| #1Hideous_PhidiasOct 14, 2009 14:38:39 | 998 YK
A lone dark warforged walks the dusty trails of the Blade Desert making his way to the Talenta Plains and onward to Karrnath. It had been almost two year sense he had come this way be for, not sense he had escaped the Karrnian work camps. The feel of the sand flowing over his metal feet, with every step through the sea of sand reminded Noble of those days. The feelings that he friendship and loss he had experienced came back with those memories. The sight of the great wall of Mist that lay on his left drove the point home harder. It had only been two years, but that was a fifth of his life. The last to years had changed him, more so then any battle he had fought or any loss of a comrade he had suffered. In the last two years he had gone from Great Warrior of Cyre to war prisoner and then finally to a wondering fugitive.
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The war had been going on for almost a century when Noble first join it. His name at first had just been the number 4483 but after a time the humans who he fought with gave him the name Noble, after the way he always stood tall no matter the odd like some knight out of legend. Noble had fought with these men for almost eight years now it is all he ever know, he was WARFORGED. the has been on many of the Cyran fronts together, the Dargurrn in the South, the Karrnath in the East, or the Thrane in the west. All these fronts had there unique elements, either Undead, Goblin or Religious Zealot, Noble had fought them all. Now they were back on the Karrnath front chasing down a patrol of Undead that crossed the lines in the night. Nobles unit one made up of warforged and humans had been traveling most of the night and in to the early morning hours, they were now in side of Karrnath. This was not a good position to be in, miles from help and half the company was fatigued from the march. The Captain had sent out a small until of swift warforged, some Greys as the darker heavier adamantine warforged some times called them. This was not a term of disrespect, no it was simple a statement of fact. they were not as heavy armored as the others and could move faster and quieter then them too. The humans need the time to get some rest and many now were a sleep, having taken off their armor and made a small camp between the rocks atop a hill. One of the men an old dwarf by the name of Thondra had said these rocks had once been a watch tower build during the early years of the war, but arcane magic had made short work of it and now only a few large stone still remained.
The patrol had been gone for hours, they were over due. The Captain was getting the men up and back into their gear fearing an attack or the need for a quick with drawl. It was then when Arrow a warforged on watch spotted the Greys moving quickly toward but still away from the camp. It was not evident right away why but soon the pack of Karrnians came in to sight. They were much more then just a simple patrol the company had been chasing the day before, now their numbers had grown to a small army. A keen eyed elf, Vanintilies, said they were mostly ghouls. " THOSE EVIL BASTARDS, they must have attacked a small border town and turned the lot of them." shouted the Captain as he finished dawning is armor. The battle was on. The Greys had tried to lead the horde of ghouls and zombies away, while still warning us but the anger of the men at the evilness of the turning of a hole village in to ghoul just to kill their company.
The Cyran company waited a top the hill make they present known with the war cries and chants that came from the flesh troops. The warforged troopers stood at the ready, quiet and resolute. The ghouls turned from their hunt and made their way through the valley and assaulted the hill, followed by a small pack of Karrnath Zombies and their Bone Knight masters. The ghouls came in all sizes small medium and even two large ones. Noble guessed the large ghouls had been the Ogre warriors maybe a pair of Dennith mercenaries. It did not mater really but it was something to think about while they stormed up the hill to the shield wall. The Captain had them make a line that bowed out in the middle. The plan was to let the center loose ground while the flanks held, slowly encircle the undead horrors and wipe them out. an old tactic but still a good one the company had done it many times before and had become quite good at it. The first wave hit the line like a herd of sheep, no real plan just undying hunger driving them to their deaths. The Cleric Sims unleashed the power of his holy gods down upon the ranks of the undead, killing many driving others off for a time. But, the second wave was more closely followed by the third, and now both were being directed by the Bone Knights that commanded this undead horde. The plan worked for a time, the line had reversed the bow and the undead were fighting on three sides, but there were so many. when Sims when to call down his gods' power again he was set upon by a swarm of small ghouls. These were the smaller ones, creatures that had once been children now slipped past the feat of the men attacking Sims behind the shield wall. He fought them off at first but they were so many and we did not have enough men to aid him and keep the wall. That is how Sims the High Cleric met his end, at the claws and teeth of ghoul children.
The Battle would have been lost at that point if had not been for the squad of Greys that had been on the patrol. They now attacked from behind cutting they way through zombie body guards to the necromancers the controlled this mess of flesh. The made short work of the man who held the staff topped by a skull. They then turned their attention to the backs of the ghouls and Bone Knights trying to fight their way up the hill. With the horde now fighting on all sides the shield wall had mostly broken up and it was now down to the messy business of one on one fighting, or in this case one on three. Even with the loss of their caster and his guard we were still out numbered. The company had been trained well mastering tricky maneuvers like giving ground while going back up a hillside. Now that training was being put to the test again, these men fleshy and warforged alike were some of the best heavy infantry in all of Cyre and now the they proved it. What may have looked like a loss of control and military discipline was in fact another battle tactic. The Company now moved apart for each other giving one another to wield the larger weapons like greatsword, battle axes and warhammers. Gone was the shield and spears they used earlier to poke away the mob now was the time heavy combat. The blood flowed from atop the hill. No ghoul made it out of the circle, not even the swarm of children that had brought down the cleric. Grey squad at the bottom of the hill slowly worked their way up while the rest of remained of the Company closed in to the remaining ghouls.
The Captain followed by Noble and five other soldiers fought their way to the Bone Knights that had place themselves in the middle of the battle field. From here they hoped to shield themselves from the combat and command their undead army. But holes in their lines had formed, ghouls now dropped two or three at a time. One hole formed in front of the Captain and he called for men to help him put an end to this once and for all. With out the Bone Knights will the Ghouls would be easier to defeat, their concentration was already showing signs that it was waning. the Captain lead the charge taking the first two Bone Knights by surprise. They had not thought the ghouls shielding them would have fallen so quick with the death of the Cyran cleric but some of Sims Spells till lingered on the company. The Captain cut down a Bone Knight and move to the enemy commander looking to settle this like a battle of champions. The Captain was a Knight of a High Holy order, he had held back his power to this moment. While Noble and the other Cyran Warriors dealt with the other Bone Knights, the Captain let loss his own holy power in a great show of magic then may had seen. All the zombie guard and even a few ghouls on the out skirts of the center of the battle fell to this wave of good energy.
It seemed that it was just those two men dueling to the death, all other just watching to see the victor. Sword and shield crashed into one another, soon leaving the shields ribbed and all but useless. The two circle the crash together again, breaking only to regain footing and look for a new opening. The fighting continue all round them but these two did not care. The Cyran soldiers that had made it to the center no fought off Bone Knights the best of Karrnath's army. Only the Band of Iron was as famous and as skilled. But in the end the Bone Knights fell one by one to there was just one left, and he belonged to the Captain. Out of the six men who had followed him to the center now only Noble still stood, not all were dead but their wounds were to get to remain on their feet. Noble looked on as the two masters circled once again watching one another waiting to the perfect moment to strike. Maybe it was the fatigue from the long march or a old war wound but the Captains defense was lacking. The Bone Knight made for a swing, the Captain move his sword to block gripping with two hand and all his might. But, it was a feint, as the Bone Knight swung his Bastard sword a hand dropped away and produces a dagger by magic. The Bone Knights sword clash with the Captains but it was a half hearted blow and may have be the opportunity the Captain was waiting for to turn the tide but then came the dagger. The dagger was driven up under the armor deep into the soft flesh of the Captain. If he had been Warforged it may not have been amoral wound but it was and he only a human. The Captain fell to his knees, with a laugh from the Bone Knight, who now revealed in his victory. But his victory was a victory in a defeat. All his men lay dead or dying the zombie guards were gone and the ghouls' numbers had thinned to much to turn the battle for him. He made ready his escape but first he would finish off his foe. As his sword fell to what would have been a killing blow his head left his body. There stood Noble, the forgotten bringer of death. Noble stood by the Captains side until the last of the ghouls were finished off. But, knowing little of how to save a humans he did only what he was trained kill any enemy that made the mistake of getting to close.
The Captain was dead, along with over half the men and warforged that made up the Company. The battle had taken its toll. The only thing left now was to get back to the safety of their own lines on report in. they quickly gathered the dead and what gear they could. caring the bodies of Sims and the Captain the men formed up and started the long march home. they know the trip would be long and many dangers still hunted them. But what they did not know was that this was the Day of Mourning. This was the end of Cyre and the end of the war for them. A nameless battle with little to no mean had saved them from the fate of their countrymen.
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Five days after the Day of Mourning
The remains of the Company camped by the wall of Myst. The warforged had been keeping watch due to most of the men were hurt in some way and with out a cleric they would need time to heal. On the end of the fifth day the patrol was spotted. It was cavalry, they were from Karrnath, they were here to arrest any Cyrans they found trying to escape the horrors of the Mounlands.
They had not seen it happen but they know it was not a good sign. The Myst was every where. They had sent the few grays that were left in to scout but Noble had gone too. They need all the blades the could get and he was welcome to join. Noble now carried a Sword of the Bone Knight Commander who he had behead. It was his one war prize, in memory of the Captain and the great duel he had fought with a dishonorable Bone Knight. Once through the Myst they found nothing but death. They had only gone about ten miles in but the horror they found was enough to tell them all of Cyre was more then likely in the same state. They had found their lines but all were dead, lying where they had been at the moment of what ever happened.
Not knowing what to do the men had taken a vote and the warforged now took orders from one of the Sergeants that still lived. The men's vote was to stay and wait until their wounds were healed. They made camp a mile from the Myst so they could watch it but not be that close to it. They had made camp in valley, finding no better ground. The camp was mostly for the men with the warforged on guard outside only coming in to the main camp for repair of to report. The Cavalier that had broken away from the main unit holding a white flag now road to and arrows shot away. The Sergeant went out to meet him. When he came back he told the men to break camp. The Cyrans were now out of the war and we were all going to become prisoners or the cavalry unit would ride us down. Noble did not like the idea of surrender, feelings of shame came over him. When he had first been made Noble had trained in a Cannith compound there he learn the differences between victory and defeat, and the feelings that went along with them.
The men were march deep in to Karrnath, well behind any lines of battle. None had ever been this deep in to Karrnath before. After a month and a half they where told that the War was coming to a close, peace talks has been called for and they would soon be set free. Soon turn into two long cold years. Much of their gear was lost in this time trade away for better food of fuel for the fires. At the end of the two years they looked little like a band of great heavy infantry they once were. Now only the warforged looked battle ready, most of the Cyran Fleshies now had the look of the walking dead. Noble guessed that happens to Fleshies when they lose very thing like that. He to had lost his country, but he no family other then the men he fought with, no home other then the camps the Company lived in. He felt the loss too, but his was the loss of battle and glory. He was made to fight and sitting around being the pets to the Karrnians watching them was not a felling he liked. He still had his battle fist and the sword of the Bone Knight, he had hidden it away rapped in cloth among the unused tents.
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When the Treaty of Thornehold came in to being the Karrnians told the Cyran men to leave. They were prisoners, but they were not welcome to stay in Karrnath. But the Warforged were another story. They were told that they too were free by the treaty but they had to stay and work off their debt to Karrnath just like other Karrnian warforged. Many of the men protested this but non stayed with them. No one could really blame them they just wanted to go home, but to a home that was no longer there.
The Cyran Warforged stayed as they were told but there was talk of just fighting to the end. This slowly fell away with time, and so did the numbers of Cyran Warforged. As time went on they started to slip a way a few at a time. First were the Greys, the old scouts of the Company but they came back giving maps to the other of the route they had found to freedom, then they would slip away again guiding other to the Myst. Soon the whole of the Warforged that made up the Company had made their way to the Myst and the Mournland. Noble had been one of the last to go, staying three months waiting until when he could get back to the area were they had been help for the last two years.
Once his time had come he made his way across the river to the small island where he has hidden a few treasures before the end of the war. There he found, as he had left them, the sword battle fist, and the banner of the Company. Gathering them up he them made his way to the Myst. Crossing the Myst was not as easy as it has been with others to help one another but he found his way. Now more toward the North then the first time he had crossed the Myst he could see that they had been right, all of Cyre had dyed the day the Captain had. He met up with the others and they raze the banner high and marched South length of Cyre. They know that if they wanted to escape Karrnath they would have to cross the great river that cut half the old kingdom in half. With the loss of the White Arch Bridge and Cyre the only way around was to go south until the river stop and one could cross the land. this was no easy task for they march through the Mournland, a place were untold horror and terror lay. No battle field can prepare you for it. IF they had not been warforged they would have not made it. As they traveled South their numbers fell, in the end they number only 39 out 73 that had started. They once had 150 warforged in the Company but no so few remained.
Once they saw the end of the great river they went east, while in Karrnath some had heard tales that Breland had opened its borders to all living Cyrans. There was also the reason, during the war the Brelanders had promise freedom to its warforged and any that joined its army. A taste of true freedom not the Karrnath slave camps is all may want now. They had spent the last three months or so free, in the Mournland. It was a place were no Fleshy could tell them what was what. Some wanted to stay here but the land was so dangerous most just wanted to move on, some of the numbers counted as lost were really those who ran out on the Company to explore this land on their own. They would have been seen as honor-less traders, but what was there left to betray. So they were simple written off as lost in combat.
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Noble had been in in Breland for little more than half a year. He had found work with both house Dennith and Orian, working a guard. But this was not the same to him most of the other warforged had gone their own way looking for work or some meaning to their selves. Noble tried to find a role much like the old, but now something was different. The old role did not feel right, he was still a soldier of sorts but with no war what was the point. Noble need a higher purpose to his life then just standing guard, maybe it had been his time in the Mournland or maybe the lose of the Captain he had always looked to for guides. Noble nee d something or at least some one to guide him to be a better being.
On the Flight in to Sharn is where he found it. Before he had been a member of a heavy infantry unit in the Cyran army and that was who he was, how he defined him self. But, there was a time before that, a short time but a time before the Company. In that time he had been a Cannith. It was here and now that Noble saw the sign he need to rekindle the embers of his soul. From the flight deck of the airship he saw for the first time Cannith Tower. A large Gorgon head perched among a city of towers. That is were he would find the answer he need, it was like going back to the beginning again and starting over.
Once his job was over with the Dennith woman he was guarding he made his pay to the upper levels of the city. Here he got an ride through city skies to the Gorgon, Cannith Tower. At first they had little interest in another warforged looking to come home. His story was like many of his brethren . May warforged want freedom but others still did not know what to do some ended up at Cannith outpost looking for answers. It was not until he met the Wizard did Nobles life change once again.
This man was a Cannith on of the makers, even better he worked under the grandson of thee make Merrix d'Cannnith himself. When Noble told his story to the Wizard, the response he got back was one he did not expect. Noble had gotten use to the Cannith magewrights listening but then dismissing him, but now he found a man willing to hire him to be of a team. The Wizard told Noble that the time had come for the Houses to take their places in History and for Cannith to lead them to it. |