From the HIGHLEY CLASSIFIED memoirs of Archivist Bors Grant of the 2nd Titan's Division, concerning the Xekal Legba incident.
Centaur- 21st 179ne
Saat District, Xire outskirts
We had been traveling for several days in pursuit of the Desmavali necromancer Xekal Legba. Xekal had once been a reformed Oppressor, having forsaken his fellow conspirators during the war at the insistence of his enemy turned friend Uriel Al'suud. Following the war and the formation of the Xirian state, He'd taken up residence in the new nation's capital city of Inanna, as a record keeper and librarian for the arcane arts.
His daughter, Fae'dra formed a close friendship with and even fought alongside Uriel II (Uriel's son and heir to Xirian Sovereignty) to secure and civilize Xire's outskirts bordering the unbroken territories. Upon returning from their crusades, she'd taken up residency in the Al'suud home as Grand Sorceress but that was to be short lived. Fae'dra had been killed just a few years later by assassins- possibly those who resented placing a Desmavali in a position of power.
It had been rumored that her child had somehow escaped sharing her grim fate, but nothing has been seen or heard from the small hybrid girl in the years since the incident. Upon learning the fate of his offspring, Xekal had pleaded with his old friend, the Sovereign Uriel to find those responsible and give retribution. His pleas were met with an uncharacteristic coldness.
The Sovereign informed him that Uriel II had discovered the scene and in a blind rage slaughtered all of the assailants. As a result of his son's passionate actions there was no one left to interrogate. Xekal had left Inanna that day, and was not heard from for many years. When he resurfaced it would be as the leader of the Xekal Legba cult- a neo-oppressionalist religious movement, that named him speaker for the Ada.
His followers both Human, and Desmavali have committed numerous acts of violence, abduction, and terror over the past decade. Their most recent atrocity- the sacking and mass slaughter at the Sa’aat district's Temple of the Ada, had been the last straw. An AUF council had been called by Xire's government authorizing a joint mission between the Titans Guild and Xirian forces, to find and capture Xekal Legba once and for all.
Our unit, led by the young but wickedly competent Officer Lennox Riddle joined forces with a strike team courtesy of the Xirian Privateer Admiral, Florentine Diin. Diin's ground forces were led by Walter Wedge, a strong and capable Xirian soldier, who despite his youth commanded the respect of his elders- much like Officer Riddle. Squad leader Wedge is an outstanding soldier but I could tell from the moment we met that this was a man who longed for the sky.
The Sa’aat district had sent their own answer to Legba's transgressions, in the form of a Half Desmavali priestess calling herself Drakana. She was a member of the Arms of the Ada- an elite order of magick wielding fighters tasked in enacting the will of the Gods. She was polite but had few words for anyone- except perhaps for the Squad leader, due to his impressive and... exhausting, tenacity.
As a close friend and confident of Officer Riddle I like many others had been elated to receive the news that back in Berusia, his wife had just given birth to a healthy boy. In addition, I like many others found myself perplexed but intrigued by the friendship that had begun to grow between Officer Riddle, Squad Leader Wedge, and Drakana. The three had taken to going on scouting missions and eating alone together. Officer Riddle would often jibe at Wedge for his foolish attempts to court the Priestess.
We followed the trail of the cult for several weeks, finding sparse skirmishes with Cro'gal bands, and cultist scouting parties. Soon however, everything changed. We found the settlement deep in the Unbroken Rain forests- a commune with a vast wooden gate. The band of sentries had been expecting us, but their resistance had been lackluster- as if the will to fight had been drained from them. If didn't take us long to figure out why.
Nothing could have prepared us for the scene inside the gate. The ground had been littered with the charred bodies of human men, women, and children. They had all been disemboweled like livestock and had their hearts removed prior to being burned- presumably with magick. In the coming years I have no doubt that what I saw will continue to haunt my dreams.
We followed the crude roads to the innermost section to find a curious but equally gruesome sight. A ring of Desmavali magicians, lithe and tall with white, pupil-less eyes and golden skin lay dead around what appeared to be a gaping tear in space. Each of them clutched to themselves a heart with a bite taken out of it, and wore blank expressions on their blood smeared faces.
The ground around the spectacle was decorated with arcane lines and sigils carrying an eerie glow. Drakana insisted that she go into the portal alone, claiming to know that Xekal Legba waited on the other side. Officer Riddle shocked all of us by demanding that Wedge and himself accompany her. The Priestess reluctantly agreed, but the rest of us were forbidden to enter the portal.
I am not proud of what I did next- but feeling spurned, and angry, I ran into the portal after them- ignoring the admonishment of my superiors. The first thing I felt upon entering the tear was… cold. Everything was cold. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the scene before me, but once they did I dropped to my knees in astonishment.
This realm was a twisted version of our own. The trees and flora grew in strange spirals and slowly shifting colors. Everything including the air pulsed and distorted, seeming to be immaterial in nature. Drakana, Wedge, and Officer Riddle stood with their backs to me, facing a figure on an elaborate throne. The entity appeared as a young woman, unclothed with moon pale skin that shone as if she were made of light.
Her hair was a silken cascade of opal, and her eyes were as black as the abyss itself. She was both beautiful and terrible, and I had no doubt in my mind that my eyes beheld one of the Ada-Sith. She lounged languidly on her seat using an emaciated, naked, Desmavali for her footstool. I couldn't believe it, there was Xekal Legba, kneeling, shivering and wretched before this Goddess.
His wide, white eyes were locked on Drakana. "Fae'dra..." he sounded as if he had not spoken in many years. "My daughter... I thought those... Serpents had killed you." Drakana had stepped forward then, moving closer to him and the Goddess. "No Grandfather- it is I, Drakana." Her usually serene voice had been choked with emotion. Despite his horrendous crimes, to see her own Grandfather in such a state...
At the time, the news that Drakana was in fact none other than the missing child of Fae'dra, barely affected me. It was as if we were experiencing a collective dream state as one. "Do you pity this creature?" The Goddess spoke with a voice of beautifully maddening bells. "Yes," Was all Drakana said in a response. "Do you know, what it took to open this realm? This prison in which my sisters, in their jealousy placed me?"
Officer Riddle cleared his throat, "No we don't- but that sorcerer- his life belongs to us, and his ass belongs to the AUF." I was highly impressed by the authority in his voice when facing an Ada, although it is likely the Officer had no idea what she was. "Then come take him." She replied simply. Ignoring the cautioning words of his companions, the Officer approached the Goddess.
Without warning, He kicked out with an armored foot- sending Xekal Legba sprawling. Immediately he dropped to his knees and begin worshiping the Goddess and kissing her legs. Wedge then ran forward to help his friend but succumbed to the same madness, viciously knocking Officer Riddle aside, eager to take his place. The Officer tackled Wedge in retaliation, and the two rolled about on the floor like schoolboys.
I stayed still, terrified as the Goddess's eyes locked on my own. I felt a deep longing, a desire greater than any I had ever known before and then- "Stop!" Drakana's voice helped to bring me back to my senses, but due to their proximity- Officer Riddle and Wedge continued scrambling. "You presume to command me, Priestess?" The Goddess had sounded amused at this.
"I am Drakana, Priestess and champion of Baast! You will heed my words!" At this the Goddess grew angry, and the fight on the ground became more brutal, matching her darkening mood. Officer Riddle had pinned Wedge to the ground and was pummeling him as hard as he could with his armored fists. Each strike landed with a sickening force. Using his superior size and strength, Wedge swept the Officer and ended up on top with his hands around his throat.
"Walter no!" Drakana cried, as Officer Riddle's eyes began to bulge from the pressure. The Priestess quickly shouldered the Spell rifle that had been slung across her back and pulled the trigger, sending a lighting bolt directly into the Goddess's chest. In an instant the Fae Queen was before Drakana with her hand around her throat.
Officer Riddle and Wedge had ceased fighting and now watched horrified alongside Xekal Legba, as the Priestess was held aloft. Suddenly, the Goddess vanished and Drakana fell to the ground coughing violently. Wedge, and Officer Riddle scrambled to her side but she assured them she was alright, and that the ordeal had passed. "Archivist..." Officer Riddle addressed me, and when I nervously answered, he informed me that I would be cleaning the latrines for a month.
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