Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

Clowns

0 (0%)

Intelligent Undead

0 (0%)

Titans

0 (0%)

Vault Guardians

0 (0%)

Total Members Voted: 0

Voting closed: November 04, 2022, 09:24:51 am

[King Zultan]

Damn that's a lot of undead dwarves.

[Maloy]

AI art description of Kanil Inchwhips and it makes sense why everyone would be terrifed of him:


On the way south Ingiz told Kanil all sorts of different tasks he could perform to get back in the good graces of the dwarves, but Kanil ignored him and mostly just grunted at moments in the conversation that Ingiz seemed to wait for a response.

Ingiz was worried. He did not want his friend to die or fight any of his kin, which he would do if Kanil was attacked. The dwarf stressfully yanked on his beard as they approach an old monastery. The coast was in sight.
"Who lives here, dwarf-friend?" Said Ingiz hoping to slip in a reminder of his responsibility as his friend
"Used to be some guys who worshipped some god of partying and sex, but they're all dead except for one old man, but he doesn't even talk about that god so I think he worships someone else" Kanil was casual his arms behind his head as he walked and weapons put away.
"Why are we here?"
"Just passing through seeing if there's any thing going on"

The old monk was kind and quiet although he refused to identify his own deity. He grumbled about some refugees who took over the bunkhouse in the southern portion of the monastery. The two groups were fighting over the monastery like it was theres.
Kanil confirmed it. One group of humans were trying to form a bandit gang and carve out their own territory in the anarchic bowl of the Entangled Plain. The other wanted to form a group of thieves and grave robbers to see if there was anything to loot in the area. A chief and a boss shared the same building and eyed one another warily. They were some of the last refugees to get out of Inkyrout. The former human capital city was almost entirely dead now after years of being whittled away by its occupiers. The men were starved and eyed the bags of Kanil and Ingiz.
Kanil smiled and put a hand on Cloudfought. If they wanted to get their cut out of this land they'd need to put the work in. The refugees turned warriors decided not to and the duo left with Pamud and the beakdogs in tow.

Kanil heard the village to the south of here had long been dead. It's last villagers killed off as the dead now wandered the streets stumbling through distended gardens and fields. No one asked Kanil to go and kill, but the truth was:


Kanil loved his work

Source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/563301865881519770/

The town was known as Palacepainted on account of the castle on the hill next to it. They both overlooked the coast to the south. The sight of the ocean never got old for Kanil.
They dropped by the tavern and two rotting humans stepped out.
These were familiar. Some zombies were more notable than others. It was something strange about them, unlike the cold hunters they had no powers or intelligence, but the more zombies killed the more powerful they seemed to become and human survivors made sure to memorize the different known killer zombies to know when to run.
These two did not shamble...they sprinted with knives. Deqhuan and the other unnamed beakdog sprinted to meet them with Ingiz shortly behind. Pamud waited a distance away as he had an intense phobia of the undead. Before Kanil was even halfway to closing the distance the two zombies had already stabbed both beak dogs so many times they died their blood and body parts scattered everywhere.
Kanil roared and continued to charge and when he finally reached the two zombies they were stabbing Ingiz in the leg repeatedly his blood spraying all over the area as well as the hungry corpse-women.

Kanil's own battle was brief. One of the corpse-women being headless all he had to do was stab her where her heart should be and she crumbled to the ground. Kanil simultaneously struck the other with his fist and then dodged her knife. In one fluid motion he beheaded her.

"Bloody dust-kickers surprised me! Went after me legs when they were already so tall and I was worried about your wee doggies, Kanil!"
Kanil looked at his dead companions. He liked the beak dogs they seemed to both share an instinctual love of combat and he felt a loss "Yeah...You kept them busy for me. Guess they'll be writing more stories about me from this adventure"
"Shut up! I'm getting into the swing of it! I'm sure there's more around here"
"Lot more from what I hear" Kanil said as he motioned further down the slope to the village proper. It wasn't a far walk and you could almost hear the unintentional groaning and hissing the zombies tended to make.
Ingiz reached for his axe he had set down while looking at his leg "I might be disapproving of your antics in my homeland, but this here is a pleasure for me. Ah! Look!" Ingiz jabbed a knobby finger further away and in a field were horses. They didn't look wild per-se. Likely descendants of the horses that lived here before. "I'm not walking on this leg, but I'm not done killing either!"

Within a few minutes both men had a horse each and they rode them into town. Kanil rarely rode Pamud. The elephant fought better when it could make it's own choices in battle.

Upon arriving to the town proper the dead began to stumble out of the homes and alleys. More bearable to look at. The common dress in the Plains was to wear turbans, even Kanil wore one to keep the heat off. So the disgusting flesh of the zombies was rarely visible. Kanil and Ingiz dismounted. A tactical error. The horses possessed a fury of nature it seemed and both charged into the mass of the dead.
For their credit the horses performed well and killed a few zombies each before the swarm of knives, teeth and nails left them dead.
While fighting the horses Kanil and Ingiz reached the dead.
They fought back to back slaughtered them all. Ingiz's leg was hit again and he collapsed, but as the dead surrounded he continued killing. Pamud ran away and a gang chased after him. Kanil did not fear. If they did manage to corner Pamud the elephant could easily destroy them all.



By the end of the battle around 30 zombies had been slain. Kanil butchered one of the horses for food, but the other he looked at. It had fought majestically. It moved Kanil on a level as one sees moving art. He named the horse Magiccarnage. Using rope and his superhuman strength Kanil would later drag it and the two beakdogs back to his home to receive proper burial, but first they had a castle to see.

Source:https://www.pinterest.com/pin/504895808220376427/


Kanil expected a cold hunter, but as they walked through the gates of this beaten castle they found something else: The last stand of the Amethyst Confederacy.




OOC:
Slowly gonna curb undead populations and use it as training for Kanil.
The capital Inkyrouts is potentially more dangerous than the actual necromancer tower

Stalkmatches gave me a healthy fear of intelligent undead and I'd rather take on a vault or dark fortress generally, but it's gotta happen sooner or later and I can say that Kanil himself is definitely enjoying these adventures

[Maloy]

Source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/dwarf-by-gabahadatta-on-deviantart--409546159834861162/
Ingiz Laboredgirders the Geared Tragedies of Disembowling




Kanil had never seen so many warriors of his own people in one place. Unlike him and his kind who wore whatever random assortments of armor they could find these men wore the same uniform. Armored gauntlets and boots with metal caps. Leather breeches and a vest with a symbol pressed on it. The symbol of the amethyst confederacy
They were all pressing into the main keep from their posts. Kanil hailed them and they did return the greeting, but told him they had to report.

It was time for the morning meal and assembly. Kanil and Ingiz followed
"Didn't realize their were this many of you left, long-legs" Ingiz whispered
"Me either" It was a sense of wonder to the man seeing humans gathered in such a way. They all crowded into the keep. Children, servants and mostly soldiers all gathered around a man.
He demanded reports from officers one by one. The respect and admiration he commanded from these men drew out of Kanil a respect for this man as well. He watched silently until the procession was over and all were dismissed. Most stayed in the area and had their morning meals and chattered about all the goings on.
The man spoke with an air of command and absolute authority "And who are you? This is a military outpost and not a market"
"Uhh...Kanil, sir. My name is Kanil Inchwhips and I am a...warrior!"
The baron looked him up and down clearly noting his lack of crest to show he belonged to any military group "I suppose you're with one of those bandit groups making a mess of things for our people? I am the commander of this fort, but you may refer to me as "My Baron" I rule this region by grace of the gods and the authority vested into me by our last ruler Ibon Colorchewed, gods rest his soul"
Kanil was awed by authority and grace he had never seen. In the Entangled Plain might made right and one simply didn't have authority.

"Sir, I mean, my baron. What is going on here? I've never seen an army of my own people"
"What's it look like to you? We are holding the line. Without us those undead will sweep these lands and hunt our people down, and so we will hold until our enemies show a weakness we can exploit. Believe me, boy one day when this scourge has been cleansed your bandit gangs will be next! Now, are you here to become a real soldier fighting for a real cause?"

"My baron now that you mention it that sounds exactly like something I'd want"
"Well, I don't have much food and can't take in any bandit with a stolen sword. You'll need to prove yourself. We have bandits coming out from the tomb of Fairpumpkin where our last liege is entombed and a dangerous organization of criminals venturing out from the capital. The bandits defile his majesty's final rest and you can prove your loyalty by killing them or by tracking the gang down in Inkyrouts."
"Sir, My baron, how is anyone operating from Inkyrout it's swarming with the dead even I would hesitate to fight"
"How should I know? They leave no survivors they find camps of survivors and kill them all and loot what's left. We only know they are from Inkyrouts because of their trail they leave. Return when you are victorious boy and I will give you purpose"


Kanil walked away and began consulting his map. "You know, Kanil, we dwarves don't just respect someone because they call themselves baron we pick our leaders" Kanil waved a hand he was too focused on his task.
The castle was here in red. The tomb was on the way to Inkyrout with the tomb in yellow and capital in green.


Kanil had no desire to go to Inkyrouts. According to rumor the necromancers had raised history's greatest fighters as cold hunters and most of them lived in Inkyrouts. They had legendary armor and weapons. Kanil's weapon was effective for bleeding enemies, which they did not. They also did not tire as he did and were stronger and faster with the ability to turn invisible. Their legendary weapons and armor trumped Kanil's Cloudfought, and they were surrounded by zombie hordes that would tire him out. It was a bad fight.
"But the bandits" Kanil mumbled as he tapped the tomb's place on his map.
They were known to him. Unlike the other bandit tribes in the area they refused to adhere to territory markers. They raided in other tribes lands, including his, this made them a common enemy. He would kill them, and hopefully that would please this baron enough.


But first they would set off back to Kanil's home of Helmsfragrance to build new caskets for his departed animal friends.



After a couple of days back home they set off again and hunted near Fairpumpkin. The tombs locks were untouched and had been for awhile so they hunted in the area instead. Everything was abandoned or quiet and after hours searching Kanil decided they would rest until the evening. This tribe was cowardly and usually struck in secret so it seemed likely they'd wait until evening, but when evening did come they still found nothing. The world was serene under the starlight canopy. The search continued the whole evening, but without any movement they had to give up. This was good time for kanil and Ingiz to catch up
"So that one dwarf you brought days ago was a priest of the goddess of death?"
"I think so, yeah"
"Keep an eye on him. He wants something"
"What makes you say that? The couple of holy men I've met usually paid their ransoms and kept to themselves"
"Human holy men, Kanil. Dwarf religion in the mountainhome is a political affair. Tell me, long-legs who does a king listen to"
"No one!"
"Wrong. A king listens to the gods if he doesn't want his kingdom to fall to plague, famine or war. Now who speaks for the gods?"
"men of the gods?"
"Right. The death cult in particular is very political. They've had schisms and not only that, but the most recent Holy Skull died, May the Spry guide him home, and his cousin took over"
"Why does that matter?"
"Dwarves don't do bloodlines, Kanil. Hereditary positions aren't a thing for us and his cousin didn't have much authority to be doing that, and now this monk who follows the same goddess joins you, who are changing the entire land whether you admit it or not? Not a coincidence"
"Dwarf religion is strange. I picked Buh because he does things I think are beautiful."
Ingiz laughed "It really can be! It's a family affair. I worship the spry too as all my fathers did before me. when family get's involved things get sensitive, but that's why a lot of us like your lands"
"Yeah. There sure are a lot of you"


Kanil tried to return to the castle anyway despite the failure. The baron flat out denied his entry, but at this point scouts had reported in and told word of Kanil slaughtering Palacepainted of its zombies. From there some soldiers made the connection as to which Kanil this was and his other deeds followed.


By the end of his time he had three new men at his side. Kanil rarely fought with other men and this left a strange feeling in his heart. If they were going to go to Inkyrouts they would need to get ready.

Source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/289215607321713671/


*Cue training montage*
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YYmfM2TfUA&ab_channel=Movieclips

Axes were thrown all day, raw meat eaten, and the river swam in.

OOC:
I really pumped training into the throwing skill and the endurance attribute.
Legendary heroes of yesteryear are about to duke it out with the heroes of this age!

[TheFlame52]

with the ability to turn invisible

oh no

[Maloy]

Yeah...Through stealth or throwing skill I feel pretty confident taking on one of them, but if theres a group all together this is probably gonna look like me just getting literally torn to pieces


I don't think anyone cares, but I personally don't wanna do skill grinding through exploits. Feels like I'm robbing myself of the hero's journey to make myself legendary through tapping Koala's with my fists and sword

Throwing axes and swimming in the river for exercise is realistic though so I don't feel bad on that one and I'm only training thrower skill up to "Skilled"


Also the thing I like about doing this as a story is I don't feel time pressure. These forums are really chill, but whenever I sign up for a game I put a ton of pressure on myself to get stuff done, but that's why I only sign up for a few despite abunch on here being interesting to me!

[Maloy]

Lore of Necromancers

Although information coming out of what was once the Amethyst Confederacy is sparse. Scholars, mostly elven and dwarven and thus questionable, have gathered a number of stories from refugees, survivors and scout forays into the lands. The legendary axedwarf, and companion to Kunil, Ingiz saw fit to gather as much of these as he could as an advisory for travelers and adventurers. Should the nigh endless armies of the dead march west this information could save many lives.

Zombies

The most basic and numerous form of the armies of the dead. The zombies appear in hordes normally and congregate mindlessly until given a proper task. Their bodies have no physical needs, and to dispel a common myth: They do not eat the flesh of the living. Zombies attack with whatever they have on hand. Knives, hatchets, nails and teeth and so seeing hordes of zombies descending on victims; biting and tearing at flesh led to this common myth that they had a hunger for living flesh.

Zombies appear capable of detecting life force in the vicinity and if they do they will shamble towards it to extinguish it. Although it is impossible to approach zombies undetected if one were able to do so and note any form or direction in their movements this would tell you that the zombies have a leader nearby issuing commands.


Wraiths

Wraiths result from when a zombie successfully kills a living person. They undergo a sort of metamorphosis. They go from a mindless creature to a basic animal intelligence. These creatures are vicious, rabid, but capable. They often lead packs of zombies being capable of commanding them, and hunt for life to extinguish. With every new kill the wraith grows in strength.
In most settlements in the Entangled Plain you'll find bulletin boards covered in wanted posters for the deaths of different wraiths.
Beware pursuing them. These creatures can easily keep pace with great warriors parrying and blocking weapons with tireless arms while their pack of zombies tear at the victim's strength.

The reason wraiths come into being is unknown. Common belief is that they devour the spirit of their victim's upon death and this leads to them becoming stronger.
An unfortunate problem is that when a wraith dies it can be reanimated again with it's powers restored and intelligence intact. This leads to wanted posters for certain wraiths being reposted regularly.


Cold Hunters

Cold Hunters are the vicious enforcers and lieutenants of the Kingdom of the Dead. They are made up of the Wondrous Planes greatest heroes and villains restored to the world with great powers and tireless bodies. They are almost always covered so their bodies are not visible at all. A show of old personality and sensibility in response to their rotted bodies.

They act as the military commanders and overlords of the necromancers. By themselves they are capable of defeating groups of skilled warriors, but are rarely alone operating either in pairs or accompanied by hordes of zombies.
Despite having their full intelligence and identities restored to them their are no known cases of the Cold Hunters defecting to their homelands. They all serve faithfully.

They are faster than any living person and capable of turning invisible. If they choose to attack you running is not an option.
Many artifacts of man, dwarf and elvenkind are held by these beings including weapons and armor that would be needed to stand against the necromancers and the Cold Hunters.



Life in Death

It is actually possible to survive in these blighted lands for a passable amount of time. Humans and others who were caught in the occupation are permitted to continue living, but it is difficult.
They face harsh curfews with zombies patrolling the streets to enforce it. If caught outside the citizens will be swarmed, killed and resurrected as a new zombie and a new wraith will be born.
That said animals are almost entirely neglected in these lands. Many of them having reverted to a half wild state from being alone for so long. They still respond positively to human interaction, but have learned to survive or have starved.
Cold Hunters also enforce a seemingly random inquisition. At any time one may break into your home and either kill you or take you away. whether they are able to read minds and detected traitorous thoughts, wanted more footsoldiers or even a more grisly fate is not known.
Eventually, in all lands the blight creeps in. The land itself begins to die and it will no longer grow food. Any corpses present revive themselves without necromancer presence.

This means that inevitably all living residents within the occupation must eventually attempt to flee or starve and join the ranks of the dead.



OOC: Actual story post soon. We made it to Inkyrouts at this point after training and a lot happened. A lot of really cool developments only dwarf fortress world generation could accomplish

Question: Any of you guys ever play Enderal? If you have any version of Skyrim on PC its a free mod. It's one of favorite rpg games hands down because the quality is so high

sources for art:
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/564568503261631253/
https://www.deviantart.com/nikolaiostertag/art/Spellweaver-Zombie-606374783
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/264023596887831025/
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/artstation-greater-revenant-jelena-pjevic--407575835022461082/

[Maloy]

Esme
Source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/656892295625858728/


Tode
Source: https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/581949583072115694/

Training went on for three days. Most of Kanil's new human compatriots just sat around talking while watching him train.
They were excited to become new heroes and make a difference in the world and knew the legendary hero was their ticket to glory. Kanil swam laps up and down the river while Ingiz merely reclined at it's edge allowing the river to carry his cares away.

Kanil did enjoy the opportunity to get to know his comrades though. Ingiz hated arguments, but the three other humans enjoyed it just as much as Kanil as they debated philosophy and moral values. None of them ever pushed hard on any topic. They weren't trying to win any particular topics they just enjoyed verbally sparring.

When the three days had passed the tree next to the almost complete mead hall was covered in cuts from throwing axes and Kanil was about as clean as you could get in these lands from all of the swimming.
They set out in the morning with a straightforward route.

They would make their way to the first major village along the old trade roads and carve their way through the dead to Inkyrouts. Simple. The humans only had metal boots and gauntlets while the rest was leather. This meant that Kanil and Ingiz would likely have to take on the majority of enemies, but this was why they were taking the bloodiest path. Kanil wanted to see how strong these warriors were.

It went....acceptably. They were all relatively competent with their chosen weapons, two flails and a pike, but Tode one of the flail-warriors took quite a beating. A wraith had almost finished beating his skull in before they had killed it.




All that was left of the old trade roads was that it was a path entirely clear of trees otherwise one wouldn't recognize anything had ever been here at all. The zombies had no complaints about where they were marching or what on and so the need for the road was long gone.

They reached the border and were greeted by an old neglected statue of Kemus Wildmoral: goddess of birth, rebirth and revelry. She was holding up a mug of ale and seemed to be dancing although most of her facial expressions had been born away. Behind her was the birthplace of humanity: Inkyrouts.
Source: Guild Wars Prophecies

 Life had been drained from the land with only dirt and dead plants left leaving a uniform brown and red color.
The new warriors all made signs on their chest to show deference to the goddess. Kanil only stared at the statue trying to discern it's features. "It's not good to ignore the gods before a battle, Lord" Esme piped in from behind him
"I'd think they'd be happy since we're saving their worshipers" he replied.
"Maybe, but they don't take to disrespect either and we could use their help" Tode added.


Beyond were empty fields, empty aside from the occasional pack of dogs running around. Kanil successfully approach one pack and discovered they were still friendly to humans and seemed excited to have made contact with people again.

They all enjoyed the moment of levity petting and playing with dogs to distract them from this apocalyptic setting and Kanil was able to get the dogs to follow them.


Source: Guild Wars Prophecies

When they finally reached the town they passed a tavern. It's sign read "The Mushrooms of Glowing".
"Could certainly use an ale" Ingiz remarked
"Doubt the dead drink anything, dwarf" said Tode
The tiring canvas of brown and red was now added to with the gray stone of buildings, but these seemed even worse as if they were monoliths sucking what little color remained of the area into it and destroying it forever.

The streets were covered in bodies and in very short order the dead began filing out as they sensed prey. They were led by a wraith. The beast had been responsible for the deaths of many who attempted to escape Inkyrouts.


The dogs set about their work immediately. Two pouncing on the wraith and two more charging into the mass of dead behind it.
Tode, Esme, and Pis were swinging at the wraith, but all their blows didn't seem to bother it. Ingiz sunk his axe into the creature's chest and lodged it there and the monster was unbothered as it continued to swing it's sword and fists at each of them.
Kanil swung for it's head and Cloudfought was caught in the flesh of it's neck: An incomplete cut.
Esme parried it's sword as Ingiz drew his axe out and cave the wraith's skull in with it. It fell without a sound.

Behind it both dogs that had charged ahead were torn to pieces already and they charged ahead. The band noted that these weren't humans. These were the corpses of Hoary Marmot people. It was sad that their first experience with this species involved rotting murderous variants of them.

They split up and Kanil jumped over the ledge to reach the ones attacking one of the last dogs. He quickly slew his targets although one of the bigger ones was able to keep pace and parry his strikes for a few blows. He heard fighting above him as his comrades continued, but he couldn't go up that way. He'd have to either run around or try to climb it and he decided on the climb.

As he threw himself over he saw a horrid sight. Ingiz had been separated from the rest. the axedwarf was fighting at the foot of the altar of the goddess of death and fate and he was surrounded by a horde. They were tearing and beating him. Kanil charged and was fighting as Ingiz passed out. He stood over the bleeding dwarf as he swung left, right, left, right fighting each zombie as they went after the dwarf.
Finally, as they all passed he looked at his unconscious friend.



It wasn't safe to wait here, but he couldn't carry the dwarf yet. "Looks bad" Pis said "We leave him? We're all pretty beat up now, well excepting for yourself, Lord"

Kanil looked around worriedly. If cold hunters showed up now they were indeed doomed. He turned to the pikeman after a moment "Stay here with Ingiz. You will not let him die while you still live".

Pamud, Kanil, Esme, Tode, and two dogs went exploring after. They found a miserable sight. Many of the homes in front of the keep were occupied. 2-3 cold hunters waited inside each one. The band stepped away from each before they could be seen.
One cold hunter was certainly possible to beat. they could corner it negating its invisibility and gang up on it, but three? They'd need an army and there wasn't enough people left alive for that. By the time an hour had passed they returned to check on Ingiz and Pis.
They were gone. All that was left was a pool of blood where Ingiz had fallen, surrounded by zombie corpses, and his axe.
If they had retreated back home that was one thing, but what if they had decided to seek shelter in a house or press further into the keep? The thought of them dying bothered him.

"What now? Think they went home?" Tode said with concern "Maybe we should retreat and come back. Zombies are dead so if we rest up we'll have the strength to take on more later"
"No...There's a chance they tried to hide in one of the houses or the keep. I won't risk abandoning them here especially if Ingiz doesn't have his axe to defend himself with." Kanil picked up the axe "We're moving on to the keep."
"'To glory and death' is what we told him, right Tode?" Esme sighed
"Better odds of surviving with him in the keep than on our own in the wilds"

Upon entering the keep they found a survivor who was failing to live up to the title. He was lying in front of the keep's gates and a wraith as kicking his skull in. Wraith's possessing rudimentary intelligence usually led to abject cruelty as the creature kicked over and over not choosing to get it over with. It didn't pay Kanil any mind as he walked up and beheaded it.

The man woke a few minutes later with the three humans and elephant standing over him. He panicked and cried for help and ran into the keep.
"Not good" Kanil grunted
"Have to agree with you on that one, boss" Esme said
Pamud pawed the ground in anticipation.

As they entered the keep they found themselves face to face with doom.
An elven cold hunter stood facing them and said "Identify yourself" Behind it stood two humans: The one they saved and some sort of noble judging by his dress. A goblin stood in the corner. Kanil recognized the emblem of the plagues of forking. The supposedly dead civilization living as bandits he had spared out in the west. What was it doing here? He had no time to ponder

As the elf spoke "Identify yourself" He swung his blade at it's head. four things happened within a breath.
It stabbed his shield arm with it's knife. Despite it being a knife the pure force of the blow on his armored fist caused Kanil to drop his shield. Immediately it vanished from sight, parrying his blade with it's knife and causing Kanil to swing wide. Then it stabbed the blade into his chest. The blade shattered against his breastplate completely, but he was still left winded by the blow.

The battle was brutal with only one advantage. The elf was only invisible to one person at a time, and this was Kanil. The rest could see it and Kanil was able to throw weapons at it from watching his friends, dogs and Pamud's attacks.
The elf was ridiculous though. It beat every member of the party relentlessly. It shoved a fist into a dog's head and destroyed it's brain and punched Pamud so hard it damaged his lungs. Not only that, but it had learned. It dodged every piece of metal, knife or axe Kanil threw at it now effortlessly. Kanil only was able to by time by barreling into it to knock it off his friends:
Fight below

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

It was hopeless. Kanil hated losing, but dying due to pride was stupid. He scrambled out of the fort. The surviving dog and Pamud chased after him. He crawled all the way to the walls and rested there under them waiting for anyone to possibly catch up.

An hour passed and no one came. He realized in his confusion and fear he dropped Cloudfought inside. He couldn't leave without it and not without confirming his friends deaths or finding them and rescuing them. He crawled to his feet.


Cacame Streamcry the Chaste Silver of Scintillating

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Cacame was the grandson of the queen of the elven forests.This afforded him no special privileges. In fact, all through Cacame's life he felt incredibly dissatisfied with his lot. They were all immortals and he would likely continue all eternity in the shadows of his grandmother.
He tried his best to stand out. He was married and had children, at quite a young age too. He wrote several books as well and studied under a famous dwarven scholar, but he couldn't fight the one thing he felt inside: He wasn't good enough and everyone else knew it too.

So when war came he was eager for his chance. Necromancers to the west coming from the autumnal swamps. No one knew why the old swamp titan didn't kill them, but it did not. The elves had lost most of their giant panda protectors to the war with the goblins and humans and so they needed real elves to fight.
He was cheered for his sacrifice and he was eager. If they were going to live forever then they would all live with Cacame: The killer of death!

Within the tower he found death itself. A dwarf, one of the first dwarven heroes in the legends before history, stood at the top of it's stairs. A cursed undead with powers long forgotten to us all. It butchered every elf including the hero Cacame and left them where they lie. Cacame died at the young age of 40. Not even qualifying as a true adult in elven years.

The survivors retreated and in desperation the elves dispatched the last of their giant panda defenders. The tower was destroyed at great cost, although none found the necromancer who founded it.

Cacame was left where he lie. While the curse of death was lifted on the land itself, allowing the dead elves to return to the earth, it never left the tower. There no insect or other creature dared tread. Rather than rot Cacame withered and dried. Forgotten.

Until he was found by a man. This being of endless dark powers brought Cacame back into the world: A cold hunter.
Cacame's confusion at being left in the tower and the darkness inside him led him to only one conclusion: His people abandoned him. They did not care about him and saw how insignificant he was. He gave into madness.

And there before the dark lord who would crush humanity he swore an oath to bathe the world in chaos.

He joined two other great heroes: Human and dwarf and they forged the Triad of the Dead united in their common goal of vengeance on the world.
It was these three who destroyed Inkyrouts and butchered its people. Cacame wiped out every hoary marmot man himself and raised them as rotted servants.
Cacame was given Inkyrouts by the master to hold it so that the last bit of life might be choked out of humanity's womb. Cilob the dwarf was sent west and Tis the human to the north. Separated they were weaker, but still some of the strongest on the Wondrous Plains. From these different angles they cornered in what was left of the living in the Entangled Plains ensuring the noose would slowly tighten.

Kanil walked back into the keep. The elf was gone. The three other living residents went from gossiping to a total silence as he walked back in. Cloudfought lay on the ground. Kanil was thankful the elf man didn't recognize it's value. He likely would've been unstoppable if he had it. Esme lay dead in the center of the room. She had been beaten to death. Kanil did not see Tode which meant he might be up above hiding. He picked it up and stalked at full sprint up the stairs of the keep.
He left terror behind him as all they saw was a mass of blood, iron and bruises sprint upstairs with murder in it's bloodshot eyes and the creatures were left whispering fearfully.

He saw the elf before the elf saw him. They were in a gallery of statues and the elf was running up and down the maze looking for something, likely Tode or Kanil himself.

Kanil ran after him looking for his shot. If Cacame saw Kanil or Kanil missed he would kill the last hero of humanity. If the elf slowed down he would give Kanil the opening to behead him.
So they sprinted. The elf far faster and tireless. Kanil bruised and cautious.

Neither could nor had any interest in exchanging names
Neither knew or cared about the historical or symbolic significance of fighting in this room recording the world's history
They were both fighting for their own vision of the world to come and one would end this day.

Cacame turned the corner into the northern room. Kanil waited between the two entrances to the statue room. The elf ran back in from the same entrance. Kanil swung his sword with both hands. A second longer and Cacame would've seen him. Would've dodged and would have killed him.
It was a second too late for the elf. His head flew from his shoulders and he fell to the ground.


When Kanil went down the stairs he saw Tode's body in a corner with his head caved in. He walked back to Esme with the elf's severed head in his hands.
The goblin and noble-dressed human looked at him, looked back to their third friend and kneeled shouting "Hail Abbot Rosmic Lord of the Pure Order and ruler of Inkyrouts!"
Kanil stood there contemplating killing them all.


OOC:
WHERE DID YOU GO INGIZ! I wouldn't fear for the dwarf except he doesn't have his axe! Examining the axe's description shows that

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Ingiz is NOT dead! Did he go back home or did he decide to go and sit inside a house? I didn't tell him to wait he just left.

Why is the goblin from the plagues of forking here? Theirs's less than 10 of them left in existence and he had ingratiated himself with the necromancers.
Cacame was ridiculous. It gave me the vibe of a samurai duel because I legitimately stood no chance against him if I couldn't land a lethal first blow.
Cacame really does have two other war buddies who are like him. All legendary killers who fought in many battles together all of them want to bathe this world in chaos.
Inkyrouts still has at least 10 cold hunters in it. What to do what to do.


I'm gonna be cleaning up the first post to let people direct themselves to posts easier I think. Also so you can specifically jump to any I make relating to world lore I find.

[TheFlame52]

Those ancient, legendary intelligent undead are one of the best fights in the game. Up there with angels and demon lords.

[King Zultan]

Seems like undead that turn invisible are not something you want to be messing with alone.

[Maloy]

Those ancient, legendary intelligent undead are one of the best fights in the game. Up there with angels and demon lords.

for real! In some ways the fights are more appealing than demons or angels because it's not based on some huge size difference. It's you versus a super powered person like yourself.

Seems like undead that turn invisible are not something you want to be messing with alone.

Yeah the downside is though that in the fight Cacame was leveling his dodging skill as he was continually attacked by our whole group and I threw weapons at him. By the end he was dodging most attacks.

So I either need to rely on more stealth kills or get a big army.

The one big downside to this invisibility ability is that there's no way for me to force them to turn it off. It'd be nice if after taking a certain amount of damage they just couldn't do it anymore.


For me the bright side of this run is that I'm almost done with dealing with them.
Inkyrouts and the tower itself house almost all of them and so if I am able to overcome it I won't have to worry about invisible superhumans with superspeed chasing me down and beating me

[Maloy]

Chapter 2: No gods no masters

Source: https://br.pinterest.com/pin/500040364879221838/


Kanil stood at the bottom of the keep with the bodies of his friends around him, again.
He was covered in blood and bruises. A weaker man would have passed out and he appeared to be swaying, but in his mind he was experiencing a euphoric sense of clarity and focus.
The last survivors of the keep were two humans and a goblin and as Kanil made his way down the stairs earlier with his blade wet with the blood of the dead elven tyrant two of them had begun bowing and calling out to one of the humans "Hail Abbot Rosmic! Lord of the Pure Order! Lord of Inkyrouts!"
Kanil considered killing all three, but decided against it. He questioned the goblin intensely as to his purposes for being there. The goblin refused all questions, but the creature was fully armored with the sigils of the Plagues of Forking carved into armor and helmet. Most goblins Kanil had hunted these last weeks hadn't even been armored and here was this one.

It's purposes could be any: A hostage or perhaps the goblins were attempting to ally with the tower. Not enough evidence either way, and since the goblin refused to cooperate he had no choice in the matter. He slew the goblin. Severed it's leg and blocked it's helpless thrashing blows before beheading him quickly.

He pointed his bloody sword at the other human who was bowing to the abbot earlier and spoke "You. Who was he and who are you?"
The man seemed flabbergasted as if the very notion of a sword being pointed at him was impossible or the death of his companion "I am your ruler! The leader of the Amethyst Confederacy and guiding light of humanity! You dare point your blade at me and slay my advisor?"
Kanil felt strangely conflicted again and he kept thinking back to that goblin smith who spoke to him about power weeks ago. Why is that memory important here he wondered.
He was feeling conflicted of values although he himself was having trouble placing it. The newfound understanding that power and authority are connected and that he himself had a lot of it just through his own ability conflicted with an intense need to obey and be loyal. He had survived childhood in the anarchic plains only because of his unquestioning loyalty and obedience to Uja and felt the need to obey this sniveling and pathetic creature too.

Kanil decided to leave rather than continue the uncomfortable internal conflict and did not even respond to the "law-giver". He wandered through town stealthily looking for Ingiz, but had no hope. While in one of the houses he came back outside after to find his two remaining dogs dead. A wraith had attacked and killed them both before Pamud crushed it's head with his foot.

This simply wasn't working. Kanil had to hope that Ingiz was safe and could hold on while he got help. That elf tyrant he slew was likely the strongest of the cold hunters here, but regardless Kanil stood absolutely no chance against three of them at once. So he had to leave. He carefully wrapped and stored Ingiz's lost axe in his pack and then carried Esme, Tode, and the dead elf Cacame to take them home. The last thing he needed was for a necromancer to find Cacame's body and bring him back to find Kanil and kill him.

Source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/532691462146990980/ (concept art for Mabari hounds in dragon age)


After a few days Kanil set off north from his base. Cacame's casket was on top of the temple and not with all of Kanil's dead friends. An enemy didn't deserve such an honorable rest there. His small burial room was almost completely full now. He could hardly fit anymore dead comrades in it.


With Ingiz in his heart and an obstacle to overcome he went to the dwarven hillocks. The dwarves would send their own men to help him and save one of their people's heroes and if any got in his way he would slay every single one.

Here is the planned route:


To his surprise though most of the hillocks he went to were filled with elves and most had no interest in fighting for Kanil or Ingiz and instead spoke of their own miseries. The goblins of the Elder Hell from the arctic north had followed them south and had kidnapped many children and taken them back north. One elven swordsman, named Nemo, and one of the most well armored men Kanil had seen in this land asked for help.
Kanil agreed on the one condition that he help him purge Inkyrouts of the undead and slay his enemies first.

Source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/387028161726328559/


From there he went back to the first hillocks he had been to near the fort of Cursewax. He was afraid he was wanted still, but he'd not allow himself to go into custody. Surprisingly the heat had died down and no one was looking for him now. It had changed a lot though and was now a military outpost. The crowd of civilians drinking was now replaced by hardened military dwarves and under questioning they said the place was now ruled by a dwarven warlord. Military rule to deal with threats to dwarven security in this area.

Regardless, Tales of Ingiz convinced a few to leave their posts and join him. From there they went south-east and found another human-led bandit fort squatting on the edge of the tainted lands of the dead. Here Kanil was famous for his previous exploits.




While it pleased Kanil to see more of his own people it pleased him even more to see he was being recognized. More humans came out in droves to join him. Now he had his army:



Source: World of Warcraft Purging of Stratholme


Within one short dark and brutal evening Inkyrouts was cleansed of every single Cold Hunter. The beasts stood no chance. They were too powerful to wear weapons and armor for long without breaking them, but this meant they were physically vulnerable and numbers did the job.
New heroes were founded from the battle:
Rakust Twighlightlances friend of Ingiz
Nemo the Elven Swordsman
Ersi the human swordsman
Although many fought in the battle these three distinguished themselves in the killing of enemies

Ingiz had still not been found in the city, but they did find the Pikeman who was left to guard him: Tekkud. He was many hours dead in the same room as two cold hunters. The two were butchered by the superior numbers.

Kanil couldn't just continue to search for Ingiz and at this point if he was in town he was safe, but what now? Was it time to brave the heart of the land of the dead?


OOC: So. clean up time.
World gen story seems to be trying to lead me north which will make it easier when I decide it is time to do so, providing Kanil survives.

Also it was neat to have Kanil actually be recognized and seen as a hero. My museum character has been universally disliked by npcs and in Stalkmatches my first character died before he could achieve fame and my second was an infamous killer. Feels nice

I'm loving the steam release of DF and am inbetween this and that. I'm hoping stories like this will help keep interest in Adventure Mode for people especially new players until that feature eventually arrives. I sincerely hope I can finish this quest by then!

I may have to drop the army. We won without a struggle at all. Intelligent undead are tough until 15 people are swinging at them at once. I'll consider it though. One intelligent undead with an artifact steel sword fought nearly 40 military npcs in Stalkmatches and won so maybe I'm overconfident.

I would've gone more detail about the interactions in the villages, but their was little of importance to be honest other than that one hillocks I freed going military.

How has Steam Release been for you guys?

EDIT: also milestone marker! Happy 25th post on this thread!

[TheFlame52]

It's good to see you being recognized as a hero. I remember the good old days of 0.34 when after killing a megabeast or two, people would be stunned by your presence. It makes it feel like you're really doing something.

[Maloy]

Source:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

https://www.pinterest.de/pin/481111172678836787/

Nemo the Elven Swordsman


They all spent a few days in Inkyrouts and Kanil used the time to split up his army. Most would be left in Inkyrouts and to spite the sniveling men inside the castle Kanil also put his claim on the city and left it in the hands of one of his spear women. She would lead the forces that would remain.
Much to his annoyance within the few days several people had returned to the town to serve the "law-giver" and the abbot who ruled the city.
By the time they were about to leave though a sight most wanted, but unexpected greeted Kanil. Ingiz shuffled into the castle. Covered in scars, grumbling and now missing his right ear. Kanil and Rakust embraced the dwarf.
Ingiz had been surviving in the area, but had to trek far to find anything edible and fought even more zombies on his own losing his shield as well.
Kanil unwrapped and presented Ingiz with his lost axe and found him a new shield. All felt right with the world to the human warrior.

For the final battle to come they would set out only with those who distinguished themselves in battle. The tower of Glitteredlanterns was famous for its nigh endless hordes and an army would be visible from far away likely leading to the necromancer dispatching it's horde. A small squad was also dangerous as any group of cold hunters could likely take them, but this was the difference between no chance and small chance.
The list of those who went is as follows:
Ingiz Laboredgirders
Ushrir Cloistersensed
Apo the Spearman
Ersi the Strong
Nemo the Elf
Curo the Smith
Pamud the Elephant


They all set out north from the ruined city, it's ground still desolate and dead despite being free, and headed for the destroyed hillocks known to be near the tower. Kanil used this opportunity to speak with Nemo. Elves were uncommon in the south, an elven settlement even more so, and one with a competent elven warrior? Unheard of. Conversation was a welcome break in an endless sea of dead brown and black lands
"Nemo." Kanil called with a hand waved towards him. The elf looked towards him and moved closer into talking distance and waited quietly to for Kanil to speak more. "You came south as refugees? Tell me of your family?"
"Yes. My family is large and had many friends in the dwarf communities. The goblins of the Elder Hell have had free reign to raid and burn our forests for some time now and so we fled with ours to live with my aunt here, but we arrived to find her and most of the town dead already."
"There's a story tell me more!" Kanil was fascinated. Death was very common out here, but learning what happened to the elves interested him.
"These hordes we are fighting. They had at one point advanced further into dwarven lands into the village you found me in. They were led by a cold hunter named Kib Soakdyes The Long Brute of Scorn"
Kanil blanched at that. Dwarves had told of this great warrior regularly at the taverns, but that hardly interested Kanil. How long the dwarf's wanted poster remained on the bulletin to this day did speak volumes though. Nemo noticed his face
"Yes, that one. He came and killed the defenders. My aunt was the mayor and he lined her and others up before the surviving villagers and beheaded them all. My niece I want your help to rescue is her daughter." Nemo looked as if he was being torn in two "As much as I want to finish this campaign of yours as quickly as possible to find her I also can not deny my joy at avenging my family."
Kanil clapped the elf on the shoulder "Savor this moment my friend"


They reached the small hillocks and killed a handful of zombies searching around for anything remotely useful. When they reached the civic mound they opened the door to find a cold hunter waiting. Not any cold hunter either for Kanil recognized the description from the wanted posters. This was the Kib Soakdyes they were just speaking of. Nemo's face had gone pale as the undead dwarf turned and stared at him specifically as if seeing into his soul. "Identify yourself" He spoke to the elf only.
Nemo seemed fearful for the first time and stumbled upon his words before lying.

Then the monster continued to press questions on Nemo only. The elf-slayer didn't seem interested in the rest of the party and Kanil used the opportunity to walk up and around the creature. It did not react at all as it continued a barrage of questions that would soon end in killing Nemo. Kanil walked up directly beside the dwarf and stared trying to look more curious than hostile. Within a moment he swung his massive blade and beheaded the dwarf before it had time to react beyond turning invisible.


Another leader of the horde dead. Nemo stared at the corpse totally still almost not breathing. Kanil did not understand this kind of revenge lacking a family to mourn himself, but he did understand when people needed space. He and the rest of the gang waited outside as Pamud found some dried grass that wasn't too rotted. As Nemo walked out he looked at Kanil "I will follow you to the ends of the earth" and then continued walking.
"Welcome to the team, lad" Ingiz chuckled


From there they went to the tower itself; Foreboding doom glaring down at a land it had already murdered. Next to it Kanil had found a small camp, thanks only to his tracking skills, and found goblins and dwarves. He couldn't identify which goblin civilization they were from, but they clearly were. What were they doing out here? Bandits could not survive in these lands, even goblins. The party did not have time to find out or wipe out the camp for fear of being seen and overwhelmed by the tower.

They continued to creep around to the eastern side of the tower complex avoiding all the barrows. According to legend each was filled with an army of the dead waiting to be unleashed at any time. They had now reached the tower

Source:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Warhammer, but also https://www.pinterest.ch/pin/632122497675157408/

They tried to sneak into it, but goblin zombies came rushing out having sensed their life force. They quickly and easily dispatched them.
"So much for surprise, eh" Ersi spoke to Apo as the spearwoman tried to pull her spear out of a zombie's head. Apo fell to the ground as she pulled the spear out and spoke with a scowl "We shouldn't give up on trying to sneak in though. Maybe they didn't hear that"
"They didn't hear that they're more deaf than me, lad" Ingiz said
"Apo's still right. We shouldn't assume anything" Kanil finished and that was that.


Within the tower was an intense air popping and the sound of meat squelching. It was shifting in regularity and intensity. Kanil drew closer and climbed the stairs to find the source and found another unheard of sight in all the history of these lands: The cold hunters were fighting each other


The superhumans were fighting at lightning speeds as they threw blows that would kill a mortal, but their own toughened bodies continued. It was an unbelievable scene and the one belief that had prevailed across the lands was that the cold hunters did not have the ability to rebel or fight their own, but here they were. The first rebellion in the history of the tower.

They crept back down for fear of getting drawn into the battle and began to explore the bottom floor. Suddenly someone dashed by. A beautiful woman with long white hair dashed past them and into another room. This was likely a necromancer and someone they needed to kill so the crew crept into that room and surrounded her.


She was covered in jewelry that emphasized her deep green eyes. Her long wild hair flowed down almost distracting from the axe she carried. One of the most important weapons in the history of the world

Thought lost to the demons who destroyed the city it was made in and now here. Following her hair down to her wrist was another artifact from the dwarves. An accursed artifact made by a dwarf that cursed his own kind to his last breath.

Legend said that if it returned to the dwarves it would seek to destroy them again.
Ingiz and Ushrir were baffled at this sight. The woman turned to see this crowd before her as the distant sounds of true death continued.
"I am Kanil Inchwhips" Kanil said striding up to her with his sword ready.
"I am Cor" She said with a power that washed over them all.
"The goddess of youth?" Kanil laughed and wished to turn his head to see how the others were reacting, but found he could not move at all.
"Is this so strange to you, Kanil? The power you have achieved some would likely call you a king. With my own I became a goddess"
"Why-why can't I move. Ingiz, Ersi, someone help" Kanil called
"No. You will wait there while I speak to your leader" Her voice was soft and calm and yet had all the authority she was claiming. "What is that you came here for, Kanil? What do you truly desire?" She said as she touched his cheek. Visions flooded his mind as she was tearing into it. Visions of his own life intermixed with things he did not recognize at all. A great swamp, burned forests, and war so much war.


She withdrew her hand and the visions faded "You are guided by forces unknown to you. All your desires that you live by and the path you think you have chosen." She laughed before continuing "It isn't yours. Dear Kanil you have always done what others have told you haven't you? What if I could give you what you truly want buried beneath all these chains others have on you?" As she finished the visions began again.
Kanil was fighting great battles. Elves, dwarves, goblins, men, giant monsters and shadows themselves and then he was standing over them all Cloudfought raised and Pamud at his side. The vision shifted again and he was on a throne the world having been broken before him and now offering obeisance.
"I can give you all this and more" she purred as visions continued Kanil was elevated soon above kingship. He was part of the pantheon of gods now. Then ascending past this as he slew each one other than Cor herself: She was his guide, his teacher, his confidant and more if he wished so.
Kanil felt like he had been dying of hunger his whole life, but never knew until this moment. He deeply wanted all these things. To submit to her vision. Then suddenly a new image. The great swamp from before. A great towering beast began to rise from the depths of the swamp as it stared down as small fragile Kanil. He was little more than a babe in the vision as he stared up at it. It did not speak and it's intentions and will were impossible to comprehend through it's eyes. He felt something in his heart as it looked at him that he did not understand. There was something about himself he did understand though.


The vision ended. "What? How did y-" the goddess spoke as the invisible chains her magic had around his fell with the vision, but he did not let her finish as he stabbed Cloudfought into her skull and killed her. Here lied Othla the founder and leader of the necromancers and self-proclaimed goddess of youth.
Kanil picked up the artifacts she had with her as well as her jewelry.
"What was that creature?" Nemo spoke as he and the others recovered from the shock of being frozen still as they were
"A goddess apparently. Let's finish dealing with the rest of the tower before we discuss more" Kanil responded
"Kanil, watch those artifacts. They're cursed don't touch them with your bare skin" Ingiz said leaning on his axe

The rest of the tower had been destroyed. Each cold hunter was dead crushed into paste by each other. It seemed as if the necromancers had been murdered as well in the fighting. Cor would have been the only survivor of the tower had they not shown up. It seemed somewhat disappointing to Kanil even though he stood no chance against these beings otherwise. He ascended the tower and ignored the books and reached it's peak.
Did he even know what he found there?





OOC:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

We really did find the killer of Nemo's aunt literally a few in-game hours after he mentioned it lol that was really weird.
I did a legends search and not a single entity on this whole world claims to be Cor other than the actual deity. So the necromancer picking a false identity as the goddess of youth really was a crazy coincidence to me. She is also older than recorded history and so it fits!
The dialogue with her was influenced on a mix of things: The background I came up with for Kanil, her chosen name, the fact that she was a master at most conversational skills including deception and also what she was literally saying in the in-game conversation


Oh also Kanil became a swordmaster and is an expert armor user. Still a dabbling dodger though so I can think of a lot of enemies that could still kill him.
Ingiz did show up randomly without me doing anything.
The tower breaking out into civil war was strange, but oddly solved my problems. Definitely not the outcome I expected, but should any less by expected? Most of the tower's leadership had been killed and so their were huge power vacuums to fill.

[King Zultan]

Things in this adventure are really shaping up to be an epic adventure.

[Maloy]

Things in this adventure are really shaping up to be an epic adventure.

Glad you think so! I have enjoyed how most major historical entities are in someway connected to one another in legends!
I wonder if that is just luck of the world gen or if this is just the ideal size for interconnectivity?

It's good to see you being recognized as a hero. I remember the good old days of 0.34 when after killing a megabeast or two, people would be stunned by your presence. It makes it feel like you're really doing something.

I wonder if it is because it takes awhile for the npcs to register your heroic acts or because I went around performing the telling of stories all about my own deeds?



Also the initial post has been updated with a directory to posts as well as a small thing about what adventure mode is for anyone who decides to read and is unfamiliar