So the Pope is the mastermind of everything huh? Should have known; it's always a young man with women's hair in positions of power that are the bad guys nowadays.
Thanks to Mr I hate znt nobles for this mad OC. I have no idea whether what I just wrote counts as cannibalism or not.
I'm also planning to involve Jessica though I still don't believe the Scarron is her father because I'm fairly certain he's gay. Seriously; just how he looks and talks says a lot about his preferences.
Any else think companions are nothing really nothing more but portable extra storage space?
Lestor stalked through the busy streets; hugging his deformed staff for dear life; His dirty grey cloak covering his form.
The whispers from the faces engraved at the tip of the stave entered his head. His great lord was urging him to do what he was always destined to do. Soon the world will know his power.
"Yes…Yes… soon…soon…" he whispered back lovingly. Soon he will be the most evil overlord of the land! All of Halkengenia will crumble beneath his feet. And when he was at full power he would make nature itself bend to his will; nothing would be impossible.
And it was all thanks to his god; the one that took him away from his goal of revenge and showed him the wrongs of the world. It was he that showed him his path to greatness. The world was too ordered and needed more creativity to bring it forward.
As the defenders of order; the nobles of Halkengenia must fall. Then everyone will cheer and there would be cheese for everyone! He'll make cabbages fall from the sky and no one will starve so they'll all worship him. He'll turn all the bad people to rabbits and he'll have something to kick around.
He sniffed the air in concentration and smiled madly. The noble he wanted was here.
People shied away from his dirty form; but he paid no heed to them. It was not their fault that they were ignorant to the faults of the world; that they were taught to live a peaceful and orderly life. When his reign begins then he will teach them how to live more freely.
Back before he was unenlightened; he wanted revenge against this certain noble. His young family had starved because of him; his beautiful wife and loving daughter. He didn't have enough to pay his cursed high taxes and kept it back to feed them. But the noble wouldn't hear of it and set his brutes to force it out of him. And now they were dead! Dead; just like how the noble will soon be.
But he won't do it for revenge now… no… he would only be the first step on purging the nobles. And when they were all gone; then he'll take over and the reign of Overlord Lestor will begin.
His eyes widened in delight as he spotted his target; the damned tax collector for his province; the Count Chesnaye. The fat man was walking around like he owned the whole city; the halberds of his two guards threatening anyone who came too close.
The whispers were overwhelming now; they urged him to do it. And so he obliged. Pushing aside the people in front of him; he drew closer to his first target.
He stumbled in front of Chesnaye; barring his way. Upon spotting the dirty man; the Count sneered in revulsion. "Move aside now you commoner." The Count demanded as he waved for the man to step aside.
Yet the shady man refused to move and was holding his strange staff threateningly at him. "All bow before Overlord Lestor!" he yelled out madly.
Dark crimson energy swelled at the tip of his staff. Upon seeing this; the Count's two guards stepped in front of their charge and attacked the 'Overlord" One stepped forward to impale the man while the other stood protectively in front of the Count.
A crowd was gathering now; as they watched the spectacle. It was mostly men; as the women had hurried their children away from the scene, accurately predicting something dangerous was going to occur.
Lestor smiled as he released the energy from his staff just like his god had told him. He watched in satisfaction as it impacted the first guard and exploded into a mist of red smoke.
Onlookers gasped in fear as the abnormal smoke cleared. Where a fully armoured guard once stood was now only a pile of sparkling ashes; that was being blown away by the wind.
Not letting the other guard to get over his surprise; Lestor fired another bolt of red energy at the guard.
Trained to react to danger; the guard narrowly dodged the quick bolt of power only for it to hit his master instead. The noble didn't even have time to let out a scream as his body glowed with magic.
Once again thick red smoke covered the spot where the Count stood. The last guard, seeing that his partner was dead and the Count probably following suit, decided to take this moment to run.
Gripping his halberd with one hand; he sprinted away from the robed man; using his free hand to push aside anyone in his way.
In response Lestor fired off yet another red bolt at the guard. The red ball of deadly magic was quickly gaining on the guard who, seeing it when he glanced back, ducked to avoid it. His luck prevailed again; as the ball sailed over his head to hit a women walking to see the commotion.
There was no explosion of magical smoke this time as the women dropped lifelessly to the ground. People screamed in fright and dispersed. Shouts could be heard as the local town guard started marched towards the scene of the crime.
Turning his attention back to the Count or rather the sweetroll he turned into. As he knelt down to pick up the delicacy; he smiled again. "How do you like the taste of that?" He laughed hysterically at his poor joke as he stuffed his mouth with the sweetroll.
Unfortunately the watchmen who had now surrounded him did not share his humour. Their captain stood up front as he faced the madman. "Who are you and what have you done here?" challenged the captain.
Lestor placed his free hand onto his face as he slowly chuckled to himself. This chuckle developed into a soft laughter before blowing into a mad laugh as he lifted his head towards the sky.
The madman's laugh made the watchmen uneasy. They gripped their weapons nervously as they glanced to their captain for instructions. Their captain was just as disturbed by the sight as his subordinates; sweat dripped from his head as he watched the man.
Lestor quietened down as he levelled his staff at the captain. Immediately swords were raised right back at him; as the watch readied themselves to strike. The captain raised an empty hand into the air to halt his men.
No matter how much he wanted to cut the obviously madman down; they were meant to maintain order and he was sure that the Crown would like to know what kind of magic the man just did. Besides the regulations that the watch followed clearly sta-
"Who am I you ask? I am Lestor! Evil Overlord of the world!" he proclaimed as he red energy glowed again on the tip of his staff.
The captain dropped his hand as he quickly sidestepped to dodge the blast of energy. Seeing the attack; his men charged at the man; making sure there was space between them to dodge his magic.
Screw the rules thought the captain, as he levelled his sword. He wasn't going to let himself get killed over rules that obviously wouldn't work here. Letting loose a cry; he rushed at the madman; sword held back to skewer him.
Despite the overwhelming odds; Lestor unleashed a final laugh. "Foolish fools! None can stand before the Great Overlord Lestor!"
Two well-built men trekked up the slippery slope of the mountain. Dressed in heavy winter coats; they each had a long stick to maintain their footing on the treacherous ground. Both had a small sack over their shoulder; filled with their rations and water.
A short sword hanged limply off the leading man's belt; his hand gripping every now and then. The following man was unarmed in comparison and was obviously nervous about his lack of means to defend himself.
"Are you sure it's safe?" asked Karlos; his eyes darting around the rugged hill as they climbed the numerous steps that led to the ruin. He had heard of the dangers that prowled the mountain: bloodthirsty trolls; starving wolves and even wraiths of some kind.
"It's just a crypt full of bones and dust; what could possibly hurt us?" answered Gustav beside him. "Look; from what I've heard there's plenty of loot at all these ruins that these Winterhold types brought. Besides…" Gustav patted his short blade sheathed to his belt. "I'm sure we can handle any animals between us."
Karlos didn't share the same optimism his friend had. "And if there's nothing?" he queried.
Gustav sighed. Sometimes his friend was just too cynical for his tastes. "Then we get a good walk and view of the world. Now stop talking and more walking." He answered as he vaguely noted a vein of ore near the path.
It took only an hour to make their way up to where Gustav supposedly saw the ruin. Despite Gustav's words of how big it was; Karlos was disappointed. It was a large arch made of ancient rocks. Elaborate statues now ruined by the passage of time stood at both ends of the structure. The steps outside were half covered by snow and deadly sharp stalactites formed at the opening.
There were two entrances where doors may have once been. Kustav shivered from the cold air blowing around them. Having anticipated that they would climb to high altitudes; the two Tristainians had brought heavier clothes but they did little to dampen the cold.
Karlos's first impression of it was how much it resembled a helmet. A big stone helmet…
The two men took a break in front of the ruin; exhausted from their long walk. They took long, deep breathes as they recuperated. Finding a seat on a upturned obelisk; Gustav pulled out his flask and drank deeply.
"So that's the ruin…" said Karlos as he took in the details of the ruin. "Is that it?" he asked, once he finished his observation.
"What do you mean?" asked his friend, confused by his question.
Karlos pointed at the ruin. "It looks like it only has a single room. Didn't you say it was a huge necropolis filled with corpses and treasure?" he elaborated.
The ruin was indeed only single roomed, with the back wall clearly visible just beside the mountain face. Meaning it didn't lead into a huge cave system into the mountain like Gustav first thought.
"Well you don't know until you look." Insisted Gustav as he took the first step into the building.
It was a small and cramped space that was dimly lit by the sun through the openings in the wall. Two large black coffins stood upright on either side of the room; their presence a grim reminder of what type of place they were trespassing in. On the table was three bars of steel; the metal reflecting slightly from the sun. On the ground was an assortment of rusted weaponry.
But it was the rusted Iron Gate that drew their attention; or rather what was behind it. A large ornate chest rested safely behind its protection. Carefully stepping over the still sharp ancient weapons; the pair made their way to stand in front of the corroded gate.
"See what did I tell you?" exclaimed Gustav as he put a hand on the gate. "I knew there was treasure here."
The man pulled on the corroded iron only to find it wouldn't budge. Pulling it again did nothing but flake off some of the ancient iron. "Why… won't… you… open?!" he shouted in irritation as he tried to pry the gate open.
"I think it's loc-"started Karlos before the sound of moving stone stopped him.
Dust spread around the openings of the coffins. Karlos and Gustav were frozen to the spot as the lid to the coffins slowly slid open. The lid to the stone coffins landed hard on the ground; creating a loud crash which echoed in the small room.
Karlos had expected to a rotting corpse or a skeleton inside the coffin. He was not disappointed with the appearance of a skeleton that appeared to be praying. He was surprised when its eyes flickered with blue light.
It took one step out of its resting place and wobbled slightly as it testing its balance. Then it took the second and firmly stood on the ground. The undead skeleton then screeched at him. Picking a sword off the ground in one smooth movement; it swung at him.
The speed of the attack caught him off guard as he fell backwards to avoid the steel blade. His drop brought Gustav back from wherever he went as his friend drew his own blade.
Another inhuman screech drew his attention to where the other coffin was. Already dreading what he was going to see; he still jolted when he saw another skeleton readying itself to attack, a dark steel battle-axe in its surprisingly strong skeletal hands.
Offhandedly he wondered how they could make noise when they were only bone. The skeleton with the battle-axe leaped into the air; weapon swung behind its head as it attacked.
Karlos reacted sluggishly; never much of a fighter he barely rolled out of the way as the blade of the axe buried itself into the ground he formerly occupied. The stone splintered as the axe stuck itself into the ground.
Reaching a hand out at his friend; he was rewarded as Gustav pulled him up with his free hand. "Run! I'll buy you some time." commanded the man; as he eyed the other skeleton that was shambling towards them.
With a great push; Karlos was sent stumbling out of the ruin. Clearly his friend had forgotten about the many stairs that lead to ruin as he was sent tumbling down them; grunting with pain as he connected with the stone steps.
Meanwhile Gustav was engaging in a duel with the skeleton with the sword; him being the one losing the fight. Ducking underneath a overhead swing; he closed in to stab the creature in the chest.
His blade pierced through their ribcage of the skeleton but it did little to actually harm it. Taking advantage of the Tristainian's close proximity; the skeleton slashed at Gustav.
Backing away; he used both hands to parry the blow. The ringing of metal could be heard as the two blades connected. Gustav gritted his teeth as he struggled against the surprising strength of the skeleton.
Drawing the blade away; the skeleton then surprised him by punching him with its fist. The sharp edges of its knuckles drew blood as they impacted with his unguarded stomach. Four red puncture holes could be seen on his fur coat; the material soaking up his blood.
Gustav bit his lip to suppress his cry of pain; his spare hand gripped the wound as he applied pressure to it. His sword hand wavered slightly as the pain went through his body.
Taking advantage of this lapse in concentration; the undead intensified its attacks. Drawing its sword back; it thrust out the ancient Nord blade towards his opponent.
The Tristainian didn't even bother to block this time as he painfully sidestepped the stab. As he did so he tripped on an uneven rock and lost his balance. As he struggled to regain his balance; he felt something impact with his back. He saw the battle-axe of the other skeleton coming out of his stomach just before his vision was filled with red.
His upper torso fell to the floor as the rest of his body collapsed. His blade made a loud clattering noise as it fell from his still warm hands. A pool of blood spread from his body parts split.
The pair of skeletons didn't bother chasing the one that escaped. Even with the barest of life within them; they knew their duties. Whether in life or death; they would protect the tombs of their masters from any that would dare desecrate them.
Picking up the remains; they took them outside and tossed the bloody meat outside. It would not take too long for some stray carnivore to consume it.
The blood was more difficult to clean. With their weapons; they slowly but steadily covered it in snow. With their duties complete they stepped back into their tombs. Blue magic flickered as the lids rose off the ground and firmly shut the undead guardians back inside their coffins.
Once again trapped within darkness; what little lifeforce that sustained them left their shambling bodies; the blue orbs within their eyes fading back out of existence.
I'm sorry for the lack of any development whatsoever it this chapter. I am currently suffering writer's block and can't really decide on how to progress. While I do want to get to the Albion-Tristain war; I feel as if I can't do so until I put some story behind it. The problem is what. So any ideas would be appreciated. I can't promise I would use them all but I will take them all into account.
That being said can anyone guess who the 'God' of Lestor is. It's actually fairly obvious or at least I hope it is. As for why that 'God' would interfere in Halkengenia? well it seems like something he would do for a morning laugh.