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After becoming Lhesh of the goblins, Zergiot began researching options
for becoming immortal. He was experimenting with lichdom, not realizing
it was well beyond his magical ability, and was trying to create a
phylactory out of plain gold ring when the mournbomb went off. The
magical aura emanating from the mournbombs blast infused Zergiots
experiment. Although the ring did not turn into a phylactory, it did
turn into very power artifact.
Using the power of this ring, Zergiot constructed 19 more magical rings.
A set of 3, a set of 7, and a set of 9 to what he called "the twenty".
The rings would provide power to whoever wore them but would also make
them susceptible to his mental control. This control isn't absolute and
someone especially powerful or strong willed could override Zergiots
control.
Zergiot knew for maximum effect that each set of rings should stay
together, he also knew while each set was equally powerful, the
distribution of the 3, 7, 9 meant that individually the 3 were the most
powerful, then the 7, then 9, which matched his control over the various
sets. So the 3 would be harder for someone else to break control from
while the 9 would be the easiest.
With the power of "the one" and the help of some of the most skilled
artificers in Darguun, Zergiot was able to complete "the twenty" in only
a little over a month. He decided to give "the seven" to his most
powerful generals. He gave two to Dhakaani generals, two to Maguul
generals, and the final three to Ghaal'dar generals. Zergiot claimed
giving the extra one to the Ghaal'dar was so that clan knew he
considered them an important part of the empire even though they grumble
about Haruuc being deposed, however the truth was that he wanted more
control over the clan since they are less loyal then the others.
Zergiot suggested that Moriarty use his ships to raid Zilargo, this way
Zergiot wouldn't break the contract but Zilargo would be weakened.
Moriarty decided this was a good idea as he had been keeping his pirate
fleets on guard duty since taking control of them and they were getting
restless. Moriarty ordered one fleet to make it's way to the Zilargo
coast.
While Zergiot was working on "the twenty", the engineers he had set to
reverse engineer airship technology with Moriarty's help had done so
though they had to completely disassemble one of the ships to do so.
Zergiot ordered all the resources of Darguun he wasn't using on "the
twenty" to go towards building a new airship that would be his flagship.
By devoting the entire nation to this project work proceeds swiftly,
especially after he completes "the twenty" and can use it's power to
work on it. His flagship is done in just under a month.
Widow Maker is an exceptionally large airship. It is shaped like a
dragon, with the mouth capable of spitting out alchemists fire. It's
cargo hold is large enough to dock a normal sized airship within it
though this takes up the entire cargo space. It has rows of cannons
along the side as it's primary source of firepower.
Zergiot was advised that the battle between Droamm and what remained of
the Brelish army had stalemated near The Dragonwood. A refugee camp was
being constructed at Dragon's Crown named New Breland and populated by
the surviving civilians to help support the army holding off the Droamm
forces. The Zil were apparently keeping quite and while there were
rumors of a city being attacked there was nothing definite. The war
between Aundair and Thrane was still going strong though the Thranish
line was slowly being pushed back. There are also reports of a higher
number of attacks in the West then usual which is being attributed to
changes in the Mournland.
Zergiot only spends a few days on trials before deciding it's ready for
action. He considers his options and decides attacking Thrane would be
foolish as that would just bring him into conflict with Aundair. New
Galifar is currently too powerful even without the Mourning acting as a
buffer between them. Attacking Zilargo would end with many casualties to
his army and afterwards he would need to keep forces in Zilargo to keep
it occupied. Attacking Breland would result in him coming up against the
Droamm army. While he might be able to conquer Droamm, Droamm had more
reserves then Zergiot did with their recent acquisitions of The Shadow
Marches so it wasn't likely. Even if he did it would devastate both
armies and leave him wide open to attack from just about anyone. He
couldn't ally with Droamm as this would be unpopular with the goblins
and Haruuc making an alliance with Droamm was the reason many tribes
supported Zergiot in the first place. Zergiot decides he needs to
somehow conquer Droamm but leave it's armies intact and comes up with a
plan.
He loads Widow Makers cargo bay full of rocks and as many soldiers as he
can and flies towards New Breland. After a week of flying he arrives at
New Breland. When Zergiot reaches New Breland he keeps Widow Maker up
out of arrow range and plans to have his soldiers throw the rocks down
while flying over the city to bomb it. His goal is to disrupt it's New
Brelands ability to support the Brelish army in The Dragonwood. Zergiot
symbolically throws the first stone however this one rock by itself
causes a massive landslide that buries most of New Breland. Although it
was complete luck on Zergiots behalf he played it up as if it was
entirely intentional. After confirming New Breland was essentially wiped
out he set course for THe Dragonwood
The next day Widow Makers lookouts spot the Brelish army. It appeared
that the Brelish army had been routed from The Dragonwood and had
stopped just east of New Breland to defend it from Droamm. They had some
hastily erected defenses set up but it was obvious they were in a bad
position. From his airship Zergiot could see the Droamm army marching
towards the Brelish encampment.
Zergiot kept Widow Maker hovering high above the Brelish army as Droamm
approached. Through his spyglass, Zergiot saw Brelish soldiers waving up
at the airship, apparently thinking it was a Zil or House Lyrander come
to support them. When the Droamm army was close enough to see what was
going on, Zergiot attacked the Brelish encampment with Widow Maker.
He intended to drop the supply of rocks meant for New Breland however
one of the crew accidentally tripped over the cargo bay release lever
and dumped the entire load of rocks far outside the encampment without
doing any damage. Some of the Brelish soldiers started running to the
rocks to see what was going on, thinking maybe supplies had been
dropped. Zergiot ordered Widow Maker brought around and fly over the
soldiers and encampment, strafing them with alchemists fire out of the
dragons mouth in a "dragon attack". Breland was completely surprised by
this and wasn't able to counter attack beyond a few random arrows that
did no damage to the hull.
Zergiot had Widow Maker intentionally placed between the Droamm and
Breland armies, then fire it's cannons broadside at Breland, especially
targeting any ballistas and catapults that could damge his ship. Despite
this Breland managed to retaliate a little bit and did some minor damage
to Widow Maker. After the volley ended Zergiot had a goblin spellcaster
creat a large illusion of him riding the airship like a dragon. He then
magically amplified his voice and announced "Behold, Zergiot the
Vanquisher of Breland!"
He then had Widow Maker perform another dragon attack over the
encampment with the illusion he was riding a dragon. The Droamm army
took this opportunity and charged the Brelish army. Zergiot kept Widow
Maker off to the side, using it's cannons to hit the rear lines to avoid
Droammish casualties. In less then half an hour the battle was over and
Breland was in a complete rout.
With the battle over, Zergiot carefully brought Widow Maker towards the
Droammish army and while he noticed some soldiers were watching the ship
carefully most were cheering for 'the dragon'. Once on the ground he met
with the armies commander, a Minotaur named Angus. Zergiot told Angus
that while Haruuc's treaty died with him, he was eager to create a new
treaty as the monstrous races of Darguun and Droamm had both been
treated as second class citizens by the "hew-mons" and they had a new
chance to build a new empire together.
Angus was obviously interested by Zergiots proposal but said he was only
a commander for the army. He said no one here would have the authority
to create or sign treaties and that if Zergiot was sincere he should
travel to The Crag and speak with the Daughters of Sora Kell themselves.
Zergiot told Angus he assumed as much and had even brought gifts for the
hags. However he didn't want to fly to The Crag unannounced and univited
and felt helping with the battle first would be more diplomatic,
especially if a commander of the army magically messaged ahead telling
them that. Angus replied that he would do so, as long as Zergiot was
willing to take back some couriers that needed to make deliveries in The
Crag which would also be able to confirm in person the message he
intended to send. Zergiot agreed and soon left for The Crag with
couriers.
It takes a couple weeks for Zergiot to reach The Crag, the voyage was
mostly uneventful. Some of his goblin advisors, especially those of the
Maguul clan, were concerned that Zergiot was going to "give Darguun away
like Haruuc tried do". Zergiot promised them that he had a plan and when
the treaty was done Droamm would be a part of the Dhakaani Empire, not
the other way around. Near the end of the journey though Zergiot
received a message from Rhukaan Draal that something is happening in
Zilargo. The border guards have not seen any evidence of Zil
counterparts in days and everything visible from the border appears
abandoned. The goblins have not violated the treaty to investigate
closer until until they get new orders from Zergiot. Zergiot ordered
them to maintain the border for the time being and watch out for tricks.
Upon reaching The Crag it was obvious that he was expected. There was an
honor guard at an open field just outside the city that had apparently
been set up for a very large airship to land at since The Crag had no
airship docking tower. As Widow Maker circled around to land Zergiot,
the couriers that came with him pointed out a pavilion where three hags
were seated on thrones. The couriers told him he should be honored for
the Daughters of Sora Kell to come themselves to meet him. A goblin
chief that had been to The Crag before said the people on the thrones
did look like The Daughters of Sora Kell.
After landing Zergiots public bodyguards came out, rolled out a red
carpet, and finally Zergiot himself left the ship. He went up to the
Daughters of Sora Kell and bowed to them. Sora Katra and Sora Maenya
glared coldly at him while Sora Teraza seemed to not be paying
attention, none of them said anything.
"The fabled hospitality of the Daughters of Sora Kell" Zergiot
announced. "I am Zergiot, Lhesh of the new Dhakaani Empire."
There was no change in the demeanor of any of the hags.
"I have come to propose a new alliance between us," Zergiot continued
"and as a gesture of good will I offer you magical artifacts of great
power"
Zergiot then brought out a box and opened it, inside were "the three".
He then stepped forward to offer them to the hags.
"Do you consider us so guillible?" Sora Maenya muttered so no one else
could hear. "These are certainly a trick to weaken or kill us."
Before Zergiot could reply Sora Teraza's gaze suddenly focused on the
rings. The other hags began paying close attention to their sister.
"Death comes," she muttered as she reached for the nearest ring "Death
for Droamm, death for the rulers of Droamm," without hesitating she put
on the ring she had chosen. "The only hope the Daughters of Sora Kell
have of staying alive is to wield the power of these rings..."
The other two hags quickly glanced at each other before snatching a ring
of their own and hurriedly putt them on.
"...though it means the death of Droamm and us as it's rulers" she
finished.
The eyes of the other two hags grew wide but it was too late. Using the
power of "the one" Zergiot began enforcing his will on the hags. The
hags were powerful and he had to concentrate to keep Sora Katra and Sora
Maenya from breaking free but even they were no match for "the three".
Sora Teraza seemed resigned to her fate and did not fight. The crisis
passed within seconds and Zergiot knew it would be quite some time
before the hags were completely subsumed to his will but they were
definitely under his control.
He had Sora Katra announce that given the past history between Droamm
and Darguun, along with the powerful gift Zergiot had just provided,
that a new alliance would be forged between Droamm and the new Dhakaani
Empire. He made it sound like an alliance of equals for the time being
so that the warlords would not immediately revolt on finding out he had
enslaved the hags.
That evening he secretly told his goblin chieftans that despite what had
been said in public there was no alliance between Droamm and the
Dhakanni Empire, but that Droamm was under his control through the
Daughters of Sora Kell. The ruse of an alliance would need to be
maintained for awhile to keep the warlords in line but eventually Droamm
would publicly become part of the empire. Some of the chieftans
suspected a trick from the hags but Zergiot proved to them the truth by
forcing the hags to perform various humiliating tasks.