Of Revenants

Season 01 - Episode 02.

The southernmost fortification of the Thacean Empire finds itself under siege from a single enemy.

Alaric Von Beller - George Ledoux

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Created by Apocalypse Studios

 

 

Episode Transcript

(00:01):
Twenty-third of Lau, in the year 218 afterDeadhaus
I was at Fort Zaestra when it was taken bythe dead.
Many believe the city fell to overwhelmingnumbers, but this is not the truth.
Countless large-scale forces had besiegedthose fortress walls, and all of them were repelled.

(00:25):
It was not an army, but a single being thatbrought ruin to Fort Zaestra.
On that day, I was in a dispute with the actingcommander of the fort, Knight-Captain Harwin.
I urged him to allow me to study the remainsof the undead, to learn what weaknesses might
be uncovered, but he forbade it, saying theyshould all be burned instead.

(00:50):
He was right, of course, according to Imperialdecree.
I could have claimed I had been sent underemergency orders to collect a specimen, but
if that fabrication found its way to the Emperor,I would hang for it.
Our argument was interrupted by a guard, breathlessand drenched with rain.

(01:11):
He told us that a Templar of the Ashen Ringstood at the gates, and Harwin and I exchanged glances.
Even in those days, few of the Ashen Ringremained, and each of them was invaluable
in the war against the dead.
We sped at once to the gates and saw the armoredfigure standing silently in the rain.

(01:34):
A gray mantle covered his head and drapedfrom his shoulders, and on his breastplate
was the emblem of the Ashen Ring, unmistakableeven in the downpour.
In one hand hung a mighty war maul.
“Thank the gods,” Harwin said.
“Lower the bridge.
Let him pass.”

(01:55):
“I should question him first,” I said.
“You can question him when he’s inside,Inquisitor,” Harwin answered.
The chains and pulleys rattled as the bridgewas lowered, and the armored figure strode forward.
Yet as he neared, a bolt of lightning streakedacross the sky, and for a moment his face

(02:16):
was illuminated from within his mantle.
He had no eyes.
“Raise the bridge!!”
I shrieked.
Harwin, stunned by my outburst, said nothing,and his men looked to him, bewildered.
“That is no Templar!
Raise the bridge at once!”
This time they sprung into action.

(02:36):
Seeing that it would not reach us in time,the dead thing hefted its enormous maul overhead
with one hand and hurled it at one of thewindlass chains.
The weapon severed the chain, clattering tothe now disabled bridge, and the armored
figure stepped slowly forward.

(02:58):
“Sound the alarm, Harwin!”
I commanded.
“I will stay and fight!” he protested.
“You can fight when you’ve sounded thealarm, captain.”
He knew better than to quarrel now, and flewto his task.
The guards worked frantically to seal thewooden doors behind the iron gate that stood
between us and oncoming death.

(03:20):
Soon a blow fell against the gates with suchforce that fragments of wood splintered inward.
A second blow fell, impossibly hard, as iffrom a battering ram.
The third blow fell with such violence thatthe gates were shattered open, wood and iron alike.

(03:40):
And there it stood, the Revenant, wreathedin violet flames that gave no heat.
For a moment, no one moved, and I could feelthe malice of its eyeless gaze like a leaden
weight upon me.
One of the guards struck first, thrustinga spear that lodged into a gap in the Revenant’s

(04:02):
armor, but it gave no indication that it feltany pain.
Its cloaked face simply turned to the guard,who still gripped his spear in paralyzed terror.
It then grabbed the guard by his face, andin one motion, shoved his head into a wall
so that it splattered like a meat pie.
Battle broke out in earnest then, and thatis when I observed firsthand the nature of

(04:26):
a Revenant.
Though many blows were struck against thiscreature, it was not impeded by wounds.
This is not uncommon among the undead, butwhat truly defied explanation was that it
seemed as if the physical harm that was doneto it actually strengthened the Revenant.
Violence, both taken and given, fed the violetfires that enveloped its armored form.

(04:51):
Those that it struck with its maul were instantlymangled, like victims of cannon fire.
Yet sometimes, for no reason I could discernother than pure hate, it did not use its maul,
preferring instead its armored fists.
The flesh and bone of mortal men yielded tothe Revenant’s hands as wet clay to a sculptor,

(05:13):
and it remade their bodies in the image ofcrimson ruin.
I observed for as long as I could, but darednot engage so vicious a foe, especially without
my implements at the ready.
I had no choice but to retreat and reportmy findings to the Emperor… but how do you

(05:34):
destroy that which is fueled by destruction?
I do not know what became of Harwin, thoughI heard the city bells sounding the alarm
as I fled.
He succeeded in that, at least.
A portion of the soldiers would remain behindto secure the escape of the rest.
It was for them and Fort Zaestra that thebells tolled that day.

(06:01):
– Alaric von Beller, Grand Inquisitor ofthe Thacean Empire