Revenge!! or Operation: Shattering the Bone

A soft plume of smoke lofts upwards from a long stemmed pipe sitting idly upon a stone plated windowsill as its host looks upon the port of the famed coin city of Blackstone Gate coming into view.  A sigh escapes a lip less mouth as a knock comes from the nearby cabin door followed by a feminine voice, “We are entering port as we speak, Lord Commander.  Our forces are gathering on the deck for your inspection and orders.”  With that the speaker leaves and can be heard heading back out and up toward the deck of the ship.  After a few moments of continuing to look out the window, the skeletal knight stands to leave though takes a quick moment to empty his pipe into the water below and place it upside down on the sill before leaving the room.  Donning his helmet as he climbed onto the deck, where he addressed his knights to remain with the ship and at the ready, he disembarked into the busy dock of the great city.  

Thoughts of the last months crossed his mind.  Having failed to be vigilant enough to prevent such an assassination attempt in the first place, he could only hope that he would restore his honor by ensuring they paid for their transgressions as desired by the Avalorn Crowns.  Hope was fleeting as much time had passed since the attempt on Princess Vallana's life and the trail had grown cold.  Finally, however, a boon of luck would occur thanks to his trusted pets.  Just days ago the bone bats, Echo and Mirage, detected an unusual mana signature that was identical to those used during the assassination attempt.

In response to this, the order to make ready the Knight Commander's personal corvette, the Harrower, was made once verification was finished.  Crafted of exquisite black hued lumber from the depths of the Mystwoods, made waterproof and hard as iron through spell and alchemy, whilst mithril laced steel bound and held it tight.  Whilst armed with both anti-personnel and “siege” class weaponry, there was one that outclassed them all onboard. The Darkblade's Howl, a cannon wrought of darksteel and etched with runes, a more compact variant of the “great” cannons found on the great pleasure ship.  Knights marked with the Darkblade black and purple crest stood at ready at their stations, each onboard having been trained for various functions on ship and land – each capable of manning the onboard weapons, handling aspects of the ship, aquatic fighting, and the likes.  The remaining crew onboard were made up of Drow and Tiefling from Avalorn trusted by the Avalorn Crowns.

Glancing back at the ship, Karl saw his knights upon its deck still manning their stations about the ship's proper waiting for their Knight Commander to return.  Returning his focus on the task at hand, he made his way quickly into the city, heading toward the great trade district – overhead his pets fly high above.  The open air, white sails, and various hues of wood of the ships and piers bled slowly into black stone and dark brick.  One of the city's legendary great gates, a vast two foot thick black ironwood gate with coins of many origins embedded in its face sat open as denizens and all manners of travelers came and went through it. City guards watched from multiple locations, including above the great gate, armed with fauchard (a glaive-like polearm) or a heavy crossbow with an arming blade at their side.  Foreign knights are especially watched, extremely so those hiding their faces, as Karl soon noted as one began to follow him.

Loud busy crowds, noisy and at times forceful shouting of merchants, lively music, strong exotic aromas of spice and foulness of body scents, colorful banners, and the pleasing touch of silks, gems and the likes assaulted the collective senses.  Crowds diverted from Karl as he approached, like a river hitting a boulder set in its path and those that lingered did not remain there long.  Despite most having the good sense not to test their luck, the merchants brandished their wares and shouted at him to stop to take a closer look at their goods nonetheless.  Stopping a moment and looking up, he spots his pets and heads toward the location they make their way to – the guard confusedly follows Karl toward one of the various alleys, a hand on his sword's hilt.

The atmosphere of this alley seemed off, different from the rest of the nearby city – shadowed, smelling of old booze and blood, and with a lingering feeling of jealously and hatred.  Pausing half-way down the alley, Karl begins to look around but is quickly interrupted.

The city guard barks several questions, “What are you doing here stranger?  Why are you looking around in this alley?  Better tell me, I'm a guard!”  A few moments pass before, “I am here on business,” Karl flatly responds annoyed slightly at this guard's interference with his directive as he continues to look around.  Eventually his eyes notes a sigil, drawn with magic, upon the one door and starts to move toward it – quickly the guard moves to prevent his passage.  “Hey mister!  I ain't done with you yet.  You ain't even known here!  Go see the magistrate before you try doing something that'll get you in trouble,” he says with a bit of a snippy attitude.  Looking over at the guard, Karl moves quickly at him to which the guard draws his blade and swings mostly out of fear – with a swift jerk the knight grabs the blade with one hand and the guard's face with the other.  Ripping the blade from his hand and throwing it to the ground, Karl keeps the man's face covered.  A quick punch to the guard's stomach helps wind him faster, continuing to hold him until he passes out.  “Points for dedication to duty,” he says before slowly sitting the man against the wall of the alley and setting the sword next to his hand.  He pauses before the man and sighs, he places a pouch of coins in the man's other hand.

Now freed of his interruption, the knight commander moves toward the sigil marked door.  He studies the sigil, notably a wizard's and he believes he recognizes it from his time as a paladin of Tyr.  Using his finger he moves his finger over the marking, stopping short of finishing it now knowing where he recalls it.  “A cult member, how typical,” he says to himself with disdain, “Three lines short of the full sigil, must be rather high up or at least thinks high of themselves.”  “It would seem fated I would be the one to come for you than, especially with this blade granted to me by my King.  Come minion of Orcus, final death awaits,” he utters drawing Bonestrewn before kicking the door open.

Hisses of undead defenders within the building answer the forcible entry, moving quickly to intercept Karl and resulting in a series of short fierce confrontations that do little to slow him down.  The creatures, being mere minions, have no sense of self-preservation and continue to fling themselves at him though through these brief battles Karl can sense more sentient beings ahead ready to make this an actual challenge to him.  Soon he comes into a large open chamber, whose corners are filled with remains of various beings, where a ritual was being conducted at some point as markings on the ground show where offerings were made and the markings laid.  Several men wearing black robes and Human skull masks enter from the far side of the room, the one carrying a large scepter topped with a goat's skull – no subtlety at all Karl thought, these men are quickly flanked by four ghouls that enter after they had.  

The one with the scepter cries out, “FOOL! You have come here to die?!  Your remains will serve our Master, be honored!”  Tilting his head slightly at how cliche this man is, Karl snarkily responds, “Before I tremble and “die” and be offered to your “Master”....tell me this.  Was it your “Master” who attacked Princess Darkblade?”  Laughter filled the room, first the lead man followed by his fellows then the ghouls before answering, “Our Master deemed his champion, Lord Bokyx, to add her remains to his army and to take this world in his glorious name – her remains to forge a new wand!  Even now he prepares nearby to take the bitch!”

As the man refers to Princess Vallana as a bitch, Karl dashes forward and shoulder slams the man before cleaving his blade in a wide arc to bite deeply into the two directly to his right.  Reeling back from the impact, the leader drops his specter as the ghouls pounce upon Karl with their fangs and claws.  One of the two slashed, slumps over already dying from the wound while the other rolls on the ground in agony – his agony drawing one of the ghouls to him who begins to feast on him.  The one ghoul holds down Karl's sword arm, preventing him from swinging or thrusting it about.  The fight continues to be chaotic as the knight manages to fling the one ghoul, the one who was on his back, against a nearby wall with his free hand before starting to slam the other in the head with his fist.  The leader picks up his scepter up and charges Karl, slamming the knight several times across the head and upper body.

The ghoul continues to feast on the now dead man as the dying one has stopped moving as well, attracting the ghoul who had been flung away to come join the meal.  The two remaining men, besides the leader, draw blades and rush at Karl to try to overpower him in numbers – though their blades, being not enchanted seem to do nothing but knock him about some.  Karl's gauntlet covered fist finally penetrates the ghoul's head, ending it and causing it to fall motionless to the floor.  

No longer pinned by the ghoul, Karl makes short work of the two lessers before turning his attention primarily on the leader.  A caster by nature, he tries to cast something likely destructive but was backhanded by Karl.  Stumbling back he could not mount a defense quickly enough and he was quickly overpowered by the knight who shattered the ghastly scepter before impaling the man upon his blade.  Kicking the man off to the ground, Karl places an armored foot on top his throat crushes it before dispatching the remaining ghouls with little difficulty

About this time as there was only stillness in the room, a ruckus could be heard as three of his order comes rushing in from the outside.  His squire, Lycidas Draven, and two knight escorts come battle ready into the room and look about at the remains of the battle.  In  response Karl greets and asks, “Well met and welcome. -he motions around- What brings you here when you had orders to wait on the ship?”  The knights remain quiet and allow Lycidas to answer, “Commander, you failed to check in as you said you would, it has already been several hours.  I thought you were potentially in danger so once the bats were spotted we made our way here to offer backup.”  With a nod as he cleans his blade on one of the slain man's robes Karl orders, “I see, fair enough.  Secure this room  and the exit, do not allow anyone else to enter and especially no one to leave.  I am going deeper to see if I can find this so called, Lord Bokyx, the ringleader of all this mess.”  With that the three salute and go about to secure, the one knight heads outside while Lycidas and the other knight remain in this ritual room.  Once focused on the task at hand again, Karl heads the way the now dead ones came from.

About half way through the corridor into the next chamber, an unsettling laughter begins to come forth and greet Karl as he breaches its threshold.  Upon a gaudy throne crafted of the bloodstained bones and skulls of numerous Humanoids sits a pale skinned man in a black robe adorned with embroidering of Orcus's crest whilst a large horned skull upon his left shoulder – leaning against the throne to his left is a staff seemingly made from the spine of a man and topped with a goat's skull with a broken horn.  Teeth the hue of a dead man's made up his wide grin as he seems to be enjoying the fact someone has made it into the main chamber of this hideaway.  With a mocking sing-song voice, the man calls forth, “Welcome, welcome!  I bid you welcome, I say!  What brings a dog of that Darkblade whore all the way here?  Were you sent to bark and howl at me for your masters?”

Ignoring the man initially, Karl glances about the room noting the two side paths and having a sense another hidden behind the man's throne – he finally centers his view on him.  “You sound like a fool, you act like a fool, therefore you must be a fool.  And I do not suffer fools,” Karl states before drawing his blade and rushing at the man, obviously tired of these Orcus Cultists.  The man pulls forth his staff just in time to prevent having his skull split in two, pushing Karl back with unnatural strength, his smile never ending he continues to mock, “Aw, did I hit a ner....oh, guess not, isn't that right Mister Bones?”  Pulling his shield from off his back, the knight sizes up his foe and shrugs, “I suspected one of your ilk to be able to smell such a mile away, so not think me surprised.  I'd worry more about surviving than trying to mock me.”  “Aw, no fun!  Well, I'll just dominate you and have my fun,” the man screams as he launches a spell but watches it fizzle to no effect, “....the fuck?  What the fuck is this?  Why didn't it work?”  An annoyed hiss like sigh escapes Karl as he runs up on the bewildered mage and thrusts his blade at the man's midsection to which is deflected at the last moment, sending the caster stumbling back, yelling at Karl the mage asks “Tell me!”

“Simple.  I am cursed not turned,” Karl responds offhand as he continues his assault, landing blow over blow against the man's staff.  Blinking with confusion the mage keeps blocking though his form and his stamina are quickly fading, his eyes give away his desperation as it becomes apparent he is casting a spell without casting audibly.  A heavy thud interrupts the man as Karl's armored head slams against the caster's face, breaking his nose and causing a strong outward spray of blood.  Reflectively the man drops his staff and grabs his nose to try to stem the flow of crimson.  During the confusion, Karl drops his sword and grabs the man's other hand, crushing the bones of the fingers in the armored grip.

Yelping in pain and terror, knowing his life is soon to be lost at this rate – the mage attempts to make a run for it by going the way Karl had came in. Karl snorts and allows the man to make it pass him without attempting any preventable actions, a sane man would had found this confusing but the wounded mage did not care. It was not long before Karl heard the mage's death at the hands of his knights and squire. Finally alone in this chamber, the curious knight commander looked about the various paths until deciding to throw the throne to the side to see if his instincts were correct. Feeling satisfied with himself at the sight of another passage way he calmly strode down it toward where-ever it would open up.

The pathway eventually opened up into a large rectangular shaped chamber though most of it was covered in a grayish mist and the walls lined with a row of mirrors, reflecting toward the center of the room in the clearing. As Karl cautiously approached the center of this room, the various mirrors began to capture and reflect what they see – at first all just showed the reflection of Karl and the mist that lingered in the room but soon it changed. Several showed him as he was in life; notably without armor so his silver skin and hair bearing the mark of Tyr upon his flesh were plain to see, another showed Karl with his love Chera in the lake near the castle, the knight riding Zaneth through the Mystwoods, another with the twins of the Darkblade's playing in their shared common room, another in the throne room guarding the Darkblades, and so on and so forth until every mirror showed an aspect of Karl's previous and current life. One by one the mirrors grew dark and dull, their images fading and only the one centered on the far wall remained active and showed Karl with Chera, fleshed once more on a Avalorn ship heading to who knows where but soon this faded as well.

After a long pause staring at the final mirror and likely thinking upon the sight he beheld, Karl slashes at it and rends the mirror quite easily but sets off a chain reaction where each mirror on the other side of it breaks apart and the next until all are ruined. Etched into the walls, behind where each mirror hung, is a complex script of runes that were most likely the enchantment that caused them to act as they did. Karl found it interesting none of them seemed to had taken any notable damage from the explosive shattering mirror. The original mirror that was slashed though, had yet another passage way hidden behind but one could see it was incredibly short. Ducking in and making his way quickly down this path, the knight would find the “treasure room” of these cultists. Various items, gold piles, documents, and the likes could be found rather neatly organized in crates, shelves, chests, and the likes throughout the small room. Once finished with the short inspection, Karl returned to the throne room chamber.

Now taking a left from the throne itself, Karl inspects the next room that is directly attached to this chamber. Soon he finds it is a barracks of sorts and the cultists seemed to live as well as work out of this place. Their “street” clothing was kept in footlockers at the base of each of their beds as well as toys made of bone and sinew, most likely for the ghouls that he had destroyed earlier. The undead nested nearby as well, as if pets for these dead men. A small latrine, quite filthy, was located in a back section of this chamber as well.

Leaving the barracks and going straight, the knight commander enters the next attached room. This room looked to be a room of prayer and worship, several icons of Orcus sat about and the floor was covered in many stains – primarily crimson. Partial undead creations littered the room as well, either unfinished or destroyed in offering to their twisted “god”. It was here also that Karl learned from several documents that the man he defeated in the previous room was the one who referred to himself as Lord Bokyx and was a ranking member of the cult. Supposedly this Bokyx was granted a dream from Orcus himself to purge the “One Who Would Tip the Scales” and then destroy all presence of the demon princes Baphomet, Demogorgan, Graz'zt, and Malcanthet that the cult had seen signs of existing in this new world. Unfortunately, Karl found evidence that these “orders” were spread throughout the cult as numerous responses to correspondence sent by Bokyx could be found confirming the cell's efforts to achieve the directive.

With all this Karl rejoined his knights and squire. Noting Bokyx's headless body on the floor he looks at the two knights and tells them, “You two will remain here and ensure this place gets no additional visitors or someone comes out of hiding or whatnot. When the recovery and purge team arrives, assist them and return to the ship once finished.” The two knights salute and Lycidas awaits his orders, Karl motions for him to follow him and the two head back quickly to the ship without much a word spoken. Just prior to boarding the ship, he looks at his squire and says, “You did well today, Lycidas. These experiences and some time to grow strong and you will become a great knight of Avalorn, a proud servant of the Crowns of Darkblade before you know it. For now though, once we get on board, gather two teams of four out of the men present. Task the one with recovering all things one would deem treasure or valuable for the Darkblades including recording some runes off walls in the one chamber and the other with purging the place – put down enough lamp oil and burn the place until nothing remains. Try not to draw too much attention, if possible. I trust you will figure out a way.” He pats the squire on the back who gives him a look akin to, “Oh gee thanks” but verbally gets a “As you wish Lord Grimfell!” After this Karl boards the ship and by the following morning the ship sets sail back for Avalorn after the job is completed.