A Record of Ash & Ruin: The Grieving Lands

Book 2: Chapter 4: Culling

Trust is the benefit of the doubt, and not just mere reassurance born from unwavering repetition.

- A Quassian Aphorism.

Rosy-fingered dawn was just starting to climb the morning sky when I awoke once more to another day. As was my habit, I checked my Status or ‘character sheet’, pleased that after my rest I was in peak condition. A minor annoyance was the list of skills and spells that seemed to be growing ever longer. Was there a way to filter out any of the extraneous information that cluttered my mind’s eye? I imagined that a sibilant raspy voice almost mouthed a reluctant ‘yes’ in assent in the far corners of my mind.

STATUS

CallingGilgamesh Level 6 Acolyte of Avaria Strength25 Dexterity20 Constitution37 Intelligence21 Wisdom18 Charisma12 Luck17

SKILLS & PROFICIENCIES

Pain Nullification (lvl.2) Power Strike (lvl.2) 10

Endure (lvl.3) Stealth (lvl.1) Rest (lvl.3) Backstab (lvl.2) Dodge (lvl.3) Polearms (lvl.2) Dual Wield (lvl.2) Critical Hit Mastery (lvl.2) Mining (lvl.2) Unarmed Combat (lvl.3) Hammers (lvl.2) Flails (lvl.2)

Maces (lvl.2)

Shields (lvl.1)

Medium Armor (lvl.2)

Heavy Armor (lvl.3)

Axes (lvl.1)

Daggers (lvl.2)

Throwing Weapons (lvl.2)

Double Throw (lvl.1) 5

SPELLS & MAGIC

Heal (lvl.5) 5

Rust (lvl.3) 2

Identify (lvl.2) 1

Silent Casting (lvl.2)

Mana Regeneration (lvl.2)

Purify (lvl.2) 3

Greater Heal (lvl.1) 10

Holy Aura (lvl.1) 2

Decay (lvl.1) 1

Drain (lvl.4) 2

Entropic Aura (lvl.2) 2

GIFTS

Curse of Entropy: -20% all starting attributes. Mark of the Paladin: 10% resistance to Dark/Holy magic, 5% resistance to Physical. Touch of the Void: 10% reduced resistance to Holy/Fire magic, 20% resistance to Mental Effects, 15% immunity to Mental Effects.

Experience to next level 2613/3202

Health264/272 Stamina32/59 Mana10/15

I quickly dismissed this inner monologue, fearful that these thoughts may lead to even greater insanity. I looked across at my companions, finding them industriously going about their business and readying themselves for the coming conflict. Elwin was sharpening his knives, favoring the damask-etched blade that we gained from the wholesale slaughter of the charcoal burners. My other boon companion Kidu was checking his arrows, looking for warps or flawed fletching that would affect their flight.

We cooked up a simple breakfast, a lightly salted meat stew that I consumed with gusto. Ever since my time as a slave, food now held new importance in my life. Poor as I had been, worrying about starving was an alien concept. The significance of food and what it represented had changed on an intrinsic level. How truly sheltered my old life was, I mused absent-mindedly.

After breakfast, we continued with our preparations, seeing to the minutiae of maintenance of our arms and armor. I felt a growing pressure in the pit of my gut that demanded release and, recognizing it for what it was, I let it flow over and through me. It was anticipation mixed with trepidation, but they seemed like old friends now, their edges losing their sharpness when ground against raw experience.

Our preparations now complete, we headed off in the direction of the river bank, eager to accomplish our mission. Every step through the forest to the river was accompanied by a heightened tension that brought our senses into sharp focus. Eventually, we could hear once more the sound of vigorously running water, but threaded through the sounds were new notes. The wind softly whispered a sensation of danger, the hissing of ferocious reptile creatures driven to the heights of frenzy.

Kidu signaled to us that we should move slower as we crept up to the edge of the trees and observed the scene before us.

What bloomed before my eyes could truly be called a festival of bestial violence. Deep hisses of challenge ringed in the air as River Lurkers squabbled with each other over an animal they had recently brought down, which was now an unidentifiable large mound of meat, bone, and offal. The familiar smell of copper and iron tinged the air - the scent of freshly spilled blood. Some of the creatures had wounded each other over the promise of warm meat, and great rents were torn into their thick scaly hides.

Out of the water, the creatures themselves reminded me of alligators or large crocodiles from Earth. Only, these specimens were more heavily armored with bony protrusions and small spikes running along their scaled hides. They had three pairs of stumpy muscular legs that had a surprisingly fast cadence, allowing them a good amount of speed on land. Their snouts, too, were shorter than an alligator’s, and filled with sharp serrated teeth that promised death. Their clawed feet were webbed in the manner of aquatic creatures. The academic in me admired such a clear example of convergent evolution.

Theorizing about killing these monsters was one thing, but witnessing them up close as they tore into bloody flesh made the whole thing seem an altogether different prospect. However, the Lurkers, preoccupied with what appeared to be a fresh kill, could prove advantageous. With these thoughts swirling in my mind, I turned to Kidu, my eyes seeking guidance.

“The feeding frenzy is upon them, thankfully we are downwind of the gathering. We should wait till they are sated, with fortune’s favor they will be in a stupor,” advised the man from the North, his steady rumbling voice lending a welcome assurance.

“Nothing has changed, except that we need to wait a little while. Let us retreat a little and pray that the wind does not change,” I concluded, looking at each of my companions in turn, and silenced the Rogue’s protestations with stern a look.

Elwin rolled his eyes before falling in line, muttering something under his breath, as my group retreated a bit further into the trees. I noticed that Patches was trembling, but she wasn’t giving in to her fear. Most donkeys at this point would have likely fled in such proximity to the monstrously large crocodilian analogs. A truly noble beast, I thought to myself as we staked her down deep within the tree line.

We waited until the sun dipped a little lower into the sky, and until the river monsters calmed down from their frenetic activities. Slowly, we crept up on them from our hiding place in the trees, as stealthily as our armor allowed. I looked to Elwin, then nodded to Kidu to begin.

Gripping three arrows between the fingers of his bow hand, the massive man drew and let loose, in rapid succession, at the gathering of River Lurkers. The arrows flew steady and true, finding their way through the scaled throats and soft eyes of the lizards. Such was the force of the arrows that the smaller specimens were flipped over, their six legs flailing for a few seconds before death finally claimed them. The other creatures raised their heads, mouths opened and hissing threats, unsure from where death had come. I knew that the Commanche of old Earth could achieve similar feats, but Kidu accomplished all of this using a longbow, at full draw, making the display all the more heroic.

Kidu let loose another arrow, then another, and another. Six beasts had been slain or mortally wounded by the master Hunter in short order before, finally, their cold lizard brains determined the source of the attack. They started to charge us then, the smaller juveniles, putting out a burst of unexpected speed. The larger River Lurkers stirred themselves from the banks of the river and joined in the assault.

Still, my group had planned for this. We slowly retreated back towards the treeline, Kidu shooting all the while and losing none of his precision despite the pressure of the approaching scaled menaces. I unleashed my Entropic Aura now, holding nothing back. This forced them to almost stop in their tracks, and they started to circle us in the manner of wolves. The beasts seemed afraid to enter the radius of my dark energy as if instinctively sensing the horror within.

Another shaft buried itself through the neck of a River Lurker, which was like a signal to push them to breach the circle of my entropic defenses. Knowing full well now the range of my spells, I hurriedly cast Drain, my mind doing the necessary mental acrobatics as I channeled the dark energies. The voices sang with glee and satisfaction as the tendrils of the deepest shadow attached themselves to several of the creatures. Raw life energy filled me with ecstasy, singing an empowering duet with the adrenaline that roared through my system. My mind narrowed in focus, wanting to unleash violence against the creatures and I was more than willing to oblige.

Filled with a feeling of invincibility, I slammed my visor down and charged the remaining animals, half a dozen or so, trusting in my companions to cover my blind spots. One of the creatures jumped to meet my charge. I met its leap with my kite shield, angling it slightly and bracing myself. Instead of being tackled to the ground I was, instead, able to redirect the Lurker’s trajectory, and the crocodilian rolled off of my shield. Another creature, seeing an opening, bit into my shin and calf. I could feel the metal of my armor straining against the steadily increasing force of the bite, but still it held. Irritated, I looked down and smashed the end of my weapon’s haft against its cranium, braining the creature with the flanges. The ball of the flail slammed harmlessly against the ground, causing clods of the soft earth to explode.

How I had grown, I thought to myself, in the eye of the storm, smiling wryly in my heavy helm. I had grown powerful. I kicked another River Lurker, trusting in my armor to provide protection against tooth and claw. My strike momentarily stunned the beast, but another Lurker took the opportunity to launch itself at me. The heavy impact made me crash down to the floor as the reptilian beast snapped at my face, with its claws raking at my armor. Panic started to fill me as I manically tried to brain the creature with the butt of my mace, but I lacked the leverage to inflict significant damage. A flash of adrenalin-fuelled inspiration hit me, guiding me to let go of my primary weapon, and I quickly drew the dagger at my waist. The River Lurker bit into the edge of my shield and I stabbed out with my blade, infusing my attack with the skill Power Strike.

The wavy blade struck into the reptile’s eye in an explosion of viscera, putting the animal out of its misery. With a great effort, I shrugged the still-twitching corpse off me and rose to my feet. Sheathing my parrying dagger and picking up my flail, I realized that I was relying too much on brute physical force. I was more than just a simple fighter.

Entropic energies continued to pulse from me and cold rage filled my heart. I felt detached now from the fight and I took a moment to steal a glance at my surroundings, searching for my companions. Of Elwin, there was no sign, but Kidu was fighting a half circle of Lurkers, keeping them at bay with long spinning circular strikes from his flashing spear.

I pushed the dark threads of the Drain spell outward to my enemies, the voices rising in delight. The dark lines of power were thicker now and hungrily latched onto the monsters, flowing from one raving Lurker to another. My spell had grown in dread power and apparently it had gained the ability to attach to several life sources in close proximity at once.

Pleasure filled me, headier than any drug, and the desire to keep on killing guided my steps as I rushed to help my companion. I could feel my Health, Stamina, and Mana refilling as the creatures in front of me grew weaker. The rush of pleasure was tempered somewhat by my newfound and cold detachment, and a shard of worry filled me as I still could not find Elwin. An errant thought stained with paranoia entered my mind, was the wiry Rogue planning betrayal after all?

I quickly shrugged off this thought, feeling that it was caused by an external dark influence - a product of the voices that I harbored in the depths of my mind.

A few moments later the Rogue plunged down from a tree, stabbing downwards with his twin daggers. Like a falling shadow, he stabbed into the eyes of a reptile that had snuck up behind Kidu. The man was a fleeting wisp as he weaved among the cold-blooded animals, striking at their unprotected flanks and vital points when he could. I sighed internally with relief, there would be no dagger in the back today.

I began to lay into the River Lurkers, my flail spinning in deadly arcs as it impacted again and again into flesh and bone in an explosion of hard scales. Between the three of us, we quickly made short work of the remaining creatures of the group we had drawn out.

I lifted my visor, drew a deep breath, and looked across at my party. They had not suffered any serious wounds, though Elwin was sporting a bright red cut across his left cheek. Kidu had barely broken a sweat, such was his prowess against the simple creatures. However, at a very rough guess, this was but one-third of their total number. Truly, this looked like it was going to be a bit of a grind.

“A good warming exercise,” snorted Kidu, as he checked over his spear and bow, his eyes roving for any recent battle damage.

Elwin simply rolled his eyes at Kidu’s bravado, before adding in a snide voice, “Well at least I’m not dead, though I don’t fancy doing this many times on the regular.” He sniggered a little, as he retrieved one of his throwing daggers from a still corpse.

I could not help but smile as the notification messages filled my inner vision. Our little battle with the local wildlife had been rather rewarding.

You have slain six River Lurkers 65 experience gained You have gained 1 Strength You have learned Daggers (lvl.3)

You have learned Stealth (lvl.2)

Experience to next level 2678/3202

Health254/272 Stamina28/60 Mana12/13

The gain in experience was obviously limited due to my companions stealing precious experience from me in battle. I crushed that selfish thought as quickly as it came, as no doubt the task would have been exponentially more difficult without my fellows. The gain in Strength had boosted my Health and Stamina by only a mere fraction, but it was still a welcome gain. I almost panicked again when I saw that my maximum Mana had fallen by two points before I realized that it was due to my Entropic Aura still being up. Our little skirmish now finished, I quickly reined in the magic.

I left my companions to butcher the corpses, leaving the lion’s share of the meat to the scavengers. The Lurker hides we loaded up onto our donkey, before we all settled down to catch our breath and rest for a while. My gear had suffered a little damage with a few weakened links in my chain mail, but I felt my equipment was still battle-worthy.

Employing the same tactics, in smaller groups this time, we drew out more of the creatures, whittling away at their numbers until there were none left. Now, all that remained was for us to harvest the River Root and complete our task for the Adventurer’s guild.