<span class="bbc_u"><em><strong>JOINED POST</strong></em></span><br/><br/>It lunged forwards a weighty mass of distorted and reality-defying rock. Life where none should be. Thane had fought constructs before but then he had been armored and prepared. Now he was wounded, holding Daemonic steel and facing a construct that was typical in any way. For this was not given life through sorcery. This was a veritable Rock Demon. He dodged only just in time as the massive beast slammed into wall. It turned around with a savage roar.<br/>Ruby eyes glimmered and it slammed its tail into the floor, shattering the floortiles with casual ease. It hissed in frustration. Thane found it odd his immediate thought went to the annoyance that others might hear the ruckuss.. had he become so used to facing obstacles at every turn?<br/><br/>The rocky demon had no time for games…he was famished, as famished as any guardian of hell would be when there was no one to pass those corridors. He had been punished to guard the entrance to the dungeons, never to leave these premises. All Thane had to do was to get out of there, but he had a long way to go before reaching the exit. This time the gargoyle didn’t want to take any chances. He lifted himself on his large hooves and tackled the tall warrior head on.  His large wings were useless…a mockery placed on his back to further increase the degree of his punishment. No rock demon could ever fly.<br/>The statue wanted to block Thane’s way out, to trap him under his weight and crush his bones, rendering him unable to move. Then slowly savour his flesh in the darkness of his alcove for as much time as he could..first while his victim was still alive…then prolonging the feast as much as possible before the corpse begins to rot.<br/><br/>Thane moved and rolled asside but found himself blocked by a wall. The corridor was cramped and as the beast trampled by its tail had slammed into him. He wasn't sure but he suspected that the beast had 'casuall' broken one fo Thane's ribs. His own strike had been casual, instinctive and precize. The glimmering thin blade was firm and had not shattered... at least these Infernals knew how to work metal up and possibly well beyond even Khonish standards... but the beast was not wounded in the least. It turned, barring his passage and revealing its fangs...<br/><br/>Aiming for his throat. The sharp stone fangs pierced his shoulder, for Thane was faster than the beast assessed. They sank into his flesh like ice shards from a cave, almost reaching the shoulder blade and close enough to shatter his clavicle.<br/>At the same time the statue used its large wings to trap its prey, forming a semicircular cage around him. For the first time in the last century it tasted human flesh and the sensation was overwhelming.<br/><br/>Thane felt his skin being pierced and then he was shaken, he lashed out with the blade and somehow ended free, his back slammed into the wall hard. His broken rib rebelling at the rough handling. His bloody shoulder added to his rapidly increasing count of wounds, bruises and cuts... he was not exactly ecstatic about his prospects as a free man... he rose up his strong arm, pointing the blade at the beast. Suddenly his attention was caught by something and he smirked...<br/><br/>The beast charged forward and Thane swiped with his blade but he did not aim for the beast... instead a mounted wallcarpet fell down. The image of winged demons battering into defeated Celestial warriors flowed over its massive shape... as Thane rammed the blinded beast and rushed forth. He left a trail of bloody drops as he moved for the exit...<br/><br/>Slammed against another wall of rock and having his view blocked by the huge carpet, the rock demon let out a terrifying growl, sounding the alarm. In more than a hundred years there was never such a need for him to fulfill this task. His glass-shattering call echoed throughout the second layer’s dungeons, alerting the guards. In case of an escapee the drill was simple: capture and kill before the top floor finds out. If any from the guards above had to be warned, there would be terrible consequences for everyone involved.  The succubi keeping the dungeons knew it, the imps serving there knew it, the rock demon knew it as well. Everyone had to act fast, efficient and in silence…<br/><br/>As he rushed towards the exit, wherever it may be, Thane could hear the clash of metal and the sound of hooves against the stone ground coming from somewhere far behind him.<br/><br/>Thane shut the door behind him and dashed of. As soon as he had moved two hallways further he stopped. He looked around... he needed to bind his wound or soak the blood with a rag or they'd easily find him. Ripping of some tapesty he used his blade to cut of a piece of cloth and dipped it into the wound. His alchemically treated body was strong and Bane's favor lingered in him. But in the end... bloodloss would be his undoing if he didn't act soon. To top it of he was slowed by the broken rib.<br/>The ravenhaired giant glanced about and pushed onwards, dissapearing into an alclove behind a curtain, he began to improvize some bandaging...<br/><br/>...as he leaned against the wall, he felt it slipping away from him and Thane found himself falling on his back with the cloth in his hand. As he gathered himself from the floor, he had to take a better look at his surroundings.  Soon his eyes accustomed by now with the darkness around him found light coming from the other end of the tunnel he just entered. It was a rather small corridor with only one room at the end of it and with no other entrances.  As he moved forward then into the lihted room, the Konish warrior saw a different scene before his eyes. This room seemed to be carved out of wood, not out of stone like the rest.<br/>There was one single, large orb in the right corner which lighted up the whole place, giving it a cosy feeling.  Near the east wall there was a large table filled with all sorts of delicacies: roast mutton, boiled beef and stewed rabbits. In large silver plates there was plum pudding and mince pies and near the five crystal glasses filled with translucid liquid he could find baked oysters and savory vegetables.<br/><br/>Thane advanced wearily. The food was freshly served... still warm. His stomach rumbled as he savored the scent of some roasted meat. He frowned. Whoever this was destined for might arrive or return soon. Then again this place was strange as far as he knew this was a weird sacrifice. He grabbed some meat and sniffed it. Might be poisoned but he needed to keep his strength up and it wasn't like he was likely to get another opportunity soon. He took large bites from the food... gobbling up fast.<br/>Meanwhile his eyes fixed the singular door. Should it open he'd have to lash out fast...<br/><br/>Yet the door did not open, nor where there any sign of anyone approaching it. Instead, he could hear a short cry..too weak to reach his ears, coming from the corner to his right. It sounded like a whisper, a hoarse cough and desperate calling at the same time, so weak...so empty.<br/>That part of the room was poorly lighted, almost not at all, but the could see the lines of a wooden chair and a ragged, long dirty cloth hanging on one of its arms.<br/><br/>Thane moved towards the door. He was not one to take unnecessary risks. He stopped then, holding a piece of meat in hand still. Then again... the person in question seemed ill... if it was inhuman he'd have to strike fast. But if it was a serf or imprisoned peon... some information might be gained from the risk. Given that he only had the information he had obtained from the Captain of the Guard... a 'second opinion' was worth the risk... he moved silently towards the chair, hand clenching the hilt of his blade tightly...<br/><br/>A corpse was sitting sideways in the wooden chair…a bony frame,two long skeletal arms, one hanging on the chair’s back, the other resting on the chest. Its legs were wrapped in the dirty cloth, hidden under it, but Thane could clearly make out the contour of its pointy knees and feet. There was still skin left on the bones, but it seemed to ..hang from them, as if there was no meat, no muscle, nothing between the skeletal frame and its exterior. Crippled. Emptied. Dead. As it opened its cracked lips to speak, the old man’s hollow eyes were gazing into the abyss of Thane’s pupils..<br/><em>“..dhoo..nhhoo”</em><br/><br/>Thane's features showed no fear. Khone was the land of necromancy. Speaking corpses and horrible beasts did not frighten him. He was the Dark Knight, the epitome of sinister knighthood.. . His powerful arm rose up and he lashed out to behead it... he was not taking any risks. And this was clearly not a risk worth taking...<br/><br/>The foul stenched head rolled on the floor, stopping at his feet. The rest of the body remained just the same, a horrible view which turned even worst now that it was incomplete.<br/><em>“…hheeat…”</em>As it gave his last words, the strange creature finally found peace. It was hard to tell if it was human or of another kind. The poor soul could only hope that his warning was not in vain. Too late..it was all too late, for the Black Baron had tasted the food and by now the savory pieces of meat made their way through his body, waiting to be digested, their cursed chemical remainings flowing into his blood stream. First he could feel an aching, insatiable hunger as every protein from within begins to disperse.<br/>Then slowly but surely his body will start to rot from inside out.<br/>The more he eats to satiate the hunger...the more he rots.<br/><br/>He gasped and began to stagger back. He fell to his knees. Poison? The food was poisoned...? Normally it would have taken a long time to compared to normal humans but he was already weakened... and the effect was instantaneous... the intense pain of his ribs and shoulder had become but an afterthought... but then Thane in desperation played a last gambit...<br/>His large hand grabbed a knife frm the table, the sword had fallen a bit further and he didn't feel the power to reach for it... to move... His legs feeling like lead.<br/><strong>"Bane Et Dominus Ulimatum. Bane Victor. Bane est Bellum."</strong>he began to recite in the tongue of the ancient Khonish Elite and the members of the Tower of Bone. But above all it was the tongue spoken by the Priests of Bane... and their Blackguards. His cult...<br/>He cut into his arm with the dagger and blood fell onto the floor...<strong>"Vitae eternum. In nox. In tenebrae. In bellum. In Imperium Khonae. Bane, Lord of War and Conquest. Master of Dominion. Hear your Champion..."</strong>he said. He wondered if his dark benefactor coul even hear him where he was... but it was not like he had much choice...<br/>His stomach wrenched as he spoke with his deep voice. He felt a strange acidic taste in his mouth... blood dripped over his chin.<br/>But he persisted despite his blurring vision.<strong>"Bane your Champion calls upon thee. The Baron of Khone asks thee to purify me...  I have shed blood for thee... in past, present and I shall in the future. Grant me strength... grant me vigor... let me bring war and dominion to these fools who do not kneel to you"</strong><br/><br/>Blood dripped but by now he had stopped caring a drop more or less... he needed to keep moving... no matter what. Thane did not bow to the whims of fate. he would not fall here. He focussed his will... Drew upon the darkness of his very soul as a Blackguard learned to do. For a moment there was a flash of eerie light in his gaze and then... the pain was gone...<br/>He leaned forward almost unconscious but still dragged himself up in an act defying fate itself. His hand grabbed the sword and on he went. Weak, bloody, broken and exhausted... but alive... still alive.<br/><br/><strong>"Order through power. Duty through perseverance. Dominion through pragmatism. Conquest through superiority..." </strong>he went on and on recanting the litany of Supremacy. The furtive touch of his patron God had been fleeting and though no longer dying he had not been fully mended. There were numerous reasons for this but he would expand on his thoughts later when meditation, contemplation and intellectual elaboration would be more rewarding. For now he would focus on moving... advancing... escaping... surviving. Just moving proved difficult. Odd that no guards had yet found him... He opened the door with a large gore soaked hand...<br/>