Bads in Black: Interview with Lord Goldmist

Monsters.
We meet them almost weekly as we square off against them, losing life and limb so constantly I believe certain adventurers have discounts on revival magic.

But what lies behind the mask?

What makes there nature so incompatible with the rest of us. I mean I eat people, why can people deal with that and not a kobold? To uncover this, I Jean Baptise, ace reporter (Sorry)… a reporter , will go to deadly realms and forbidden kingdoms in what I like to call

Bads in Black

For my Pilot episode we are going to uncover the most recent threat, the Risen Kingdom, a group from an outside universe controlling monsters made of the void itself. They are led by the Warrior-Diplomat Emissary Starblade who will be my interviewee.

Or so I’d like to say but he is as the laymen put it “An asshole”, who is uninterested in interviews that don’t distract the warriors of the realms from tanning his hide as red as his tabard. Point being he wouldn’t accept an interview. So I found someone else who will accept an interview to talk smack about him, which he will never be able to defend unless he agrees to an interview. In short: I win.

Picture "borrowed" and "improved" by Jean Baptiste

Here to hurt Starblade’s feelings is Lord Goldmist, a leader of Faerie who has been personally victimized by the subject in question.  Lord Goldmist thank you for taking the time for this. Alright first of all, about how extensive do you think your knowledge of Starblade is? Did you use any seer spells before or after meeting him to establish more information?

I accept. I believe that I now have the measure of Emissary Starblade as a person; the entirety of his being seems devoted to description and the abuse of goodwill and the service of his wretched Kingdom. As for Seer magics, it would be *impolite* to scry upon a guest, so I employed no such spells. By the time I had cause for sufficient suspicion to declare him to have abandoned the protections of hospitality, he had already deprived me of the resources I would otherwise use to inspect him magically.

That is a shame. So there is a chance that some of your information may be faulty? Either way let us begin with basics, Starblade's species. He appears to look more human then the void creatures he uses as a front guard, is this actually true?

I have little knowledge of the man but his actions, Mr. Baptiste. And save for the possibility that Emissary Starblade was replaced by an impostor between his request for safe passage and the subsequent invasion, I have tremendous doubts that I will be proven wrong as to his character. I have not inspected his species, but I will say that on the Iron Road *shudders*, a number of his troops were openly human, and a number of his troops were decidedly not. Emissary Starblade certainly resembled the former far more than the latter, so it would not be unreasonable to conclude that he is human.

I am not so concerned about the morality of the person, as I am details which will define what differs this threat from the other the Realms and the Fae face. But let us talk more about his actions, the Kingdom has harassed the Realms before, such as crafting a portal to the Realms directly. Why do you suppose he bothered with the Road if he could directly travel to the Realms? Just sadism on his part?

The Risen Kingdom may be able to reach the Realms in small quantities - rangers and scouts, perhaps an individual platoon here or there - but this does not satisfy them. They intend to move vast armies across the Iron Road, for their advantage lies in sheer military force rather than heroic cleverness, as is the main defense of the Realms. And they must traverse Faerie if they are to bring such numerous forces across. Faerie is far vaster than many mortals realize; it touches most every plane, from Hell to Mayerling, though some planes have contact with rather different sorts of Fae than others. It is a natural bridge across the entirety of existence, which is why the Risen Kingdom seek to subdue and dominate it.

That is troubling. Following that, the Iron Road itself, which as we all know is explicitly toxic to Faerie, I think I described it once as wrapping barbed wire under the world's skin. Is there any particular meaning into the Road's composition, or is that merely to prevent the Fae from directly stopping it's construction?

It is not only meant to prevent Faerie creatures from stopping its construction; it is meant to prevent the Faerie plane from doing so as well. Faerie is alive with change, and mortal wanderers who have the fortune to enter into it without proper guidance often have difficulty finding their way out. Indeed, when Emissary Starblade first came to me, the safe passage through my domain which he sought included a certain degree of *cooperation* from the land itself which, as its rightful Lord, I could provide. And now, the Risen Kingdom brings iron into Faerie, not only to ward off its inhabitants, but to beat down and subdue the land itself. They have no use for a road that does not always lead to the same place.

Awful, though I think I have a plan that might help against that. However let's back up for a moment and look at the group as a whole, particularly those fire headed aberrations of theirs. They appear to be artificial of some sorts, but of what?

I am neither an adventurer nor a zoologist, Mister Baptiste. You might do better to ask one of the mortal heroes who came to Faerie's aid what sort of creatures or constructions they are; they stayed mostly on the Iron Road and as such I stayed far from them. What does your plan require, Mister Baptiste?

Well my suggestion is alchemy. Transmuting materials is a basic tenant of the field, even if it's practical application doesn't often show. So if you turn iron into say copper, the problem resolves itself.

Mortal alchemy, perhaps, could accomplish magically what Fae power could not. If you have the power to transmute such tremendous quantities of iron, however, I may consider myself shocked. In any case, mortal adventurers have already made great progress in disrupting the road itself. But this does little to purge the portals they have installed as fixtures in my domain to their own world, your plane, and Hell. As long as they have access to my domain, they can continue to throw bodies and resources at constructing a new road.

That's actually worth bringing up. Hell is not exactly one's first choice to try to conquer. Why did they send their forces there More importantly, Hell is in a state of civil war after the Nine became Eight, how would that affect there attempts?

I do not know the mind of the Risen Kingdom, nor the political state of Hell, with any great intimacy, so it is not my place to speculate. However, were I to do so, I might imagine that the Risen Kingdom's lackeys were so foolhardily convinced of their own power that they embarked to Hell in search of allies. What they will find there, I do not know, but I dare hope. *Lord Goldmist leans forward as a thin smile spreads across his lips*

A few last questions, there was rumors that the Risen Kingdom's forces were using clockwork armor while invading the Fae, is this true?

Again, I am no adventurer, but I did recall a great frustration arising from the mortal host and curses heaped upon the very concept of Clockwork armor.

Do you think there was any particular reason why the forces on the road were significantly stornger then previous forces were?

I do not know. Perhaps they brought more powerful forces to bear because they were near the completion of the Iron Road? Or they could have heard of the impending arrival of the mortal host and made preparations accordingly; it is difficult to hide a call meant to go out far and wide from enemy eyes, after all.

Final question then. The Risen Kingdom were forwarned by Jack, who sent us to a Dreaming of a universes apocalypse. During this apocalypse many more void creatures were employed then their current lineup. Why have we not seen these creatures yet?

The Realms is not yet at its apocalypse. The Risen Kingdom has laid down an Iron Road in Faerie. They have breached the walls between planes and established nigh-permanent gateways to Hell and the Realms. But they have not yet won. You adventurers have torn up the Iron Road, cursed the portal into your world with confusion, and learned a great deal about the Risen Kingdom. This story is not yet ended, nor will it as long as you fight. One day, I hope that you will bring your swords and your spells to the home of the great monsters you speak of, and end them as surely and finally as you ended the threat of the Dark. But to do so, you must keep pressing forward.

"So you believe that beings such as the Light of Betrayal can only be summoned during a apocalypse or some conditional that hasn't been met?

I have no knowledge of the conditions under which these creatures may be summoned, or even if they are summoned at all. But I know that these Realms are not yet at an end.

So the lack of diversity in the Risen Kingdom's army remains a mystery. Well thank you for your time. I will not keep you any longer.

Do you have any final statements to tell the View?

I accept. And in payment for my time, I charge you by lien and obligation to spread this story, Mister Baptiste. To the adventurers of the Realms: whatever you may think of Faerie, if it falls, the Risen Kingdom is at your door. We must stand together, or fall separately.

And there you have it people.

1.      Starblade is an asshole.

2.      Never make a deal with a dragon.

3.      Hell and the Realms is under threat.

Now dealing with xenocide makes for strange bedfellows. You can find yourself fighting alongside bizarre people when some asshole wants to destroy everyone’s shit. And that is what we are facing today.

Fortunately RTC allows for “In Between Actions”, allowing us, as a collective, to prepare for the upcoming war. I implore all those to do so. Those with seer spells, delve into what lies on the other side of the portals, the holy should inform the Gods of those who would deny them clergy. Even those tied to hell should rile the sinned up. Do not do this because everything is at stake, don’t do it for desperation, don’t do it for me.

Do it for Hate. Do it because these people think automatons, mindless replacements, are more valuable than your flesh, bone and soul. Do it so that as they suffer, they know you matter.

Do it so you can feel their throat under the sole of your boot, and do it for the privilege of pushing that foot down until the heel touches dirt.

These people claim dominance over the Void? Let the Dark One judge that.

Photo References, What You Missed, Void Where Prohibited