Smoke slithered into the sky like serpents made of ash.
The once-peaceful village of Vareth, nestled along the quiet hills of Herion's western frontier, was now little more than a burning carcass.
Its thatched roofs collapsed into flame, its wooden fences torn down by crude axes, its people, men, women, and even children, dragged into the mud or butchered in the streets.
Atop a fallen pillar that once held a small shrine to Hades, a man dressed in rough hide armor raised a bloodied sword and cried out:
"Praise Zeus! Praise the gods of light! Burn the heretics!"
A chorus of savage cheers answered him.
The Free Tribes Coalition, emboldened by the blessings of Olympus, ravaged every Herion village that stood loyal to the gods of the Underworld.
To them, Herion's worship of Hades, Hecate, Styx, and other chthonic deities was blasphemy—a stain that needed to be cleansed by fire and steel.
