Chapter 3 - The Rampage

The great shift in the natural order caused exactly the effect that the Beast Folk had been fearing all along. The energy of the planet itself began to destabilize as the darkness infected and spread through the ecosystem of the Nature Civilization, forcing the remaining members to fight back with what little they could. Their few allies amongst water did what they could to help, but mostly they depended on the power of their allies in the Light Civilization to keep the Darkness at bay. The dark ones met this threat by sending the great Dark Lord Baraga, wielder of the Blade of Gloom, with his power to intimidate and confuse the enemy forces into disarray.

The Light also aimed to employ such tactics as well, increasing their support of their Nature allies, against the Darkness. Most importantly, each Civilization now began collecting their loyalists, the creatures and forces that drew greatest strength from their absolute 'patriotism', in case full-scale war ever broke out. Even amongst the fiercely independent members of the Fire realm, unity was beginning to show, as they often united against any external threat, led by the newly awakened uber dragon, the Armored one known as Jabaha, who, long ago, had evolved even beyond most other such Dragons.

That unity came just in time. Tropico, with the help of Emeral's technological prowess, Corile's mastery of teleportation, and Walter's intelligent programming techniques, completed his army of Liquid People Soldiers and Gel Fish forces... and sent them against the Fire realm in a tactical offensive. Even Shtra's abilities to transmute matter were called upon, at times, in the effort. Despite their general tactical abilities, Water's forces relied primarily on the overwhelming force of sheer numbers, taking advantage of their teleportation abilities to remove any of the larger threats that Fire sent their way. Only the swiftest of attacks were effective usually, and with the addition of Emeral's trickery, and Tropico's deployment of the Saucer-Head Sharks, even such swift attacks could sometimes be quickly suppressed.

The forces of Light not involved in the battle against the Darkness, could sometimes be found assisting the defenses of these Water forces in their invasion. Whether this was because of their occasional enmity with the roving Fire forces, or due to the effect it had on the morale and presence of the few reinforcements that Fire had begun to send to the Darkness, was not clear, but a tentative alliance was clearly formed. Still, the Lords of Water and Lords of Darkness seldom sent their forces directly into conflict with each other, preferring to continue their mostly hidden alliance, rife with espionage, subterfuge, and even the occasional 'above board' exchange of technological secrets.

Over time, it became more and more clear to the Dark Lords, that in order to succeed in their campaign, it was going to be necessary to fully deal with the descending forces of the Light Civilization, as Miar had been awakened and sent into battle, and little or nothing the Darkness had could stop the great Comet Elemental when the forces around it were still standing. Not even the great Ghastly Warrior Giriel, the greatest of the Demon Command. It was then, that the greater clash began, and the primary forces that would shape the face of the conflict, and the world, began to make their appearance...