That sad little town at the edge of nowhere turned out to be a greater boon than I had expected! Once all the business of establishing control had been dispensed with, I finally had time to take a good look around with my senses and it seems these murderous sea worshipers had been busy little killers indeed.
The presence of the dead in and around the town was considerable. So, not only did this place open the trade opportunities for me, it would also provide me with the troops that I have so long been lacking!
Toward the tail end of spring, I performed the rites of raising the dead as my servants and they came to answer my call:
I left the contingent of soulless to remind the townsmen who their lord and master is and headed out with the rest of my new warriors. By late summer I had made my way close to the outskirts of the ruins of the Imperial Capitol. I discovered another ancient temple, guarded only by what seemed a single weak spirit of the dead who have lost their way.
Close by there is also a swamp inhabited by a giant sized man-eating toad. Useless places even at the best of times, and this one doubly so. Well, Pantariste would probably disagree, since she uses all sorts of strange things growing in fens just like that for her concoctions, but she has her own hands full with the Bakemono and the dwarves who have been harassing her.
I had not quite up my mind about trying to acquire the temple for myself when the Colossus once more called my attention. It usually does not do this and has proven to be a most inefficient guardian of my southern realm, but this time there was cause enough and more.
The Colossus had spotted an army approaching from the south, a formation of strange and barbaric warriors the likes of which even it had never seen before. It is led by a man dressed as some kind of tribal leader or mystic, with feathers aplenty in his headdress and jewelry and tattoos in abundance.
Though this leader is human, the main force of his soldiers are creatures half man and half toad that walk upright and wield spears. The force is bolstered by what appear from all indications to be slaves overseen by a few human warriors. A strange bat-like creature flies to and fro ahead of the force, possibly as a scout, so they must know magic to control these beasts.
The most troubling aspect of this army is that it seems this barbarian has knowledge of the Realm of the Dead, because his advisor is a spirit form the Netherworld, though of a kind I have never seen. It would be most inconvenient if it turned out that this interloper is a necromancer in addition to whatever he is otherwise.
Whether or not I take the temple, I must hasten south to deal with this new threat.