by Eric Nimmo
The Lady Shavri had heard that the
novice necromancer was terrorizing the small ville of Strutzberg.
Apparently he had moved
into the ruined watchtower on the haunted hill and had begun
raiding the local crypts and graveyards.
The mayor of Stutzberg had offered the War Angel’s 250 gold
crowns to destroy the evil mageling and lay their dead to rest,
once
and for all.
Shavri’s halfling scouts reported the scene ahead. The
necromancer had gotten word of their two pronged attack and had
set up
his defenses. The Nuln mercenaries had set up on the far hillock
while her swordswomen and retinue of crossbowmen had set up
on the other side of the woods. The watchtower sat in the middle.
The depraved laughter of the necromancer was all that was
heard of the foul undead army.
Shouting the order to attack, Shavri’s swordswomen moved
forward. The halfling scouts burst from their tree cover and let
loose
with their arrows. Zombies fell as arrows tore into the palid
flesh. Mandingo the mage-for-hire released his spells. The large
unit
of skeletons were held by his spell and then his two fireballs
streaked into the mass and charred two skeletons, leaving only
their
blackened two-handed weapons.
Thoth-sototha seethed at the living warriors that marched
onwards. He telepathically commanded his wight warriors on their
skeletal steeds to move around the flank and destroy those forces
of the females’. His skeleton warriors moved slowly on the
other side to come to grips with the men of Nuln. Attempting to
cast the spell of the liche Nagash’s gaze on the hated
halflings,
Thoth-sototha was shocked to see his magic dispelled and his
power thrown back at his warriors! That damnable human mage
had sent his fireballs into his skeletons again! He would pay for
his insolence. Thoth then summoned a troop of 8 skeletons to
attempt to destroy the mage.
Shavri watched as the skeleton warriors rose menacingly from the
ground.
“This was expected warrioresses. Do not fear these spectres!
Charge!” The women smashed into the skeletons. The armored
women shattered the bones of the foes that stood in their way til
the eldritch power that held them to this place dissipated.
On the far flank the gun powdered weapons of Nuln spat lead
destruction. The cannon had finished being moved into position
and blew a hole in the advancing skeleton ranks. The handgunners
fired as well. But the undead tide did not falter.
Thoth-sototha watched as his beloved wight warriors and zombies
charged the halfling scouts. The halflings attempted to make a
stand but the wight warriors on their steeds put fear into their
hearts. They broke and fled through the trees. But the trees didn’t
stop the rush of death. The wight’s horses slipped into the
ethereal plane along with their riders. The trees went brown as
the
wave of ghostly riders passed through them and then went solid to
grind the scouts beneath their hooves.
Thoth rejoiced in his small victory but ground his teeth in
frustration as the mage dispelled his attempts to raise more
skeletal
minions. He took consolation in his wight led skeletons were free
of the spell of holding.
Shavri saw the destruction of her left flank. She felt her
crossbowmen could handle the skeletons as they crept forward in
their
death shuffle. Her immediate worry was of the mounted wights and
their ability to move unimpeded through the surrounding
forest.
The boom of gunpowder met the oncoming tide. The damage was
minimal and the skeletons continued their march forward.
Thoth-sototha used his mental energies to push all of his undead
horde forward. Due to his inexperience he tired quickly and was
easily dispelled as he readied each of his summonings. He smiled
soon his wights would make short work of those meddlesome
witches!
Lady Shavri’s famed battle-wise mind saw the opening. She
saw how light the underbrush was in this part of the forest. With
the
aid of the low visibility, she spurred her comrades onward.
Headlong through the bush and right into the line of mounted
wights.
Blades flashed and two swordswomen fell. The wights proved tough
opponents and this promised to be a hard fought battle.
The guns of Nuln spoke true. Almost one whole unit fell to the
handgunner’s aim. The eagle eye of old gunner Magnus spotted
the necromancer spying on them from the top of the tower. He
ordered little Jamus to raise the cannon barrel almost twenty
notches. When the smoke cleared, the necromancer was gone.
However the chunk of rampart missing told of a failed clean hit.
Little did old Magnus know that Toth missed the gathering of
magic on the battlefield because he was hiding his head from view
to avoid a cannon ball from tearing his head from his body. When
he finally noticed that Mandingo was casting, it was too late.
Mandingo’s spell of holding held the wights in magical
stasis. This made them easy targets for the War Angel’s
blades!
Thoth-sototha was beginning to feel pangs of fear. His forces
were taking too long to come to grips with the missile troops
that
rained destruction from afar. It might be prudent to flee he
thought. The damned mage was countering all his attempts to raise
more for his army of darkness. He watched as swordswomen
destroyed his held wights. On the other flank, the mercenaries
ran
into the skeleton unit. Blades sung and bone crunched.
Thoth-sototha’s frustration was wrecking his concentration
and his army
started to fall apart. He commanded his skeletal archers to shoot
at the advancing humans and fled for the secret passage beneath
the tower. He would have his revenge. He would become more
powerful in time and destroy this miserable ville and its people.
Then he would find the mercenaries and use their dead bodies for
his army.
Soon........
Shavri split the spoils of the necromancer’s treasure with
the mercenaries of Nuln. The payment for ridding the evil
sorcerer from
the area, she used to pay her War Angels. They had proven
themselves again. Rest was needed for the next battle was sure to
come in this tumultuous world.
The end