Tidegrief, the First Leviathan
The Trial of Sorrow Begins
The Pact had endured memory, obedience, wickedness, and vision.
But sorrow is not weakness.
It is weight.
And from the depths of the Echoing Shores, the final Trial rose.
Not summoned.
Not born.
Wept into existence.
Tidegrief
The First Leviathan
It slithered from the sea, a serpent of translucent sorrow, its body swirling with trapped souls and forgotten tears. Its roar was not rage—it was mourning. The tide rose with it, drowning resolve.
It whispered:
> "You grieve. But do you listen?"
Zariah stepped forward.
Selya gripped her blade.
Solara sang a low note.
Vael froze the tide.
But Tidegrief did not strike.
It wept.
And the Pact felt every loss.
Every name.
Every silence.
Zariah knelt.
And whispered:
> "I listen."
The Leviathan paused.
Then vanished.
Wavewail, the Second Leviathan
The Roar of Mourning
In the Vale of Echoes, Wavewail rose.
Its body was mist.
Its voice was every howl ever silenced.
It screamed.
And the Pact wept.
Zariah stood.
Selya trembled.
Solara sang.
Vael froze the mist.
Zariah whispered:
> "We howl. Even when broken."
Wavewail shattered.
Floodthorn, the Third Leviathan
The Bleeding Tide
At the Temple of Silver Flame, Floodthorn emerged.
Its body bled sorrow.
Its strikes left wounds that whispered.
Zariah was cut.
She heard her mother's voice.
Selya was cut.
She heard her brother's scream.
Solara was cut.
She heard silence.
Vael was cut.
He heard frost cracking.
Zariah whispered:
> "We bleed. But we rise."
She struck.
Floodthorn faded.
Saltveil, the Fourth Leviathan
The Cloak of Grief
In the Shardlands, Saltveil rose.
Invisible.
Unseen by the unbroken.
Only Solara saw it.
She sang.
It screamed.
Zariah closed her eyes.
She remembered.
She wept.
She saw.
She struck.
Saltveil shattered.
Leviathan Prime
The Song of Healing
At the edge of the Underworld, the final form rose.
Leviathan Prime.
Its body was the ocean.
Its voice was the world.
It did not attack.
It waited.
Zariah stepped forward.
She did not strike.
She sang.
Solara joined.
Selya wept.
Vael knelt.
The Leviathan listened.
And vanished.
The Pact had endured five Trials.
Memory.
Obedience.
Wickedness.
Vision.
Sorrow.
But Trials do not end.
They converge.
And from the edge of the Underworld, the five Prime beasts rose—together.
Not summoned.
Not reborn.
United.
Emberwraith Prime. Golem Prime. Oni Prime. Cyclops Prime. Leviathan Prime.
They did not speak.
They did not judge.
They attacked.
Zariah stood at the center.
Selya flanked her.
Solara sang.
Vael froze.
Fenrir howled.
The Pact did not kneel.
They roared.
The Battle Begins
Round One: Emberwraith Prime vs Zariah
It struck with memory.
Zariah countered with truth.
Flames clashed.
Names vanished.
She whispered:
> "I burn with what I remember."
She struck.
It cracked.
But did not fall.
Round Two: Golem Prime vs Selya
It waited for command.
Selya gave none.
She moved with instinct.
It hesitated.
She struck.
It shattered.
But its pieces reformed.
Round Three: Oni Prime vs Solara
It whispered her sins.
She sang her forgiveness.
It screamed.
She sang louder.
It cracked.
But its shadow lingered.
Round Four: Cyclops Prime vs Vael
It saw everything.
Vael closed his eyes.
He moved with frost.
It blinked.
He struck.
It shattered.
But its gaze remained.
Round Five: Leviathan Prime vs Fenrir
It wept.
Fenrir howled.
The tide rose.
He roared louder.
It paused.
He leapt.
It vanished.
But the sorrow remained.
The Final Clash
All five beasts reformed.
Together.
A fusion of flame, stone, shadow, gaze, and tide.
Zariah stepped forward.
She did not strike.
She did not sing.
She did not freeze.
She whispered:
> "We are not just protectors. We are the flame that even Trials must follow."
She raised her blade.
Crimsonfire erupted.
The Pact roared.
They struck.
Together.
The Trial shattered.
Not into silence.
Into legacy.
That night, beneath the stars of the Underworld, the Pact stood whole.
And the flame pulsed.
Not as Trial.
As truth.
Return to Lycanridge
The Flame Returns
The Pact had crossed the Gate.
Faced the Thirty.
Burned through memory, obedience, wickedness, vision, and sorrow.
And now, they chose to return.
Not as warriors.
As flamekeepers.
Lycanridge awaited.
But peace is never simple.
And the wolves had not been idle.
The Elders of Lycanridge had held secret councils during the Pact's absence, rewriting ancient laws.
- A new faction called the Hollowfangs emerged, claiming Zariah's Trial Fire was a curse.
- Fenrir's howl awakened dormant bloodlines—wolves with forgotten powers.
- The Moonstone, once thought shattered, was found beneath the Frostroot Caverns.
- Selya's lineage was revealed to be tied to the original Flameborn—making her a rival to Zariah.
- Vael's frost began to crack reality itself, opening rifts to the Echoing Shores.
- Solara's voice could now summon spirits—but only those who died in silence.
- A child named Korrin began dreaming of the Thirty before ever meeting the Pact.
- The Council of Nine split—four supported Zariah, five plotted her downfall.
- The Trial Fire began to flicker in Zariah's presence, as if testing her anew.
- A wolf named Duskveil claimed to be the true heir of Lycanridge, born under a blood eclipse.
- The Flamekeeper's Crown was stolen before Zariah could claim it.
- A prophecy resurfaced: "When the Pact returns, the forest will bleed."
- The Obsidian Reach began to grow—its stone creeping into Lycanridge soil.
- Wolves began vanishing during council meetings—no blood, no trace.
- A forgotten beast called the Hollowwind Stag returned, whispering truths only Zariah could hear.
- The Vale of Echoes began to sing on its own—songs of betrayal.
- Selya was offered leadership of the Hollowfangs if she turned against Zariah.
- Vael's frost began to speak—revealing secrets buried in ice.
- Solara's voice cracked during a ritual, releasing a scream that shattered the Flame Tree.
- Fenrir began to speak in dreams—his voice echoing ancient commands.
- A new moon rose—black and silent, untouched by prophecy.
- The Trial Fire began to split—one flame for each member of the Pact.
- Zariah's blade began to hum with a second voice—one not hers.
- The Elders summoned a beast called the Griefhowl Chimera to test Zariah's loyalty.
- A scroll was found beneath the Temple—written in Zariah's handwriting, but centuries old.
- The wolves of the Shardlands refused to recognize the Pact's return.
- A council member named Thorne vanished—his chamber filled with frost and feathers.
- The Flamekeeper's Crown began to whisper to Selya.
- A wolf named Myrrh claimed to have seen Zariah die—twice.
- The Crimsonfire began to burn blue.
- A relic called the Jacket of Memory reappeared—stitched with names Zariah never knew.
- The Trial Fire pulsed in rhythm with the Leviathan's last song.
- A storm called the Emberveil swept through Lycanridge, burning only lies.
- Wolves began to howl in reverse—songs of the underworld.
- The Whispering Peaks began to echo Zariah's name—without her presence.
- A council elder confessed to creating the Emberwraith.
- The Hollowfangs summoned Claymarch from the Obsidian Reach.
- A child named Lira began to draw beasts she'd never seen—each one from the Trials.
- The Flame Tree bloomed black petals.
- Vael's frost revealed a hidden chamber beneath the council hall.
- Solara's song summoned the Oni Prime—who bowed instead of attacking.
- Fenrir vanished during a full moon—his howl heard in the Underworld.
- Zariah's blade cracked—revealing a second, hidden blade inside.
- The Pact was summoned to a trial—not by wolves, but by the forest itself.
- A beast called Sightbane returned—this time with two eyes.
- The Moonstone began to pulse with sorrow.
- The Flamekeeper's Crown chose no one.
- Zariah was offered exile—in exchange for peace.
- The Pact refused.
The Ogres of Orcus
The Sunlit Siege of Lycanridge
The Pact had returned.
The Trials were behind them.
But peace is a myth.
And myths have teeth.
On a day when the sun bathed Lycanridge in golden warmth, the ground trembled—not with prophecy, but with hunger.
From the edge of the Hollowfang border, ten shadows emerged.
Not summoned.
Not born.
Devoured into existence.
The Ogres of Orcus
Tall.
Hairy.
Hungry.
Each one a beast of legend, drawn from the ancient hunger of the Etruscan god Orcus. Their names were whispered in folktales, feared in lullabies, and now—etched into Lycanridge soil.
They did not speak.
They growled.
And then they attacked.
Discoveries Before the Siege
- The Flamekeeper's Crown pulsed with heat—warning of a hunger not seen since the First Moon.
- A scroll was found beneath the Council Hall, written in blood: "When the sun shines, the hunger walks."
- Fenrir's howl failed to echo—silenced by a force older than flame.
- The Moonstone cracked, revealing a second layer—etched with ogre runes.
- A child named Lira dreamed of ten giants devouring the Flame Tree.
- The Elders held a secret vote to abandon Lycanridge and flee to the Shardlands.
- Selya discovered her blade could not pierce ogre skin—only truth could.
- Vael's frost melted in sunlight—his power waned.
- Solara's song summoned birds—but they flew away in fear.
- Zariah's Crimsonfire flickered—then roared.
The Confrontation
The Pact stood at the Flame Tree.
The ogres approached.
Each one larger than the last.
Their names were carved into the wind:
- Grubmaw – The eater of roots.
- Tuskgut – The breaker of bones.
- Snarlhide – The hunter of wolves.
- Mudfang – The drinker of flame.
- Groanbelly – The singer of hunger.
- Crackjaw – The chewer of stone.
- Fleshdrip – The weeper of blood.
- Stompclaw – The dancer of ruin.
- Rottooth – The whisperer of decay.
- Orcusborn – The heir of the god.
Zariah:
> "You hunger for flame. But flame does not feed—it burns."
Grubmaw:
> "We eat what grows. You grew too strong."
Selya:
> "Then choke on truth."
Tuskgut:
> "Truth is chewy."
Solara:
> "Sing with me, and you'll taste sorrow."
Groanbelly:
> "We sing with stomachs."
Vael:
> "Then freeze your throat."
Mudfang:
> "Ice melts. Hunger doesn't."
The Battle
- Zariah struck Grubmaw with Crimsonfire—he swallowed it, then screamed.
- Selya leapt at Tuskgut—her blade shattered, but her howl pierced his ear.
- Solara sang to Snarlhide—he wept, then charged, then fell.
- Vael froze Mudfang's feet—he cracked the ice, but stumbled.
- Fenrir bit Groanbelly's leg—he roared, then danced, then collapsed.
- Crackjaw chewed the Flame Tree—Zariah struck his jaw, and it turned to ash.
- Fleshdrip bled on the Moonstone—its cracks glowed, then exploded.
- Stompclaw stomped the Council Hall—Selya leapt, struck, and shattered his knee.
- Rottooth whispered to Lira—she screamed, and the ogre vanished.
- Orcusborn faced Zariah.
Orcusborn:
> "You are flame. I am hunger. We are eternal."
Zariah:
> "You are appetite. I am choice."
They clashed.
Crimsonfire met ancient hunger.
The sun burned brighter.
And Orcusborn fell.
Not in defeat.
In silence.
The Goblin Siege
The Day Mischief Ruled Lycanridge
The sun was high.
The Flame Tree shimmered.
Zariah stood tall.
The Pact gathered.
And then—
Chaos.
From the Whispering Peaks, through the Vale of Echoes, across the Obsidian Reach, came a stampede of trouble.
Small.
Fast.
Loud.
Fifty Goblins.
Not summoned.
Not born.
Uninvited.
They tumbled into Lycanridge like a bad joke with sharp teeth.
Green, red, blue, hairy, bald, one-eyed, three-legged, upside-down, and sideways.
They danced.
They sang.
They mocked.
They attacked.
Goblin Insults and Mockery
- "Nice sword, Flamey! Did you get it from a toy shop?"
- "Ooooh, scary Zariah! Can I borrow your drama?"
- "Selya's blade? More like a butter knife!"
- "Vael's frost? I use that to chill my goblin juice!"
- "Solara's song? Sounds like a goat choking on a flute!"
- "Fenrir? More like Faint-rir!"
They threw pies.
They juggled fire.
They rode each other like horses.
One goblin wore Zariah's jacket and did impressions.
Another painted a fake Flame Tree and called it "Zariah's ego."
The First Battle: The Pact Loses
Zariah struck.
They dodged.
Selya slashed.
They danced.
Vael froze.
They skated.
Solara sang.
They harmonized—badly.
Fenrir howled.
They howled louder.
Zariah screamed:
> "This is NOT a Trial!"
The goblins replied:
> "It's a comedy!"
Zariah's Frustration
She fell.
She fumed.
She flared.
She shouted:
> "Enough!"
The goblins laughed.
They built a throne of pies and crowned themselves "Kings of Chaos."
One goblin wrote a song called "Zariah the Grumpy."
Another started selling fake Crimsonfire in bottles
The Turnaround: Magic Unleashed
Zariah closed her eyes.
She whispered:
> "Flamekeeper's Wrath."
The sky darkened.
The sun blinked.
The Flame Tree pulsed.
Magic erupted.