by Evan Klein
“What attacked yee?” Danna chimed in. She had been silent the whole time following the story, not wanting to miss any minor detail that would affect her village.
“They are called skelters, “Cali responded.
The small kitchen erupted into a litany of curse words and gestures to ward off the evilest of creatures.
“Damn Starborn!” Mother and Danna exclaimed simultaneously.
“What is a skelter?” I inquired. I really was a noob.
“They are undead beasts to be both feared and pitied,” Mother said. “They are undead that surrender their living essence to empower an undead master, such as a lich or wraith.”
“Surrender their essence?” I asked.
Mother fell silent as did the huddled group around me in the small kitchen. “Some Realmborn choose to surrender their essence to this master. By doing so, they give up their life force but paradoxically gain a type of immortality. As long as their master lives, which can be millennia on end, so do they. Of course, the joke is on them, don’t ya know? Because most become mindless thralls. When they surrender their souls, they forfeit their memories. And what is the soul if it is not memories? ”
“Most you said?” I inquired.
“Captains, sergeants, and so forth. They were usually very powerful beings while alive, and happily surrender their life force for the sake of immortality, but they remember who they were while alive. The second type of recruit,” she said recruit with an odd reflection, “are piteous creatures. These are Realmborn who are captured and tortured, physically and mentally, until they are so broken that they gladly say the words for the invocation that binds them to the master. But when they say the words their essence is destroyed and they are just a hollow vessel to be filled with vileness, hatred, and violence.”
“Strengths, weaknesses,” I asked knowing that they would have to be dealt with.
“While they are basically flesh and bone they are infused with dark magic. Their arms and legs have no flesh and are just skeletal bones. But their torsos are like steel as are their faces, which still hold their same appearance as when they lived. They are very fast, very strong, and will fight until destroyed unless they are ordered otherwise. They are resistant to many spells, such as charms and mind control. However, they can be killed and even disabled. Shatter a skeletal arm or leg and maybe gain an advantage. They must not be allowed anywhere near this village. The sergeants and the captain are a different issue. They possess a perk called The Whispering Death – though the name is a bit misleading. Their whisper does not lead to a death of the body but a death of the will.”
“What is it?” I questioned.
“Their voices can ensorcell most races. They speak and soon you are under their spell, their willing slave. At least for a limited amount of time. A sergeant can perhaps beguile one or two beings depending on the differences in their power; a captain can enslave several dozen weaker creatures or several powerful beings; a general is an entirely different thing – for they can enthrall an entire army – get them to drop their weapons in the midst of a battlefield or to attack their fellow soldier.”
“Is this how they turn their unwilling victims into skelters?” I asked.
“No. They have to do that of their free will. So the effect of the spell has to have worn off. Once the spell wears off, they are physically, mentally and spiritually broken until they beg for release.”
Danna stopped me from asking another question and broke into a tirade. The anger which had been brewing in her needed release.
“Yee Starborn think The Great Realm is a child’s toy for yee to play with. We hear how yee speak about us. Like our world is a game. It be real. As real as yee world be real to thee. Yee have no fear. For here yee – what do you call it – respawn. Well there aint no respawn for us. When we die we sink into the earth never to arise again. Yee selfish children. What have yee wrought upon us? May the sisters protect us from this ancient and vile evil.” Danna finally composed herself and said, “Continue Starborn with your tale of woe.”
Cali seemed a little taken aback by Danna’s tirade. Composing herself she said, “I am almost at the end. They came at us with black swords. There were too many and we soon found ourselves respawning. Like Jarrell, I had Flora log off, as her time would expire too before she could get back to the cave. I promised her I would record everything and share the video once I logged off so she could review it. I knew if I ran most of the way and drank a few stamina potions, I could get back to the cave in an hour or so. I still had to be careful as there were a number of creatures out there. But as an Earth Warrior I have a perk that allows me to move over the earth in silence and without causing vibration. It helped to keep the creatures and beasts of the forest away from me while I ran through the thick foliage to get back here. When I got within a few hundred feet of the cave entrance, I approached with caution and stealth and it was a good thing because the skelters were amassed outside the cave entrance. I stayed hidden in a copse of trees not too far away where I could see and hear them. They had a leader. I read his description: Skelter Boss (named), Captain Mastrom, Level 25.”
“The sisters save us,” the young man Jenik said.
“What did you mean by named?” I asked. I really needed to read this Compendium.
Cali explained, “Many monsters and such won’t be given a name. You will just be told what kind of beast it is, such as a hydra, level thirty or swamp beast, level nineteen. Video games at the end of certain storylines have what are called bosses, which usually end in a boss fight. These are advanced versions of the creatures. Very powerful and very hard to defeat. The captain had a name as did his two sergeants.” There were a few groans at the mention of the sergeants as well.
“The captain seemed to smell the air. He said, ‘Orcs to the south; humans to the south east. Bring back recruits. Return to the cave ere the sun rises or forever to the Grey Man you will belong.’ Two sets of them headed out in two different directions. I had a better chance to count them. Twenty-six. Twenty-three recruits, two sergeants and the captain. The recruits were all between levels ten and fourteen.
The captain remained behind. I thought about attacking him now that he was alone. But all that would end up happening was me respawning again.”
She waited for a moment, then looking at Danna stated, “I followed the group that was heading south towards the orc village. I thought maybe I could pick off a few stragglers or maybe get ahead of them and warn the village they were coming. But they were moving at a fast trot and I had trouble keeping up with them. I was trying to think of a way to stop them, or slow them down, but I don’t have a real area of effect spell yet. I got a warning that I would be logged off in fifteen minutes so I knew it was now or never. I downed my final stamina potion and ran full tilt towards the back of the group. Providence must have been with me as I came upon a skelter who was lagging behind. All I could think is that this one had to be the runt of the litter. I waited until we were in a very dense part of the woods and cast a new spell…Encase. As soon as he got near a thick oak tree, I cast the spell; several branches suddenly blocked its path, roots from below the tree reached up and entangled its feet and lower body. Then the tree pulled the creature towards its large trunk, holding it in place. The spell wouldn’t hold more than fifteen seconds. Runt or not, that thing was still powerful and began flailing against the spell and I thought it would break lose. I moved in and began hitting its arms and legs— all of its skeletal parts—with my quarterstaff. I struck a few good shots but they just seemed to whittle away at its D. P. I could see that my spell was about to end so I channeled one of my perks – Iron Branch – which temporarily infused my staff with earth power. I attacked one final time, this time striking a critical blow. I expected the creature to howl in pain…some reaction… but it just reached for me with a wicked look on its undead face. It was down to just a few dozen damage points. Then my spell wore off and it was upon me. To make matters worse, my timer was flashin
g in front of me, a warning that I had just mere seconds left. I must have been distracted as it struck me across my chest with its sword, knocking off about twenty percent of my damage points. I had pulled back my staff to smash it a killing blow in the chest when my game time ran out. The next thing I know, I was in my living room. I had never run out of game time in the middle of a battle before and it was startling to go from an adrenaline rush to the calmness of my living room. I filled Jarrell and Flora in on what happened. We decided that we would head back to Freehold in the morning to let the villagers know what had occurred and to see if we could get some help from Freehold and some of the other villages, and wipe out that den of vipers. I swear Danna. We planned to clean up the mess we created. But the orcs attacked and everything went sideways. I understand why Grothar might have come here in anger.” Turning to him she said, “They came to your village last evening, didn’t they?”
His eyes simmered with hate at this Everborn. Danna was correct, this world was a plaything for the Starborn most of whom had no regard for how their actions impacted the Realmborn. Of course, they are real. Or are they? What makes someone or something real? Maybe one night I will ponder the “I think, therefore I am” type of question with Haggerty over a half dozen beers. I stopped that train of thought and turned to Danna. I had a question for her about Shatana. I was curious why they held her in reverence when she was the witch or lich that the skelters were bound. Wasn’t she as evil as or more evil than her minions? But I thought better of the question for this time. Let it wait.
I turned back to Grothar. “Now it is your turn. Tell us what happened so we can figure out how to wipe out these things.” At the mention of wiping them out, there was an audible moan from the Realmborn assemblage but the orc seemed pleased, a grin plastering his green hued visage.
Chapter 7 – Running the Wild
Before Grothar could relate his story, Danna exhorted, “Lante, send your fastest scout to Wildhold for I fear the cursed creatures marched thence last night. Let Wildhold know we have not forgotten them and will send help ere we can.”
“I will do it myself,” he said. “I will take Fleetfoot and arrive there in several hours. She can navigate those woods better than any mare we have stabled. I will let them know what has happened and that we plan to deal with it.” He turned to leave and asked, “What of the orc village? Shall help be sent there?”
Danna mulled it over for a moment, finally responding, “That depends on Grothar’s story.” Lante nodded his head in understanding and left the little kitchen.
Danna turned to Grothar. “The same promise is made to yee kin if yee can tell me why yee came in violence.”
I don’t know if it was Danna’s talk of assistance, or my talk about wiping out the skelters did the trick, but he began to speak. I was expecting orcish speech to be cruel and guttural. Maybe due to the stereotypical way that orcs have been betrayed in fantasy literature – often the barbaric nemesis of the good races. However, he spoke more cultured than the inhabitants of Freehold.
“No villager was supposed to be harmed,” he said absentmindedly, looking at Danna. He gathered his thoughts and went on, “Gronog and I were sent by my chief to ask Freehold for assistance as we planned to attack the den of the skelters and free our captured kin. While we have many who are skilled in some minor form of warfare, we have not the strength to conquer them ourselves.”
Danna’s anger simmered. “I am sorry yee kin have suffered such. And yee know we be allies. Why yee attack us? The seven human villages and three humanoid villages are allies out here in the middle of The Wilderbrook. Been so for a hundred summers. So why the bloodshed if yee chief sent yee here seeking allianceship?”
“Krag had other ideas,” he admitted. “He came for the three Starborn. Krag blamed you all for harboring the Starborn who are to blame for our ills.” He glanced over at Cali, Jarrell and Flora. He and some of our kin have grown to hate humans, dwarves and elves again. They desire to war with you again. They believe you are the reasons for our woes and weakness.”
“What speak yee, young Grothar?” Danna queried. “We have always treated yee kin as neighbors and allies. Why change yee now? How do we know the old bloodlust doesn’t run through yee blood like a poisonous snake? How do we know to believe yee?”
“I might be able to help,” I said remembering the True Sight perk. I thought about the perk and focused on Grothar. I sensed no evil or ill will from him. In fact, kindness and fellowship seemed to exude from him.” I looked to Danna and said, “He has not given into the bloodlust as you are worried about. I believe he came here to genuinely ask for assistance. But as for his words, and their veracity, I will let you know about that once his tale is done.” I heard a notification and saw a string of words pass by in my peripheral vision. I guessed it was for successfully using the perk.
“Yee Starborn are strange folks with yee strange magics. If yee say the light be within he, then we believe yee,” she said just like that.
Grothar looked at me. I nodded my head and he resumed. “Well it was a female Starborn, Nakrag, who came to our village two months passed. She was a wild orc like our ancestors of old and like the ones who still inhabit so much of The Great Realm. She spoke to Krag and some his kin about the elder days – when orcs lived free and wild. The scourge of dwarf, elf and human kind. The terror of childhood nightmares: ‘Behave my lad, or the orcs will take yee, chop thee up and gnaw yee flesh to the bones’. And there was power – magic – in her voice and her words swayed many of the younger orcs – seemed to bewitch them. She reminded them of the old hatreds most races had for orcs and many still do. How many cities have an orc or goblin town which is the only areas where those races are welcome – among their own kind? How the merchant shops hang signs “Orcs be not welcome”. The elders tried to quiet this Starborn down and to counter her arguments. How not all orcs are seen that way anymore. Reminded them that we are not born evil as the elves and dwarves claimed for eons to justify their slaughter of us.” With that he eyed Jarrell and Flora. “That our kind was forced into that path for the sake of survival. I also tried to speak with my kin. Personally, I have no such desire to go back to the wild ways.”
“Grothar,” I said. “I don’t know much about orc culture or how they are viewed in The Great Realm. And at some point we can hold a discourse over orcish racism; we just need to know what happened. I fear that time is of the essence. Battle plans need to be created and that will take time.”
“I understand,” the orc responded. “But it is relevant. So I will say that Krag and others like him were ready for a fight against humans and Starborn. They just needed a provocation. Anyway, Krag, Gronog, I and a few other of my kin have been running the wild as it translates from the original orcish.
“Running the wild?” I questioned.
“Reacquainting ourselves with the night. Orcs used to be a nocturnal race, mostly for reasons of self-survival. We used to see in the dark as you see in the light and we used that to our advantage. We were always outnumbered. And few of us wield great magic. So the veil of darkness allowed us to even the odds so to say. Krag and the others were trying to get back to their primitive selves: stalking prey at night—learning how to blend into the dark and the forest around. Taking back the night so that once more we are the terrors of the dark! Well we were out last night running the wild and happened to stumble across the three Starborn right after they finished the fight with the wolves described earlier. We had been tracking the wolves and Krag and the others were not pleased when the three of you just happened to stumble upon them. We watched the fight from a distance. We almost attacked you when the fight with the wolves ended, but I convinced the others to hold off. I reminded them that killing the Starborn served no real purpose as they would just respawn. Krag didn’t care. He just wanted to lash out at you for killing the wolves we were tracking. Nakrag had instilled in them an especially strong hatred of Starborn. I suggested we should see where you were going and may
be find a better spot to ambush you. Krag liked that idea.”
“So you were with them?” Danna snorted. “You speak like yee be not one of them.”
“I have no hatred for humans or anyone else. I went along with them to try to stop them from going overboard. To be the voice of reason. They are my kin. But they are lost right now.”
I stared at Grothar with a little more intensity now. There was a depth to him I hadn’t seen before: Grothar, Orc, Scholar, Level 7. Sub-class: Warrior, Level 3; Scribe, Level 6. Curious. I thought. An orc intellectual.
“As you said, you were tending to your wounds and were distracted. Krag wanted to attack you. But luckily, the dwarf saw the cave entrance. We had been in that region dozens of times before and had never seen a door or anything else. So we were curious and wanted to see what happened. When the explosion went off, the dwarf just seemed to fade away like the Starborn do before the respawn. The two of you,” he said nodding his head towards Flora and Cali, were still what is it called, paused, and very easy prey. However, again I held off Krag. ‘Let’s see what they do? Let them go into the cave first and we will follow.’ He liked the plan and scoffed ‘fireball fodder’. You entered the cave and we followed just to the entrance but fled when we saw the site of the skelters. We know of them from old stories our ancient ones told us. They killed the two Starborn in moments and we knew that there was nothing that the five of us could do against such a host. So we fled back into the safety of the woods. Krag was already making plans to come back the following day with a war party and take out the skelters. Gronog thought that the Starborn would probably come back also to try to claim the cave and its riches. So we decided to split up. Gronog and Backrack headed to our village to inform our ancients of what we found. As it turned out, it was good we sent them, as our village was prepared when they came hours later. Krag, myself and Crilk stayed behind to keep an eye on the skelters. He also believed the Starborn might return and he wanted to destroy them – at worse delay them – from assaulting the cave before we could. He knew as well as we all that Starborn must return to their world each day and cannot return for many hours. In those hours we could destroy the skelters.”