Post/Author/DateTime

Post

BrokenForce 10-04-04, 08:05 AM

"I still hear the screams... Pleading voices of women and children, sulking, begging for their lives, struggelig to keep their sanity. Screams so horrible and chilling that i shiver at the mere thought of them... I wish it was but a nightmare, but alas... It was by my hand that those innocent people suffered so greatly... All I seek is to leave those screams behind me, but they are grafted onto my skin and branded into my mind... It is indeed a wicked world I live in" It was a crisp autumn morning and the different shades of orange, yellow and red draped the forest around the temple. A subtle cold breeze snug around the temple walls and made me shiver for a second as I was standing guard. I took in the undescribable beauty of the land that sorrounded the temple, which was placed on a mountainside just outside the civilized lands. I am told that I was brought to the temple 12 years ago by peasants who had found me at their doorstep. The poor peasants had niether the gold nor the food to take me in and then brought me to the only place they knew could take care of me or maybe rather make use of me. The rustling leaves sounded almost like the ocean, a great sea of fire, all those shades of orange, yellow and red. The leaves on the ground danced in the wind, like dervishes they spinned round and around. Maybe it was the chill mountain air, maybe it was the lack of sleep or maybe it was the still throbbing pain from the abbots wallop, which was dealt out unfairly to me instead of to acolyte Sergei who was the real culprit in that matter, but something made my mind wander far away from the temple grounds. As I sat there dreaming on the temple walls, which I was supposed to be guarding, a loud noise brought me back from my slumber. I quickly got to my feet and scouted out over the forest as the sound of a hornblower grew stronger yet. I had to cover my eyes from the sun that hovered right above the horizon in the direction from where the trumpeteering came from, to be able to see anything at all. To my horror I saw the banners of Zan Zan lifted above the trees not more than 300 hundred meters away. Zan Zan was a mystery. The first reports of his presence had been brought to the temple some months ago by the town runners. It was said that he was almost as big as a giant and that his warband of blackfolk had laid one town waste after another. Nothing else was know about this halfgiant. He allegedly appeared out of nowhere and took control of one of the mountaintribes of blackfolk, with which he had roamed the countryside for the last couple of months. His agenda was unknown to all, but mayhem, destruction, pain and suffering all seemed to be viable motives. I shook and almost numbed by dread i reached for the alarmbell. I rang the bell once before a black arrow pierced my flesh and threw me to the ground in the temple courtyard. All went black. I woke up at the sound of wood breaking and just in time to roll away from the part of the templewall that was tumbling down under the force of the enormous ram that the hideous warband of Zan Zan deployed. Acolytes, the abbot, stablehands, monks and guards ran around trying to secure the temple from the intruders. The abbot and his three most trusted monks stood with their backs towards the centerbuilding of the templecomplex to guard the "Elderspears" as Zan Zan and his entourage broke down the maingate. The blood of my classmates, the acolytes, the people I had lived with for over a decade, the people who raised me was scattered all over the place. Their dying screams and their pleads for mercy filled my mind and all I could do was curl up and beg for my life. The laughter of Zan Zan echoed between the buildings and out in the mountains as he crushed everyone who opposed him on his way to the centerbuilding. His henchmen slithered, crawled and scurried all over the templecomplex and quenched one life after another with poisoneous knives, bites and claws quickly ensuring the vile victory of Zan Zan. At last Zan Zan stood infront of the big brassdoors that sealed the entrance to the centerbuilding. The abbot was bracing himself for his last great battle and his trusted guardians did so with him. Even though the abbot wielded one of the "Elderspears" they all knew that this fight would be their last. Lightning struck as the blade of Zan Zan struck the spear of the abbot and both were thrown several meters away. The thunderous sounds of mighty wills locked in battle, magickal energies surging out and bathing everything within the templewalls with an eiry bluish light, while they crossed blades again and again. If hours or only seconds passed I dont know, but the strength of the abbot seemed to seep from him as the multilpe wounds that Zan Zan had inflicted upon him wouldnt close even though the magick of the "Elderspear" should heal him. At last at his knees the abbot raised his spear in a feeble attempt to ward off Zan Zans mighty blows, but succeed in nothing but having the spear torn from his hand. The spear whirled through the air and as a divine finger landed just an arms reach from where I was lying pointing its gastly blue tip at me, as if calling me to end the reign of Zan Zan. Unbeknownst to Zan Zan that I was about to pick up the spear, he raised his cleaver to deal a final blow to the abbot. Just as the cleaving blade of Zan Zan split the face of the pleading abbot in two I ran as fast as I could with the spear aimed at Zan Zans hairy back. Zan Zan laughed insanely as the blood of the abbot sprayed his face and just too late heard my scream of hatred as I was closing in with the "Elderspead" cleched firmly in my hands. Zan Zan turned around and in the blink of an eye he saw the "Elderspear" with me at the end of it, plowing through his thick flesh and sundering his ribs, bathing me in black visceral fluid. Zan Zan sank to his knees, dropping the cleaver and with a look of total surprise, he shook his head and fell to the ground burying the "Elderspear" even deeper in his flesh. For a second I revelled in the feeling of having gutted this monstrosity, but all of a sudden I looked up and sorrounding me was the better part of Zan Zans warband closing in on me. As if they didnt quite know what to do with the slayer of their leader, they stood around me drewling, grinning, howling, chittering and whispering. I was struck with fear, I couldnt move. All of a sudden the angry mob that had encircled me was silent and slowly, very slowly, began to withdraw. For a short while I thought they was afraid of me, but no, so much luck would be reserved for someone else. I realized that what they withdrew from was not me, but the carcass of Zan Zan. Out from every little wound that Zan Zan had, there spilled a black mass that slowly but surely crawled and writhed towards me. If I was struck with fear before, I was now totally paralyzed. The black mass crept up over my legs and slowly but surely engulfed my whole body. It was cold, so cold. My vision dimmed and all the colours of the once beautiful autumn forest faded to shades of grey and at last everything turned black. I dont know how much time passed, but when I woke up I felt as if I was floating around in nothingness. I could hear faint screams and somewhere I could see a little speck of light. After some time I tried to maneuver towards the light and as if I willed myself to go there the speck of light grew bigger and bigger until i suddenly had regained my vision. I looked down upon my bloody hands and saw a child lying at my feet, its head torn off. I wanted to scream and I wanted to run as far away from this horrible scene as I possibly could, but I found that I had no control over my body what so ever. In fear I retreated inside again, I withdrew from the horrible sight and again I was engulfed in blackness. All I could sense was the quiet screams that pierced the darkness again and again, those screams I couldnt withdraw from. This state of being trapped inside my body, which was doing all those horrible things, lasted for what seemed like forever. I had no influence at all on what my body was doing and it was doing alot of which was not meant for human ears to hear nor human eyes to see. It was horrible to witness all this destruction, pain and suffering and not be able to do anything about it. I had no means to keep track of time, but the screams seemed to be endless. At last I spent all my time almost withdrawn from my senses, I had to protect my mind from further plunging into the depths of insanity, I will not succumb to the horrors of Zan Zans twisted mind. One day when i was floating inside the darkness within my soul, retracted from my senses, the little speck of light slowly and this time without my conscious willing, enlarged untill it filled all the darkness and forced me to open my eyes. I was blinded and my ears was filled with what sounded like thundering angelic choirs, cymbals, harps and trumpets. It was too much for my senses and suddenly i collapsed, again I slipped into unconsciousness. When I again woke up I was starring into the face of an old man. He had long white beard and had nice smiling blue eyes. With a soft voice he said: "Sleep my child, you need all the rest you can get." Again my sense of time slipped and if it was days, weeks or months that passed by I dont know, but one day I woke up and was able to move my limbs and my body on my own. I jumped out of bed and darted towards the door only to realize that my legs could hardly support me. I fell and the noise made the old man aware that I was at last leaving my bed. He opened the door and said that I should take it easy, he helped me to my feet and from then on I began to do more and more by myself. I stayed with the old man for six months. He trained me, fed me, answered many questions and supported me when the nighmarish flashbacks haunted both my dreams and my wake hours. He told me that it was a demon who had possessed both the halfgiant and me. It had been able to transfer its lifeenergy to me when I used the "Elderspear" to kill the haldgiant. Its name was Zan Zan and it had been banished form this world for now. For almost a year Zan Zan in the guise of me had roamed the countryside, raping, slaughtering, plundering and generally making life miserable to anyone in his path. After the six months where the old man helped me, I decided to make it on my own. I wanted to set out and build a new life, but the old man warned me. He told me that I was a sought after face. That everyone in the area would scorn me, hate me or even kill me for all that I had done while Zan Zan possessed me. I had to flee this part of the world and make my life somewhere else, where no one knew how I looked and no one had some of their loved ones killed or tortured by "me". What do you guys think of this backgroundstory for a Cleric/Monk, maybe even Paladin (In AD&D it was a Cleric/Fighter)? He worships some god of good probably having domains like: Protection, Good, Healing or maybe even War or Vengeance. I picture him sitting on a warhorse in full armour of some kind, plain, not too fancy with spikes or anything and without a helmet. He has short black hair and icyblue eyes. He has a sad mournfull look on his face and his neck is bent. He uses a maul as his favoured weapon which he holds loosly in his gauntletclad hand. His tabbard is white with a red rim, a la templar. He is a typical doomed hero. He is plagued by nightmares, he doesnt get enough sleep and is always a little suspicious about everyone. He of all people know that looks can be decieving and he never know if someone who he wronged while being Zan Zan is out to get him, so he has to be alert all the time. Another thing that Rhamden fears is that Zan Zan will return someday and reclaim his body... Alll he really want is to die while he is fighting demons and other greater evils, believing that that may redeem him. He has a soft spot for children and will do almost anything to keep them out of harm if he has any say about it.