An Insignificant Castle

[Enter from Desert Burial Grounds.]

After several hours of flight, Edyrian could feel his griffin friend beginning to strain. She wasn't accustomed to carrying two fully-armored passengers, as each labored beat of her wings attested. The knight, who had removed his helm earlier, peered off into the distance unhindered. A decrepit tower poked out on the horizon, no more than a grey smudge to his eyes.

Edyrian patted the griffin on the shoulder with one gauntleted hand. "We're almost to our resting place for the night. Just a little further." He was met with a rumbling trill. Taking that as acknowledgement, Edyrian shifted his position to lean over the side. The passenger was obscured from his sight by the bulk of the griffin, but surely she was still there. He raised his voice in order to be heard over the rushing air. "We'll be landing in a few minutes!"

He righted himself, wincing in anticipation of yet another verbal assault. The knight was fully aware of how rude it had been to leave her dangling from the griffin's claws throughout the journey, but it had seemed the best choice. She would have gotten herself killed had he left her to her own devices, and giving her a seat behind him was begging for a dagger in the neck. It would be much better to deal with her on the ground, where the massive avian creature would be able to assist.

The tower rapidly grew, revealing itself to be a single portion of a larger castle. The griffin extended her wings when the distance had closed sufficiently, gliding in a soft descent. She broke into a fit of furious flapping just over the intended landing point, bringing herself to a standstill. The warrior in her claws was released a moment before the beast landed with a surprisingly soft thud. Her rider climbed off with a quiet groan. Extended flying tended to leave him quite sore.

Edyrian immediately unstrapped his spear from the griffin's side. The young woman seemed quite volatile, and he'd prefer to be able to defend himself should the following conversation turn sour. "Welcome to our temporary campsite! I do apologize for the flight here, but I was reasonably certain you would attempt to kill me if I had given you a seat up top. Assuming that you don't intend to do so now, I ask forgiveness for my uncharitable actions."

The knight cocked an eyebrow at the young woman. Curious. She seemed to recognize the place, and the owner even moreso. Smertas, having lady friends? Perhaps he killed a relative of hers, and this is a revenge-type. It would certainly fit what I've seen of her character...

It felt much safer with her sword safely stowed away. Edyrian casually rested his spear across his left shoulder, ready for use yet projecting a harmless, relaxed vibe. "It's a good place to stay when I'm out in this portion of the wilds. I have a standing invitation, and it would be churlish not to stop by every so often and give the owner my well wishes."

He paused, considering for half a moment how blunt he should be. The internal discussion was quietly almost immediately, as he recalled the behavior of the warrior in front of him. Subtlety would likely soar right over her head. "I'm intrigued. You seem to recognize the flag and, by extension, its owner. How do you know him? He's not exactly the sort to have many friends, as I'm sure you realize."

The abrupt change from aggressive to bashful tipped Edyrian off. The young warrior was in love. With Smertas, no less. Edyrian could understand being comrades with the man, but knowing what he did for a living and remaining besotted with him?

Hmph. There's no accounting for taste. The knight shrugged, turned to the nearby stairwell leading down, and put two fingers in his mouth. A whistle blasted out, tearing at the ears of the creatures about about him. "Fenrig! Here, boy! I am accompanied by a visitor, and I need to make sure you two get along before I take her further!"

Edyrian dismantled tack upon the griffin as he was waiting on the wolf, carefully arranging the leather bits and bobs on a nearby bench. It was soon joined by a smattering of weaponry and armor as he stripped down to a gambeson. The day looked clear, no rain was in sight, and it seemed overcautious to clank about in the hall of a friend. Doubtless the wolf would interrupt him before he could finish this task; removing a suit of plate armor was a lengthy chore.

A group of twenty zombies enter the area. One of them is covered in crystal.

The blood from the undead hordes begins to have an unpleasant effect on the wolf. Zombies move with strange speed to block the blows of the mace to the detriment of the their limbs. It should be noted that other dead beings rise swiftly to attack from all angles making it very difficult to continue focus on the crystal zombie.

Zombie birds fly down at Smertas attacking with beak and tooth, the corpses of bugs begin to rattle moving towards the great warrior with dangerous intent. It should be noted that the original zombies are not faring well and are now down to ten.

Fenrig begins to feel sick.

The crows block his vision making it hard for him to complete his task, and Fenrig is not feeling well.

The Zombie Bugs swarm Smertas covering him.

The zombies fall quickly due to lack of brains, however the crystal zombie shatters into thousands of shards on impact with the weapon.

The zombie bugs are very hard to crush considering how many of them exist in this castle.

The crows attempt to peck out your eyes.

This has some success, but the amount of dead bugs is large and the feet aren't exactly large enough.