Years passed. Elves, dwarves, and Tridirs rebuilt what had been destroyed during the war. There were no longer any who remembered what peace was. Of the countless hordes of orcs, only miserable handfuls remained, and even they hid among the swamps and no longer showed themselves. This nightmare had lasted nearly a thousand years. A great price had to be paid for victory. Verdant could never be restored. Only the palace remained in its majestic solitude, standing in the middle of a lake. But the death of an entire city could not compare to the threat that was already not far from Arculon. The Krigan, hellish servants of the spawners, were moving their armies toward the wounded planet. The dwarven astronomers noticed this and immediately informed their king. A secret council was convened, attended by Dobrynya—the dwarf king, Elaina—the elf queen, Truvor—the leader of the Tridirs, the titans, and, strangely enough, Nowizard. Except for Vilna and Kranit, everyone was against Elaina inviting Nowizard to the council, but nevertheless, Nowizard was allowed to attend. They began to think of how to save the people of Arculon from the approaching storm. Engaging in battle was impossible—the warriors were too exhausted; none of the tactical defense methods were suitable—Arculon's forces were too small compared to the Krigan. There was no way out. The people had to be led off the planet, but how? At that time, not even Nowizard knew what a portal was. And then, the mage had an idea to build a flying fortress, large enough to accommodate everyone. This sounded so absurd that it was decided to try it. While the Tridirs and titans built the fortress, the dwarves and elves, with Nowizard's help, worked on developing runes capable of lifting the structure into the air. Time was short. The Krigan were more than a hundred years away from their goal, but constructing such a massive fortress took a great deal of time and effort. Finally, the fortress was built. Its center became the Verdant Palace, moved by Bradog and Kranit. The labors of the dwarves and elves also bore fruit. Special slabs were developed with magical runes inscribed upon them. One such slab was nearly the size of a small village (if not larger)! A test flight was conducted. It works! The fortress flew! However, the energy of the slabs was not enough to fly beyond the atmosphere. Time was running out; something had to be done urgently. And the titans decided to concentrate all their strength into a single source to provide more energy. But someone was needed to control this power. It had to be a very strong mage, who would have the will and concentration to hold such an amount of magic within themselves. Otherwise, it would simply break loose and dissipate into space. And if it broke loose while being held by a mage who was not strong enough... it is better not to think about what would happen to the unfortunate soul. In all of Arculon, there was only one mage capable of holding such power. Truvor and Dobrynya hesitated for a long time whether to trust Desmond's pupil, even a former one. One of the elf wizards, a close associate of Elaina, volunteered as a vessel for the elemental energy. He didn't last a minute. Everyone realized that it was either Nowizard or no one. With enormous effort, Nowizard managed to hold the elements within himself. For nearly three days, he stood and fought the new power raging inside him and tearing for freedom. All four titans merged within Nowizard, granting him power over the elements. Nowizard, using his new abilities, created a crystal that allowed the flying "ark" to move anywhere. But by the time the fortress was prepared for takeoff (which was very difficult without the titans), the Krigan had come so close that at night they could be seen in the sky with the naked eye. Then, the Tridirs declared that they would remain and hold back the Krigan until the soaring empire had moved a sufficient distance away, as a final atonement for their past villainies. No matter how much the others tried to dissuade them, the Tridirs were adamant. The empire took flight, and the Tridirs began preparing for the coming slaughter. When the Krigan invaded, the soaring empire was still far enough away that the clang of weapons and death screams could be heard. On the soaring empire, in the place where the Tridir city should have been, a monument was placed in the center in memory of the fallen warriors who sacrificed themselves to save the others.
The next post will tell of the wanderings of the soaring empire, and how Nowizard first saw Enroth.
This is not yet the end of the story of the wizard Nowizard, but I can now post my faction here:
Units:
1) Pathfind Scout (dwarf) Melee. Increases vision radius by 0.25%.
2) Locksmith Mechanic (dwarf) Melee. Upgrade - during battle, grants friendly warriors a defense bonus of + 0.25%
3) Sentry Guardsman (elf) Melee. Attacks twice. Upgrade - counters attack twice.
4) Hunter Archer (elf) Ranged. Enemy does not counter attack.
5) Gunner Cannoneer (dwarf) Ranged. Large creature. Upgrade - attacks 3x3 area.
6) Priest Warden (elf) Melee. Large creature. Upgrade - ranged combat and casts the "Summon Elementals" spell. The number of summoned elementals is half the number of casters. The elemental is chosen randomly.
7) Stardust Energy Clump (magical creature) Melee. Large creature. Flying creature. 10% chance the enemy misses. Upgrade - enemy does not counter attack.
P.S. Andrey, heh:)