Shaige eyed his new creature. It was the human that he had brought down to his dungeon heart. When his slumber ended and his eyes opened, he would find them to have a soft purple glow like those of his master, but otherwise he appeared no different from before. The changes were all on the inside. Judging by the fire priests and their crusaders, the Knights of the Flame, this world was no stranger to seeing magically augmented warriors. The soldiers had managed to trek through the woods for hours in their armor, heft around large weapons with surprising speed, and withstand any stray bolts of fire magic from the priests.

Shaige already had three hundred tribesmen as well as a few dozen druids that were more than happy to fight, but none of them would have been able to match Paterdomus' crusaders toe to toe, in a fair fight. That was, until now. Shaige had used this man as a prototype for his new augmented soldiers, using his magic as a keeper to bless and empower the human in various ways. The man's skeletal and muscular systems were improved, making him both stronger and more resilient. His body was given extreme endurance as well. Great willpower combined with a superior physique would allow these soldiers to wear extremely heavy plate armor, and fight almost unhindered by the standards of normal people. 

The next procedure for most sorcerers would be to improve the muscles to make them move faster instead of just more forcefully. Shaige had differenent plans, however. As most soldiers in Elysium were augmented with the primitive sort of magic that could be wielded by mortals, perhaps combined with a few potions, Shaige had already augmented this man beyond almost any other human soldier on the continent. To do much more would place too much stress on the human body, and likely end up killing the tribesman. However, there were still other things that could be done to improve his followers. Shaige enhanced the man's mental capacities, something that was almost never done to augment soldiers. 

Moral implications aside, altering and improving a mind was something extremely difficult, even by the standards of a keeper. However, Shaige managed to accomplish it. Augmenting a human made them a perfect frame for a soldier, though they were still ineffective warriors unless trained well. However, Shaige's alterations to the mind would make these undisciplined and worthless tribesmen capable of mastering any weapon or fighting technique in the span of days or weeks, as compared to months or years. It would also have the desirable side effect of improving their reaction time and reflexes in actual combat, which would end up being about as much of an advantage as faster movement.

His experiment done, Shaige knew that replicating the augmentation he had just done of this first human would be easy. Shaige met with Fangir in the shrine above. The smelter and foundry had been completed with assistance from the imps, the only ones in the entire city who knew anything whatsoever about working metal. Soran had shown the humans what metal ores to search for and now miners were scouring the tunnels, chipping into any iron or coal veins that they found in the walls of the tunnel. The imp construct was currently acting as forgemaster to get a batch of armor and weapons prepared for the first squad of augmented humans. The brightest tribesman that was to be found was apprenticed to Soran, and would take control as soon as he was deemed competent.

Shaige made inquiries with Fangir about the best fighters in the city. Aside from the druids, who were undoubtedly more useful as they were rather than as augmented infantry, there were very few actual warriors in the city. Most had died trying to fight against the crusaders, and those that remained were not seasoned veterans. They were used to fighting wildly with bows and tomahawks; there was nobody who could train them to fight in formation or even with swords, spears, or shields. Regardless, Shaige augmented 19 more of the tribesmen, and left several imps with orders to do the same to another 30. 

Fangir's next order was to oversee construction of a barracks for the soldiers and residential area for the workers, as well as latrines. Currently, every person just had claimed their own alcove corner. The few sleeping chambers had terrible conditions, often with more than a dozen sweaty bodies cramped into a tiny, stuffy, and damp room, sleeping on only straw or leaves. Such areas were disgusting unsanitary. The bedding wasn't changed, bodily fluids were in abundance, and the lack of a designated latrine presented problems as well. Though they had not been here for longer than a few months, it was a wonder that disease hadn't already claimed half the caverns' population. Aside from the danger of death, these conditions were leading to sleep deprivation and wreaking havoc on overall happiness and productivity. It had to end.

Shaige rested within the murky depths of his unholy font, the dungeon heart. The keeper sensed an imp above, draining more blood into the waters. The crusaders' corpses were rapidly diminishing, but there was still enough to last several days. By then, the shadow fully intended to have live prisoners. The imp left. Of course, another was wont to return soon enough to refill the blood in the fountain, but the keeper would be alone for some time. He would see to it that he soon had a minion capable of training his new soldiers.

Level 1 Construct: 0/3
25 Sets of weapons and armor: 0/5

[hider=Compendium Info]
[u]Zealot:[/u]Level two creatures. These are human followers of Shaige, with bodies that have been extremely augmented by magic. They are resilient to damage, and capable of marching for days without halt. Their extreme strength and stamina allows them to fight in heavy plate armor and move just as well as a normal, unarmored human would. Their minds have also been enhanced, giving them inhuman reaction times as well as the ability to rapidly learn how to fight, if they have someone to teach them. Well trained and equipped, these heavy infantry would be capable of holding their own against any other human soldiers on Elysium, if not outright massacring them.[/hider]