A Decaying World - Mortaevum Teaser

Yesterday I spent about 10 hours working on a short teaser movie for Mortaevum, despite it being only about a minute long. I would have preferred to use completely custom material but that won't happen unless I suddenly learn to draw or someone actually draws something for me, apart from covers, that is.

Anyway, here's the movie.

A Decaying World - Chapter 7: A Rift Between Worlds

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Revision 2 is in progress.

 

 

Chapter 7: A Rift Between Worlds

It took them a few hours to reach Desson, a small settlement consisting of nothing more than a handful of beige stone buildings built around a well. Drake had always thought that his home town was one of the smaller villages on Meceruun, but Arlin was a city compared to this desolate town. Judging by the occasional patches of grass it might have been an oasis once but as the old man had told them: the desert won't stop till every trace of life has been extinguished. The village didn't even look like it was inhabited as there wasn't a single person in sight.

“Where is everyone?” asked Maximilian while wiping sweat off his forehead.

“Indoors, I assume. Who'd want to be outside under these conditions?”

Despite having most of his face hidden Drake still felt the immense heat of the desert sun upon his skin. He lost count on how often he stumbled and fell during their journey as the sun continually sapped his energy.

“I thought these cloaks would be a bit more useful,” said Maximilian, wiping the sweat from his forehead once more.

“How about you take it off then and see how worse it gets?” Drake chuckled.

“I'd rather not. Hey, that building looks like a tavern. Might be the perfect place to waste some time while we wait for the temperature to drop.”

Shortly thereafter they stepped through the door and were greeted by complete and utter silence. Every single person in the establishment stared at the newcomers and they could hear sentences like “How did those strangers get here?” or “Maybe they know something about the pillar.” being whispered.

“What? Never seen humans before?” exclaimed Maximilian loudly and the mob was taken aback, instantly returning to whatever they had been doing earlier. Conversations and laughter filled the room as normality ensued.

Short Story - Shadow of Jhola

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Shadow of Jhola

-My first entry-

Dear Diary, my name is Erik Ocild and I'm 38 years old. I serve in the army of Pagan and this might be my last week on earth as the hordes of Golgotha are drawing ever closer to our marvelous city. Most of my friends have died in an offensive which was supposed to stop those monsters once and for all but it failed miserably. All I have left is my wife, who is waiting desperately for me in the small village of Jhola. If Pagan falls so will our home. Perhaps it would have been best to remain there and await our end together.

-The beginning of the end-

Pagan is one of the most beautiful cities in all of Meceruun, as its buildings and walls are made out of white marble which glitters in the sunlight. And thanks to being build by dwarves it's near impenetrable, at least it should have been but the walls have fallen and the hordes have entered the city. Fires rage, buildings crumble, corpses litter the streets...I suppose this is the end. It's only a matter of time till the king gives us his final order: protect the city and its inhabitants at all costs!

-Death-

The city lies in ruins as most districts have been destroyed. There's only one more wall left before the castle itself falls. We've received our order now and will stop them or die trying. I don't expect to write another entry.

Goodbye Lissana.

A Decaying World - Chapter 6: Mirage

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Chapter 6: Mirage

After the beast took over I was banished into the darkness of my mind, only able to see blurry images and listen to the monster's thoughts. The world was plunged into an azure abyss soon after and the vampire's control slipped a little while he fought for his life. I was unable to take over just yet but I could conjure imaginary stairs leading back into the center of my mind. The steps spiraled out of control, turned themselves upside down, became as thin as matchsticks, however, none of his attempts were able to stop me and when I finally reached the top I smashed through a door locked by chains of darkness. Behind it lay a spherical chamber housings hundreds of thousands of light-orbs, all showing moments that had long since passed, although I couldn't remember some of them. A smoke monster swirled through the air and accelerated when it became aware of my instrusion.

“Return to the depths where you belong! I saved your pathetic life and even obeyed your order by taking the human with me. I deserve to be in control for once!”

“You deserve nothing! This is my body, not yours!”

“It is our body and there's nothing you can do about that! Accept your fate and I won't need to take over again!”

“Never!”

Drake materialized a sword in mid-air and grabbed its hilt. It wasn't a shadow sword, though, but one with a crystalline blade. It was bathed in radiant light and started to hum when Drake jumped into the air, ready to battle the beast within.

A Decaying World - Chapter 5: Dying Breath Of Gana Borodem

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Chapter 5: Dying Breath Of Gana Borodem

The light diminished and darkness took over. Drake's body felt like it was on fire but he couldn't see what was happening after being temporarily blinded by the crystal's radiance. He did notice the smell of burned flesh, though, and touched his face with his right arm. His eyes widened in disbelief after noticing the bloody mess that should have been his cheek. What happened?

“You don't look so good, vampire!” responded Maximilian mockingly while pressing his blade into Drake's neck. “Tell me where we are and how I can get back to Pagan and I'll make it quick!”

“How...am I supposed...to know? You...shattered the crystal! And I...can't even see...anything!” Drake was wheezing and trembling, barely able to hold himself upright. It wasn't because of the pain, as vampires have a higher pain threshold than humans, but because most of his energy had been drained.

Maximilian removed his blade and walked in a half-circle across rocky terrain before he spoke once more: “Gosh, you look even worse from the front. Even your eyeballs are burned.”

How did this...was it the light? It has to be, right? He expected an answer from Modera but all he received was a kick to the stomach, which caused him to fall backwards onto rocks.

“Agh, why did you do that?”

“Just making sure that you're not putting on an act. How long will you need to regenerate?”

“I don't...know. I haven't been a vampire...for very long,” his stomach grumbled, as if on cue. “And I don't know...if I have any energy left...to regenerate. What does it even matter...to you? Just kill me already.”

“No, you're not getting off that easy if you can't or won't provide information. And who knows, maybe you can still prove useful as bait for wild animals.”

“I guess we're not in the vicinity...of a city or village?”

“No, we're stuck in the mountains, with cliffs all around us. It's too dark to climb therefore we'll have to spend the night together. That should give you enough time to heal yourself.”

“Don't you...have any potions?” The only potion we need is his blood! Trick him, suck him dry! Shut up!

“Of course I do but I'd have to spend every single one of them to heal wounds as severe as yours. And I'm certainly not going to waste them on an evil creature.”

“I'm not...evil!”

“Sure, you were just playing a little prank by putting every person in the castle to sleep. And I suppose you were joking when you talked about kidnapping me?”

“We didn't do that...because we wanted! Modera...ordered us to.”

“Why?”

“I don't know why!” Drake yelled and suffered a coughing bout.

“Don't strain yourself. We can talk later! Perhaps I'll even believe you this time,” these words were followed by the sound of metal falling onto stones. “I'll try to find some firewood. We have a long night ahead of us. You just stay there.”

“Very funny!”

Maximilian's footsteps would have vanished in the distance but Drake's hearing was going haywire once more. The area was strangely quit, though, only filled by sporadic gusts of air, but Drake was too distracted by his aching skin to care. Maximilian returned 15 minutes later, started a small campfire and went to sleep soon after.

Drake tried to follow his example but was disturbed by strange sounds coming from below: thudding footsteps followed by rattling metal. Whenever they ceased a raspy breathing noise filled the air. Whatever you are, please go away! The moment those thoughts passed his mind the footsteps stopped and the ground shook ever so slightly.