7th Granite
I stand at the battlements looking out at a scene from my darkest nightmares. The odd twisted and charred tree rises from the ashes strewn on the ground, and bones poke through the grime and dirt. And the corpses…the corpses stand and stare back. They no longer howl or moan, they don’t make a noise. The wind whistles past them, but they just stand and stare. Watching me. Shuddering, I turn away from their silent vigil and go back down the ladder and into the fortress. The moment my foot touches the ground a howl rises from one, and then a shriek from another. Soon the noise cuts through the entire fortress again. They do that every-time I leave their sight. I remember many sieges, many hordes pitched against us by the cruel god Fain….but this, this is the worst. No siege has ever lasted this long, no siege has ever just stood there…waiting. I can almost feel their hunger for my flesh, feel their teeth sinking in….No! I will not let them. Fain will not have me.
I stalk through the halls, not seeing the walls or even thinking of where I am going. What will I do? Those zombies were obviously sent to destroy me, to wait until we snap and attack them. I stick out my hand and grab a passing boy by the shoulder as he jogs past. He looks at me and his eyes widen. “Y..Y.Yes S…Sir?” Why is he so scared? I don’t have time to think on such small matters.
“Boy, I want you to do something for me” I say, staring into his eyes. I try to give him a reassuring smile. If anything he looks even more terrified. Foolish boy! When will these people start believing that I’m not an undead abomination? “I want you to tell NAV that he is to pepper those husks above ground with bolts. Tell him to leave none standing. Okay?”
“Yes sir, right away!” He said. Standing upright, he gives a quick grin and jogs on his way, leaving me dumbfounded. Did I say something that encouraged him? I don’t know. Shaking my head, I continue stalking the halls, wondering about Fain, about Armok. Planning, I hope, for when Forumites will once again be free of them both.
Fire like a molten sea with imps of fire and men of flame, demons and horrors. And rising through them all, a fiery hand, a brand of doom with a blackened face made of coal looming behind it. It encloses me, envelops me…The whispers of Armok weave through my mind. The boom of drums echoes as he tells me what I should do, what I have to do. Screaming from pain and anger at being trapped, I jerk upwards and throw a punch at the face hovering in front of me. A child’s face gawps down at me. With effort I pull the punch short inches from his bulbous nose. My legs are trapped, so I reach over and light the lamp beside me. The light shows the bedroom and my body wrapped in sweat-drenched bed clothes. My shuddering breaths even out and I collapse backwards into my pillows. Another dream. Just another dream. That’s what I tell myself every time but…I only ever had that type of nightmare when Armok was controlling me. Could I still be under his thumb and not know it?
Once I have recovered I focus my eyes back on the messenger child, the same as before. He again looks at me with fear in his eyes. I sit back up. “M…m..my lord. I ha..a..ave a messa..ge for y…y..you” He stammers, eyes not looking up from the stoney floor. He seems to relax himself, and his back straightens like the steel our smiths are renowned for. I smile to myself - this child is a brave one indeed to recover so quickly after nearly being attacked by the “Undead abomination of Necrothreat”. He again opens his mouth “The zombies aren’t falling sir, not like you asked NAV to make them. They seem to fall…and then the men say they feel some dark force at work and they rise again, bringing with them any limbs torn off.” He stops speaking and looks back at the cracks in the ground as if he could hide in them.
So…Fain’s foul magic is here as well. It strikes me as weird that I hear this news just as I have my nightmare…but surely it is a coincidence. My dreams are just dreams, I am still safe. But what am I to do now though? The dead are not going back to their graves. “Is there no good news” I mutter to myself. Nevertheless, the messenger answers.
“Yes sir. The men grow better at the crossbow. I have been told by Crossbow Commander NAV to tell you that two show real promise.” He edges closer to me and hands me a slip of paper.
"What's your name boy?" The child looks up, a small grin taking shape on his lips. His fear seems to be mostly forgotten.
"Bob, my lord, though everyone calls me Timeless Bob" I nod, taking note of the name. This child has strength....he will be a fine Forumite. We will have need for strong Forumites before this is all over. I hope to be one of them, that I will not cave under the pressure. Even as I think this I feel a shadow press on my mind, and an echoing chuckle seems to bounce around in my skull. A dream...it was just a dream!
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EDIT: I forgot to mention, rule No. five says that I should state any game breaking bugs, and I have to say that the zombies ripping off their own limbs and raising again, and not only this but Necromancers reanimating them all within a few seconds is as close to game breaking as I can think. It wouldbe okay if they went away...but they stay there and we are stuck under ground. Maybe Talvieno or whoever modded them in can make it slightly less...utterly and totally murder to walk outside. Then again, it may take away the character of Necrothreat to be able to go outside...but anyway. I'll leave it up to you whether or not you want to change it, I only have to deal with it for a year
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Topic: Necrothreat II - A Fort Cursed by the Gods! (Read 447954 times)