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"I want your oath of fealty," you say. The bard looks up, surprised.
"Pardon? You actually want me to-""I want you to swear.""Oh. Wow. Well, thank you very much! I was just going to obey you out of fear, but if you're sure you want my fealty...?""Get on with it.""Right you are," the bard says. He takes a knife from his boot - slowly, seeing your gaze, and making it obvious he has it - and draws eight marks in the dirt; a sunburst; a shape that looks a bit like a 7; a stick figure tree; a stick figure man; a wiggly line with fangs; a stick figure woman; a bow and arrow; a crook.
The bard takes his knife and pricks his finger, then drips a drop of blood onto each sign. He offers the knife to you.
Some part of you knows what to do next, and following its will is as easy as breathing - or as easy as breathing would be were you alive. You take one of your own knives and cut your finger, squeezing drops of thick, almost black blood onto the signs. The drops of blood caught and mingled on the dirt-scratched symbols. The bard raises his blade to the sky, then points to each sign in turn, raising it to the sky in between.
"By the Light of the Sun, by the Shade of the Reaper, by the Height of the Tree, by the Depth of the Summoner, by the Grace of the Serpent, by the Luck of the Lady, by the Eyes of the Hunter and by the Hands of the Shepherd; I, Erik, shall to Mike the Wight be faithful and true, and love all that he loves and shun all that he shuns, according to the laws of the gods and the order of the world. Nor will I ever with will or action, through word or deed, do anything that is unpleasing to him, on condition that he will hold to me as I shall deserve it, and that he will safeguard and protect me from ill fate."The words start to tumble out of your mouth, almost not of your volition. You would stop them, but you don't want to. Saying them just seems right.
"By the Light of the Sun, by the Shade of the Reaper, by the Height of the Tree, by the Depth of the Summoner, by the Grace of the Serpent, by the Luck of the Lady, by the Eyes of the Hunter and by the Hands of the Shepherd; I, Mike the Wight, shall to Erik be faithful and true, and shall hold to him as he shall deserve, and shall safeguard and protect him from ill fate, on condition that he shall obey me in all things."There is no crash of thunder, no chorus from the heavens, but you feel the moment pass. Something, some bond, has been forged between the pair of you. There is magic here, but it is old.
"Well then!" says Erik, who seems rather chipper for a man who swore his life to a creature of the night.
"What now, boss?""Mmph. You will teach me magic. And use of that instrument. I also require food, and shelter through the day.""I've got some travel crackers and dried meat.""No. It must be alive, and I sense you would prefer me not to drain yourself.""Hardly 'holding to me as I deserve', really. I guess I can try and hunt, stun some squirrels or something if you don't want to try and find another traveller. Not many this late at night anyway. As for shelter, I think I saw a woodsman's cabin about two miles back. If not, I'm pretty sure there's a cave about five miles west or so, by the stream. I could take you to either. Magic we can do on the way, or after eating if you prefer. What would suit you best, boss?"Mike the Wight
Health: 11/11
Buzz: -/5
Might: 4
Stealth: 4
Will: 3
Armour: 1/1 [Adds 1 to deflection, soaks 1 damage.]
Sustenance: 1 Day
Drain Life: On a successful attack, drains life directly from the victim and adds to your health pool, or to sustenance. No cost.
Create Wight: A victim you have recently drained of all life can be brought back as a wight under your complete control. Cost: Health. The total health you spend creating the wight will be its new (and total) health. This is a permanent subtraction from your own health. The new wight's stats will be half of your own (no subtraction).
Frenzy: If you are sufficiently buzzed up, you can turn some of that into rage to keep you fighting. Effectively increases your Might by 50% during a single fight. Cost: 4 Buzz / [Might] Buzz (whichever is higher).
No mage training!
Fine Leather Trenchcoat Ensemble (Armour: 1/1)
Satchel
21 copper pennies.
Your grave rags.
Belt
Twin knives (2d4 damage)
Erik the Bard (Oathbound)
Author
Topic: Wight [ISG/TSG] (Read 18454 times)