Again

Again.

He hissed through the gaps of his teeth in frustration. Again.  It always happened these days. Something or the other stopped him; everything was futile; he was brought to battle with no preparation, in a situation where he was mismatched , only made worse by the presence of the very Company.

Again.

Every plan became like this. Every. Single. One. When had it begun? Was it the company? No, before that. The previous organisation, where he had their trust as nothing but  a little beggar. He had the goals, he had the plan, he had the opportunities.. but none were perfect. So, he waited. And waited... and it slipped.

Again.

It had all started so well today. For once, even the paladin Dared had a ruthlessness to him; everyone was on edge, ready to destroy everything in their path, by any means neccesary.  It was perfect. It should have been perfect. Of course, he knew what they were up against - a lich, and a nobleman. Two forces that could prove far beyond the means of his company ; he had no runework, no time to fully prepare, nor had all the information he required. But those were excuses, and he knew it.

He should have known. He should have prepared. He should have stopped dawdling with attempting to toy with the construct and instead deal with the master. He had his vulnerabilities; they were close. But instead, he let it slip.

Again.

And again and again. When they left with defeat,  having allowed Fausto's body to be taken - which he should have thought about, even in the thick of the chaos - no, especially in the thick of the chaos - he still gloated over the one victory they had, the weakening of the lich's power. But the loss of Fausto's soul would have given them a disadvantage, as Lucius could easily use the passion of this spirit.

Ah, but therein lay the usefulness of shamans. Their 'spirit world' abilities allowed them to establish a link to Fausto's soul. There, he had a chance to pull that man's soul over, to seal it in a shard , to steal that power for himself.

Instead, he allowed a sentimental idiot of a woman to speak.

He allowed them to speak , to attempt to resolve their feelings ; he felt as if it would be easier if the spirit wished to return. Not that it would have helped, now that he recalled - no, allowing them to speak was absolute stupidity.  He should have channeled his power to pull Fausto over - if not his entire soul, then simply half, or a shattering of it. Instead, he had allowed Lucius to absorb everything.  He had completely failed thanks to completely idiotic judgement.

Again.

They would face Lucius again, soon enough, with his power. But for now, he was displeased. He was furious. That led to a simple solution. Inside a series of caves in Dun Morogh, he had established a series of runework. Within it was a large population of trogg, stupid but virile. They reproduced quickly, and it seemed that some even migrated in later such that within weeks the cave was filled. Within the space of the caves, his runes allowed command of his own magic from the comfort of his quarters, with but a soulstone allowing him to see and hear their suffering; that with but a whim several would break down, piece by piece, or have their simple minds torn apart, or infused with enough agony they would kill each other in confusion.

And within the next few weeks, they would have repopulated, learning so little from their previous experience that he would be able to do the same if he so wished.

Again.

Never again