immediate attention.
The servant kept it short 'The guards at Kerling's gate request your presence, my lord.'. The baron got dressed with the help of the servant, afterwards he went to his room's window and looked through it. It seemed like the guards has managed to keep the unknown situation hidden as the daily life of the common folk seemed to be just about as usual.
He eventually made his way to the Harbor' entrance, meeting many surprised and curious faces as he walked through his big settlement, apparently is was unusual for the baron to be seen outside of his residence. Once in sight, a small squad of guards would greet him with a salute, a bit away from the gate. The sergeant in charge of the squad spoke 'There is an man at the gate whom claims to be the one who left the Infected Panther at the Ranger's Hall.'.
'You brought me all the way down here for empty claims?! You've overstepped your bounds!' the baron exclaimed with a loud and somewhat annoyed tone as he glared angrily at the sergeant. The sergeant swallowed before speaking once more, keeping a quite stressed tone now. 'The rangers confirmed it, they were not the ones who actually killed the panther they just found the body. And there is no way this stranger would've known, right?! There is more to it than jus that though, I managed to convince some of the mages to see if he spoke the truth.. however.. they got dead scared as soon as they got close to him.' the sargeant peered nervously towards the baron, awaiting his reaction. The baron let out a sigh as he nodded. 'Fine.. I will see this stranger and hope that it is worth my time.'
And so, the baron went just outside the grand gate, now standing infront of a single quite elegant man with a bare slightly muscular chest. A tattoo being seen on the left side of it.
'Ah.. you're the one in charge here?' the stranger asked bluntly as he focused a piercing gaze towards the baron, seeming to ignore the squad of guards that was with him. 'That's right, state your business, the day is short and I am busy most of it.' the baron felt a slight chill down his spine when meeting the stranger's gaze head on. While the stranger's words were polite, his face certainly didn't give of the same vibe.
'I have more than one thing to carry out here. But firstly, my master wonders if you found her gift pleasant.' surprisingly, the stranger did not bow or show any kind of respect towards the baron for whatever reason. This made most of the guard squad's members to look towards each other as they were considering to intervene and make the stranger know his place. However, since the baron didn't seem to care about it, they let it be for now, simply standing by.
'Gift? I have not received any gift..' the baron answered with an confused tone as he looked around as if to see if he was the only one who didn't understand. The half-naked elf snorted as he extended both his hand towards the baron, the mark would be painted onto his skin in both palms with a black color. The baron easily recognizing it from the demon panther and the gigantic mark in the sky.
As the baron noticed, he narrowed his eyes suddenly seeming quite hostile towards the white haired elf. 'That.. being.. is your doing?' he asked, trying to keep his tone calm however anger clearly affecting the voice's tone.
'Not at all. It's the work of my master. Most of this isles wildlife is under her control at this point. Now, to the main point, my master offers you an option to escape this island. You have two options. Either you stay here and die like the insects you are, or you take your ships sail away - and live. However you may only take two thirds of your harbor with you, the rest needs to stay.' The elf removed his uncomfortable gaze from the baron as he turned it towards the sky instead, as if thinking 'how long is he going to take' .
'You're simply insane. I got no time for you.' the baron commented as he turned his back, as he walked away with quick steps. The guarding squad was about to do the same, however..
Fenus narrowed his eyes, as if his gaze was not unpleasant already. He then took a deep breath, then open his mouth widely with a loud roar which made the very ground he stood on tremble. Also, from his mouth black flames would sprout out towards the guards, burning them alive in the hot iron armor without mercy.
From the forest half a kilometer behind him a huge group of the infected panthers would come charging towards the harbors, likely numbering at least a hundred. A few black clothed, hooded characters covered in raven feathers walked slowly behind the panthers, kind of resembling shepherds.
The baron ran into the harbor shouting loudly as bells would start to ring, making the harbor's military to assemble to defend. The rangers tried to reduce the number of Nightmare Panthers by impaling them with arrows before they got in melee range. Sadly for them however, the panthers who were influenced by the Nightmare Druids had higher intellect than usual and had no issues to avoid close to all arrows at long range due good reflexes and quick thinking. The closer the panthers got, the lower the timeframe they had to dodge, and as such when the forces clashes the panthers would be reduced by a fourth already. Fenus, the elf who was previously had already left the scene he had went to the common folk's section and start a fire which spread from house to house at a quick pace. So overall looking grim for Phantom thus far, but then a group of around forty black tight leather clothed characters could be seen on top of the walls by some if they happened to look in that direction by chance as they had barely made any sound, how they got up there at all was a mystery to most. All stood still, almost like statues, however one of them being slightly different as he was taller than the rest, in fact his whole body structure was different. This was likely the first time anyone in the new world had seen a troll, the features such as tusks, eye color, hair color, skin color and the like were not able to be seen from so far away. Either way, they did not remain at the wall for long. The troll looked to both his sides to confirmed that everyone was there. He then made a quick sequence of gestures, likely being some kind of command. Very shortly after the gestures was seen by the others they would suddenly fly forward at great speed, drawing their bows mid air. In fact they were not flying, but thin wires had been shot out from a small tool at their belt, the wire attaching itself to objects hit. The small squad thus swung through the air, constantly changing direction with the wires connecting to seemingly random structures. However if one watched the whole scene from the distance he or she could likely note that the team work was about as good as it could, the movements may seemed random the first time you encountered the battle style, but truly it was clear that there was a plan as they always managed to swing behind an object such as an huge tree while being aimed at, making the ranger's attempt to shoot them down quite pointless, really.
The swinging troops would be a special unit within Phantom called Renegades, extremely few in numbers but insanely skilled and well equipped.
The Renegades would fire about half an dozen arrows each, trying to take out most of the rangers. Aiming mid air while controlling the wires are no easy task, even for elites, so the interval between each arrow would be fairly long, however most of the arrows hit their targets even while not all of them proved lethal.
Once the rangers' numbers were almost cut in half by the arrows they suddenly change pattern and swung forward straight for the remaining rangers who stood 'safely' behind the main front line of footmen who were busy with the panthers.
The Renegades put their bows on their back, and drew their short dual swords, then letting their wires let go completely as they continued forward through the air, colliding with the rangers making it a brawl battle rather than a shooting contest as it was previously. The melee combat at the back line would be an walk in the park for the well trained Renegades though, they were on a whole other level in melee combat. They made a few quick attacked on their targets, successfully eliminating very close to every last ranger. Then letting their wires shoot out once against as they swung back onto the air, barely letting the enemy know what hit them.
Fennus had still been playing pyromaniac the whole time, half of the harbor would be in flames at this point. He walked around chuckling with a wicked smile as he threw black colored fireballs who was small in size and not really powerful either, but enough to start a fire. Thus no chanting was needed for a ten thousand year old dragon.
Back at the main battle, the troll who seemed to be the leader of the Renegades spoke just after letting go of his bow string, the arrow hitting one of the footmen by the neck where the armor was thin. 'We need ta get 'da target, he be missin'. You t'ree come wit' me.' he signaled towards three of the nearby Renegades who simply nodded as they followed the troll through the air in search of the baron. High up in the air the view would be quite good, so searching was ideal. Additionally the hoods the Renegades were wearing was enchanted with improve sight, thus making it even more effective. And as such, they would spot the baron running towards the docks with a few lower ranked nobles and a pair of bodyguards. Apparently wanted to flee by ship. The troll made another quick sequence of gestures as he gave his subordinates silent orders. Two the Renegades would swing forward to land on the bodyguard's shoulders, wrapping their legs around their neck, making them fall backwards in the heavy armor, then rolling to the side making the footmen face the ground while they sat on top of them still having the legs around their neck while using their hands to hold the arms. The two focusing on restraining the footmen from doing -anything- at all for now. However the third Renegade would land on the ground next to them, and would grant the helpless footmen a quick death. Meanwhile the troll would attach one of the wires at the ground, then using the other one to swing around in a circle around the nobles and the baron. After mere seconds they would be tied up in the wire.
'Dat be it.' the troll declared as he shrugged. 'Dis battle is ova. We be deliverin' dis one to Lady Lerania.'​