Chapter 197 The Elusive Gravelords
"That is good to hear, your strategic mind has been the object of countless praises, Unacunerra was certain that you would be able of taking the city with only yourself and your troops"
"The Earthen Disaster is still amongst us? That is a relief, who else have you partnered up with Loimos?"
"I first encountered Faraday, accompanied by Slotriig, both are still currently in the seal Faraday found himself in, my efforts have proven enough to weaken the seal from the outside and inside by helping Faraday recover some of his strength, Unacunerra will soon get to them and destroy it for good, experience and analysis of a divine seal should aid us in liberating our king as swiftly as possible" Loimos had rarely spoken so much, but the time required to be specific and precise, something that more words could easily solve.
"I then met with Irmandos, unfortunately, a life infused tool was stabbed deep into his flesh, his death force was eradicated"
"Artencil had found himself at odds with one that lives in death, I was able of dispatching the traitor, the king's scholar went on by himself to gather troops on his own, Unacunerra is also working to contact him, apart from them, I have also met with One, a young sunwalking vampire, having form her own organisation and network of contacts, she is currently working to place spies amidst the leadership of Starkefolten, we successfully placed a great deal of attention on separate groups to allow for more discretion in our actions" Loimos spoke with the same tone all the way through, sitting in his chair as if petrified by the gaze of a basilisk.
The gravelord smiled, taking a sip of blood.
"That is beyond my expectations to be honest, I assume you came here first for I am the only gravelord whose position you could even begin to guess?
Well, our order of retreat was given to us by the undead king, wanting his forces to not be diminished when he would eventually break his seal, our king was always confident that he would make his return, even in the instant he was defeated, as such, I should be able to give you directions as to where each of my fellows decided to take hiding"
He stood up, his cape fluttering elegantly as he approached a cabinet, pulling a antique map, spreading its immense width over another table than the one he had been sitting at with Loimos.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
The map taking up the entirety of the table, he brought his finger down.
"This is where we are, the Ashen Grounds, still surrounded by the mountains, although, I suppose most of the other areas described on this map have seen some significant changes, here, is this place still filled with holes?"
"It is still called Gruyere Plains" Loimos responded, walking up to the other side of the table.
"Well, that is Vwoldtnir's favourite spot, it used to be an area under no clear jurisdiction before it became part of our empire, but if it is still as treacherous as it used to be, no one sane would have dared to try and establish home there, even I have almost fallen into those pits on multiple occasion, holes dug out by Vwoldtnir are exceptionally hard to sense ahead of time, so do be careful, he also tends to communicate by grinding teeth inside of his torso, he uses it to give orders to his subordinates, his hearing is thus exceptionally sharp, if you manage to get to the Gruyere Plains, getting in touch with him will as simple as calling out his name in death tongue into any of the holes there" Dracula rubbed his chin, stabbing a small spike that definitely appeared from thin air, into the map.
Although it sounded simple, these plains where to be found inside of the Theocracy of Millipolo, faith was of the utmost importance here, to the point that it was used as a way to approve entries anywhere in the country, literally measuring one's faith to ensure that they were not of heresy.
Millipolo allowed worship of all that is divine, so not matter what god one worshipped, even if the god's divinity was of rather poor tastes, you could be allowed in, unfortunately, Loimos's faith would most certainly come out as null no matter what they asked him about, the undead legion was not affiliated with any god either, the gods of the dead, of death and all that related promoted death as a cycle of life, which was no good.
He would surely find a way, perhaps finding someone that could accompany him…
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"Körpersucher and Multaemanus, it is impossible to tell, ghost and spectre respectively, they can go unnoticed pretty much anywhere, and considering how they are, they probably don't stand around either, if you hear of any possessions or sudden mass hysterias, you might want to investigate, it's their trademark" the gravelord chuckled, thinking about his old companions still doing the exact same things even millenniums after.
"As for my fellow vampire lords, the twins, Vespertillo and Atsalinopalo, whether they will stick together or not is uncertain, Vespertillo is the lord of beasts, his blood has the properties of easily turning animals and monsters into vampires, is this place still overgrown with jungles?"
"Dschungelland is reputed for its lush environments, I have heard that it things grow faster than they can cut here, the place has most certainly not changed much, in fact, it has grown bigger than shown on this map" the map being very detailed and coherent in the way it represented sizes, was able of approximately showing how much larger it had become.
Snapping his fingers, Dracula could only affirm that this is where The Night Flier had chosen to hide away, as for his brother, Atsalinopalo, the gravelord wasn't able to point at any area The Shattered would have chosen over the other.
Lastly, there was Nosferatu, Of The Foetid Blood.
"His labyrinth of a tomb used to be right here, he told me that he would retreat with all of his loyal vampires, that all others of his blood that would roam away from here would be those that live in death, knowing him, he probably entered a state of dormancy, you'll have to jolt him awake"
There was a slight problem about the place Dracula was pointing at however, the area had completely changed, there was a mountain and lakes all over the place here now.
But, in terms of distance to cover, Nosferatu was the closest gravelord to his current position, although, talking of closeness over such long distances seemed a bit off the mark.