The fire priest twisted his head slightly to see where the villager had fallen, reduced to a ravaged, bleeding corpse in the span of mere seconds by the devilish creatures that had surrounded him. Calvartem's words echoed in his mind. So, necromancer, he remarked mentally,you think me human. With himself practically out of commission, the village and its people stood as much chance as an ant beneath a boot, so there really was no point in continuing to struggle. That, however, had never stopped him before. "My kind are a different sort." From his splayed-out position on the ground, the fire priest mustered his energies as the Gremlins closed in, their large, disfigured arms all too willing to rend flesh from bone. The intense, minuscule inferno within his eye pulsed, sending out a burst of fire that ignited the rest of his body. The cleansing fire burned away cloth and flesh in seconds, leaving obsidian in its wake wreathed in flame. The obsidian man rose slightly into the air, his burning aura discouraging the gremlins from attacking. Once fully vertical and hovering a foot above the ground, held aloft by excessive warm air currents, he turned to face Calvartem.

"No human could pose a threat to the forces of a Keeper, much less the Keeper itself," he resonated. "Only a Rogue Construct could do that." Despite his intimidating, newly-manifested appearance, he was still weak from his injuries. Fortunately, as his knowledge from past ages confirmed, Keepers couldn't bear to interrupt a good, dramatic monologue. "I've traveled far to find a worthy master. Please forgive my actions and allow me to repay you with my service." It was obvious from his tone that words such as 'master' and 'please' were strained, but that he said them at all was quite unusual for him. 

Calvartem's expression did not change, but this was merely because he had no physical capacity to change his external expression. Inside, he was quite surprised at this turn of events, that this was no mere mortal, and that he knew of the Keepers. He kept his staff pointed at the obsidian man regardless. The Gremlins stood back, snarling.

"If you really are what you say, then burn down this village which you have been protecting," Calvartem demanded, "But incinerated corpses are no good to me, so leave the bodies intact."

In the background were the screams and sounds of people getting overtaken by the undead cattle. However, the cows were now split up, and they had limited effectiveness in getting inside buildings. 

The seam of flame that formed the former fire priest's jaw twisted into a smile. He had hoped that Calvartem would make him prove himself. "My pleasure." The bound bow reappeared in his hand, now larger and more flashy in design. From the air above his head, undulating with heatwaves, he pulled a special arrow. Rather than a point, it was tipped with a clump of lava. "You may want to stand back, and send your forces away. The fires of Conquest pick no sides." He loosed the magma shaft into the air, which erupted into a spray of molten rock when it reached fifty feet. A burning, torturing deluge rained down over the village, melting through wood and cloth alike and setting all ablaze. In no time at all the entire settlement was engulfed in a raging fire, its people screaming and crying, their last hope immolated before their eyes. Though often seared and burned by the hellish downfall, the people avoided the slow-moving lava for the most part, leaving them intact. With Shadowmane's speed Calvartem easily hopped out of the range of the rain of lava, allowing him to watch without worry of getting melted. He was not able to coordinate his forces to such an extent as to get them out of harms reach, and neither were the Walkers smart enough to actively dodge the falling molten rock, but the spray was dispersed enough so that collateral damage would be with-in acceptable boundaries. As the people ran from the burning buildings the Walkers and Gremlins charged at them and ran them down. 

"Do we have a deal?" 

Calvartem returned to where the obsidian man floated. He looked around at the picture of destruction approvingly, the amber light of the flames and lava matching the crimson light of the sky, the black smoke providing contrast and texture. "A being of your power would be valuable to have fighting for me, and worth keeping away from my enemies." 

"Then it is settled." Conquest descended and landed on the ground, setting his height at a few inches shy of seven feet. Now that combat was over, and any likelihood of resistance squashed by his fires, Conquest allowed his flaming form to dye down somewhat, leaving only enough to properly animate the obsidian that constituted him. In the background, though, the blaze only increased in intensity, sweeping over the town and consuming everything save for the villagers. By now, though, their lives were being extinguished anyway, as the Walkers of Calvartem sought them out and put them out of their misery, only to rise again as new ones. Though very pleased that the necromancer had accepted his offer, Conquest kept his stony face devoid of any new emotion, lest he betray any hint of his devious purpose. In reality, Conquest had no intention whatsoever of remaining Calvartem's lapdog -he wasn't even a Rogue Construct, in fact- but for the time being this would have to serve. "As you can see your monsters have annihilated the townsfolk and recycled their carcasses into your ranks. What will we do now?" 

"Now, I consolidate the conquest," Calvartem replied. Waving his hand fifteen shadowy imps appeared out of thin air. A nod was all that was needed to tell them what to do, and they dispersed through the town as the fires began to burn out and started harvesting stone bricks. "It is little use to slaughter this tiny town and not claim the power and control of the region."

Calvartem dismounted and seemed to just stand there, waiting and observing, with Shadowmane standing patiently in the dying firelight, his pure black coat not reflecting any of that light. After a while all the townsfolk were dead and the town was devoid of life, and the fires had burned down into smoulders and hot ash piles. He struck his staff onto the ground and all the Walkers and Gremlins too simultaneously found places to lay and the black light went out of their eyes. He waited a while more, observing the imps begin on the foundation of a tower. Perhaps sensing some impatience in Conquest, Calvartem said, "We wait until the task is done."

[u]Compendium Entry[/u]
Conquest - the Immolation of Hope and the First Horseman of the Apocalypse. Known by no other name. An animate golem of obsidian wreathed in flame, with impressive pyromancy. Wields the Cremator, a bound bow capable of firing several different payloads. Previously masqueraded as a traveling fire priest of Caldor; now masquerades as a Rogue Construct in the service of the Keeper Calvartem.