The Doomed Bastards: Reckoning (story complete)
- Thread starter Lazybones
- Start date
![:]](http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devious.png "Devious :]")
A direct link to the Isle part of the story is in my sig as well.Richard Rawen
First Post
Did you guys see that!?
He has over Twenty more updates in which these, well these poor doomed bastards (or at least One of them) actually survive!
Who'da thunk it?
Lazybones said:
He has over Twenty more updates in which these, well these poor doomed bastards (or at least One of them) actually survive!
Who'da thunk it?
Lazybones
Adventurer
Nah, it's just that after the TPK I switch over to the point of view of the priests of Orcus. Lots of them in the dungeon to go through.Richard Rawen said:
* * * * *
Chapter 24
ON THE OFFENSIVE
The ghouls—seven of them, their mottled hides covered with crusted blood—seemed equally surprised to see enemies here. They carried burdens, great hunks of raw meat, and one carried a leg that had obviously formerly belonged to the ogres they’d fought the day before. But the undead monsters were happy to throw down their haul in favor of fresher fare, and as soon as they spotted the Doomed Bastards, they charged down the hall in a chaotic rush.
“Keep them off me,” Varo said calmly, as he lifted his holy symbol. Dar and Tiros took up positions stood side-by-side in front of him him, the marshal summoning Valor.
“Wait for the rush, and strike as one,” Tiros said.
“I have done this before, marshal,” Dar said idly, spinning his sword around his wrist before taking up a ready pose.
The ghouls ran forward, slavering, a sight designed to cast fear into the heart of the most stalwart warrior. But Dar and Tiros, already blooded to the horrors of Rappan Athuk, held their ground. The ghouls closed... thirty feet, twenty feet, ten. The ones in the front tensed to leap...
The dark radiance erupted from Varo’s divine symbol, as the cleric unleashed the power of his patron. That unholy glow overwhelmed the power of the entity that had created these wretched creatures, at least temporarily, and the first four ghouls cowered, arresting their charge and falling back before that aura.
“Yeah, that’s right, you bastards!” Dar exclaimed. “Now you’re Dagos’s bitch!”
“More coming!” Tiros warned, as the last three ghouls pressed past their fellows and surged forward to press the attack. Tiros met the first with a thrust from Valor that pierced its chest. Blue energy from the sword surged into the undead monster’s corrupt body, and it collapsed backward, shrieking. Dar hit his as well, but while he tore a deep gouge across its torso, the ghoul continued its attack, digging its claws into the fighter’s arm. Dar grimaced, but was able to fight off the cold paralysis of the ghoul’s touch.
The last ghoul leapt over its fallen companion and came at Tiros. Before the marshal could recover, it sliced its claws out at his face. Tiros dodged back, but still took a pair of cuts just over his left eye. As blood sprayed from the wound, he stiffened, paralyzed.
“Varo!” Dar yelled, trying to keep the ghoul he was facing at bay, while he shifted toward the one that had taken Tiros.
The cleric’s answer came in the form of another wave of energy that filled the corridor. Once more the ghouls succumbed to the cleric’s power, staggering back as they were rebuked. Dar was quick to take advantage, cutting down the one he’d already injured, then spinning to slice off the leg of the one that had threatened Tiros. The other ghouls, still cowering, did nothing as the fighter worked a bloody swath through their ranks. Varo tended to Tiros, but the marshal was fine, recovering from the effects of the ghoul paralysis by the time that Dar had cut down the last of the creatures.
“Well, that was fun,” Dar said, cleaning off his sword.
“Those damned things seem to be everywhere,” Tiros said. He turned to Varo, who was examining one of the creatures. “I do not favor your beliefs, cleric, but it is a simple truth that without your power, these undead would have slain us twice over, now.”
“Where the hell are they coming from?” Dar asked.
“I suspect that they have a lair somewhere on this level,” Varo said. “Look at this group. They have just fed. They crave the flesh of intelligent beings, and while they prefer the living, they will feast upon just about anything.”
“Intelligent? Those ogres?” Dar asked. “Couldn’t have been much of a meal.”
“So you think that they were returning to their lair,” Tiros said to Varo, ignoring the fighter.
“It is most likely.”
“Why wouldn’t they have eaten the barbarian, or the ogres? Before now, that is.”
“Ghouls are ferocious and implacable, but they are still among the lesser undead. If there are priests of Orcus still here in Rappan Athuk, they are probably under their command.”
“So we find the lair, maybe we find the priests?” Dar asked. Varo nodded.
“Well, obviously none of the rooms we’ve found thus far would really serve,” Tiros said. “Maybe the black door?”
“I don’t think so,” Varo said. “And it’s way on the other side of the level. Why would the ghouls take such a long route around?”
“Well, let’s look around here, and see if we see anything,” Tiros suggested.
The three men spread out, looking for any clues. It was Dar who found the secret door, located near the end of the dead-end corridor they’d just passed. The hidden portal wasn’t that well hidden, with flecks of blood crusted on the edges of the stone. Once the fighter identified it, it was a fairly easy matter to pull it open, revealing a rough-hewn passage beyond. They knew almost at once that they’d found what they were looking for; as soon as the door cracked open an overpowering stench rushed out over them, like a concentrated distillation of the odor that hung about the ghouls.
“Gods, that’s foul,” Dar said. “The wizard would have liked this, I’m sure.”
Nothing stirred in their torchlight, but the passage quickly twisted out of sight ahead. “Wait a moment,” Tiros said. “Are you certain this is a good idea? We don’t know how many of them there may be in there.”
Varo nodded. “It is a risk, but at least this way we fight at a time and place of our own choosing. If we can keep them at bay long enough, I should be able to rebuke the creatures.”
“How many more times can you call upon that power?” Tiros asked.
“Dagos is with me,” Varo said. “I can use his power six more times today. And I still have my summoning spell; I can use it to conjure creatures that will hopefully give us a little more time.”
Tiros looked at Dar. The mercenary said, “I’m tired of running around like a kicked dog, waiting for whatever new monster is getting ready to jump out and give us a beating. The bastards may kill us, but damn it all if I’m not going to take a bunch of them out with me.”
“All right,” Tiros said. “Let’s do this.”
The three of them moved silently into the corridor, the secret door closing behind them. As it shut the foul air closed in around them, covering them like a second skin. The corridor was ragged and uneven, but they could see that there was a door up ahead. Even from where they were standing, they could see that the door fit awkwardly in its frame, with large gaps around its edges.
Dar gestured for the others to shield their torches, and they approached slowly and cautiously. They could hear noises coming from beyond the door, nasty chittering accompanied by the crunch of breaking bones.
Silent, careful not to so much as kick a stray rock, the three men crept into position. Varo lifted his divine symbol and called upon his patron.
Almost at once, the timbre of the noise coming from beyond the door changed, and they could hear the sounds drawing nearer.
“They’re coming!” Dar hissed.
Rabelais
First Post
I really like Tiros, but I'm wondering if the Marshal class is a bit underpowered.
One thing I like about your style is that it flows well on the screen. Some of the other (equally anticipated) SH writers bust out the expensive thesaurus for the high dollar adjectives
Intelligently written doesn't have to mean difficult to read. I just wanted to know that I apprecate that about your style LB.
One thing I like about your style is that it flows well on the screen. Some of the other (equally anticipated) SH writers bust out the expensive thesaurus for the high dollar adjectives
Intelligently written doesn't have to mean difficult to read.
I just wanted to know that I apprecate that about your style LB.
Lazybones
Adventurer
I'm having a lot of fun writing Dar.Fimmtiu said:
Well, keep in mind that not everything is represented in the story. For example, the marshal's greater aura is soaking up 1 point of damage from virtually every non-surprise attack against him and his companions. That adds up, over time.Rabelais said:
Thanks! I have spent a very long time refining my writing style, so I'm glad it's coming across well.One thing I like about your style is that it flows well on the screen. Some of the other (equally anticipated) SH writers bust out the expensive thesaurus for the high dollar adjectives
Intelligently written doesn't have to mean difficult to read.
* * * * *
Chapter 25
THE LOST LEGION
The door burst open. Beyond lay a large room, but they could only see part of it due to the angle of the door. But their vantage was enough to see a horde of ghouls, their leathery hides foul with dirt and old blood, clambering over each other to be the first to get their hands on the living flesh that they could smell from the corruption of their dank lair.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, there was a stronger, sickening stench that came with the rush, suggesting that at least some of the creatures were ghasts.
Dar lifted his sword, but Tiros held him back. Even as the two men waited, Varo finished his incantation, and a pair of oblong insects, each almost six feet long, materialized in the tight confines of the corridor in front of them. They were beetles, their gray carapaces marked with spots of white that seemed to glow uncannily bright in the light of their torches.
The beetles immediately attacked. The first seized the first charging ghoul, seizing its left leg at the knee with its mandibles. With a crushing squeeze, the beetle took off the creature’s leg. The ghoul fell forward onto it, trying to claw past its armored carapace, but for the moment, it was unsuccessful.
The second beetle lifted its body and fired a spray of acidic droplets into the gathered mass of undead. The stuff started burning the flesh of the undead creatures that it touched, but the majority were still beyond the door’s threshold, and were not affected.
“Damn it, I could really use a bow right about now,” Dar said.
“Just watch for any that get past the bugs!” Tiros returned.
The ghouls surged forward again, leaping at the beetles. One tried to bypass them entirely, jumping between them, snarling at the humans behind. But the distance was too great, and the monster stumbled on a beetle as it landed, pitching it forward to fall at Dar’s feet.
“Happy birthday to me,” the fighter said, stabbing the monster in the back. But not only did his thrust not kill it, but the ghast surged forward, seizing Dar’s ankle in its jaws. Dar yelled as it bit through his boot. He pulled free before the creature could do more than superficial damage, but to his horror Dar felt the familiar icy cold chill spread upward through his body from the abused limb, and his muscles tightened, freezing him in place.
The ghast snarled and seized onto the fighter with its claws, pulling itself up. It opened its jaws wide, eager to tear open its helpless foe’s throat. But before it could finish him, Tiros laid into the creature with Valor. The ghast shrieked and turned on the marshal, but before it could attack again, Varo lifted his sigil and unleashed a wave of crackling violet energy through the hall.
The ghast froze, and the two closest ghouls did as well. But more were coming; one of the beetles was already down, with a ghoul ripping its head off with a noisy sound of crunching hide, and the second was oozing pale liquid from a number of ugly wounds.
Tiros knew that he had to buy Varo some more time. Ignoring the cowering ghast, which was temporarily reduced as a threat, he stepped in front of Dar and raised Valor in a high defensive stance. He did not have to wait long, as a pair of ghouls surged forward around the still-struggling beetle and came at him. He stabbed the first in the throat, seriously damaging it, but not enough to stop it. He paid for that a moment later as both creatures laid into him. The one he’d hurt drew its claws along his arms, opening long but shallow gashes in the skin, while the second lowered its head and tried to take him down, biting at his side just above the hip. He felt the dark power of the ghouls’ touch surging through him, but with duty and desperation fortifying him, he was able to resist their paralysis.
Letting out an uncharacteristic shout, he thrust Valor up with both hands through the injured ghoul’s body. The undead monster was knocked back as the sword transfixed it, and it fell to the ground, destroyed.
Once again, the cleric’s power surged, and once again ghouls and ghasts were caught within the unholy web of energy. The second ghoul that Tiros was fighting mewled and fell back, while two ghasts that had been poised to leap upon the hard-pressed fighter likewise retreated. The number of rebuked creatures choking the hallway now worked to their advantage, as it made it increasingly difficult for the others to get to them. But thus far, there seemed to be an unending supply of them, and more still crowded in the doorway to the chamber.
The beetles were gone, torn to pieces and dissolving into nothing as their bodies returned to whence they came.
Another ghoul, its face scarred with acid burns, came at Tiros. He met its charge, avoiding a sweeping claw, but then another came at him from the left, the sickening stench declaring it a ghast. It moved with incredible quickness, and it briefly snared the old marshal’s off-arm in its slavering jaws. Tiros screamed and tore free, and once again barely resisted succumbing to its paralysis. A third creature tried to get past him, to get at Dar or Varo, but Tiros blocked it with his body, taking yet another hit in the process. The aged warrior’s limbs were now covered in streaks of scarlet, and the strokes of his sword were becoming wild as blood loss began to take its effect upon him.
Dar’s angry shout announced the fighter’s return to the fray. He ran a ghoul through, driving it before him to the ground. His follow-up sliced through the ghast’s body, opening a wound that would have disemboweled a normal man. Tiros took advantage, taking off its left arm at the elbow with a wild swing from Valor.
But somehow, it fought on, driven to a frenzy by the press of battle. The other creatures were crawling over the bodies of their cowed peers, knocking them down in their haste to rend warm flesh.
Varo rebuked them a third time, but it was clear that the cleric’s strength was beginning to fade. This time, the ghasts snarled and resisted the surge of negative energy, although several of the remaining ghouls succumbed. There were only a few left that were still attacking, including a pair of ghasts that were engaged in close quarters with Dar and Tiros.
The ghast that Tiros had “disarmed” shrieked and leapt for the marshal’s throat. He tried to get away from it, but it still managed to seize his shoulder, biting down with enough fury to penetrate the shoulder plate of his armor. Driven back by the violence of the attack, the old general finally succumbed to the icy chill of paralysis, and he fell to the ground, the ghast on top of him.
The other ghast came at Dar with an all-out attack. Its claws dug into the fighter’s torso, and even as the hapless warrior’s body began to tighten, it caught his wrist in its jaws, biting down hard. Dar, paralyzed, couldn’t even scream as his sword was wrenched from his grip, and he too fell hard.
The ghasts had their victims under their control, but for all their bloodlust, they had an even greater hatred for the one that had rebuked their kin. Both creatures, their jaws trailing gobs of bright red, looked up, and fixed their hateful eyes on Varo, now standing alone in the corridor.
Richard Rawen
First Post
Lazybones said:
I have this image... it's of Count Rugen from the Princess Bride just after his two footmen have been handily dispatched by Inigo. He speaks his all too familiar line of challenge...
Well the response from Rugen is what I'd imagine Varo has at the very least contemplated...
at the least I expect to hear an "eep". heh heh
Great job LB, thanks for the post! So, did you ever decide on the MTWTF vs MWF schedule?
Looking forward regardless!
Similar Threads
