The tides poured overdeck as the crewmen of a High Elf Hawkship were beset by the Druchii fleet on their way to Nippon. Two Black Arks neared, each launching a host of harpies and manticores which picked the crew off one by one while the ship was dragged toward one of them by harpoons. The sailors on board had resisted all they could, but they had no means of fighting off an entire fleet. Finally the Hawkship made contact with one of the arks and a series of boarding platforms descended, revealing none other than the Witch Queen of Naggaroth herself, Hellebron.

“I’ll make this quick. Which of you is the captain of this vessel? Reply and I will allow you to surrender.” she demanded.

“I-I am.” an Asur responded timidly as he stepped forward toward the descending Witch Queen who at her sides had a combination of Executioners, Black Guards and Witch Elves.

“You show courage. What brings you to these waters, Captain? They have not been sailed on by your kind for some time now.”

“We are here on a routine voyage to Ind, set to collect a shipment of spices.”

“Nice attempt captain, but there’s really no reason to lie to me. Sisters!” Hellebron yelled as two witch elves stepped forward and slit 3 of the crew’s throats.

“You’re here for the same reason I am, Captain. We both came for the Prince stranded in Nippon did we not?”

“I don’t know what you speak of.”

“Oh captain, captain, my captain. You should know better than to lie to your Queen.” Hellebron retorted as with a simple swish of her wrist, an executioner stepped forward and beheaded another crew member. “Now let’s see. Green sails with a woman holding a heart in the centre. Yes, you’re from Avelorn of course. Did the Evertart send you to save her boyfriend, captain?”

“I do not negotiate with Druchii degenerates!” the captain replied as he spat in the Witch Queen’s face.

“Ah, I’m glad to finally hear some honesty from you.” Hellebron responded before grabbing the hawkship’s captain by the chin and smiling for a second before continuing. “So few of you Asur remain in this part of the world now. Perhaps I should let you live. You could complete your voyage. You could tell the tale to Prince Tyrion himself, speak of your crew’s deaths, of all the deaths that will befall that wretch of a nation once my fleet arrives. You could tell every Nipponese you come across of my power. Yes, I think I will let you live captain. Complete your voyage. Tell them. Be afraid. All Nippon will be erased. All Asur will burn. And the Druchii will stand triumphant, ascending once more to the glory of our past, the glory we are owed…..Oh, I doubt you will need a whole crew to get there though. Sisters! Leave no less than 15 of them alive. You may do as you wish with the rest.”

….

And so the Avelorn hawkship set sail once more toward Nippon, sailing much faster than the Black Arks could travel even despite having less than half its crew still alive at this point. Within a month from that point, the Hawkship landed in Nippon, the Land of the Rising Sun, and the captain made his way to Usaki Castle where Prince Tyrion’s cohort were residing at the Empress’ behest.

“You mean to tell us that an entire Dark Elf fleet has set sail to wipe our nation from the map and my spies haven’t detected it?” Shogun Yoritomo Ieyasu roared at the captain who felt as if he we were being interrogated.

“Their fleet is using an old trader’s passageway, hence why they needed to take Tor Elithis in order to remain out of sight from your usual points of patrol.”

“How large is this fleet, Captain?” Empress Jungi herself asked from her throne.

“I can’t be sure that I saw them all but…eight black arks at least, Your Majesty.”

“Then all is doomed.” the shogun replied dejectedly.

“Not necessarily Ieyasu” the Empress noted. Our guests have experience fighting off Dark Elf invasions do you not?” the Empress asked as she pointed to Tyrion and his squire, Princess Eldyra of Tiranoc, who were at the other end of the counsel chamber.

“Indeed we do but I regret to say we may be underprepared on this occasion.” Eldyra responded after Tyrion had remained curiously silent and contemplative for a few moments.

“Prince Tyrion, that question was meant for you. You can save us, am I correct in this reasoning?” the Empress questioned to the point.

“I…I’m sorry. I’m really terribly sorry.” Tyrion’s voice cracked as he turned and left the counsel chamber without exchanging another word. Eldyra turned and chased after him, eventually finding him at the stables where Malhandir and the other horses belonging to the Knights of Alabaster were kept.

“Are you going to tell me what that was about? I think you could have given the Empress a heart attack back there.” Eldyra asked, semi-jovially as she entered the stables.

Tyrion was silent, his head hung low as he stood over a ball of hay, before responding coldly “Do you still feel safe with me, Eldyra?”

“Oh” Eldyra responded stunned, before speaking again a moment or two later “Of course I do. Why wouldn’t I?”

Tyrion: “Because my being here will bring untold amounts of death to this land.”

Eldyra: “I think you’re being a bit too harsh on yourself, master. The Witch Queen is coming here for everyone, not just you.”

Tyrion sighed for a second before answering: “No, she isn’t.”

Eldyra: “She’s coming here to kill everyone.”

Tyrion: “No, she’s coming here to kill me. Everyone else is just a bystander in that goal. She sent her best shadowblade to kill me once, she failed. But I always knew Hellebron was spiteful. She would raze an entire nation to ash if it meant getting another chance to kill me. So, I’ll ask again. Do you feel safe with me?”

Eldyra simply smiled reassuringly before responding “Well you can’t help who your friends are.”

Tyrion: “No. I am a stupid selfish man. Always have been. I should have never brought you here. I should have made you stay at home. You coming here with me will be the death of you.”

Eldyra: “Oh, don’t be like that, master.”

Tyrion: “By bringing you here I have killed you, just as everyone back in that council chamber may die too.”

Eldyra: “Now, now master. I like to think I can handle myself at this point.”

Tyrion: “Perhaps. Perhaps not. All I know is I am sick of losing.”

Eldyra: “Losing? Have you ever lost a war, even a battle?”

Tyrion: “I don’t mean wars. I’ll win as many wars as you like. I’m sick of losing people. I’m sick of missing out on the lives of the people I love before I lose them and I’m sick of mourning for them when they’re gone. But look at you, with your eyes. Your young eyes, never giving up, so much anger yet so much kindness. One day, after I’ve lost you too, the memory of your eyes will hurt so much I won’t be able to breath and I will do what I always do. I’ll get on my horse and gallop off to the next battlefield, running and running in case the pain of the losses I’ve accrued ever decides to catch up. And yet every place I go, it will still be there.”

Eldyra: “You do your best master, we can’t expect to be everywhere at once.”

Tyrion: “I can do anything. I’m the heir of Aenarion, it’s my bloodright. Nothing should hold me back.” suddenly Tyrion turned and angrily kicked one of the stable’s wooden frames. “I shouldn’t be here Eldyra! I’m going to miss my own son’s birth! Heck, it could even be a daughter for all I know since I know so bloody little. The woman I love is in pain. All I want is to be there to comfort her as our child is born. Is that so wrong?!”

Eldyra: “Of course not. But we do have a duty here. Especially now that we know the Witch Queen is coming. Who else here knows how to fight off a Druchii armada? These samurai have never even seen black arks before. They would be massacred without you to lead them….

Look, the captain could take us home. I’m sure the trip would be a little bumpy with so little crew and the Empress wouldn’t be too happy about it but we could leave before the Druchii ever come here. We could just let nature take its course.”

Tyrion: “Please. As if you would ever forgive me for leaving an entire nation behind.”

Eldyra: “How I feel is irrelevant. I’m just your squire, master. I follow you wherever you go.”

….

• Wow React: Tyrion fiddled with his chin for a moment before replying “You would really forsake our entire mission here because I asked.

Eldyra: “Of course I would. Besides, our mission was to stop a rogue samurai from rebelling, not to fight an entire war for these people. All of this is just extra grief to deal with.”

Tyrion: “In that case…and I’m really sorry for saying this Eldyra, but I think it’s time we went home….”

….

“No, you’re just saying that to make me feel respected. I can see if in your eyes… You would hate me for leaving now…” Tyrion responded before sighing once more and proclaiming “I just wish I knew why I was still here. What’s the point in any of this? They’re not my people after all.”

Suddenly, just as Tyrion was finishing that sentence his eyes widened as if he were having some form of revelation. “Oh…that’s why.”

“What? What’s wrong?” Eldyra asked confused.

“My purpose…my reason for being here.” Tyrion responded cryptically.

“Well, what is it then? What’s going on?”

“I think I finally know why I’m here. I know why I came here and I know what all of this is for.”

“Okay, what’s your purpose for being here for?” Eldyra asked once more.

“To remind me. To hold me to the mark. I am Prince Tyrion, Defender of Ulthuan. But I am not only that! I save people! Regardless of their origins or utility to me, that is my duty to them. To be the sword that guides the weak to a brighter tomorrow. And if anyone should ever have an issue with that goal. Well, I say to them. To hell with you!”

Tyrion burst out of the stables, renewed with confidence and vigour and returned to the Empress’ counsel chamber where he immediately began looking into the castle’s defence measures and talking strategies they could take across theses isles to thwart Dark Elf landing parties. Tyrion spoke with such speed and precision that it almost came to rival the speed with which he could wield his sword yet as they talked through their strategic defences more and more, one glaring weakness began to crop up. The Nipponese army had very little in place with which to deal with the Dark Elves’ air force.

Tyrion: “Do you have any dragons?”

Empress Jungi: “Of course not, the Cathayans captured and took them all to their lands centuries ago.”

Tyrion: “Great eagles?”

Jungi: “No.”

Tyrion: “Griffons?”

Jungi: “What are those?”

Tyrion: “I will take that as a no then. Phoenixes?”

Jungi: “Meaning?”

“Tyrion: “Huge birds that through contact with the elemental winds of magic are able to withstand great heat and even resurrect themselves upon death.”

Jungi: “No….the closest we have to those are the Stormbirds that fly between the Makudo Mountains.”

Tyrion: “Stormbirds? What are stormbirds now?”

Jungi: “Winged beasts that survive through the most horrible of climates. The mountains around them sear with a fiery rage while the heavens above have buzzed great bolts of electricity for some 70 years now.”

Tyrion: “You mean to tell me that you have a race of birds living there that are immune to lightning and can survive volcanic climates? Why have I not heard of these before?”

Jungi: “Because they have never been tamed. They are total free spirits and will instantly flee from any engagement with men.”

Tyrion: “Really? Well, I’m the Heir to the Phoenix so I can assure you that is about to change. Prepare your defences while I am gone Empress, you will need them. Come Eldyra, we’re going hunting…”

And so the two elven royals departed from Castle Usaki atop their fine Ithilmar steeds Malhandir and Maladhros on their way to the mountains in which these stormbirds were based. Fortunately for them, the Makudo mountains were much closer to their location than their previous battle with the Norscan raiders had been and so it only took a handful of days to get their by horseback. Lightning crackled across the skies and molten pools of magma scorched their way into the landscape. This was definitely the place they were looking for and so they made quick business scaling the mountainside for these mythical stormbirds.

….

• Laugh React: The two elves reached the mountain’s summit only to be graced by quite a surprise. There were no phoenix-like massive birds there to tame. Instead, all they could find were a bunch of black soot-covered birds that lived here, each barely larger than a chicken. As they had come all the way here, they decided to capture a few of them so they would have something to eat on the way back to Usaki. Perhaps Tyrion should have asked the Empress for more details about these birds before setting off to tame a series of mythical birds he’d never heard of before?

….

….

….

After a lengthy ascent the two elven royals finally reached the summit of the mountain range. Above them they saw the stormbirds flying through the air, their bodies encased in fire, lightning or some strange combination of the two, many even larger than the phoenixes they knew on Ulthuan and a special few coming scarily close to the size of a sun dragon. However, just as the elves could see these native stormbirds, so too could they cast their own eye over these outsiders as three birds, two of fire and one of lightning plunged from the heavens and landed before them on the summit.

The birds approached them slowly, their heads swaying in a jostled manner as they tried to inspect these strange riders who were so much taller than the humans that normally came here. In response, Tyrion dismounted from his loyal steed Malhandir and slowly approached the closest bird, Eldyra commenting that whatever he was going to do, now was the time.

….

• Angry React: Tyrion treaded slowly toward the birds, his arms outstretched to show he meant no harm to them as he gestured toward them as invitingly as he knew how. However, something was wrong. He couldn’t tell why but the birds were becoming agitated when suddenly, they took off and began flying rings around the two elves. The air around them became hotter and hotter as some form of cycle began to emerge with great bolts of lightning being traded between the air-streams above.

The elves attempted to run but there was no where to go as the intense winds obstructed their ability to move. Before they knew what was happening, they were whipped up off their feet, followed soon by their horses, and were sent flying up through the funnel of this bird-made cyclone. They rose higher and higher until finally the birds abandoned the vortex, causing the winds to dissipate and all four of them to plummet to their deaths as they smashed into the rocks of the mountain summit below.

….

• Sad React: Tyrion approached the birds, opening his arms wide as he cast his blade aside to show he meant no threat. He bowed his head to them as the largest of the birds bowed its own in return. He came closer, moving ever so slowly in order not to startle them until finally, he placed the gloved hand of his right gauntlet on the front bird’s beak and made contact. The two beings connected, their minds intertwining as Tyrion did his best to convince the creature his intentions were pure.

However, something was wrong. His mind seemed pure but deep down his blood was tainted. The noble bloodline of Aenarion was wrong, malformed, cursed even – and though Tyrion had no idea of this fact just yet, the bird felt it and became hostile, breaking contact and flapping its wings in Tyrion’s face. As this happened, a hail of burning feathers made contact with Tyrion’s body and set him alight. Tyrion howled in sheer agony as his face and body were burnt, his armoured form scorched black as he fell to the ground and the birds flew off. Eldyra ran over to him, hoping to crack open his amulet the Heart of Avelorn but he refused to let her do so. For in that precise moment he would rather die than allow his bond with the Everqueen to be broken.

Eldyra attempted to comfort him, rolling him onto his back and lifting his head with her arms as she spoke.

Eldyra: “You can’t die now. I know you can’t die now.” Tyrion: “Oh my little hummingbird, you’ve got a schedule for everything haven’t you?” Eldyra: “But this doesn’t make any sense. We need you to fight the Druchii. Please master, what do I need to do? Come on, how can I cure you?”

Tyrion: “I’m sorry Eldyra but you can’t, nobody can. Please, listen to me. I need to tell you one last thing…”

Tyrion suddenly groaned and fell back, his head tilting as his body succumbed to the pain from his burns. In response Eldyra came closer, making it easier for him to speak in lighter tones.

Tyrion: “Find her. Find Alarielle and tell her something from me.”

“Tell her what?” Eldyra asked as she came closer, bringer her ear to Tyrion’s lips so he could whisper his final message to her. After hearing him speak she smiled for a second before replying “I’m sure she knows.” but by the time her gaze met his it was too late, Tyrion was dead.

….

• Love React: Tyrion approached the birds, opening his arms wide as he cast his blade aside to show he meant no threat. He bowed his head to them as the largest of the birds bowed its own in return. He came closer, moving ever so slowly in order not to startle them until finally, he placed the gloved hand of his right gauntlet on the front bird’s beak and made contact. Their two minds wove between each other, as the blood-heir to the Phoenix imparted with an aspect of his soul with the bird, proving to it his credibility as an honest rider.

Eldyra stood in awe and soon approached herself, making contact with another bird, smaller than Tyrion’s, considered somewhat of a runt to its flock though still roughly comparable to the size of an Ulthuani flamespyre phoenix. The princess imparted her part to the creature and both mellowed. Soon other birds flocked to the summit where they too made contact with the elven royals, each being stripped of their innately hostile natures one by one. Eventually the two elves set forth to travel back to Usaki Castle, now with over 40 of these previously untameable phoenix-like stormbirds at their back. And as they set headed home, the skies above the Makudo Mountains calmed for the first time in almost 70 years.