Tales from the Dominion (graphic content warning)

[Stabbity]

The streets of Alowca were crowded, the mobs baying for blood. At last, a young woman was drug from the dungeons, flanked by the Harbinger's guards. They held chains, and walked alongside Valentina as she crawled along, unable to stand due to her restraints. The crowd hurled stones, rotten food, and dung at the Halcyon noble. A woman screamed "My son died defending your lands, and this is how you repay his sacrifice!" Based on the attitude of the crowd, she was not alone in her rage. The crowds swelled and the hate was palpable. The only thing holding them back was their respect and fear of the Harbinger. Valentina endured this gauntlet for a mile, her knees raw and bloody, blood and dung running into her eyes.

The procession arrived at a small platform erected by the Blood Moat, and Valentina was bodily lifted and restrained on a wooden "X".

The crowd roared approval, and suddenly everyone was silent. The Harbinger emerged, flanked by his assistants, who were laden with his tools, various knives and items for cauterizing. The Harbinger quietly announced the sentence.

"Valentina Goldhammer, you have shared your art with the Dominion. I will now share mine with you." A small table was set up, and a leather bundle unrolled, knives glistening in the sun. Myles' s hand hovered over the knives, and he thoughtfully selected one. He held it aloft, inspecting it as a painter would inspect a brush. Satisfied, he approached Valentina and considered the first stroke of his masterpiece.

Myles reached up and began to peel the skin off of Valentina's pinky, and her screams rang out in the square. The Harbinger hummed along to the melody, a master artist enjoying his craft. Inch by inch, Myles flayed Valentina's skin from her body. Brands were applied to staunch any bleeding, but the Lord Flayer was truly a master of his art, and after an artfully long period of time, not a scrap of flesh remained on Valentina's body.

Valentina had run out of screams, but still writhed in agony against her restraints. Myles set down his knife and plucked a lemon from a bowl. He sliced it open, and squeezed it over Valentina's fleshless form, eliciting screams again. He bit into the sour fruit, and grinned.

"Nail her to the wall. Have the skin treated and sent to the Fashionista to be made into a garment."

Public Execution
message to everyone on Colonies - 18 hours, 29 minutes ago
Messengers bring news of a public execution in Alowca earlier today.
Valentina Goldhammer, a noble of Halcyon, had been banned from The Dominion of Aren as a traitor on 22nd January, 2019. When she was later imprisoned, Lord Flayer Myles Vilanova of The Dominion of Aren decided to make her pay for her treason.
Background info on this family.

[Stabbity]

Myles stood, admiring the rotting form of Valentina, and adjusted the cloak he had had made from her flesh. As ordered, a crowd had been assembled. The Harbinger was prepared to address his people. He turned to face the assembled crowd, and looked about, Valentina's distorted cloak based face also facing the crowd.

"Aren. I know. We have suffered setbacks. We have lost a few battles, and our enemies have thwarted our takeover of Abaka with corruption." Myles approached the crowd.

"THE COWARDS TRIED TO TAKE IRDALNI... However..." Myles paused. "However..." He said, and then he grabbed a man from the crowd, threw him to the ground, and stabbed him in the neck, repeatedly. After a moment of violent stabbing, Myles stood, covered in blood.

"I will not tolerate weakness. We shall not tolerate weakness. Oritolon ran a takeover for two days, and what progress did they make? NEXT TO NONE! AN INFINITESIMAL AMOUNT OF THE REGION, BARELY ENOUGH TO ENCOMPASS A LATRINE! In the meantime, their capital has fallen to Outer Tilog!"

Myles pointed to the corpse at his feet.

"That is Oritolon. A corpse, bleeding and twitching, unable to accept that is dead! The weak fools need four nations to match our might! FOUR! AND NOW OUR ALLIANCE WITH OUTER TILOG WILL OUTMATCH THIS PATHETIC GATHERING OF FEARFUL NATIONS. WE WILL REDOUBLE OUR EFFORTS TO GRIND EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THESE COWARDS INTO PASTE. GO FORTH AND RIP EVERY MAN, WOMAN AND CHILD OF ORITOLON TO PIECES BEFORE THEY DRAG US DOWN INTO THE PILE OF FILTH THEY WALLOW IN. BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD MOAT! BUILD THE BONE THRONE! LET THE COLONIES BURN!"

Diplomatic News
message to all nobles of Aren - 1 day, 9 hours, 40 minutes ago

Your Harbinger has whipped the people into a frenzy with a passionate speech about the eternal evil manifested as the realm of Oritolon.

[Stabbity]

The warriors of the Dominion formed up, bashing swords on shields, foaming at the mouths, feral screams erupting from them at their enemy. They had been double dosed with Elixir, as the nobles of the Dominion were bored with defense. They charged the field, screaming death curses at the huddling masses before them, when suddenly a series of horns rang out, and the soldiers of the Dominion, as one, stopped, confused by the sight of Halcyon cavalry charging past and into the very same soldiers they initially occupied Irdalni with.

Mordiggian stepped forward, axe raised.

"WHAT ARE YOU GAWKING AT, CLEARLY THEY'RE TOO SCARED TO FIGHT YOU LOT!" He bellowed, and began to charge. Woken from their stupor, the warriors of the Dominion charged again, bringing death and carnage onto the poorly prepared forces of Lukon and Portion.

Huge Battle Fought
message to everyone on Colonies - 2 hours, 36 minutes ago

Rumours spread and tales are sung about a huge battle in Irdalni:
Aren, Halcyon vs. Lukon, Portion
Estimated strengths: 640 men vs. 360 men
Attacker Victory!

[Stabbity]

The wind was strong, and the jungle thick. The sweltering heat gave the soldiers of Lukon, Portion and Oritolon pause. Some had survived the horrors of Irdalni's jungles before. Some only knew it by reputation... And the open spots in the ranks of returning armies. The natives were insane, and very hostile to outsiders. This particular day though, they marched with ill placed confidence. Suddenly the jungle erupted with noise. Honking geese, screams of passion and ecstasy, and bloodcurdling cries of those eager to spill blood. The soldiers of the Dominion erupted from their hiding places. Arrows flew, but few found their marks in the thick canopy, and even more missed due to the howling wind.

Mordiggian roared, herding his men towards the enemy. A few suffered wounds from unlucky arrows, and they crashed into Archon's Armadillos. Men hacked and slashed, and Mordiggian's Ravenous Ghouls let loose feral cries as the enemy died beneath their blades. Mordiggian waded into the fray, taking a man's head clean off with his axe. He whirled about, and beheld his target. He swung his axe in a vicious arc, and it bit clean into the side of Archon Shepard. Mordiggian pulled the man towards him and ripped off the Oritolonese knight's helmet.

"THE MAD DOG'S BITE IS WORSE THAN HIS BARK!" Mordiggian roared into his face, before kicking him off of his axe. Mordiggian raised his axe to deliver the finishing blow, but one of Archon's Armadillos threw himself in the way, dying atop his commander, who managed to crawl free.

"TAKE THEIR SKULLS FOR XITRIX!" Mordiggian roared, and the Ghouls pushed into the Armadillos, killing more in their wake. They pushed through into the last fourteen men of Ikrif Fist, alongside the Harbingers. They slaughtered the pathetic group, only one of the Ghouls sustaining a wound as they fought through. Mordiggian stomped on the skull of a dying infantryman, and spied another target. Oiron Camlann was attempting to evade the slaughter of his men, pushing past his squire to retreat. Mordiggian charged past the squire, shoulder checking him as he went past. Mordiggian swung with the flat of his axe, knocking the Knight to the ground. Oiron rolled over, swinging his blade wildly. The heavily armored form of Mordiggian shrugged off the blow, and he thrust the spear point of his axe's handle down into the squirming Knight.

"WEAKLING WORM! DEPENDENT ON CHARITY TO SURVIVE!" Mordiggian roared through his helmet at the man, twisting the axe, eliciting a scream from the Knight. A sword rang off Mordiggian's back, the blow failing to pierce his armor. The Reaver turned, and beheld the frightened form of Oiron's squire. He roared and tore the axe free, and swung the axe in a vertical arc, cleaving the squire into two equal, bloody halves.

"LOTHOS CLAIMS THIS SOUL! INTO DARKNESS YOU GO!" Mordiggian, covered in gore, roared. He turned to finish off his prey, only to notice the Oritolonese Knight had fled. Mordiggian roared and kicked at his men to get them moving again, and they broke through the front lines and into the ranks of Archon's Armadillos again, who were in the process of falling back. More Armadillos fell before the Ghouls, and soon they retreated.

Mordiggian and the Ghouls roared in triumph, and were met with a hail of arrows, wounding the last of Mordiggian's combat capable men. A last arrow found a joint in Mordiggian's armor, digging into his shoulder. Mordiggian ripped the projectile out, and wandered his way off the battlefield.

"Let them have the field. We have had the greater fill of blood than they today." Mordiggian growled.