In the depths of a subterranean burrow, a small clan of redcaps dined on a "delicious" noonday meal of blood. Each of the tiny creatures was a disgusting, brutal combination of man and beast, and at the moment they were unarmed.
Their meals were stored in the eponymous caps for which they were named that they normally wore on their heads but at the moment were located in their hands. They lazily drank their meals and conversed with each other in a language that was only barely intelligible and to those unfamiliar with the brutal mercenaries was a guttural tongue.
"Our prey... Becoming scarce." One of the more intelligent of the redcaps noted, sagely. He made this observation between taking deep and messy gulps of the nourishing liquid that he had personally taken from a unicorn. One of his companions, a younger redcap, looked at him and nodded.
"Move... We must. Soon. Very soon." He whispered, unaware of the danger that was rapidly approaching. His words were correct, even if he was not aware of the extent to which they'd had proven to be apt advice, had circumstances favored him and his clan. Circumstances did not favor the redcap, or the clan of foul murderers he was a member of.
"Strange happenings. Fearful omens. Change." Whispered another of the redcaps who could overhear their conversations. He was a unique member of their kind, a respected member of their family. This redcap was the largest of their kind in the clan. His cap was in his hands, but was floating freely in front of him.
"Darkness spreads. Kin coming. Wicked things." He uttered, the conversation he had overheard was making him speak more than he usually did. That alone was enough subtly frighten the strange beings who were known for their cruelty. They knew well enough that anyone a member of their kind like the strange redcap called "kin" could only be something truly monstrous.
Silence fell over the burrow as its inhabitants quickened their consumption of their meal. The day was beginning to draw to a close, and as frightening as redcaps were they were hardly the scariest things that walked the bewildering dimension known as the Wildlands. Worse yet was the fact that nightfall was what brought out the most fearsome of the dimension's inhabitants.
In the minutes that followed the redcaps finished their meals, and as they did they prepared themselves for the night to come. And just in time, since the creature who sought to dominate the hundreds strong clan of redcaps was drawing nearer and nearer with every passing second.
Even as I began to gradually close the distance between myself and the tiny castle where the burrow of redcaps was held I watched the "sun" of the Wildlands begin to speedily advance towards the bottom of the horizon. Day and night worked differently in the Wildlands and this was one of the first times I was able to witness that myself.
The "sun" that I could see as I made my way further and further from my own territory was an illusion that had been created in the unfathomably distant past by the very ancient and long dead primal archfey who once ruled this dimension. It did cast light on the world, but it did nothing else. It created no warmth, provided for no plants, nothing. Only the ancient wills of the long-dead archfey had sustained this dimension even millennia after their deaths. Until now.
As a god and especially as an archfey of summer, daylight, and spring, I could do a lot. If I wanted too. Right now I didn't want too. Not yet. I wanted more power before I used my power to permanently alter this dimension. I wanted the powers I didn't yet have, powers over autumn, winter, and night. Which was precisely why I was going to efficiently take control of a group of unseelie fey. When I did, I'd be able to seize the powers I craved.
As the sun dashed towards the horizon, I myself began to speed up my movement. My form changed and I took on a gaseous appearance, my body shifting and transforming even as I moved, into something vaguely resembling an airy horse. I galloped across the plains, my equine body moving faster and faster than it had when I was manifesting in a corporeal sense.
Even as I dashed towards the long relished territory of an ancient unseelie archfey, my mind continued to observe the actions of the group of redcaps I was going to be claiming as the first of my unseelie courts. I watched them slowly leave their burrow and begin to head to the stations from which they stood guard so that they might foil any attempted invasions of their precious castle home.
The foolish little creatures were unaware that the fey they zealously guarded their homes against had been defeated by my faerie forces weeks ago. That was the reason why they had been struggling to find prey over the last few days. The forces of Aringoth had torn through the remains of a fey court that had once been located not far from the ruined castle the ancient ancestors of this group of redcaps had claimed long ago.
In minutes after I took on the form of a vaporous horse, I found myself facing the dour castle that the redcaps guarded. I was still far enough from it that they couldn't even hope to see me, but as I glanced at it and studied the mystical metals from which it was constructed I swiftly determined that it'd prove a suitable place for a new group of followers of mine to live. The ancient redcaps from whom the group I was about to take over had been descended from evidently had good taste.
With a strange smile on my horse-like face, I began to take on a new form and to approach the strange fey I had come here to recruit.
The dark castle under which dwelt the burrow of redcaps was a strange structure. It was the ancient home of the particular clan of redcaps that had lived here, and it had a single entrance. At the moment that single entrance was guarded by a group of no less than four fierce redcaps.
The four warriors stood stoically and peered out of dark windows that allowed them to stay inside of the ancient structure while guarding their home. Their hands were on their handcrafted weapons, scythes that gave them a deceptive amount of reach given their diminutive height, even as their tiny heads peered out the darkened glass that gave them their view of the outside world.
Night had fallen minutes ago and now a strange, illusion of a full moon shone overhead. The fey silently watched the sole entrance to their castle, consisting of a drawbridge that was currently up and thus uncross-able unless someone was a non-physical being. Their attention being on the drawbridge was what allowed Althos to draw so near to them while remaining undetected.
I silently stalked all the way up to the risen drawbridge undetected and undisturbed by the crude creatures guarding it. Their tiny minds struggled to properly guard this place which was both convenient for me and also a mild inconvenience at the same time. It was convenient since it prevented them from verbally assailing me, but it was inconvenient since it meant that I now had to draw their attention to me.
When I was on the furthest edge of where I could stand before falling into a long emptied moat, unless the bridge was lowered, I audibly cleared my throat and used my powers over sound to make the noise audible to the strange creatures guarding this place, instinctively getting a reaction out of the faeries.
I immediately felt a wave of shock and fear wash over the redcaps as they turned their attention from the drawbridge to me, and then felt their hostility towards me wash over them. I chuckled and then began to laugh as they began to try and focus enough to cast evocation spells at me.
My laughter disrupted their concentration and I began to feel their hostility sharpen. They didn't attempt to speak to me, instead identifying me as nothing more than a meal in the making and thus not worth the tongue-lashing they'd be giving me if they were trying to intimidate me. I turned and looked at them, my eyes filled with the cold powers of death and pain, and then readied myself to speak.
"Redcaps, cease your hostilities! Allow me, your new lord, to enter your castle and be granted as an archfey deserves to be greeted!" I roared, my voice exploding out of me and washing over the diminutive and easily cowed fey. My voice was filled with my power over law and pride, and I felt it explode into their tiny minds. Redcaps were feared for many reasons but one of their weaknesses was the relative weakness of their minds. They were not strong-willed beings.
The power and pride in my deific voice washed over their egos and filled the prideful, spiteful beings with a mixture of fear and awe. I gazed at each of them, and smiled, my cold eyes filling their minds with a desire to serve me and to treat me with the reverence a member of my species deserved.
The smartest one of them was the shortest member of their race among the group. He had the thickest cap, and he attempted to resist my voice but it was a losing battle. My voice was a tidal wave and he was a swimmer caught in it. He was helpless, even though he was determined. My eyes gazed into his and watched as his will was subsumed by mine. He was also the member of the quartet of guards who had power over the drawbridge, standing in front of a simple switch which needed to be pulled to lower the bridge.
After a few moments he meekly placed a hand on the switch and pulled it down. A second later the drawbridge in front of me began to steadily lower, until it was fully lowered and I leisurely stepped onto it. With a polite smile I entered the territory of the Beating Heart clan of redcaps, the fey who'd be responsible for my apotheosis into an unseelie archfey.
