The defence of Greyton

Ralph was a mason. He was getting on in years, and had unfortunately outlived both his daughter and wife. Bored, his gaze wandered around a bit. Three paces to his right was a brick the size of a small chest. He recognised that brick, he had carved it himself last week. And the one over there too, he though to himself. And perhaps that one, but it was hard to be sure from here. He didn't want to go check though, because he understood that the idea of standing in formation was so that the lines were straight and that everyone was facing the same way, so as not to get in each others way.

He could see Tabitha off a ways, talking to a couple of Orcs. He figured the larger one must be the Warden - the armour was fairly distinctive and he had seen the holy symbol around Greyton a fair bit. He didn't know who the taller one was though, but since Tabitha wasn't shouting at him, he must be important. Soon enough, the Warden got up on his magic horse and took up position in front of the gatehouse, the taller Orc moving up beside him.

He watched as Tabitha marched over to a wild looking Island woman, dressed impressively in a breastplate and all sorts of other trinkets, not to mention the huge sword on her back. He couldn't quite hear from here, but the conversation appeared short and sharp, and ended with the wild woman waving both her middle fingers in Tabitha’s face before stalking off. Ralph flinched, anticipating Tabitha’s outburst, but she just took a deep breath to compose herself and looked around the clearing.

Ralph was getting the impression that most of these people must be mercenaries Tabitha had found to fight for them. They didn't seem to like taking orders though. But its better they fight and die than him, he thought. He watched as Tabitha turned and faced the massive cloudy being, floating gently just outside the palisade. Ralph thought he could see something that resembled a face, but he was afraid to look too closely in case the cloudy condition was contagious. Tabitha just seemed to watch the cloud man for a few long moments, before shrugging and looking around her again. Her gaze finally rested on a Tengu on the other side of the gap from him.

The Tengu looked fairly well decked out, with the tabbard that looked familiar, but he couldn't place, as well as armour of rare metal and fancy looking weapons. Ralph sighed sadly - the Tengu must have jumped someone really important to end up dressed like that, may Telephos rest that poor mans soul. Tabitha seemed to have a fairly civil conversation with the Tengu though, pointing here and there and a few other gestures he couldn't decipher. He figured Tabitha must have some sort of sneaky plan in mind, to need one of Them.

With a nod, Tabitha made her way back across the courtyard, speaking a few words with the Warden, before coming to stand next to Ralph in the front line of the Greyton Rabble

The Warden stood up in his stirrups briefly, his voice ringing out over the silence of the courtyard

"Tonight, Orcus will learn what Greytonians are made of. We will lure them through the gap in the palisade, and we will crush them!"

Ralph waited a few moments in anticipation, before he realised that was the end of the speech.

The minutes dragged on, as they stood there waiting. Ralph thought they looked dreadfully under prepared. Most of the people here hadn't ever raised a weapon in anger before, himself included. The professional warriors were over the other side of the Gap, standing in their small formations, barely able to cover the space between the castle wall and palisade

Suddenly the Warden let out a roar, giving Ralph a fright, before leaping forward through the Gap on his horse and out of sight. The taller Orc began jogging, trying to keep up. Tabitha sighed softly beside him, muttering something vulgar about sticking to plans.

Ralph couldn't really see much from where he was - the palisade blocked most of his view, but the sound was somewhat eerie. It was nothing like what he expected. He could hear the occasional voice shouting out, things about coordinating spells and avoiding arrows, but aside from that it was fairly quiet. Every so often there was the clatter of arrows striking metal and mud, the soft whoosh of flame that lit up the underside of the clouds but none of the screams and shouts he was expecting from warfare.

Then the bone rain started. It started up suddenly, and ramped up to full effect in a matter of seconds. It was an almost deafening sound, thousands of bones rattling against thousands of bones, with bits of metal in there adding to the noise. Before long, he could hear the thumps of bones striking the palisade beside him, and he watched in horror as a skull rolled through the Gap and came to a rest not a dozen paces from him, the jaw bone still clacking.

Ralph was so focused on the skull that he almost didn't notice as zombies came pouring out around the side of the Palisade. They were ugly brutes, all partially rotten, wearing nothing but rags and evil intentions. He barely had time to raise his hammer before they were upon him. He stomped back and forth, trying hard, but not managing to land a solid blow. The stench of burned flesh reached his nose, and he could see the fire dogs going to work on the zombies flank. It was like what he expected the Abyss to look like - men on fire, still "alive", yet not a sound coming from their mouths.

Suddenly, he was forced to turn away and shield his eyes with his forearm as Tabitha outstretched her hand. Blinding white light shone forth, melting the flesh and bones of the zombies directly in front of her. The horde took a step back in confusion, before driving forward with renewed vigour. Ralph was still partially dazed by the light when a zombie bite found his neck, and he went down with a barely a whimper


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Mortimer sat astride Crusher, tall and proud. His back was straight and his armour was impeccably polished, the way only specially enhanced armour can be. Crushers armour in contrast was covered in acid pock marks, a few snagged arrows and the occasional zombie finger jammed behind the odd strap or plate.

Mortimers face had lost its usual cheeky grin - instead his brow was furrowed with worry, and his hands gripped the reins perhaps a bit tighter than was necessary. He normally delegated leadership responsibility to Tabitha, but tonight he needed to step up to the plate and the stress was showing.

They were at the entrance of the quarry looking down on the roughly 3200 souls that were his responsibility. The awaiting masses were mostly silent aside from the odd crying child and baying animal. Mort stood there waiting for the crowd to slowly noticed his presence and turn their attention to him. The acoustics of the quarry aided him as he raised his voice, which sounded sombre and much more controlled and considered than usual

"People of Greyton, lend me your ears. For those of you who have yet to meet me, I am Warden Grey. I wished to bring you this news personally. As you could probably hear, we have just endured our first attack. An army of over 500 undead attempted to swarm us, lead by a Stoneheart general from a previous age, and they barely managed to even reach our walls before they were utterly destroyed. In comparison, we lost only four of ours. Be proud - tonight Orcus learned that Greytonians are carved from the same stone we work. He now knows our battle lines are as straight as our walls, our charges are as ordered as our roads, and our arms never tire.

However, Orcus has now taken our measure. He understands that we are not to be trifled with, and he will turn the full force of his armies upon us. Make no mistake - Orcuses resources are deep, and before dawn next breaks we will have been sorely tested."

Mort sighs and rubs his eyes before continuing.

"We anticipate a few hours respite before the next wave reaches us. Take this time to sleep, pray and appreciate the company of your loved ones. As always, there is a place at my side for anyone who wishes to help me defend what our hands have built."

He paused a moment, trying to gauge the response, before offering "May you only have to cut once" as a parting blessing