Preperations for War

“So, we all understand our duties?” asked John as he looked around the war table. He looked at each woman at the table and the sole other man. The twins were resolute in their duty to stay by John’s side and protect him from any potential last ditch **** attempts by the Order before their army finally reached their kingdom. Idena, who felt much more relief and whose mind was far more soothed, was adamant in her attempts to train her newly made Kingsguard, currently only made up of herself and elves. Gali had already found some of the more devout elves and was in the midst of them being trained in her arts. Fran had taken to her duty as Gali’s Grand Inquisitor in stride after their night together, and had already picked the most martial of the group to be trained as paladins and her new Inquisitors. Aliressa had stuck close to Kornac and Sylva but her mages had already begun construction on a more impressive village. She and her mages had already tore down the earthen hutts Mikuru had made and were already replaced with the normal elven spires. She had also made a few key defensive towers for the archers as well as magical defense turrets.

“So, do you really think this will work, King John?” asked Princess Slyva. Her voice was firm but a hint of worry could be heard in it. While she and John had talked about these plans in private, she was still hesitant to send the majority of her troops to battle. John promised he and his girls would be up front and attempt to take out the field commanders and leave the main army leaderless.

“It has to work. And we will make it work. Now, the twins and I have to leave and escort a few more people here to assist in the upcoming battle. I’m not sure how many we’ll get, but every person counts,” John told his for, for lack of a better term, generals.

“Do we know who these allies are?” asked a curious Idena.

“Um. Sarah mentioned that they were Grey Jedi, I believe,” he informed his group. Fran snorted in disbelief when she heard that.

“Impossible! The Order wiped out the Jedi and Sith centuries ago!” countered a very confident Fran.

“Well that’s a lie. I’ve met one. She said the Jedi Order wants to remain hidden from the Order but that the Grey Jedis would be willing to help, and it looks like they are,” he told her.

“So the Order did not wipe them out like we were taught,” Fran said as processed this new information.

“Fran, can you tell us what the Order knows about the Jedi and Sith?” John asked his newest member of his kingdom.

“Sure. So, thousands of years ago, when magic was still a primal **** that no one knew how to control, a group of tribal spiritual leaders gathered together to study magic to better aid their village. Eventually, these men and women would become the first Jedi. For the new few centuries, they mediated between Abyssal villages and defended against monster attacks.

However, a small group of Jedi began to experiment in the darker sides of the ****, as they called magic. These Dark Jedi were at first accepted by the regular Jedi, but as the Dark Jedi used less diplomacy and more aggressive tactics, the Jedi Council decided something must be done. So they gave the group an ultimatum: turn their backs to this darker aspect of the ****, or be banished from all land under Jedi protection. The Dark Jedi decided to choose a third option: they attacked their once friends in an attempted coup d'état. The Dark Jedi’s dark side powers gave them an initial advantage, but the Jedi’s superior numbers eventually **** them back.

The Dark Jedi fled to lands outside of the Jedi’s territory. And in those lands, they decided to formalize their own code and teachings, which eventually evolved into the Sith Code, a dark counter to the Jedi Code. The newly christened Sith slowly but surely built a might Sith Empire to challenge their estranged brothers and sisters. And so, for many centuries the two were constantly fighting. The European Abyss was torn apart by their constant battling. New forms of magic were made during those centuries but never got to flourish under those two’s empires.

It was during these endless conflicts, specifically when the Sith Empire was currently the stronger of the two, that the Lady decided to end their constant warfare and bring peace to the land. So she chose three chaste maidens with pure hearts and made them the first Wardens: Warden of the Sword, Warden of the Spear, and Warden of the Shield. The three, after proving their might against both Jedi and Sith, quickly gathered an army to follow them. The three were able to beat back both empires and take over their land. But they did not stop there, they continued on their Holy Crusade and wiped out any **** user they could find. It took two centuries for the original Wardens to wipe every last **** user from the European Abyss, or so we were taught. It seems enough had gone underground that they were able to secretly come to America and rebuild their numbers but I guess not their empires.

I studied their fighting techniques when I was younger, their different forms were uniquely suited to their magic abilities. I am intrigued to see them first hand,” finished Fran. The table was engrossed in her story and listened intently to Fran’s story.

“Woah. I can see why the Council doesn’t want to aid us if they were almost wiped out by the Order in the past,” Miho said, to which everyone nodded in agreement.

“Thanks for that information, Fran.This could come in handy later in case I have to talk to them at some point. But, for now, the twins and I shall take our leave. We’ll be back as soon as we can with our new allies. I’m counting on the rest of you to do your assigned tasks to get us prepared for the upcoming battle. See you all later!” John said with a smile before he and the twins left the room and made their way to the Transportation Room. The others slowly filtered out of the War Room to do their respective tasks.

“What do you mean you refuse?!” bellowed Lord Brighton to the Fateweaver in charge of the Order’s Portal Room.

“You heard me, Lord Brighton. Us Fateweavers take our contracts very seriously. It is how we have kept our neutrality in the Abyss for so long. So, no, we will not do as you requested. If you want us to do that, then you will have to renegotiate your contract with the Fateweavers. But I can almost guarantee you that Fateweavers will not assist you in your plan to **** a sovereign kingdom by breaking into a backdoor portal!” the masked man said to the leader of the British branch of the Order. Lord Brighton used all of his willpower to stop himself from using a more forceful persuasion technique. The man knew that the Fateweavers would not sanction what he needed to be done. That group is too passive, too weak! They lack the resolve to do what is needed to protect the Abyss and the real world from monsters, both magical and human! They will come into the fold of the Order in due time, that I know. I may have to accelerate their acceptance to ensure that more nefarious groups don’t continue to use their abilities for their evil schemes.

“You are correct, of course. I apologize. I hope you accept my humble apology,” Lord Brighton said in a soft tone as he slightly bowed his head to the masked master of barriers.
“I accept your apology and am glad to see that even a man of your stature can admit when they are wrong,” said the Fateweaver in a matched soft tone.

“Of course. It is how we grow as people,” pointed out the leader of the Order. You shall learn your place soon enough, worm. And that is working for the Order. “Come, let us go,” ordered Lord Brighton as his Elite Guard turned and left with him.

“What shall we do now, sir?” asked one of his knights.

“Contact Tracker Walker and have him find an ex-Fateweaver. They are far less stringent on what they do as long as the money is good,” ordered Lord Brighton.

“As you wish,” replied the knight as he clasped his hand against his chest to signal his acceptance of his orders and quickly left in a different direction to find the tracker.

“Now, let us see how my dear daughter has prepared my army,” said Lord Brighton as he left to go to the staging area on the Order’s grounds.