Slayer Gothic 2
D&D 1
On Board The Defiant.
"Status report?" I said, while rubbing my forehead.
It was an asari who answered me.
"We've got some internal damage from the crash" she reported "I'm shutting down the main reactor. Auxiliary power is coming online now".
The already softened lights dimmed even more, and then returned to full brightness. This allowed me to see that while everyone was a little shaken up, no one was hurt. I'd gotten knocked about because I'd not been sitting in a chair with my seat-belt on, I'd had to hold on for dear life while still standing up.
I really should have sat down. I'd seen what happened to people in Star Trek when they didn't fasten their seat-belts, not that they had any in Starfleet. Which seemed like a design flaw to me.
"We lost the engine mounts, but the primary hull is okay" another asari informed me "we've also lost the main cannon, and the barriers, which means we're down to GARDIAN Lasers".
I was confused.
"How did we lose the engine mounts?" I asked Liselle.
The asari looked as confused as I did.
"No idea" she admitted "I don't know how your portals work. Maybe they got ripped off".
I looked over at Fred, but she had no information for me.
"Captain I recommend that we shut down all non-essential system in order to save power!" another asari called out.
I figured that we had to be running on batteries since the reactor wasn't on.
"Make it so" I ordered.
Liselle then came over to me.
"Damien, we're crippled," she told me in concern "and we've got no idea where we are".
This was a concern.
"We're suppose to be on a world called Mareth" I said "the portal should have opened up over a dessert. I'm guessing that didn't happen".
The asari babe shook her head.
"I was in the cockpit and I saw was a mountain range, we just about made it over the range, the pilot did some real seat of the pants flying, then there was a river, and a lot of trees, after that we landed, if you can call it that, at the edge of the woods we flew over".
Which meant we could be in Mareth as planned. As that place had mountains, woods and rivers. However so could a lot of other worlds.
"The good news is that we've still got sensors, so we can spot incoming trouble" Liselle was now telling me "As for the turrets, no need to keep them powered up unless we have to, they do work but I don't want to shoot the locals unless we are sure they will hurt us".
If we had somehow ended up on Buffy's Earth or one of the alternative Earths I imagined that soon we'd have government black helicopters in the skies above us. Or we could be in a horrible hell dimension, if so then having laser turrets would be a very good thing.
"The bad news is that we have no idea where we are, or what's on the ground around us" Liselle was now saying "the air's breathable for both humans and asari, so we can got out there and take a look".
Doing that seemed like a good idea. We needed more information about where we were.
"I can scout around" I said "Assuming any of your cousins know how to drive a M29 Grizzly".
A shuttle might have made a better support craft, but I disliked flying, more so now than ever, and I so badly wanted to see how demons reacted to facing a science fiction tank in battle.
The M29 Grizzly was the precursor to the M35 Mako, which was the transport used by Shepard in the first Mass Effect game. The Grizzly was inferior to the Mako, but they were military surplus and therefore not too expensive to buy.
"I'll find you someone to drive you around" the asari said.
Liselle's smile let me know that it would be her.
(Line Break)
Osse. Forgotten Realms
Morrigan, the Witch of the Wilds, daughter of Flemeth and mother of Urthemiel reborn, took a moment, as she closed a book and then opened another, to consider how much her life had changed over the last few years.
Kieran, while still inside the womb had gained Morrigan a home within the palace of Alexander the Dragon god. Morrigan had made other arrangements after the Blight, however her plans derailed around about the 4th month of pregnancy. When the unborn godling started drawing in the various spirits and demons of the Dragon Age world.
Her distress had caused him distress, which in turn had caused more distress to her, and this went on until Morrigan, in a moment of weakness pleaded for help, a plea which was heard by Alexander, who had been visiting that world on other business at the time.
There had been no negotiations, despite what Morrigan might say on the matter, she'd had nothing he'd needed or wanted, but Kieran had needed protection and safety. One of Alexander's laws was that you don't leave hatchling to fend for themselves, except under certain extremes, and so the god had offered Morrigan a chance to serve him.
Morrigan had less to offer in payment for this aid than she'd thought as her magical skills weren't very impressive to a deity, and her knowledge wasn't a great as she'd thought.
Over time being the mother of a reborn dragon god had netted her a lot of advantages, as Kieran did have value, and the witch had profited from this, she'd gained enhanced magic power, safety, servants, and even suitors, at least until Kieran's father had re-entered her life.
Morrigan and the Warden had been married by one of Alexander's priests, not out of sense of love, they'd done more because the Warden had gotten tired of challenging Morrigan's suitors to duels. He'd won ever fight because the Warden had a lot of on the job combat training, and while the Spirit of Leadership, a being of the Fade, had left the warrior, his fighting skills hadn't diminished that much. Partly due the many magical items he gathered during his travels, as well as the armour and sword which had been given to him long ago by the very god the Warden now served.
The witch had found the duels most amusing until women had started coming after her man, it shouldn't have come as a surprise, after all the Warden had slain an Arch-demon, granted with help, but it was an impressive victory and he was desirable for other reasons.
After fighting in few duels herself, the last of which was against a Dragon Pokegirl she just barely defeated. She had all but dragged the Warden to the altar simply so that the duels would stop.
Now they had a family home, which was nothing less than a mansion, it had a master bedroom, master bathroom with pool and hot tube, then there was Kieran's room, Kieran's wet nurse/bodyguard's room, Morrigan's library, Morrigan's closet/armoury/hoard, general servant's quarters, main dinning room, private dinning room, Morrigan's garden terrace and so on.
Morrigan was not the housewife type so she had servants for cooking, cleaning, groceries, laundry, and all the rest of the busy work that went on all the time in order to keep such a large household in order.
Kieran's wet nurse had started out as Morrigan's personal attendant by virtue of being able to handle Morrigan at her worst. Her name meant mother/caretaker in Elvish, which was a painful irony as she was barren. She filled the void over the centuries by finding children to take care of. Kieran was lucky to have her, even the Witch of the Wilds would admit that.
Neither Morrigan or the Warden worshipped Alexander, but they did follow most of the customs as part of an effort to fit in, and to avoid offending the locals. Which was somewhat amusing since Morrigan was considered to be an important person to the worshippers of the dragon god.
The 'holy mother' then thought about her son, she knew that Kieran was not human, he appeared to be human, he had a human body, but the movements and gestures weren't quite right. It was as if Kieran had lived another life time in a different kind of body, which in a very real way he had.
His mind and soul were not that of a human being, he didn't see the world as other people did, and he had great magical power for such a young boy.
Morrigan had suspected that her child wasn't human long before he'd come into the world, one of the reason's why she was glad her husband hadn't been around during pregnancy was because she'd eaten like a pig to fuel Kieran's development. Kieran had not wanted to leave the womb, a midwife had been forced to magically induce birth at 10 months by overwhelming a spell that prevented it from occurring naturally.
The need for a wet nurse came not from Morrigan's desire to move around without Kieran, but due to necessity. Kieran's hunger tended to drain both of her breasts in a feeding, and he often used his very healthy lungs to announce he was still hungry.
Thankfully for now he didn't need feeding, which Morrigan was glad for as there was something off putting about breastfeeding a two year old who talked so much. Kieran was too intelligent for his age, and yet he was not been willing to be weened yet.
Kieran had his mother's expressive golden eyes, and they already held a knowledge far beyond his years. Which led her to wondering just how much Kieran knew about his past life. His soul was that of the arch-demon and his mind that of an old god, only his heart was undecided.
The witch's trail of thoughts came to a sudden end when she heard the thud of boots, she knew her husband was home, and like any proper wife she planned to ensure that he got cleaned up before dinner. To that end she left the library and entered the hallway.
Due to the daylight that was streaming through the front door, the Witch of the Wilds could be seen in full, as could her lover. Morrigan wore a fine gown, the kind of thing she never would have imagined herself wearing, at least until she'd come to embrace her dragon blood. Now she had a great love of fine things that went beyond simply jewellery and fancy mirrors.
Her husband wore his armour, as he often did, it was powerful having been made forged with a god's magic and the bones of a dragon. Yet it was nothing compared to the sword he used in battle. That blade had ended the arch-demon and had slain many deadly foes since that day, and hopefully it would for many years to come.
"I did not know you were coming back so soon" Morrgian said to her husband.
She liked that he was home earlier than expected, it was just that she wasn't the kind of person who would admit such things. At least not with words. So much had happened between them since they had met in the Korcari Wilds, and the couple found that they didn't need to talk to know how they felt about each other.
"Neither did I" the Warden replied as he moved into the bedroom they shared.
A fireplace warmed the room along with the thick tapestries draped on the stone walls. Also there was a large bed by a stained glass window with shelves of books surrounding it. Morrigan's work table stood off to the side, surrounded by jars filled with alchemical tools and ingredients. In front of the fireplace was a plush looking sofa and a small round table.
"I think you should wash up before you do anything, you smell like the swamps" Morrigan said while smirking at her husband "The bath is waiting for you".
She knew it would be ready because the maid who ran the baths always seemed to know when someone was coming home in need of one. It was a supernatural sense for sure.
"Alas I have returned home eager for my wife's loving arms only be banished to the bath" the Commander joked as he started to take off his armour.
Morrigan rarely fussed over him, so the Hero of Felderan enjoyed it when she did. She not only cooled his bath water, but she made sure delicious meal waiting for him when he emerged from the bath.
Gothic smiled at his wife, who was reading on the couch in the bedroom, when he came out of the bathroom dressed in a loose tunic and comfortable cotton trousers.
"Where's Kieran?" he asked as he started to eat.
Morrigan stood up before she spoke.
"With his wet nurse" she informed her husband "They will not return for a few hours. Kieran is spending time with the hatchlings".
Which meant he was safe because anyone who tried to get to him would have to get past not only the boy's wet nurse, who was also his bodyguard, but a lot of baby dragons and their nesting mothers.
"We're alone" Morrigan then said "Whatever shall we do now?"
She walked around the couch slowly as her hips swayed seductively.
"We could play some chess I suppose," Morrigan suggested.
Her look told her husband that she was interested in something far more physical than that.
"Get on that bed, woman," the Warden commanded.
Morrigan smiled.
"Is that an order?" she asked "I suppose tis would be in my best interest to obey the Warden-Commander".
Morrigan made no move toward the bed, instead she pretended to pick lint off the couch while keeping her back turned on her husband.
"After all, who would dare deny the Hero of Fereld..."
She never got to finish that sentence as without her noticing, Gothic had managed to silently come up behind her and hoist her over his shoulder.
"I ought to take you over my knee for disobeying me" he said.
As soon as he tossed her on the bed, Morrigan wasted no time in tugging on his tunic. Clothes were discarded quickly, both desperate to see each other without them.
Soon a pleasurable sigh escaped her mouth when he started planting kisses down her neck and then he went lower. Morrigan's hands did their best to express how much she enjoyed the attention. It was a chore to focus, she would have rather let him have his fun, however the witch was hoping to get back to the library sometime before her son got home so she decided to speed things up.
"We're you not intending to punish me?" she asked.
Once the Warden got off Morrgian moved so that she was on her hands and knees, then she cast a spell on herself that would make what was about to happen more pleasurable than painful.
Morrigan never submitted to anyone, not truly, but she did love her husband, and enjoyed letting him have what he wanted, more so in the bedroom than anywhere else.
Before long he stood behind her, swiftly rocking in and out of her tight rear as her fingers plunged deep into her slick folds, working her own pussy expertly as her thighs clenched.
"Mm, however did you live before I came along?" she asked her lover.
He didn't answer, as he was focused on other things. Save for the need to press back against him in a bid to feel him plunge deeper into her ass, she was left to pleasure herself. Although she would have liked to her her husband tell her how lucky he was to have her share a bed with him.
The witch filled her mouth with the taste of her pussy as she licked her fingers clean of her love juices as she felt her husband succumbing to exhaustion, the fucking was brutal, she felt pain even with the spell, still she would do everything she could to help ease her lover into the sleep he needed after his latest mission.
Morrigan never had so much trouble sleeping even when she had worries, but then she felt no need to take the troubles of the world onto her shoulders in the way he did, and she more than was content to let his cock spear her ass if it got him to relax. He didn't mind too much if she remained mostly still and fingered herself, since she was doing her job perfectly just letting him wear himself out.
"Pull out," Morrigan requested "Finish on my backside; I don't feel like spending too long cleaning up, and it's easier to handle the mess".
Her lover did just that and let his seed coat her ass cheeks, this was easily dealt with by wet cloth. So soon Morrigan was back in bed pressed to his side, while her head felt the hairs on his chest. That was when she noticed a wound on the Warden's shoulder.
"That is new" she mentioned.
Her husband hadn't fallen to sleep just yet so he replied.
"We tracked the beast we were sent after" Gothic told his wife "It turned out to be a manticore. Bloody thing had claws so sharp that it got through my armour. I'll have to get it repaired".
Morrigan lifted her head to better study the claw mark, she was concerned because not much could get through the armour he wore. Those thing that were able to tended be very lethal and often magical.
"You took on a manticore? By yourself?" Morrigan asked in amazement.
The dark god of Osse, whose name was not spoken least he hear it said, had been a mortal with the power to summon monsters before obtaining his godhood. Now as a deity he plagued the land with horrible creatures, if not for the god of good, the man who had once been a warrior monk, those horrid things would have killed everyone.
"Of course not" replied Gothic "I had a whole patrol group with me, they brought the creature to the ground, and I took of its head after it tried to rip me apart. Then the cleric we had with us healed me".
Magic had been a bit unpredictable recently due to the Time of Troubles. On the other side of the world the gods who normally stayed in the heavens were walking among the mortals, and even psychic powers were becoming unreliable.
The Time of Troubles had been precipitated by an attempt by the gods Bane and Myrkul to steal the Tablets of Fate from the over-deity Lord Ao. Angry at the gods for their habitual pursuit of power and negligence toward their mortal faithful, Lord Ao relegated every god (except for the guardian god Helm, selected to protect the gates to the heavens) to walk among their followers on the earth.
The immediate effects of this edict were threefold. First, divine magic (spells granted to clerics by their patron deities) ceased to function altogether unless the cleric was within one mile of their deity's avatar. Second, arcane magic (a force channelled from the Weave by wizards and sorcerers) ceased to be regulated by its steward, Mystra and became dangerously unpredictable. Third, the characteristically immortal and aloof deities were now vulnerable.
Thankfully Osse hadn't been too badly effected by the strife as the four gods here had always been among their people, and being new to their positions meant that Lord Ao hadn't seen the need to correct their behaviour. Also not all the magic uses in Osse made use of the Weave, although more powerful spells were still being effected.
"Just remember my love, you're not allowed to die" Morrgian stated "Not until I say so"
He didn't hear her as he was already asleep, so the witch decided to get dressed and go back to the library. She still had a lot to learn, and not that much time to learn it as one day they would have to return to Thedas, they would needed, and Morrigan would be ready.
(Line Break)
The Silver Marches. Faerun.
The Grizzly was slower than a Mako and it couldn't handle rough terrain as well, but it was a much smoother ride than I'd imagined and far faster than being out on foot. So we'd covered a lot of ground, however we'd not driven in a straight line, we'd even backtracked towards the ship a few times so that we could be sure that area around the crashed craft was secure.
"So far Fred's found zero signs of industrialisation" Marcie told me over the radio "No radio waves, no pollution, and nothing's in the air, at least nothing made of out metal".
There were birds flying around, and from what I'd seen they looked normal enough but I'd have to get a lot closer to them to be sure and my transport was too loud for that. Wildlife would flee upon hearing it approach.
"We know there are people around" I said "the portal wouldn't have formed on both ends unless there was a lot of psychic energy around here, and that requires intelligent life".
There wouldn't much around right now as the portal would have used up all the power, which meant we were stuck here for at least a few days, perhaps longer. Tara could charge quartz crystals with psychic energy, but she couldn't create it so we would have to wait.
"Well no one's come near the ship" Marcie told me "and there's no way anyone nearby would have missed our landing".
Which didn't mean there weren't people around it just meant that weren't any close by, or if there had been then they run away upon seeing the ship.
"Maybe there are demons around" Marcie was now saying "they could live underground, so you be careful out there and be back before night, assuming they have night here".
I was well armed I had a M6-Carnfix pistol strapped to my right hip. Several grenades were secured on my person, and I had my magic knife tucked away.
"Don't worry" I assured the teen "we'll head back if it starts to get dark. For now you girls just focus on getting the ship fixed. I know it won't fly again, but if this a hell dimension then I want it as secure as possible".
As I closed the channel the asari who was driving the transport leaned in to ask me something.
"What's a hell dimension?" she wondered.
She really didn't want to know
"Pray to your goddess that you never find out" I told her.
Perhaps she would have questioned me more, but that was when one of tank's sensors picked something up.
"The motion trackers just picked up a group of something heading towards us" Liselle reported "they're on the other side of the river, but they are coming this way fast".
I ordered her to stop the Grizzly, and then I studied the motion tracker.
"To slow to be transports" Liselle was now saying "and not big enough either, I'd say a group of animals or people are running towards us".
I doubted any species of animal that was preyed upon would be foolish enough to head towards a big, loud methal thing, so either people were coming to have a look at us, or some local predators were worried about something trespassing in their territory.
"Okay I'm going to have a look" I told Liselle "You stay here in case they aren't friendly".
She protested, but I ignored her and got out of the transport. When I did I saw a group of creatures that reminded me greatly of the trolls I'd seen in Skyrim.
In a single, fluid move I drew my pistol, and aimed it at the closest creature. Next I pulled the trigger, and the M6-Carnifax Hand Cannon fired. That was when time started to slow, as did sometimes did for me when fighting, my foes appearing to move like they were wading through thick mud.
The first round penetrated the target at chest level. Blood splattered everywhere, covering some of its comrades. If they noticed, they didn't seem to care. The creature which had been shot did notice, and to make matters worse I'd fired an inferno round so the wound was now on fire.
Without delay I sighted up another one, and fired again, the creature went down with a howl that echoed through the mountains. Still the others didn't seem to care.
I fire some more until my gun overheated, and then took my magical knife. By this point they were upon me. I tightened the grip on my knife and waited for a close up attack. Sure enough, a creature lashed out at me, trying to drive me into the ground, however I easily avoided the blow.
My next action was to slash at the nearest troll with my knife, I didn't make contact, but that hardly mattered as this was an enchanted weapon and the magic slashed open the horrid life form. However it didn't die.
These were powerful creatures, they looked strong enough to rip a man in half, all I had was a pistol and a dagger, not that it matter as that was Liselle opened up with her assault rifle and gunned them all down faster than I even I could have. Which wasn't surprised as she'd had decades to perfect her shooting.
"Goddess these things are uglier than the Krogans" she said.
Well she wasn't wrong, and if I was also right then these beasts were trolls, and if so then both of us were lucky to be alive.
(Line Break)
On Board The Defiant.
Resting on the table before me were vital pieces of equipment, things that I might have to trust my life too, so I treated them with the utmost respect. Therefore I made sure they were clean, and it working order.
Once I was done with that I put everything away. Then I picked up my battle rifle, and slapped it onto my back. Since I was wearing my armour I knew it would stay there until I needed it.
I didn't normally carry a rifle as they were very noticeable, and I rarely needed the fire power as I was very good with my pistol. Then yesterday I'd encountered a group of trolls, had nearly been overwhelmed. I wouldn't make that mistake again.
Once I had my weapon secured I went over to Fred, who was getting herself a cup of coffee. By the looks of things she hadn't slept last night. I had because while a Slayer could keep going for days even without much sleep it wasn't ideal. Besides I had an entire team so I didn't need to work myself harder than was a healthy. My girls could get on with their jobs without me looking over their shoulders.
"What else have we learned while I was sleeping?" I asked the Texan.
I poured myself a drink while she sipped hers.
"Not much," Fred told me "Tara tried channelling psychic energy again and passed out. Whatever's messing the magic in this world seems to be effecting other things too. She's fine now, aside from a headache".
We were having trouble finding a hot spot, we knew they existed, they had to for us to have gotten here, where ever here was, yet so far we'd found none. We normally detected hot spots by finding locations filled with psychic energy and while opening the portal would have drained a lot of that that power there should still be some around.
My worry was that we had collapsed the hot spots around the portal we'd opened, but even if that was so, we should be able find working ones further south.
"What about our neighbours?" I asked while sipping my own drink "Any thing else you can tell about them?".
Since it looked as if we'd be stuck here for a few weeks at least, while the psychic energy built up again, assuming it would. It seemed like a good idea to make contact with the locals. If nothing else we needed food as we didn't have enough to last us more than a couple of weeks. Not with a full crew to feed.
"So far very little, the UAV is still monitoring them" Fred informed me "We should know more once the sun is up"
The UAV was actually a VI drone that floated around in the sky taking pictures. I'd not seen it yet so I didn't what it looked like, but I knew we had several out there that were mapping the land around us. Had I known about them I never would have left the ship.
"It's a large group of hunter-gatherers" Fred was now saying "the weird thing is that they're living in a village that looks permanent".
That was indeed strange.
"I would have thought that a tribes of hunter-gathers would have be started farming if they'd settled down" I said "You can't hunt game animals very well unless you follow the herds".
The settlement we were currently spying on didn't make much sense according to what I knew about human socities.
"Well that's not just what's peculiar" Fred went on to say "There's a major difference between the number of men and women in the tribe, like 8 woman to every man, and most of the guys are teenagers or just kids".
A lower than fifty/fifty percent ratio was to be expected in a hunter-gather tribe. The men would encounter predators when out hunting, and if there were other predators here like the ones I'd run into yesterday then the possibility of a high mortality rate among the men was to be expected. Still it seemed odd that so many men were gone.
Famine and plague couldn't be behinds this as such things would effect both genders. The only explanation I could come up with was this tribe had gone to war and hadn't won. Or they had won at a very high cost, and they attacked the village they were now living in.
The only way to know for sure would be to go and ask them. However I was hoping that the VI drones might find a more advanced culture as it was doubtful that the tribe we were talking about would be able to explain why magic and other things were so messed up around here.
Still it might be a good idea for me to go and get a closer look at this people.
"You go get some sleep" I instructed Fred "I'm going to take out the Grizzy and go check out neighbours".
I wouldn't let the tank get too close the settlement. I'd use my stealth to get close, spy on them for a bit and then come back.
"Take Buffy with you" Fred suggested "You might get attacked by monsters, again".
I would heed her sage advice and take my fellow Slayer with me. Maybe a flame thrower too.