Story: A Meeting In The Night
The King of Washonan, capital of the Middle Elf Kingdom, called the other Elders who were part of his secret society into an emergency meeting in the middle of the night. Over time, as their resentment of D'nashk Re'at grew, they had started to accept power from the Dark Magic of the Undead that kept their activities invisible to the other Elven Kings and Elders.
Two Elven Guards who were loyal to the group brought a prisoner before them, bound in rope and unconscious from a blow to the head.
"Who is he?" asked the King.
"He is no one. He has no family or rank, and no one will miss him" answered the Guard.
"Very well, place him in the circle". And the prisoner was laid within a circle drawn on the floor, decorated with geometric shapes and symbols. They all began to chant a Dark Magic Spell and as they spoke, a grotesque blue flame appeared over the body of the sacrifice, consuming it and leaving only a skeleton behind. And when a portal opened before them, there stood the Emperor Maargog.
Angry and curios at the same time, he asked them, "Why have you summoned me?"
"We are very concerned" began the King of Washonan. "Drizzt and the Ministry of Heroes from D'nashk Re'at have sabotaged our plans, and we no longer have the Balor."
"Indeed, Drizzt has proven to be quite a problem. But he is a Drow nobleman and warrior after all, so I am not that surprised. As for the Ministry of Heroes, I have plans to take care of them. Soon enough, they will not be a problem, I assure you."
"But how did they defeat the Balor? And how are we to replace it?"
"The Balor was not undone -it has been retained in my palace at Thasdook. Concerning the strategy that was used, somehow Drizzt discovered that the waters gleaned from an Elemental would dampen the Balor's fire and cause it to be weak against normal combat. I do not know yet where he got this information, for it is not recorded in my Dark Magic Library. Perhaps the Drow have not shared everything they have learned with me. At any rate, my spies will soon find out and report back to me."
"Perhaps, " continued the King, "it was Cur'Raden."
"Who is that?"
"He is a Prophet in the Wilderness. He is a great threat to us, for he has grown strong in the Magic of Nature and has many thousands coming to him in the Southern Kingdom to listen to his teaching. And he has been condemning the leaders of the Elves for corruption."
"Has he been training them for war?" asked the Emperor.
"No, in fact only a few are able-bodied fighters. The majority are elderly people and women who are not trained as warriors, and many children."
"Then I fail to see why this Cur'Raden is a threat to our plans. If anything, he is doing us a favor by drawing the people into the wilderness and outside the protection of city walls."
"But what about the prophecy of the Champion?"
"What prophecy is that?"
"That a Champion of the Most High will rise up against the Circle of Kings and their chosen Agent of Darkness, and instead of the Kingdom of Darkness it will be the Kingdom of Summer that stretches across the Known World."
At this, Maargog became agitated. "My life is not dictated by Elf Prophecy! What do I care about the Sacred Writings? The Most High is a distant, angry father who turned his back on the peoples of this world long ago. Whatever meddling he may be up to is too little and too late! This world belongs to me, and if you are going to have a place in it, then show me some back-bone and get rid of this Cur'Raden before he has a chance to live up to this so-called prophecy!"
Then the Emperor turned towards the portal, saying "if you summon me again without my prior knowledge, you will pay with your own blood." And he left them.
"How are we going to deal with Cur'Raden?" asked the Elders. "The Southern Kingdom will not let us take him."
"No, we must call the yearly meeting of the Kings here in Washonan and find a way to convince the people that he is a threat to our long standing bond of peace." answered the King.
"King Eletroth will never agree to that. His daughter, Princess Alta, serves as a Sister of the Most High in D'nashk Re'at, and they are sympathetic to Cur'Raden's teaching".
"Then we will have to send Eletroth the same gift we sent to Fulskatar the Great. When his heart and mind fail, we will call our meeting. "