Amoera's Corruption
Part Two of the Fall of Almerry Keep
Introduction
The realm of Alaria is changing.
Ages ago the gods fought a battle that nearly destroyed Alaria. The losers of that war were the gods and goddesses who had given themselves over to a power known simply as The Corruption. Although not evil, the perverse power is antagonistic and tries to corrupt all its tendrils can touch, even the gods themselves.
The corrupted gods lost their war and the powers that stood against The Corruption were victorious. They believed they had removed all traces of The Corruption from the realm of Alaria.
They were wrong.
As killing a god is not a simple thing most of the corrupted gods were banished or imprisoned in a way that the uncorrupted gods thought equivalent to death. In many cases they were right, but not enough to keep The Corruption from eventually seeping back into Alaria.
Now, so many ages after the initial war against The Corruption that most gods have no memory of it ever happening, a new war has begun. Some of the corrupted gods that survived have escaped their ancient prisons. They work to free others while moving to corrupt new gods. Everywhere across Alaria The Corruption spreads its power, yet most in Alaria remain blissfully unaware of its existence.
However, some
ARE
aware and work to stop the spread of The Corruption. Mortals and deities who see the threat The Corruption poses, or simply those who oppose its perverse influence, have begun to band together.
It is through the Sisterhood of Righteousness that these powers muster their largest strength. It is an all-female order dedicated to stopping the spread of The Corruption's influence, although not all within its ranks understand this. Since the very knowledge of The Corruption's existence can sicken the minds and souls of mortals and gods alike many within the order, and most without it, think it is only a group dedicated to fighting evil and sexual perversion and do not know its true purpose.
The Sisterhood of Righteousness has spread across Alaria, founding outposts everywhere their order reaches. Some are small halls in cities while others are imposing keeps, a place for the military might of the righteous to gather their forces. Wherever there is evil and perversion the Sisterhood will do its best to send its agents and it is often from these keeps that they ride out.
They wish to stop the spread of The Corruption and in standing opposed to the force they make themselves glowing targets for its powerful hunger. The Corruption knows that no matter how strong a group of Sisterhood members are they can be defiled and defeated. It is a game that The Corruption and its servants deeply enjoy.
Almerry Keep and the members of The Sisterhood of Righteousness that reside there have become The Corruption's newest target. Their fate was a doomed one as soon as the power's focus fell on them, they just don't know it. One by one the Sisterhood members will be picked off, ruined, and made into secret servants of The Corruption. Or, if that is not possible, dealt with in a way that removes them from the chessboard that is the game The Corruption is playing with them.
The Corruption
WILL
be triumphant. Almerry Keep
WILL
fall as will each member of the Sisterhood of Righteousness that calls it home. The next member of the Sisterhood to fall will be Amoera Crimsonsign, a young Blood Elve girl whose fate is greater than any suspect...
Amoera's Corruption
"What was that one's name?" Amaleen Eldenbrow asked. She was leaning over the solid railing of the platform she stood on while looking down at the courtyard where a group of young Sisterhood of Righteousness initiates were busy training.
"Which one, Commander Eldenbrow?" the tiny, strange woman standing beside the tall, curvaceous Silver Elve asked.
"The Elven woman with the red skin. And call me Amaleen when the junior members aren't around. I'll need the friendship of the senior staff here at Almerry Keep as much as your skills and experience if this outpost is to continue to be an effective arm of the Sisterhood of Righteousness' might."
"Her name's Amoera Crimsonsign, Comm- I mean, Amaleen."
"There, was that so hard?" Amaleen asked, smiling down at the smaller woman. The smile died as she looked down at the other woman, noticing she wasn't tall enough to see over the solid railing. "Wait... can you see who I'm pointing at? Should I go get... I don't know, a box for you to stand on?"
"Of course I can see," the little woman replied, smiling serenely while staring ahead as if she could see
through
the railing. "My eyes may be white and useless but the countless possible futures I see every night in my dreams allow me to 'see' in the present."
"No, Riowondail, I think you perhaps misunderstand me," Amaleen said calmly. "I understand your second sight allows you to 'see'. I meant can you see
over
the railing."
"Oh," Riowondail said, shrugging. "I mean, if my eyes worked I'd
NOT
be tall enough to see over the railing, but my second sight shows me the world around me in a way it would be hard for you to understand. I see in all directions at once, but I can 'focus' my sight in specific directions or on specific people."
"Ah," Amaleen said with a curt nod, trying not to reveal how unsettling she found Riowondail's second sight. "Did the last commander have difficulty adjusting to your... uh..."
"Peculiarities?" Riowondail suggested, looking up but not quite directly at Amaleen. "Yes. Everyone does. My second sight takes getting used to, but for most it's more about how I look. How my body can't fit into any of the mental boxes they've established to understand the world. Small like a Smidgen but thin like the thinnest Elves, looking both very young and very old thanks to the mix of the different species in my bloodline."
"You do have a unique racial heritage. I've never seen anyone like you."
"No one has," Riowondail replied. "I'm the result of generations of intentional 'breeding' of the Sisterhood's most powerful seers, regardless of their race. But you were asking about Amoera."
"Ah, yes," Amaleen said, looking away from the small, strange woman beside her. "I'd thought she was a Night Elve the first time I caught a glimpse of her, she's got the right body type for it. And those ears! Longer than mine."
"I suppose you're asking because of her skin tone," Riowondail said.
"Red," Amaleen said, her tone blunt and disproving. "Not orange. Not copper. Red. Oh, it's a very light shade of red, easily mistaken for what it is unless the lighting is right. But it's red. And the way her eyes glow? Not a trick of the light as it first seems, but something that ebbs and flows with her mood."
"You're asking if she's a Blood Elve."
"Yes," Amaleen said, then changed her mind. "No. I'm
stating
she's a Blood Elve. I'm asking
why
. Why is she here?"
"The same reason the rest of us are," Riowondail replied, her tone making it clear she knew this was not the answer her freshly appointed commander wanted. "To help make the world of Alaria a better place. To fight evil and perversion. To stop the spread of The Corruption."
"But she's a Blood Elve," Amaleen replied. "A race of Elves given over to The Corruption, changed by it so deeply they become a different race. Changed so deeply that even their children will be born tainted with its touch, members of the same race no matter the race of the other parent. Destined to be controlled by The Corruption if not outright born its servant."
"Not destined," Riowondail said, polite defiance in her voice. "Whichever Elven ancestor that young woman had down there that was first turned into a Blood Elve, that person surely had given themselves so deeply to The Corruption it tainted their entire bloodline. But it was
NOT
that girl that did it, she was born into it. Her blood indeed carries with it intense weakness and susceptibility to The Corruption's influence, but it is not a foregone conclusion she will fall under its sway.
"Amoera is a good person. She has been a good person all of her short life. She has always known what being a Blood Elve means and has always been determined not to fall into darkness. She trains with those other young recruits having done more than any of them to prove herself worthy of being a member of our Sisterhood."
Riowondail's initial defense of the girl faltered as she continued speaking. "But I understand your concerns. I even share them more than most. Her future is clouded and unclear... But before I shared my reservations about Amoera I thought it important you understand she's earned her place here, earned it more than
SOME
of those girls down there."
"I'm not happy about the Dhuarcain girl's presence either," Amaleen muttered. "I may not have accepted this posting had I known of her presence and the responsibilities that come along with it. But this Amoera, we keep a close eye on her?"
"Yes," Riowondail replied. "All of the senior staff do, although perhaps not as subtly as we should. And I am perhaps a bit ashamed to say not as
kindly
as we could, either. She knows what we think of her and although she normally hides it well our distrust pains her greatly."
"There is danger in that," Amaleen said, gripping the railing. "We should strive not to cause the very thing we fear will come about." She was silent for a moment. "I understand the shame you mentioned, I feel a bit of it myself. We should be nurturing and supporting that girl. Shame on me for reacting the way I did to her presence." She paused again, taking a deep breath before continuing. "The senior staff will be told to take a lighter hand with her, to give her more space to... to be whoever she is destined to be. She is very young, still more a girl than a woman in a lot of ways. We should let her have whatever joys her youth has to offer her and not rob her of that."
Riowondail looked up again at Amaleen, her second sight focusing on the woman. For a short time it looked as though her white, pupilless eyes could actually see her. "And I was wondering why a Silver Elve so young and inexperienced as you was sent to be our new commander. I'm sorry Amaleen that I'd not truly
seen
you till this moment."
Amaleen smiled. "Don't be too impressed yet. There's plenty of work to be done before I've proven myself worthy of this posting, starting with locating Naleath Evenbloom. The Ranger has been out ranging far too long. Something may have happened to her, and if it has we'll need to discover what."
* * *
"Nice one, Amoera!" a cute but tough-looking blond-haired faun said as she watched the Blood Elve shift her stance then thrust her glaive into the training dummy. "Clear through onto the other side!"
"Thanks, Peare." Amoera pulled the polearm free of the straw man and tossed it into the air, doing a cartwheel under it before catching the weapon as she landed on her feet. "I've gotten pretty good with this thing."
"Gotten pretty good at showing off with it," a short Human girl with a stocky build said, holding her hands out as if gripping an invisible glaive. "But the best bladeswoman is
nothing
compared to a battlemage."
A glaive made of ethereal pink magic appeared in her hand and she thrust it towards the straw man. A cloud of shimmering pink bubbles exploded from the tip then flew towards the training dummy, turning into a beam of rainbow-colored magic as they popped. It dissipated after blowing through the dummy, leaving behind a sparkling mist of glitter and ash floating to the ground where the straw man had been.
"Now who's showing off, Gwynaetha?" a slender, pretty, green-skinned Orc girl asked. "And because you were showing off,
AGAIN
, we need a new training dummy."
"So make us one, Resi," Gwynaetha said, sticking her tongue out at the Orc.
"Fine," Resi replied, turning and lifting her staff into the air.
The staff looked like it was made of interwoven vines that had hardened and turned into wood. As the Orc held the staff up the inside of it began to glow with green energy, pink flowers sprouting into existence up and down its length. Roots began to push up from the dirt where the previous straw man had been, rising and twisting together till they took the shape of a man holding a sword and shield.
"There," she said, the light in her staff dimming and the flowers that had grown on it wilting and falling away.
