AN: Hey! Just so you guys know, I'm really digging the whole FanFic site! I'm in the middle of a fan fiction right now where an OC of mine travels through multiple universes to try to keep them together. A sort of origin story for them. This is going to be a dry run for me, however, as one shots are great for trying things. I'll slowly edit it just to keep it alive on the site, but I'll be sure to keep it saved on my computer just in case I forget. I know how I can get. Anyways, I hope you like this story! Review and let me know if it should stop being a one-shot or if I should just get on with my dimension-hopping OC origin story. Anyhow, here we go!
I do not own the universe, gods, or known/named locations. However, I do own the majority of NPC's the PC's fight/"befriend." Any and all PC's belong to my friends who created them. All Characters are used with permission.
A dark-robed figure stared out across the valley at a small village. The land itself seemed as a giant graveyard and the inhabitants of the many cities dotting the landscape of the country acted nearly as dead or apathetic. The figure shifted their stance and turned around and looked around the top of their tower. Gathered there were other dark figures.
"Sister, I do hope you have a good plan. This town knows nothing of us, especially since we had left decades ago," spoke a middle-aged woman in black-metal armor. Her demonic, skull-like helm reverberated with her voice. It's appearance was nearly as black as night, as if the metal itself were naturally such a color. A slight, unnatural gleam came in view from the slits of her helm. Her armor appeared jagged and sharp, yet in perfect condition. Strapped to her back was a large great axe, made of the same material, seemingly glowing of paradoxical black light.
"Now now, Gravedust, my little sister, all we have to do is follow my plan and everything will be fine." The dark-robed figure chuckled lightly. Their voice gave the impression that they were of a venerable age, yet power seemed to radiate from them. The starlight seemed to shift to grant a better view of them. They wore a dark-ash colored cloak that appeared lightly tattered at the hems over top light-ash colored tunic and slacks. Dark brown leather boots covered her feet and a broach shaped like a large fly with a skull ornamentation on it appeared to keep the whole ensemble together. The mask on her face was a dark gold color that hid her eyes, save for unnatural pinpoints of light. Her hair was long, wispy, and greyed.
"Come on, get on with it. Tell us!" exclaimed an impatient catfolk, his black fur raised in agitation. Underneath is nearly-equally dark clothing chimed a chain shirt; it's light material shining brightly in the starlight. Their yellow eyes pierced the gloom in impatience at their ally, one sharp-clawed paw tapping a small crossbow strapped to the other. He appeared to be more like an anthropomorphic cat than other catfolk.
"Don't get your tail in a bunch, Dar'Jirah. Just remember the plan. You should know that I can't trust those two morons with keeping something this important, quiet," the woman stated quietly, yet sternly, as she pointed to a dwarf wearing some amalgamation of rocks for armor and a man-sized hyena on it's hind legs. The hyena and dwarf alike had dried blood spattering the two of them. The hyena wore armor of an amalgamation of different animal hides. On it's forehead was a very obvious tattoo of a jackal head with three eyes. The teeth in it's maw were stained yellow and the rust brown of blood. The dwarf wore it's dark-brown hair in a mohawk fashion and his beard was unruly and unkempt, maggots dotting it here and there. His teeth were equally stained as they hyena's, yet his teeth were blunt whereas the beast was just the opposite. The hyena-man growled and barked angrily, getting a few 'Yeah, what he said!' from the dwarf.
"Ripmane, Korb," the woman said to the hyena(gnoll) and dwarf respectively, "shut up."
A bit of grumbling occurred, yet they complied. If only temporarily.
"Uh," the gnoll, Ripmane, spoke up again, "what we do, again?" it asked in its broken common.
The robed figure took all her strength not to face-palm and only deadpanned. Harder for them to notice that. She stared and then flatly spoke to the gnoll, "Wait for my signal. I know I'm doing a lot of cliché things right now, but I want to see why so many morons do it. Perhaps it will be entertaining."
The dark knight, Gravedust, groaned. "We aren't going to die again, are we? Graveshroud?"
The robed figure, now known as Graveshroud, turned back around and faced the village again. "Maybe. However, the gnoll might be onto something. Dying makes it fun sometimes," as a wicked grin crossed her face. Yes. Sometimes you need to die before your naive foes realized that you can never be beaten. Only stalled. And this, shall be a little test for her. "I shall send the letters and gather these powerful heroes. Well, not all of them are heroes in the traditional sense. I can't wait to see if they wish to join us, slay us, or try to trick us. It will be a wonderful learning experience for everyone," ending her final word on a grin, hidden by her skull mask now illuminated by the light of the waning gibbous moon, which had finally shown itself from the large cloud that had been lingering over it.
Below them at the base of the tower, along the shores, humanoid shapes lurched back and forth, almost aimlessly.
'This might be almost, too fun...'
AN: And there we have it! Just a small intro to a character I called Graveshroud and her little posse! Graveshroud's a total b*tch, by the way. She was a level 8 necromancy specialized wizard when I played her, opposing enchantment and illusion. Reasons why might come up later. Anyways, for funzies, in the evil campaign I was playing with my friends, I ended up dropping a fiendish great white shark on top of a little boy's birthday cake looking through the window into a restaurant. The shark crit and killed the child in a single bite. It then flopped about for about a minute terrorizing the town before disappearing, party hat stuck in its horns and spines. :3 I am a terrible person when playing her. Feel free to review honestly and fairly! *Constructive* criticism only!
NOTE!: I have created a blind poll so that way I can see if anyone wants me to continue this. I'll only close the poll about three months after enough people have read the little chapter (prologue more like) and maybe a couple of reviews. Don't worry, it's not just yes or no!