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Elsewhere in Darkon I saw troops being gathered up and trained, noted the location of the camps and how many lived there, wrote down the names of all his chief coh rank whoain for their unconditional loyalty, then put theat, and they were absolute dictators within their given domain, answerable to none but themselves, their immediate leaders, and Azalin

Azalin picked only the best fighters for the Kargat, then saw to it that they were initiated into the dark life of the undead, ents Occasionally he "gifted" a select feith lycanthropy should their own nature dictate it as h infants coods - or devils - to the frail mortals about the the invasion force by their frequent attendance at staff and strategy s with General Vychen I eavesdropped as best I could on these, though if I lingered too long or too close ain much useful information on theircourse of h Azalin took his tie of s a few zombies sent in to harass the common folk there Because of their limits the creatures were no real threat to anyone who kne to fight theees out of the area, mostly terrified farmers and herders As for the zo havoc for theirthe day, I was sure their chief purpose was to keep e

I instructed s the precious tiical ite, so not many had such treasures It was better that they rely on their own resources and training, anyway Azalin was ironically helping to season hters, for each time they drove back or destroyed one of his assaults, it was a great boost to their confidence

Insofar as ical preparation was concerned,anything of iiven protective neck chains to be worn constantly The links were i on their wearers - Azalin, not myself, which I carefully built that into the spell Thus were they able to co seen or overheard by anyone but me, and of course, I took care not to inform them about the latter detail It was how I made sure my own people were loyal, an impressive accomplishment of work for me but not nearly sufficient to the need

As indicated by the Tarokka cards all those years ago I had to seek help from outside Thus did I send Yersinia Wachter, under close and well armed escort, into Mordent and Lamordia as my first ambassador to the lands beyond Barovia

Her overt reee for a mutual defense policy Unhappily Azalin had already achieved a non-aggression treaty with the nificant office was the closest thing the whole country had for government He&039;d had less luck in Laovern friends within Mordent&039;s Weathermay clan, one of the town&039;s most prominent families She was perfectly suited on a social level to deal with anything involving the upper classes, which hy I&039;d chosen her for the task Though she lacked experience in soldiering, she was an expert at reading people and getting theht contacts to achieve her coverther son to scrutinize the new maps, I quit the study for a smaller room nearby that I had prepared with absolute privacy inthis objective with heavy protection spells Its original opening on a minor corridor was bricked up, and now the chief entry was atoo narrow for anything but a bat to squeeze past For e no larger than h as mist

Within, all was draped in black velvet, walls, floor, ceiling, including the single chair that s Here would I sit, the crystal ball before es, free of all diversions as I seeht came from within the crystal

It was time to obtain Yersinia&039;s report for the day I composed myself in the chair, focused my attention in the crystal, and shut my eyes the better to visualize her face and form After a few moments it seemed she stood before me, a startled look upon her features as far away in Mordent she became aware ofabout her with a hint of uncertainty, though I had contacted her this wayress have you made?" I snapped

She knee did not haveforshould he find a way around th with Voan Darl He&039;s interested, especially after hearing what you are willing to pay"

"Azalin can pay him more"

"Yes, but Azalin also ordered the execution of some woman Darl was close to; he bears no love toward Darkon&039;s ruler"

Within days of Yersinia&039;s arrival she hadhimself Voan Darl He had the silken manners of an in-bred noble, combined with the skills of a professional assassin, and was very uest of the Weatheruest fro in one less place setting for the evening meal Aware of his hosts&039; acute e rooms at a sas, due to the inal at best This made hi others like hi the pay is the same I&039;ve spoken to them They&039;re hard people, but capable, I trust them"

"Trust is an illusion"

"Indeed, my lord, especially in war, but I think you may rely upon them, particularly after you&039;ve seen them yourself"

That was quite true - once my hypnotic influence was upon them "What else have you to report?"

"The Weatherrees, but they can&039;t speak for the rest of the land Barovia may have to make such pacts on an individual basis rather than as a whole, the same as I established in Lah Others will likely follow their lead"

"See to it We need the supplies Hire Darl and his people and send theht away Make sure to issue theents on the road"

"Yes, ical protection of the chains, alearing one herself It also possessed a s spell that allowed h the crystal with much less effort than would otherwise be required on my part Few others I had made possessed that quality since it was an extre to achieve

"I shall contact you at the sa off before she could reply, for , and speaking froical drain on me was enormous at such distance even with the added help of the amulet, but I endured it Not to do so was to surrender to Azalin

And so it went, as I prepared for a war I was certain that I could not win

580 Barovian Calendar, Barovia As the ht, and I sent other agents out of Barovia to seek help Most unexpectedly Azalin himself provided valuable assistance toDarkon&039;s Mercenary Guild

Rather than pay for their professional skills, he conscripted theuild with a long tradition of pride and independence, so this did not sit at all ith them, and a revolt took place within the Il Aluk barracks The body count was high, and the majority of the dead were not thesoat Those rebels unaccounted for were presuround Word iftly passed to all branches of the guild in Darkon&039;s other population centers, and the rest of the members followed suit and vanished Incensed, Azalin set his Kargat to locating and killing those whom he&039;d decided were traitors

When this bit of news came to the ears of the Vistani tribes in Darkon, they made it known in certain discreet quarters they could not only help the survivors escape certain death but find work at a fair ith the enee nuan to steadily streaeons

Azalin had not used the fair weather of the suh his arht on his side For over a year he&039;d held back, rin of General Vychen, as ireement I could discern between the puppet, but also a round firm underfoot, the opportunity for an easy assault should not be wasted, and he wanted to take it Azalin insisted onthe living, dead, and undead, was easily three times the size of mine He seemed less interested in victory than annihilation

When one is outnuave ood use