Gurzgrat hoped the ‘halfling’ would wake up soon, he was starting to get hungry, and they were the BEST cooks. Although there wasn’t much around to eat… He might not be able to cook as a half-lizard! That’s like torture, halflings love cooking! And he might not be able to do it! He picked up his pace, from a slow amble, to a less slow amble. He stopped, and wondered which way he’d go. ‘I know that there’s mages in the Empire who could fix him, but that’s far away. I think there’s mages in Cathay that could do it, but I’m not sure. Maybe I could ask some farmers in Cathay where I could find some.” He set off to the east, after coming to that conclusion, entirely missing the red eyes that glared out from a crack in the rocks at him. Gurzgrat started a fire when it started getting dark, managing to find some eggs to supplement his rapidly diminishing stock of meat, and fried them up using a pan he had. The ‘Halfling’ he had carried towards Cathay woke up then, at first it jumped nearly a foot in the air in shock, then seemed to calm -He couldn’t tell with lizard face- it looked around, trying to figure out it’s surroundings, “I’m taking you to Cathay to get you fixed, little buddy” He said soothingly in Riekspiel, handing it some eggs and meat. Tzaqor ate the food, while trying to figure out what the ogre said. Every now and again he checked a body part to be sure he wasn’t eating Skink meat. He knew a few words in Riekspiel and Breton, from listening to the Humans, Elves and Vampires talk. He also had a slight grasp on Queekish due to Scetto’s notes on translating Saurian. He only managed to translate ‘Fixed’ and was seriously worried about the implications. After the ogre had fallen asleep, the Skaven walked into the firelight. Tzaqor started to jump to his feet to fight it, but then realized it was Scetto, and that he was holding a limp body “Tzaqor, what are you doing here?” The assassin hissed quietly in Saurian, “I could ask the same thing of you!” He whispered back. Scetto looked like he’d lost a fight with a vampire! The skaven murmured back “I asked first! Also I’m not the one who was slung on an Ogre’s shoulder, unconscious” Tzaqor couldn’t really argue the point, and explained. The Skaven rocked back on his heels when he finished. “What are you doing here?” The skink repeated. Scetto relayed to him the events in Cuaqtla while he was gone, and also explained what he had seen after he’d left. It was Tzaqor’s turn to be shocked, Scetto finished with, “Last time I checked they were following me, but I’m not sure whether it’s after me, or Anerhet’s body. The Ogre rolled over, muttering something in his sleep. “On that note, what do we do about him? From what I’ve heard, he’s convinced you’re a halfling, caught halfway in a transformation to a lizard, by an evil mage’s spell. He’s heading to Cathay to find a wizard to transform you back.” Tzaqor stiffened upon hearing that last part. Gurzgrat woke up to the ‘Lizardling’ as he had taken to calling it in the long hours of walking talking to a man sized rat in a hissing manner, and they both instantly stopped talking, and looked at him. There was a long moment of silence as the ogre thought about what to do. Suddenly a wide smile broke across his face, as he figured that they were friends. He turned and started relighting the fire to make food, as the two unlucky mage victims kept talking. They were halfway through breakfast when the clouds started roll around the corner, with startling speed. The ‘Lizardling started screeching something at the Rat, and he turned to Gurzgrat, and said in accented Riekspiel “We need to get out of here!” and started to pack everything in the camp as fast as possible. Upon realizing something bad -in a magical sense- was happening, the Ogre practically inhaled it’s food and started to help. Tzaqor joined in as soon as he got over his shock. The shadow of the clouds was a few hundred meters away when they started running in the other direction, they would have been caught, but something must have drawn the caster’s attention and they escaped. They still kept on moving quickly, but it wasn’t the sprint they had done before. Gurzgrat kept checking over his shoulder to be sure that the clouds were behind, and after hours of checking over his shoulder, his efforts caused him to run into something. He turned around to see an Orc warboss sprawled on the floor, the greenskin started to get back up in outrage, axe in hand. “I’ll kill all a’ youz!” He shouted angrily. “You two go on ahead, I’ll handle this pipsqueak.” His grin nearly took in his ears as he drew his club, an elaborately carved and inlaid weapon, showing that he had extreme prestige. The Lizardling and Rat sprinted away quickly. ‘I really need to ask about that body’ he reminded himself “So, why don’t you believe Ardaris is dead?” Tzaqor asked amid pants “Okay, this is a long story, and you need to understand her earlier history as a vampire” The story of her early days as a vampire shocked the chief, and after telling that Scetto continued on “During her wars she fought on the frontline, like most vampires do, but the way she ensured that no lucky man could kill her was two fold. First, she had extremely heavily enchanted armour, what it did was not only protect her, but it also absorbed the souls of every person she killed, and allowed her to use them to power her spells, this armour is linked to her soul, meaning no one can use it other than her. Second, She had a jewel enchanted that would draw upon a power source, to draw her soul from any part of the world to it, and bring her back. Similar in some ways to the Von Carstein Ring, She had this forged onto her armour, so guess where it draws the power from. Tzaqor was nodding in understanding, then asked, “What’s the Von Carstein Ring?” Scetto just sighed in response, and they kept running. Tzaqor then looked back at him “Also, where is it we’re heading, and what are you going to do with Anerhet’s corpse?” Scetto sighed again, “There was a tower just at the edge of the mountain range, where she stored everything, it’s sealed magically, and will probably be buried right now, I can get us to the right location. As for Anerhet, I was hoping to take his body to Cuaqtla, so we can bury him.” Tzaqor nodded. He hoped the assassin was right. They kept running straight until they left the Mountains, and while Scetto would have prefered to keep going, Tzaqor couldn’t so they would have to stop for the skink. This came as a major revelation for the skaven, he knew that Tzaqor was fit enough to run almost non-stop, but due to his mutations Scetto would end up running the skink into the ground. He would either have to slow down, or leave him behind. The dark clouds started flowing out of the mountains, the soldiers nearly concealed in the darkness. “We had better be continuing” Tzaqor said after looking back and seeing the approaching shadows, “I hope that ogre is okay. It wasn’t his fault that he got caught up in this.” Scetto nodded, and started to head north, Tzaqor turning to follow. The vampire surveyed her surroundings, she couldn’t remember who she was, where she was, or how she got here. Every now and then a memory surfaced and stuck with her, but they were coming through slowly, and didn’t seem to be connected. She stood up, her armour creaking in protest due to the dust in it’s joints. She started to pace around the room she was in. The metal gradually lost the thick coating of dust. The dust of over three thousand years of waiting for it’s master’s return. With that remembrance the past events came flooding back to her, her names, what she had done, everything. They arrived at the hill the tower was beneath a few minutes before it’s inhabitant started to emerge. They felt a crackle of power and a portion of the slope blew itself outwards, revealing the top of the tower, with Ardaris standing there. She stood in black-washed plate, with silvered edges, and a gem inlaid in the sternum, it was dark blue. They also noted that she had no weapons on her, which was odd considering the armour. Her eyes widened when she saw them, it was definitely not what she had expected, “What are-” she started to ask, but Scetto cut her off, “No time to explain” he said, “there’s trouble coming.” She looked absolutely bewildered, “But… how did you get here? What’s coming? And whose body are you holding?” Scetto flinched visibly at the final question, Tzaqor started answering her questions, trying to keep it short. “I’m here due to incredibly bad luck, Scetto’s here to find you, the trouble is hard to explain, and the body is-” He broke off, unable to continue, the pain was too much for him to continue, which made Ardaris worry more, she’d never seen the skink choke up like that. She moved closer to Scetto to see who it was, and stiffened with horror when she realised. Tears started to run down her cheeks, “Anerhet” the vampire whispered, caught in a moment of pure anguish. Important Characters Tzaqor- Was the highest ranking Skink Chief of Cuaqtla, rode a Ripperdactyl, taken by Ruagahnn whilst heading to Lustria, currently in the company of Ardaris and Scetto Scetto- Master Assassin, he was 'The Black Terror of Mordheim' but later hid with Thrikth's clan, Skritchvit. He is rapidly mutating and is the current wielder of the Fellblade that was used to destroy Nagash Ardaris- A powerful vampire who allied with the lizardmen of Cuaqtla, and left to find allies, died fighting an overwhelming force of Orcs, resurrected by very strong magic. Gurzgrat the Titanic- A very large ogre tyrant, thirteen feet tall, seven feet wide at the shoulder, he has a protective streak a mile wide, and loves the company of those who enjoy food and drink. Last seen eating a pulverised orc. Deceased Characters Anerhet- A Tomb King who has split off from the rest of Nehekhara and became reclusive, left Kheba, a small settlement on the coast, with the Lizardmen when it was attacked by an Orcish horde. Destroyed by Bolisudtai
Definitely digging the quick pace and the rapid action beats! The Ogre brings some great subtle comedy to the story. Not in your face slapstick comedy sidekick. Just the subtlety of someone who, with little understanding comes up with reasonable (to him) explanations, and goes out of his way to help fix these situations! Great addition to the story!
Terrific. Enjoyed it all. For sad Spawning of Bob reasons, my favorite bit was the beautiful lamp shading of "what's the Von Carstein ring?"