"Elves of the Northern Vale" A Tundrawolf Story

The Hall of Mage Lore

In a voluminous cavern deep under the Grimfang Mountains the Dark Lord sat high atop his newly constructed throne. The lofty seat was made from large pieces of black volcanic glass which lay scattered throughout the cavern floor. The glass stones were held together with a mortar made from the blood and bodies of hundreds of slaves. As it was being constructed the Dark Lord whispered a spell in the form of a chant he discovered in the ancient sheepskin scrolls of the Black Druids. The spell he read was a small one, just a few lines of tiny runes, barely noticeable in the margins on the sheepskin. Yet for being so small it was extremely powerful and allowed him to infuse Black Magick into every stone and every drop of blood that went into the throne's construction.

Through this seat of black glass and blood the Dark Lord felt immensely powerful as he explored its capabilities. To his surprise his dark powers rejuvenated as strong as any sacrifice he took from the stone slab. As he looked out into the nothingness of the vast cavern he could see far and away through the eyes of his Black Sorcerers who roamed the earth. Many of his small bands of Dark Stars now traveled through the swirl of the Fell Ice, each surrounded by a company of ensorcelled thralls. They made their way to the southern lands of man, on their hunt for more slaves. Some trudged west while others trekked east, but all had to find their way around the vast mountain range of the Grimfangs.

Once past the Grimfangs his minions who traveled east needed to make their way around the northern most part of the tall mountain range known as the Tallspines. Past those mountains they turned southward into warmer lands and moved through a vast grassy flatland known as the Mongol Plains. Living throughout these lands his Black Sorcerers found numerous tribes of the roving Mongol people.

The Dark Lord scanned the minds of many of his Sorcerers in the Dark Stars as they moved through the flatlands. He stayed with one of the lead Sorcerers looking through his eyes as he walked with his Star and a cluster of compelled warriors. The small group was making their way in silence and under the cover of darkness as they approached a large group of tents laid out on the plain. Before entering the encampment one of the five Sorcerers drew a five pointed pentagram with his crooked staff in the dust at the camps edge. Once it was drawn all five took a position standing at each point of the star. The Dark Lord could hear the Sorcerers begin to whisper a chant as they stood looking towards the tents. The chant was a powerful incantation building in intensity until the five let it loose putting everyone within the camp under a spell of lethargy and forgetfulness. They were then able to move through the tents unchallenged and carve out a swath of people, as many as they could handle, under their spell of compulsion. When they had their groups of men, women and children assembled they shepherded them back out into the darkness. In the early morning light those left in the camp would have no memory of what happened during the night, nor would they have the energy to look for any of the missing.

The Dark Lord marveled at the power his new throne gave him. Through this seat he could get into the heads of his followers and issue commands without ever having to leave the cavern. He could even inflict pain or kill them outright if the need arose. He was able to travel farther than he ever thought possible as he jumped from one mind to the next of his Black Sorcerers. He looked on through their eyes from a quarter of the world away as they moved ever further east collecting slaves in the lands of the Mongol plains and beyond. He watched as they came across people known as Huns and Chinamen and many others who's names he did not care to remember.