Hundreds among hundreds of arrows flew above the field high into the air. "Good! Keep this going!" Chalybs yelled almost joyfully as he rose his hands to his sides with his palms open. The arrows that the archers had launched hovered in the air over the pit for a moment before launching themselves at dizzying speeds down into the pit. "Take that you dam* demons!"
"Interesting," Sacorax said softly, watching the battle. The demons were certainly being killed but their numbers just kept on coming. Sacorax waited patiently on the outer lines of the defensive perimeter, watching the scene unfolding. He certainly didn't feel the need to join the brawl, only watch.
A chorus of bone-chilling howls erupted as hundreds of demons fell back into the hell-hole from which they came. There was a momentary lull in the demon horde, but they soon came pouring out with the same ferocity as before. The archers sent another cloud of arrows, and again Chalybs guided them, and again the chorus of falling demons erupted. Yet every time there were more demons just behind them, and their assault continued unabated. "There's too many of 'em! We'll die of exhaustion before we kill 'em all!"
As Quoten stood by the pit, attempting to figure out what to do, a demon clambered out of the abyss and stood before him. Quoten extended his hand. "Tallyho and well met! I am King Quoten, Lord of Cumber. And you would be...?" In response, the demon swung at him with its razor-sharp claws. Swiftly, Quoten dodged his attack. "I daresay, that's hardly proper etiquette for polite company, now is it?" Again the demon attacked, again Quoten dodged. "My good fellow, if you continue to slice at me like that, I will have no choice but to defend myself!" The demon attacked a third time. This time Quoten dodged and counterattacked, slicing off the demon's head in one smooth motion. "Terribly sorry about that," he apologized to the head, and kicked it back down the pit.
As a soldier stabbed the clawed hand of a demon, he noticed a small bit of rock materialize at the hole's edge. It was small, barely an inch. Meanwhile, a young wizard casted a spell he once learned from a priest. Although he did not see any effect, he felt the portal's power shrink by an almost unnoticeable amount. "I GOT IT!!!" He shouted, "I'VE FOUND OUT HOW TO BEAT THESE BASTARDS BACK!!" He hastily pulled out a piece of parchment and began scribbling on it as fast as he could. When he was done, he passed it to the wizard next to him, who immediately began casting the spell. As the parchment was passed around, the hole began to close, little by little but with gaining speed. The soldiers, their hopes rekindled, began fighting with renewed vigor. The hole became smaller and smaller, there was hope after all! Victory was within their grasp! BOOM! Black. End of Stage 1
Profile of second character: Name: Thrisba Age: Hundreds of years old, appears to be 25ish Gender: Male Race: Elf Appearance: Thrisba’s skin is a pale blue color. His eyes are thin and hazel in color. His hair is short, black which is very messy and often sticks up in the air. It never lays flat. His body is very thin and skinny with a slight amount of muscle mass. Thrisba stands 5’11” tall. Thirsba has two distinctive features. First, his body is covered in stitches and scars. Second, the right side of his face is painted white and the left side is painted black. For clothes, Thirsba wears a simple black t-shirt which very tight and light. He wears similar pants which are light and a bit loose. He doesn’t wear any shoes and has a back which he straps across his back and crosses his chest once. Sometimes, he wears a dark gray poncho which covers from his neck to the tips of his fingers. Background: Thrisba grew up as a simple elf in a peaceful home. But at a young age, he dreamed of being an adventurer. So he left his village when he was old enough to handle himself, promising to return to share his stories of adventure. One night, he wandered into a very dark part of the woods. There, he ran into a dark elf that had clearly been possessed or was in league with demons. The elf laid a curse on him. From that day forward, Thrisba’s pain would only grow as time wore on, but only by a fatal sting from one of the scorpion clan could he die. Thirsba woke up the next morning, thinking it only to be a bad dream. As time went on, he learned the curse was very real. He broke his arms, cut his legs and nothing killed him, even a stab through the heart. Each attack was more painful than the next. Thirsba went insane, splitting himself in two to try and cope with his pain. He now has two “personalities” Thris, his light half and Ba, his evil half (the white and black halves of his face). Thrisba eventually went back to find the elf who cursed him, finding he was already dead. Thrisba then went to his home village where he killed every single elf there because of his initial insanity. Eventually Thrisba went very sane, figuring out he actually had a gift and not a curse. The dark half of his personality eventually aligned all of Thrisba with Tebryn Arbandi who saw Thrisba as a much needed member of his guard. To this day, Thrisba has no fear except those of the scorpion clan. Personality: Thrisba as a whole is a very level headed and neutral guy. However, Thris and Ba often have arguments among themselves for domination. Thris believes in good where dreams come true and that one day Thrisba can die happily and move onto a new life. Ba believes in destruction and revenge on all living things for the curse he experiences. Ba also wants the extermination of all the scorpion clan members. Weapons/Gear: Thrisba carries several weapons in his backpack which is enchanted by elves to hold more than it appears to be able to and be extremely light. He has practically all weapons known to man and is able to wield them all with mediocre ability. However, his skills in most of the weapons are just a crazed hack and slash.
Name: Nex Cruentus Age: 20 Gender: Male Race: Scorpion-Clan Appearance: Nex is a Hercules of a creature standing at least 11 feet tall. He has no hair and an eternally stern, harsh face. His exoskeleton is entirely metal, 4 inches thick of it. In addition to that his hands are normally molded into the shape of massive, scorpion-like claws and his stinger is shaped like a serrated, curved blade. He wears nothing other than a black toga an leather sandals. Background: Nex has no memory of his past before age 7, none at all. He was raised in a similar fashion to our world's devshirme. He was raised by an elite demon who found and essentially adopted him.When Nex was found his entire body was severely burned and all of his exoskeleton was blown off. The demon wasn't able to fully heal his burns but was able to create a new metal exoskeleton for him and also taught him the magic of metal manipulation. The demon taught him that there was only 1 reason for his life and only three things that he should do. The purpose of his life is to serve Tebryn Arbandi; the only things he should do in his life are Serve Tebryn Arbandi, fight, and stay alive. The demon taught him these things, and how to fight, murder, and kill, until it died. Since then and during that time Nex has advanced the ranks with stunning speed to be head guard of Tebryn Arbandi's elite set of private guards. Many rumors have been spread about this Hercules of a man; some say he's killed hundreds of men with just his bare hands, others say thousands. Personality: Nex obeys no one except Tebryn Arbandi, and will not accept no as an answer from one of his subordinates without an exceptionally good reason. He likes no one and won't hesitate to kill anything that should get in his path, even when he's just walking. Despite his violent disposition he is actually quite intelligent and bright. Nex's only pleasures in life are serving Tebryn Arbandi and fighting worthy opponents. Weapons/Gear: Nex's exoskeleton is normally 4 inches thick but he can add on to it at anytime by adding more metal to his body. Due to this metal skin he has no need for any sort of armor. His entire body is his own weapon; his claws are giant serrated maces, his tail a long sword, and he can change the shape of any of these parts at will. His only weaknesses are that he can only control metal that he touches and that he needs a certain quota of magical blood in order to fuel his magic and he needs to repair his skin weekly or else it will rust. (This is okay, right abc?)
Name: Rom "Quickknife Jack" Arphaxad Age: 20-ish Gender: Male Race: Appears human Appearance: A tall man with a fairly average build, "Quickknife" has a striking, devilish face: a pale complexion, large and pointed ears and nose, and protruding eyes that seem to glow with an unearthly light. He wears mostly tightfitting clothing, but has a short yet wide cape which he drapes over his arms, giving him a batlike appearance. Background: A disturbed man with a disturbed background. Rom was initially raised by average parents in an average city in the human lands; parents whom he brutally murdered in cold blood one night while still a child. For several years he was bounced from orphanage to orphanage, and eventually dumped unceremoniously on the city streets. At first, Rom focused purely on surviving the harsh life of a homeless urchin but, around the time he turned 16, he took up a new hobby: murder. At fist, he would simply pick off vagabonds and travelers, people no one would miss. He soon became more bold and began striking at average citizens and, during the peak of his career, people in groups. Two people would be traveling together, one would turn away for a second, and when he looked back his companion would be lying on the ground dead with his throat sliced open or a dagger in his heart. The survivor would have never seen a thing. Though his idiom quickly earned him the nickname "Quickknife Jack," Rom did not only murder. He was a man with a taste for the theatrical; frequently he would simply leap out at a person, using his batlike cape to strike fear into their hearts. As earlier implied, "Quickknife" has the ability to move extremely fast and extremely stealthily -an ability he has always had - and has thus been able to avoid capture by both lawmen and vigilantes. Though he appears fairly human, his ghoulish features and strange abilities seem to indicate that something darker may lie within. Unfortunately, he killed his parents before they could tell him anything, so not even he knows for sure who or what he is. Personality: Stealthy yet boisterous, Rom prefers to lie low for the right moment, but does not hesitate when he believes that moment has arrived. He has no deep goals in life beyond simple hedonistic self-satisfaction; satisfaction he achieves primarily through violence and fear. He talks in a hushed, somewhat staccato manner, but has a tendency to burst into manic laughter at inexplicable moments. Though he never says it, Rom has a superiority complex. He simply does not view any being other than himself as a person. They are merely tools to be used or objects to be hurt. Weapons/Gear: Rom wields no armor or large weapons, carrying only a variety of [mostly stolen] daggers stashed in various locations on his person.
Pathetic. Tebryn watched with mild amusement as the army tried futility to thwart the hordes being thrown at them. They were doing better than he expected, though... "They call this resistance?" said an ethereal, omnidirectional voice. He noticed a sudden and very slight shift in the portal's power. Eh? "I GOT IT!!! I'VE FOUND OUT HOW TO BEAT THESE BASTARDS BACK!!" Suddenly, the portal began to close faster and faster. They had managed to actually repel his invasion. I underestimated them. As Tebryn pulled power from one of the many souls binded within his own, he felt immense pain emanate from it, along with a shrill cry of agony. He was used to it. Let's see how they fair against this... Without any noticeable cue whatsoever, the valley where the army of over a thousand once stood suddenly burst into a huge ball of flame. Bodies flew in all directions, and Tebryn made sure to collect as many of the escaping souls before they managed to make it to heaven or Hell. "Collect as many bodies as you can and bring them here." He said over his shoulder to his small group of guards, consisting of a mountain of a man which a demon had brought to him, a psychopath who could kill a man single man out of a group and go unnoticed, a bi-polar elf who's curse left him immortal, an angel which had grown bored of the life of constant servitude, and a particularly promising demon who could tear out a man's soul with a stare. "And I'd prefer them intact."
Collect as many bodies as you can and bring them here "Yes my lord" Nex said with a resonant, yet cold voice. Without more than a small crouch he leaped into the air, coming down on the outskirts of the battle field. He plummeted to the ground, raising a cloud of dirt... and blood. "Squished one" he muttered to himself as he wiped the blood off his face. He scanned the field for any bodies that were still intact. There weren't many. Most of the bodies had been blown into pieces or burnt to a crisp, but some of the bodies had managed to remain mostly intact. Nex molded both of his hands into large shovel like appendages and started to shovel the intact bodies with one hand and hold them with the other. Occasionally he heard a cry for help from the bodies. It was something that he merely disregarded and continued to shovel.
"As you wish," Thrisba stated absently to his master. Thrisba decided to scan the outer rim of the area first, punning and leaping over mounds of limbs. He soon came upon two intact bodies lying next to one another. "Awwww... I feel bad for them, should we take a moment of silence for the dead?" "Our job is to collect the dead, not mourn them." "Death is such a sad thing." Thrisba's left hand extended down to one of the two bodies, lifting it. "Hey idiot, carry your load!" The right arm fell down, lifting the body. "I hope master is pleased! I think he really loves me!" "I hope master separates us so I can kill you." With that said, Thrisba ran off, hefting two bodies over his back.
Name: Legat Antaeus Age: Centuries old. Looks about 19. Gender: Male Race: Elf Appearance: With an average height, Legat looks like our average elf. He has black hair that hides his elven ears, and a mark on the back of his head signifying his 'ascendancy'. Background: Legat lived his life as a normal elf until a foreigner came to his village, dealing death and destruction to everyone who lived there, having already massacred every town in his path. Legat, worried about his family and friends, tried to fight the mysterious man to no avail. Every swing Legat made was repelled and countered with an incredibly fast blade. Although Legat wasn't trained in the use of a sword or a bow, he held his ground against the man from dawn to sunset, finally resulting in said man to stop attacking and ask Legat to kill him. The man had been a death seeker, cursed or blessed with a spell that forced him to become the best swordsman that he could be. Similar to the red shoes fairytale, the mark forced him to fight forever until he died. Legat took the man's life, and became the marked one. After a fair while of indiscriminate fighting, Legat learned to supress the mark's needs. Bored of the world he lived in, he took in a journey to travel through realms and planes, meeting Tebryn Arbandi in one of his many travels. The man promised Legat challenges, in exchange for him becoming part of his personal guard. Legat agreed. Personality: Legat is happy and upbeat, even going so far as congratulating opponents in the middle of a fight for their technique. He dislikes one sided brutality, and will often give weapons to his attackers so they can defend themselves. Weapons/Gear: He carries a pair of Jians (double-edged straight swords), of about 30 inches each. He doesn't dual wield, of course.
Thrisba silently returned to Tebryn and dropped the two bodies at his feet. Then Thrisba bowed slightly and ran off in a new direction, looking for more intact bodes. "These pathetic humans are disgusting." "Someone help!" A man cried in the distance, Thrisba quickly dashed to the source of the sound. It was an older man, probably in his forties in thick plate armor, lying on top of another dead body. He was barely alive, his legs severely burned. "Oh thank god someone is here to help me." "Sorry, not part of my job description. In fact, my master needs you dead." The man quickly lifted a sword from the dirt, grunting in severe pain as he thrust the sword into Thrisba's gut. Thrisba let out a loud cry, stepping back away from the man. "HEHEHEHEHEHEHE, THOUGHT YOU COULD KILL ME EH?!" Ba screamed, the black half of Thrisba's face spawned an evil grin. "Oh, don't kill him painfully." "I enjoy a death he never saw coming!" The man looked on in horror, confused at what had just happened. Thrisba grabbed the area around where the sword was sticking out. Thrisba pulled. A tear of flash and bone ripped through the air as the man fainted. The sword which once waited in the tight wound fell harmlessly to the ground, drenched in blood. Thrisba's shirt was ripped open partially, revealing a gaping hole in Thrisba's body which gave a portal to some of Thrisba's organs. Thrisba laughed, taking the sword the man had used and quickly stabbing him through the heart. Then he drew his poncho, wrapping himself in it. "We must appear nice for master." "Just pick up the new body, I'll get his friend." Again, Thrisba walked back with two more bodies.
"Finished" Nex said with a voice that resonated like that which belongs to the mountains themselves. He crouched down to jump back to Tebryn when he felt a tap on the back of his head. He turned around to see a nervous young magician who had apparently lost an arm. The young mage fired another fireball at the mountain of metal standing before him, but to his surprise nothing happened. "Injured mage" Nex said aloud to no one as he set down the bodies he was holding and raised his arm towards the young mage. The blood drained from the young mage's face when he saw that his attacks truly had zero effect, so he ran. The mage didn't make it far. Nex morphed his hand into a claw which remained attached to his arm by a chain of sorts. He launched his hand which clamped around the young man with a sickening crunch. The man coughed up blood as he was wrenched back to the metal giant. The giant said a single word which drained the man's face of any signs that he had ever been alive... "Food" "AHHH!!" The man yelled a blood wrenching cry before he disappeared into the mountain's gullet. "Back to master" the mountain stated aloud as he licked the blood from his lips. He returned to the mound of bodies, picked them back up, and jumped back to his master with them. "Here Master. 58 intact bodies." He told the master whom he had dedicated his life to as he dropped the bodies at the sorcerer's feet.
Thrisba waited for his master's response, standing as far away from Nex as possible without seeming suspicious. Anybody from the scorpion clan was a threat. Thrisba reached into his bag, pulling out a small medical kit and he began to stitch up his stomach. His face was expressionless, only wincing every now and then as he worked quickly. Thrisba was a professional at stitching himself up now so he finished quickly, storing his tools and waiting for his master to speak.
Tebryn looked at the bodies before him. "Good. You may leave now, I will call for you when you are needed again. If you get bored, there's a large village a few miles to the south." Tebryn then turned and pulled out a leather pouch from his belt. He tipped the pouch so that the red powder within fell onto the lush grass, causing it to wither and die. He walked slowly and deliberately, careful to make no mistakes in the giant circle he was drawing.
As the boss worked on his circle, Legat shrugged and left. The boss had mentioned a village to the south; maybe that would entertain him for a few hours. Maybe he'd eat something. He wondered how those humans that repelled the attack would stand up against them and their own army. He hoped it wasn't as boring as this battle. What were they thinking, closing the portal? That's no way to start a fight. Even after fighting alongside him, Legat remained ignorant of his boss' reasons for trying to invade his home realm, but that was irrelevant as of that exact moment. He had just found a restaurant.
Quickknife grinned. He had been starting to get worried. When he was first promised a war he had envisioned a chance to wreak mayhem amongst legions of the world's finest, not hauling corpses for a warlock who hogged all the beautiful genocide for himself. This however...this he could go for. Jauntily, he started down the path toward the village. How to do it, he wondered. He would have to raise the alarm, that much was obvious; there would be no sport in the attack otherwise. But should he kill the parties searching for him, or break into their homes and kill their families? Either way would be suitably ironic. He shrugged. I'll just play it by ear, he decided. Murder soldier here, kill another's wife there, maybe throw in a rape or two just to shake things up. The important thing at this point was the alarm. As he neared the village he became more cautious, trading his lively stroll for a paranoid creep. He couldn't let himself be spotted too soon. Even if he had never been here before, his face was too unique and too well known to risk premature exposure. And if he was exposed prematurely, well that would take all the fun out of it, now wouldn't it? He managed to sneak into the heart of the town and found himself an inn to perch atop of, waiting in the shadows, watching the alley behind it for a suitable target. Eventually, one appeared: a young woman, late teens to early twenties, fairly pretty but not starkly so...just the way Quickknife liked them. Like a cat he pounced on her, pinning her to the ground and sending her basketload of oranges scattering. He swiftly produced his sharpest knife and held it to her throat, pressing it ever so gently enough to draw the slightest trickle of blood. "Now now, don't scream," he warned. "If you do my hand may slip, and we wouldn't want that to happen, now would we?" He grinned evilly at her. She stared back. Fear was in her eyes, but she was obediently silent. "I'm sure you know who I am. Even in a podunk little place like this, you are sure to have heard of the Quickknife, haven't you? Now don't worry, I'm not going to kill you yet. What they say is true; those who actually see me are spared...usually. "You see, what I want you to do is run to your guards, your police, your city elders, your pitchfork mobs. Hell, whoever it is people here go to when people like me show up. You go to them and you tell them. Tell them the Game begins now. Jack is in town, and I'm looking to have myself a good time." He grinned again then quickly sprang up and dashed off, finding himself a nice, secluded spot a good ways away where he could get in a good laugh. The game was indeed afoot, and he needed to get it out of his system before it was too far underway. Once the searches started, he would have to suppress the urge until the shadows grew dark enough that he could use the laugh as a weapon of fear. He laughed at the thought. What was he afraid of? He didn't need to worry about blowing his cover! This was just a little town and he was the great Quickknife Jack! He could probably kill them all by sunrise. He pondered that for a moment. Perhaps that was the quota he should strive for. He shrugged. Either way, it was certainly going to be an interesting night.
If you get bored, there's a large village a few miles to the south. In fact Nex was bored, he had hoped to kill more than a small wizard in their last battle. He wasn't just bored though. More than that though he was hungry and he was thirsty. He longed feel flesh between his teeth and bones under his feet and in his claws. He thirsted for the blood of innocents to flow down his throat. It was time for him to feed. Soon after Nex had left he arrived at a small town that was on the outskirts of the larger village. This was where he would begin his feeding. Before he had even come within 500 hundred feet of the town it had seen his hulking, mountainous form and had raised the alarms by the time Nex had reached the town a small army of villagers had amassed at the town's gates. "Quite a meal" Nex thought to himself as he approached with thundering footsteps. "Who, no, what are you, and what are you doing here?" Asked the man who appeared to be the captain of the small force. The man never had a chance to hear the monster's answer though, for as soon as he finished his question he found the razor sharp tip of a tail, that looked more like a demonic clever than else, shoved through his heart and sticking out the other side. In a flash of scarlet Nex sheared the man in half vertically and answered the man's question. "I am Nex Cruentus, and I am here to feed." For a moment the townspeople stood astonished. The strongest man in the town had just been torn in half. It was then that one of the men with either great foolishness or great bravery ran at the giant with an axe held high over his head. He had expected to hear the sharp clang of metal striking metal when he attacked the beast, but that didn't happen. He knew that he had struck his target; he was looking at where the axe had been embedded in the beast's thigh. The axe hadn't cut into the beast though; rather, it had melded into the beast's metal hide. "W-W-What are you?" the man stammered as he stepped away from the mountain standing before him. Before the man had a chance to turn around though, he felt a sharp pain in his sides and felt himself being lifted from the ground. The army stood still, scared to death, scared beyond death, as they watched the giant tear the man in half with his bare hands. GAAAHHHH!!!! A shriek resounded through the countryside as the man let out his last breath. A shriek that could raise the dead, if only to scare the dead to death. A blood curdling yell that resounded for miles. For the mountainous giant it was music of the most beautiful kind, he savored it while it lasted, only to find himself disappointed when it ended. He looked at the remaining townspeople as he raised one half of the mutilated man he held in his hands and raised it to his mouth and took a bite from it. When he had finished chewing he addressed the stunned and frightened crowd before him. "Entertain me" commanded a voice that resonated from the same massive, steel gullet that had just eaten one of the town's bravest men. With that he rushed forward with a whirlwind of metal and blood. The screams that tore through the air were a pleasant melody. The flesh in his mouth a heavenly ambrosia; the blood a sweet nectar. The perfume of fresh blood enticed his nostrils and the flesh, blood, and bone beneath his feet and claws stimulated him. Nex Cruentus was enjoying himself.
It wasn't long until the other two came wreaking havoc in the town. Now, that would have been fine, if it wasn't for the fact that merely minutes after he had ordered a meal of steak and rice, a ghastly scream had broken the night into a complete rampage, with people desperately trying to leave town and yelling warnings of imminent death and destruction for all who stayed. That included waiters and cooks. After the general chaos and panicked dissolved, Laget stood up, annoyed at the inconvenience, and walked into the kitchen to look for his steak or at the very least, his rice. The kitchen was a depressing mess, with pans and pots thrown over everywhere, food and plates on the floor and shattered glass everywhere. No steak in sight. He resolved to make one himself, and he directed himself to the back, in search of the place where they kept the meat or the cattle. Just at the back of the kitchen, there was a locked door, perhaps for unspoilable food, which he tried to open, simply to find it was locked. But no longer than seconds after he tried to open the door, a large thud hit the door, and a voice screamed. "Help! Is someone there! Could you, please, open this!" Laget figured he had nothing else to do, so he kicked the door open without giving it a second thought. In hindsight, he conceded that had been a bad idea and that he should have warned whoever was behind the door to step back. He found the waitress that had attended him, a nice girl of no more than thirteen, lying on the floor alonside broken shards of a door and a few sacks of grains. He offered his hand to help her back up. "Thank you! Some jerk closed the door with me inside when the commotion started. Do you know what happened?" She said, getting back up. She had probably been looking for his rice. In the split-second it took Laget to process that, he had already machinated a new activity for the rest of the night, in homage to the stories people told around the fireplace. Laget preferred more subtle, and long reaching actions than simply entering a town a killing everyone. Where was the fun in that? In this case however, it could take about ten years for the plan to develop, but it'd be worth it, if he wasn't dead. Plus, it'll be very entertaining to watch. "I think someone was murdered in the entrance, by a demon. I think you'd prefer to come with me." Laget said, smiling. She nodded in agreement, probably feeling confident around a swordsman. She led him to a back door, and they left into the sidestreets of the town. "Do you have, by any chance, a male childhood friend about your age?" Laget asked, maybe hoping she'd get the hint of what he was planning to do. She brightened up, instead. "Yes, I do. You mean for shelter, right?" She said, grabbing his arm. "It's this way." Laget got a brief look at a nearby village, through the forest, and he saw Nex doing what he did best, but the waitress pulled him into another sidestreet. Laget was impressed; Nex had managed to create panic even when he wasn't in the vicinity. "I'm Joan. Pleased to meet you." She said, without even looking back. "Same. I'm Laget." Seems like she enjoyed being a sidekick. This was going to be fun.
Where a once prosperous, if not small, town had once stood now stood the sight of an unimaginable massacre. Entire buildings had been plowed to the ground, the ground ran with blood, and bits and pieces of bodies were strewn around the area for hundreds of feet. There, in the middle of the destruction stood a mountain. It was a massive, red and silver mountain. Shrieks could be heard in the air coming from the nearby village. The mountain shifted and faced the village that had been gripped with fear. Nex Cruentus closed his eyes and focused on his vitals. Even though he had eaten only a few mages that day he had drank more than enough blood to satisfy his needs. Next he checked his exoskeleton; he was low on a number of minerals, minerals that he couldn't find in a small smithy like the one that this town had. The village on the other hand would have a much larger smithy. Slowly, with heavy steps he walked towards the village people fled away from his hulking mass as he approached the village. Occasionally a foolish youth would confront him, only to be torn in half or otherwise mutilated and tossed to the side.
Tebryn watched the ensuing mayhem of the once-peaceful town. Despite the incredible distance between Tebryn and the town, he had no problem focusing on both the summoning circle he was now creating with the utmost care (one time long ago, a shake in his hand caused the summoning circle he was making to have a dent smaller than a pinhead. When the ritual was completed, the resulting chaos had nearly turned Tebryn and his house into some strange, unidentifiable substance) and the chaos his minions were causing. He saw the invisible light of the souls of the slaughtered about to pass into the afterlife, and with a whim halted them in their departure. He saw their feelings of confusion as they were stopped, their thoughts of uncertainty as they heard his siren call, and felt their pitifully weak resistance as he forced them into servitude. What an amazing thing... Tebryn thought as the familiar sensation of pain throbbed dully at the edges of his vast consciousness. The soul truly is a wonder to behold... It can be drained of everything which makes its existence, endure torment inconceivable even to the gods which made them, and still bounce back with no external help whatsoever... He marveled at the amazing wonders stored at the outer fringes of his consciousness, still concentrating fully on the summoning circle and on the chaos of the town. Suddenly, Tebryn noticed a pang of magical energy appear within the main town's guards' barracks. He immediately recognized it as a portal preparing to stabilize itself. Sloppy... He thought as the magic whirled chaotically in a crude circle, then deposited a squad of five surprisingly powerful magicians. The wizards moved immediately out of the guards' barracks, sending out crude beams of magic which Tebryn recognized as vision enhancements. He carefully scanned their minds for purpose, and found it quickly. Looks like Quickknife is going to have some fun... He thought.
After tossing yet another innocent bystander from his path Nex Cruentus arrived at the village gates. Unsurprisingly Nex couldn't fit through the gates. So he made the gates wider. Or in other words, he swung his massive claw of a hand a destroyed the gate that stood before him leaving a gaping hole in the wall, through that hall he entered the village. He scanned the street before him, looking for any signs that looked like anvils. The reason being that the only languages Nex could read were demonic and a little bit of elvish. He quickly found an anvil shaped sign just down the road, but in his way were a small group of mages. He had already fully filled his need for magical blood, so there was no point in attacking them. That is; unless they decided to stand in his way. Nex walked down the street, probably alarming the mages. "Move" Demanded a resonant, earthy tone one that could have belonged to a mountain god with a single word.
The mages had just filed out of the barracks when they heard the bloodcurdling cry of metal rending metal. Their gaze darted to their right, and they saw a mountain of metal as tall as the buildings around it booming from the crumpled remains of the town's gate. Their faces paled and they recoiled in fright, sending a whimpering plea for reinforcement over their mental link with the Arcanium University. They feared death had met them this day as the monster came slowly towards them. Move They didn't need to be asked twice.
As Nex Cruentus approached the group of now cowering mages they quickly jumped out of his way. That pleasured Nex. Nex stopped once he was past the group and looked back at the mages. One of the younger of the group jumped with a scared hiccup. "Good" Nex said as a thanks. Theses humans, unlike the others he had seen that day, had been obedient. He liked it when people were obedient. Once he had thanked them he proceeded to the smithy only to find yet another door that he couldn't fit through. "I hate doors" he thought to himself as he grabbed the front of the building through a window. With a single heave and a massive cloud of dust and debris he tore the front off of the building; making himself a door. There was still a couple of people in the building when he walked in, all of whom quickly ran out. That was good, more people who obediently moved out of his way. He walked to the back of the building, ripping open another door for himself, where the store room was. It was there that he found the smithy's store room, where all the metal's were kept. He absorbed all of the metals quickly, something that made him feel a bit healthier, and walked back out. He was done here.
