StarDestroyer.Net BBS

The blazing white ball of the sunk in the east. Dark clouds flittered across a crimson sky. Beneath them a plane of waving grass was crossed by two roads. Forming a trail along the side of the road running east to west were fallen beasts of burden and broken down wagons.

At the crossroads was gibbet from which hung four iron cages. Three contained bones, but the occupent of the fourth lived. He was thin and ragged and possessed an almost unbelievable stench. It had rained three days ago and he had collected what water he could so he would have something to drink besides his urine. Despite everything, he clung to life.

Light shown from the west, pure and white. A rent appeared in the air above the road and a man stepped through. The rent sealed itself behind him. The prisoner peered intently at the strange visitor. He must have powerful magic. Perhaps the stranger would free him.

The traveller was tall and broad shouldered. He wore simple breeches, boots, and a jerkin of brown leather. His weather beaten skin matched the colour of his leathers and his hair was the colour of night. His eyes shifted colours, red a moment, blue the next. His features were blocky and angular, as if chisled from stone.

The traveller approached the prisoner. "Where is Tol Hanath?" he said in a strange accent.

"Help me," said the prisoner, "and I will help you."

"Aid me and I will grant your boon."

"You are in Tol Hanath."

"Where are her armies?" the stranger enquired again.

"In the direction of the setting sun. Dying, or so they say."

"Or so they say?"

"I have heard more than a few rumours from the refugees. Water please master."

"I have none to give," he replied.

"Your magic . . ."

"Is gone. It was not by my hand that I was brought here. Goloth brought me here."

"The god brought you here?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"To save his people."

"You can defeat the Horde?"

"We shall see."

"Who are you?"

"I am Karesh, once of the Ten Thousand Blades."

"You do not seem to have a weapon."

"I do not. That will be remedied in due course."

"And you are no magician?"

"No."

"How will you defeat the greatest army the world has ever seen?"

"I'm going to kill them all," Karesh replied. "How far is the army to the . . . east."

"Don't know. Not too far. They are losing. Everyone else has already run."

"Then I will give you your boon."

"Free me."

Karesh leapt six feet into the air and seized the bars of the cage with his left hand. His right hand shot out and his fist smashed the prisoner in the forehead, crushing his skull like an over ripe melon. Karesh dropped from the cage. A merciful death was a fair trade for the information.

Kill an army and live again, that was the bargain the god had offered. Karesh had been in no position to be picky, and truth be told, welcomed the challenge. He walked towards the setting sun. He would find out exactly what he faced soon enough.

Aah... So will we see Karesh back in "With Justice for None" once he's finished with the army ?

Yeah, that'd just make my day. Haven't we already got enough to deal with?

The irony would have been that whatever power resurrected him would also have compelled him to actually assist Nalifan and Co

The Nomad wrote:The irony would have been that whatever power resurrected him would also have compelled him to actually assist Nalifan and Co

LOL! Irony indeed. I'm sure Nalifan would be hard pressed to accept the aid, however.

The sun was setting when he saw them. A half dozen riders on horse back, probably either scouts or deserters. More likely deserters. Karesh broke stride to pick up two likely looking rocks and then resumed moving.

They saw him soon enough. They stopped checking the occasional abandoned back or broken down wagon and set their horses into a trott towards him. They were a motley looking lot. They wore scale hauberks, open faced helmets with mail lobster tails, and tattered cloaks. Long hafted axes and powerful recurved bows hung from their saddles next to clanking saddlebags. They were lighter skinned than he was and unkempt, with the beginnings of beards and mustaches.

They halted a dozen yards from them. One of them had his bow drawn and an arrow nocked. Their leader had a horse hair crest on his helmet and a gleaming copper badge on his armour that seemed to be the only clean thing about them. "How much further to the army?" Karesh asked.

Laughter rippled through their number. The leader smiled, showing a mouth missing a fair number of teeth. "Not far enough for us and too far for you. You speak strangely. Are you of Nandrin?"

"No. I learned your language thirty odd years ago on another world."

They laughed again. "You either fancy yourself a jester or heat stroke has made you mad. Give us your money and we might let you go. And your water."

"I have neither," said Karesh, "excepting what is in your saddle bags."

The leader furrowed his brow at that statement. The rocks left Karesh's hands as he sprinted forword, one striking a deserter in the jaw and shattering teeth while the other struck another man in the forehead and sent him realing. The archer fired. Karesh caught the arrow and leaped up. The leader was fumbling for his axe and was far too slow. Karesh jammed the shaft through his left eye and snatched the weapon from his dying hands.

The horse was rearing. Karesh brained it with a single stroke before moving to smash in the ribcage of the man to his right and nearly sever the leg of the deserter on the left. The archer was trying to get another shot, but his comrades were in the way. Karesh nearly decapitated the horse to the left and ripped the axe out of the hand of the dying man. He was soaked now with his victim's blood.

The archer fired, but Karesh sidestepped. The other two who were still able to fight were spurring their horses away. The archer belatedly tried to follow their example. Karesh dropped the axes and picked the bow out from the saddle of the twitching, dying horse. Three quick shots finished the engagement.

Karesh walked over to the stunned man. "Answer my questions and live," he said bluntly. The man looked around at his dead comrades. "How far by horse to the army?"

"Two days, give or take," the man croaked.

"Go," said Karesh. "You have twenty breaths." The man jerked to attention and spurred his horse hard away from the setting sun. Karesh watched him go out of bow shot and then collected gear. He found a scale hauberk and a helmet that could be adjusted to fit him. He collected a dozen knives and dropped loot onto the road, scattering brass candlesticks and silver coins heedlessly. He drained one partially full waterskin and ate several strips of jerky before mounting the horse. A bow with a full quiver and two axes hung from the saddle.

It would have been nice if they had had spears or lances, but that could wait. He mounted the horse and set off towards the setting sun. There was still an hour or two of light left and he intended to use it.

Just out of curiosity, what would the character sheet of someone like Karesh look like ?

The Nomad wrote:Just out of curiosity, what would the character sheet of someone like Karesh look like ?

Something like Fighter 16/Tempest (two weapon fighting prestige class) 10/Legendary Dreadnought 6+

.... and we actually managed to KILL HIM?!

LadyTevar wrote:.... and we actually managed to KILL HIM?!

You did notice it was fucking hard, didn't you? That he was only dropped by a character with massive save DCs, his casting stat augmented by an epic spell, and then slain with another epic spell with increased spell penetration and save DCs? Those little details? Do you remember him taking on the entire party and beating the snot out of everyone?

Yeah, he was tough.

Oh yes, I know he took the whole party but Nalifan down. I'm still amazed we managed to kill him. Karesh was just damn-near unstoppable. I pity the army he's going up against.

LadyTevar wrote:Oh yes, I know he took the whole party but Nalifan down. I'm still amazed we managed to kill him. Karesh was just damn-near unstoppable. I pity the army he's going up against.

Well he doesn't have four artifacts this time.

Imperial Overlord wrote:

LadyTevar wrote:Oh yes, I know he took the whole party but Nalifan down. I'm still amazed we managed to kill him. Karesh was just damn-near unstoppable. I pity the army he's going up against.

Well he doesn't have four artifacts this time.

... This will only slow him down a little, not stop him

Juggernaut.

Imperial Overlord wrote:

LadyTevar wrote:Oh yes, I know he took the whole party but Nalifan down. I'm still amazed we managed to kill him. Karesh was just damn-near unstoppable. I pity the army he's going up against.

Well he doesn't have four artifacts this time.

What were those, BTW ? His swords, his boar helmet, his skintight armour IIRC ? Are they inspired by official artifacts ? Did Nalifan and co retrieve them or were they destroyed during the battle ?

The cloak, the armour, the helm, and an amulet he wore underneath. The swords were merely quite magical. They were lost (but presumably survived) when the demi plane collapsed.

And what did they do ( well the armour protected him, I know ) ? The helmet was healing him IIRC, but what of the cloak and amulet ?

Amulet: stat booster and enhanced the weapons he was using.

Armour: armour and resistances.

Cloak: Spell resistance and the endless dimensional pockets

Helm: Enhanced senses, regen, and protection from mental attacks.

Karesh continued riding after sunset, driving the horse forward. The night sky was clear and full of stars. Combined with the three small moons there was plenty of light. The horse was tired, but Karesh just pushed it harder.

The horse stumbled and fell as he neared a river. Karesh kicked free of the dying animal and rolled to his feet. He left it behind as he crossed the stone bridge. On the other side fields of crops were burning. A half dozen soldiers were on the other side of the bridge.

They were garbed in a similar manner to the deserters. Karesh immediately picked out their leader, a heavily built man with a face like a granite crag. "You've got balls coming back," he barked at Karesh.

"I'm not a deserter," said Karesh. "I've come to fight."

Several soldiers snickered. The senior man didn't. "They tried to rob me," Karesh finished.

One of the younger men broke into laughter. The older man gazed steadily at Karesh. "I can't believe how full of shit this guy is," said the younger man.

"Send me to wherever the fighting is," Karesh continued, ignoring the younger man. "My skin is darker than yours, my way of speaking is different. You know I am not a deserter."

The leader nodded. "Alright, I believe you. Goloth knows we can use more men. Scales."

A man with acne scars responded. "Yes Hand?"

"Take the volunteer into the camp and give him to an officer. Then get your ass back here."

"Yes Hand. Come on," said soldier.

Karesh just nodded and followed the soldier. Dawn wasn't too far away. Most of the fields were already burnt. "You expect to be defeated," said Karesh.

"Yeah," said Scales. "The Horde is too damn strong, but it still needs to eat. Beatin' them with swords is damn hard, but starvin' them might work."

"It won't," replied Karesh.

"So you know better than the king and his Militants?"

"No. Goloth would not have brought me here if scortched earth tactics would work."

"Goloth sent you?" said Scales incrediously.

"Yes. I am Karesh of the Ten Thousand Blades. You think I'm mad, but that does not matter. Deeds matter more than boasts and I will perform them soon enough."

"Alright."

"Tell me of the Horde."

"You don't know about the Horde."

"I am not from your world."

Scales looked at him, weighing whether or not to say anything. "Okay," he said at last, "it's like this: The Horde is lead by Mazin T'both who is the high priest of Jenglith. Every foul thing in the land is part of The Horde, but it is lead by T'both and the Nandrin."

"Who are the Nandrin?"

"A race that serves Jenglith."

"Human?"

"Yes."

"And these foul things?"

"Goblins and orcs and ogres and dragons and everything."

"They die like everything else," said Karesh. "Any wizards?"

"The High Laws forbid magic to all but priests."

"And the Nandrin?"

"The High Law was made by both Goloth and Jenglith at the beginning of the world."

Karesh smiled. "Good."

The soldiers took him across the bridge and through the fields. A thousand fires burned as the Tol Hanese razed their own land to deny it to the enemy. Smoke rose from the blazes, almost invisible in the night sky.

The soldiers approached a small party of men on horseback. One held a banner, but it was too dark to make out the design on it.

"Fist!" cried out the leader than the others called "hand."

One of the riders turned his head towards Karesh's party. He was young, maybe twenty, maybe less. He wore a steel breastplate, greaves, and vambraces over leather and linen. "What is the meaning of the Hand Makul?"

Makul pointed at Karesh. "We picked up this man at the bridge. He's either crazy or he has the god's favor."

"I am neither crazy nor a servant of a god," said Karesh. "Words matter little at this stage. Send me to the enemy so that I may slaughter them and my words will carry weight."

A grizzled man next to the fist chuckled. "He's insane alright."

"I am death that walks on two legs," said Karesh, his irritation rising. "Send me to your skirmishers or rearguard. Be rid of me the easy way. Besides, you can use every fighter that you can get."

"You are mad," said the fist, "but that doesn't mean I can't use you. You know that with all that weight you won't be able to keep up with a retreating skirmish line."

"That won't be a problem," said Karesh.

"No horse either," said the grizzled man.

"The enemy will provide."

"You're going to kill Nandrin cavalry while on foot?" The grizzled man roared with laughter. Several others joined in.

"Alright," said the fist. "Hand Makul, send one of your men to take this fool to the rearguard. I trust you're finding guarding the bridge easy duty?"

"No deserters have slipped by yet."

"Good enough. Go," said the fist.

"Scales," said the hand and that was that. The pock marked veteran guided Karesh through the ranks and past the supply wagons, pavilions of the senior officers, and the crowds of camp followers. Eventually they reached a score of cavalrymen wearing plumed helms, chain shirts, tough leather skirts and hardened leather greaves. Recurved bows sat in the saddles and lances in their hands.

"This is Karesh," said Scales. "He's going to be joining you."

"You've got to be joking," said a young man with a soot marked face. "He has no horse. We're cavalry."

"Volunteered. Fist's orders."

The hand looked Karesh over. "And you?"

"When we meet the enemy, all your questions will be answered."

"Not good enough," he growled.

"You will not believe the answers now," said Karesh.

"Senior," said the hand, "beat this peasant."

A cleanshaven man in his mid thirties slid off his horse. "Yes sir."

"As you wish," said Karesh. He moved like lightning, striking with his open hand. The senior lay sprawled on the ground. "He'll live. The enemy will not."

Lances slid down and were pointed at him. He grabbed the closest just behind the head, tore it out of the owner's grasp, and smashed him in the sternum with the butt. The man folded over in the saddle.

"None of your men are seriously injured. Yet."

"Kill-" Karesh smashed the hand across the head with the shaft of the lance, sending him falling over the side of his horse.

"Get him up," said Karesh. "Put him on his horse. I'm in charge. Any problems with that?" No one said a word. The silence stretched on. "He's not back on his horse."

Two soldiers scrambled to retrieve their hand. Karesh regarded the scene with a little satisfaction. Things were beginning to come together. Now he just had to start killing the enemy.

Imperial Overlord wrote:"Put him on his horse. I'm in charge. Any problems with that?" No one said a word. The silence stretched on. "He's not back on his horse."

Excellent! I was just hoping for more, too. This or Nalifan. Or something new I suppose, though you have at least two other fairly new fics, IIRC. You have a rare talent for writing five different stories at once. Your 40k just isn't as good at the beginning, so I'm having trouble getting to the more recent updates to see if I like it more.

The sky had begun to grow light again when they spotted the enemy. A host of dark figures darted swiftly forward over the fields and plains. "The enemy comes," said one of the soldiers.

"Too small for horsemen, too fast for infantry," as Karesh as he squinted at them.

"Goblin wolf rider," the hand replied.

"Ahh," said Karesh. "Looks to be about a hundred of them."

"More," said another soldier. "That's just who is pushing in our area."

"Fall back and harass them," said Karesh. "Take my horse. Too tired to be of use now."

"You're going to fight them on foot?" said the hand incredulously. Karesh reminded himself to learn the hand's name at some point.

"Yes," said Karesh. "I won't be withdrawing. Don't join me until they are routing." He broke into a jog toward the enemy.

The wolf riders were fierce, orange skinned goblinoids. They barely reached a man's chest, yet they possessed a wiry strength greater than their size suggested. They wore armour of metal scales riveted to leather hauberks and were armed with a variety of weapons, some scavenged and the others crudely forged. Their dark eyes glittered and their lips were pulled back in feral grins that revealed yellowed fangs. Their wolf mounts were equally as fierce.

Several goblins loosed javelins at Karesh. He dodged one and batted another aside with an axe. None of the rest were close enough to hit. The goblins raised spears, long clubs studded with pieces of metal, and salvaged blades. Three rode straight at him.

He moved to the right, sidestepped a lance and deflected the other with his left hand axe. Karesh pivoted towards the goblins and struck. The axe then smashed into the wolf's neck, sending up a spray of blood and the animal was nearly decapitated. The right hand axe took the goblin's head clean off.

More goblins were coming toward him. He ran to meet them. He sheared and wolf skull in two and buried a blade in goblin's guts. He ran past the tumbling bodies and killed a wolf by kicking it in the skull and planted an axe in a goblin's chest. Then the goblin line was passed him.

They circled around to reengage him, of course. They came at him from the front and at the sides. He didn't wait for them to arrive, instead flinging himself forward into them. His axes flashed and blood and limbs flew. Goblins screamed and wolves howled as he hewed his way through their ranks. Arrows began to fall among them as the Tol Hanese cavalrymen opened up.

They closed the noose almost as fast as he hacked his way through their ranks. They thrust at him with spears and swords as they swung spiked clubs at him. He was too fast for them and his blades were seemingly everywhere. Here and there a goblin weapon touched him, but his flesh was no longer truly mortal. His resistance to injury was great and their weapons barely bit. He healed swiftly as well. None of their blows truly mattered. He hacked and he kicked and he head butted and he slew and slew and slew. The dead piled up around him.

Fear held them now, fear even greater than that their leaders inspired. More arrows fell among them, punching through their armour and piercing their limbs as Karesh killed and killed and killed. The Tol Hanese put away their bows and gripped their lances. Shouting, they charged.

The goblins broke and scattered. Some weren't fast enough and ended up spitted on lances as they tried to flee. Others were luckier and manage to scatter into the darkness. "Let them go," said Karesh. "They will only lead you into ambushes. Besides, it will be dawn soon. Their time is over."

The soldiers gathered around him as he walked out of the ring of the dead. The champion was splattered with blood. "Who will they send to harry us in daylight?" he asked.

"They do not harry during the light," said the hand.

"Why not?"

"They advance. One meets their vanguard."

"Which is?" Karesh asked.

"The Knights of Nandrin, may our ancestors have mercy upon us."

Very nice story.

LadyTevar wrote:.... and we actually managed to KILL HIM?!

So the group the killed him what classes and levels were they if you don't mind me asking.

dragon wrote:Very nice story.

LadyTevar wrote:.... and we actually managed to KILL HIM?!

So the group the killed him what classes and levels were they if you don't mind me asking.

You'll have to pay to see those cards.

It's detailed and in the story Look What I Found Under this Rock

And what do you mean by "we", Lady T? That's not the way I remember it. Or wrote it.

Imperial Overlord wrote:

dragon wrote:Very nice story.

LadyTevar wrote:.... and we actually managed to KILL HIM?!

So the group the killed him what classes and levels were they if you don't mind me asking.

You'll have to pay to see those cards.

It's detailed and in the story Look What I Found Under this Rock

And what do you mean by "we", Lady T? That's not the way I remember it. Or wrote it.

"We" as in the Party, although I should have known Nal would want full credit