Building an army

“These are just corpses on stands.” Synthara said as she poked at one of the corpses. They were held up in such a way that they were standing at attention but were otherwise just normal corpses. Few were fully armed, and the ones that were armed tended to have poor equipment. The Kobold she had in her arms was on the ground sniffing at the corpses.

Morgan looked down in shame. “My deepest apologies my lady, they are dormant, reanimating them accelerates the rot, so I leave them here until the final war begins.”

The three were at the bottom of a large tomb filled with corpses standing side-by-side with equipment in various states of decay. The corpses themselves were surprisingly clean with little to no signs of rot. The walls were lined with sconced torches lit with blue flame.

“What about weapons and armor? They’re not exactly threatening with half-torn armor and rusted spears.” Synthara said as a corpse’s rusted spear crumbled at her touch.

Morgan shrunk in embarrassment. “Please forgive my incompetence. Gathering proper weapons and armor for all 753,456 corpses has proven difficult. Keeping them in proper condition over the past five centuries has proven moreso. My spells can only preserve corpses, not inorganic objects.”

Synthara raised her brows. “That is a large number of undead, would it be enough to overwhelm with sheer numbers?

“We could win a few battles through sheer weight of numbers but their numbers would dwindle too quickly, not enough to conquer the world with.”

“Couldnt we compensate by reanimating defeated foes?”

“That would help but it wouldn't solve the lack of a force multiplier. Of course, this is all only my humble opinion compared to the one who bestowed necromancy upon mortalkind. If you think this is enough then I will not dare doubt you.” Morgan said sheepishly

Synthara pursed her lips in thought. She may vaguely remember bestowing her worshippers with magic throughout the time she was dormant, but those were semi-conscious affairs. Perhaps she would remember how to use the spells she made with time and through use, but for now it was wiser to rely on Morgan’s word on the matter. God forbid she admit it though.

As they are now, the undead aren't particularly strong. Granted they never had much in the way of individual strength and relied mostly on numbers and persistence but still, she refused to have her world conquering army be a dumb unarmed horde. That would be lame. If she was going to conquer the entire world she was going to do it in style! She wanted an army in scary armor and weapons like in that one movie about the magical rings.

“I do, but more force is never not a good thing. Which is why I am asking why can't more weapons and armor be made?”

“The Orcs are some of the best smiths in the four realms, second only to Dwarves. But even they are limited in their output. If they had access to the forge this would not be an issue.”

“Forge?”

“The Drehkt Forge, the Orc people’s crowning achievement. With the use of Mt. Ymir’s unique properties, they created a forge that was capable of creating weapons and armor in mass quantities. It is their shrine to you, each weapon made in that forge a testament to your will and glory. They would have been the dominant race in your realm instead of humans had Nidhogg not taken it from them and made it his home. To have lost it to an overgrown Kobold is their greatest collective shame.”

“A dragon?”

“Yes, they are Kobolds who have grown old and strong enough to make it to peak maturation. Their brutish and unintelligent nature prevents them from reaching that point, yet it was inevitable that one of them would make it. Many Orcs and some humans have tried to slay Nidhogg but none could come close.”

The Kobold let out a raspy bark resembling laughter. “King Niddhog is the strongest of Kobolds. Orcses and Humans are tasty treaties for King Nidhogg.”

Morgan’s Amber eyes glowed red and her fingers crackled with lightning. “Forgive me my lady, it seems this one was not trained well on etiquette. I will make an example out of him immediately.”

The Koblold squeaked out in fear. Synthara stomped on the Kobold, feeling its scaly hard skin against her soft flesh, feeling as if she would cut her skin if she rubbed against it too hard.

“Morgan here is very diligent, you see. Sometimes she can go a bit overboard. Lucky for you I can reign her in, when I'm in the mood anyway. You know what I am in the mood for? Dragons, now tell me more about them.” Synthara said, looking down on the lizard beneath her squirming.

The Kobold breathed in loudly as the pressure on his back lessened slightly to allow him to breathe. “It is as Lady Morgan says, Nidhogg is strongest Kobold. Scales black as the sky and just as vast. Breath hot to melt mountains, teeth like spears. Will one day lead all Kobolds to kill all orcs and humans.”

“Including me?”

“You are nice human, but still human.” The torches lighting the tomb dimmed slightly at Morgan’s rising magical energy.

Synthara scoffed. “Very lofty ambitions for an overgrown lizard. Why hasn't he conquered the world already if he’s so great?”

“Nidhogg smart, he waits for all humans, orcs, and other races to beat each other before we Kobolds kill all of you.”

“So your great leader is an imbecile then?” Synthara’s said with a growing smirk.

The Kobold lay still for a moment. “No! Nidhogg intalegents!”

“Now that I'm here, your Nidhogg has lost his chance at Kobold domination. Your people worshipped me for centuries yet you could have conquered this world by yourselves. Wouldn't you say that's an admission of who is the superior leader?” Synthara said sweetly.

The Kobold slammed his fists and writhed on the tomb floor. “No! Nidhogg will beat you and you will worship him! I will lead you to him now!”

Synthara’s smile grew bigger. She always knew Kobolds were stupid and prone to anger. But that just made for great evil minions that way. She looked back up at Morgan.

“If I slay this dragon, how long will it take to get the army ready?”

Morgan brought her finger to her chin. “The orcs would need time to get the Forge repaired and running again. Then they would need to gather materials but Mt. Ymir and the surrounding lands are abundant with minerals. It should not take more than a month or so.”

“Then I will not waste anymore time.” Synthara stepped off the Kobold. “What is your name Kobold?”

“Yol.”

“Lead the way, Yol.” Yol complied and Synthara followed.

“Wait my lady! You only just woke up and no mortal has ever survived an encounter with Nidhogg!”

“Are you questioning the power of your god?” Synthara said disdainfully as she turned back and levitated towards Morgan.

“N-no I would never!” Morgan said apologetically.

“Good. You should be grateful that I am giving you the opportunity to witness a god’s first battle on this plane instead of punishing you for your insult. Be in awe of my generosity and lead the way.” Synthara said haughtily .

“Yes of course my lady, I will never doubt your abilities from this day forth!” Morgan said as she led Synthara and Yol out of the tomb.

She sighed with relief. It was just as well, for Synthara did not know the way out of the lair, much less the way to the dragon. She doubted Yol knew how to leave the tomb either. She almost marred her godly aura by hastily walking away.