Grim Ruination, Birth of a Soul (On Hiatus)

The Massacre

As they got closer to the area of souls, Darris noticed that many townspeople were frantically running from the area, now just a block away. Some of them were injured. One person had a large wound across their now limp arm that flailed behind them as they ran.
Instinctively, Darris moved a hand to the pendant around his neck and pulled it off. The same golden-bladed scimitar appearing in his off-hand.

Gregory ran to one of the injured citizens, holding them up as they nearly fell from a wound across their leg. "What's happening? Who else is injured?" He asked.

The injured man opened his mouth to speak, but nothing but choked gurgles came out as an arrow pierced the back of his neck. The crude arrowhead stuck from the man's throat, dripping with blood, as the man fell limp and his eyes rolled back in his head.

Gregory looked up to see a cackling gnoll with a bow glaring at what had been it's target. Gregory grit his teeth as he dropped the man to the floor. His hand flowed to the pendant of a warhammer around his neck as he pulled it. A fine steel warhammer apperated in his hands. The gnoll cackled again, dropping it's bow. From it's back it pulled out a large ax. With a shout both the warriors dashed toward the other.

The gnoll swung first. He swung the large ax down with such force that it carved into the stone road where Gregory had been standing. Just as the gnoll looked at Gregory he was met with a slab of metal ramming into his face, knocking him back onto his back. The gnoll attempted to right himself, however Gregory stepped on it's chest to keep it on the ground.

Gregory glared down at the creature as he raised his hammer. The gnoll began to struggle and grunt through its bloodied face. However it suddenly fell silent as the hammer came down on it's head.

Darris turned from the encounter as he heard quick footsteps behind him. He turned just in time to deflect a club swing from a gnoll. Quickly, Darris spun his other scimitar and swung up at the gnolls face. The gnoll stepped back, however the end of the blade still cut across the creature's jaw. Darris took a step forward before swinging again at the gnolls neck.

The gnoll lifted its club to block the blow, however it stumbled back from the impact.
Darris went for a third swing, slicing across the gnolls neck as it began to raise its club again.
The gnoll stumbled back again before falling onto its back, grasping at its neck.

Darris saw the familiar golden mist stream from beneath its fur as the life faded from its eyes and its body fell limp. Darris walked over the body of the gnoll, the soul of the creature sinking into his skin.

He glanced at Gregory, who had just absorbed the soul of a gnoll he had crushed with a hammer. They simply looked at each other then nodded before they both spread out to hunt down more gnolls. Gregory went to where the souls had been first seen, and Darris bolted down the street to catch any stragglers.

After letting Darris go about whatever business he felt like doing, Svalken had stopped, once again, at the Rusty Cup. The food wasn't great, but it was the only place to get food at that hour. He picked absentmindedly at his slab of bread and egg. Then he heard someone pull back the chair across the table from him. He glanced up to see a woman with long blonde hair and skin that seemed to glow in the lantern light. Her eyes were pure golden as she looked calmly at Svalken as she sat down. She wore the robes of a priest with plates of metal over it for protection. A golden symbol was carved into the chest piece of a fist holding a weight balance.

Svalken set down his fork and crossed his arms. "What are you doing here, Azariah?" He asked bluntly, leaning back in his chair.

"I was in the area." She said, Her voice was calm and soothing. The kind of voice that would put any person's mind at ease. Svalken, however, just found it annoying.