Better Late Then Never
As Nwm drew himself up against the wall, wounds stinging, in preparation for what would likely have been an arduous speech on the nature of the Paladin’s duty to his Lord and people, the shout of a soldier cut him short.
“Nwm and Ygred of Naschres! The Lord Commander would have a word with you.” The soldier beckoned to them. Ygred and Nwm glanced at each other.
“What does the man want?” Queried Eromil.
“The Lord Commander sends for us.” Nwm answered. The guard struck the cobblestoned impatiently with the but of his spear.
“The elf can come too! Now, follow me!” The man set off without another word, cloak flapping in the chill morning breeze. The trio followed. Winding their way past clumps of wounded men conversing in worried undertones and knots of anxious women and children, they soon found themselves standing outside the Commander’s keep. Although the Keep was located in the heart of the fort, it seemed that the guards at its doors had been doubled.
The newly reinforced guard waved them inside without a word, and a page guided them to the Commander’s chamber.
Nwm and Ygred stepped inside, taking seats on a rough wooden bench against the wall. Eromil slid in after them, gravitating to the shadowed corner by the door. Across the room, the Lord Commander sat behind his war table, conversing quietly with a small man bedecked in stained hunting cloths and battered leather armor. As the door closed behind Eromil, the Commander looked up.
“Ah, Ygred and Nwm of Naschres. I’m glad you were able to come so promptly. May I introduce to you Yeth Mogrin, our foremost scout.” Here he gestured to the small man beside him. Although Nwm and Ygred nodded their greetings to him, Yeth made no indication that he had even noticed the paladins. The Commander continued.
“Yeth is one of the only men I can trust to go into the Rotwood and come out in one peace. I’ve brought both him and you here fore a reason.” The Lord Commander paused here, unfurling a map as he did so. Hope swelled in Nwm's chest. The Commander was going to send them to Naschres- as much seemed obvious.
“Recently, there have been reports of a large settlement of humans several days journey northwest of here into the Rotwood. I-” Nwm stopped him in mid sentence.
“Respectfully, Lord Commander, Naschres is located to the northeast.” The Commander stared at him for a moment.
“I am well aware, Nwm, of the aledged location of your fabled Naschres. You will find, though, that we are not discussing a mission to Naschres. As I was saying, there are claims of a large settlement to the northwest. I wish Yeth to lead you, Ygred, and your companions, to determine weather the rumors are true, and, if indeed they are, to return post haste to me with the information necessary to lead a contingent of men to the colony and ensure their safe return here.”
“My Lord Commander” growled Nwm, “I would question the wisdom of your decision.”
“That is not your place, half-elf!” The Commander answered with a sharp glare to Nwm.
“Never the less, I will speak. One day ago, before you had lost a third of your men to the undead, you refused even to consider an expedition to Naschres, a colony of who’s existence Ygred and myself are proof, on the grounds that you did not have enough men to spare. Now, though your forces are thinned, you send your finest scout to search for a colony ofwhich only rumors exist! Furthermore, while it is not my place to question you, neither is it your place to order Ygred or myself, let alone Eromil.” Nwm was standing now, as was the Lord Commander. Through clenched teeth, the old man hissed-
“While you, be you man, elf, or mutt, avail yourself of the shelter of my fort, you will follow my orders, or you will leave.” The two men stared at each other for a long moment. Finally, the Lord Commander looked away.
“However, as I am not an uncaring man, I will make you this deal. Go with Yeth, and guide my soldiers to the colony should it exist, and I will see to it that a unit of men are placed under Ygred’s command to return to Naschres.”
“Agreed.” Nwm and Ygred spoke as one. Eromil moved forward, and whispered something to Nwm. Resisting the urge to smile, the paladin turned once more to the Lord Commander.
“My Lord, my companion would make a request of you.” The Commander did not look up, but with an air of boredom waved his consent.
“As he has not ties to Naschres, and does not consider himself under your protection, but that of the elves, Eromil demands payment in return for his oath to accompany Yeth Mogrin into the Rotwood.” At this, the Lord Commander snapped upright, his eyes bulging.
“And what-” he spat, “- form of payment does the ask for?” Nwm focused his gaze respectfully at the floor, and answered.
“A horse, mylord.” The Lord Commander’s face turned a brilliant shade of red.
“Your friend should count himself lucky that I do not have him hanged for his insolence! If he is under the protection of the elves, then beg them for a horse! As should you, impudent churl!” Although the tips of his gently pointed ears flushed at the insult, Nwm kept his face rigid, and as he and Ygred bowed their leave to the commander, spoke, more to himself then to the Lord.
“Save your wrath, I am but a messenger.” As the door closed in front of them, Nwm caught a glimpse of the Commander’s face, now livid with rage. It was obvious from his expression that he had heard.
***
As soon as Ygred, Eromil, and Nwm had left the keep, the scout Yeth Mogrin stepped out from the shadows of a nearby cluster of houses and fell into step with them.
“We will set out at first light tomorrow.” Yeth intoned blandly, eyes locked on the horizon. “I am stopping by the warehouses to aquire a few essentials. You would do well to come with me if you need for anything before we enter the Rotwood”. Without turning to see if he was being followed, Yeth abruptly veered into an alleyway, apparently making for the storehouses. Nwm and Ygred pressed after him. Catching up to the scout, Nwm tried to draw the man into discussion.
“I would have you know; I will follow your every order and guard your life with mine, for you are our best hope of fulfilling the Lord Commander’s requests and thereby securing warriors for the cause of Naschres. You seem an experienced man, how long have you made journeys into the Rotwood. I myself came from its depths, and barely reached its border with my life.” Yeth snorted mirthlessly.
“You’ll follow my every order because if you don’t, you’ll die alone in the forest, and your corpse will join the host of the dead. As for my experience in the Rotwood, I’ve lived in it my entire life. There is no other place for a man such as myself.”
Taken aback, Nwm fell a few steps behind the scout. Ygred smirked at the other paladin’s obvious surprise at being addressed so tersely. Once they were several paces behind Yeth, Ygred whispered to Nwm.
“Look at his spirit, I’ve never seen anything like it.” Nodding, Nwm slipped into the spirit sight. The cloaked shape of the scout before him was suddenly sheathed in a nimbus of light and shadow. Glowing strands of gold woven amidst thick cords of inky blackness writhed over Yeth like a mass of snakes. Nwm didn’t know what to make of it. Good tainted with evil, or evil flavored with good? He reverted abruptly to normal vision at the sound of Yeth’s mirthless laugher.
“So you’ve seen my spirit? I’ve heard that some Knights can do that- the Lord Commander claims the power, but I doubt he has it.” Yeth gazed appraisingly at the startled Nwm. “So, what do you make of me, Paladin?” As Nwm struggled for words, Yeth turned his back on them once more.
“Never mind, I don’t really want to hear. There's nothing you can tell me I don’t already know myself.”
The rest of the walk to the warehouses was passed in silence. The warehouse manager apparently knew Yeth from prior experience. The two nodded to one another, Yeth handed the manager a slip of hide, and a page was dispatched to aquire the listed items. With the return of the page, Yeth set about inspecting the bundle of gear, paying no more attention to either Ygred and Nwm or the manager.
Needing no additional supplies of their own, Nwm and Ygred stood awkwardly behind Yeth, unsure of what to do. The man continued to ignore them, so after several minutes of silence, Ygred bent down and taped Yeth’s armored shoulder.
“Sir, if you have no further need of us, could you tell use where and when you expect us to be waiting to depart tomorrow?” Without raising his head, Yeth muttered.
“First light, forest side gate.”
The Paladins left, Ygred in the direction which lead to both the Temple of Hypatia and the soldier’s mess hall, and Nwm towards the elven trade encampment, Eromil’s most frequent haunt.
***
At dawn on the following day, the three made their way to the forest side gate, where they found an impatient and irate Yeth already waiting, a light pack strapped over his armor, and a crossbow hanging from his belt. Silently, Yeth motioned for them to follow, and slipped through the gate.
They reached the edge of the Rotwood in under and hour. Despite the bright morning sun, the Rotwood was blanketed in gloom, the thick canopy of pines let little light reach the forest floor. Yeth lead them into the forest, placing a bolt in his crossbow as the shadows engulfed them. Although still visibly wary, Eromil noticed that much of the scout’s apparent tenseness fell away once they were a little ways into the wood.
After some hours, Yeth signaled the party to a halt.
“We are nearing my house, and I will need to visit it before we can travel any further, there are certain items there I must retrieve. You may come with me if you wish, or you may wait here for my return.”
Ygred made to follow the scout, but Eromil shook his head.
“I don’t trust this Yeth. He could be leading us into a trap- what kind of man lives in a place such as this? We should remain here.” Nwm translated the elven for Ygred, who stopped, and responded.
“He could just as easily lead some horrid creature back to us while we wait blindly in this gloom for him. I’d rather keep and eye on Yeth and risk a trap then remain in the middle of this godforsaken wood, waiting for fell things to smell us out and find us.”
“Well, atleast you show some sense, Paladin.” Yeth was leaning against a tree, with an almost amused expression. “I’ll be leaving now, those of you who wish to keep an eye on me can come, and the elf can stay here if it pleases him.” The scout began to move off even as he spoke. Ygred and Nwm glanced at Eromil for a moment, and then set off after him. The elf cursed and knocked an arrow to his bow before following the Paladins.
Yeth cut a ridiculously winding path through the wood- as though he feared being followed, coming to a sudden stop at the foot of a small, vine covered bluff.
“Wait here.” The ranger whispered, before pushing back the vines to reveal the mouth of a small cave, which he disappeared into.
After a few moments, the man reappeared, an additional bundle slung across his back, form which the tips of a bundle of crossbow bolts protruded ominously.
“Well, you can tell your pointy eared friend it wasn’t a trap after all.” Yeth said with a smirk. “Come on, we’ve along way to go. Reports of the colony place it several days march form here.”
“You mean you’ve never actually been there?” Said a surprised Ygred.
“No one has.” Returned Yeth as he broke into a brisk jog. “The Lord Commander heard of the place two years ago, but the last expedition he sent out never came back.” Nwm’s face twisted with disgust.
“What motive can he possibly have for refusing to come to the aid of Naschres in favor of unfounded claims that have been stagnating for two years?” Yeth noted Nwm’s expression and nodded.
“I was wondering that myself. The Lord Commander is a corrupt man, though. You saw the way he doubled the guards on the keep after yesterday’s attack, yes? I suspect he has some personal reason for not wanting contact with Naschres, although I can’t think of what it might be.”
The party trudged deeper into the Rotwood. The mass of fallen leaves blanketing the forest floor soon gave way to shallow pools of stagnating water. The trees around them also began to thin, affording a glimpse of the evening sky now and again. Eyes focused on the setting sun and crescent moon now sharing the sky, Nwm’s heavily booted foot landed in a deep pool. Mud squelched around his ankles, and he sank almost knee deep in the mire before Ygred and Eromil could pull him out. Yeth bent to examine the ground.
“We are entering a marsh. I have passed this way once before- do not step anywhere I have not. The marshes of Rotwood are both treacherous and deadly.”
Yeth hefted his crossbow to his shoulder before gingerly easing his way into the marsh. For a moment, the moon’s light caught the weapon’s stalk, revealing a strange mark- curved at both ends like a figure eight, but neither connecting, and marked over its center with a trio of stars.
“What is that mark on-?” Ygred ventured to ask.
“Hush! Do not speak so loudly, better not at all. We are not alone in the marsh.” Yeth hissed over his shoulder.
Sure enough, as they made their cautious way through the bracken, faint splashes and the squelching of the bog could be heard on all sides. Once or twice, Eromil’s sharp eyes picked a vaguely humanoid shape out of the mist, but the things were gone so swiftly that he could never be sure he’d actually seen it.
Yeth stopped abruptly on a small spit of land, motioning for silence. The unmistakable sound of feet stomping their way through the watery ground filled their ears. Four shambling forms moving at an astonishing rate came charging through the mist before them. Faint lights burned in their eye sockets, and their ungainly gait was not that of a living creature.
“The Dead.” Breathed Yeth. In a fluid motion, he shouldered his crossbow and loosed a bolt at the foremost figure. The projectile slammed into the zombie’s chest, and the creature issued an inhuman howl as it fell into the water, clutching madly at the bolt asthough it burnt.
Standing at the edge of the small island, Nwm watched in horror as a second zombie leapt into the air, vaulting the deep pool separating it from the party. Eyes aflame, the creature hurtled forwards with an erie wail. Nwm caught the monster’s flying form on his shield, and rammed Exile into its throat, cutting the thing’s howl short. With a shudder, the creature yanked itself free of the blade, and toppled backwards a few steps, head hanging limply from its nearly severed neck. To Nwm’s right, Eromil found himself beset by the remaining two zombies, the combined attacks of which were slowly pushing the elf towards the murky water beyond the island.
As Ygred lunged, sword in hand, to face the zombies assailing Eromil, a burning pain lanced across his back. Nearly dropping his sword, the paladin spun about to find himself confronted by a dripping corpse clad in the remains of chain mail. Thrust through each of its palms were foot long spikes of iron- one of which was dripping with fresh blood. The abomination’s jaws speed unnaturally wide, and it lurched towards Ygred. This time, the knight was prepared, and he brought his sword up to block the thing’s augmented attack. Sword met spike with a shower of sparks, and the two struggled for a moment, neither able to overpower the other, neither willing to disengage- until a crossbow bolt tore into the zombie’s chest, sending it stumbling back into the marsh clawing at the wound.
After several more moments of frenzied fighting, the zombies were destroyed. Wearily, Eromil, Ygred, and Nwm set about binding their wounds. Yeth stood above them, surveying the misty swamp with a worried expression.
“We need to move. The sounds of battle will have drawn the attention of the other denizens of the swamp. If we make haste, we can be out of this marsh before midnight- and after that, its only a day longer to the reported location of the colony.”
Under Yeth’s urgings, the party trudged onward. Just as the moon began to sink into the horizon, they reached dry land. As the party prepared their camp for what little of the night remained, a high pitched wail echoed from the forest beyond.
“What was that?” Asked Ygred warily.
“The screams of dying deer.” Yeth responded grimly.
“Why would the dead be killing deer?” Nwm wondered allowed.
“They seek to starve us- and deer were a principle source of our food before the forests became unsafe.” Yeth wrapped his cloak tightly around him and spoke no more.
***
The rest of the night passed without incident, but was frequently punctured by the screams of deer. When dawn broke, Yeth was already breaking camp. After a meager breakfast, the four set out on the final leg of their search. The forest thickened around them as the hiked north, and the land became steeper.
At the top of one tree covered rise, Eromil paused and shouted-
“Look! Smoke on the horizon!” Sure enough, a thick black cloud could be made out hugging the treetops in a valley several miles off. Yeth cursed at the sight.
“I fear we may have come to late- but we shall see when we reach the source of the smoke. Perhaps it is nothing more then a forest fire.”
With growing trepidation, the party made towards the smoke enshrouded valley. An hour latter they reached the lip, and stood for a moment taking in the awful sight bellow them.
A great walled town lay burning in the valley. The wooden palisades were torn and scorched in many places, and that thatch roofs of the buildings belched clouds of smoke into the sky. Signs of battle were everywhere, arrows lodged in trees, broken weapons littering the ground, but not a single body was to be seen.
Mutely, they descended into the town, wandering aimlessly amongst the smoking ruins.
“The dead clearly attacked here, but where are the bodies of the defenders?” A bewildered Nwm asked. Yeth spat into a nearby blaze before he answered.
“The dead take them, back to whatever foul creature they call master. Its is their means of propagation. With each fort that falls, their ranks swell.”
As they spoke, Yeth had been leading the others towards the center of town. Suddenly, he stopped. Pointing across a scorched town square, he indicated a single unburned building.
“ If there are any survivors, that's where they’ll be.” Crossbow in hand, Yeth jogged towards the building.
Pushing past a partially unhinged door, the party was greeted with a strange sight. The common room they entered was in near perfect condition. The table was set with a complete meal, now swarming with flies and their maggots, but otherwise undisturbed. In sharp contrast, the woolen rug covering the floor was stained with blood, although still lying smoothly.
As Eromil and Nwm searched the bottom floor, Yeth and Ygred made for the upper story. After a few moments, Yeth shouted something indecipherable, drawing Nwm and Eromil from their respective searches and up the stairs.
Ygred was waiting for them at the top of the stairwell, and the three made their way to the end of a long hall, following the sound of Yeth’s now distinct voice.
“...It seems like there was some sort of scuffle in here, but I can’t tell what exactly happened.” The ranger was muttering as the others entered his room.
Yeth stood in the center of what was clearly a bed chamber. Blood covered the floor, and the shutters of a large east facing window in one wall were cracked and thrown open. Yeth bent to examine the floor, and the other three turned to regard the room.
A dressing screen of stretched hide obscured one corner, while a child’s bed filled the other. In the southern wall, a large closet stood with its door slightly ajar.
“It seems like someone lay here, and then...stood up? But with all this blood that would-” Yeth never finished his sentence. As Nwm, the last of the three to enter the room stepped towards him, the room burst into motion.
From behind the dressing screen, the animated corpse of a young woman, her hands disfigured into bloodied claws leapt screaming towards Eromil. As Nwm yanked Exile from its sheath, the blankets of the child’s bead exploded upwards, and the tattered form of a toddler, reddish lights gleaming in its empty eye sockets lunged towards his throat with un natural agility. Even as Yeth reached for his crossbow, the closet door was flung wide, and into the room stepped the grizzled shape of a young man.
The experienced ranger nearly dropped his weapon with horror as his eyes fell upon the obscene symbols carved into the undead flesh of the man. As his companions struggled with the lesser dead around them, the ranger’s shaking hands leveled the crossbow at the fiend before him. Even as the holy bolt whistled from the weapon, the patterns on the corpse began to glow an eerie purple. Yeth felt the energy drain from his limbs. He toppled to the ground, unsure of whether his bolt had finished the monster off.
While Ygred and Eromil fought furiously to prevent the adult zombie from reaching Yeth’s still form, Nwm struggled with the undead child. The thing was strong, its arms latching around his neck and its unnaturally pointed teeth digging deep into his shoulder. Dropping his sword in pain, Nwm slapped his hand across the child’s face.
At once, time seemed to slow, and the paladin felt a strange force rush through his arm into the zombie. The corpse screamed, and dropped from Nwm, face smoldering with silver fire. Nwm dispatched of the writhing child-thing with a vicious kick, strangely exhilarated and dazed. Retrieving Exile, Nwm spun about just in time to see the Eromil and Ygred moving to confront the last standing zombie.
Bands of black energy crackled along the markings on the zombie’s arms as it reached out towards Nwm. At once, the Paladin’s joints seemed to seize up with soreness and his legs trembled under the weight of his body. The paladin toppled to the ground, caught in the same perversion of slumber that had seized Yeth.
***
When Nwm awakened, he found himself propped against a cold stone wall. For a moment, he though himself back at New Fort, but as his vision cleared and the sent of smoke reached his nostrils, he remembered. Looking around him, Nwm realized he was sitting against the side of a well. Next to him lay the still form of Yeth, apparently still asleep. As he stood, Nwm noticed a rope leading down into the well, with Ygred holding the other end.
“Ah, your awake!” The human Knight exclaimed. “I had a devil of time convincing Eromil of what I wanted, but his command of our tongue is improving, as is mine of the Elven language...”
“And what exactly did you want?” A puzzled Nwm queried.
“Look down the well.” The other paladin smirked.
Sure enough, on the other end of the rope was Eromil, rappelling down the side of the well, torch clenched between his teeth. Unsure of whether or not to laugh or reprimand the two, Nwm called down to Eromil.
“What are you doing?” Eromil paused, and shouted back up.
“Ygred kept going on about the state of the water, said he wanted me to bring back a flask of it to examine... atleast that's what I think he wanted. Although I’m not sure why that necessitate me going down here...could have just used a bucket.” Shaking his head, Nwm turned to Ygred.
“What is this about.” The other paladin’s face was deathly serious as he replied.
“Nwm, you remember, before we set out from Naschres? The water in our wells turned black and congealed. If the same thing has happened here....”
“Then it might be a sign of the dead preparing to attack.”
“Right. And I needed Eromil to go down, because if it has congealed, the rope will not be able to hold the weight of a bucket full of the stuff, although I’m not sure he knows that bit.”
Nwm laughed, and was about to respond, when Eromil shouted in pain. The rope went taught. Nwm grabbed the loose end, bracing himself against the sudden pressure on the line. Voice cracking with pain, Eromil screamed upwards.
“Something is in the water! Its got my leg! Pull me up- Aghhh!” Despite the efforts of the paladins, the rope slowly began to slide into the well. After an agonizingly long minute, the Knights had lost several feet of ground, and Eromil had been reduced to sobbing in pain.
With a curse, Nwm secured his end of the rope around a sapling, hoping the small tree would hold long enough. Dropping his shield to the ground, Nwm began to remove his armor
“What are you doing?!” Screamed Ygred.
“We can’t pull him up, so I’ll have to try to kill whatever down there!” Nwm shouted back, his armor coming loose. Grabbing Exile from the ground, the Paladin charged towards the well, and leapt over the edge.
The water at the well’s bottom was of the consistency of mud. Scrabbling against with the rough stones along the side, Nwm was able to find purchase of his free hand and two feet. In the second it took him to secure his footing, his eyes had already began to scan the water for signs of Eromil’s attacker. Following the elf’s leg into the murk, Nwm made out a faint- glow?
He squinted and then balked in horror at the luminescent hand which was clutching Eromil. Summoning the remnants of his strength, Nwm focused his righteous conviction into Exile, and plunged the weapon into the water by Eromil’s trembling form.
With a wail, whatever the arm belonged to let go of the elf. Hearing the cry, Ygred hauled viciously on the rope, and Eromil was pulled to safety. The rope was lowered back to Nwm in a matter of seconds, and the waterlogged Paladin found himself spitting muck from between his teeth a few moments later.
Exhausted, the three slumped against the well, panting for breath.
“What was that thing?” A grimacing Eromil demanded. “It felt like its claws were inside of me, but there's no blood, not even a scratch.”
“I don’t know” ventured Nwm, “But when I stabbed it, I didn’t feel any resistance, more of a tingling sensation in the sword arm actually...” About to speculate further, Nwm stopped suddenly.
“Listen!” From the forest beyond issued a feral, strangled scream.
haha... yes, it from Gundam Seed if anyone watches. I just made this account to perhaps give the perspective of my character, clear up some of my actions, etc, for eventually i will unleash the power of my back story to the other players, and it might make more sense if I were to explain a couple things from my perspective. Not much needs to be noted in this section, but while Nwm was unconsious during the battle at the end I slew at good number of undead by lighting a flask full of whiskey and throwing it into the approaching horde, and our DM is awesome for letting me do that 
