Mordimus climbs atop a foothill at the base of Black Rock and casts his gaze skyward. The ominous dark tower of the Necromancer looms overhead. Glowing green mist pours ceaselessly from the tower's mouth and descends upon him. He sniffs at it and grimaces - the smell is putrid and stale. It smells like death. Orcs and trolls grunt and bustle about him, struggling to heave their macabre cargo up the slippery black face of the mountain to the staircase at the tower's base. There is a blinding flash of white light and Kiana, the Goddess of Cruelty, appears in front of him. "My Lady!" Mordimus says, dropping to his knees. His orcs follow suit. Kiana looks down at him with thinly veiled disdain. "You are as clumsy as you are stupid, Mordimus. I ordered you here to seek the Necromancer's help." "And I...I have done as you asked, My Lady." "Look about you, you dim-witted fool!" Kiana spits. "What do you see? Thousands of your orcs and trolls, armed as though for battle, all climbing toward her fortress without warning or explanation. It looks like an invasion, Mordimus. She's going to think she's under attack." A gasp escapes Mordimus' lips. His brain races, searching desperately for some excuse, some hidden cleverness to cloak the failings of his plan. But Kiana's tyrade is unabating. "Get up, you moron." Immediately, obediently, he rises to his feet, slipping a little in a patch of loose gravel. "You are to go in first, Mordimus. Take an orc and one troll with you. The army is to remain here." "Yes, My Lady," Mordimus nods, trembling slightly. "And Mordimus?" Kiana begins. She looks down. Something appears in her hand - a small metallic device with a long, dazzlingly shiny needle. "I have a gift for you." "A gift, My Lady?" For a moment Mordimus' heart races. Could it be at last that he will be given the gift of trans-existence, the power he has so long yearned for. Then he notices the metallic device in his Goddess's hand. A wicked smile spreads across Kiana's face. She lifts her hand and takes the needle into her mouth, caressing it with her lips and tongue. Her eyes never stray from Mordimus' shocked face. "My...My Lady?" Kiana removes the device from her mouth. "Are you excited, Mordimus?" He nods. "Good." With lightning speed, her arm lashes out. The needle pierces Mordimus' armour with a sharp metallic squeal and plunges into his heart. "Nooo!" he screams and collapses to his knees. He gropes at Kiana's arm, trying to push her away. She shakes him off and takes a step backward. He grabs the device, shrieking as it melts in his grasp. Kiana bends down so that her mouth is just millimetres from his ear. "She's going to want to do something to you," she whispers. "Let her." And with that, there is another flash of light, and Kiana is gone. Credits: Gothic Armour and Textures from RDNA Scenery by me Posed in Poser Rendered in Vue