Avantir Yihn

Dev of You Alone Can Defeat Evil and The Last King of Tyre.

[Avantir Yihn @AvantirY]

I, Hethel Fortellite, fought for the Independents during the Great War. During the final assault on Eathabar, we heard a loud explosion in the distance and saw violet lights on the horizon. At first, we thought it might be a trick of the Northern Union, or perhaps some kind of wildfire. But as we got closer, we were horrified to find fields upon fields of the dead.

Entire companies from both armies lying dead. Whole villages decimated, everybody dead. As far as we looked, we could find no survivors. It was as though a demon of death had come to lay waste to humanity.

We soon retreated from the horror, and my commander began cooperating with Endelar Oresko of the Northern Union. From him we learned that indeed some kind of Great Demon had appeared, and they intended to face off against it. My commander agreed to help.

I wasn't alone in my unit in thinking this was foolish, that we should attack Endelar and his forces while they were distracted, or leave Eathabar and let the Northern Union fight the Great Demon alone. But my commander feared that demon above all else, and I respected him and his judgement enough to hold my tongue.

I was positioned with our cavalry reserves outside the stronghold, on the rear, tasked with cutting off the demon's retreat once the primary engagement began. We awaited a series of coordinated signals confirming the Great Demon's movements and our tactical responses. The final signal would indicate when to charge into battle.

We spotted smoke rising from a nearby village under attack and even heard the sounds of supernatural destruction at our considerable distance. But we didn't see a signal. Even as the smoke grew thicker, and the destruction louder, we still received no signal. We were becoming increasingly anxious. Was it all an elaborate trap? Had we been abandoned? Or had the plan already fallen apart? We didn't know what to think.

Then suddenly, a horse galloped towards us bearing a Sorcerer of Eskilon. I later learned her name was Sollinon Akraitus.

Sollinon brought terrifying news, that within the stronghold, nobody could see or feel anybody else, and that raising the gates was practically impossible. The Great Demon's influence, it seemed, had already penetrated deep into the stronghold, even while it stood miles away.

She told us to flee. Flee, unless we had any hope of defeating it alone.

I hesitated, a moment too long. For as I glanced towards my commander, I saw his uncertain face unfold into horror, as a frantic disembodied chaos began to spread through the ranks ahead of me, then they all disappeared.

I turned my horse around and urged him to gallop as fast as he could. I knew I must be surrounded by my comrades, but I couldn't feel a single one of them. Even their horses were gone.

It seemed to last forever, as I rode through forests, down roads and through abandoned streets, with the ever present sounds of destruction chasing behind me. But I soon realized that there was more than mere noise that pursued me.

Giant, nightmarish creatures, spawn of the demon itself were also amassing behind me, growing in number, and closing the distance. Some launched blasts of energy towards me, setting trees and buildings on fire and carving great gashes through the terrain.

I was certain I would die. Never before had I felt such terror. But after what felt like an eternity, another rider suddenly materialized before me, and my horse collided with theirs, nearly flinging me from the saddle and causing my horse to lose speed and stumble to the side. Bewildered, I looked around to see other people running and riding, only to disappear once again.

So I kept riding, but this time people reappeared after only a few moments, and I began to grasp the situation.

There were all kinds of people around me, civilians who had refused evacuation or remained to supply the stronghold, soldiers bearing both Northern Union and Independent insignia. And everyone was fleeing as fast as they could, and only those ahead of me seemed to know it.

And then, riding alongside us, firing off magic with abandon was Sollinon. She attacked the creatures pursuing us while throwing up protective barriers around the people she could. Through my exhaustion, I counted at least six occasions where she personally saved my life, and I'm certain she did as much or more for the others fleeing alongside us.

At some point, I stopped noticing the hellspawn behind us, and not longer after, I noticed Sollinon was gone. It wasn't until over a month later, after I had escaped Eathabar and the Great Demon, that I learned her name, and that her death had been confirmed.

Sollinon Akraitus, who gave her life to save her enemies and comrades, the people she never knew.

This short story is the eleventh of twelve, and comes from You Alone Can Defeat Evil, an action combat game on Steam.

[Avantir Yihn @AvantirY]

In the month following the Great Demon's appearance, Eathabar was in chaos. Initially, we approached the crisis as we would any natural disaster and tried sending in soldiers to confront the threat and protect civilians. But not only did they not return, hellspawn of the Great Demon began hunting us instead.

Our communications were in disarray, and soon the only direction we could reliably send messages was away from the epicentre. The few reports we did receive made it clear that this was a singular monstrous entity that had arisen. A single foe that could be defeated. It sounded easily achievable, yet the fields of corpses told a very different story.

Following Commander Garrikert Bolskon's death, Endelar Oresko assumed overall command of the remaining Northern Union forces. Though perhaps advanced in years for such responsibility, he was a seasoned veteran with extensive experience in warfare. He secured the stronghold and negotiated with what surviving groups he could find of the Independents, forging an unprecedented alliance against the Great Demon.

Intelligence suggested that after its initial appearance, the Great Demon had traveled south, away from the stronghold. This afforded us more precious time than we could have hoped, but it also resulted in a moment that shook me to my core: when Endelar approached the strategic map and crossed off the entire southern half of Eathabar, declaring it lost.

Endelar immediately began deploying his soldiers, including myself, to the western regions of Eathabar, spreading warnings and organizing mass evacuations of civilians.

As Endelar said, "Anybody who stays, dies. Make them leave. Burn their homes down if you have to. And get everyone willing to fight back here. If you see it, make sure to lead it clockwise around the colony. Let it kill you if you have to. We can't lead it back here too soon. It didn't even take a month to annihilate the Quares region through the southern pass, so we have at best another month. Maybe only weeks. Get back here by then. We'll stage our final battle at this stronghold."

The forces we had at hand were vast, the pinnacle of human military capability, for armies from across the world had been assembled there for the battle between the Northern Union and the Independents just a month earlier. Many sorcerers like myself were present too. Endelar had called for reinforcements long ago, but there weren't truly any left to answer.

This was it, the final battle for humanity. A foe we'd created for ourselves. If we failed, our only hope was that our Keeper would show us mercy.

While we forcefully evicted the civilians and rounded up men to fight, Endelar worked tirelessly on defensive preparations and tactical planning. It even took the Great Demon longer than we expected - almost five weeks - to arrive. Upon seeing our completed fortifications, everyone's determined faces and the Army for Humanity assembled in perfect formation, I couldn't help but feel that we were ready, that no monster could overcome us. Endelar likewise projected confidence. Perhaps he felt the same, or perhaps he simply wanted us to feel that way.

~~~

I am Nelgeth Delshawn, High Sorcerer of the Order of Eskilon. Unfortunately, the original author of this manuscript perished before she could complete it. Her name was Sollinon Akraitus. I'm not entirely clear what she was doing in Eathabar in the first place, as she was not enlisted in the Northern Union's army. As for her fate, I have identified another participant in the war to write that story.

But regarding Endelar Oresko, the Great Demon did come for him and his army. They fought it, and it killed nearly all of them, including Endelar. I am told that it appears to have been swift, and in their final moments, their ranks descended into chaos.

Endelar Oresko, who rallied the greatest power of humanity under a single banner, blind to the encroaching threat.

This short story is the tenth of twelve, and comes from You Alone Can Defeat Evil, an action combat game on Steam.

[Avantir Yihn @AvantirY]

The Kawffalgine States colonized Cheoque in 803, three years before Zivellon Roikert was born there. The colonial administration imposed crushing tax burdens while offering only subsistence level employment in the mines and plantations. Zivellon's mother had died in childbirth, leaving him to be raised by older siblings who struggled to provide for the family. By his early teens, he had also started work in the mines.

In those days, talk of rebellion circulated quietly, but few had both the resources and the organization to act upon it. Then, when Zivellon was twenty-seven, we heard of the death of Endeck Haloal, and things started to change. People began to more openly express their dislike for the colonists, and anti-colonial sentiment became the norm. Public unrest was everywhere, but people were still largely kept in line by the brutal economic circumstances. However, it was at this time that real armed resistance began forming, though these early groups remained small and ineffective against the colonial enforcers.

It was not until 844, when Saialda approached us with promises of alliance and liberation, that genuine hope emerged. They offered food for our families, weapons for our fighters, and most importantly, the prospect of true freedom from colonial rule.

The Saialdians quietly organized us into fighting units, avoiding the gaze of the watchful, yet now complacent, colonists. It was in one such fighting unit that I first met Zivellon. He was a man of quiet intensity and unwavering commitment to liberation. We quickly became good friends during training, united by a shared purpose and optimism that we'd actually be able to change things, be able to free ourselves from the shackles of our oppressors and earn freedom for our families and countrymen.

The war itself proceeded more smoothly than we had dared hope. There were many battles to fight, and at one point we were forced back by new reinforcements from Kawffalgine. But Saialdian support proved decisive, and we wouldn't be stopped. During this time we grew closer with our Saialdians comrades, Zivellon even calling a few his friends.

Before long we were standing victorious in Toanthine, the capital of Cheoque, which neither I nor Zivellon had ever seen before. However, we had little time to tour it before receiving new orders to pursue retreating Kawffalgine forces eastward. Our Saialdian commanders explained that colonial remnants were still holding territory and threatening our victory.

We marched east reluctantly, unfamiliar with the land and increasingly uncomfortable with operating so far from home. Fortune provided us with a prisoner who spoke our language and was willing to speak with us. He claimed not to be from the Kawffalgine States, and insisted that we were no longer in Cheoque but had crossed into the neighbouring colony of Kordalon.

This revelation created immediate tension within our unit, as we realized that Saialda had potentially deceived us about both the scope and nature of our mission, and was attempting to use us for its own ends. Although we still believed in the cause, and were not entirely unwilling. Some even tried to speak in defence of Saialda before Zivellon asked our prisoner the pivotal question: "Who controls Cheoque?"

"Saialda, of course," the prisoner replied.

We stood in shock for a moment, then Zivellon went and confronted our Saialdian superior, demanding to speak with the supposed Cheoque officials directing this campaign. When the officer refused and threatened charges of mutiny, Zivellon pressed for an explanation of our prisoner's claims.

The Saialdian officer then called on his fellow Saialdian soldiers to back him up, and gave us his brutally direct response: we would continue fighting for Saialda or face execution. Even further questions would be considered treasonous.

So Zivellon killed him. A quick sword duel and it was over. The rest of our unit backed him up, and the remaining Saialdian soldiers fled before our superior numbers. Zivellon immediately ordered us to spread the news and rally the Cheoque forces.

"Tomorrow, we march back," he declared.

We followed his lead without hesitation, sharing in his fury at the betrayal that had torn away everything we thought we had won. On the return journey we gathered more supporters and fought off a small Saialdian force that attempted to intercept us, all the while spreading word of what we had learned.

Arriving at Toanthine, we confirmed it was indeed in Saialda's control. They had betrayed us, and taken Cheoque as their own colony. But, they weren't prepared for the sudden return of an army of enraged Cheoque soldiers.

We rallied behind Zivellon and stormed Toanthine, capturing the Saialdian traitors. After securing the city, Zivellon held a public trial of the traitors, ending in their execution. We felt we had delivered justice, but it wasn't over yet.

In the following days, Zivellon became increasingly paranoid. His trust seemed to have been broken beyond repair, and he began suspecting everyone of potential betrayal. Allies, subordinates, longtime friends like myself, we were all in his piercing gaze.

While the coup had worked initially, the main Saialdian army had been in the surrounding countryside, and was now preparing to retake the capital. Zivellon worked frantically to secure his power and defend against the incoming threat, but his methods grew increasingly desperate and cruel. He began torturing captives for information about Saialdian plans and leadership, and he began arresting and torturing his own supporters, convinced that we would all eventually betray him as the Saialdians had done.

But despite his increasingly mad and desperate efforts, there simply wasn't enough time. Two weeks after the coup, the Saialdian Army raided the capital and slew Zivellon. All of his supporters were executed, save the few of us who managed to escape.

Zivellon Roikert, who took betrayal to heart and gave his heart for revenge.

This short story is the ninth of twelve, and comes from You Alone Can Defeat Evil, an action combat game on Steam.

[Avantir Yihn @AvantirY]

Gaille Fethel was born in 816 in the colony of Cheoque, during the height of Kawffalgine colonial prosperity. Her parents, my aunt and uncle, were Kawffalgine citizens, with her father serving as the regional military commander. It was a position of considerable responsibility in maintaining order and security across Cheoque. As his only heir, Gaille received an extensive education in leadership, political theory, and military strategy and tactics from childhood.

At fourteen years of age, she was sent back to the Kawffalgine States to attend university. I followed shortly thereafter, and we developed a close friendship during our academic years. She displayed the same sharp intelligence and natural authority as her father, and held a deep sense of duty for our civilizing mission.

Following graduation, she enrolled in the States' Home Army, and was immediately commissioned as Captain. I soon enlisted as a Sergeant, and was fortunate enough to be assigned to her squadron.

We had served the States' Home Army for eight years when we received the news that Saialda had stirred up rebellion in Cheoque and was actively overtaking the colony with native assistance. Practically overnight, Gaille's squadron, including myself, was embarked for emergency deployment to reinforce Cheoque. Several vessels carried relief forces, but ours bore the primary command structure, as Gaille's father had fallen ill and she was designated to assume command of the regional military.

The situation we arrived to was grim. Almost half of the colony had fallen under Saialdian control, including most major trade routes, and the Independents' forces were bearing down on the capital of Toanthine. The colonial administration was in complete disarray, with many officials advocating for immediate evacuation.

The colonists we met were terrified. They'd heard reports of atrocities committed against other colonists caught by the enemy. Many begged for evacuation ships, but Gaille stood for the strength of Kawffalgine, and would not be dissuaded from honourable combat.

So we took to the field immediately. Under Gaille's tactical direction, our fresh forces achieved early successes, driving back several waves of Saialdian and Shalic forces. But these early gains soon faded into a standstill, eventually broken by a series of sabotage attacks and guerrilla operations targeting our supply lines and rear positions. Intelligence indicated these were conducted by the natives, the very people we were protecting from foreign conquest and savage retribution.

The commonplace natives’ response to our arrival had been a bit mixed. While merchants and officials expressed gratitude for Gaille's determination to fight, the rest had seemed merely polite rather than genuinely welcoming, merely clapping along with the crowd, but expressing no enthusiasm. Although perhaps we should have been more concerned by the coldness in their eyes.

And so, Gaille was outraged by these attacks. "A betrayal, and portrayal of idiocy," she called it, "they're too stuck in their puny worldview to see how we help them every day!" I shared in her anger, for we had sacrificed everything to defend these people, only for them to stab us in the back.

Nevertheless, we were forced into retreat as our supply situation rapidly deteriorated. It was turning into a full blown siege of Toanthine, one we were in no position to win, with no prospect of reinforcement from our homeland and resources dwindling daily.

In desperation, Gaille executed a breakout operation in an attempt to secure the river route leading from Toanthine to the sea. It was the largest battle of the war for Cheoque, the greatest loss for Kawffalgine and the battle in which Gaille was slain, tossed from her horse and then stabbed in the throat by an ordinary spearman.

Gaille Fethel, who let pride carve a path to pointless bloodshed.

This short story is the eighth of twelve, and comes from You Alone Can Defeat Evil, an action combat game on Steam.

[Avantir Yihn @AvantirY]

My name is Tethelias Gaicur. I had just enlisted to serve in the Northern Union's army defending Eathabar in the year 843 when I met Askala Wiyzhi. She was a Shalic Sorcerer of Eskilon with no family, just like I was. We were both determined to defend our homeland from the invaders. We shared no love for the Northern Union, but it was better to stick with the devil we knew, for they at least weren't seeking to pillage and ransack our homes. I'd had some bad experiences with the Independents' strikes in the countryside, and I suspected Askala had too, although she refused to discuss it.

Commander Garrikert Bolskon led the Northern Union forces with the methodical competence typical of Ptheuthen military doctrine, although his attitude towards us was condescending at best. Before deploying us on any mission, he insisted on determining the exact extent of our capabilities first. Once he had, he began planning sabotage missions for us. As we prepared to ride out on the first, we received an urgent message from the Order of Eskilon demanding we stand down and desert the army.

Askala was livid. She could not believe the Order had the audacity to declare that Eathabar was wrong to defend itself from invaders, especially when the sorcerers who had made the declaration were so far from the conflict, they and their loved ones safe in their homes. Askala immediately wrote a scathing letter and sent it back to the Order, telling them to "Send reinforcements or go kill yourselves and save the Keeper the trouble".

Initially, we were the only native sorcerers in service, accompanied by a few colonial sorcerers and sent out individually with small squads of soldiers behind enemy lines. Soon enough, we were joined by nearly a dozen more sorcerers. Eventually, after a few casualties and some near-disasters, Garrikert reorganized us into a single unit made up exclusively of sorcerers. We completed fewer, but larger objectives, and had much better survival rates with mutual support and no ordinary soldiers to protect.

Throughout it all, Askala maintained a cold, determined fury, directing it with devastating effect against our enemies. Even we, her allies, occasionally felt the sting of her tongue when she perceived insufficient commitment to our cause.

For most of the war, our operations took place beyond Eathabar's borders, but then the front lines shifted back toward our homeland as Pavilro's crusade barreled down upon us once again. This time, they brought significantly more sorcerers than before, and it was our job to eliminate them.

We encountered them on the battlefield after the stronghold's walls had been breached and the battle had become a chaotic melee. We spared them no mercy, fighting with everything we had.

In the midst of the battle, a glowing sphere of crimson energy emerged from our clashing spells. Grown from our power, self sustaining, it began to take form, to match the energies swirling around it. It lashed out at us, interrupting our battle. As we turned our destructive intent, our raw hatred, towards it, it erupted.

The battlefield was bathed in a blinding light, purple fire towered above, shrouding the sky, and a humanoid figure rose from within. It was still forming, still growing, but we could see the malice in its gaze, and that, I remember, is when true fear crept into my bones. I saw Askala's look of horror at what we had wrought. I saw her attack the demon, only to be swept away, nothing but ash remaining.

The Great Demon's birth rocked the battlefield, and the world. Askala was both its first creator, and its first victim. Some of us survived that initial manifestation and witnessed its horns grow long and arms strong, as it harnessed the intrinsic hate it bore within to kill every last human being. All, that is, it believed deserved it.

Askala Wiyzhi, whose shared hatred brought doom to all.

This short story is the seventh of twelve, and comes from You Alone Can Defeat Evil, an action combat game on Steam.

[Avantir Yihn @AvantirY]

I grew up together with Brachton Orelis in the rolling hills of Saialda. We spent our youth in the carefree pursuits common to boys of our modest station. We remained close throughout adolescence, eventually taking up woodcutting. It was hard work that built character and provided decent wages for young men that lacked family connections or inherited wealth.

We had been working the timber camps for barely six months when our nation's call to arms reached us. The proclamation spoke of grave injustices being perpetrated against the Shalic peoples in distant colonies, and declared our nation's intention to support Volsyr and the other nations of the Independents in their righteous campaign to liberate these oppressed populations.

Indeed, the stories Brachton and I heard were very troubling. Accounts of systematic exploitation and abuse that demanded intervention by civilized nations. And so we eagerly volunteered for service. After several months of basic military training, we were deemed ready for deployment.

Our first assignment came in 844, when we were deployed to the colony of Cheoque, at that time suffering under the administration of the Kawffalgine States. We arrived under the cover under darkness, and swiftly and quietly entered a Shalic settlement, liberating it from its colonial oppressors. We executed the local administrators for their crimes, and took the remaining colonists prisoner for later judgment.

As we advanced across the countryside, we were joined by indigenous groups bearing their own arms, also eager to be rid of their Kawffalgine oppressors. Communication proved challenging, as only a few spoke our language, and even then only in fragmentary phrases, while the rest chattered on like a flock of birds.

They expressed genuine gratitude for our assistance and told us of their desire for self governance and recognition as equals among the world's nations. Their enthusiasm was unmistakable, and we smiled and nodded along. But as Brachton and I spoke later, he expressed how despite knowing that helping them was right, he could not believe that such wild and primitive people deserved a spot on the world stage. I rather agreed with him on that. They had no concept of manners, and while they acknowledged our military assistance, they showed little appreciation for our civilization's broader achievements.

Cheoque was a substantial territory, and so our forces took considerable time to converge on the capital, Toanthine. When we finally reached the city, we faced our largest battle yet, as the Northern Union had stationed a great army there to defend it. The fighting was fierce and costly, claiming many of our comrades, but ultimately we prevailed and slaughtered the lot of them. The victory celebrations were jubilant, and I stood proudly beside Brachton and our Saialdian comrades as the Cheoque leaders officiated a new constitution with Saialda.

Our next deployment took us to the colony of Kordalon, but this campaign proved far more challenging. We encountered harsh resistance before even crossing the border, and it was during one of these preliminary engagements that Brachton fell, struck down while advancing against entrenched enemy positions.

Brachton Orelis, an ordinary man who fought to free the lives of those he could not see as equals.

This short story is the sixth of twelve, and comes from You Alone Can Defeat Evil, an action combat game on Steam.

[Avantir Yihn @AvantirY]

In the year 829, I, Okeal Izarae, was traveling between the remote settlements of Eathabar, purifying water sources and spreading the teachings of the Order of Eskilon. My travels brought me to an upstream village plagued by contaminated water. Mineral deposits in the surrounding rocks were leaching toxins into the river, poisoning it for communities downstream. The geological formation appeared entirely natural, so I settled down and tried to solve the problem, either through river diversion or removal of the contaminated stone.

The villagers were kind and assisted me. They were eager to hear my stories and learn of Eskilon and the world beyond. In particular among them were twin siblings named Tannalia and Askala Wiyzhi. The teens were both gifted, and demonstrated a genuine interest in learning. They frequently assisted me in my work too.

After five years of methodical effort, I had cleaned the river. I had done so both by redirecting some portions and by relocating a number of the rocks. I was ready to go on with my work, but first, I offered both Tannalia and Askala apprenticeships as Sorcerers of Eskilon.

Both accepted immediately. After tearful farewells, we began the long journey back to Sumada and the Order of Eskilon. Thankfully, this was before the days of Garrikert Bolskon arresting prospective Shalic apprentices.

I was asked to write this book by Nelgeth Delshawn, the High Sorcerer of the Order of Eskilon, to stand as a record of Tannalia's soul. I expect you, the reader, are a Sorcerer of our Order yourself, and so I feel I shouldn't need to explain what our Order means. Yet as the events that followed indicate, I may very well be wrong in that.

The Order of Eskilon was supposedly founded by Eskilon himself, in the first year of the calendar, one year after the arrival of our Keeper, Esten-Gaila. That, however, was not the beginning of everything. The Keeper sought to unify the nations and bring peace to the world, and their first act in doing this was to grant us the capability to commune with the souls of the dead swimming in the Cosmos, thus, granting us a lens through which we may come to know all peoples. And only those who perform such communion can take on the power to shape the world with sorcery.

And so, the foundational principles of the Order are to bring peace and unity to the world through understanding of one another. That does not make us pacifists, for violence is sometimes necessary for the greater good, but any force we employ must ultimately advance those principles. For that matter, so should all of our other actions too. However, I have learned that, for many, that is not such a simple equation when one's loved ones are on the line.

When the Great War reached Eathabar in 843, I was once again traveling between settlements, constructing wells and purifying water sources. I attempted to ignore the political upheavals, focusing instead on doing what good I could with the power I had. But then Tannalia found me, distraught.

Initially reluctant to discuss details, she eventually confided in me how she and Askala had returned to their hometown and found it completely sacked, everyone they had grown up with either dead or gone. This tragedy resulted in a rather serious disagreement between the sisters about whether they should participate in the war.

Tannalia had pointed out that this was not a war against Eathabar, but against its occupiers. Whether the Northern Union or the Independents ultimately prevailed would make little practical difference for ordinary people, and life would be just as terrible for them in the short and long term. Both sides had attacked Eathabar, neither side was free of sin.

But Askala was determined to punish those who had destroyed everything she held dear. She had abandoned the principles of the Order of Eskilon, although she refused to believe she had. And nothing Tannalia said could allow her to see that through the hatred clouding her mind.

I had never previously seen the twins separated before, but Tannalia insisted that Askala would not be joining us, and she preferred we focus our minds and efforts on helping people through the war instead.

So we followed the smaller trade routes and discovered that, as we suspected, merchant caravans were suffering constant attacks. We traveled to the neighbouring regions the caravans were coming from and offered our services as guards for their dangerous journeys. Tannalia and I split our efforts, each guarding separate caravans while maintaining contact at major cities that served as endpoints for these trade routes.

The work proved perilous. Almost every journey involved at least one armed encounter, typically with small groups of soldiers from various factions. As an experienced sorcerer, I could generally handle five armed men simultaneously, but on occasion we would encounter larger groups that would force us to employ evasive tactics or, in the worst cases, abandon some of the cargo. Sometimes conflicts ended immediately when attackers recognized my tattoos and decided fighting a sorcerer was not worthwhile.

This went on for almost two full years, when I encountered some merchants Tannalia had previously escorted. They bore the tragic news that she had perished protecting them. They had all lived, and even kept their cargo, but it had cost Tannalia her life.

Tannalia Wiyzhi, who kept her faith in humanity, even during the darkest times.

This short story is the fifth of twelve, and comes from You Alone Can Defeat Evil, an action combat game on Steam.

[Avantir Yihn @AvantirY]

I'm trying streaming development of You Alone Can Defeat Evil. Currently working on the Reliquary. You can find me on YouTube and Twitch: https://t.co/zWAavPZvNR

[Avantir Yihn @AvantirY]

The nation of Eathabar was colonized by the Kingdom of Ptheuthet in the year 803, and in 838 Garrikert Bolskon was appointed Commander of the Ptheuthen military forces stationed there. At that time, I was a doctor working for the army. Garrikert immediately stood out to me, as he regularly came to check on the condition and operation of the medical facilities, something his predecessor hadn't done once in twenty years.

Garrikert was very well spoken, and spent a great deal of time organizing the labour of the Shalic people in ways that would benefit the entire colony. I wasn't alone in admiring him, I believe every Ptheuthen who served under him would defend him with their life. And many of them did.

One of Garrikert's early initiatives was influencing the selection of apprentices in the Sorcerers of Eskilon. They had a habit of recruiting natives from the Shalic colonies, which Garrikert strongly disapproved of. As he wisely observed, the burden of maintaining peace and unity should rest with those blessed with the highest intellectual capacities and moral development.

In 842, disturbing news reached us. Volsyr had allied with native revolutionary groups and forced Tuudurxinn to abandon its colony of Dorocbel. Garrikert immediately grasped the implications and began preparing to defend Eathabar. He called for reinforcements, fortified the central stronghold and secured vital supply routes with armed forces. He prepared for war, and almost a year and a half later, it arrived.

The forces of the Independents arrived in great numbers, bolstered by the Shalic peoples they had conquered. Initially, they succeeded in disrupting our supply lines, but Garrikert's reinforcements quickly restored them. My own memories of this period are fragmented. The medical facilities were overwhelmed with casualties, leaving me little time for other thoughts. But after several months of fierce fighting, the Independents withdrew, although they were not defeated. Garrikert believed they would soon return with greater numbers.

During the respite, Garrikert arranged covert operations to strike at enemy positions and supply lines when they weren't expecting it. He started rallying Sorcerers of Eskilon, dispatching them on missions that conventional forces could never accomplish. Though he maintained well-founded reservations about the reliability of Shalic sorcerers, practical necessity demanded their inclusion, for they still possessed greater combat effectiveness than ordinary soldiers, even if they remained inferior to their civilized counterparts. It was for the same reason of practicality that Garrikert also began drafting Shalic soldiers, despite his distaste for the practice.

Sorcerers, while quite formidable, are not invincible. Military doctrine suggests that a single sorcerer is worth an entire squad of regular infantry. That makes them extremely useful assets, but costly to lose. Garrikert therefore deployed them in small, mutually supporting groups capable of achieving great feats on the battlefield, where they would have no ordinary persons to protect.

Eventually, the Independents returned, and laid siege to Garrikert's Stronghold. But Garrikert was prepared, and as the enemy attacked, his forces struck from concealed positions, turning their siege into a great battle. Eventually, the walls of the stronghold were breached, and the predetermined evacuation began.

Garrikert had established multiple escape routes and laid many traps throughout the stronghold. As the enemy invaded the stronghold, he activated these preparations while tasking me with evacuating wounded personnel, granting me temporary command of a small contingent of soldiers to help. We quickly began to transport the wounded through the mazes of passages. Those who could walk, did, and those who could not were carried by the soldiers. Our hospital had maintained only short term cases, patients with longer term illness were transferred to larger facilities in the surrounding settlements. As a result, while there were many patients, the number was manageable, and we successfully escaped with them all. As we did, the enemy soldiers began making their ways into the halls, and my soldiers fought them off. Thankfully, it was only the advance parties, not the main body of their forces, that we encountered.

As we reached the rendezvous point, we found Garrikert organizing the evacuating personnel into an effective fighting force. From there, he marched us all to a nearby fortified settlement and continued the battle, launching attacks on enemy units and coordinating the movements of his army. The battle stretched on for days, and I was overwhelmed with more wounded than ever, when it happened.

We saw the sky turn crimson and heard an earth shattering explosion in the distance. We didn't know what to think, but we knew something terrible had happened. Garrikert maintained position and dispatched reconnaissance teams to ascertain the situation. Soon enough, when the sky had turned the colours of a corpse, the riders returned, telling us of a horrific massacre taking place. They said it seemed hell itself had opened to punish our sins.

Garrikert Bolskon took a moment, just a moment. I'm not sure if he hesitated, steeling his resolve, or if he was just contemplating what needed to be done. Then he straightened and declared, "Tonight, hell itself has opened to claim our humanity. Our brothers and sisters are in trouble, and they need our help. We, the powerful warriors of the Kingdom of Ptheuthet, have the power to save them. We have the power to change the course of history for the better. And we must, for we alone have the power, and so it is our duty! Now, we march forth, to slay the demons and engrave our names upon history!"

Then, he led the way into battle. That is the last he was ever seen.

I myself escaped Eathabar, along with the wounded and our protective escort, but I returned a few months later to search for survivors and to identify remains. By then, the Great Demon, as it was now being called, had moved on. Among the charred corpses, I found Garrikert's remains alongside those of his loyal warriors, brave men who had followed his vision and leadership into hell itself.

Garrikert Bolskon, who shouldered the burden of uplifting the unenlightened and protecting all of humanity.

This short story is the fourth of twelve, and comes from You Alone Can Defeat Evil, an action combat game on Steam.

[Avantir Yihn @AvantirY]

Now streaming development of the Tomb of the Forgotten in You Alone Can Defeat Evil on YouTube and Twitch!

https://t.co/zWAavPZvNR

[Avantir Yihn @AvantirY]

In the year 841, twenty years after I had become a Sorcerer of Eskilon in full, I, Kessendril Saialus, was serving the government of Volsyr. My duties centered on maintaining civil order, working alongside the military police commanded by Pavilro Gircni of the Volsyrian Armed Forces.

When the northern kingdoms had begun their colonial ventures decades earlier, Volsyr had been hampered by various domestic challenges: an economic recession and a heated territorial dispute. By the time we were positioned for overseas expansion, the choicest territories had already been claimed by nations with far less to offer the world than us, and financial investment had largely moved elsewhere.

Pavilro was not happy about this, for he was a patriot in the truest sense. "Our great nation deserves more than these scraps," he would say, "No other nation has contributed as much to the sciences or to industrialization as Volyyr has, but they think they have a right to the land because they had their ships there first. They have done nothing to deserve it."

The Order had taught me the importance of peace and unity, but I agreed with Pavilro's assessment. This arrangement was manifestly unjust. It was an economic inequality that would only grow with time. The established colonial powers showed no desire to redistribute their holdings, leaving no avenue for a peaceful resolution to this inequality.

And so when we received word of the Ptheuthen colonists' expulsion from Uhola, Pavilro's eyes became enchanted like I had never seen before. Here was proof that the colonial order was not immutable, that through determined action we could reshape the global balance of power. Shortly thereafter in 842, Pavilro presented his strategic vision to the government, and it was approved. Three months later, we were in motion.

Pavilro identified Dorocbel as our first target. The colony had been destabilized by civil unrest following the execution of the activist Endeck Haloal, creating ideal conditions for intervention. Our scouts established contact with insurrectionist groups, providing them with strategic guidance and financial support while preparing the ground for our military forces.

The idea was elegant in its simplicity. Rather than competing for poor unclaimed territories, we would liberate existing colonies from their oppressive rulers. This aligned perfectly with the aspirations of the indigenous peoples, creating natural alliances that served both justice and Volsyrian interests. And of course, once the oppressors were gone, Volsyr would naturally be obligated to step in and lend the natives a guiding hand.

Tuudurxinn's colonial administration was entirely unprepared for our assault. Their garrison forces, adequate for suppressing ill equipped protesters, crumbled before the Volsyrian Armed Forces. The liberation of Dorocbel was swift and decisive, and Tuudurxinn's colonists quickly fled.

As the people celebrated their freedom in the streets, Pavilro was already planning his next move. Working through diplomatic channels, we forged alliances with a myriad of other nations who had been similarly excluded from the colonial scramble. Soon we were advancing into neighbouring colonies, scattering colonial administrations like autumn leaves.

But the established colonial powers, recognizing the threat to their empires, began coordinating their response, and formed a defensive alliance called the Northern Union. Though Pavilro's blitz had achieved many victories, aided by other Independent nations who had joined along the way, the war eventually stalled at the central colony of Eathabar, where the Northern Union had established a major stronghold.

In response to this setback, Pavilro launched campaigns to secure surrounding territories, gaining control of vital transportation routes and creating tactical opportunities for future operations. He also left some of his forces behind in Eathabar to pin down the Northern Union forces and prevent their redeployment.

The people began to refer to it as the Great War. A complex struggle involving various nations labeled as the "Independents" in a hodge podge array of alliances taking advantage of the indigenous liberation movements of the colonies, fighting against the pre-existing colonial rulers, the Northern Union.

The Great War stretched on for over five years. Eventually, Pavilro returned to lay siege to the stronghold in Eathabar, for it was an important strategic location. It was a long battle, but our forces eventually breached the walls, and the fighting spread everywhere. Then, as we marched from one battlefield to the next, we saw it. A great, crimson light flashing over the horizon, coalescing into a phantasmal purple flame.

We could not see the epicentre, but we saw our enemies begin to flee, and we knew something terrible had arisen. Pavilro cursed the Shalic savages for having rent such a horror on the world, turning and ordering us to withdraw from the battleground. "Let them deal with the fruits of their own vile actions", he said.

As we retreated, we came upon one of Pavilro's auxiliary units composed largely of Shalic personnel from previously liberated territories. These troops were already resentful of their conscription, and now accused Pavilro of creating the supernatural catastrophe that had emerged. Pavilro ordered them to stand aside, and was shot in the neck when he tried to proceed.

Pavilro Gircni, who incited the Great War for the pride and power of his country.

This short story is the third of twelve, and comes from You Alone Can Defeat Evil, a new action combat game on Steam. Check it out: https://t.co/e644WOBqyH

[Avantir Yihn @AvantirY]

My name is Olgor Tairus. I was born in the proud Kingdom of Ptheuthet, but my parents had moved us to the colony of Uhola when I was young, as part of our civilizing mission. My father had been appointed there to oversee the cotton farming of a small village called Burmt, one of many such villages.

By 836, over two decades after Uhola had been colonized, Burmt had grown into a model settlement. Its vast cotton fields were a testament to Ptheuthen ingenuity. We employed the natives in this work, teaching them industrious skills while generating wealth for the world. It was a fair exchange, their labor for our guidance and protection.

Two such native cotton farmers were Isten Uro and his daughter Tzii. Their wife and mother had died in childbirth. Tzii was a quiet, thin-armed girl then, unusually tall with eyes too sharp for her station.

One season, my father, ever mindful of quotas and efficiency, identified Isten as our weakest link. The man had claimed illness, though he appeared healthy to our eyes. My father made the difficult, albeit necessary, decision to discipline him as an example to others. My father sent two men to fetch him. They didn't come back.

My father and I went to investigate, and found their bodies in a ditch. Heads bashed in, the Uro family nowhere to be found. The other workers insisted they hadn't seen nor heard a thing.

Upon our return, our fellow Ptheuthens reported witnessing father and daughter fleeing Burmt on horseback, covered in blood. The horse, we later learned, had been stolen from our own stables.

My father was outraged. Not just at the theft and violence, but at the betrayal of trust. We had protected these people, offering them food and fair treatment, and this was how they repaid us. He quickly sent a pursuing party, but after two full days of searching, they returned empty handed, having seen no sign of Isten or Tzii Uro.

For five years, nothing was heard of the Uros. Wanted posters circulated throughout the colony, but with no sightings reported, we could only assume they had perished in the wilderness. Burmt continued to grow and prosper, amassing nearly fifty Ptheuthen residents. We were well-armed thanks to a small newly established local military office.

Then came that terrible dawn.

I woke in the darkness to an alarm blaring through the village, one I'd never heard before. I rushed outside to find myself facing the sight of bloodshed, a single warrior danced around three of my fellow Ptheuthens, cutting them down one by one, with such grace and flawless skill they seemed inhuman.

Terror filled me, and I fled. But upon hearing my friends calling for weapons, shouting "It's just the one, she's alone!" I found my courage, turned back and armed myself. Eight of us banded together, tracking screams through the village, trying to corner the assailant. But she remained one step ahead of us, a shadow we glimpsed around corners, keeping away from our greater numbers.

More colonists joined us, seeing safety in numbers, and then all was quiet.

The silence and tension made the moment feel agonizingly slow. Had she really gone? We couldn't know. None of the cotton workers would tell us a thing. So we stuck together, eventually searching the entire village and finding nothing. However, a few survivors had glimpsed her face, and they identified the assailant as Tzii Uro.

The massacre had been surprisingly methodical, and utterly brutal. While many of Tzii's victims were killed silently in their sleep, she had nevertheless killed eight men in direct combat and had gone on to kill more than ten after the alarm had been raised. In total, twenty seven Ptheuthens lay dead, including my father.

The massacre put our fellow colonists all over the Kingdom of Ptheuthet on edge, but we soon faced even bigger problems. Protests against Ptheuthen rule were turning violent across Uhola, and they were only spurred on by the massacre at Burmt. Worse still, Tzii Uro herself began appearing at the riots, inspiring greater acts of violence and personally executing our finest soldiers we sent to restore order.

Before long, I was drafted into military service and selected to carry an emergency message back to Ptheuthet, pleading for reinforcements, before our government was overthrown entirely. The Kingdom responded promptly, dispatching a small military contingent to reinforce the colony, including our most legendary knights, who had even defeated a handful of sorcerers.

When the army arrived in Uhola, we were greeted by a great horde, with a certain Tzii Uro standing over them, holding the head of the Governor of Uhola.

In the battle that followed, Tzii Uro killed all of our legendary knights, and a great number of soldiers besides. Our forces were routed, and Uhola was declared lost.

In the years afterwards, when the Great War began, Tzii Uro was seen in various nations fighting the forces of the Northern Union and the Independents alike. She was present in Eathabar when the Great Demon appeared, and is believed to have been killed by it shortly thereafter.

Tzii Uro, who went from the weakest standing to the deadliest blade the world has ever known.

This short story is the second of twelve, and comes from You Alone Can Defeat Evil, a new action combat game on Steam. Check it out: https://t.co/e644WOBqyH

[Avantir Yihn @AvantirY]

The year was 799 when Tuudurxinn's colonial forces arrived on Dorocbel's shores, claiming dominion over our land.

"We come as benefactors to uplift your people, guiding you towards prosperity, and spreading the wealth of Tuudurxinn to all Shalic peoples. No matter your greed and barbarism, in the face of His Majesty's great rule, you will shed your primitive ways and march with us into the future."

Among those who heard these words was fourteen-year-old Endeck Haloal, a "Shalic" himself and native denizen of Dorocbel. Despite the outright condescension of the foreigners, he was moved by their words. Naive as he was, he genuinely believed they meant to help.

The old government of Dorocbel offered little resistance, as their forces were few, and their leaders complacent. They quickly bowed to Tuudurxinn. Within weeks, Endeck had joined the new administration, eager to be part of Dorocbel's transformation.

By the age of twenty-two, while Endeck was serving the Tuudurxinn occupation faithfully, the reach of its King had finished extending across all of Dorocbel and beyond. Then they began to call Dorocbel for what it was: A colony. Our wealth flowed northward in an endless stream. Our minerals, our crops, our craftsmanship, even our people, used and abused for Tuudurxinn's own ends. The transformation Endeck believed in revealing itself as systematic exploitation.

Endeck would later recall the atrocities he'd seen committed in the name of Tuudurxinn's King, but he wrote them off as necessary sacrifices required for their noble goal. "I told myself it was temporary," he said, years later when I inquired, "That the suffering I enabled was the price of progress. That those who resisted simply didn't understand the end goal, the magnitude of good I believed we could achieve." He remained loyal until the age of thirty-seven, when he went to sign a declaration for the export of the latest slaves, and saw on the manifest the names of his son and daughter in law.

At first, he believed it was an error, that the slavers did not understand their relation. But he soon learned that his son had set fire to a naval vessel, and his daughter-in-law had tried to prevent the sailors from disembarking. When Endeck confronted them, hoping to find some misunderstanding he could correct, their argument shattered any remaining illusions he had. Endeck signed the declaration that day, and resigned from his post the following day.

"I have no greater regret in my life," Endeck later said, "than what I said and did to my son that day. It shouldn't have even come to that. The fact that my son turned to violence as his means of expressing himself shows how deeply I failed him as a father. I cared more for a King I'd never met and a cause that had never helped my people than I did for my own child."

For two years Endeck continued working for the Tuuderxinn occupation in a reduced rank. It was then that he was caught participating in an anti-colonialist demonstration. Recognizing his years of service, they demoted him again, but spared him further punishment. But his personal transformation was already complete. Two months later, he abandoned the occupation completely.

This is when I met Endeck. Together, we founded a publication dedicated to opposing colonial rule and promoting pacifism. I came to know him as both a brilliant speaker and a man haunted by the suffering he had brought to others.

Over the following eight years, we organized more than one hundred anti-colonialist rallies across Dorocbel, with Endeck Haloal serving as the main voice. He personally led countless protests against colonial rule and was arrested a multitude of times for his activism.

He spoke at length about his past failures and how he had bought into Tuudurxinn propaganda, he spoke of all the terrible things he had seen and authorized and explained how Tuudurxinn ensured Dorocbel gained no benefit. Endeck was also a staunch advocate for pacifism, saying that violence only begets more violence, and that what we needed was mutual respect for each other, and the right to rule ourselves. He called for peaceful resistance in the form of work stoppages, demonstrations, protests and the slow construction of native institutions outside of Tuudurxinn's control.

Eventually, for all the problems he caused them, the Tuudurxinn occupation imprisoned, and later executed Endeck Haloal. In spite of their fear he would become a martyr, he had simply caused them too many problems.

And Endeck did become a martyr. His name had gone around the world, and his ideals with it, inspiring similar movements throughout the colonized world. But from his death, many also learned a grim lesson about the limits of peaceful resistance. However noble his goal of nonviolent liberation, the truth was that he had died without seeing his people freed, and his executioners continued their rule unchanged.

Endeck Haloal, the pacifist, who paved the way for the revolutions to come.

This short story is the first of twelve, and comes from You Alone Can Defeat Evil, a new action combat game on Steam. Check it out: https://t.co/e644WOBqyH

[Avantir Yihn @AvantirY]

Can you dab like a demon? #yacde

[Avantir Yihn @AvantirY]

Movement in #yacde is a little different... in addition to normal WASD movement you can also light streak like this! I like that you can easily tell which pieces of the art I did (placeholders) and which AEmi did by the quality and detail alone.

[Avantir Yihn @AvantirY]

You and the demon, one epic magical duel to save the world from destruction. It's all just that simple; No moral quandaries, no distractions, and certainly nothing you will learn along the way. No one else can do it, for you are the hero, and you alone can defeat evil. #yacde

[Avantir Yihn @AvantirY]

Another game on the horizon, this time to be released on Steam with the art, sound design and more done by AEmi! #yacde Follow to stay up to date! We'll be sharing more details in the coming months. You can also join our community on discord: https://t.co/KJKqHopxXg

[Avantir Yihn @AvantirY]

#thelastkingoftyre 1.6 releases today! Check it out on planetminecraft or watch the trailer here!
https://t.co/eexAhpRWrv
https://t.co/uC48cG16x9
#Minecraft