“I trust that everything will be ready at the appointed time, Nerull?”
“Yes, my Lord. Everything is going according to plan,” replied Nerull.
Nerull, tall and red-skinned with dark, flowing, robes, with a long gray, hair and beard, had a grating and rattling voice. He carried a large, vicious scythe at his side, and a pair of human skulls hung from his belt as trophies of two particularly significant victories. His eyes glowed with a fierce and malicious will. He walked beside, and slightly behind a taller, shadowed figure. The ground made a loud cracking sound as they walked.
“The world of mortals will not withstand the power of the Shadowfell.” Nerull’s large, pointed teeth were bared through his broad grin. “They will fall in fear before our hordes.”
“Good,” the shadowed figure responded quietly in a low, airy voice. “Good.” The two walked on, and for a few moments, the only sound came from the ground beneath their feet, Nerull still slightly behind his shadowed master, then the master spoke again, “I look forward to expanding my garden.”
“Yes, my lord,” said Nerull, smiling even more broadly.
The skulls and bones of the dead cracked and snapped under their feet as they walked. On either side of the path of bones, bathed in the pale blue light of the Shadowfell moon, were rows of dead planted in the ground to their waists, their arms raised high above their heads as if reaching for the pale sky above them. The arms and bodies of those nearest the path waved slightly as the two dark figures passed by them.
“It’s a beautiful garden,” Nerull continued.
The two walked on, heading toward a large, dark palace that erupted from the edge of the garden. Its walls were thick and piled, its pinnacles, rough and jagged like great stalagmites. A large iron gate guarded the entrance to the palace wall at the end of the bone path.
“And the Hallow? It will provide sufficient power to create the passage?” questioned the shadowed figure.
“Yes, my lord. More than enough,” Nerull answered. “The ancient mages knew their craft well. The Hallows are imbued with powerful magic. Too bad the mages were never able to unite them and use them on us.” The shadowed figure tilted its head slightly. Nerull caught the subtle movement, and anxiously added, “Too bad for them, I mean.” The shadowed figure looked straight ahead once more.
“Yes,” it said. “They thought that by creating the pieces in several locations, that we wouldn’t detect them until it was too late.”
“They were wrong.”
“Yes, my lord…dead wrong,” Nerull let out a sinister laugh as he bounced the two skulls tied to his belt up and down.
The two walked along in silence again.
As they passed through the iron gate, the shadowed figure spoke again. “And what of the mortals?”
“They are of no concern, my lord,” Nerull answered. “The Hallow is hidden in very remote area, far from the strength and might of the mortal realm. And their strength is not what it once was, my lord. By the time they realize what is upon them, it will be far too late. Our hordes will be unstoppable. This time things will turn out far differently. This time, the mortal realm will fall under shadow forever.”
“I hope so, Nerull,” the airy voice spoke. “I’ve waited and planned for this moment for a thousand years. I would hate to see my plans fail.”
“That will not happen, my lord. I have seen to it,” said Nerull, once again with a hint of anxiety in his voice. “As I said, the threshold is forming in a very remote area. The nearby village is a small and superstitious place, populated by old men and women, filled with fear of the Shadowfell and empty of the knowledge and ability to thwart us. If they were to call for assistance, I doubt any mortal would come, my lord. No one cares about them.”
“Even if, by some small chance, someone would come to investigate, they would not survive the attempt. The Hallow is hidden, and it is guarded well, my lord. I have seen to it. Zombies, Grave Guardians, a few of my Reapers, as well as some…more dangerous…creatures wait to destroy any who disturb that hallowed ground.”
“The Hallow will not be discovered. The threshold will be established. The mortal realm will fall under our control.”
“Besides, my lord, the Hallows have long been forgotten by realm of mortals. No one…”
“The wizards will know,” the shadowed figure interrupted.
“Surely not, my lord. After a thousand…”
“Not all will have forgotten,” said the low voice. “Someone will know. Our success cannot depend on the forgetfulness of wizards.”
“As you say, my lord,” Nerull bowed slightly.
“There is a risk in using the magic of the Hallow to open the passage.”
“As you say, my lord,” Nerull bowed slightly again, “but it’s a only small risk.”
“Hmm,” the master’s voice faded away into thought.
The two dark figures silently climbed a small flight of steps that led to an iron door. When they reached the top, the door opened of its own accord, but the shadowed figure stopped short of entering and turned to face Nerull.
“Nerull, you are one of my ablest and most trusted lieutenants,” the shadowed figure said in its low, airy voice.
“Thank you, my lord.”
“Do not fail me, Nerull,” the airy voice was firmer now.
“No, my lord.”
“If the mortals get their hands on this one Deathly Hallow, they will undoubtedly seek out the others, as well. Then my carefully laid out plans…the plans over which I have labored for a thousand years…would be undone, the conquest of the mortal realm would be in jeopardy, and the dominion of the Shadowfell itself would be subjugated by the power of the Hallows.”
The shadowed figure paused momentarily. Though his eyes could not be seen, he glared at Nerull, and Nerull shivered coldly.
“You would not live to see such a day, Nerull,” the low, airy voice was now unnaturally cold and forceful. “Do you understand?”
“Y…yes,” stumbled Nerull as he bowed low before his master, “perfectly, my lord.”
“Good,” said the shadowed figure. The shadowed figure turned back toward the open doorway, and said, “See to the plan,” as he walked inside the palace.
“As you say, my lord,” Nerull’s voice trailed off into silence.
To be continued...
Blogger's Note: Below is the Play Test card for Nerull and the Skeletal Reaper, two of the new figures we will be playing with at this year's Halloween Heroscape Event. After we've play tested it, I will make a final Heroscape card for it (and several other new figures we'll be using in the game). But here's a look at the stats, powers, and points they'll be starting with.
Blogger's Note: Log on again next Friday for the next episode of "The Deathly Hallows."
No comments:
Post a Comment