When the Dead Rise Again (Xemmomt)

Midnight.

In some cultures it is called the witching hour... and tonight, there certainly is some magic taking place in the Gallows Hill Cemetary. By whom is unknown, as they are vieled by the darkness, they leave before the magic has taken its course, and the only two witnesses are asleep... one sleeps like the dead.

But now it's time for one to wake, as the magic flows through his long unused veins. A decaying hand punches its way through the packed dirt of the grave. The graveborn has risen... his past forgotten and his future unknown.

A great and sorrowful wail cascaded with the corpse from the desecrated earth, spewing it forth into the world, not with love, but unyielding pain that it quickly identified as the pangs of hunger.

Shifting quickly about the open grave, its womb and only sanctuary, the reanimate began scanning the cemetery, its nose instinctively seeking out the smell of flesh...

The scent of living flesh comes from two sources, the village beyond the walls of the graveyard and one significantly closer; a small figure curled up next to a tombstone a few yards away. Had this creature seen the graveborn's supposed master? Did it know more about him than even the former man himself? If this was so, would it be wise to sate his hunger on this being?

Approaching closer, the ghoulish atrocity tilted his... his head in curiosity. This was either a child or a very small humanoid. As he pondered on this for but a moment, the pain rose in a sharp crescendo, doubling him over with a tortured scream.

At the ghoul's second howl, the figure starts, scrambling to its feet and examining the source of the noise. The small nekomimi yawned and stepped closer to the to the graveborn, her eyes not afraid, simply curious. "Vjoumw?" she asked quietly, taking another step closer, "Vjoumw?"

It was a child! He could dimly remember what that was, and that he happened to like children beyond how they might taste.

"No...," he stepped back, waving his hands frantically as a warning so the little sprout would know to run if he lost control completely, "No no no! Get out of here!"

"Semtja?" The small girl asked him, taking another step closer as her eyes lit up with recognition. "Viiw!" she cried with a smile, taking the graveborn's "hand" and trying to lead him out of the graveyard.

With mingled confusion and terror, the fledgling undead was lead by the claw out of the graveyard by the little girl.

"Hey," he rasped as he held his loosely stitched abdomen, "Listen! If you don't ditch me and take off, yer gunna be dinner, ya understand kid??"

"Viiw! Viiw! Viiw!" the nekomimi cried cheerily, skipping along, occasionally looking up at the ghoul with bright, cheerful eyes. She still showed no fear of the graveborne. Apparently, he was being led away from the village, towards what looked like a small farmhouse a short distance away.

'Oh hell,' the undead cringed, 'This kid's taking me to meet her parents!'

Deciding it was for the best to get away from this child without a survival instinct before his own took over, the ghoul broke from her grip and took off sprinting, hoping that when the pain became too much he'd smell something that wouldn't be as regrettable to eat.

"Hgil! Viiw!" the girl cried as the ghoul ran away. She seemed to make no effort to chase after the former man, however, he wasn't free from her yet. A brief glance back revealed the nekomimi had disappeared, but a look forward showed her standing right in his path.

"VIIW!" she shouted, grabbing the graveborne around the legs. Without warning, the ground shifted under his feet as the pair rocketed through the shadows, appearing in front of the farmhouse. "Viiw!" she cried a final time pointing through a window.

The scene inside was a grisley one, walls seemed to be covered in blood. Other than that room seemed bare, until a man moved into view. Only then did the little girl show anything other than happieness, shrinking away at the mere sight of the man.

It smelled of blood alright, but there was something different about this scene... it smell wrong. Two-week-old rotten meat wrong. And that man wreaked of it.

Repulsed but desperate, the ghoul found himself in the doorway to the farmhouse before he even realized he had moved, lightning striking ominously behind him as he looked on at the man in something resembling disgust.

"Where is that damn freak of a cat... I'll take it out of her hide when she gets back," the man said, not noticing the newcomer. Upon seeing the shadow cast on the floor, he turned, "Dammit Xyg, what took yo-" the words died on his lips as he saw the owner of the shadow.

"I guess Xyg can thank me later," the ghoul quipped humorlessly from his sullen face before lunging for the man with a bestial growl.

~~~~~~~
Xemmomt rolls Swiftness; result = X
~ 17 + Swiftness 6 = 23 total
~~~~~~~

The member 'Narrator' has done the following action : Roll Dice:

'd20' : 17

The man yelled in surprise as the graveborne came flying at him, trying to bring up his axe to protect him from the attack to come.

~~~~
Unknown rolles Swiftness:
Roll 8 + Swiftness 5 = 13

The member 'Proscenia' has done the following action : Roll Dice:

'd20' : 8

With a feral snarl, the creature flung itself at its intended victim heedless of the axe, slashing and biting mercilessly with hungry eyes.

~~~~~~~
Xemmomt attacks Man with Claw 1
~ 15 + Attack 16 + Claws 6 + Fighter 4 = 41 total

Xemmomt attacks Man with Claw 2
~ 19 + Attack 16 + Claws 6 + Fighter 4 = 45 total

Xemmomt attacks Man with Claw 3
~ 14 + Attack 16 + Claws 6 + Fighter 4 = 40 total

Xemmomt attacks Man with Claw 4
~ 9 + Attack 16 + Claws 6 + Fighter 4 = 35 total

Xemmomt attacks Man with Claw 5
~ 9 + Attack 16 + Claws 6 + Fighter 4 = 35 total

Xemmomt attacks Man with Claw 6
~ 1 + Attack 16 + Claws 6 + Fighter 4 = 27 total

Xemmomts attacks Man with Bite
~ 17 + Attack 16 + Bite 6 = 39 total
~ ~ Autocombines with Poison Attack
~ ~ ~ 1 + Magic 20 = 21 total
~~~~~~~

The member 'Narrator' has done the following action : Roll Dice:

'd20' : 15, 19, 14, 9, 9, 1, 17, 1

The man screamed as he was ripped to shreads by the graveborne's claws, rended limb from limb until all that was left was flesh to sate his voracious hunger.

~~~~~~
Unknown man Defends: 16, 4, 2, 7, 8, 10, 17, 12

Claw 1: Roll 16 + Light Armor 2 + Defense 5 = 22 (-23 HP, Perfect K.O.)

Claw 2: Roll 4 + Light Armor 2 + Defense 5 = 11 (Dude is dead)

Claw 3: Roll 2 + Light Armor 2 + Defense 5 = 9 (Why did I even add these up?)

Claw 4: Roll 7 + Light Armor 2 + Defense 5 = 14 (Kinda pointless now)

Claw 5: Roll 8 + Light Armor 2 + Defense 5 = 15 (Okay I give up)

The member 'Proscenia' has done the following action : Roll Dice:

'd20' : 16, 4, 2, 7, 8, 10, 17, 12

By the time the graveborn regained consciousness enough to know what he was doing, he was already grinding the man's bare bones in his teeth.

With a start, he looked around to see if the little girl was anywhere to be found.

The little girl smiled at him from the doorway. Noticing he was done, she skipped to his side, smiling up at him and tugging at his pant leg, "Xemmomt!" she said, pointing up at the graveborne with a bright smile, "Xemmomt! Suji!"

"Not a clue what you just said there, but you're welcome I guess," the ghoul shook his head at the emotionally disturbed runt that still wasn't afraid of him and rose to his feet, looking out the window, "You should be okay for the night since I'm full, but just till morning."

With that, he walked a little further into the shadows before looking back, "Gonna stand there and catch your death of cold?"

"Xemmomt! Xemmomt! Vjoumw!" The girl cried cheerily, skipping to the ghoul's side and reaching up to take his hand again. If he listened carefully, he could hear the nekomimi purring softly.