They halt a fair distance away from you, watching nervously, the shamans whispering together. No matter, you will be more than a match for them. The beasts slip into tunnels and crannies as best they can, the elephenea shuffling behind the central mound to conceal its bulk, the leplenas finding patches of grass. Your followers pen all but a dozen slaves into one of the tunnels, and they watch, eyes dull but some still finding the strength to be horrified as one by one, the unlucky dozen are tied down before your throne, their backs bent painfully over high stone altars so that their limbs creak with the strain and their terrified faces are forced to gaze upon your cruel visage.
Their screams echo through the night, disturbing the dreams of those who dare to enter your domain, making them stir uneasily. The shamans and their chiefs walk among them however, and keep them steady, and none break. No matter. That was not the purpose of this sacrifice. You seem to stand taller, your eyes gleaming with malevolent strength as the last of the blood soaks its way into the unhallowed ground. Your strength grows beyond any height it has achieved since you came to this miserable world, your mind expanding, your body hardening. The ground trembles beneath your feet, and little watchstalk-like plants sprout beneath your feet, although they die off in seconds as you walk forwards, and no new ones grow. You raise your axe over your head, your warriors taking final moments to steel themselves as they find places to make their stand.
The shamans come forth and begin an intonation. Something about mercy and forgiveness and the ancestors. Azen calls on the power of the hoop, and it answers. Fire blazes around them, although they manage to jump backwards from it, just the sight of that again unnerves the warriors. But there is no time to be hesitant, as arrows and sling stones rain down on them. Samana directs the warriors with lethal precision, and several fall onto the shamans, killing one and wounding another before some spell is created to fend off the projectiles. Many other warriors drop as well, their return fire hampered somewhat by the pace they are setting.
Damena sends his magic into the ground, making it into a noxious mud, the smell making some vomit and the sudden change in terrain slowing the rest, but they still charge forth, and soon they shall be close enough to fight blade to blade. Then Banner enters the fray, Azen raining down more fire, although he can only catch a man or two at a time. Skeletons of some sort cavort around Banner, and things with massive heads distorted with rage. Vile spirits of misfortune and wrath he corralled over the weeks you worked on the hoop are set loose, and they wreak havoc, warriors turning on each other and howling their wrath, others tripping and falling onto their spears by apparent accident. The shamans again manage to escape the worst of the effects, protecting a small knot of scarred and well-armed warriors who have managed to reach the hills.
Where they find you. Your axe cleaves through a dozen of them before they can even react, chewing through flesh, and then the survivors find their own limbs snapping and shattering under the weight of your rage, leaving thirty helpless men and women sobbing in the mud.
With their fall, the heart goes out of the remainder. Some flee, some die, some fall to their knees and beg for mercy. The battle is over, and with only a scant few casualties on your side. While it will be near impossible to find all who fled, it will take a long time before any sort of organized response is created, and you may well find yourself with some new recruits from this.
Current form: A mighty man with the head of a bison and vicious, bloody claws.
Arms: 30 (Weapon) (Sacrifice)
Body: 30.5 (Weapon) (Sacrifice)
Mind: 30 (Weapon) (Sacrifice)
Magic: 30 (Weapon) (Sacrifice)
Other: Holding Bonebiter, the Bloody Maw.
Samana
Arms: 4
Body: 3
Mind: 1.5
Magic: 0.5
Damena
Arms: 1
Body: 1
Mind: 4
Magic: 5.5
Banner
Arms: 2.5
Body: 4.5
Mind: 3
Magic: 0.5
Azen
Arms: 1
Body: 1
Mind: 3.5
Magic: 2.5
75 followers
62 slaves
41 servants( 5 Leplenas, 25 Rouses, 1 Burnwolf, 4 Rockcrushers, 1 Elephanea, 5 Mole-creatures)
Scythes of Beleth
75 cultists
38 power (5 for totems, 18 for worship, 10 for weapons, 5 for mining)
6.5 resources (+1 per week)
Secrecy(1-5): 2
Led by Samana and Damena.
The Shade Bastion
Population: 137
Copper mines, watchstalk fields
Defenses: Barricades, terrain, fields of corrupted plants (provide early warning)
Other: Magical hoop, strangely resistant to corruption. It’s defenses are gone, and you can try to warp the magic as you will.
Author
Topic: The Exiled Demon (Read 38032 times)