Eternal
“While I have every desire to see both of these blights erased from the Empire’s lands, I believe my abilities would be best served in leading the attack against the Wendigo tribe, captain.” You say.
“I had a feeling you’d be more drawn to that idea, and you are probably the best person for it, seeing how many victories you have against the barbarians tribes here. Very well, I shall send another officer to lead the mission against the elves and I hope those mercenaries lower their price in exchange for a chance to kill their tree loving kin. In fact I may go along on that mission.” Captain Krozer replies.
“You are captain?”
“Yes, someone needs to keep an eye on those shifty bastards. Besides I find that I’ve been getting stuck behind the desk too much lately. It’ll be good to be back out in the field. Don’t want to become like one of those fat self-important generals that do nothing except point to maps and make equally fat musings on tactics. A true leader should lead from the front, I’m sure you agree.”
“It is preferable yes…but I do understand the need to keep those with keen military minds safe from major war zones. Such people have their place as all do in their service of the Emperor.”
“Why lieutenant, are you complimenting me on my intelligence? It’s not like you to flirt.” Captain Krozer asks in a tone slightly friendlier than usual, it catches you a little off guard.
“I…no! I mean yes, you are very intelligent, but…”
“Relax lieutenant, just having a little fun, didn’t mean to put you on the spot. Anyway, we’ll pick this up later, you better get prepared for your mission, and good luck.”
You do exactly that, get prepared. You know this will not be an easy battle. You fought a member of the wendigos by yourself before and it was one of your greatest fights. Fighting an entire tribe of them even with an entire company behind you will not make it easier. Most of the men while capable soldiers, they are still just recruits in some ways when facing the shear might and savagery of these barbarians, let alone a tribe like the wendigos. At this point you wish you had a few battle wizards or even orcs in your ranks, but most of those have been assigned either at Fort Defiance or on the frontlines of the Felkan War.
You march through the ice and snow towards wendingo territory, along the way you come across a small village completely decimated. Looks like it was a fairly new one made up of some determined settlers. Still, no amount of determination could have possibly made it a good idea to start building a new settlement that was so close to wendigo territory without Empire protection.
Houses have been burned, and the gory bodies of the dead are everywhere and in pieces. Some of the bodies have even been partially eaten. Not surprising, considering the wendigo tribe will cannibalize their own people if necessary. A couple of the newer recruits throw up at the grisly sight.
The march eventually leads you a wooded hill area where they make their home. It’s there where you have your first major encounter with the wendigos. Their aren’t a lot of them, but they’re completely vicious and without fear. They think nothing of attacking you despite being outnumbered and bellow their terrible howl. A howl so dreadful it can affect the mind and causes a few of your men to lose their courage completely.
“It’s all in your head! The Emperor’s Will protects us! Find your nerve or die!” you shout and clash with the nearest wendigo.
It’s just the first of many such battles. The only good thing is the wendigos are pretty easy to find and make no attempts to hide from you, meaning you don’t really need to make a big effort at hunting them down. The bad thing of course is little by little your company is worn down by their attacks along with the land already being harsh and food being scarce.
It’s not just that though, this land of theirs, it’s making you feel weird, to say nothing of your men. The howls of the wendingos seem to be on the very winds here. It’s constantly there sapping your mind and making yourself feel strange thoughts.
“Lieutenant, I’m starting to feel really hungry. A lot of the men are.” Your second says to you.
“We just stopped to eat.”
“I know, but I dunno I’m still hungry.”
“Well we’re not stopping again. We need to keep moving the quicker we do this, the quicker we can go back home and have a proper meal.”
“Yes, a proper meal with meat. Lots of meat. Heh heh.” Your second says and walks away.
By the fifth day, you finally come across a large wendigo encampment and it is there where you see some sort of leader. You knew they had to have one, these types always do. He’s predictably the largest of his kind and covered in pure white fur. When your company arrives, the wendigos make their howl, but more disturbingly some of your men make a rival howl of their own and charge into battle even before you give the command.
The battle is a slaughter on both sides. You struggle against the wendigo leader striking several blows that would kill a normal man, but of course then you’re not fighting a man. He swipes you across the chest destroying your breast plate and lands another blow to your head which probably would’ve killed you had you not been wearing a helmet. It is enough to knock you down however.
“Your combat skill is impressive, Bane of Rask. It will be an honor to add it my own when I devour your heart.” You suddenly hear in your head as you struggle to get up. You’ve heard this sort of talk before. Namely when you were fighting against the usksha shaman.
You shake off the wendingo leader’s mental attempts to throw you off guard and narrowly avoid his foot stomping on your head. You grab your sword nearby and with all your might, you swing it at the very foot that just tried to crush your head and chop it clean off.
The wendigo leader howls again, but this is one of pain as he tumbles to the ground. You waste no time and shove the blade down the beast’s gullet. While this would be enough to kill most, the leader manages punch you aside with all his thrashing and then tries to stand up on one foot with a sword still stuck through his mouth and coming out the other side of his head.
It would be a darkly comical sight under different circumstances watching this beast hop around trying to pull a sword out of his head, but you’re in no mood to laugh. You charge into him as hard as you can to knock him down and grab the sword yanking it back and forth until you succeed in sawing off the top part of his head.
To their credit, the remaining wendigos continue to fight and die with their leader. The battle is won and even you take a moment to rest.
This rest is to be short lived.
“Bane of Rask, you’ve just won a fierce battle wouldn’t it be nice to celebrate by filling your belly with meat? There is a lot in the pot over there.”
“…what?” you say to yourself and hold your head in your hands.
“The pot over there. Lots of tasty meat that this tribe was going to eat before you so rudely interrupted them. No sense in letting it go to waste.”
“…no I just killed you.”
“Did you? Of course if you wish you could just pick a body on the ground and start eating. Why not? You deserve it.”
You know what’s going on here. The wendigos aren’t truly flesh and blood creatures! They’re some sort of spirits or something otherworldly. No wonder you’ve felt strange the entire time you’ve been here.
You get up and call your men to leave immediately, only to see some of them have already fully succumbed to the wendigo curse. Eating the bodies laying on the ground and beginning to look less than human and more feral.
“I had a feeling you’d be more drawn to that idea, and you are probably the best person for it, seeing how many victories you have against the barbarians tribes here. Very well, I shall send another officer to lead the mission against the elves and I hope those mercenaries lower their price in exchange for a chance to kill their tree loving kin. In fact I may go along on that mission.” Captain Krozer replies.
“You are captain?”
“Yes, someone needs to keep an eye on those shifty bastards. Besides I find that I’ve been getting stuck behind the desk too much lately. It’ll be good to be back out in the field. Don’t want to become like one of those fat self-important generals that do nothing except point to maps and make equally fat musings on tactics. A true leader should lead from the front, I’m sure you agree.”
“It is preferable yes…but I do understand the need to keep those with keen military minds safe from major war zones. Such people have their place as all do in their service of the Emperor.”
“Why lieutenant, are you complimenting me on my intelligence? It’s not like you to flirt.” Captain Krozer asks in a tone slightly friendlier than usual, it catches you a little off guard.
“I…no! I mean yes, you are very intelligent, but…”
“Relax lieutenant, just having a little fun, didn’t mean to put you on the spot. Anyway, we’ll pick this up later, you better get prepared for your mission, and good luck.”
You do exactly that, get prepared. You know this will not be an easy battle. You fought a member of the wendigos by yourself before and it was one of your greatest fights. Fighting an entire tribe of them even with an entire company behind you will not make it easier. Most of the men while capable soldiers, they are still just recruits in some ways when facing the shear might and savagery of these barbarians, let alone a tribe like the wendigos. At this point you wish you had a few battle wizards or even orcs in your ranks, but most of those have been assigned either at Fort Defiance or on the frontlines of the Felkan War.
You march through the ice and snow towards wendingo territory, along the way you come across a small village completely decimated. Looks like it was a fairly new one made up of some determined settlers. Still, no amount of determination could have possibly made it a good idea to start building a new settlement that was so close to wendigo territory without Empire protection.
Houses have been burned, and the gory bodies of the dead are everywhere and in pieces. Some of the bodies have even been partially eaten. Not surprising, considering the wendigo tribe will cannibalize their own people if necessary. A couple of the newer recruits throw up at the grisly sight.
The march eventually leads you a wooded hill area where they make their home. It’s there where you have your first major encounter with the wendigos. Their aren’t a lot of them, but they’re completely vicious and without fear. They think nothing of attacking you despite being outnumbered and bellow their terrible howl. A howl so dreadful it can affect the mind and causes a few of your men to lose their courage completely.
“It’s all in your head! The Emperor’s Will protects us! Find your nerve or die!” you shout and clash with the nearest wendigo.
It’s just the first of many such battles. The only good thing is the wendigos are pretty easy to find and make no attempts to hide from you, meaning you don’t really need to make a big effort at hunting them down. The bad thing of course is little by little your company is worn down by their attacks along with the land already being harsh and food being scarce.
It’s not just that though, this land of theirs, it’s making you feel weird, to say nothing of your men. The howls of the wendingos seem to be on the very winds here. It’s constantly there sapping your mind and making yourself feel strange thoughts.
“Lieutenant, I’m starting to feel really hungry. A lot of the men are.” Your second says to you.
“We just stopped to eat.”
“I know, but I dunno I’m still hungry.”
“Well we’re not stopping again. We need to keep moving the quicker we do this, the quicker we can go back home and have a proper meal.”
“Yes, a proper meal with meat. Lots of meat. Heh heh.” Your second says and walks away.
By the fifth day, you finally come across a large wendigo encampment and it is there where you see some sort of leader. You knew they had to have one, these types always do. He’s predictably the largest of his kind and covered in pure white fur. When your company arrives, the wendigos make their howl, but more disturbingly some of your men make a rival howl of their own and charge into battle even before you give the command.
The battle is a slaughter on both sides. You struggle against the wendigo leader striking several blows that would kill a normal man, but of course then you’re not fighting a man. He swipes you across the chest destroying your breast plate and lands another blow to your head which probably would’ve killed you had you not been wearing a helmet. It is enough to knock you down however.
“Your combat skill is impressive, Bane of Rask. It will be an honor to add it my own when I devour your heart.” You suddenly hear in your head as you struggle to get up. You’ve heard this sort of talk before. Namely when you were fighting against the usksha shaman.
You shake off the wendingo leader’s mental attempts to throw you off guard and narrowly avoid his foot stomping on your head. You grab your sword nearby and with all your might, you swing it at the very foot that just tried to crush your head and chop it clean off.
The wendigo leader howls again, but this is one of pain as he tumbles to the ground. You waste no time and shove the blade down the beast’s gullet. While this would be enough to kill most, the leader manages punch you aside with all his thrashing and then tries to stand up on one foot with a sword still stuck through his mouth and coming out the other side of his head.
It would be a darkly comical sight under different circumstances watching this beast hop around trying to pull a sword out of his head, but you’re in no mood to laugh. You charge into him as hard as you can to knock him down and grab the sword yanking it back and forth until you succeed in sawing off the top part of his head.
To their credit, the remaining wendigos continue to fight and die with their leader. The battle is won and even you take a moment to rest.
This rest is to be short lived.
“Bane of Rask, you’ve just won a fierce battle wouldn’t it be nice to celebrate by filling your belly with meat? There is a lot in the pot over there.”
“…what?” you say to yourself and hold your head in your hands.
“The pot over there. Lots of tasty meat that this tribe was going to eat before you so rudely interrupted them. No sense in letting it go to waste.”
“…no I just killed you.”
“Did you? Of course if you wish you could just pick a body on the ground and start eating. Why not? You deserve it.”
You know what’s going on here. The wendigos aren’t truly flesh and blood creatures! They’re some sort of spirits or something otherworldly. No wonder you’ve felt strange the entire time you’ve been here.
You get up and call your men to leave immediately, only to see some of them have already fully succumbed to the wendigo curse. Eating the bodies laying on the ground and beginning to look less than human and more feral.