Dusk had come to Yggor's Island. Every other evening was marked by the gentle song of nightfowls, insects, and other nocturnal wildlife. The wind would whistle along the coast and cause the salty aroma of the sea to drift inland while the steady rhythm of the tide lulled the islanders to sleep. However, tonight was different.
Deathly silence gripped the island like a noose. Not even the wind or the birds dared to break the stillness. A blanket of terror laced with the stench of spilled blood and decay was draped over the island. The silence was broken by a distant wailing followed by an unnaturally frigid wind.
Gro'chal strode confidently out of the ruins with a dozen fresh recruits shambling by his side. The illusion of the phantasmal lich had dissipated, revealing his true alien form. His tail swayed as his brow furrowed in thought.
"The stars begin to align." Gro'chal said as he peered at the heavens. "They paint an interesting tale... Things are changing across the cosmos. What say you, Captain Cooper?"
The captain in question stood a few paces behind Gro'chal. His once-scarred living flesh had deteriorated into naught but rags draped over his skeletal form. Necrotic energy flowed from his eyes like smoke. Bony fingers clacked against the hilt of his rapier.
"Then we must act with haste." Cooper replied with a raspy voice. "I can organize patrols across the island while you execute the next stage of the plan. Your will permitting, my liege."
Gro'chal smiled approvingly at the captain's mixture of leadership and submissiveness, which amounted to his face tendrils flicking at the corners of his mouth. The captain would make an excellent commander of his forces on Gaia, but his true worth would be revealed at a later date. In the meantime...
"See to it that no one disturbs my work." Gro'chal commanded. "Have the dreadwraiths begin patrols through the jungle and along the coast, and instruct the ghouls and skeletons to begin construction of the bunker. Tell them to dig - and don't stop digging until their flesh is peeled away and their hands are dust. I will instruct Nightgaunt and his shadows to monitor the shore and surrounding waters as sentries. Dismissed, captain."
"Aye!" the skeletal Captain Cooper saluted and sprinted off into the jungle.
Gro'chal made his way to the village where he battled the wizard after relaying the commands to Nightgaunt. He could feel his presence, along with every single undead on the island. They were like links in a massive chain or nodes in a giant network. Their minds echoed within his own - telling their stories. Deathweaver listened to their whispers as he walked.
He could feel their pain and their sorrow. Many of them were victims of the pirates' barbarisms. Most spoke of hardships and discrimination from living under corruption and cruel masters. Others simply raved within their collective mind like madmen.
Gro'chal quickly silenced those.
When he finally reach the battlefield, Gro'chal took a calming breath and reached out with his senses. He could feel the ebb and flow of the islands energies, but he instead looked downward deep beneath the soil and stone. The Naacani stretched out his hand towards the ground and
clenched.
The earth trembled as his psionic grip delved deep into the rock under his feet. He reached for the shifting tectonic energy that originally created the island - the lifeblood of the earth - and pulled. A cacophony of grinding stone grated on his ears, but he stood resolute through the pain. Gro'chal slowly raised his quivering fist as the ground quaked violently before a great chasm split before him. Magma spilled from the open wound and rapidly cooled in the night air.
Gro'chal waved his other hand and caused a wave of boiling lava to wash over the ground and create a basin. He leveled his hand and pressed it forward. The rock groaned beneath the unseen pressure while the lava frothed unnaturally.
This is going to take awhile... Gro'chal groaned to as he raised his hands - commanding another molten geiser to spring forth.
Several hours passed as the dark red glow of the natural forge lit the canopy for a quarter mile. The earth continued to shake from the forced tectonic activity while the scorching heat of the flames and lava burned away any vegetation for fifty yards. Finally, as the sun's rays crested over the sea, the quakes silenced.
Gro'chal fell to his knees and retched. A black liquid matted his mouth and dripped down his chest. He looked up through gasping breaths to behold thirteen massive stones and seven smaller - but still quite large - obelisks. Steam roiled off of their glossy black surfaces even as the ground cooled and solidified. Hundreds of runic symbols were carved into their faces like mosaics, but they were dull and lifeless.
Gro'chal rose shakily to his feet - supported by his staff - and examined his work. The dimensions appeared to be to specifications, and the rune-work was adequate. However, there was no magic in these constructs. They were more dead than the shambling skeletons that patrolled the island.
"That is a project for another day." he thought to himself.
"It is time to check in on the construction detail..."