TOPIC: Horror on the Orient Express - All Rotations

II THE SHORT VERSION

18th March 330 AD continued..
Longinus informs us that cultists of The Flayed have attacked neighbouring villages. Many have been slaughtered or have been infected with a terrible sickness. The surviving residents of three villages - Sirence, Alcati and Kalekoy - now live as refugees in the camp outside the fortress walls of Ghilian.

We meet the medic, Abrax, in the Greek camp outside the fortress walls. He tells us of the plague and repeats stories told by the delirious inflicted and by the frightened refugees regarding blood-sucking demons. A woman infected by sickness grabs Milonius, and as he pushes her away her skin peels off and envelops him – cue screaming.

Those who die of the plague are laid in a ditch. Longinus has not yet committed to burning the corpses as he worries the disease may become airborne. The bodies are wrapped in thin boiled cloth – each is skinless. We resolve to burn the bodies. So determined are we that Senilis kills the guard who gets in our way. As the plague pit burns a shapeless abomination leaps out of the flame and attacks Senilis. It is a construct of necrotic skin. We manage to kill it and cast it back in the burning pit.

19th March 330 AD
Next morning we follow a bloody trail to the east, past depopulated Sirence and Alcati and to a farmstead where we battle two demonic creatures. After a few hours of travel we reach Kalekoy, now a hive of abhorrent activity. Monsters move about the streets and congregate outside a church. From the church unholy chanting rises. We retreat to Ghilian, convinced the Army of Skin and Blood is about to launch an attack.

At night, the monstrous army reaches Ghilian. Its master, The Prophet of The Flayed is dressed in black robes and mounted on a skinless horse. The Prophet possesses the stone blade—the Mims Sahis. The demonic army swarms over the ramparts. Many of the garrison die, but the hardy few survive the battle long enough to see daybreak. Under the first rays of the morning sun, the demonic army is put to flight.

.

II THE LONG VERSION

18th March 330 AD continued…

The dire situation: Corvus asks Longinus to give us a full appraisal of the situation he faces. For nearly six months the men of Longinus’ command have had to repeatedly repulse attacks against villages in the vicinity. The attacks are from zealots belonging to a cult named The Flayed. Cultist activity began with robbery and extortion, but later escalated to wholesale butchery. The turning point seems to revolve around a villager’s account of being bitten by some strange bat-like creature. Sickness and death came within days. Many more have since contracted the sickness—the Valerian Plague.

Monsters: Many legionnaires have died these last few weeks. Three whole villages to the east of Ghilian have been laid to waste – Sirence, Alcati and Kalekoy. Many people have been slaughtered or infected with plague. The surviving residents of the villages now live as refugees in the camp outside the fortress walls of Ghilian. Refugees bring with them incredulous tales of not just sickness, but of a scourge of monsters too. Longinus sent a patrol of four legionnaires to scout east yesterday, like others before them, they have failed to return. Longinus will no longer risk any more of his men – what’s left of the garrison is to remain at the fortress. Longinus asks Corvus if he would deign to investigate the plight of the villages to the east and try to make sense of the refugees’ wild stories. That, of course, means sending us.

The Greek Camp: While Roman citizens remain within the relative safety of the fortress walls, locals, almost all of whom are of Greek stock, populate the camp without. The camp is full of refugees and plague sufferers. We pay a visit to the camp and are introduced to a toga-wearing Greek named Abrax. Abrax looks weary, deprived of much-needed rest. He is in charge of the medics who do what they can to nurse the infected. Abrax describes to us the characteristics of the Valerian Plague: within two days of infection come fever, delirium, sensitivity to light and open lesions down the length of the patient’s spine. The sickness lasts six days, always six days – on the seventh day the patient either recovers or dies. Four in ten die, mostly the old and frail. The dead are laid in a ditch. Longinus is too afraid to commit to either bury or burn the corpses for fear of how the sickness may yet spread. Abrax believes the sickness is more like the effects of venom than disease. Lastly he informs us of that several patients, in their perhaps massed delirium, have spoken of blood-sucking demons.

Refugees of Kalekoy: Kalekoy is situated six hours march to the east of Ghilian. Refugees from the village are at first reticent to speak. Senilis threatens them. They begin to talk. They tell us of The Flayed and an army of monsters over-running their country: a throng of creatures risen from the dead to serve the cult – ghosts and demons; nameless and shapeless things.

Milonius’ body-wrap: A blood-curdling scream cuts the air. A female plague sufferer with a face contorted in pain, lurches forward and grabs at Milonius. Milonius at first is unable to shake her off but finally he musters the strength to push her away. As the woman falls backwards her skin peels away and envelops Milonius—including her face stuck to his. Milonius screams uncontrollably. The woman’s lifeless and skinless body slumps to the floor.

The Ditch: The ditch containing the corpses of three dozen plague victims is not far from the camp. Each corpse is wrapped in a boiled cloth. The thin cloth layers are almost sheer and the corpses’ skinless forms are visible. Oddly, there are no vermin, no vultures disturbing the dead. A single legionnaire stands guard. We are determined to burn the dead. The guard remonstrates – Longinus has not yet decreed the method of disposal for the corpses. He will not listen to Senilis’ orders. We are resolved in our course of action but the guard opposes us. Senilis loses patience with the obstinate soldier and runs him through with his sword. He places his foot on the soldier’s chest and, at the same time as withdrawing his blade, kicks the solider backward into the ditch. Emeric and Milonius head into the fort; Milonius to fetch Corvus, and Emeric to fetch flammable materials.

The Fire Pit: Corvus is brought to the ditch. Emeric follows, dragging a small cart laden with jars of oil. A bit of misdirection is required to ensure Corvus doesn’t spy the murdered legionnaire lying in the plague pit. Before the burning can begin, Balasir and Emeric are certain they heard a sound in the ditch and a sign of movement beneath the corpses. They try to bring other’s attention to it but all is still again. As soon as the burning begins however, there is an unholy screech and a shapeless abomination leaps from the fiery pit. It concentrates its attacks against Senilis and it takes the effort of everyone to cut the thing down. Poking at the disgusting flesh of the dead heap – it appears to be a construct of necrotic skin. We fling it into the burning ditch from which it came. Smoke billows into the night sky.



19th March 330 AD

The Bloody Trail: We had noticed the evening before, a trail of blood leading away from the plague pit in the direction of the hilly region to the east. Next morning, at first light, we assemble by the smouldering pit and resolve to follow the trail. The trail has something unnatural about it as the bloody track doesn’t fade away with the miles, but continues unabated. After a couple of hours the trail leads us past a village and then a second – we assume them to be Sirence and Alcati; both places are devoid of any signs of life. Further on, we happen across a farmstead consisting of a house and a barn. There are a dozen bodies scattered on the ground—all of them skinned. We approach the barn and are surprised by the sudden assault of two demonic entities that charge out of the barn. They look nothing like the abomination of last night; these have definite form, rough grey hides, soulless eyes and glinting fangs. The daylight seems to disadvantage them—enough we hope to give us an edge.

Demons: Balasir stands rooted to the spot at the sight of the Hellish things. Milonius’ arrows and Damanais’ spear make little impression. The swords of Emeric and Senilis deliver deeper wounds; edge rather than point obviously more grievous to the creatures. Emeric suffers terrible lacerations, claws ripping through his armour. The fight is hard, but finally, Balasir, joining the fray, delivers the killing blow to one demon. Emeric sweeps the head from the shoulders of the other.

Kalekoy: Asinius patches Emeric’s wounds, enough to stem the bleeding, so the patrol may continue. Not too much further east we come to the village of Kalekoy. There is movement and sound. We sneak as close as we dare without giving away our presence. There are hundreds of abhorrent inhuman shapes shambling in the streets. Many congregate outside a stone church from within which comes the sound of deep rhythmic chanting. An unseen guttural voice rises above the rest to lead the unholy prayers. The volume and rapidity of chanting increases. The desecration of the church makes Emeric’s anger rise, but Corvus keeps us all in check. We are vastly outnumbered here. Corvus is convinced the monstrous army is preparing for an attack. We must return to Ghilian and warn Longinus.

The Prophet of the Flayed: Corvus assumes military command of the outpost garrison. It is night when the Army of Skin and Blood reaches us. The army’s commander, The Prophet of the Flayed, rides at the rear of its ranks. The Prophet is dressed in black robes and mounted on a skinned horse. He holds above his head a curved blade of stone exuding a soft purple light*. He urges his monstrous warriors on. [*Ludwig reading here recognises the Mims Sahis] .

The Battle of Ghilian: A dark wave of demonic creatures sweeps across the plain under an arrow storm. They speedily gain the walls and swarm over the ramparts. The camp outside is overrun and all inhabitants slaughtered. The battle within the fortress is long and desperate. Many men scream with fear, their minds instantly lost, rendering them defenceless from gruesome oblivion. The stronger-willed, the determined few, battle for survival. Though the garrison suffers much grievous loss, it is by God’s grace that we endure to see daybreak. As the first rays of the morning sun chase away the night’s long shadow, The Army of Skin and Blood is put to flight.

.

Excellent write-up again Garuda, you've earned your reward!

Tomorrow (15/06) will see the conclusion of our sojourn into the 4th century Byzantine Empire.

Sadly Tony is unable to make it, hopefully everyone else will be along and looking forward to it

III THE SHORT VERSION

20th March 330 AD
With the cultists badly mauled and in retreat, Longinus tasks us with tracking the cultists to their lair and destroying them once and for all. Their trail leads us northward to the mountains and along an ascending narrow path to a canyon. In the canyon is a circle of standing stones, seventeen menhirs each with a skinned human chained to it. In the centre of the circle is a black hole in the ground.

A barely visible hewn stair spirals down the inner wall of the deep shaft. Half way down we have to penetrate a membrane of blackness that clings to our skin as we pass through. At the bottom of the shaft is the entrance to a system of caves. In the first cave we ambush two cultists. The second cave is an enormous chamber dominated by a column carved in the effigy of a skinless god. To one side is chair with straps and a shelf of knives and tortuous devices. We are attacked by animated skins – one had been laid down as a rug, the other hung up as a tapestry.

We pass into a smaller chamber. Within is a bed of skin and a leather pillow with the faces of many babies sewn into it. The floor is covered in a rug of human scalps and fetishes hang from the ceiling made of human teeth. A flayed man is suspended on a chain – he is still breathing but close to death. Here is the Prophet of the Flayed. He announces himself as Unwen gar Wallath, chosen of the Skinless One. He draws the curved stone knife—the Mims Sahis. His robe drops away and his skin peels from him and assumes form with two animalistic heads. He then rips off his own face and casts it away to become a loathsome flying creature.

The battle with the Prophet is tough, during which Emeric is blinded, but eventually we prevail. Corvus delivers the killing blow. The Prophet's blood gushes like a fountain. There is more blood than would be contained in a dozen men, Corvus is drowned in it. He falls unconscious. We take the Mimis Sahis and return first to Ghilian to report our victory to Longinus and then to Constantinople.


30th March 330 AD
We place Corvus in the care of Lady Udicia and report on the success of our mission to the Magister. The Magister takes possession of Corvus’ notes and of the Mims Sahis. We are congratulated and promised our rewards—money, deeds to property and release from twenty years of military service.


12th May 330 AD
Corvus has recovered his wits. He and Lady Udicia are to marry. We gather aboard a pleasure barge, the Plethora, along with several other guests to witness the wedding. As Corvus and Udicia are pronounced man and wife, Corvus proposes a toast: “To the friends of Tribune Comites Tillius Corvus” We raise our cups and drink deeply. Within seconds our stomachs cramp from poison. Corvus continues to speak: “But of course, he needs no friends because he is dead”. Corvus produces a sword from its hiding place. None of us, now civilian, is armed. One by one we are murdered.

There is a footnote to the collected accounts of Tillius Corvus. The only references to Corvus after the events aboard the Plethora, are vague and half-legendary. The references are of Corvus the Vampire, called alternatively The Unclean— colloquially translated as Fenalik.

III THE LONG VERSION

20th March 330 AD

New orders: After tending to the wounded and catching a brief sleep we are called to see Longinus. With the cultists badly mauled and in retreat, Longinus tasks us with tracking them to their lair and destroying them once and for all. Corvus of course agrees on our behalf. Longinus places twelve of his own legionnaires under Corvus’ command to accompany us.

The trail: The trail is easy to follow. Balasir estimates their number comprises of probably forty mixed beings—human and otherwise. The trail diverges from the east road we followed yesterday and heads north. Every now and again the body of a cultist who has succumbed to his wounds lies on the trail. We pass too, the corpse of the enemy general’s skinned horse. It has a broken leg and signs it was slain to due becoming lame. After a few hours, the trail comes to a mountainous area and a narrow passage that ascends between the rocks.

The hidden canyon: The passage steepens and at height becomes a precarious ledge with a sheer drop to one side. The Ghilian legionnaires lose their nerve and turn back. Corvus lets them go. It’s just us now—the Fortes Falcones. Eventually the ledge levels out and passes between two cliffs into a canyon. It is like standing in the bottom of a large bowl; the cliffs on all sides are steep and tower above us. At the centre of the canyon floor is a ring of standing stones. Seventeen menhirs, each with a skinned human chained to it. We estimate the bodies have been here for several days. Within the stone circle is a gaping hole in the ground, 25 feet in diameter.

The hole: Investigating the hole, it is only by looking from the most acute of angles can we spy, almost invisible against the natural rock, a roughly hewn stair spiralling down the inner wall of the shaft. We descend into the black hole one at a time. Milonius is volunteered by Senilis to lead us down. The descent is dangerous and we must take care not to slip and fall. Part way down Milonius halts us. There is a distinct barrier of utter blackness barring our progress. It is like a gelatinous membrane through which no light or vision penetrates. Milonius is ordered to continue; he extends his sandled foot and the blackness envelops it. The blackness feels silky and clingy but Milonius suffers no ill-effect for passing through it. Below the membrane the stair continues to the bottom of the shaft where there is a flicker of dim light.

The cavern: From the bottom of the shaft a cavernous passage leads to a chamber. Lighted torches, the source of light we could see in the shaft, are fixed into holes in the natural stone walls. There are lots of small holes in this chamber—in the walls and the floor. Occasional soft hissing sounds accompany puffs of vapour that spurt forth from the holes at seemingly random moments. The vapour has a sweet floral bouquet that pervades the air. Aside from the passage we used to enter the chamber, there are four other exists.

The ambush: We hear voices and approaching footsteps. We prepare to ambush whoever enters the cavern. We thought we would be undetected—that our enemies would be oblivious to our presence—that we would get the drop on them as they passed the threshold—but somebody farted and our enemies were instantly aware of us. Nevertheless, our victory was swift. Two dead human cultists lay at our feet.

The big chamber: We continued along the same corridor from which the cultists had emerged and passed into a chamber several times larger than the previous one. The dominating feature is a huge column carved with the effigy of a giant skinned figure—like an evil god. The chamber floor and walls are again perforated with small holes exuding sweet vapour. Though we don’t feel adversely effected by accidental exposure, Damanais deliberately inhales a lungful of vapour and is momentarily disorientated.

Evil furnishings: On one side of the enormous chamber is an elaborate chair with straps for binding a person to it. There is an adjacent shelf of knives and tortuous devices. On the floor is spread a purple-dyed leather rug and on the wall is a hanging tapestry. Hieroglyphs adorn the walls. Damanais attempts to read the hieroglyphs but immediately he loses his balance as he feels he is falling into them. He then becomes wrapped in the tapestry which detaches itself from the wall and smothers him. Before we can react the purple leather rug animates too and flaps in a wild dance, striking out with sharpened edges. We save ourselves and cut the animated skins to pieces.

The Secret Chamber: Now that the tapestry is no longer hanging, we realise that it was concealing the entrance to another cavern. We pass through to be confronted with a shocking sight. There is a bed of skin with a leather pillow made from the faces of human babies. There are suspended fetishes constructed of human teeth. The floor is a rug of human scalps and the walls are adorned with four skins marked with legionnaire tattoos. Hanging from the ceiling is a flayed man, still breathing but close to death. Before the victim kneels a robed figure, as if in prayer, muttering words in some vile Gothic tongue.

The Goth: The figure rises and turns to face us. He is the Prophet of the Flayed. His emaciated form is nothing but a mass of scars. His evil voice alone threatens to overpower our will: “I am Unwen gar Wallath, chosen of the Skinless One”. He draws a curved stone knife—the Mims Sahis. His robe drops away and his skin peels from him and assumes form with two animalistic heads. He then rips off his own face and casts it away to become a loathsome flying creature. At this, the skins adorning the walls come to life too.

The battle: We divide our attacks between the several abhorrent enemies now assailing us in the chamber. The Goth, Unwen, utters more words in a base language and Emeric is immediately struck blind. While most concentrate on destroying the four legionnaire skins, Damanais skewers the flying face on the end of his spear and then drives the spear into the Prophet’s two-headed hide to kill that too. All attacks can now be concentrated on the Goth himself. Emeric (literally in a blind rage) swings his sword with abandon, but he’s not anywhere close to striking the enemy and almost decapitates Senilis instead. Senilis bonks Emeric on the back of the head with the pommel of his sword, then moves out of swinging range before Emeric tries something stupid again.

Death of the Prophet: Not satisfied with killing the Goth’s face and hide, Damanais now drives his spear through Unwen himself. Corvus then steps up to run his sword through Unwen’s gut. A look of disbelief and agony in equal proportion comes over the Goth's gaunt face. As Corvus withdraws his sword, Unwen’s blood gushes forth like a fountain, more blood than would be contained in a dozen men. Corvus is covered, almost drowned by it and has to be pulled clear. Corvus coughs and splutters, spitting out the vile blood: “Retrieve the Goth’s knife” he implores us, “Complete my reports. Take everything to the Magister at Constantinople. Complete the mission”. Corvus then goes limp. Thankfully he is not dead, but is fallen unconscious. We exit the cave system and return along the trail to Ghilian.

Homeward bound: At the Ghilian Outpost we report our victory to Longinus. We tell him as much as we dare. The cult of The Flayed is defeated. It’s leader dead. The plague is ended. We tend to our injuries. Corvus remains unconscious—in a deep coma. Emeric remains sightless. After a night’s rest we set out across Asia Minor to Cyzicus and from there charter a boat to Constantinople.


30th March 330 AD

Constantinople: Corvus is still in a coma. We place him in the care of Lady Udicia. As our leader cannot himself report to the Magister Militum, Alexius Gamallus, we go to see him ourselves and hand over the cursed knife and Corvus’ reports (we’ve had to complete the final pages ourselves). The Magister takes these into his possession and congratulates us on our accomplishment. He reminds us that our mission was a secret one, and that everything we have seen and done is to be kept secret.


12th May 330 AD

Rewards: In April, the city entered into a period of celebration for its dedication as Nova Roma, the capital of the new eastern empire. At the conclusion of the celebrations we receive our promised rewards from the Magister—money, deeds to properties, citizenship and most important of all our release from twenty years of military service.

A Wedding: In the days following our return to Constantinople, Corvus recovered his wits. He finally feels it’s time to take a wife—as he had always envisaged, he and Lady Udicia are finally to marry. Today is the day. We gather aboard a pleasure barge, the Plethora, along with several other guests to witness the wedding. We all look fine in our best civilian fashions. Music, wine and food are plentiful. As the sun begins to set, Corvus and Udicia make their entrance and a young priest joins them in wedlock. Corvus proposes a toast: “To the friends of Tribune Comites Tillius Corvus” We raise our wine cups and drink deeply. Within seconds our stomachs cramp—a burning wave of illness comes over us. Corvus continues to speak: “But of course, he needs no friends because he is dead”. He then bites at the throat of his new bride, ripping her flesh and gorging on her blood. The poisoned guests convulse in agony on the deck of the pleasure barge. Corvus produces a sword from its hiding place. None of us, now civilian, is armed. And none of us, due to the poison, is able to effectively put up a defence—Damanais, Milonius, Balsir, Senilis and blind Emeric—one by one we are brutally slain.

Postscript: There is a footnote to the collected accounts of Tillius Corvus. The only references to Corvus after the events aboard The Plethora, are vague and half-legendary. The references are of Corvus the Vampire, called alternatively The Unclean— colloquially translated as Fenalik.


.

My life! These write-ups are brilliant! Top work fella!