The Morholt soldier drew a knife from his belt and lunged at Redmane.
He was fast. Faster than he ought to be. Redmane tried to grab his wrist, missed the timing, and the dagger slammed straight down to the hilt in his flesh.
Pain bloomed in his chest, but also it kindled the growing fire in his belly. A feeling greater than any pain. A stirring of the powerful hunger in his dream.
Redmane glanced at the dagger hilted in his body, at the drop of blood rolling down from it, its owner's fist tight around the handle, his face twisted into a snarl.
He answered that look with a grin.
Then he picked the soldier up bodily and hurled him across the room. He fell against a rack of pots and pans and collapsed onto the floor face first, a shower of metal cookware clanging down onto him.
The noise roused his companion, who was still feasting on the guts of the kitchen maid. He looked up suddenly; like his mate, his eyes were ablaze with fell energy and his face had undergone a feral transformation.
Beastman Soldier
Monster Type: Corrupted
Level 1
The soldier brandished the same club he'd used to abuse Little Redcap this morning. He snarled and lunged.
But the helpless demi-human was no more. In his place stood a warrior with a frame of solid, defined muscles, a lordly gaze and a heart full of fury.
A swipe from that club clipped Redmane across the chin. Such a blow might have knocked him unconscious before, now it felt like a child’s slap.
There was a clamor of pots and pans as the first soldier got to his feet. In the mean time the other snarled and swung again.
Redmane had a moment now, to adapt to his newfound strength and speed. He caught the end of the club — even as it sped at his face — and held it firm despite its wielder putting every ounce of his weight into the swing.
The soldier growled like a dog and put both of his shaking hands on the club's handle to try and bear down on Redmane. It didn't work. He stood firm, his hand unmoving, his grip like iron.
He made the soldier watch him reach for the handle of the dagger stuck in his chest with his free hand, grip its handle, and slowly draw it out.
Then, faster than the soldier could react, Redmane stabbed him through the face.
The soldier's grip on the club went slack and his arms fell to his sides. He stood there, twitching, crossed eyes gazing up at the dagger sticking out from between them. When Redmane pulled the dagger out, the soldier fell to the floor with a thud.
His comrade had just risen to his feet. Evidently the curse that had overtaken them had not bestowed them with courage, because his red eyes were wide with fear.
He turned around to flee and Redmane threw the dagger at him. It slammed right down to the hilt in the nape of his neck, and that soldier also fell.
Motes of silvery dust rose from the corpses. They flowed through the air into Redmane's body, suffused him with the same kind of sensation he'd felt when he consumed that strange corpse they'd fed him this morning. Only this time the feeling was much milder.
Level Up
Name: Redmane
Level: 2
Class: None
Qualities:
Might 4
Grace 4
Fortitude 4
Corpus 100
Gnosis 100
Armor +0
Evasion +0
Quality Points awaiting allocation: 1
The System was showing Redmane the faculties of his own body and mind.
He had one 'Quality Point' to spend. So, the power he claimed from fallen foes could be transmuted into greater strength for himself.
The thought made him eager to find more things to slay.
Skill Rank Increased
—
Omnivore
Monster Skill
Rank 1 - Evolution Possible
Passive
(Rank 0) The Monster derives sustenance from anything, and its digestion produces no waste. Its teeth and jaws can chew through most substances with sustained effort.
(Rank 1) The Monster's consumption of flesh restores its Corpus, and consumption of mana restores Gnosis. Flesh or mana consumed beyond the maximum shall be stored, and will cause Corpus and Gnosis to regenerate as they are expended until the surplus is exhausted.
—
And the Skill he'd been born with increased in rank as well. Its description seemed to explain that the more he ate, the more vitality and power he would have in reserve...
—
Level 2 Attained
Select a Common Class
Common Classes constitute the foundation of the ranks of the Imbued. All Classes in the Imperium System arise from these four.
Warrior
Frontline combatants who train in the arts of arms and armor, in order to slay with brutal efficiency and shield their comrades from harm. A Warrior's might is the backbone of the Coterie.
Hunter
Wanderers of the wild, Hunters stand between civilization and the untamed world. Regardless of their chosen fighting style, all Hunters specialize in navigating the wilderness and tracking prey.
Magister
Students of the divine arts of spellcraft. Whether they devote themselves to one discipline of magic or become proficient with many, all Magisters channel the godly energies which weave the universe together.
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Justiciar
Master investigators trained in the ways of stealth, deception and criminality, Justiciars seek the truth of events, situations and people, so that the guilty may be brought to justice. Their sharp senses, skillful hands and social cunning make them indispensable to any Coterie.
—
Redmane considered his options. The arts of spellcraft were interesting, but one had to read books and memorize incantations and rites and so forth. He wasn't keen on that. The Justiciar sounded like someone who locked people in cages, which he also wasn't fond of. Warrior tempted him, but the Hunter spoke to him most clearly.
He may have looked more human now than he had this morning, but in his heart he would always be a thing of the wild.
He made his choice.
—
Common Class Bestowed: Hunter
Class Proficiencies Bestowed:
Armed Combat
Unarmed Combat
Archery
Alertness
Animal Ken
Wilderness Survival
Stealth
Lore of Land and Water
Lore of Herbalism
Class Skills Bestowed:
Hunter's Mark
Common Class Skill
Rank 1 - Evolution Possible
Sustained - (No Gnosis Cost)
The Imbued selects a single creature or type of creatures in an area to be marked as Prey, which confers an advantage to the Imbued when attacking and defending themselves from creatures thusly marked.
One creature or creature type may be marked as Prey at a time, and changing this designation requires a second use of the Skill.
Tracking
Common Class Skill
Rank 1 - Evolution Possible
Passive
The Imbued is capable of following subjects through the wilderness, using the subtle physical signs of their passage and his higher senses as a Hunter. Any corporeal being may be tracked, but a creature or creature type marked as Prey by the Hunter's Mark ability is especially easy to follow.
—
Redmane carefully read these descriptions. He looked down at the two dead Morholt family soldiers at his feet, and nominated their type as Prey.
[Beastman] type chosen as Prey.
All of a sudden, Redmane sensed presences all around him, throughout the castle. Thirty of them or so, a peacetime castle garrison.
Unfortunately for them, this night wouldn't be so peaceful.
He took another look at the Tasks the System had presented to him when he awoke.
Tasks:
1. Slay Rodimir, Master of Hounds
2. Slay Castellan Caslav
3. Slay Lord Abrahm Morholt
Tasks Completed: 0/3
The Castellan would be in the keep or the gatehouse. Lord Morholt himself would probably be in his private apartments or the Great Hall. And Rodimir and his kennels were inside the outer bailey, on the right hand side of the yard. Which meant he'd be the easiest one to get to.
But before he left the kitchen, he spotted one more item to attend to. A 'Quality Point' to be spent on one of his six Qualities. He gazed at the list for a moment, selected 'Might' and allocated the point to it.
Might 4 --> Might 5
There was a swell of energy in his body. He felt his muscles, bones and tendons warm for a moment, as if he briefly stood before a healthy fire.
Nearby there stood a human sized statue of Patia, small god of cooks and kitchens. Redmane walked over to it and struck it across the neck with his right claw.
He expected his claws to furrow the stone.
He didn't expect to swipe Patia's head and shoulder clean off.
Flecks of masonry and dust sprayed to the left like shrapnel from a bomb. Patia's head flew across the room with such force that it shattered on the wall to Redmane's left in a second spray of pebbles and fine powder.
He held up his hand. Stared at it. He felt his heart beating faster and faster.
"Gods..."
It was the first word he'd spoken in this new form, and the sound of his own voice startled him. It was deep and resonant. It sounded regal.
Whatever had happened to him, whatever had happened to this place, these were surely gifts from the heavens. Such things could not be cast aside or disregarded.
He was a new being now. And he had been given a purpose.
To slay all these bastards.
Redmane set off from the kitchen with vigor in his stride.
On his way he noticed more evidence of what had transpired while he was unconscious and dreaming. Cooks and kitchen maids lay about the place, mauled, dismembered, disemboweled, not in the kitchen and larder but throughout the castle undercroft. It seemed that the Morholt soldiers had undergone the opposite of his own transformation.
He became more like a man, while they became more like beasts.
Strange. What could it mean.
The sound of soldier's boots made him stop a moment, press himself against the stone wall and peer around the corner.
A trio of bestial Morholts chatted as they patrolled down the hallway. At its end sat the staircase out of the undercroft and up into the castle yard. They all had that gleam in their eye, and their faces were feral and stained with dried blood.
Evidently they were talking about how much fun they had today. One of them pantomimed choking to death and the other two let out a harsh laugh.
Beastman Soldier
Monster Type: Corrupted
Level 1
Redmane waited for them to get closer. He kept perfectly still and quieted his breathing.
They laughed and bantered amongst themselves, their voices getting farther away at first, and then closer as they reached the end of the long hall and turned around to patrol back toward where he lie in wait to ambush them.
And at last they were within reach.
One of them caught a flash of crimson hair out the corner of his eye, too late. A roar like that of a lion came out of Redmane as he lunged, taking the soldier off his feet, pinning him on his back as his jaws crunched down on a mail clad neck.
But that chainmail might as well have been linen. Redmane bit right through it and the flesh beneath, exulted in the flow of hot, coppery blood into his mouth.
The other two staggered back in shock, their eyes wide. Then they drew steel, two swords rasping from their hilts on either side of Redmane and his first victim.
Blades bit into his back, but he was too engrossed with his meal to deal with their owners yet. He opened wide and tore off a huge chunk of the soldier's neck and shoulder, swallowed it nearly whole.
Corpus: 112
In the back of his mind he worked it out.
Damage to his form reduced his Corpus, eating flesh healed it back, and then some. The more he ate, the more vitality his body would have. That was how it seemed, at least.
If he ate three men whole, would he have the vitality of three men held in reserve?
There was a way to find out.
He stood up to face his assailants, who didn't look too sure of their chances despite outnumbering him. Their eyes, aglow with power as they were, remained wide with fear as they held their swords tightly and circled him with short, hesitant steps.
One stabbed at him. He grabbed the blade of the sword, indifferent to how deeply it gashed into his palm, and wrenched it away from the soldier while his other claw struck downward, ripping the soldier's face open so hard the momentum made him faceplant on the stone floor.
The other one seemed to realize his time had come. He braced himself, let out a cry, and charged at Redmane, leading with the point of his sword aimed at Redmane's gut.
Redmane let the stab through. Steel pierced his body, came out the other side. He glared down at the soldier, reached out and grabbed both his smaller hands with one of his own, and pushed the sword the rest of the way in. All the way to the hilt.
Then he bit the poor bastard's head from his shoulders.
Level Up
Level 2 —> 3
Quality Points awaiting allocation: 1
Silver mist rose from the bodies and flowed into him. As before, he felt the small rush of power, but at the moment he had something else on his mind.
Fresh meat.
Redmane fell upon the bodies, chomping down every scrap of them. Armor, clothes, weapons and all. He felt his wounds closing rapidly, and there was a feeling of extra energy in his flesh afterward.
Corpus: 277
Omnivore had apparently improved the speed at which he ate, as well. He consumed three whole human bodies in the time it would take a normal person to eat half an apple.
His Corpus gain wasn't good as he'd hoped, but he had let them harm him. And they were weak anyways. There would be stronger game somewhere nearby.
In a moment of calm after eating, it occurred to him that he wasn’t wearing anything. The rags he’d worn in his previous form must have ripped apart when his body changed. He rummaged around the kitchen area for a bit, and found things to wear. More rags, mostly. The important parts were a pair of breeches, a sturdy belt and a ragged cloak.
Perhaps he should seek out more food before facing Rodimir. The more Corpus he had in reserve, the more punishment he could take, after all. It would make sense to slay and eat every last monster he could find in this castle.
That thought, ‘slay and eat every last monster,’ sent a thrill down his spine.
Redmane never felt such a hunger before. It roiled in his guts. His bloody hands shook with excitement.
It felt as though he'd awakened from a long slumber only to find himself ravenous.
How fortunate that a whole feast had been laid out before him.
Ahead of him lay the staircase. And at the top of it, a castle full of prey.
He growled and and sprang into a run.