EDIT: Derp, that was an unfinished first draft. Gimme a few.
Blood spatters the wall, briefly glittering like rubies before mixing with the ubiquitous dust of the mine. Standing over the two dead men, a plan forms in your mind. You will raise two of the captured souls and devour the last, giving you a pair of spirits and staving off hunger for another day or two.
Quickly drawing a circle of arcane runes in blood on the tunnel floor, you channel energies beyond mortal description into the captured souls of the miners, allowing them some presence in the physical world and binding them to your will. You order them to strike fear into the hearts of the miners before releasing them.
(+2 Ghosts)
Ghost - Summoned by magic or created spontaneously by particularly restless souls, ghosts are not rare in the world and often haunt the place of their rebirth, unwilling or unable to leave. They are generally unable to cause direct physical harm to humans, but rely on their ability to cause terror and confusion. More powerful ghosts are capable of interacting with the physical world to some extent, often throwing objects around, opening and closing doors, rotating chairs and other furniture, and generally causing chaos.
Ghosts can be transformed into the more powerful spectres by beings with an adequate control of magic or by spending an extended period of time in an area associated with violent death.
Creation: 1 Soul, 1 Mind
Upkeep: -2 Mind
Becoming the essence of night, you slither through the darkness and up towards the area where the main body of miners are working. The cracks and pings of steel against stone echo through the underground passages and you feel the unearthly presence of your newly reborn ghosts ahead of you. As you move, you extinguish the wall-mounted torches with flicks of your mind.
The remaining seventeen miners are unnerved by the recent events, and the men with less faith or mental fortitude are talking of ending the shift early. However, the foreman will have none of it and orders them all to stop talking about "curses" and "hauntings".
You find this greatly amusing, as the reality is oh so much worse. To prove the point, you make it clear to the ghosts that they are to start making trouble and slip back down the main tunnel to the two bodies.
Drawing a different set of bloody runes, you snap your fingers (unnecessary, but fun) and possess the mangled corpse of Sagard.
Unused to the meat-puppet, you stumble several times before getting the hang of walking and head back up the passage.
Doing the rounds, Artos pondered the recent events. He was the foreman, and he would not allow these halfwit peasant's superstitions to interrupt the workings of the mine. A man disappearing in the lower levels was not uncommon due to the steep, slippery slopes and crude scaffolding, but the two he sent to find him were overdue coming back as well. Probably slacking off in some side passage.
The temperature dropped by at least ten degrees, and frost suddenly rimed the torch brackets and floor. Puzzling this, he rounded the next corner.
Artos found himself face to face with Sagard, but something was very wrong. His clothes were torn and blood-soaked and a deep, weeping slash cut across his throat. At that very moment, every single torch in the tunnel snapped out of its bracket and extinguished itself, save one. By the light of that single torch, Artos saw something that would chill his blood until the day he died.
Wind whipped through the mine, raising clouds of dust and stacks of parchment bearing the latest output figures. Four men abandoned their work at the ore face and ran after Artos. Hurrying up behind him, they stopped short. Sagard's mouth opened and released an unearthly howl that shook the bones of all five men. Artos took several steps backwards, but stumbled. The rest of the workers tried to turn and run, but were too transfixed by the horror in front of them. Sagard's mouth hadn't stopped opening, and was now so wide it reached to his collarbone, and he stumbled forward.
At that instant, his flesh began to burn and melt as though a great inferno was blasting through the passage. His hair and clothes caught fire and the skin and fat of his body liquified in a flaming, stinking mess, revealing muscle and bone. His body continued to melt and burn, and he held his arms out wide as if preparing to embrace the horrified group in front of him.
Suddenly, a piercing, keening scream burst from his mouth. The miners desperately clapped their hands to their ears and quickly backed away.
Then Sagard exploded.
Fragments of bone ricocheted off the walls, piercing through clothing and skin. Part of a rib slashed into Artos' leg and a splinter of femur pierced his arm. At this point, the miners had seen far too much. They broke and ran. Rising, Artos stumbled after them, blood streaming from his wounds.
Laughing quietly, you extinguished the last torch and once more became part of the shadows.
Bloodied and terrified, the five men sprinted into the cavern containing the ore face. Having heard the commotion, the other workers stopped them.
"What did you see?
What did you see?""S...Sagard. He.. He exploded!"
"He
what?"
"D..Demons! Demons in the mine! We have to get out of here!" Artos stuttered, shaking.
"Demons? How? It can't be!" That was Reynold Ironside, supervisor of the upper workings of the mine.
"We know what we saw!" shouted one of the other miners.
By this point, Artos was a gibbering wreck, so Ironside got his wits together and took over.
"Calm down and shut up!" he roared, cutting through the nervous chatter.
"Now," he continued in a calmer voice, "What did you see?"
The four miners began at the same time, causing another round of frightened speculation, prayer, and chatter.
"One at a time!" Ironside growled
They looked at each other nervously, and one stepped forward.
"When... When that wind blew, we ran after Artos. When we found him, he was standing in a dark passage. Everything was pitch black except for one torch on the wall in front of him. When we.. stepped forward, we saw him."
"Who?"
"S..Sagard. Except it wasn't Sagard. He was dead. But he was just.. standing there. His throat was cut and he was covered in blood. He screamed, and t...th..then.. his face... He started to...melt.. and..."
The man broke down and sat with his head in his hands. A moment later, an ore crate flew across the room and slammed into the wall, shattering on impact. The ghosts were at work.
Everyone started, and shouts filled the room again.
Ironside's voice rose above the cacophany of panic.
"Okay, everyone just
shut up and listen. We are going to leave the mine."
A tide of relief swept over the assembled miners, and several mumbled prayers of thanks or held up small religious icons.
"But. We are going to do it in good order and we will not be leaving anyone behind. You four," he said, pointing. "Get your stuff and go first. Tell the militia and the priests what happened. You two," he said, selecting another couple of miners, "Go with them and back up their story".
"Everyone else, with me. We are going to secure the upper workings and wait for the militia. If you see anything that isn't human, kill it. If you think you see anything that isn't human, kill it."
He drew the broadsword he always carried from its scabbard and raised it.
"The enemies of evil and Chaos are faith and a strong will! The Armor of Contempt, my friends. Remember, the Emperor is with us always."
A muted cheer rose from the croud.
Better than nothing, Ironside thought.
Strength Last Turn:14, base 10 (+2 for killing, +2 base for same, +2 from a good meal)
Start of This Turn: 12 base 10 (+1 for killing, +1 for good meal)
End of This Turn: 15 base 10 ( +1 for killing, +1 for good meal, +2 for causing terror, +1 for Fun)
Mind Last Turn: Mind: 10, base 8 (+2 for killing, +2 base for same)
Start of This Turn: 9 base 8 (+1 for killing)
End of This Turn: 18 base 10 (+1 for killing, +7 for causing terror, +2 base for same)
You now require 2 food units per turn.
Resources:
1 human corpse (3 food units)
Time: 2:30 PM
Notes
This story takes place in the world of WH40K with a small amount of artistic license, mostly involving the creatures you will be able to summon. You are currently on a Feudal World with a population of 15 million in the arse-end of nowhere, Segmentum Pacificus. It is 342.776.M41
Very small, mostly semantic alterations have been made to previous posts to clarify this and ensure things are largely canon.
Author
Topic: Now You Are Become Death, Destroyer of Worlds. (Read 16228 times)