Sunday, November 04, 2001

Walls
By Chok Madwolfe Reddpaw

Many men charged the walls and died at the hands of the defenders. Aye, they charged through the shallow water, though it chilled them to the bone. The attackers even swam the mote, to no avail. Some froze in the chilling water, others just drowned under the weight of their armor, overconfident that they “were strong and could do it”. I told them to discard their armor if they were to take that route...

The young never listen...

I remember... I remember when the few bowmen at the parapets stopped them. I remember when they swarmed over the walls and died upon them...

Many men charged the walls and died, leaving friends... families.
They died because they believed in something. They had a dream...

A dream to survive, to conquer.

Many centuries of war and plague swarmed over these walls. The spirits of the dead litter it’s interior like blood in a goblet.


Here is their story...

I watched as my men charged the walls of the monster known as The Marauder, the first wave to soften the lines. I watched them get slaughtered by the defenders on the walls. It remained this way for two of the waves I sent forth. All dead... All two hundred of them.

The third wave finally made purchase on the walls edge only to be slain as they got an arm over the stones. I decided to send both the fourth and fifth waves together. Should have done so earlier.

I led the last charge, hoping against hope that we would prevail. I rallied my men and we charged the walls, our horses dying underneath us. The archers had finally been eliminated.
We continued our charge as we closed to the walls using the corpses of our fallen comrades as an entrance ramp.

We finally made it inside the castle. Odd, perhaps our intelligence reports were incorrect. Perhaps He is not here...

Looking back, I remember thinking we were duped, that it was all a wasted effort. Wasted blood.

The interior defenders were not so stalwart as those outside. We took the castle and started searching. Those of us who remained.

Where was He? My remaining men filled the castle and searched all the rooms. We then started searching the floors below. Watching the hallway as my men continued the search, I spied something in the corner of my eye...HIM!!! It was Him. He was upon us before we could react. Like a blinding windstorm of blades and teeth. It is true. The rumors are true, He is a Berserker. I tried to act, tried to issue commands to my men, they fell on deaf ears, for death had come for them. He slew 60 of my men in the halls, spraying the walls with their blood, and drinking the excess. His bastard sword drank much blood before he finally threw it down and charged us with his bear hands, nay...not hands, talons. His hands were talons. His nails were so large as to appear as talons. And just as effective. I thought my armor would protect me; I was mistaken, caught in my own moment of overconfidence. He found a weakness in the armor and tore my head off...


Many men have died amongst these walls, I know because I was there. I am now one of many spirits that fill these walls with our essence, our bodies long dead and gone. There were other battles, but all I could do is watch... for a while.

That is another story, one for another time...