LordOfTheNight

The Plague Knight Chronicles: Chapter 1

@shylarah Sorry. Not possible with the Cursed. There's nothing left to bring back unfortunately

The Plague Knight Chronicles: Chapter 1

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Lucian was thankful Lua didn't argue with him and simply took the crossbow. Had Lucian thought they'd be fighting in such a confined space, he'd have packed his tether bolts to ensure if the child was Cursed she couldn't jump around or run off. Tethering something to a brick wall was always more preferable than tethering them to something as loose as dirt or mud. Lucian then noticed Mergoux begin moving forward and cursed to himself. He wanted her to stay back but it was too late as she'd already gotten too close. Then she made the next mistake, she spoke to the girl with an outstretched hand. The old raven prepared his ax as the young girl looked up at Mergoux. She appeared totally normal as she sniffled and rubbed her nose. "I got lost. I can't find mama and papa" she said in a timid tone. She got in a tighter ball as Mergoux reached out towards her. Mergoux's hand was a mere half a foot away when the girl's face had changed entirely from that of a sweet and innocent young girl to that of something of nightmares, the girl leaping like a frog to knock the mercenary over with an astonishing amount of strength.

Her eyes were sunken in and milky white, vacant of all color and pupiless. The skin surrounding the eyes was a bruised purple and wrinkled. Her skin was totally discolored, white like a corpse but yellowish in some areas as though the skin was beginning to rot. Her mouth was far too large for her head and full of not 1 but 2 sets of crooked and broken teeth to form gnarly points. It was then also apparent that she'd chewed off all the flesh at the tips of her fingers to reveal bone points. She....no no longer she, IT smelled of death and rot as it spoke in a voice that was many horrific voices. "We WiLl SwAlLoW yOuR fIlThY fUcKiNg HeArT" it screamed as it tried to drown Mergoux in the raw sewage. Thankfully, Lucian put his armored boot into the creature's chest and sent it flying back where it rolled into a crouched position like a cat ready to pounce. "You want her heart, come and get it" he quipped.

The creature chortled at the old raven, that was when Lucian noticed figures appearing in the darkness behind it. What was once a one eyed man, a large woman, and a young boy. Each appearing much like her but in varying stages of decomposition. "GlAdLy, FoOlIsH oLd MaN" the man said in the same voice. Lucian felt a tug in his gut and focused on what he could hear. Scratching against rocks above them. His eyes began to widen as he realized the sound was behind them. "LUA BEHIND YOU!" he yelled. Mere feet away, scaling along the ceiling was 1 more of them, a shirtless corpse that was horribly disfigured. It's head hung backward so the back of it's head rested against the spine, it's arms bending the wrong direction as it shrieked at Lua. Lucian focused his attention on the immediate threat before them. He sunk his ax into the girl's head as she leaped and split it like a log, the wound hissing and sizzling as though the blade was white hot. This seemed to cause the creatures to pause and eye Mergoux.

The Plague Knight Chronicles: Chapter 1

@Fetzen Take your time

The Plague Knight Chronicles: Chapter 1

@Fetzen Perhaps. Message me with the character you had in mind and I'll see if we can fit them in

The Plague Knight Chronicles: Chapter 1

OH JOY! I didn't realize we made it to page 2. Sweetness!

The Plague Knight Chronicles: Chapter 1

@shylarah Yes. If they are Cursed than they won't register as having a soul or spirit of any kind

The Plague Knight Chronicles: Chapter 1

@shylarah She's gonna kinda register as nothing. Not living, not dead, merely an absence of anything except emptiness

The Plague Knight Chronicles: Chapter 1

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The old raven watched as the bone woman cast a spell to give them a bit of light. It wasn't very bright but that was perhaps due to the darkness being manifested by the cursed. It was darkness one could choke on. Lucian cursed himself for not bringing oil with them to make a torch. Too late to worry about it now. Mergoux took the lead as she seemed to be able to track the child's voice. Lucian moved slowly, gripping his ax and breathing slowly and calmly despite their surroundings. The bone woman then spoke up and Lucian hissed towards her. "Quiet woman! We don't need to make our position more known" he whispered. The old raven scowled as he considered whether or not to tell the group what they faced. If he told the whole truth, it would likely scare them and leave their will weakened. If he told them nothing, they could easily get themselves killed and the pair would have failed their oath to guard the living. Only what they must know for the situation. He sighed as he came to a decision.

"All you both need to know for now is to be on guard. These things are crafty and have a tendency to ambush you. You want these things dead? Fire, dismemberment, or the wax my apprentice and I use. Now quiet!" he said as the voice could still be heard in the darkness. "Momma! Papa! Anyone!" it said. You could hear the child whimpering and clearly crying. Lucian wasn't sure how a child managed to get into the catacombs until they found something. An opening in the wall of the catacombs that lead into a circular tunnel of bricks. Then the smell hit him. Shit, piss, human waste. They'd found their way into a sewer. This made some semblance of sense. Perhaps the child was poor and homeless and had taken shelter in the sewers to avoid the rain and merely gotten lost. Lucian pulled a cloth up over his face and nose as the smell was something truly foul. Thankfully the waste wasn't ankle deep and the rain was drowning some of the stench. As they trekked deeper into the sewer, a shape became apparent before them. It was short and had long black hair that was dirty, curled into a ball against the wall. The girl.

"Hello? Is someone there?" the girl asked. Lucian rested his hand on the mercenary's shoulder to tell her to stay where she was. "Lua, stay here with them. If she's cursed it's better she isn't in the middle of our group" he instructed. Lucian took his crossbow off his shoulder and handed it to Lua along with his bolts. She knew how to use it thankfully, her aim however was hit and miss. At this range, he at least felt comfortable putting her in charge. The crossbow was truly a unique design, a lever action device that pulled the drawstring back quickly and effortlessly and made firing it much faster. Before he stepped forward, he looked at the group. "If this girl is cursed, suppress your fear and trust your actions. We don't need them getting the upper hand. Am I understood?" he questioned sternly with a raised eyebrow.

The Plague Knight Chronicles: Chapter 1

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Lucian's hand went for his ax as she pulled his shovel from his hands. He growled low like a dog. "Rather then stand in my way, perhaps let me do my duty. If what stands between me stopping the cursed is you, than I will break my oath" he said. She was trying his patience a great deal as she urged him to allow her to help. The mercenary woman asked what she knew of this infection. How she could help. She then admitted that she was a bone mage seeking the source of these 'restless dead'. She spoke of speaking to the man's spirit and Barret pinched the bridge of his nose. He was growing more frustrated by the moment as she insisted there were other means. "What you are suggesting is impossible. His soul is gone. Forever. Consumed by the curse that had infected his family and the rest of the lands. You wish to stop this? Let us do our job" he growled in annoyance.

Lua spoke up and took her shovel with annoyance as she began to start digging. He gave her an annoyed look but she was doing what needed to be done. He took notice however of the bubbles forming from the soft dirt. He raised an eyebrow and approached. "Bubbles? That's peculiar" he commented, more to himself than the others. It wasn't decomposition from what he could smell. Dust was what he smelled. Lucian raised an eyebrow as the bubbling continued when she disturbed the surface. The ground seemed uneven. "Perhaps..." he began. It wasn't long till the realization began and by then it was too late. The ground opened up in an instant, sucking them down into a room below them. The dust hit him like a bag of bricks, mud coating his boots and armor. He growled in annoyance as he pinched the bride of his nose. "Goddess why? Goddess damn it all" he sighed.

Lucian picked himself up out of the dirt and offered Lua a hand. He then noticed the coffin that had come down with them. The old raven raised an eyebrow and approached to see that the coffin had flipped over to reveal a large hole in the bottom. Lucian's eyes widened as he realized just what had happened. The man was indeed one of the Cursed. He'd managed to break out of the bottom coffin and dug free. Then he realized where they'd landed. It was a catacomb. Corpses everywhere, skeletons on the walls. "Goddess damn it" he growled. He drew his ax immediately and looked about. "Lua, quickly use your wax. Fast" he hissed. Lucian reached into his pack and produced a brick of wax that was a dark pink hue. The wax was one of the greatest tools they had in their arsenal. A mixture of dog fat made into tallow, mushrooms found in the caves of Rabenest, and several drops of the black water they kept. It was deadly to the cursed.

"PLEASE! SOMEBODY HELP ME!" a voice called out deeper inside the catacombs. A young voice that belonged to a scared child

The Plague Knight Chronicles: Chapter 1

@Overlord Thraka Go ahead and post