Pope Jargenson IV stood at the balcony of the Cathedral, observing the tightly packed plaza before him. He was wearing his white robe with its red stripes. In his left hand he held the holy staff, a hollow gold rod encrusted with hundreds of jewels. An orb sat atop the rod with the symbol of the Vallengelical church jutting out, A silver cross with two diagonal lines intersecting in the middle forming an x shape. It also had another line above it, running vertically, that formed it into a T. He raised his right hand and the plaza silenced, thousands of eyes staring up at the robed figure. Not even a bird chirped.
"My devout worshipers. You follow the bible, you say your prayers, you go to church on Sundays and you follow the rules of our lord. Today i stand here not for another sermon but for a grave request. Dark days befall us. We have been dis-unified for many years. Our people lay hungry and starved in some areas and satisfied and full in other. We must remember that we are all equal before god. We must shut our eyes to the falsehoods of those 'lords' and trust in god alone. My wish is to unite us under one flag and i have foreseen this future. With the powers given to me by the supreme authority of this universe, i hereby declare that we shall be united. Behind me stands the new lords of the realms. They shall, under my authority, serve in the name of our lord above all else. They shall, like pious Vallenists, remain free of their carnal desires. They shall do their daily prayers. They shall be amongst you on Sundays. None shall ever suffer the greed and evil of the heretics of the past. From here on out, god will be our savior!" Pope Jargenson IV strongly finished the portion of his speech and the crowd erupted into cheers and shouts of happiness. He smiled and let them release their energy for a couple of seconds. He then raised his hand and the sounds immediately disappeared. He turned and looked at one of the lords who then walked up beside the pope. "Here stands Maxistus Willius III, a fellow Vallenist as you all. He shall be the link in the unification of our realm. He shall be the one to insure that we stay together through the darkest times. I declare this man, with god's blessings, as Lord-Emperor of our realms." The Pope turned as a servant brought a crown on a pillow to him. The pope lifted the crown and placed it upon the lord's head. The crowd erupted into a frenzy more energetic then before. The United Kingdoms of Wistvallen was now formed.
* * * * * * * * * *
Three Months Ago
The fog mist was slowly dissipating. The smell of wet grass filled the man's nostrils. He could feel the dew soak his clothing as he lay on the ground, dazed. His breath was visible in the cold dawn air. He felt disoriented and lost. Unseen by the confused man was a massive field littered in figures not yet visible due to the fog. He tried to stand but his legs failed him and he simply sat on his knees, trying to squint through the fog.
"Bloody hell. I didn't realize the goddamn scouts were in such large number and so close by" A voice streamed in from the fog. The figure of the voice slowly appeared in the mist, getting closer. The shadow was now close enough for the man to make out a sword in the shadow's hand. His mind went into full alert and he reached out to grab something when he realized there had been a bow in his hand. He checked his back for a quiver and found a single arrow. As the shadow got close enough to start becoming a visible man, he loaded the arrow into the bow and aimed. However before he could release the string, he felt a sharp stinging and burning in his abdomen. He looked down as he released the bow and saw a bloody lance sticking out from his stomach. He reached down in shock and felt the warm blood flow through his fingers. Darkness began to appear around his vision and he fell onto his side, catching a glimpse of the red sleeve of his killer before lapsing into an eternal sleep.
Eran Villiniusa stood above the now limp body in front of him. His spear had ripped through the man's back and killed him easily. He looked up to see his partner appear from the mist with a sword in his hands. "I see you took care of another animal Eran" Silmos Retius remarked as he tapped the dead scout with his leg. He examined his green sleeve for a second then spat. "Goddamn Velmarins. I'm tired of these sneaky bastards. I have yet once to see one with the manhood to fight face to face" He spat again and kicked the body harder, enough to make it roll over. Eran simply looked at the body then started to walk back. "Let us leave this place Silmos. The sun shall be up soon and i do not want to be caught out in the open lest another Velmarin survived the massacre".
Little did both know that the Velmarin were the least of their worries. Had they waited for the fog to fully dissipate, they would have been aware of the presence of the Lugarins, a force of barbaric ax-men. However they had not and in a few minutes they'd be over-powered by a mob of ax-men and ripped apart without being able to even defend themselves.