Zion: Light of the New Moon, Ch 2.3 Doen
Zion - Light of the New Moon Chapter 2.3
Doen The Unguarded
The party will engage the bandits and the Corpses in combat. During the chaos, Jasper and Dillan are going to try to rescue the Lordling.
"Tah'aveen, Great Mother, Moon Goddess, Brightest Light of the Night's Sky... bestow upon us, your children, the strength to do what we cannot without you. Bless us in our task that we undertake in your Name. Grant us the courage to see it through." it was a simple prayer, one the youngest acolytes learn as a way to start each and every day. To be honest, there wasn't anything I could think of as more befitting. Narissa and Taggart also knew the prayer, and joined me in it; having their voices added to my own made it feel somehow more... complete.
Patiently letting our prayer come to an end, Rust, who hadn't joined in, raised his own voice to the heavens. I'd never felt an incantation of the Full Moon before but I was able to identify it at once. It's impossible to explain the difference to someone who hasn't felt the loving sense of comfort granted by the grace of the Pregnant Moon side-by-side with the cold, indomitable promise of impregnability bestowed by the Full Moon. To be honest, the Banniharian prayer from Lord Rust felt a little intimidating. There wasn't really any time to consider it though, as we climbed the rise and gazed down into the besieged bandit camp.
A collection of tents and wagons marked the camp. There were several small campfires here and there and the entire thing was surrounded by what looked like hastily erected wooden fence. To be honest, it was pretty much a collection of sharpened sticks lashed together more than it was an actual wall. It was all arranged in an oval shape between two hills-- we stood upon one, and a too-large stream of animated corpses were descending the other.
"Tah'aveen preserve us." Narissa whispered.
"She will." I vowed, surprised by the determination in my own voice. I wished I was so good at convincing myself.
"Slowly..." Jasper suggested, "We don't want to attract attention until we have to."
"You keep them busy." Dillan suggested, moving further along the ridge, "I'm going to see if I can sneak into the camp and locate our wayward Lordling."
Jasper nodded at that, "Not a bad idea... but two sets of eyes are better than one." he offered.
"So long as you call attention to yourself and not me if you're spotted." the ferret countered.
"Deal." the rat agreed and, with that, they both disappeared into the evening's darkness.
"We're not going to have the element of surprise for long." Rust noted, "Undead don't 'see' like we do... they can sense the living."
Narissa smiled, "I know... and I have a plan." and, with that, she began to move her dexterous paws in quick, precise arcane motions. Whispering words of summoning to herself, the tigress traced a small symbol in the air. A tiny, flickering light appeared in her palm and, once she blew on it softly, the little ball of foxfire grew in illumination... and rapidly shot off across the ground toward the opposite hillside, dancing and weaving in seemingly chaotic directions as it did so. True to Narissa's promise, a small group of the Corpses turned and began shambling off after it. Just when I started to find myself willing to smile, everything changed-- one of the Corpses had come past the camp and was starting toward us.
I was never trained to understand undead. I'd never encountered them before and I had no idea what to expect. What I did find was nothing like what I thought I would, but looking back at it now I suppose it makes sense. At that point in my life I would say I knew almost everything there was to know about the living form. I was as familiar with the body as a librarian would be familiar with the composition of a bound tome. There are certain things you come to expect when you're near someone... you can hear their breath... the small, barely audible vibrations given off by the simple act of living... when they're close enough you can feel the soft, almost palpable aura of warmth that they give off... that which embraces all living beings.
What I felt from the Corpse, even at range, felt fundamentally WRONG. The vibrant buzzing of a living body just wasn't there. Although there was a breath, the raspy, wheezing sound seemed almost more like a mockery of a reflex and hardy the continued, pure sound of vitality infusing its lungs. The smell was horrific... one I would scarcely wish to remember, let alone describe. Yet, out of all these things, the one singular aspect that unsettled me the most was its aura... a soul-chilling air of cold. Having known the most intimate embrace of a living being's body, the numbing grip of death frost was like an antithesis of my entire being. I was obviously not the only one to feel that way.
"Zeke!" Narissa cried. Her call caught my attention and I drew my eyes from the shambling crime-against-creation and glanced quickly at the fleeing form of our vulpine guide.
"Damn flighty fox." Rust snorted. Despite his bravado, I realized that the Corpse unsettled him as much as the rest of us. At that moment I couldn't decide whether I was pleased by that or all the more terrified. I didn't have any more time to consider it though, as the Corpse lumbered in, shouting out a cry that sounded more like a death groan than any sound that could escape something living. It came at me and I held my staff up in defense, but it lurched suddenly as a knife sprouted from the side of its head.
"Zach!" Narissa called informally (not that I minded... time IS of the essence at a moment like that, after all), "Get back!" I didn't need any more encouragement, and quickly backed away from the Corpse as it regained its balance. I hazarded a glance toward the bandit camp to see that combat was already joined. Despite the Corpse attack, several bandits were coming up the hill toward us. I remember Rust grumbling under his breath about that. One of the bandits didn't very far though as an emaciated leopard rose up from behind a boulder and jumped onto his shoulders, ramming its skeletal claws through the bandit's back with enough force to push them out his chest.
"Ghoul!" Narissa shouted, apparently having seen the same thing I did.
That wasn't the end of the attacks against the bandits-- far from it. Several of the Corpses coming up our hill chose to target the bandits instead. It was a good thing for us, I suppose, but watching all the flickering candles of life get snuffed out by the frozen aura of death made me sick to my stomach. From my position I didn't have enough time to see where Dillan and Jasper were, but I hoped they were alright. Before I knew it I had bigger problems; the Corpse had recovered and it lunged at me. I forced it back with my staff. It grabbed the divine shield with both decomposing hands. Although the holy relic began to burn its tainted flesh immediately, the Corpse didn't even seem to notice.
To my right, Taggart was wielding a large cleaver he'd 'appropriated' from Mr Flynn. As I wrestled with the Corpse with my staff, the dog swung. The strike was true and it lopped off one of the Corpse's hands at the wrist. I will never forget the impassive demeanor of indifference on the undead's face as it continued to try and get at me without even acknowledging the loss of its hand; any living human I knew would have been screaming... but the Corpse just stared at me intently, focused completely and wholly on me. It turned out for the best, I suppose, because that meant it wasn't paying attention to Lord Rust.
The echidna casually walked up beside it and slammed his iron fist right down onto the Corpse's head. The pressure against my staff let up for a moment and I quickly pushed it off balance and onto its back. While I stood there dumbfounded that the thing tried to get back up, Lord Rust was much more practical; he hit the body several more times until each of its limbs were knocked clean off, pulvarized by the force of his blows.
"th-thanks..." I managed to stutter.
"Thank me when we survive." the echidna countered, and waded right back into combat.
I continued praying, finding that my words to Tah'aveen helped to keep me focused on the task at hand rather than the unnatural wrongness that surrounded me as more and more of the Corpses drew closer. I had no idea at the time why they chose to come at us rather than the bandit camp, but later learned from those more familiar with undead that our prayers and the Divine Shield worked like a beacon to get their attention. It's funny, in a dark way to think that our very salvation was also our greatest liability in bypassing their threat.
As several Corpses crested the ridge one came right at Narissa. She quickly raised her lute and swung it from right-to-left at head height. The resounding crack almost made me think she'd broken her instrument, until I noticed the undead creature's head dangling at an odd angle. It barely slowed though, and sprang at her. The delay the blow had caused in it gave Narissa just long enough to complete her spell. What I originally thought was her opening her muzzle to scream instead resulted in a roaring blast of flame emerging from her lips, frying the Corpse to ash.
Further down our slope, between us and the camp, the bandits that had come our direction were engaged in combat. In the short break between Lord Rust saving me from the Corpse and the next wave of undead, I watched as the Ghoul took another bandit's life. If the undead weren't enough, however, several of the bandits managed to skirt the Corpses and came at us from the side. It was obvious that they knew why we were here, and they obviously had no plans on surrendering Lord Parayas' son. I was able to catch sight of Jasper, but only for a moment as he stood in the open, paws raised toward the heavens. Campfires disappeared from view one by one, almost as if a divine shadow were cast across the tents, and the rat faded into the inky blackness.
"Heads up!" Rust shouted at me. A bandit running at him was turned aside as the echidna spun around, presenting the brigand with a wall of spines. Lord Rust's warning wasn't lost to me, however, and I saw that a ragged-looking mongrel was facing me down, spear in his paws.
"Gimme the staff and I'll only stab you a few times." the dog offered. I was about to open my muzzle to try and reason with him, but he didn't bother waiting for an answer. Somehow by the Goddess' grace I managed to avoid the attack. I almost slipped, and he stepped forward to follow up his attack with another, but Narissa came at him from the side, stabbing out with the end of her lute. Her flip-blade came out with a noticeable *schink*, forcing the dog's attention away from me.
"So... what have we here?" he faced her, "Pretty little thing like you..." he licked his muzzle.
If he was going to attack me while I was trying to talk, that obviously told me what kind of fight it was, so I stepped forward, swinging my staff. I saw stars when the butt of his spear caught me between the eyes, and it was all I could do to stay standing.
"Easy there, boy..." the dog said aside to me, "I'll finish with you later." I felt blood dripping down from my forehead-- I don't remember if I felt more ashamed, embarrassed, angry, or helpless at that moment.
"Hold him off." Rust shouted back to us, "I'll be over as soon as I can!" but he was forced further from us by the bandit, who continued trying to circle away from the echidna's spines as he looked for a better angle of attack. Rust managed to get free of his assailant when Taggart hucked the cleaver at the circling foe. The human brigand took the cleaver in the back. Letting out a hoarse cry, the bandit fell to the ground, helplessly grasping at the blade lodged into his vertebrae. I tried to shut my ears at the sound of metal working against bone working against metal as the human rolled this way and that, helpless to remove the blade as blood continued to spray from it. He continued crying out for some time... it wasn't a fast death and Rust didn't have time to grant him one.
The echidna rushed to the spear man, who had just overpowered Narissa and tossed her to the ground. He raised his weapon up, a sadistic grin on his muzzle, but his face went immediately blank when Lord Rust pulled the weapon right from his grasp. Readjusting his grip on the pole arm, the echidna drove it straight down through the brigand's shoulder. The spear tip lodged itself into the earth, impaling the dog from neck to chest to hip to foot. The brigand howled... and howled, and convulsed, working without effect against the long shaft of wood driven through his body. His cries stopped after Rust followed up the attack with a powerful blow to the dog's skull... but the dead bandit's arms and legs continued convulsing. I had to look away.
My eyes focused on Jasper, who was making his way quickly up the hill, followed by a young lion about my age... maybe a few years younger. Despite the obvious disarray of the Lordling's clothing he looked to be in relatively good health, and he even held what appeared to be a scavenged bandit blade... which ended up coming in handy. Just as the two passed the spot where a bandit fell after being attacked by the ghoul, the bandit rose up amidst crackling sparks of unnatural energy.
Jasper tried to jump away but was too slow, and the newly risen brigand slashed out with its sword. The undead caught the rat in the side, and, though most of the fatal blow was absorbed the the rat's leathers, it still ended up drawing a spray of blood. Jasper fell back immediately as the undead brigand prepared another attack but, in a blur of gold and yellow, the Lordling had slid by, disarmed the newly risen foe, and spun around behind it. I watched as he dug the sword into the undead's back and, placing his feet shoulder width apart, pulled up. With an amazing display of strength, the lion cut the body from gut to head... and it finally stopped moving.
"Zack!" Rust shouted, drawing my attention to the newest line of corpses making their way up toward us. One jumped the last few feet, and I threw my staff between it and me... but a streaking blast of energy crackled from my right and collided with the Corpse, throwing it far to my left. It landed in a crumpled heap, unmoving. I looked to the originating point of the bolt, and Narissa just smiled and winked. It's amazing how much she can express with the movement of a single eye.
Further beyond Narissa, Rust let out a cry of pain. Looking that way, I saw a brigand pull his spear back, blood leaking from its tip. Lord Rust was holding his side where blood poured from a new wound. Narissa, who also saw the attack ran to the echidna's aid; I was in quick pursuit.
Narissa flung her paw out before her, sending a knife at the brigand. He backpedaled, the blade missing him by a hair's breadth. I followed in with my staff, thrusting it out into his sternum. Though it didn't really have much power behind it as an attack, it WAS effective in forcing the bandit back and giving Rust a little extra room. The echidna appeared to need it too-- there was a LOT of blood coming out of that wound.
Taggart suddenly came at the bandit from the side, having obtained the sword dropped by the first fallen bandit. The dog swung it with both paws in an overhanded chop, shouting out as he attacked. In retrospect, shouting a battle cry was probably not the smartest thing. In two simple moves the bandit had blocked the attack and disarmed him. Taggart was suddenly on the defensive as the spear man thrust, but, thankfully, Taggart was quick on his feet and managed to evade. If nothing else, the dog was able to distract the brigand, allowing Rust a chance to recover. The spear man neither saw nor survived the echidna's answer for the spear thrust. And, with that, we had a moment's respite.
"Young Master Haldyn Rakken, these are the rest of your saviors." Jasper announced from the side as he, the lion, and Dillan crested the rise. He introduced us quickly before adding, "Everyone... this is Haldyn Rakken, the lordling we were sent to find."
"While I appreciate the gentility of introductions," the lion said in a surprisingly calm voice, language formal enough that he could have been a priest, "Perhaps we can save it for later?"
Rust chuckled, "I like him already."
Although I had major reservations about leaving the bandits to the assault of the undead, Narissa did remind me pragmatically that they chose their own fate and, if we bothered saving them, Lord Parayas certainly wouldn't spare their lives. In the end, risking our lives wouldn't have made a difference. Regretting it nonetheless, I relented and we struck out for Glass Hall. Zeke met us a short distance from the rise and didn't say a word. Aside from Rust scowling and mumbling something under his breath involving the word 'coward', everyone else was considerate enough to say nothing.
Considering my own fear I felt there's no way I could have condemned the fox... especially because he didn't have the faith in Tah'aveen I did-- if I didn't know She was there protecting me I could have just as easily have been right beside him running away as fast as I could. I don't think it needs to be said, but we made it back to Glass Hall in half the time it took us to travel to the camp.
* * * * * *
The Doenian Group has completed Chapter 2.
Encountering some gritty combat with bandits and Corpses (at the same time), the Doenians got their first taste of real Wild Lands combat... what a way to test their teeth. The event has left them more than a little winded.
Jasper and Rust both suffered from 1 Serious Wound, but this was easily cared for by other members of the party; they are both fully healed, costing each 1 Willpower.
Taggart, did suffer from one point of Major Fatigue, which was removed, but Jasper suffered from 2 before the end of the Story Arc; only 1 is removed, leaving him still exhausted. Since the party was able to stay at a Wayside, all temporary fatigue is also removed from everyone (including those who were suffering from Major Fatigue).
Jasper may spend 1 of his Willpower points to remove his last Major Fatigue if he wishes.
Lord Parayas gifts the party his family sword. Every contributing reader may vote on who receives the treasured, mystical, Rakken Sword (+2 Attack, +1 Defense). Votes must be made by Thursday, July 7th.
Please watch for upcoming contribution opportunities as Chapter 3 will soon begin. Congratulations to the Doenian party for surviving Chapter 2!