Delver Magic Book III: Balance of Fate
Page 31
Chapter 14
Sazar left Tabris in her desert oasis as he returned to Dark Spruce to begin his new grand designs of conquest. He promised the sorceress that he would not take long in setting his plans into action and fulfilling his part of the bargain. He did not, however, wish to utilize the desert as his base of initial operations. His conquests would begin with the humans, and for that he would drive eastward.
Even as he trekked back through the outskirts of the Lacobian and into the western span of Dark Spruce, Sazar utilized his new found powers to expand his small group of minions into a massive horde. The hook hawk under his control soared over vast regions of the forest. When it spotted small camps of goblin raiding parties, Sazar focused his persuasive will through the gaze of the flying beast. The members of the goblin cluster immediately fell under his spell. Once he gained access to their consciousness, he obtained information on the location of competing goblin packs. He directed his winged monster toward these new locations and his minion army grew as fast as his hook hawk could fly.
He sent his smaller shag into the rocky hills in search of more of its kind. Shags in the area would immediately sense the invader and come out to meet the challenger to protect their territories. The smaller shag would never have to fight the larger and more massive monsters that railed against it. Once the small shag locked its gaze upon the targeted creature, Sazar’s conniving mind would take the will of the monster and another powerful beast would be added to his army. Within days, Sazar controlled over three dozen shags. Their combined destructive strength could destroy a dwarf constructed barricade in a matter of moments. He now had a mobile battering ram capable of dismantling any barrier.
The two gremplings he first tested his powers on also became very useful. These furry almost imp-like creatures bounded through the forest, swinging from tree tops searching for bloat spiders, the perfect nightmares to add an edge of fear to his multitude. After all, in order to be ultimately successful in his plans of conquest, he needed not only to defeat the initial resistance, but to break the will of those he intended on ruling. Bloat spiders were almost too easy to control. They spun thick webs and waited for days for prey. Their minds never focused on anything beyond that. Persuading them to move with his army required little more than the promise of endless prey.
As the serp walked through Dark Spruce, he kept his own eye upon the skies, always watching for razor crows and hook hawks. Whenever he spotted one, he immediately placed it under his control and sent it to reconnoiter more and more of the forest. With a murder of razor crows and numerous hook hawks delivering images to his own mind, his awareness of the forest and his perception of the surrounding lands grew to god-like proportions. Secret entrances to dwarf mines, hidden trails to elf camps, and guarded meeting places for the two races became as obvious to him as the full moon in a cloudless night sky.
He moved his horde with precision, keeping the mass spread thin. He no longer needed them near his physical presence to maintain his control of their thoughts, and he used this to his advantage. Ensuring that he would alert no one that he now controlled a massive army of countless creatures with varied strengths and abilities, he kept small detachments separated across the vast forest. He would bring them together eventually, but only when he was ready to attack. For that, he needed to move them further eastward and equip his forces for an overwhelming onslaught.
With a desire to make his first assault one of such overwhelming fury, Sazar’s greatest obstacle was arming this vast horde of goblins. Most had some sort of crude weapon when he persuaded them to join his league of minions. For what he had in mind, however, this was not enough. He wanted each goblin to carry a crossbow and a short sword of iron at the bare minimum. He wanted the bolts made of metal as well. The number of goblins he controlled soared into the thousands and equipping them beyond simple daggers or crude clubs proved to be a near impossible task. Though they raided several human outposts and two dwarf underground mining stations, he still had many more goblins than weapons. In the end, he ordered many to construct short bows from tree limbs and to carve wooden arrows from broken branches. Not quite what he first envisioned, but it would be enough, enough to obliterate the defenses of his first target and enough to make it clear that his army was never to be trifled with again.