Board Thread:Roleplaying/@comment-19164168-20170111042546/@comment-24280666-20170112162217

"Sir, we haven't heard back from the troupe that trailed the Thieves back to their base, and it's been several hours." the Messenger gulped, sweating anxiously.

The Imperial Commander was silent, his brow furled back in anger.

"Sir?" the Messenger nervously asked.

"Boy, get my personal guards and a Mage. I'll handle this myself, as it appears your pitiful and inadequate militia can't catch a few simple thieves." the Commander ordered in a slow voice, spitting at the word 'thieves'.

The Messenger stood there, shocked at what the Commander had said.

The Commander looked at the boy, before getting to his feet and yelling "Go!", causing the Messenger to run off, almost tripping over himself in his haste.

--

"Get that hatch open!" the Imperial Commander shouted, as the two guards pulled hard on the trapdoor, barely moving it. The Commander cursed, then called for a battlemage to blast it open.

The Mage readied a fireball, but before he could cast, the hatch simply swung open, pouring out a choking black mist. Wisp-like tendrils of shadow flew out, grabbing the soldiers who had tried to open the trap door, and that was all the Commander could see before the black mist clouded his vision.

The Commander heard the screams of his soldiers, and an odd hissing laughter-like sound. Swatting at the air, trying to clear the mist, he advanced angrily towards the opening. Succeeding in clearing away a small portion of the mist, he saw the rungs of the ladder. He quickly jumped onto the ladder, sliding down the ladder into the underground.

Upon entering the base, the mist cleared, leaving him with the sight of his soldiers, who lay disemboweled on the ground, their innards blackened and strewn around the room. Around his personal soldiers, he also saw the troupe, one of whom had been decapitated, one maimed and left eye-less, and the other three stabbed in the neck and shoulders. He yelled up to the Mage, screaming at him to come down, but the Mage was no longer there, he had fled after the mist. Cursing, the Commander drew his sword, readying himself for an attack.

"This is the Commander of the Imperial Guard! Identify yourself, and maybe you can stand trial!" he yelled, his voice echoing through the seemingly halls of the base. He grimaced, noticing a outline of a body, outlined by dried blood on the floor.

"I know you're here!" he yelled, flexing his sword arm. "You won't scare me with petty tricks and deceptions!"

Suddenly, a laughing pierced the halls, seemingly coming from all hallways at once. Suddenly, the Commander heard a clanking, a continuous pounding coming from one of the halls.

Clank.

The Commander smiled to himself, as the criminal had given himself away. He walked quickly towards the hall which the sound continued to come from. As he progressed down the hall, he felt his body getting hot, unpleasantly so, and the smell of metal invaded his nostrils. A forge? he thought, finding it odd that the criminal had fled here.

Clank.

He noticed Dwemerian tubing, that ran up through the walls. However, parts of the metal tubes had been torn off, destroying the functionality of the ventilation. He felt his body getting unbearably hot as he walked closer, and his smile faded into a expression of anger.

Clank.

Suddenly, black mist burst from the holes in the piping, clouding his vision and choking the air from his lungs.

Clank.

Yelling a threat, the Commander found his voice made no sound, as he felt himself being pulled forward into the black mist.

Clank.

Struggling, desperately trying to grind his heels down on the floor to stop his rapid advance, his expression of anger turning into an expression of dread.

Clank.

The black mist dissipated as the Commander was thrust into a room of unbearable heat, as he took in the sights of the forge. There was a dark hooded figure, towering over the body of what looked like a Bosmer, although his chest and part of his left arm was metallic and dark black. The figure held a shadowy hammer, that he was hitting the body with, as if attaching the metal with each strike.

Clank.

The Commander was thrown to his knees, and found himself unable to move, as the figure stopped the hammering. He dropped the hammer on the floor and turned to face the Commander, who had begun cowering on his knees, covering his eyes with his arms. The figure made odd, distorted sounds that sounded almost like laughter, as the Commander felt his arms being pulled away from his face. He felt his head being turned to face the Figure, as the warping black mist that occupied the face of the Figure stared him down, with two dark red eyes that tore into the Commander's soul. The Commander screamed, as he felt his mind being read by the figure. The eyes dissapeared, leaving only the warping mist. Behind the figure, the Bosmer with the metallic chest stirred slightly, as the Figure turned to face him. The Bosmer stood, not opening his eyes, as the Figure slowly dissipated, leaving only the Bosmer and the terrified commander. The Bosmer opened his eyes, revealing black mist wisping from where his eyes should have been, as he bent to pick up the hammer. Smiling to himself, he walked over to the Commander, who found himself unable to move, as the Bosmer raised the hammer over his head, winking at the Commander.

Clank.