Choices... some are banal and made simply and without thought. Some choices are made for the sake of the individual and then some are made solely for the well being of others.

Lord Noc had made his choice and he knew there was no turning back. The Warlocks of the Epsilon triangulation were on the move again. They defiled all that they touched and murder was a way of life for them. They must feed their dark gods.

But how to stop them? Their magics... their profound and powerful magics laid waste to his ships and armies. The technology that had delivered so many from want and had helped to spread humanity among the stars was now falling before the dark forces of arcane powers like toy boats on an ocean of pain.

And so Lord Noc made a choice. He would best his enemies at their own game, except that he would go one further. His studies lead him to the conclusion that technology and magic could be combined to yield a more awesome power; technomagic!!!

For the sake of his people he sacrificed his arm to this new power. Where once lived flesh and blood there was now a construct of machine, magic and corrupted flesh. He could feel awesome powers dancing around the molecular fabric of his new appendage. This energy fed back right into the very core of his being.

He was the first of the Techno Mages. He would enlist thousands to become as he had and they would defeat the Warlocks after a bloody and foul war, but when it was done what price had been paid? The universal truth of all things is there must be balance. Lord Noc upset that balance and in the end it would consume him.

From the Chronicles of the Dark Wars by H. M. Bennington.

* note: the above image is mapped, some spots are hot and clickable.

Exit to Table of Contents