"Kill them all"

6ta - (Full-Moon)

Full-Moon day dawned wet, cold and miserable. It was raining, hard. PargArdarch Sengeresh called a meeting with his Kastori at first light and we huddled around the small fire in the command tent.

“We are going to go and fuck the enemy,” he began. “Using this stockade as a base we are going to focus on the Vrandi. They seem to be the most active and they are the closest to us.” He went on to show us the route of march for the company, south into Vrandiland. “We hope to draw their fyrd to us so that we can fight them in the open. We don’t want to hunt them down in the forests.” He scowled at me, “The 4th will be raiding their steads while we dance with the fyrd. Burn them out. Kill everyone and everything. That should get their attention and remind the rest of these sheep-shagging brunners that the Empire was built with fire and steel!”

He gave me a sketch map of the mountains, ran his finger along the base of Burnt Mtn, then Ormshead Mtn and then south to a spot ten miles into the woods. “This is Riandle. I don’t want there to be anything left when you leave.”

While the eleventh prepared to move out Sengeresh sauntered over to the squad area and gathered us around. “No more fucking around. I want you to make these brunners feel terror. I want the rest of them to know how lucky they are that we only burned one village. Kill them. Slaughter them. Make it bad, nasty. I want them to feel upset.” He looked around and grinned, “Well, you had better get going. Its 30 miles through the foothills and I want you there in three days. Once you have burned the place rejoin the column where we are fighting the fyrd, or if you can’t find us we’ll see you back here.”

We left within the hour. Light packs, hard rations for six days, our winter cloaks and our weapons and we each carried three torches.

The hills were slick. The creeks were swollen. Mud slides coated the ground, and us, in a slippery sludge. Tree roots twisted out from underfoot, trunks gave no purchase and we spent as much time crawling up the slopes as walking. The rain beat a thunderous tune on the leaves while the gusting winds blew water into the deepest hood.

Yelm fled and darkness flowed. My beaters complained, but we were moving too slowly and I made them to move further and drove them on into the wet night.

We reached an area with thicker mud, but thinning trees. Hagrid found a cave on the hillside, 50 kets from the nearest tree and thus relatively safe from prowling brunners. “Abby, Hagrid first watch. Kavlos, Maloven, second. I’m on third with Verakus.” I rolled myself into my cloak and fell into the sleep of the exhausted.

Abby woke me with a kick as he ran around the cave. “Get up, fire!” The cave was bathed in a bright red light and I heard a roaring from outside. Hagrid ran into the cave crying “Fire.” He looked around and pointed at the back of the cave there and we all huddled at the back with our cloaks wrapped tight around us.

With deafening roar a wall of flame punched into the cave. It stood a few feet in, burning. The heat was intense and steam exploded off of us all. I could feel my face crinkle with Shargash’s kiss and grew faint at this manifestation of his might, so to did Hagrid who slumped into a faint. I soon followed falling into a world of black.

When I awoke we were all sprawled in a heap of moaning bodies. My face and arms glowed with Shargash’s blessings and I was happy – I was also dry for the first time in two days. I don’t think that more than ½ a span [1] had passed since the fire came.

In the light of smouldering trees, glowing rocks and a rather sharp rent in the clouds, we could see that there was a wide treeless swath cut through the forest across the valley. Smoke and steam rose from the ground and the surrounding trees while a dulling glowing circle of red on the far mountain showed where the fire had come from. Hagrid confirmed that that was where he saw it jet from the mountain. I looked around and saw that it was not mud on this hillside but ash. “No we know why it is called Burnt Mtn and that one is Ormshead. Anybody know how often the wyrm breathes?”

“Every few days,” replied Hagrid.

“Right, then we can go back to sleep now, in a warm and dry cave.” And we did.

7th – (Full Half)

When Yelm ascended once again we marched. The rain continued, though the wind slowed. We moved down the edge of the cleared swath, straight to Ormshead Mtn. With the burns from the night and the aches from the previous day we moved slowly. I reminded the lads of the loot to be had from the village and got them to move faster.

We stumbled down the side of Burnt Mtn, across the valley floor and had begun climbing Ormshead when one of Maloven’s hounds, ranging ahead, yelped and vanished. The yelp was startled, loud, and suddenly cut off.

I barked a command and we shook out into a fighting line, said our prayers to our gods, and advanced. Whom ever had taken the dog, I meant to flush them and kill them.

Rain drops danced and hissed on the face of my burning mace as we stalked through the undergrowth. To my right a pink tentacle darted from a bush. Maloven swung his sword and clove the tip off. There was a gutteral howl and a great cliff toad burst from the bushes leaping far over head and fleeing down the valley. It must have swallowed the dog.

That day we passed onto Ormshead and around its eastern shoulder. We passed two massive charred vents on the hillside, each was over 100 kets across – nobody at home would believe me if I tried to tell them that I stood in the nostrils of a dragon. When we were south of the peak we camped for the night. Hagrid complained about his blisters, I offered to lance them with my spear and he shut up.

1xa - (Crescent-Go Day/Fertility Week)

We moved out at Yelmrise, chewing black sausage and biscuits, and enjoyed being able to see Yelm in the clearing sky. We travelled south, out of the foothills and into the Ormsgone Valley proper. The surviving hounds and our daimons ranged ahead.

Soon we could see fields through the falcon’s eyes. We reached the edge of the first fields before midday. We had found no scouts, no pickets and the daimons reported few people moving in the village. Perhaps Sengeresh’s plan had worked.

There were five buildings, squat and ugly, what the brunners called halls, or long homes, or something like that. We could see two horses in a paddock, some sheep in the fields and chickens everywhere. I could hear hogs in the trees but couldn’t see them.

We said our prayers, called for the god’s blessings and lit our torches. “Kill everything,” I growled and we charged into the village screaming our warcries. “Urrrrrunguuuummmm!!”

Abby blasted a woman with his third eye while I called Shargash’s skybolts from the bloody planet. Those in the open ran for the nearest hall.

An old man stepped from a building, took one look at us ran back through the door. Two boys ran out to gawk at us but old man reappeared and seized each by the hair and dragged them back inside and slammed the door in my face. Through my rage I could hear a bar dropping behind the oak planks but I charged it anyways. And bounced off.

I shook off Shargash’ fury and looked around. I could see and hear door slamming on all the halls. My daimon reported that there was only one door on each building and some barred windows. “Burn them out.” I commanded. “Maloven, Bortarasi this hall. Kavlos, Dfwyyd that one. Hagrid, Lurappi there. Abindinus that one. I’ll take that one. Verakus, support. Maloven, loose the hounds, I want the livestock dead. Go! Go!”

Torches flew and chickens died. Sheep screamed and pigs squealed.

My beaters all knew what they were doing. As the building burned they stood ready by the door, waiting to crush the rats as they fled.

The old man re-emerged from the first hall with chain and a spear. Maloven took his head off while Bortarasi stuck him to the door with his spear. The boys ran screaming from the hall with daggers in-hand and two more bodies piled in the doorway.

A twelve-year old burst from the second hall with a mighty blade nearly as large as he. Kavlos and Dfwyyd chopped at him. He parried wildly and hewed at them both. Dfywwd went down with an ugly gash on his leg and Kavlos desperately parried and dodged the brunner’s blows slipping in the mud. With a final desperate lunge Kavlos took the boy in the chest. [2]

"Do I save him or go for what’s behind door #3?" - Hagrid

The earth opened beneath Lurappi and swallowed him to his chest. He screamed as the ground closed around him. Hagrid glanced at him quickly and decided that there was an earth godi in the building. A ghostly blade flickered into existence on the tip of his staff and he struck the bronze-studded door with it splitting it in two.

A wizened old witch stood behind it. She spit at Hagrid and charged him with her finger nails screaming curses at him. Hagrid guided her onto his blade and pushed her back into the burning hall.

Women and children were running from the fourth hall as Abby ran up. A young wench, 18 or so, ran from the doorway and careened into him. She clutched a baby to her breast and screamed for mercy. Abby’s demon-whip snaked out and the poisonous fangs took her in the neck. Abby trod upon the baby as he ran by and fired the hall.

The last hall was quiet and no one emerged as it burned.

As the halls slumped screams came from within. Maloven saw a woman trying to lower her 6-year-old from a window. He hacked the child’s head off and stabbed the mother through the window.

The halls collapsed and the screams stopped. We burned the granaries looted the bodies, poor pickings except the old man’s chain and Kavlos’ boy’s sword. The boy was alive and Kavlos tied his hands and neck, he was bound for the slave markets.

We took the two horses, nags both of them, and got our wounded onto them, Dfwyyd and Lurappi. We each tied a few dead chickens to our belts and moved off, north the way we had come.

We paused in a field and Verakus turned to the village. He intoned a grim curse of impotence from his tome. As the energies gathered about him them village wytr coalesced and scattered them. We left, in a hurry.

We moved due north for an hour and then turned east heading to find Sengeresh. Our daimons spotted the PargAddi chasing the Vrandi fyrd. A small rearguard of thirty men slowed the company while the bulk of the fyrd, 100 men, escaped.

We cut in behind the rearguard and fell upon them from the rear.

My world narrowed to a red-rimmed area before me as I surrendered myself to Vungharesh’s vengeance. The world spun as I berserked through the rearguard.

The first brunner had time to open his mouth to scream before my mace tore his jaw of in a spray of teeth of blood. I laughed at the pure joy of bringing the Destroyer’s message to these brunners and smashed another with my burning mace. Another shrieked when his clothes took fire from my burning shield.

I vaguely remember Maloven and his daimon-hound tearing a young warrior apart. Hagrid fought back and forth with a hefty fyrdman before driving his ghost-blade though the man’s chin. A desperate warrior hewed Kavlos down; raised his spear to finish him off and exploded as Abindinus blasted him with hell-fire. I chuckled at the astonished look on a man’s face as Verakus struck him with a moonbeam, carving a bloody crevasse across his chest.

The clangour of battle surged to new heights when the rest of the beaters ran over the remaining rearguard. Letting the Thunderer’s rage dissipate was bitter-sweat but I had given him blood and ash this day and I was happy.

3xa – (Black-Moon)

It took the PargAddi two days to march back to the stockade. We’d have gone faster but the slave coffle slowed us, five prime warriors for the markets.

That night I was kicked out of bed by the High Kastori, Hervenyar the Crucifier. His boot loosened several teeth and smashed my lips. “WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOUR BEATERS DOING?! CAN’T YOU KEEP CONTROL OF YOUR OWN ELEVENTH?!” I straightened from my fighting crouch and asked him what happened. “YOUR FUCKING DRUBBER SACRIFICED HIS HORSE TO SOME GOD!” “He destroyed regimental property, he will have to be disciplined in regimental tradition.”

Hervenyar stomped off into the night and I raced to keep up. In a dark corner of the quarry we found PargArdarch Sengeresh and Irdexmot Erfik the Summoner. Sengeresh had Abindinus by the hair and was holding his face against his saddle.

“DO YOU SEE THAT PLAQUE? WHAT DOES IT SAY? ‘PROPERTY OF THE IMPERIAL ARMY’!!” “DOES IT SAY PROPERTY OF SOME RAT-FUCKING DRUBBER?! NO!!”

I would have sworn that I could see smoke rising from Sengeresh’s ears as he screamed at Abby and then me. I looked at Abby’s horse. It was much larger than it had been and its pelt had turned coal black. The eyes glowed red and it left deep gouges in the earth when it pawed it.

“You’re new to the regiment,” Hervenyar said to Abby, “and have served well so far. Normally I’d have my hammer and nails out right now. Instead, you will be FLOGGED! Flogged to the bone. And the rest of your eleventh will each receive 20 lashes as well.”

Sengeresh stormed off with Hervenyar on his heals. Erfik smiled at Abby, “Good job. If you survive the flogging we may talk again. I think I’ll take this horse for now…”

4xa – (Crescent-Come)

In the morning Sengeresh paraded the regiment. He announced what Abby had done and the punishment to be met out. A cart was dragged into the square and up-ended. Abby was taken from our line, shirtless, by two drubbers and his wrists tied to the yoke. Hervenyar handed me the lash, “To the bone Kastori. Do your duty!”

It took nearly 200 lashes before Hervenyar was satisfied. Then I was tied to the cart and took my 20 from my fellow Kastori. Each of us in the 4th took our 20 and plotted bruising vengeance upon Abindinus. As we were each cut down from that bloody cart they rubbed salt in our wounds so that we would never forget.

Abby was dragged back to our tents where the medics worked him over. It took them a few hours but they finally announced that he would live.

Erfik showed off his new horse that day.

1ua - (Crescent-Go Day/ Stasis Week)

We rested for four days, Abby was back on his feet in three but could not wear armour. We were waiting for the bandits to do something. On Crescent-Go they did.

The alarm gong rang and the sentinels cried out. We grabbed our arms and armour and raced for the palisade.

There were a lot of brunners out there at the forest’s edge. My hawk-eyes picked out 100 Vrandi, half-again that many Porryd, six hundred tribesmen under Uitaros banners and 100 warriors, a mixed bag, probably mercenaries led by two portly townsmen.

We shouted taunts at the bastards, mooned them, waved our penises at them and generally had a good time.

Emissaries rode across the clearing. Sengeresh looked around, “Fourth Eleventh, in reserve.” We trooped down from the wall and took position behind the gate. I was happy to be in reserve today as it still hurt to move my shoulders. I glared at Abby.

Hagrid’s daimon circled lazily over the wall and he told us what he saw – we could hear what was said. Korrig Hydrasbane himself rode at the head of the group and he did the talking.

“Give me the bastards that slaughtered my wife and my uncles and my father. Give me the barbarians that stepped on my infant son and hacked my nephew into pieces.”

“Is that all you want?” asked Sengeresh. “You want the men who killed your family?” Korrig said that was what he wanted. “Well, I told them to do it. I told them to stomp on their faces. I told them to fuck your women and impale your babies. You can suck my snake you mother-fucking brunner!”

The fatmen were not happy but Korrig was unmoved as he turned and rode back to his men.

A horn lowed and more took up the note. With a howl of storm-age fury the brunners rushed the walls.

Ladders clattered against the palisade and a battering ram was hurled against the gates. The earth gaped before the ditch and demons fluttered forth to tear their way through the fyrdmen. A band of warriors strode on the winds over the gate and landed behind it. Sengeresh cried out, “Reserves to the gate!” We pulled our helms on and joined the fray.

I gave myself over to the Destroyer again and drove towards to gate to keep any of those brunner from lifting the bar. “Urruunguum!” With two murderous blows I smashed a man’s knees and then knocked his head off.

Abby stood back and opened his third-eye lancing a flying man with the fires of Deshkorgos.

Verakus muttered some incantation to no result.

Maloven charged on my right. He chopped through a shield with one blow and then buried his blade in the man’s chest.

Hagrid charged on my left. A naked warrior, paitned in blue hacked at him, “Orlanth” he cried. Hagrid turned the blow with his staff and stabbed his flickering blade into the man’s groin twisting it with a scream of hatred.

Korrig Hydrasbane landed behind me. He cut Kavlos open from shoulder to pelvis with one horrific blow. Blood sprayed and ribs burst. Kavlos desperately tried to tuck his entrails back into his shirt before he fell over.

I turned and focussed all of my anger into one blow. Korrig lifted his shield and my burning mace burst through it, shattered his arm and destroyed his shoulder. He flew from my blow like the rag dolls the Lodrili peasant-girls played with.

The brunners lost heart then and ran for the trees where they reformed.

Looking around I saw the brunners on the wall in two places. High Irdexmot Lerekaalm Sharptooth led a rush on one breach. He gnawed on a hunch of meat in one hand and tossed men aside with the other. He seemed to have the strength of twenty. The other breach died just as quickly.

Lerekaalm rushed over to me and grabbed Korrig before I could give him to Shargash. He dragged him to a flat stone that had been prepared in advance, sang a spell, and cut his heart out. Strips of the bloody organ were handed around and we all ate. Strength and confidence surged through our limbs and we returned to the walls to taunt the brunners again.

Sengeresh cut Korrig’s head off and stuck it on a spear that we waved at the sheep-shaggers.

I could see that an argument was underway across the clearing. The Uitaros banners were lifted and the tribesmen marched off into the woods. The rest of the host soon melted away as well.

They left 140 dead and wounded behind. The wounded were given to Parg Ilisi the Land Waster and the bodies were destroyed. We had lost ten dead and wounded. Kavlos got lucky. His ident disk deflected Korrig’s sword and it missed his heart. He lived. [3]

[1] A span is a tenth part of a day, in some places called an hour, though those barbarians have 12 of them rather than 10, the blessed number.
[2] The boy had a skill of 12 but the mighty warriors of the PargAddi seemed cursed. Kavlos was beaten down to a few AP and finally bid a plot point to kill the kid.
[3] Kavlos died. Korrig bid 40 AP and scored a transfer x2 on Kavlos. Kavlos ended at – 55 AP. The narrator allowed him a final action and Kavlos rolled a critical with his “lucky” ability.

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