Shadows of Blood, an Eberron Tale

[Siberys]

Critique is 100% welcome.

Shadows of Blood

Prologue-

A lone warrior stands in a dark, dreary day. The rain taps along the bridge as the shadowy figure walks across, and though a figure in the shadows, a quite righteous person indeed. A few everbright lanterns shine in the mans face, and 3 guards, one a woman, one a man, and one a male dwarf who looks the strongest of the three present themselves.

“Rather late for a wanderer to be roaming, is it not,” the dwarf calls him out.

The man has no response, and continues walking as if the three guards didn’t even exist. The slow walking of the man suggested a sort of depression about him, as if he had done something terribly awful or witnessed something as tragic.

“Hey, I’ma talkin to ya,” the dwarf shouted.

“Go away…” his voice trailed off.

A faint sparkle of a necklace shone through the lights. The necklace was of house Cannith, as a picture of the poisonous bull, the Gorgon, presented itself within the shield symbol.

“Who are you,” the man asked. “Look, we have no reason to harm you, just tell us who you are.”

“My name, my name is Merrix D’Cannith,” he said, revealing the face of the true Merrix D’Cannith, leader and owner of the sections of House Cannith, located in Flamekeep and Sharn, two magnificient cities.

“Oh, Master Merrix, apologies,” the dwarf apologized. “A mistake on our part, but is their some reason why your out here tonight, in this dreadful weather”

By this time, Merrix was already standing next to the guards, right two feet in front of them.

“I…I need something,” he said. “I need a red liquid. Very dark, color of a rose, I need your blood!”

He lunged forward and bit each of them within an instant, and the actual touch of his lips to their neck put them in an orgasmic state of mind, paralyzing them in every way possible. Merrix began feeding off of them, drinking their blood. The dwarf was hearty enough to stay a small bit conscious at the time, and as he fed off of him, he didn’t drink the entire amount of blood in the dwarf. Instead, when he finished, he whispered in the dwarf’s ear.

“Fear the dark six…”

With that, Merrix was gone within a moment’s time. When Had Hod, the dwarf, awoke, he noticed his companions were dead, and bite marks on their necks. A flash of the words played like a broken image spell in his mind. Fear the Dark Six meant so little and yet so much to him at the time. Of course, everybody who was good in heart feared the dark six, which was without a doubt, so it was of little worry to him. Yet, something lingered within his body, his soul, his mind, and the fact that Merrix himself said that to him.

He rushed to the station, as quick as could be reporting what he saw, but nothing of Merrix as he completely forgot what happened with him, except those words, fear the Dark Six. He told captain Kreshvok, the half-elven knight of this.

“What in the world is going through your head, Had?”

“I swear it on my life, something killed my companions and bit me in the neck, here, here’s the wound to prove it.”

Had hod spent a few moments searching for the actual wound, but couldn’t find anything. Nothing was visible; nothing was apparent as a wound, nothing. Maybe Had Hod was going crazy, maybe he was a bit delusional.

“Look, I don’t know exactly what happened, but I do know that my companions are dead. I can show you them outside on the bridge near the Residential District.”

“Alright, bring a body of there’s in and show them to me. Understood?!”

“Yes sir,” the dwarf stated.

The dwarf went out and searched for the bodies on the bridge, but when he got there, they were missing. He knew they lived near the residential district, so he went to their homes, finding nothing in the process. He walked back in to the station, shouting a bit in frustration.

“Look, I don’t know where the bodies are, but they are dead. I swear it.”

“Hey Had,” one of his companions said.

Both companions presented themselves in a full and healthy condition.

“Keep this up Had Hod and I’ll see to it that you are put in a penitentiary for your lies.”

The two looked at Had in a skeptical look. A s soon as the man left the area, the two walked up to him.

“What was that all about?”

“I don’t know, I honestly don’t know right now.”

“Did something happen or what?”

“You mean, you don’t remember? Last night, with Merrix.”

“Merrix would never hang around the streets on a rainy day like that. I don’t know who you saw, but we saw no one during our shift.”

Had Hod was rather confused at this point, but tried his best to let it go for his shift that night. During that evening on his hours, he and his companions roamed around the streets for the time being, looking for any people walking around past the curfew.

His companions wandered off somewhere, leaving him alone for the time. He soon came face to face with Merrix again. This time, he instantly drew his weapon, about ready to slay him.

“You know, it’s been all over the news that you’ve been missing. I can help with that, we can cure this…disease of yours.”

“I don’t need your pity! I need your blood, once again.”

The man and woman Had Hod ventured with previously were now standing there laughing at the pathetic creature who became guard captain of this squad.

“Come my children, feast of the dwarf. They are always full of vigor and blood,” Merrix laughed.

Merrix looked at the creature in pity for a moment, then laughed as they drank and obliterated his soul.

“Master, shall I sire him?”

“No, destroy the body, but leave the blood. Let’s toy with this town for a while, let us make it our own.”

They laughed and then hacked his body into pieces, throwing it into the river and disposing of the evidence. The three, Merrix, the leader of the legendary House Cannith, the house that created the warforged, a golem of human counterparts built for fighting in a war, Alexandria, the woman with short red hair, black and terror filled eyes with a mouth to match, and Masq, the sir with the strength, a brutish man and overall weaponry expert, as he carried many weapons on him as well as the heaviest of plated armor, ventured off back into the night disappearing without a trace.
******************
“Extra, extra, read all about it,” a boy shouted trying to make a copper.

People scurried about, many stopping to find something in the local papers that is quite extraordinary. The arm of a dwarf, found on the bridge to the residential area, was all that was left of the entire dwarf himself. He held a signet ring dedicated to House Deneith, a place of arms and armory, the guard of the town.

As soon as the half elven knight found out about this, a devastated look was upon his face.

“That was my best man,” he said. “He dedicated so much to this place, and got in return so little.”

The look of sorrow was now upon him, weeping through his eyes, as he realized that he was the one who gave him so little respect to begin with.

[Siberys]

Chapter 1-

“Hey Lavius!”

“What now, I’m busy.”

“You think we’ll ever get out of here?”

“If you’d let me work, I can get us out of this cell now.”

“Sorry, what are you doing anyway?”

Click

The door to the cell flung open, and Lavius began making his way towards the closet in front of the room, carefully not making noise as the guard might be near. He creaked open the closet, grabbed his and his friend, Harlend’s weapons, as well as any other gear they could pocket. They slowly made their way to a hole in the ground, slipping through and as Lavius looked around and stepped in, he was about to finally get in and a guard came by.

“Hey, HEY! Get back here!”

The guard was obviously too big to fit through the hole with all the armor he had on, so he rang the bell and the welcome wagon presented itself as soon as Lavius and Harlend presented themselves above.

“Umm, hey guys. Whatcha need?”

“Psst, I don’t think they want to talk, Lavius.”

“Did you figure that out all by yourself?”

“Oh, well whatdaya say we give’em a go?”

“Whatever, let’s just get this over with.”

The two split up, drawing their weapons. Harlend whipped out his spellbook, reading the inscriptions and a few big red bolts came flying from his hand, straight into the 3 guards presented. Lavius preformed a similar action, movements and the archaic words, but without a spellbook. He jumped clear in the air, a good 40 or 50 feet up and made a head dive straight onto one of the guards, pounding him into the ground, then whipping a mace out of his pocket and pounding another in the face.

Soon, with the tactics they used, and the skills as well as spells, the guards were knocked unconscious, and they made their break for it. They ran clear across the plains of the Mournland, finding several Karnathi War Skeletons. They plowed through them, making their way, across that far to the west. Once they were a good 20 or 30 miles from Fort Darguun, they slowed down for the time being, catching their breath.

“So, you think they’re following us?”

“Better not be, I hate those bloody goblins. I was about ready to coup de grace one of their kind, but noooo, you insisted that I knock them unconscious.”

“Sorry Lavius, but they are living souls and can repent for that, though I agree with you, I doubt they will.”

“I trust you more than anyone I know, so I will trust your judgement.”

“Well, where should we go anyway? We’re in the Mournlands and we need to cut straight across, but should we go to…say Sharn?”

“Sure, it’s a while away, but Sharn is always worth it. Nice clean city that is.”

The human, Lavius, an arcanist by trades, and the Knight Harlend with some training from Lavius‘s magical arts, continue onward towards the vast and wonderful city of Sharn, passing by several pathetic Karnathi Skeletons. The Karnathi, ever since the explosion or magic around the area, have been showing up around for some time. It’s been 2 years since the “Last War” as they call it, and Karnathi Skeletons and the deathless show around everywhere. Wolves, humans, giants, hell hounds, all undead and all built for war. Though, to them, they were pathetic creatures of the afterlife, the result of sin, the result of their punishment and their overall hell for causing the Last War in the first place.

It took them a good 3 weeks, and with the foraging they had to do, they were starving for a steak when they got to sharn. Heading to the Black Anvil Inn, they noticed that the gold they had on them was of short supply. They had enough for the meal and that was about it.

“Well, looks like we need a job, no?”

“Indeed, Lavius. But for now, let’s enjoy these steaks and potatoes.”

The sound of an acoustic guitar filled the tavern, as the bard of the area began playing some music for the people. The guitar had an upbeat and bouncy tune to it, which Lavius and Harlend knew quite well. They hopped on the table, and started singing the drunkard’s song. The people laughed and enjoyed their performance, and the bard was happy that they decided to join in, making a reputation around the place for both the bard and the two adventurers.

Even if they were new, everyone knows that if you have a good singing voice and know the lyrics, get up their and sing till your heart’s content. They enjoyed their stay at the bar, but sadly had to leave the area, and soon did so to look for a decent paying job, only to find the most lower class of jobs available. They searched around for a decent paying job for hours it seemed like, but no such luck, until a shady looking person grabbed their attention.

“Psst, hey, wanna do something that’ll make ya rich?”