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![]() In the ruined Imperial Palace, Ottoman Sultan Murad II receives a message whispered by one of his spies, a shadow demon named Sliirx... So! Those mortal heroes, the Mighty Ones, have the Heart of King Solomon Diamond in their possession, and are trying to keep it hidden away... I must send my Arrows of Dispatch to take it from them and bring it here to me... Such a jewel would fuel several resurrections... or fund my renovations of the Hagia Sophia and then some... ![]()
![]() Whispered in Arabic to the unseen but felt messenger: Most grievous news, indeed... But Sultan Murad's expression is far from alarmed. His mouth twists in a slight smile, and his dark eyes glitter with satisfaction. One more obstacle to my ascendance removed! This will be easier than I'd hoped... Hahahahahaaa! The Sultan laughs with evil pleasure, causing the workers laboring to renovate the Hagia Sophia (and the invisible imp Nettlewelt) to wonder what was going through his mind... ![]()
![]() Many leagues to the east, in the recently conquered city of Constantinople, now named Istanbul: Ottoman Sultan Murad II inspects renovations underway at the Hagia Sophia, the great Eastern Roman church being converted into a mosque to the glory of Allah... My subjects can believe in the glory of Allah all they wish... They need not know who this magnificent temple shall TRULY venerate... Neither need my Luciferian allies in the west know the truth... They are ALL my puppets. And one day, they shall ALL fall down on their knees, not before the Crucified Demigod Christ, nor the Antichrist Nero... Not even before Lucifer, but before ME shall they kneel in worship! When at last I shed this mortal guise of Ottoman Sultan and reveal my true form, in all its spectacular beauty and majesty... Then, I shall reign SUPREME over all the kingdoms of the World! The Sultan's revery is suddenly interrupted... ![]()
![]() The Christians of Greek Byzantine Constantinople see the blue wyrm' s attack on their city as a black plan of the Devil. But the devout Muslims besieging the City see it as an avenging angel of Allah. Abaddon, the angel of destruction come to purge the infidel... Taking advantage of the city's weakened state, the Turks press their siege hard, and Constantinople falls to the Ottoman Empire in the summer of 1437... ![]()
![]() Nineteen days in the future, Sultan Murad II and Queen Semiramis are frustrated in their attempts to teleport aboard the Black Pyramid of Kronos and wrest control of it from the Rabbi, and sorely vexed when the massive artifact vanishes from the clearing north of Kiev... The Sultan commands his scouts to spread out and search for the Pyramid... ![]()
![]() Turkish scout wrote:
The Sultan receives the silver raven eagerly, and on hearing its message, he almost roars with excitement... In Infernal: GGRRRRR!! The Pyramid has returned to the clearing! I must act swiftly before it disappears again... ![]()
![]() Queen Semiramis of Assyria wrote:
It appeared in a clearing north of Kiev. Maybe it will appear there again? I shall post scouts there with a silver raven... ![]()
![]() Queen Semiramis of Assyria wrote:
Should we fear these interlopers, My Queen? Can we capture them and the Pyramid for ourselves? ![]()
![]() The Sultan of the Ottoman Empire finds a scroll of teleport in his haversack, and reads it, transporting himself to the secret and opulent court of his mistress, Assyrian Queen Semiramis... My mistress Semiramis will know what to make of this odd appearance of the Black Pyramid... Arriving in her warm and fragrant court, redolent with frankincense and myrrh, the troubled Sultan Murad II addresses his mistress in ancient Aramaic: My Queen Semiramis! I come to thee in time of trouble with news of a strange occurrence... The Black Pyramid of Kronos has appeared in the woods north of Kiev! It was there for but a moment, for what purpose I do not know... Can you illuminate this darkness for me, My Queen? ![]()
![]() The Sultan Murad II, alerted by the captain of his scouts spying on Kiev of the appearance of a colossal black pyramid in a clearing an hour's ride north of Kiev, has rode hard and fast to see this wondrous anomaly with his own eyes... He is filled with awe and dread when he beholds the black pyramid looming above the snow-clad pines... What is this thing!? A pyramid like those of the kings of Egypt? But black as the midnight sky, and covered with gleaming golden glyphs! What do they mean!? They are not Infernal... The Sultan of the Turks dismounts and cautiously approaches the alien edifice, accompanied by twelve elite Jain bodyguards... Suddenly, the giant pyramid vanishes, with an audible pop as the vacuum it occupied fills with air! In Turkish: Allah preserve us! It is gone! Where did it go!? Stunned, the sultan gapes at the empty clearing where the Black Pyramid of Kronos stood seconds ago... ![]()
![]() Far away in the Balkans, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire Murad II leads his Turkish army in victory after victory over the forces of the Byzantine Empire, conquering vast swaths of territory... Yet the fortified metropolis of Constantinople resisted the Turks, who even now were a decade into a lengthy siege of the well-defended capital and final bastion of the Byzantine Empire... Meditating in a regal field tent redolent of burning frankincense and myrrh on the plain outside the besieged walls of Constantinople, the Sultan of the Ottoman Turks contemplates his recent victories and future goals... Even as these lesser cities fall before me, so shall proud Constantinople also fall! I shall capture the defiant citadel of the infidels, force them to accept Islam, behead those who will not convert, and make the fortress-city my new capital! So long as it be Allah's will... ![]()
![]() The Sultan Murad II rules the mighty Ottoman Empire, fashioning himself after the noble Ghazi Kings of old. Championing the spread of Islam throughout the Known World, he would seem to be the model of piety and devotion to the Prophet of Islam... But things are not always what they appear to be on the surface, and one cannot judge a book by its cover, nor can one always believe one's eyes in a world of magic and deception... |