User blog:Eureka Enderborn/A story from Arcanus

This is a tale of how Vladak acquired his "son" and apprentice, the man known as Ravashak.

York was never a particularly large town. Village would probably be a more accurate description. It was never a peaceful place, being a village so far from any other civilization. The villagers constantly worried about attack from fantastical creatures from the Nature Plane. The influence of Nature Magic was strong across the entire continent, and there were no less than five Nature nodes, places on Arcanus where the lines between the Nature Plane and the Primal Plane were blurred entirely.

Sometimes, beasts would enter the world of mortals through this plane of reality. When this occurs, they might feel inclined to go on a rampage. York being so near to one of these nodes, it was frequently the target of such raids. As such, the High Men who live there are hardy and well trained. It certainly didn’t help that the insectile Klackons would often send raiders from the south.

But today, the village was being attacked by an entirely new and different enemy: their own kin.

High Man warriors bearing purple cloaks beneath their armour. Each of them possesses a sword and a shield. The shield is painted black, and in the center is a purple triangle, in which is contained the illustration of a burning eye. Their equipment was of superior craftsmanship to York’s defenders, and they were equal in skill.

Advancing alongside these swordsmen were hideous beasts, Ghouls from the Death Plane. Each time these unholy creatures would strike down a soldier, he would rise back up moments later as a twisted zombie, turning on his former allies.

The defenders of York were being pushed back, though the attacking soldiers didn’t seem at all interested in harming or doing anything to any non-combatants. Until eventually the battle stopped as the attackers turned and retreated. The victory, however, was a short lived one.

The soldiers stopped just outside of the outskirts, and formed rows. They all got down on their hands and knees in a highly worshipful bow.

Over a hill came two black figures. One of them a slender individual in a flowing black cloak, whose face cannot be seen beneath his hood. Red eyes glowing out from beneath it were the only bit of Vladak which could be seen, and his pointed golden crown caught the light of the sun.

Behind him was a gargantuan figure in full black armour, his face obscured by a full helmet which had two wicked Dragon horns extending from the sides. A single immense axe was slung from his back.

Lord Vladak paused, staring at the terrified defenders arrayed before him. In a deadly calm voice, one tinged with evil, he spoke to them.

“Drop your weapons.”

Immediately, they all dropped any arms they had and took many steps back. Some even broke off and fled. Vladak was privately amused, and he looked around the village, walking freely through it as though he owned the place. He was looking for a specific house. And he found it.

He approached the door, but the man of that particular household broke through his fear. He took up his halberd and ran to place himself between Vladak and the door to his house.

The Black Knight grabbed his axe, but Vladak stopped him with a simple wave of his hand. “Settle, Mortu. This man wishes to protect his family from me. Noble, I suppose. I will give him the honour of duelling me.”

The man stabbed forward with his pike, but another wave of Vladak’s hand sent him flying through the door of his house, and pinned against his own wall.

His wife gasped and froze in fear as Vladak stalked through their doorway. He grabbed the helpless man by the throat and breathed deeply. At once, the main began to scream with pain and horror as his soul was ripped away and his flesh decayed right off of his bones.

Vladak let go of the skeleton, who dropped to the floor and stood awaiting orders. Vladak chuckled and turned to his wife. “Impressive, wouldn’t you agree? Here, watch this. Do a handstand.”

The skeleton dropped his pike and did an impressive handstand.

Vladak laughed again, turning to the terror stricken woman. “Isn’t this a hoot? Here, you can pick the next one.” She didn’t say a word, so scared she could hardly breathe. “No? Oh well. Let’s see, what else would be funny, let’s see… ah! Go kill your wife.”

The skeleton picked up his pike and advanced on the now screaming woman. It raised its pick and brought it down at her head.

“Now stop!”

The pike immediately ceased movement a mere centimeter from the woman’s skull.

“Go join the others.”

The skeleton turned and left through the broken door.

Vladak approached the woman in a very friendly, every-day sort of manner. “Well, you’re a pretty young thing? Oh, but it’s fairly obvious that you’ve recently given birth.”

The woman opened her mouth, but all that came out was a little squeak.

“Yes, yes indeed.” Vladak glanced at the bundle of cloth in her arms and noticed that there was, in fact, a baby in it. He gasped in an amazed tone. “My, what a handsome young baby! Only a few days old, yes? Perfect! May I hold him?”

The woman stepped back and held her baby tighter.

Vladak laughed. “That’s no way to treat a guest. Now, let me tell you something. I am taking your child.” His tone immediately turned sinister. “Either I take the child and leave, or Mortu here will turn you into a disgusting pile of red gore, and then I will take the child and leave.” He reached out and wrenched the young boy from her arms. The woman retreated into a corner, tears running down her eyes.

“That’s right.” He walked out of the house and saw to his satisfaction that the defenders were kneeling in a group, surrounded by his own men, while his priests had arrived and begun setting up his banners all around the town.

Vladak looked down at the child in his arms. “Hello, little boy. My name is Vladak. I am going to be your new father. I think your name is going to be… Ravashak. Yes, Ravashak. Don’t you think that’s a nice name, Mortu?”

Mortu, being used by now to his master’s strange eccentricities, simply nodded.

“Good! Very good indeed. We are going to do great things, Ravashak. You will be one of the most feared and respected beings on the planet.”

He turned to his soldiers and priests. “Builders and citizens will be arriving shortly to expand the size of this town. In the meantime, stay and defend it. And make sure the citizens know exactly how fortunate they are to be welcomed into the arms of my empire.”

They bowed deeply, and as one they intoned “So the Omnipotent has commanded, so shall be done.”

Vladak turned and began the long walk back to Onyx, cradling the little Ravashak in his arms. “We will be the masters of this world, you me and Mortu. And in time, all worlds will tremble at the utterance of our names.”