A grave story - Tombstone

Hail, my name is BlackClaw of Lacheish. You may ask why am I here? Well the reason is I am making the introduction for my cousin Tombstone, who, as you see, prefers the stage life to that of a wandering warrior; unfortunate for him, his skills of taking lives outshine that of his acting skills!

How shall I begin? Let's start at the beginning then -

My aunt Koral married a Stygian at 17, and was on her way back to Lotus Swamp with her husband while heavily pregnant with their first child. As the story goes they were attacked by those pictish whore son, where my aunt's husband died defending the caravan. And it was at the time where my cousin decides that he'll see the world for the first time, and was promptly delivered by my aunt Koral (the poor thing) while hiding in a graveyard. Aunt Koral died of exhaustion after fleeing the pictish mobs and delivered the child while standing up, with a berserker axe in hand flailing at the last of the attacking hordes. She had defended her husband's first born Sigora (a young girl of 8 at the time) and my cousin, and with the last gasp of air, she place the new born atop a tombstone. Oh yes, my cousin was born that way, dropped from his mama's womb into a warring world! I guess that explains why he's a bit funny in the head (ouch! Stop it Tomby! Just joking!).

Well, the rest I will make it short, as it is near dinner, and the clan is roasting a very big and succulent boar *sniff sniff*.... mmmmmmmm. (oh hey, hang on Tomby! I will continue, but I'm hungry, give it a rest cousin! Call off your mutilator, ow ow ow... did not know a mutilator can pinch bottoms!)

Alright where were we? Oh yes, Sigora made her way with the newborn to the nearest farm, think it was those Khitai people, well, they helped her and the baby settle down while sending a message back to Lacheish. While asking for the baby's name, young Sigora was not told of his name by her father nor her new mother (my aunt Koral), and just said he was born on a tombstone. And so, the young Stygian son was known as that, Tombstone.

I shall let my cousin introduce himself further, for I am as hungry as a bear and will not be denied of my food! Roar!

Until we next meat... meet, be well friends!


BlackClaw of Lacheish

OOC Hi, my name is Tom (38), father of 2, working as a security guard. I love playing RPG, and was a big time player of Diablo2. I love this game - AOC, and was one of the first to join the crowd initially.

Unfortunately the bugged made me stayed away for 2 years, and now I am back with a vengeance.

I am rather new to role playing, but see the need and fun in it as it extends the interest in a mmorpg. Thus I need help/pointers for RP, let me know in guild chat, send me a private tell. I am both open minded and enthusiastic.

With my budget constrain, I can only start playing RoGS after October, so, for now, I will sit green eyed from this side of Hyboria ;P.

Here is a side story for Tombstone, it's pretty dark, those who gets jumpy at night, well, sorry about that, it's just dark...

This is done in one sitting, I have no writing experience, so it most probably suck, anywho, let me know if you enjoyed it.

--------------------

A shadow sped in the night, cutting a path through piercing cold wind, freezing rain, going ever higher up a winding road. The dark complexion man seems oblivious to the harshness of the night, the icy muddy slush that would have slowed any other travelers if not for the steed that carried him. Dark power emanates from the man, shimmering darkness enveloping both man and horse.

At the top of the mountain sits a battle keep, where hundreds of soldiers and mercenaries patrolled it's parameters in zigzag formation. No one will get pass them to the keep that is for sure!

The shadow that is the man on the black horse steered clear of the main path to the battle keep, and bash through the snow covered hills to the right, towards the far side of the mountain where the hilly stretch comes to a stop at the bottom of a cliff.

Man dismount horse, and only now it is clearly seen the man is tall, lanky with piercing eyes; because in the dark, one can only see tall, lanky and those strangely iridescent eyes.

He peered up the cliff, see the battle keep at the top, and muttered a few words, at the end of this small chant, the air shimmered and dark particles appears around him. Through the shimmering air, flesh oozed from the ground, forming shapes with limps, and the shapes stood up. Half a dozen mutilators, just enough, he mused. With a flick of his fingers, the mutilators moved, scaling the almost vertical cliff, in one single vertical formation.

Taking a few steps back, the man broke into a run, then, a tremendous leap and landed onto the waiting claws like hands of the lowest rung mutilator. The first minion he summoned made a powerful push upwards, catapulting him through the night air, when he start falling down again he landed onto the second mutilator, and again he was thrown upwards to the next minion. Within minutes, the man flipped over the window sill into a room inside the battle keep.

Crouching low, looking up and down the long corridor, he hears footsteps approaching. Silently running down the corridor to the doorway, he uttered a word just before the patrolling soldier sees him, and the air around this poor hapless creature froze, entombing him in instantly in ice. The soldier, red headed, with brutal scars, still alive, stared at the dark complexion man thru his ice coffin… suffocating, a sudden realization that he will very soon seize to exist.

The dark man watched the soldier die, unblinking eyes showing no emotions.

He made his way thru the doorway, up a winding staircase, listening as he moved along, light footed, melded with the shadows.

Lord Kovasius, he remembered. Lord Kovasius murdered a whole village in the border ranges and took all the young boys for slaves and the young women for his personal pleasure. Among the boys there was one call Thorque, son of Taiho, his uncle. Him he will rescue, the rest? Lady luck smiles upon them! As it is his plan to slaughter all Kovasius men in Benden Keep. Lord Kovasius? The dark man allows himself a smirk when his thought came to this.

With information gathered from until very recently still chatty servants, he came to a hallway dimly lit by a dozen candles; wood panels lined the walls, fine crafted furniture, and heavy curtains. The man slipped behind a curtain and waited.

A creature walked in, no taller than a small child, hairless with weak limbs, pink flesh for body. Like a de-feathered chicken, the dark man observed. It seemed to know that it is not alone, and sniffed the air. It must have smelt something; for it start to open its small toothless mouth, taking in a lungful of air, to call its master?

Quietly, the dark man slipped from behind the curtain, extends his right in the air with a swift gesture, and blew a mouthful of air towards the creature. Instantly the creature turns a shade of grey, skin erupting with boils. The next moment sees the creature crumbled unto the floor, skin crackling apart revealing bones and innards, where they also start to effervesce and decompose.
Once the creature is nothing more but a stain on the floor, the man returned behind the curtain. One can see that there is a dark aura around him by now, he may have taken something from the creature, something that revitalized him.

He waited for a long time, many soldiers walked thru the hall, and servants came and went. But patience finally rewards him the knowledge that his mark is approaching; heavy footsteps, a deep voice barking commands and ordering a girl to be brought to his room.
From a hole in the curtain, the dark man sees the room Lord Kovasius entered, and waited till the body guards and servants are gone. He emerges from the shadow, and once again put a finger to his lips, uttering another incantation. At once the air froze, where the air froze mist formed, and from within the thick mist walked a hulking creature of ice.

A small gesture with his hand, and the ice minion slowly and silently ripped the heavy door from its hinges. The dark man entered the room, and sees Lord Kovasius looking up while pinning a young girl down on his bed, surprised that someone actually dared to interrupt his private time.
Before Kovasius can call for his guards, the dark man, ever so fast with his magic, quickly summoned two minions, the two rotting carcass took hold of Kovasius, and one of them shoved a half decomposed hand into his mouth.

The dark man took a step towards Kovasius, and simply said, “A young Cimmerian boy, give him to me, or my minions hand will go all the way down your throat.”

With his free arm, Kovasius pointed out the window at a prison block across the courtyard.
The dark man smiled, he rose his hands to his temple, whispered a spell so intricate and long, it sounded like a song. Two more rotting carcass materialized, and together with the two holding down Kovasius, they each held up Kovasius legs, and the four took him out the window, scaled all the way down the cliff, where they came to a secluded spot, and while two held on to Kovasius, the other two dug a deep hole. Once completed, they descended into the hole with the writhing man, screaming and crying thru gagged mouth. The rotting minions lay him down, and three of them wrap their bodies, their limbs around the once proud lord of Benden Keep, and soon the dark magic that worked their lifeless body left them, and once again rigor sets in, locking Kovasius in the deep grave, mummified by the dead. The fourth? Ever so slowly, clawed at the wall of the fresh grave, bringing the surrounding soil down, finally burying the still squirming still very much alive Lord Kovasius.

Back at Benden Keep, the dark man emerges from the shadows, summoning with all his might the corrupted minions, going from room to room, floor to floor. Every soldier or mercenary he came upon were either ripped apart by his minions, or horribly cursed with worms erupting from their skin.
At long last he came to the prison block; a bloody trail behind him, and with his ice minion, the prison gate was quickly torn from the frame. Walking into the big hall, he came to a boy, sitting at the table eating roast chicken, with a dozen dead guards strewn around him.

And he said, “Well now, Thorque! You could have made it out on your own!”

Thorque replied, “And missed the show? Cousin, it is not every day that one gets to see a necromancer in action, eh Tomby?”

And only now, did the dark man’s cold murderous look melted into a warm smile.