Necessary Acts (Warhammer Fantasy)

[LadyTevar]

No mercy for those who have none.

Great job, my friend

[Ford Prefect]

And this is why you don't fuck with mercenaries. They'll kill your family, burn down your house, then kill you.

[Imperial Overlord]

Marieta sidestepped and dodged the beastman's blow. The mutant kept rushing forward, extending his left arm to grasp Marieta. The mercenary opened a shallow cut on the beastman's arm as it bore her down. She attempted to roll on top with a sudden surge, but the beastman was too damn heavy and too damn strong. It forced her back down.

It was too close for the beastman to use its pick, so it dropped it. The loss didn't hinder the beastman, chaos had furnished it with a fang filled muzzle for close quarters work. It lowered its head to tear out Marieta's throat.

The mercenary jammed her forarm in the way and the beastman bit through the tough leathers, drawing blood. The beastman's hands held her down as it chewed her arm, but that left her other arm somewhat mobile. It was enough.

She thrust the dagger blade into the beastman's armpit, where metal scales did not reinforce its armour. The dagger grated between ribs and went through to the hilt. The beastman let go of her arm to howl. Marieta wiggled the blade back and forth and twisted it. The beastman shrieked and the mercenary pushed the spasming body off of her.

She got back to her feet and ran to where Richart was tied. She hurriedly cut through his ropes. The killer staggered forward. "I'm going to kill them all, real slow," mumbled Richart. He rubbed his wrists.

"Up for fighting?" Marieta asked.

"No," said Richart. "I'm two damned steps better than worthless. Can't fight worth shit." He swayed.

"That's because you're a man," said Kargun, leaning against the obelisk. "If you were a dwarf you would be ready to fight."

"You mean leaning on a blood covered stone, pretending to be tough?" Richart sneered.

Marieta went back for the pistol and brought the guns up. "Can you both shoot?"

"Aye, well enough," said Kargun as he took a pistol from her. "This damp won't do the powder any good though. These were made by a man of middling skill. Not reliable. My own work now, that be different." She approached Richart.

"Yeah, I can shoot. Hell of a lot better than I can sword fight as sick as I feel." He took the pistol from her and shackily loaded it.

"Let's get the hell out of here," she said mounting one of the horses.

"Aye," said Kargun as he eyed a horse in distaste. There was good reason why dwarves were stereotyped as avoiding horses. "Where there is one beastman, more will be about. And those no good spawn of a diseased grobi might come back." The dwarf struggled with pulling himself into a saddle. Richart gave him a push that lifted the dwarf into the saddle before claiming a mount of his own.

"Let's go back and kill everyone of those treacherous fuckers," said the killer for hire. Marieta lead them slowly down the treacherously muddy path back to the inn.

A javelin flung from the darkness narrowly missed the Tilean woman's head. She swore, "Myrmidia's tits!" and another one struck her high in the chest. The javelin lacked great force and failed to bite through her mail shirt. Beastman began to emerge from the bushes as they pushed their way through.

The full extend of their mutations was hidden by the darkness, which was probably merciful. Most were covered in coarse fur and possessed the heads of various beasts, many of them sprouting one or more horns. They wore patchwork and piecemeal armour of leather and metal. Their weapons were better than their armour, heavy axes, large cleaving swords, and barbed spears. Many carried crude wooden shields. They uttered bestial cries as they closed.

Richart pointed the gun and fired, but all he got was a loud coughing noise and smoke as the gun misfired. Kargun's shot entered through the left eye of a bull-man and emerged out the back in the spray of blood and grey matter. Then the beastmen were upon them.

The horses reared and struck with their hooves. One beastman was clipped in the head and fell back. Marieta struck the shield of another, batted away his spear and stabbed him in the shoulder. The beastman dropped his spear and fell back.

Richart kicked one beastman in the head, sending it rolling down the hill. He knocked weapon's away with Marieta's club and urged his horse to strike at the beastmen, driving them back. Kargun's horse screached and fell as it was stabbed and cut but the beastmen around him. The dwarf rolled out to the saddle, as tough as only dwarves could be. He picked up the fallen spear and prepared to fight.

Richart pushed his way through the beastman and urged his horse into a gallop, sending him plunging downhill and into the darkness and leaving Marieta and the dwarf alone. I'm dead, the mercenary thought and raised her captured sword to strike again. If she was going down, it was going to be fighting. She wouldn't let the beastmen take her alive.

[The Nomad]

And familiars kick ass, too.

I had to avoid picking the really cool familiar powers to avoid making it too easy.

Well, you could rationalize this by saying his link to his familiar is too recent for the really cool power to appear, until next story that is.
What kind of powers do WH familiars get?

And since my connection is actually working, more carnage!

So that was why your stories did not get updated this week? I was afraid you got tired of writing, which would be a shame.

(BTW will you update "A Piece at a Time" or did you give up this storyline?)

[Imperial Overlord]

Well, you could rationalize this by saying his link to his familiar is too recent for the really cool power to appear, until next story that is.
What kind of powers do WH familiars get?

They start with a power, (the Elf Celestial Wizard in the group I GM'd rolled up the best power to start with and since then has bought one of the other cool ones) so the newness doesn't mean they can't kick ass. Some of the powers can be a signifigant boost to the wizard's magic rating, spell absorption and storing, the wizard being able to speak and cast through his familiar, and diminished chance of magical side effects. Since familiars earn their own xp and the master can spend on them too, a familiar that has been along for a while becomes very, very powerful (to digress into game mechanics for a moment).

(BTW will you update "A Piece at a Time" or did you give up this storyline?)

Oh, I'll pick it up again. It's a long story, so even if I go at it hard core it won't be finished soon. We are creeping closer to the carnage though.

[Ford Prefect]

It's time for a mage-powered rescue!

[Raj Ahten]

A bunch of ruthless bastards all around. But, with the closest anolog being people in the 30 years war in Germany, what is to be expected? I really like this story because even the common goon trash is thinking, and acting like the story is really about them. Most of them deserved what they got. I bet all the townsfolk with the guts to fight the beastmen were all killed by the ballifs. Looking forward to the next installment, of both this and In Memoria.

[LadyTevar]

"Let's go back and kill everyone of those treacherous fuckers," said the killer for higher

Once more, I'm here to point out the typos. Killer for HIRE.

[Imperial Overlord]

Richart urged his horse to greater speed as he plunged down hill. Too bad about Kargun and Marieta, but staying to fight was suicide and that was that. He wasn't throwing away his chance at life for someone else. Then his horse stumbled and fell forward.

Richart was able to fall free of the crashing steed, tumbling forward into the darkness. He heard the horse scream as it fell. Rhya's tits, a man could live a dwarf's lifetime and not have luck this bad. Gods, he hurt all over.

He forced himself to his feet. He could see bone protruding from the horse's hind leg. A dwarf's lifetime, he cursed silently. On foot, alone, in a beastmen haunted forest near a town that had been sacrificing people to them for a long time. He was so screwed.

Kargun didn't have time to think about how much trouble he was in. The dwarf was too busy trying to stay alive. The after effects of the drug still impeded him, but he was a dwarf and not a man and his resistance to such things was great. The heat of battle burned in his veins as well and although he did not possess his usual strength, he was still formidable. He stabbed a beastman in the thigh with his captured weapon, just below the area covered by its crude hauberk. He ripped the jagged headed weapon out of the wound and spun about to fend off more attackers.

Marieta parried a blow, felt a spear slide of the mail guarding her ribs, and urged her horse to strike at a beastman. Flashing hooves struck one in the chest and sent it sprawling. The mutants scattered out of the way and Marieta's sword found the neck of another beastmen. Blood geysered from the wound and the Tilean mercenary swung at another target.

Kargun ran another beastman through, pushing the spear through leather and rusted mail to pierce its heart. The beastman fell, taking the dwarf's captured weapon with it. Another beastman smashed Marieta's horse in the chest and the it reared and fell.

Kargun retrieved an axe from a fallen beastman and leapt at the beastmen converging at Marieta. His legs were still weak and he fell short, sliding in the mud. His slide took him near a beastman and his hands retained the captured axe. He severed the beastman's right leg at the knee. The beastman dropped his weapon and howled, clutching his maimed limb. Kargun stooped and took the short bladed cleaving sword in his left hand and got stuck in with a wild blows.

Marieta fought back tears of pain and pulled herself from the stricken horse. Beastmen were closing. She stabbed the closest in groin and it doubled over. She tried to rise, to fight, but a dog headed beastman aimed a fierce overhand blow at her that almost knocked her down. A three armed bull headed monster with paired axes approached from behind.

Kargun's cleaver severed the bull headed beastman's spine just above the waist. The monster fell wailing. A stripped tree limb cracked dog head's skull. Richart stove in the ribs of another beastman as it turned to deal with the new attacker. The surviving beastman snarled and howled, but stayed back from the thorny knot of the survivors.

Richart retrieved a sword and an axe, rearming himself. "They've gotten too used to easy meat," he said.

"Aye," said Kargun. "Not used to having to fight." They eyed the beastman as they retreated back into the woods. "They'll be back, in numbers, when they've found their courage."

"Let's be gone by then," said Richart.

"You left us," accused Marieta.

"I left period. It was the right move. You should have followed."

"I couldn't leave Kargun behind."

"More fool you," said Richart. The dwarf said nothing. The weakness and perfidy of humans did not need to be commented on.

"Why did you came back?"

"Horse broke its damn leg. Didn't like the odds of walking alone through woods crawling with beastmen." He shrugged. "It was the right move." Then he turned to the side and threw up.

[Ford Prefect]

"The weakness and perfidy of humans did not need to be commented on."

Have I ever mentioned how much I love Kargun? The bastard shined this chapter.

[Imperial Overlord]

They walked down the path, scavenged weapons in hand. It was dark, but that was no barrier for Kargun's dwarven eyes. "There's a body ahead," he grunted. "Human."

They approached slowly. Most of the man's face had been torn away, leaving exposed muscle and bone. A ghastly wound was visible on the right side of his chest. Marieta got closer. "It's one of them. The one I slashed across the legs."

"The beastmen turned on him," said Richart.

"Such is the fate of all those who would bargain with chaos," rumbled Kargun.

"Let's get out of here before they get there courage back," said Richart. He still felt like shit and the strength provided by the initial rush of battle was spent. Still, he was feeling a little better than he had when he started down the hill. The drug must be wearing off.

Richart bent down over the body. "What are you doing?" Kargun asked. Richart drew his dagger and cut.

"Taking his purse." He wiggled the bloody finger free and tossed it into the night. "And his ring."

"Sensible of you lad," said Kargun with a gleam in his eye. There was no dwarf born that didn't feel at least some gold lust. "We should be seeing to relieving the innkeeper of all of his ill gotten gains."

"He's got kids," said Richart. "Hot irons should loosen his tongue."

"He is an oathbreaker and a servant of the Ruinous Powers," rumbled Kargun. "No methods are beyond consideration." Marieta shrugged. Having nearly been raped and murdered, she wasn't feeling too charitable at the moment.

"Two people ahead," rumbled Kargun. "A man and a woman." He clutched the looted guns, one in each hand. Marieta the spear in her left hand. "It's Sebastian. With a prisoner."

"Sebastian!" Marieta called out and waved her spear.

"What are you thinking girl?" Richart hissed. "Are you trying to bring them down on us?"

"Kargun can see in the dark, he can't," she replied. "I'm trying to make sure he doesn't fry us by mistake. Besides, the beastmen can find us easily enough if they want to."

The Bright Wizard came closer. They could make out details now. "I'm here to rescue you," said Sebastian. "I seem to be a little late."

"Glad you made it," Richart said gruffly."

"Aye," said Kargun.

"Who's that?" Marieta asked.

"Her?" replied Sebastian. "A local. I needed directions. Apparently they've been doing this for generations, buying off the beastmen with the occasional traveller. With the Storm of Chaos and all the upheaval, they felt they needed to up the payments." He turned to the woman. "I said I would let you go if you showed me the way and you did. Don't let me see you again."

The woman didn't need to be told twice. She turned around and began run away. Fatigue and a limp limited her speed. Richart drew back his arm and threw his captured spear. It took her high in the back and she sprawled in the mud. He walked over to her and gave the weapon a savage twist before withdrawing it from the wound. "I made no such promise," he said and spat on the dying woman. "Give Khaine my greeting when you arrive in hell." He stepped away from her. "Let's go and settle up with the innkeeper."

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Richart passed the flask over to Marieta as flames licked up into the sky. "Not bad brandy," he said. She took a sip. Richart's taste in liquor left a lot to be desired. It was strong and coarse.

"It could be smoother," she said after suppressing the urge to cough. He snickered.

"Enough talk," said Kargun from his position on top of his horse. "We've got the loot, let's just get out of this gods forsaken place."

"Agreed," said Sebastian. They slowly road past the gate. Behind them the flames from the burning buildings rose up into the sky.

[Ford Prefect]

Owned. Hard.

That's basically what this story was, it was constant crushing of people into the mud. Appropriate in the context of the universe, and certainly the characters. Richart is still a massive assholre, but we love him.