Overlord Thraka

The Plague Knight Chronicles: Chapter 1

Mergoux was still sloshing around, jabbing quickly in and out with her knives, slashing away at the flesh slowly. One arm was cut so deep the bone was exposed, and were the woman alive she would have died half a dozen times over from bloodloss. As it was, Mergoux was flecked with the undead's blood, soaked in shit-water and just wanted to get above ground again.

The tunnel echoed with a howl of rage, and Mergoux spared a glance to see the Black Knight taking out his anger on the undead youth. Grunting her approval, she darted forwards again, and with a powerful blow she managed to sever the already badly damaged arm, a few seconds before the axe slammed home into the fat woman's skull. Mergoux was hit by a spray of blood, but that didn't stop her as The Raven Knight kicked the woman to the sewer floor and ordered Mergoux to finish it.

She nodded once, and with practiced ease casually threw one of her twin blades so that it embedded itself on the half-submerged corpse of the man she'd already taken down. She wasn't about to sheath the blood-soaked dagger and make cleaning the sheath even harder. It would be enough to get the sewer stink off it.

She hefted the axe in one hand, not clumsily, but not with the same expert proficiency that she used her blades with. Having missed her chance to take out her disgust and rage on the one who'd knocked her down, instead she gritted her teeth silently and began butchering the woman before her. The axe came down again and again, joined by the remaining dagger as she took the woman apart piece by piece. A minute or so later she was breathing heavily, her shoulders rising and falling as she did so. Bits of the woman floated here and there, and speckled the walls. Mergoux was splattered with blood as her violent outburst, silent but deadly, had left the woman almost unrecognizable as once human.

She lazily handed the axe back to Lucian. "Here... Name's Mergoux. Suppose you deserve to know it after all this... shit" she said, gesturing to the battle they'd been a part of. She rolled her shoulders and retrieved her second knife, wiping the blades crudely on her pant leg before putting them away. The threat was dealt with, now there was only to get clean. Not that Mergoux hated or was afraid of dirt, but after taking a dive into sewage, she felt disgusting.

She was distracted by the Knight swearing loudly and falling to his knees. Mergoux moved next to him, kneeling also and was about to attempt to steady him when she saw the wounds closing. Even under her helmet, the open mouth and wide-eyed expression betrayed her surprise. She'd never seen anything like this before. What potion was this that could heal so quickly?

The Plague Knight Chronicles: Chapter 1

Mergoux snarled as the one-eyed man and the child skittered towards her, brain already working on how to dismember them without her largest sword. Her solution presented itself as the Knight embedded his axe in the fat woman's face, the child skittering towards him instead with a howl of rage. Presented with only one foe, the fight would be relatively simple.

Mergoux took two steps forwards to meet the one-eyed man's charge, and as she did so she swung her right hand, knuckle dagger gripped tightly, towards the man's face. The full force of her body and it's movement was built up behind the punch, and the semi-rotted flesh didn't offer hardly enough resistance to the powerful woman's blow. The man's nose caved in and he was sent to the floor, dropped instantly by the power of the punch.

Before he could get to his feet, Mergoux had jumped into the air and brought her entire body weight, combined with a double-kick to his chest. The horrific sound of splintering bone and rending flesh filled the air as he howled through crushed lungs, the woman's boots embedded in his chest. Mergoux knew this wouldn't kill him of course, but it would give her time enough to do what she needed. Half-submerged in filthy water, the man was virtually helpless as her long daggers flashed out, each slashing twice at the arms and then together at where the neck met shoulder. The head was held on by a scrap of flesh, and with another jump-stomp, both arms were torn away, most of the flesh rent by her blade, and the bones snapped by her heavy boots.

Now convinced her foe was mostly harmless, she proceeded to make sure he was utterly destroyed, yet another double stomp smashing his pelvis and rendering him totally immobile. Pain or not, you physically couldn't walk or move with your pelvis in a dozen pieces.

Turning her eye to the knight, she saw he needed help, and so she moved to do just that. His axe was laying in a puddle, having chipped away a portion of the one-eyed man's scalp, and as she advanced on the two undead, she picked it up, holding it a little awkwardly in one hand. Catch! she called out to him, even as she moved to the fat woman. Her tactic from before wouldn't work here, but this one was fat, meaning she'd be slower. Mergoux began dancing around her, blocking or avoiding the woman's strikes, while beginning to chip away at the blubbery arms, hacking here, slashing there, aiming to declaw her before she could hurt anyone else.

The Knight could deal with the boy, or else he was no knight at all, for now all she could do was keep the bitch busy while he put down the freakish child.

The Plague Knight Chronicles: Chapter 1

Mergoux shouted as she was knocked over, the swing of her weapon falling too slow as she was sent into the filth. It was a trick, of course it was. How could she have been so foolish? Deep down she knew why, she'd hoped that it really was just a lost little girl, a little girl who needed help, and that the plague hadn't spread to the city already. If it had, then there was little chance that the four of them could stop it. She caught herself then, even as she went down, already she was associating them together? It had been a long time since she'd had a squad of any kind, she could take the little girl, even if she was being brought down by the ambush.

Mergoux might have been taken by surprise, but she had experience in combat more than any other here. Before the Raven Knight's boot sent the creature flying, Mergoux was already bashing at it with the knuckle dagger, while holding it off with her other armored hand. Filthy water filled her nose and covered her face, but she had enough discipline to keep her mouth tightly sealed, knowing that the last thing she needed today was to literally eat shit.

As soon as the weight lifted off her chest, she emerged from the water swearing violently. Her mouth tasted like sewage and she was going to have to burn her clothes. Still swearing, she drew forth her second dagger and took up a ready stance. "Bastards!" she said, even as the little girl's skull was split beside her by the Knight. She knew the undead, but not of this kind, just to be safe, she lashed out with a powerful blow, severing the girl's head at the neck and letting the body fall to the ground. Rolling her shoulders she fell back into her stance, eyeing the approaching enemies cautiously. She didn't like this, not one bit. Undead aside, the tunnel was too cramped for her to bring out her big weapons, namely her greatsword, and her crossbow would be useless without a bit of the wax that The Apprentice had.

The Knight shouted, and Mergoux was half-tempted to turn her head, but that could prove a fatal mistake. Her hearing told her there was only three beings behind her, or at least only three making noise, that meant the other two women, and another undead thing. The Mage she didn't know enough to judge, but if the apprentice was half as good as her master then she could handle a single fiend. A light began to glow behind her, but she stayed still, even as her shadow was cast before her. And so she waited, knowing in the past that the first move was often made by the loser in a battle, patience being key, and for combat she had plenty.

The Plague Knight Chronicles: Chapter 1

Mergoux's footsteps echoed through the catacombs, until with a sickening splash, she entered the sewers. The smell was obscene, and it took a great deal of willpower for The Butcher to hold back a gag. Wrinkling her nose in revulsion, she pressed determinedly onwards towards the noise of the girl. She didn't pause to stifle the stench, knowing already that getting it from her armor and clothes would take days. Instead she kept going, even as waves of foul air billowed around her.

It didn't take long for them to find the child, a small girl, cowering with her back to them. The poor thing was curled against the wall, and Mergoux's first instinct was to move forwards and comfort the girl, but... she couldn't bring herself to do it, something felt... off. Looking over her shoulder, she saw her unwanted companions working among themselves. A crossbow was being aimed at the girl, a thing which normally would send Mergoux into a rage, but now she remained calm, if nothing else then for the child's sake.

Sheathing one of her knuckle daggers, she stooped low and shuffled forwards, one gauntleted hand outstreached. "Easy there." she said, softly, almost kindly. It was not the tone she'd spoken to the others with, but one that promised no harm. "Are you alright? Turn child, let me see you." As she spoke, the Bone-Mage's stunned whisper registered in her brain, and Mergoux tensed, her right hand gripping her weapon tightly in case all went to hell in the next few moments. "Child, let me see your face, please, no harm will come to you." she promised, though privately she already knew that her promise was a lie. If the mage was right, then the creature before her would have to be put down, permanently.

The Plague Knight Chronicles: Chapter 1

Mergoux had been preparing her scathing retort to the Bone Mage, when the ground fell from under them, sending the four plummeting into the earth. The fall wasn't long, and the landing was hard, leaving them more annoyed than hurt, Mergoux especially. Swiftly getting to her feet, she snarled angrily and brushed dust off herself. "Goddamn' stupid-" she swore, only to stop the moment she heard the child's voice.

It was a trick, it had to be a trick, the likelihood of a child becoming trapped down... wait, where exactly where they? It was like a series of catacombs, perhaps an ancient set of burial grounds that began at the church, and extended well past the building itself. In all honesty it was a wonder the place wasn't half-collapsed, as by her own estimate they were barely fifteen feet below ground, and there were some heavy bloody gravestones or mausoleums in that churchyard. Then again, perhaps they were in the shallowest part of the catacombs...

Her mind focused as the child cried out again, and instantly she turned towards the noise. There was no confusing her, she could pick out the direction of the sound easily. Within the confines of the catacombs her greatsword would be too unwieldy, so instead she drew forth her twin knuckle-daggers, overlarge as they were. The weapons were unusual, long, falchion-like weapons, each with a brass knuckle grip as part of the handle. The grip served several purposes, besides making punches more powerful, they also served to make knocking the weapon from Mergoux's hand slightly more difficult, as well as serving as counter-balance for if she chose to hurl the weapon like a knife. They were weighted properly for throwing, but still too big to be effective. To that regard, she had three small throwing knives on the back of her belt, just in case. 'Be Prepared', that was a saying Mergoux lived by.

"This way." she said, moving off with one dagger held normally, and the other in a reverse grip as the skull bounced past her feet. There was no waiting, whatever was down here, she'd either save the child from it, or kill the thing that pretended to be said child. Either way, blood would be spilled. It almost made her feel a little excited, almost.

The Plague Knight Chronicles: Chapter 1

@Lordofthenight There ya be my good sir! Hope my ramblings didn't upset what the undead dudes actually are like, I just figured dead=equaled germs=infection, but I shall change as needed.

The Plague Knight Chronicles: Chapter 1

Mergoux snorted in derision. Another spiritual fool. Mergoux held very little faith in the arcane, or even the gods, not really caring one way or another about them. It wasn't that she didn't believe in them, she just didn't care to obey a single one of their rules. She made her own way in life, and when death came she'd take what lot she was given, but fools like the one before her annoyed her. They thought themselves more in tune with the world than everyone else in her experience, they were often arrogant, usually pretentious and never likable.

Obviously you've not met one yet. Your words will do nothing. No talk can quiet them, only fire can stop them forever, even steel isn't always effective. she said firmly. You want to learn more? Then give the man his shovel and watch. she said, short and to the point as always. She had no time for wasting, actions spoke far better than any words especially when it came to the undead.

The woman then turned to glance at Lua, her mouth twitching downwards even further as the bladeswoman showed her scar. Mergoux herself bore a scar, half-concealed under her helmet, but the lower portion of her cheek that was visible bore a deep, marring scar on the left side of her face. It looked vaguely like something a claw might have made. Needless to say, she felt Lua's pain in more ways than one. Hm, you're lucky to be alive. Those wounds fester easily. she'd seen it before, a scratch, or bite from an undead festering within hours, the rot that infected their bodies making short work of their victim. Such wounds needed immediate cleansing to avoid serious ramifications.

As the apprentice began to shovel, Mergoux turned her attention to the dirt, watching it bubble oddly, that was far from normal. Her eyes narrowed as she lay a hand on the handle of her massive two-handed sword, slung over her back in a custom sheathe that allowed her to draw it easily in such a position. Something was amiss, and if indeed this corpse was about to spring from the earth, she fully intended to cleave it's skull in two before it was so much as half-way free.

The Plague Knight Chronicles: Chapter 1

@lordofthenight You want me to post now or you wanna go and make one a moment? Give everyone an action?

The Plague Knight Chronicles: Chapter 1

@Lordofthenight no issues at all. I still wont be able to post for another 2 hours or so, but I'll get on it asap when I get home

The Plague Knight Chronicles: Chapter 1

Will post tomorrow evening. Gotta sleep cause work goes early tomorrow my dudes.

Also, y'all wanna make a discord server or just keep using the OOC here?