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Warhammer Fantasy/Pathfinder: Imperial Hellknight

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[X] The Order of the Godclaw
[X] Signifer
[X] Half-Elf
[X] Erevtol, Hochland.

Signiferis the only way we get recruits.
 
Alright, guess the Night of the Restless Dead wins. The year is 1681, during the time of the Three Emperors. Morrsleib is full in the sky, and Nagash has returned to life.
(Not that he's going to be relevant to this at all)
 
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Night of the Living Dead
  • Threadmarks
    • Do no hesitate when faced with the unknown.​

    In the ten years since you passed the Hellknight Test the world has changed to the point you almost don't recognise it. The Fifth Crusade sealed the Worldwound and slew the demon lord Deskari. The ancient nation of Thassilon somehow returned, even after five of its Runelords fell to the Pathfinder Society and the Sihedron Heroes. Hobgoblins started another vicious war and lost to the forces of Nirmathas and Molthune, yet somehow claimed their own nation in the desolate mountains. The Archduchy of Ravounel declared independence from Cheliax, somehow forcing House Thrune to allow the rebellion. And most personally disturbing to you, the Iomedaen crusade that was the Glorious Reclamation captured Citadel Dinyar and tried to 'free' Westcrown from Chelaxian rule before they were fought off.

    Thankfully you were not one of the Hellknights forced to choose between Iomedae and the Godclaw. Your studies of the Eye of Abendego had required you to brave the seemingly eternal hurricane numerous times, though it was to little avail. Whatever the Eye is, it definitely isn't a portal to Aroden's now destroyed domain. But when you returned to Dinyar in 4716AR you faced the same suspicion and oppression as every follower of Iomedae unwilling to renounce her or swear a pledge of personal loyalty to House Thrune. For the past three years you and your fellow signifers of the Godclaw were forced to run all of your intended experiments and research by a maralictor of the Order of the Glyph, a false Order that only avoids the disapproval of the Council of Lictors because of House Thrune's personal approval of the secretive fools, delaying your work and driving several of your colleagues out of the Hellknights all together.

    The loss of your colleagues all but forced you to befriend the stranger signifers of your order: Orston Granger, a human from Nidal who believes that Zon-Kuthon is some sort of 'sixth claw' to the Godclaw. Bel Jamipott, a gnome who's been trying to create intelligent weapons by binding arbiters to them for over a century. Esther Gillain, a Taldan knight who wants to somehow convert her family's traditional Order of the Tome to the worship of the Godclaw. And Kirisiel Karathai, an elf that specialises in researching proteans and how to kill them.

    It was Kirisiel that first encountered a swarm of unknown creatures in the Chitterwoods - strange flying things composed of numerous fungus-like tentacles and trunk-like arms with too many mouths that were constantly breathing fire. After vanquishing them she tracked them back to their origin, an unstable portal to the Maelstrom that disgorged more of the unknown extra-planar entities every nine hours. After a vicious and deadly battle Kirisiel managed to close the portal and kill the last of the flying things, but this clearly demanded more research. So when she attempted to dispel the lingering energies from the portal it was you who decided to help. And when the portal suddenly reopened, pulling everything around into it rather than expelling more unknown creatures, it was you who blasted Kirisiel to safety. At the minor cost of you getting pulled in.



    After what feels like nine days of being trapped in a whirlpool of slime and fire you emerge from the portal. Fortunately you didn't emerge into one of the hazardous areas of the Maelstrom, like wherever those burning proteans came from. Instead you find yourself in a small clearing in an ancient forest, surrounded by trees that reach unerringly up to the sky. Directly above you glows a the barest sliver of a crescent moon, not giving enough light for any human to see. Thank to your elven blood you'd be perfectly capable of seeing with such light - but it isn't needed. A second moon hangs in the sky, so full and large you can easily see the shape of a skull in its luminous green surface. There are of course stars, but you can tell at a glance that they don't resemble anything you could ever see on Golarion. You turn away from the eerie sight with a shudder, instead turning your attention to your surroundings. This was once a clearing of smooth grey stone, covered with purple moss you suspect grew in patterns favoured by some local spirit. But your arrival tore up the ground and the closest trees, scattering shards of stone and wood around the clearing and for several hundred feet beyond.

    You see a trail in the distance, not leading to the clearing but clearly passing by it. After a moment of thought you call your signifer mask to your hand, donning it and casting detect magic. Sadly you find nothing of any use - clearly the portal decayed beyond detection or moved to some other location. Picking a random direction you start following the forest trail, reasoning that following the footsteps of whatever animalistic spirit this part of the Maelstrom filled itself with would be easier than dealing with the undergrowth and unseen tangles of a thousand giant trees. With a prayer on your lips and morningstar in hand you advance, easily shrugging of any thoughts of fear or an impending doom. You are a Hellknight of the Godclaw and if the Maelstrom is holding back for some reason it'll be incapable of harming you.

    An hour of careful travel just raises more questions. What seems to be a deer trail eventually crosses a well traveled path that you start following, seeing it merge with several others and widening to the point where a small cart could be driven along it with little difficulty. You even walk past some ancient stumps and the occasional remnant of what looks to be a campfire - all in all it looks like what you'd expect from the more inhabited areas of the Chitterwood, or a heavily forested area in the River Kingdoms. It is a little disturbing to think something so natural could exist in the Maelstrom with none of the traits known to persist across the plane - but many have been caught off guard and killed by expecting the plane of pure chaos to be consistent or predictable. Your vague musings on how a community of ganzi could enjoy this island of stability abruptly end when you see turn a corner and see a village in the distance.

    A simple palisade wall and a hundred feet of clear ground separate the wooden buildings you can see from the forest. It is disturbingly easy for you to see into what must be the town's main street - the gate has been battered down and the deadly light of burning buildings illuminate what seems to be a killing ground. Rotting human corpses and skeletons fill the streets, trying to batter down doors to get inside. Several clearly died recently - presumably citizens tasked with guarding the gate or with the misfortune to be out late when the dead attacked.

    You don't hesitate to act, breaking into a run and starting to incant a spell. Your morningstar glows with holy light as you invoke both Torag and Iomedae and you silently add thanks to the gods for ensuring you'd worn your armour into the Chitterwoods. You take aim at the most distant skeleton as you reach the ruined gate. These undead may be a threat to an unaware village, but you are a Hellknight. You cast searing light with glee, striking the distant skeleton with a ray of holy light that lights up the entire street and scorches its bones to ash. Their attention drawn, every undead turns to you and rush forwards. You grin back, already confident of your victory.
    The fight is brutal but short. Your suit of Hellknight Plate is all but impregnable to these simple undead, while your morningstar easily pulps the zombies and shatters the skeletons. In a matter of minutes the only thing capable of movement left is you.


    What do you do next?
    [ ] Continue exploring the town. There's almost definitely more undead around and if denizens of the town have already become zombies than the necromancer responsible can't be far.
    [ ] See if there's anyone alive in one of the nearby buildings. You'd hope most would be sheltering in the most secure building in towen - probably a temple or town hall - but you doubt anyone out here had a chance to evacuate.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • [X] See if there's anyone alive in one of the nearby buildings. You'd hope most would be sheltering in the most secure building in towen - probably a temple or town hall - but you doubt anyone out here had a chance to evacuate.
     
    [X] Continue exploring the town. There's almost definitely more undead around and if denizens of the town have already become zombies than the necromancer responsible can't be far.
     
    Also, here's the only image of what is probably a Godclaw Signifer I've been able to find so far.
     
    [X] Continue exploring the town. There's almost definitely more undead around and if denizens of the town have already become zombies than the necromancer responsible can't be far.
    shepsquared said:
    Also, here's the only image of what is probably a Godclaw Signifer I've been able to find so far.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    Oh that's a pretty cool picture and I was wondering what dnd level equivalent are we?
     
    Khona Moshr said:
    [X] Continue exploring the town. There's almost definitely more undead around and if denizens of the town have already become zombies than the necromancer responsible can't be far.


    Oh that's a pretty cool picture and I was wondering what dnd level equivalent are we?
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Searing Light is a 3rd level divine spell in 2e. So you're at least a lv 5 spell caster, but you've also got at least 1 martial class as a multiclass for your combat skill. I'm blending fluff and mechanics from 1e and 2e for this, so I'm probably not going to ever nail down specific levels or classes.
     
    shepsquared said:
    Searing Light is a 3rd level divine spell in 2e. So you're at least a lv 5 spell caster, but you've also got at least 1 martial class as a multiclass for your combat skill. I'm blending fluff and mechanics from 1e and 2e for this, so I'm probably not going to ever nail down specific levels or classes.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    Probably for the best, was curious since I know very little about the pathfinder setting or hell knights
     
    [X] Continue exploring the town. There's almost definitely more undead around and if denizens of the town have already become zombies than the necromancer responsible can't be far.
     
    [X] See if there's anyone alive in one of the nearby buildings. You'd hope most would be sheltering in the most secure building in town - probably a temple or town hall - but you doubt anyone out here had a chance to evacuate.
     
    [X] Continue exploring the town. There's almost definitely more undead around and if denizens of the town have already become zombies than the necromancer responsible can't be far.
     
    [X] See if there's anyone alive in one of the nearby buildings. You'd hope most would be sheltering in the most secure building in town - probably a temple or town hall - but you doubt anyone out here had a chance to evacuate.
     
    [X] Continue exploring the town. There's almost definitely more undead around and if denizens of the town have already become zombies than the necromancer responsible can't be far.
     
    [X] See if there's anyone alive in one of the nearby buildings. You'd hope most would be sheltering in the most secure building in town - probably a temple or town hall - but you doubt anyone out here had a chance to evacuate.
     
    Hammers and Corpses
  • Threadmarks
    • Draw resolve from pain, discipline from faith and strength from unity​

    You take a moment to assess the corpses you'd just returned to their natural state. There were some skeletons, but most were zombies - rotting corpses filled with dead insects and coated with dirt and mould, but relatively fresh corpses. You didn't see evidence of marsh or swampland, so most of these bodies would only have been dead for a year. Maybe a decade if these humans took care of their dead and the Maelstrom didn't twist how decomposition works. You may not be able to trust anything you're seeing, so you can't trust your own conclusions. A disturbing thought to be sure.
    You abandon your doubt almost as soon as it crosses your mind. You are a Hellknight of the Godclaw - if a necromancer is assaulting this town with undead you will bring order and safety for its people. And if this is all some illusion of the Maelstrom, some strange warping of logic and chance than you will shatter it and bring order anyway.

    You follow the street as it curves to follow a hill and reveal the centre of the town. The street opens up to form a square with a large building of stone at the end. Judging from the split fireball symbol prominently carved into the door you're guessing this is the local temple. Unfortunately you have no time to try and identify the god in question because in front of the door are a dozen men and women desperately fighting to keep the zombies away. A few carry torches, clearly struggling to see by the light of the green moon alone. You take a moment to focus on your armour and duty to protect people like these from corruption and chaos, redirecting divine energy from your morningstar to the distinctive black armour. Properly prepared you join the battle, this time striking the undead from behind, crushing the skull of one zombie and using your gauntlet to tear the throat from another, bowling over them and several others with your momentum.

    "For the Godclaw!"

    The battlecry leaps from your lips without you ever thinking about it, holy light shining from the amulet around your neck and engulfing your armour in its glow as you feel the blessings of the five flow through you. You can't help but life as you fight, marring your appearance as a pure incarnation of justice and order with your bloodlust - but it doesn't matter. You easily press through the zombies, killing or crippling one with every swing of your morningstar and warding off the few dangerous blows aimed at your head with your free hand. You can hear the shouts of the fighting humans as they spot you, revitalised by your presence.
    Exactly as they should be - but you can do better. A fallen lumberjack turned zombie lunges at one of the them, striking at the young man with the axe it must have died holding. You chant a prayer to Torag as you point at the young man, shrouding him with light for an instant as the axe cuts into his neck. But instead of falling he cuts down the zombie with his long knife, with only his eyes showing his shock at his continued survival.
    The sensation of your flesh being split by that axe almost ruins your focus on the battle - but you are a Hellknight. It will take more than pain you deliberately shielded another from to disturb you.

    With you as a hammer to the defender's anvil the zombies should have rapidly fallen like wheat before a scythe. But to your surprise the central mass of zombies isn't a crowd of undead all pressing forwards. Instead the normal corpses are acting as a wall, allowing undead animals and non-humans to get close to the temple without being harmed - a strange tactic especially considering the defenders seem to lack missile weapons beyond a single hunting bow. You have no time to question this before they rush you - a trio of goats fall to a burning hands spell as a half-rotten satyr tries to rush you alongside them. You catch the satyr in the head with a strong blow, the spikes of your morningstar embedding in its jaw and letting you tear its face away as your wrench it free.

    You still cannot see a necromancer, but it seems the zombies are being led by a fearsome looking minotaur zombie, with nothing beyond its skull, horns and impossibly sharp teeth remaining of its head. You can tell from how it turns and watches you that this is the guiding mind of the horde. You narrow your eyes and focus on your spellcraft even as you continue to fight the more threatening zombies now attacking you. You recite Iomedae's Litany of Valor as another two mutated satyrs charge you, turning to catch their attacks on your shoulder and hip as you fend of a skeletal warrior wielding a rusty longsword. A kick shatters the skeleton's hips, allowing you to turn grasp your morningstar with both hands to pulp the face of one satyr and force it to collide with its fellow from the momentum you impart.

    You call on Torag with the Oath of Defiant Shields as a hunting hound leaps at you, forced to drop your morningstar as it sticks in the bloody flesh of a bull that must have been slain earlier that night. Bereft of your weapon you catch the hound by its throat, quickly punching it with your free hand and lifting it well above your head. Thankfully the archer among the defenders saw this and hits the hound with several arrows, giving you the freedom to drop the wolf and jab at a satyr with both of your gauntlets.

    You praise Irori for girding your flesh and soul as several more weapon wielding zombies take advantage of your distraction to strike you properly. You hear a bone crack as a hammer strikes your hip and feel a serrated blade cut across your jaw, but you refuse to falter. You force your gauntlet through the fragile ribs of the dagger wielder as you hook a lumberjack's feet out from under him. When the hammer wielder strikes at you again you catch the weapon by it's haft, gripping the zombie's wrist and breaking its fingers when it fails to let go. Now armed with the hammer you strike down the next two zombies before throwing it at the slowly approaching minotaur, wrenching your morningstar free from the corpses beneath you with the moment of peace that gives you.

    The Third Codicil of the Divine Judge states that the though the law is absolute, those who interpret it must be flexible. As Abadar teaches you settle into a low stance, presenting the oncoming minotaur with a minimal profile to charge at and leaving you free to dodge the inevitable charge. Your careful strategy is thwarted when it instead grunts and scoops a corpse off of the ground, throwing the body at you. You dive away, your spell momentarily interrupted when you collide with a slowly rising satyr and bite your tongue. Only now does the minotaur charge, crushing several zombies you hadn't quite managed to kill underfoot as it does. You have no room left to maneuver and the satyr you landed on is trying to hold you still.

    "Sigmar Vult!"

    The foreign battlecry heralds the charge of the three of the defenders, a trio of muscular men in robes with large hammers in hand. They each strike the minotaur - one blow glances off of its skull and the unfortunate man is sent flying as the minotaur turns and strikes him with an offhand swing. The other two strike true, impacting the flesh of the minotaur's hip and knee with fleshy noises and forcing it to halt. Thankful for the distraction you pull a dagger from your belt and cut away at the satyr holding you until you can stand, reciting an infernal hymn exalting Asmodeus' role in imprisoning Rovagug so long ago.

    You charge the minotaur as your spell builds to its climax, feeling the full might of the Godclaw filling your body. Your wounds heal as the divine pressure builds, the light of your armour intensifying as a clear sign to all that something is happening. You bring your morningstar down square on the minotaur's skull, thankful that the two defenders had gotten out your way. As you do you unleash your spell, combining a positive pulse with the blessings of the five, unleashing all of the positive energy that had been building up within your body.

    The minotaur's skull crumbles under the assault, before the holy light could truly touch it. The pulse of light scours the negative energy from the remaining undead, leaving them to fall to the ground or in the case of the older bodies disintegrate entirely. To those still living it renews the body and refreshes the soul, meaning the defenders that had fallen to the ground but hadn't been properly killed could stand back up. Which was all of them actually. Praise the Godcvlaw because you can't imagine why the most dangerous zombies didn't just charge and kill them immediately.

    "By the Heldenhammer. That was quite a fight."

    You turn to see the tallest and most muscular of the three that had charged the minotaur to save you approaching you, a heavy amulet depicting a split fireball just like the symbol engraved into the temple. His hammer hangs from his belt alongside a metal bound book, clearly something he takes with him everywhere. Your eyes flick up to his, seeing him run an appraising eye over you, clearly uncertain what to make of you.

    "You have my thanks sir knight - we were almost finished there."

    You silently look back at him, debating how to handle this.


    What is your name?
    [ ] Write in

    What is your gender?
    [ ] Write in

    How will you handle the discussion
    [ ] You'll focus on any other townspeople that are wounded or missing
    [ ] You'll focus on how this happened and how you can make sure its stopped
    [ ] You'll focus on where you are and how you got here
     
  • Threadmarks
    • There goes the language barrier.

    [X] Mardla Jadindreh
    [X] Female
    [X] You'll focus on any other townspeople that are wounded or missing

    Can't figure out a good name.
     
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    [X]Mardla Jadindreh
    [X] Female
    [X] You'll focus on any other townspeople that are wounded or missing

    Name is from a name generator so if anyone can come up with a better name I'll change my name vote.
     
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