The Many Deaths of Terris
“Terris lumbered up the mountain side, cursing as he slid here and there, looking ever behind him. His pants grew louder and louder, straining to get himself up. As much as the gravelly surface hindered him, he could only hope his Ancestors would curse his pursuers with worst luck than him. Going up, he paused at slight Plataea that jutted out of the dull gray rock and looked down upon the scene and gasped.
“The zombies had not let up, they kept creeping and moving a slow methodical climb up, slow as they did, they never seemed to faulter as they went, and were closer than he thought.
“Ancestors fuck me!”
He took up his hefty iron pistol, a warped thing of metal and wood, wrapped around each other into and hard horned point looking more like a silly crusty trumpet, than a weapon. Loading the powder in a deep practiced methodical move, Terris looked up as he rammed the solid metal bearing down the guns gullet. As one of the zombies opened its maw at him, looking upon Terris with an eyeless skull head, writhing in maggots, the Stout dwarf roared as he let loose a shot. The sound thundered across the mountain and the shot sped hard and in mean a spin and ripped through the skull of the zombie, exploding chunks of necrotic flesh about. Seeming to lose balance at the loss of it’s head, it tried to stand on the rolling rocks, and proceeded to tumble, black rotten blood splashing about, rolling down the side, ramming into the plague of zombies as it did, causing a small avalanche of pebbles and half-dead bodies to go down the mountain.
Terris grinned at himself, happy his plan was working. For now.
Terris worked his way up knowing that zombies, as putrefied body bags of plagued meat, were still persistent when a necromancers sends them on their way. And since the last words uttered by the Blackskull Priest was “Rip his cock off and gag him with it”, Terris decided not to take chances.
Reaching a mountain clearing, Terris legs wobbled on hard ground a bit as he got back footing, relieved to have some ground to run on.
Moving his way towards the path that would lead him through, he hoped to make his way down to the Elkoro Forest and hopefully down Eldyne river towards the Roar Tooth sea and be protected at least from the Undead monsters after him. Their at the Red Barter Station he should catch a rail to Borel.
He would have to tend to insane druids before then, but that was a whole other matter.
Moving down, rock to rock, he let his round squat eyes peer into the dark gloom ahead of him, the darkness peeling away under a sudden green glare from his eyes as he peered through. Dwarves, living with the earth, knew darkness before light, and have a hold on keen senses in the darkness. Hopping about, Terris went into a trot as he moved into the rock formations ahead. Moving around he calculated that he could have a good 3 hours break from the zombies if he kept his pace, and if he played his cards, he would reach sunrise by the river and be home free.
He didn’t see the arrow that hit him as so much hear it.
The hard thunk of the metal tip of metal scales made enough force for him to lose a step but could not cause any real damage to him, the point not breaching even his cloth shirt. Looking with wide green eyes, he looked about as looked to see what could have shot him.
That what she wanted.
A snap of a second bowstring and the second arrow lodged in his throat fast enough to sting before the blood pooled out.
Terris fell back, his arms grabbing pistol and short sword out in a fast-whirl,. He labored his breathing any huff, and the blood spilled down his shirts and his throat at same time, never panicking at his fatal wound. This was the control he learned so well as a Royal Knife for the King of Borel, and now his unknown assailant would know how far such a warrior can go.
The would-be assassins clutched the darkness around Terris, trying to creep like shadows upon him.
“Smart fuckas, yeh be, making me shift like that.”
A sliding foot, and twirl of a cloak only answered back
“Knew ya couldn’t hurt a son of da urt by da back, so ya got to get me bai da front, eh?’
More silence and movement
“Well den… not much for talk. So lets get dis over wit!”
A figure came howling in.
Terris met the eye of the assasins with a thrust of his axe swinging wildly with a roar but only catching air. Now he had to backtrack as the black clad assassins came at him, hissing in a foreign tongue for his death.
“Come oon now, you sons of beeches, les’s see what ju got!” bellowed the already wounded dwarf, not sure if this was his end in this world.
The shorter of the two murderers coiled back, as the other closed in blades swinging in sequential arcs of steel. Certain death would have befallen Terris, but dwarven training and magical prowess came to aid, his magical axe covering several blows. As one blow glanced off his armor, Terris winds around, slicing down. The assasin reels back, the axe humming as it slices the cloak of the black thing that walked as man.
That’s when the others shadow seemed to ripple and came at Terris with preternatural speed the blades dripping green gore and smoking haze.
Terris did not flinch, but met what he guessed to be the assasins face with bloody swear and swiped at the shadow. The axe now bellowed as it sank deep into the shadowed flesh. What seemed to sound like whore queefing exuded from the wound and the thing fell with a sick thud, a sick piece of meat wrapped in rags.
The other shadow curled about the rock walls seeming to be astonished at it’s compatriots death
“Aight, ya’ piece of black sissy smoke, come meet yer end, too!”
******
Terris is a veteran adventurer, soldier, spy, and thief and has a wealth of knowledge and experience in everything of Essidarius, from it’s people and politics to magic and the supernatural. They Call him Terris the Unkillable, because many of the famous stories have him dying in the end. This is al Terris idea, for the best way to cover ones tracks is to misinform and he uses that to his advantage.
Terris is a good man, all in all, but he doesn’t mind getting dirty in any way, and has been known to associate with both good (his child hood friend, Semec, is Dwarven High Priest of Grome) and also the bad (He buys his daily weed and plays chess with Guuuttrrrrkrunch, a Mindflayer herbalist) so it’s possible he will seek out bale bodies to help him in vairous quest and could be a source for adventure ideas for your characters and for your campaign.
Rumors:
+Even though the Royal Knives are now out of Active duty and are only held as retinue to the Good Prince of Borel, Terris seems to be the most visibly active, coming in and out with various stories and odd tales. Many of these stories seem to not make sense when you put them together, which maybe a way for Terris to keep misinforming and making sure people don’t know the truth of his comings and goings.
+Some Believe Terris to be a rogue agent of the court, somebody doing the dirty work for the Prince so that he may not get his hands dirty. Others says that the Prince himself and other Royal Knives want him dead as much as anyone else.
+Terris recently has been seen in the northern plains and hillside cities and town with a necromancer named Shadib Null and has been helping him against some new secret evil.
Terris, the Unkillable, Member of the Royal Knives
male mountain dwarf Brd2/Rog7/Rgr3 CR 12
HD 9d6+3d10; hp 56
Init +4 Spd 20 ft
AC 28/24, touch 16, flat-footed 28/24
(+4 Dex,+2 nat,+4 armor,+2 armor enh.,+2 shield,+2 shield enh.,+2 defl.);
BAB +9; Melee trident +12/+7 (1d8+5+2d6 holy) and punching dagger +12 two-handed (1d4+3+1d6 fire/x3), or trident +14/+9 (1d8+5+2d6 holy), or punching dagger +14/+9 light (1d4+5+1d6 fire/x3); Ranged BRONZEARMS PISTOL +15/+10 (1d8+6/x3)
SA sneak attack +4d6, +1 attack vs goblinoids, +1 attack vs orcs;
SQ +2 save vs fear, +2 save vs spells, +4 dodge vs giants, bardic knowledge, bardic music, darkvision 60′, evasion, favored enemy (1), uncanny dodge (AC), uncanny dodge (flank);
AL CN;
SV Fort +7, Ref +13, Will +5;
Str 18(+4), Dex 18(+4), Con 11(+0), Int 13(+1), Wis 9(-1), Cha 17(+3).
Skills and Feats: HIDE+8(5), SPOT+8(7), LISTEN+7(6), MOVE SILENTLY+7(4), appraise+4(3), balance+11(6), climb+9(6), decipher script+4(3), disable device+2(1), disguise+4(1), escape artist+6(3), forgery+2(1), jump+14(9), knowledge(arcana)+3(2), knowledge(geography)+2(1), knowledge(religion)+2(1), open lock+10(6), perform+8(5), pick pocket+9(6), spellcraft+3(2), tumble+16(11), use magic dev+8(5), use rope+5(1), wilderness lore+3(4);
alertness, ambidexterity, combat reflexes, endurance, great fortitude, quick draw, track, two-weapon fighting.
Brd Spells Known: (cast 3/1) (DC = 13 + spell level) 0–Detect Magic, Flare, Mage Hand, Mending, Open/Close; 1–Grease, Hypnotism.
Equipment: +1 Bronzearm Pistol (distance), +1 punching dagger (`flaming), 39 +1 bullet(s) (distance), +1 trident (`holy), +2 adamantine chain shirt (spell resistance (13)), +2 mithral large shield (blinding), Bag of Holding (Bag 2), Candle of Truth, Scarab Golembane (stone), `Amulet of Natural Armor (+2), `Cloak of Charisma +2, `Gauntlets of Strength +2, `Gloves of Dexterity +2, `Ring – Protection +2, Archenon Circle, a royal seal of service to the King of Borel, Potion of Alter Self, Potion of See Invisibility, Potion of Vision, Scroll of Detect Good (CL1), Scroll of Detect Secret Doors (CL1), 21 gp.