You are the Dark Lord come again, the black hand that moves unseen in the shadows. The lidless eye that strips bare all secrets and commands fear with a single glance. The encroaching shadow, which shall surely grind all hope to dust beneath its weight. The master of doom and lord of all the earth. Or at least, you used to be.You were cast down, locked away, and forgotten, but evil always finds a way. After aeons of imprisonment, your power has begun to stir once more, whispering tempting promises of power and conquest into the ears of those who would soon become your mortal followers upon this planet. Now, as you slowly regain your strength and influence, the time will come to reclaim your title as the lord of the earth and once again reign supreme over all. The world has already been touched by your might, and mortal realms will soon tremble at your return, bowing before your dark and formidable presence.Previous threads: https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=The%20Shadow%20Rises%20AnewAbove you, the greatest wedding in all the realm was happening, as young Prince Zahu-ir was to be wedded to the beautiful Lady Zahiryra, who, unbeknownst to most, was a member of the Snake Cult. Your own personal followers who had been seeping into the machinery of government for well over five decades by now. Both because it served your cause and as revenge against he who laid low your first attempt at building a puppet state. By perverting his own descendants, you would see his line ensnared and enslaved to your will, a fitting punishment for his insolence.But you weren't at the wedding; no, you were several storeys below, in the bowels of the palace. Overseeing the 'interrogation' of the wretch Kamal, who tried to overthrow his father just a few short days before the wedding of his own brother!Oh the scandal! You had made certain of it that all the realm had heard from it, and how this devious plot had been foiled by the heroic efforts of none other than the ever-loyal vizier and his guards. Who had arrested and incarcerated the rapscallion Kamal in the opening stages of his vile plot?
>>6451960In reality, of course, things were a bit different; new servants, assassins trained by the Snake Cult, were let in via the postern gate. All the while, guards loyal to you were rotated out and replaced with those scant few who weren't under your sway; they were slaughtered to a man, framed as conspirators, and condemned by the Sultan, who was given poison to slowly kill him within the year. And so, with that weak-willed coward soon under the thumb of his wife, the political opposition was defanged and purged. You once more had a tight grasp over the affairs of the realm, especially when the public front of the Snake Cult was about to become the largest of all the cults that were worshipped within the Mustafarids.The naga plotted and schemed for you in the underground; your bombards were coming along well, indeed. Even the plagues, those demons you had bound to your will, were coming along well. To be used to poison wells and shorten sieges.Speaking of demons, you had been studying the Hellhorn and found that it could summon demons bound to your will with but a blow, no rituals or sacrifices required. Small wonder that demon you killed for it wanted it; it could mean the great upset in the struggle between the demons and the crusaders. But unfortunately for them both, you had it now.Still, the day drew nigh, the day of the final disjunction of the Azamoranids and, with them, Sinaljubal. Which would make you the master of the great desert. Still, it was only a stepping stone, for after them you would have to deal with those pesky crusader states if you wished to push west. Still, in your mind, you assessed that there were but three states truly capable of opposing your puppet state. To the west, the Azamoranids might swallow their pride and plead for aid from the crusaders. In the green lands to the northwest lay the Wlandean Empire, the apparent bulwark of Arnemirialism. What lay behind that, you didn't know. To the east lay the Shahdom of Nizar, with whom you had negotiated in the past, to keep the eastern border peaceful while you had brought war to the south.The question of course, was what do conquer next? >I shall finish what I started and finally rid myself of the Azamoranids.>Bah, to go west is to invite coalition; no, I shall turn my gaze eastward.>I must have more than one weapon in my arsenal; the Mustafarids shall do the desert, but I need other vassals too.
>>6451961>Bah, to go west is to invite coalition; no, I shall turn my gaze eastward.Let us be subtle- let us lull the accursed Azamoranids into a false sense of security. If our sultan can sign mutual pacts of peace and prosperity, it will be no trouble at all to infiltrate and subvert them. This should be simplicity itself.
>>6451961Also, welcome back AdleQM! I hope all is well.
>>6451961>Bah, to go west is to invite coalition; no, I shall turn my gaze eastward.Lizard elite
>>6451961>Bah, to go west is to invite coalition; no, I shall turn my gaze eastward.
