Corahe - "Ghastly Ones"
From the Random Monster challenge
Grave Resentment
Sabina Roman crouched low behind a tombstone, the flickering light of her hooded lantern barely providing enough light to read by. With a careful movement, so as not to make any more noise than needed, she motioned to her companion, Professor Archos, to open the tome. Sabina, a slayer of the undead creatures that were plaguing her country, was used to such environs- but the professor himself seemed nervous, edgy to the point of his trembling hands making it difficult for him to open said book. Though he was known to be quite the expert on the myriad types of foul creatures that skirted the barrier between worlds, Sabina suspected that he hadn't clocked many hours of fieldwork. Probably did most of his studying from the safe confines of his office. Well, screw that. This creature - the Ghastly One- needed to be taken care of. It had been rising on a daily basis now- and though there weren't any reports of actual casualties yet- it was best to dispatch it before the beast got out of hand.
"Hurry up," she whispered, "The moon is almost risen." In all accounts of run-ins with the Ghastly One, as the local papers were dubbing it- the moon had been overhead in the cloudless sky.
The professor's shaky hands stilled as he found the entry, and he leaned forward a bit, glasses perched precariously on his nose, to paraphrase the text.
"Ah- here we go. This 'Ghastly One' is a Corahe- known for their horrific appearance and terrible stench. They are semi-corporeal, with the torso being fully manifest as a putrefying corpse with thin, purple-blue skin as if bruised. The eyes and the top of the head burn with a sickening fire. Claws and teeth, sharp for cutting and gnashing, are capable of tearing through bone. It hungers for flesh..." Archos halted, mid-sentence, coming to an abrupt halt.
"And?" Sabina asked, sensing the professor had been about to continue.
"Nothing, that's pretty much it, other than needless scientifics." He hastily shut the book with an abrupt, echoing snap.
Sabina was begining to suspect that there was more to the professor's nervousness than she had earlier suspected. The fine hairs on the back of her neck began to rise, and she felt a shiver creep up her spine, the warning instincts that she'd grown to trust in this business. She whirled to confront the old man.... but stopped short at the sight of the creature, rising from a partially open grave. The odor of decaying flesh was overpowering, and despite her training and years of expertise, enough to make her gag. Beside her, the professor fell to his knees, retching. The flesh of the creature was horrifying- bruise-purple, and stretched tightly over a torso clad in ragged remnants of a burial shirt. The lower half was completely non-corporal- a floating mist that seemed to propel the beast forward. Fire burned deep in the sunken hollows where eyes should be, and burst forth from the nearly skeletal cranium.
Sabina the undead slayer hastily drew her silver blade, and rushed for the creature. "Stay behind me!" she warned the professor, but he was too transfixed by his horror to move an inch. Shit. This was the last thing she needed- an innocent citizen freezing up at the moment of truth. She swung at the Ghastly One, full on- and struck it deep in the chest. The creature paused a moment, glanced down...then reached out with its sickening clawed hands... and shoved. Sabina felt cold from contact with it- had a moment to register the fact that she hadn't been clawed at all- before thudding soundly into a wrought iron fence beyond the grave. Preternatural strength... the entry had failed to mention that. Sabina hastily recovered her senses, drawing her backup weapon, waiting for the creature's approach.
It never came. The creature glided soundlessly for the Professor, arms outstretched. "Archossss..." it hissed.
"No!" the professor screamed "It cannot be!"
"I knowww... what you did..." the eerie voice continued, "Howw you, and the othersss plotted againsssst me. And now.. you mussst pay..."
"Phineas! No... they made me! It was all them! The council--- I had nothing to do with it!" The professor crumpled up into a helpless ball. Sabina got to her feet, trying to close in on the beast while it was distracted.
"Murdererrrrrrr!" the Corahe shrieked, lunging forward in a fury of claws and fire. By the time Sabina got there... the professor was nothing more than a pile of smoldering sliced meat.
Fighting her own inner terrors, she raised the blade. To her surprise, the Corahe turned to her a moment, shook it's head, and smiled as kindly a smile as it could manage with all those teeth. "I have been avenged, dear child..." it whispered, and dissipated with a sudden burst of wind. The wind blew open the professors tome, which was remarkably intact. Senses reeling, Sabina crouched to retrieve the book. It had blown open , ironically, to rest on the entry about Corahe the professor had been reading. The end of the article caught her attention "Corahe are vengeful spirits of those unjustly slaughtered. They will only rise in the presence of those who were in attendance at the moment of the creature's demise. They hunger for the flesh... of their murderer. Once this need is satisfied, they will return peacefully to the grave."
Professor Archos... a killer. And furthermore, from what he had spouted before he died... the Council was not to be trusted. She turned, to read the name on the half-open grave, curious as to whom they had slaughtered. "Vance Roman"... she read in a small, unsteady voice. "Father..." she cried, and sunk to her knees in front of the fresh earth, sobbing bitter tears of resentment for the kind of world in which such things could occur.
Grave Resentment
Sabina Roman crouched low behind a tombstone, the flickering light of her hooded lantern barely providing enough light to read by. With a careful movement, so as not to make any more noise than needed, she motioned to her companion, Professor Archos, to open the tome. Sabina, a slayer of the undead creatures that were plaguing her country, was used to such environs- but the professor himself seemed nervous, edgy to the point of his trembling hands making it difficult for him to open said book. Though he was known to be quite the expert on the myriad types of foul creatures that skirted the barrier between worlds, Sabina suspected that he hadn't clocked many hours of fieldwork. Probably did most of his studying from the safe confines of his office. Well, screw that. This creature - the Ghastly One- needed to be taken care of. It had been rising on a daily basis now- and though there weren't any reports of actual casualties yet- it was best to dispatch it before the beast got out of hand.
"Hurry up," she whispered, "The moon is almost risen." In all accounts of run-ins with the Ghastly One, as the local papers were dubbing it- the moon had been overhead in the cloudless sky.
The professor's shaky hands stilled as he found the entry, and he leaned forward a bit, glasses perched precariously on his nose, to paraphrase the text.
"Ah- here we go. This 'Ghastly One' is a Corahe- known for their horrific appearance and terrible stench. They are semi-corporeal, with the torso being fully manifest as a putrefying corpse with thin, purple-blue skin as if bruised. The eyes and the top of the head burn with a sickening fire. Claws and teeth, sharp for cutting and gnashing, are capable of tearing through bone. It hungers for flesh..." Archos halted, mid-sentence, coming to an abrupt halt.
"And?" Sabina asked, sensing the professor had been about to continue.
"Nothing, that's pretty much it, other than needless scientifics." He hastily shut the book with an abrupt, echoing snap.
Sabina was begining to suspect that there was more to the professor's nervousness than she had earlier suspected. The fine hairs on the back of her neck began to rise, and she felt a shiver creep up her spine, the warning instincts that she'd grown to trust in this business. She whirled to confront the old man.... but stopped short at the sight of the creature, rising from a partially open grave. The odor of decaying flesh was overpowering, and despite her training and years of expertise, enough to make her gag. Beside her, the professor fell to his knees, retching. The flesh of the creature was horrifying- bruise-purple, and stretched tightly over a torso clad in ragged remnants of a burial shirt. The lower half was completely non-corporal- a floating mist that seemed to propel the beast forward. Fire burned deep in the sunken hollows where eyes should be, and burst forth from the nearly skeletal cranium.
Sabina the undead slayer hastily drew her silver blade, and rushed for the creature. "Stay behind me!" she warned the professor, but he was too transfixed by his horror to move an inch. Shit. This was the last thing she needed- an innocent citizen freezing up at the moment of truth. She swung at the Ghastly One, full on- and struck it deep in the chest. The creature paused a moment, glanced down...then reached out with its sickening clawed hands... and shoved. Sabina felt cold from contact with it- had a moment to register the fact that she hadn't been clawed at all- before thudding soundly into a wrought iron fence beyond the grave. Preternatural strength... the entry had failed to mention that. Sabina hastily recovered her senses, drawing her backup weapon, waiting for the creature's approach.
It never came. The creature glided soundlessly for the Professor, arms outstretched. "Archossss..." it hissed.
"No!" the professor screamed "It cannot be!"
"I knowww... what you did..." the eerie voice continued, "Howw you, and the othersss plotted againsssst me. And now.. you mussst pay..."
"Phineas! No... they made me! It was all them! The council--- I had nothing to do with it!" The professor crumpled up into a helpless ball. Sabina got to her feet, trying to close in on the beast while it was distracted.
"Murdererrrrrrr!" the Corahe shrieked, lunging forward in a fury of claws and fire. By the time Sabina got there... the professor was nothing more than a pile of smoldering sliced meat.
Fighting her own inner terrors, she raised the blade. To her surprise, the Corahe turned to her a moment, shook it's head, and smiled as kindly a smile as it could manage with all those teeth. "I have been avenged, dear child..." it whispered, and dissipated with a sudden burst of wind. The wind blew open the professors tome, which was remarkably intact. Senses reeling, Sabina crouched to retrieve the book. It had blown open , ironically, to rest on the entry about Corahe the professor had been reading. The end of the article caught her attention "Corahe are vengeful spirits of those unjustly slaughtered. They will only rise in the presence of those who were in attendance at the moment of the creature's demise. They hunger for the flesh... of their murderer. Once this need is satisfied, they will return peacefully to the grave."
Professor Archos... a killer. And furthermore, from what he had spouted before he died... the Council was not to be trusted. She turned, to read the name on the half-open grave, curious as to whom they had slaughtered. "Vance Roman"... she read in a small, unsteady voice. "Father..." she cried, and sunk to her knees in front of the fresh earth, sobbing bitter tears of resentment for the kind of world in which such things could occur.