Post by greenlance on Jun 4, 2008 1:00:02 GMT -5
Wiping his hands across his face, Kalek has smeared the blood of his newest specimen on himself. The brownish-red liquid gets into the wrinkles and covers his bizarre facial tattoos. His buggy eyes were examining the innards of what he had on the table. He pokes and prods, then lifts and scraps the curiosities within. All matter of papers with drawings of humanoid bodies, and shelves holding pickled creatures and toxic potions, had adorned the moldy walls of his workshop. The tables in the workshop were stained with blood, both fresh and old. His various tools of the trade were glistening from being used on the corpse. Kalek smiles as he gains new knowledge of the subject.
The door behind him crashes open!
"Kalek, you dog! Do you have something to do with the dead walking?" booms a loud voice.
Both men turn to stare each other down. The aging Kalek wore his dirty apron and held a scalpel, whilst the intruder glistened in full-plate armor and wielded both longsword and shield.
"Ah, Sir Martin! Welcome back to my humble abode. I see you decided to show yourself in again. My, my, it will cost me a pretty coin to replace the door again," Kalek spoke to disarm the alert knight.
"Shut it, knave!" the knight ordered.
Sir Martin gazed upon Kalek's latest subject. It was the stable boy that dissappeared earlier in the morning that the guards dismissed as an early victim to the new threat of roaming undead. The knight summoned up his anger as he began to smash everything in his path to get to Kalek.
"I'll have your head and send your soul to the Hells!" Sir Martin barked.
Kalek began turning over tables and throwing bottles at his opponent in order to avoid getting flayed himself. Quickly outmanuevering Martin, the old wizard runs for the door and escapes his own workshop, not knowing if he'd ever return to it again. Running outside, Kalek sees that the old city of Jonsa is in trouble. City guards are trying to hold back a wave of undead as they scale over makeshift barricades. Women are running with their children. Screams of agony erupt everywhere as the zombie menace is consuming all in its path.
"You can't run, Kalek! You'll pay for what you've summoned!" Sir Martin announced while emerging from the workshop.
"But...I didn't do...this," Kalek breathed out in shock.
As Martin approached, Kalek snapped out of it and ran for the west gate. He escapes out into the forest and eventually loses Sir Martin amongst the trees. The mage continues to run. Whatever was happening, he didn't want to be caught by it.
Eventually, Kalek the Black makes it to some remote fishing village on the north end of the island. As he approaches, he determines the place is small enough to hideout in and avoid the scrutiny of paladins like Sir Martin. However, we would be wrong about his safety there. Several days have past, and Kalek has been staying in the local Inn. He is awoken by screams outside. The village is abuzz of the news of a marauding band of lunatics eating a fisherman's daughter. The villagers go to investigate and are set upon by the same group. Those that survive hole up in the Inn. Looking out the window, Kalek recognizes the disease these "marauders" carry. It is not lunacy, but they are the living dead. After arguing with the Inn Keeper about being let outside, Kalek smashes a window and jumps out. He runs for the docks and jumps into one of the fishing boats moored there. Just as he is undoing the ropes, the zombies break through the Inn door.
"I didn't do this...I...couldn't do this..."
Kalek pondered on the fate of the island he was leaving, and even on the fate of Sir Martin. Not so much as he was worried for the poor knight, but that he didn't want the man chasing him down where ever he went. One thing was sure, and that was that any survivors of this apocalypse would not look upon Kalek and his sciences with appreciation.
The door behind him crashes open!
"Kalek, you dog! Do you have something to do with the dead walking?" booms a loud voice.
Both men turn to stare each other down. The aging Kalek wore his dirty apron and held a scalpel, whilst the intruder glistened in full-plate armor and wielded both longsword and shield.
"Ah, Sir Martin! Welcome back to my humble abode. I see you decided to show yourself in again. My, my, it will cost me a pretty coin to replace the door again," Kalek spoke to disarm the alert knight.
"Shut it, knave!" the knight ordered.
Sir Martin gazed upon Kalek's latest subject. It was the stable boy that dissappeared earlier in the morning that the guards dismissed as an early victim to the new threat of roaming undead. The knight summoned up his anger as he began to smash everything in his path to get to Kalek.
"I'll have your head and send your soul to the Hells!" Sir Martin barked.
Kalek began turning over tables and throwing bottles at his opponent in order to avoid getting flayed himself. Quickly outmanuevering Martin, the old wizard runs for the door and escapes his own workshop, not knowing if he'd ever return to it again. Running outside, Kalek sees that the old city of Jonsa is in trouble. City guards are trying to hold back a wave of undead as they scale over makeshift barricades. Women are running with their children. Screams of agony erupt everywhere as the zombie menace is consuming all in its path.
"You can't run, Kalek! You'll pay for what you've summoned!" Sir Martin announced while emerging from the workshop.
"But...I didn't do...this," Kalek breathed out in shock.
As Martin approached, Kalek snapped out of it and ran for the west gate. He escapes out into the forest and eventually loses Sir Martin amongst the trees. The mage continues to run. Whatever was happening, he didn't want to be caught by it.
Eventually, Kalek the Black makes it to some remote fishing village on the north end of the island. As he approaches, he determines the place is small enough to hideout in and avoid the scrutiny of paladins like Sir Martin. However, we would be wrong about his safety there. Several days have past, and Kalek has been staying in the local Inn. He is awoken by screams outside. The village is abuzz of the news of a marauding band of lunatics eating a fisherman's daughter. The villagers go to investigate and are set upon by the same group. Those that survive hole up in the Inn. Looking out the window, Kalek recognizes the disease these "marauders" carry. It is not lunacy, but they are the living dead. After arguing with the Inn Keeper about being let outside, Kalek smashes a window and jumps out. He runs for the docks and jumps into one of the fishing boats moored there. Just as he is undoing the ropes, the zombies break through the Inn door.
"I didn't do this...I...couldn't do this..."
Kalek pondered on the fate of the island he was leaving, and even on the fate of Sir Martin. Not so much as he was worried for the poor knight, but that he didn't want the man chasing him down where ever he went. One thing was sure, and that was that any survivors of this apocalypse would not look upon Kalek and his sciences with appreciation.