Warhammer Fantasy: Ashes of War

[Cynical Cat]

The Champion of the End Times had fallen, his army beaten back from the walls of Middenhiem as they struggled to sack the High Temple of Ulric and snuff the Eternal Flame. Men, elves, dwarves, and halflings had fought them with every ounce of muscle and will at their disposal and every weapon of steel and sorcery that they could muster. They had won.

The cost had been considerable, but now the chaos raiders were scattered to the winds and the beastmen herds were retreating back into the forest. Devestation was left in their wake as lesser evils scattered to the wind and the great armies disbanded and retreated.

The great roads of the Empire were dangerous in the best of time, but now with greenskins, disserters, beastmen, and chaos marauders around they were more dangerous than ever. A wise man would travel with a group, if at all possible.

A small group of travellers were caught on the north end of a road through the Empire's forested northlands. The bridge had been burnt out weeks before and the heads of two families of refugees were looking around for a suitable spot to ford the tributary of the might Talabac River which blocked their path.

[Comrade Tortoise]

Cornelius looked around warrily. He leaned on his scythe, his purple robes billowing slightly in the light morning breeze. A burned out bridge, forcing a caravan to cross the river. Easy pickings for highwaymen... or worse.

[Pcm979]

Harald Westmann's hazel eyes narrowed, and he rested one hand on the pommel of his broadsword. One didn't survive to be discharged from the Realm's armed forces by blithely waltzing through life, and the war veteran hadn't made it this far without a highly developed sense of paranoia. He pulled his travelling cloak further over his scuffed and worn Army uniform, cursing the fact that he hadn't the money to purchase a less conspicuous set of clothes.

Grabbing his elderly pack donkey by the reins, he worked his way towards the currently most promising attempt at fording the river.

[Cynical Cat]

From the west edge of the woods came a loud snuffling growl. The bushes shook and creature pushed its way into the open. It was the size of a large bear and stood on two legs leg a man. It was covered in a thick, shaggy coat that was splattered with mucus. It's head was more like a boar;s that a bear's. It's paws ended in long claws. Its movements weren't swift, but the length of its gate allowed it to cover ground more quickly than its speed would suggest.

[Pcm979]

Harri frowned, a puckered scar stretching white on his suntanned face. He drew an old, battered army-issue Halberd from his donkey's saddle, figuring he'd need the extra reach to stay away from the thing's claws. He stepped forward, casting an eye at the travellers. Who would break and who would stay?

[Comrade Tortoise]

Cornelius tightened his grip on his scythe and slipped into a trance. Focusing the power shich flowed through his mind and allowing it to flow forth from his lips in words of power.

He took one hand off his scythe as the creature charged toward him. He idnt know how well these people could defend themselves from such a beast, but it was his duty to defend them to the best of his ability.

His hand flew back, gathering a deep purple nimbus of energy around his fingers, and suddenly, it vanished. He out his hand in front of him, seming to reach toward the sun, and the energy reappeared in a more focused form. A ball of puple magic which he threw at the uncoming creature. He hope that his magic would take effect, and the creature would be stunned long enough to be put down.

If not, he would have to pull another trick out of his magic bag.

[Cynical Cat]

The chill touch of Shyish, the purple wind, flowed through the mutant and with it came the chill of the inevitable passing of all things. The mutant shuddered and staggered back, shaking its head and moaning.

[Comrade Tortoise]

That faster spell gave him the time he needed for another.

His words invoked forces beyond the ken of normal mortals. His outstreched hand gathered power and forced it forward in a beam of violet light which struck the beast's right leg. Filling it with the bone-chilling cold of death.

[Cynical Cat]

The mutant howled and staggered forward, dragging its limp leg behind it as it fell to all fours. An arrow from one of the refugees struck the ground near it.

[Pcm979]

Harri dashed forward and thrust the halberd into the foul creature's neck, grunting as he put all his weight behind the blow.

[Cynical Cat]

The blade hit the creature's shoulder, skidded of bone, and sunk into its flesh. Greenish ichor spouted from the wound. The mutant stomped on the halberd with its forepaw, tearing the weapon out of its flesh and out of Harri's hands.

[Pcm979]

Harri drew his broadsword and slashed at the creature's limb in one swift movement, backpeddling as he did so. Some reinforcements would be nice, right about now.

[Cynical Cat]

The mutants combination of thick hair, tough skin, and bone nodules in its hide prevented Harri's swing from biting deeply. Ichor slowly oozed from the wound.

[Comrade Tortoise]

Cornelius moved up to around ten meters of the creature and began invoking dark powers which most people dread. A small ball of magic appeared halfway between him and the creature, and struck them both. SIphoning off the creatures very life force and giving it to Cornelius.

[Pcm979]

While the beast was distracted by the Mage, Harri dashed up again and drove his sword deeper into the preexisting cut, dragging a long furrow from it to the messy wound courtesy of the Halberd. Once again he scrambled out of the thing's range, hoping that he'd put the limb out of action. You never could tell with Mutants; The foul beasts couldn't be trusted to follow Nature's laws.

[Cynical Cat]

The beast limped forward, striking clumsily at Harri. It was clearly slower and weaker than it had been before.

[Pcm979]

Harri dodged out of the way, circling around the beast's wounded side. He'd have to be careful now; He'd seen too many otherwise good soldiers eviscerated when they assumed the worst was over. He dodged another blow, circled again, picked his moment and ran forward, driving his blade up to the hilt in the mutant's flank.

[Comrade Tortoise]

Cornelius continued siphing off it's vital life energy, and feeding it to himself

[Pcm979]

Harri dragged his sword along the mutant's flank, eyes watering as foul-smelling ichor spilled onto his blade. Tendons and muscles gave way reluctantly as he put all his weight behind the thrust.

[Cynical Cat]

The mutant bellowed in agony and clumsily smashed at Harri with its paw as ichor sloshed out of the wound.

[Pcm979]

Harri was knocked to the ground, the sword left in the creature's side. He came to a stop next to his discarded Halberd, and quickly hefted it and thrust upwards towards the beast.

[Comrade Tortoise]

With a flash of his hands and a quick incantation, a beam of energy lanced toward the beast. This time knocking out and deadening it's right leg, making it non-functional as the warrior thrust his halberd into it.

[Cynical Cat]

The two foot long blade on the halberd's end punched through the mutant's throat. Its bellows turned to gurgles and it stumbled a few steps before falling, where it thrashed and twitched away the last moments of its life.

[Pcm979]

Harri didn't let up until the thing was well and truly dead, working the blade further into the beast's throat for minutes after it had stopped moving. Eventually he decided it was safe and pulled the blade out, sparing a glance and appreciative nod for the Willworker.

"We can't hang about." He yelled to the refugees, moving to the corpse's side and yanking his sword out. "Go on! Get!" He said, waving at the ford. "There might be more."

[Comrade Tortoise]

The mage nodded back before heading toward the water's ege; scythe in hand, motioning the regugees through, and standing guard against other nasties that might decide to make their presence known in violence.