(Disclaimer: A few artistic liberties were taken to write this in order to make it a more enjoyable story… I hope. Also, I forgot to grab screen shots on alot of stuff. My bad.)
The sun was bright, and hot in the forested City of Yew. Yet despite its revealing gaze, the one who had become known as Raith moved within the trees unseen. Always moving, always watching the peasants, the farmers, and the Militia’s movements. His abilities to disappear and move unseen in plane sight among the mortals was growing exponentially, and was nearing its peak, yet still Raith felt the frustrations of his body’s limitations. His mind grew fatigued and frustrated, and he knew his abilities would grow no more on this day. He withdrew from the city and moved silently southward towards the protective crypts the Undead had established themselves in.
Even though he was in the relative safety of the crypts he did not reveal himself quite yet. For as he approached he noticed one of the slaves, a simple farmer and craftsman from the nearby city, simply sitting idly near the workbench he was chained to. The Guardian would not abide lazy slaves. Therefore, Raith took it upon himself to motivate the man.
He moved stealthy up to the man, and though Raith stood directly in front of him, none of the slave’s five senses could detect him. Strong had his abilities grown indeed, Raith thought to himself. Suddenly, the man was hauled to his feet by a thin, bone hand grasped around his neck, the tip of a Kyrss pressed against the skin under his chin, and the cold, black eyes of undeath were locked onto his face. “Why issss no work being done?” Raith hissed at the slave. “N-n-no materials to build with… M’lord.” The man managed to get out through his clenched throat.
Raith dropped the man, who fell onto his knees and gasped for air. He then quickly crawled underneath the workbench in a futile effort to hide. Raith quickly forgot the slave and walked away. Empty supply stores simply would not do. The war machine that was the quickly growing undead army needed fuel and supplies to become stronger. Raith decided it was time he assisted in this effort. He would take what supplies he could in the only way he knew how to gather them. From the fresh corpses of his enemies.
Some time later the wraith moved silently through the cavernous depths of Shame towards the keep he knew to be deep within. The cave was popular on this night, as many would be adventurers tested their luck against the horrors within. Screams echoed off of the walls from further down, and several bodies of both man and elemental lay strewn about the floor. Raith felt a strong yearning to assist in the slaying of the moral men, but he was here for a different reason than to satisfy his personal desires. The gargoyles that had taken up residence at the bottom of the cave were his prey tonight.
The keep on the third level of the cave was a formidable structure. It was obvious it had been built by moral men long ago, as their remnants remained in the ruins. However, now it was infested by gargoyles, a mortal race of flying, magical creature. They preyed on anything foolish enough to enter their domain, and kept supplies that they pilfered and gathered within the keep. Raith moved silently through the halls of the keep checking rooms and taking what supplies he could find. Anything he could not stealth past was quickly dispatched. His combat skills were advancing almost as fast as his other abilities. He was becoming a strong servant of the Guardian.
It was while he was within the gargoyle keep that he realized he was not alone. He could hear the sounds of combat coming from the next room. He quickly moved through the open door and saw a young mage fighting with one of the winged creatures. The mage appeared to be having some difficulty. The creature was half dead, but still capable of throwing spells. The mage appeared to be in similar shape. The battle was quite even between the two of them. Never one to pass up an opportunity, Raith moved into position to finish off the young mage. However, before he could attack, the gargoyle flung one last bolt of energy, and the young mage fell at Raith’s feet. The mortal beast was quickly finished off by Raith, who then began the task of checking the bodies for anything useful. A large bag of gold coins, gems, reagents, and weapons were the spoils from this endeavor. They all would go into the coffers of the Undead. Raith quickly moved on, away from the keep. Being so close to the surface, the structure was often picked over. He planned to move deeper into the cave, where stronger creatures awaited.
On the next level down, Raith came across a smaller structure that was still being built. The gargoyles were adept builders in their own right, and appeared to be making a second keep similar to the one above it. It was here that Raith battled the much stronger gargoyles that were hard as stone. This larger breed carried on them the materials being used to construct the new building, as well as arrows to defend it. Yet they carried no bows, Raith thought to himself. A flying creature that could rain down arrows on their enemies would be a formidable foe. He decided he would need to monitor these creatures and track their development.
For several hours Raith fought normal and stone gargoyles alike. His pack grew quite heavy with the spoils of this endeavor, and when it could hold no more he began his trek back to the surface. He then hissed a chant from a scroll, and was teleported back to a secure crypt, where the gathered resources were safely stored.
With one half of his task completed, Raith set off again with a chant from a new scroll. He found himself outside of Britain, near the largest and most active graveyard in the land. Here, the freshly raised undead of the mindless variety mingled with the young, brave warriors and mages from the nearby city. Brigands and other outcasts on the run from the guards also took refuge near by. In the middle of them all, Raith conducted his task of collecting the bones of the pathetic skeletons that dared attack him.
Knowing he was different from the other Undead among them, the moral men tried to avoid Raith. That is, until a leader arrived. A moral man wielding a broadsword, who went by the name “Husk” attempted to rally both the virtuous warriors and the brigands against Raith. In the midst of combat amongst the never-ending tide of reanimated corpses, Raith could hear the man cheering: “Kill the wraith!”
With mild annoyance, Raith took the initiative to end the battle before it began. He quietly stealthed to the main entrance of the graveyard, where the mortals were preparing to charge. There he was able to take a position directly behind the one called Husk. With one quick movement, Raith was sprung from the shadow and plunging the blade of his poison covered Kyrss into the side of the moral leader’s neck. The other mortals fell back in fear and in shock of seeing their strongest fall so easily. Husk quickly ran to the safety of the near by town, stumbling as he went. Raith did not see a reason to give chase; the wound was too grievous, the poison to strong. He would never make it to the healers in time. The small group of rallied men quickly followed their leader towards town, as Raith fell back into the shadow. He knew the mortals would be back in greater numbers soon.
With the chant of his last scroll, Raith found himself teleported back into the safety of the crypts. He added the collected bones to the materials and supplies he had already collected. The supplies would not last long, but they were only a start to Raith’s contribution to the cause.
With this assignment completed, Raith turned his attention to the City of Yew again, and its Militia defenders…
All items are in my bank account, awaiting pickup.
Final Count Of Supplies:
300 Ingots
200 Leather
5000 Gold
180 Arrows
121 Nightshade
126 Black Pearl
37 Spiders Silk
22 Sulfuric Ash
9 Bloodmoss
27 Mandrake Root
1 Level One Treasure Map
1 GM Made Quarter Staff
1 GM Made Warhammer
1 GM Leather Tunic
Bag of both normal, and magical bone armor
Bag of assorted magic items that Senn helped gather in Dispise’s Ogre Lords the other night
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Subject: Gathering Resources 
Wed Jul 20, 2011 2:08 am