Nathan Caroland

__________ The immensely fat Ogre chortled as he slurped down a piece of warm bloody meat that had landed on his apron as he butchered the carcass of the human and tossed the choicest bits into a bucket for later. The man had only stopped screaming minutes ago, but in that time he had managed to take the frail thing apart. Heavy smoke swirled through the air, obscuring the small town that the ogres had decimated earlier in the morning and still screams could be heard from those that the Ogres chose to make play things of or, as a fly, tore limbs from bit by bit just to see how long the humans could live. Another splash of crimson blood sprayed across the ogre as he continued his grizzly work. Before the day was through, he would be bathed in blood as there were troops to feed.

__________ The realms were ruled by the great houses and constantly there was strife and unrest as one house sought to unseat another until House Jor'dian was able to unite the lands under a strong rule. Through the centuries House Jor'dian had been instrumental in directing the realms though not without making enemies, powerful enemies and it was seventy three years ago when the great house was thrown down and the descendants of Jor'dian had been slaughtered almost to the last. Some few survived in hiding. The Order of the Watchful Hand had been set to watch the direct descendants from the blood line of their founder, as an elite group of house soldiers that were still loyal to their cause and ideas and it was with their help that those that did survive were able to make new lives for themselves. Still, a great bounty had been set upon the heads of all descents of that once great House and although diligent and faithful, those that had survived had been hunted down through the decades, their guardians slain before they too were tortured and murdered. Now, only one of the House of Jor'dian survived, a young boy named Uriel. The Order is only a shadow of what it once was, but all their hopes and loyalties were now with the boy and those that remained, some thirty of the faithful, saw to the boys education and upbringing. ____ He cocked his head as he turned into the wind, listening. Something was out there, or someone. Yes, there it was again, the sound of a footstep and the sound of cloth rubbing.. Pulling his sword, Sir Malcolm, an Order Guardian, took up his shield and moved quietly across the broken cobblestones that made up the courtyard of this old manor, his red cloak blowing out behind him and leaves tumbling by from the trees ready to slumber with the coming of winter. Again he heard it and with hurried steps he moved along the wall beside the brown and dead garden and paused at the corner before quickly looking. Three men dressed in the garb of thieves and assassins were climbing the wall to the third story of the manor house, where the boy was being looked after by the others. Watching their progress he allowed them climb another ten feet up before rounding the corner and bellowing an alarm. Surprised one of the men fell from the wall, his head bursting like a melon on the jagged cobblestone. The other two began to scramble towards a window which promptly opened as they got close and a sword took one of the men in the throat as one of his Brothers responded to the alarm, the man dropping quickly to the ground beside the other. "Come on down and tell us who sent you," Malcolm calls from below, his sword out, "and on my honor you shall have a quick death." He watched the man cling to the wall in indecision for a few moments before continuing, "The alternative is much more painful I assure you." With wide fear filled eyes, the would be assassin began his descent ...

__________ The human toppled with little sound to the leaf strewn forest floor as Irdril's arrow took him in the heart, killing him instantly. Around the corpse, another seven humans lay crumpled in death, each having died as easily, and silently as the first. Irdril shook his white mane of hair, the only sign of his great age, in regret. He had counciled against fighting the humans, had preached tolerance and patience until another solution could be found, but those young fools with hot blood and little brains, like Nuada, had taken the fight to the humans, had escalated it beyond anything that could be healed. So many had died ... Still, there was little he could do now that the war had been brought in full, the summer had been harsh and the blood had flown freely but now with the approaching fall and soon winter, it seemed as if perhaps the tide had relented, if for only a bit. With a silent sigh he raised his darkened bow and and fletched another fire blackened arrow and let it loose with nary a sound or excess of movement and the human who had thought to creep though the dark to his left fell dead as the arrow pierced his skull. Silently he stalked through the evening forest, hunting more interlopers.

__________ He had come from the north seeking treasures amongst the rich southerners and had been astounded at how the crippled, weak and stupid were allowed to live. Not only that, many held position and power amongst their own. Vidor spat a wad of phlegm onto the ground before him as he watched the caravan make its way down through the valley. Behind him his men busied themselves with their weapons and mounts. Southerners all, but ones that he had molded into true men and killers for his own purpose. Phah! What he wouldn't do for a handful of good North born men! As the caravan entered the kill zone, Vidor and his men charged the caravan, intent on death and rapine of the rich cargo. It was only at the last moment that Vidor realized something was wrong and without a word of warning to his men, kicked his horse into a different direction, angling past the caravan and into the wilderness. Moments later the slaughter of his men began as hidden forces within the caravan turned the ambush upon the bandits ..... ..... they had shot his horse out from beneath him over half an hour ago when the pursuit had caught up with him, but he, being of good northern stock simply rolled off the horse and kept running. He still had to chuckle at the thought of the one mans look upon his face when he had jumped out from behind that last rock and nearly cut the man in half with the combined power of his powerful swing and the gallop of the mans steed. It had almost been worth the arrow that he took in the arm before he could scatter back into the rocks as the rest of the mans troupe pursued him. Only seven of them left. He was sure he could pull it off. .... six ... three ... two

__________ "Har-Har-HAR!" the ogre bull laughed as he watched one of those puny gnoblar slaves catch a pointy eared elf in a bear trap, the trap clanging shut with a spray of blood that covered the ogre bull in a most satisfying way. He continued to laugh even when one of his many opponents stuck a blade into his leg and contemptuously, he swatted it with his stone bearing club. All about him his fellow ogres bashed and stomped the elves as they broke through their feeble defense. With relish he kicked the life out an elf that had fallen victim to the rush and he stood there for a few moments stomping up and down, fascinated by the sucking and crackling sounds that were made while he pulped the elf into so much paste. An idiotic smile formed on his face as he cut another two of them in half as his bladed glove swung about. Several arrows now stood out upon his chest and sides now, though none in his gut as his beloved gut armor turned all blows. Puny things. Beside him, the gnoblar slave with the bear trap once again had the weapon ready and with a smile the ogre bent down and scooped up the creature which gave a nervous squeak. Pointing into the throng of elves before him he wound his arm back and with a mighty throw, launched the gnoblar forward into the advancing elves and it screamed the whole way, bear trap proceeding it in green hands clenched white in fear. *SNAP* "Har-Har-HAR!"

__________ The creature stood amongst a moldy and moss ridden pile of bones, human, animal and otherwise, the only thing they had in common were that they had been picked clean of any meat and the bones were cracked and broken for the sweet marrow inside. Grossly fat the ghoul continued to rip pieces of flesh from a large bone, possibly a leg, as it gobbled and slurped grotesquely at the still blood warm meat. Casually it snapped a thigh bone in half, powerful muscles and strength hidden by folds of fat. Looking around, the adventurers hiding amongst the trees and rocks finally spotted the remains of their scout who had disappeared earlier in the day, though the only identifiable part was his torn and blood soaked clothes and a part of his face that hadn't been obliterated as his head had been torn open to get to the soft brains inside. More than one of their group retched silently where they lay. With anger and determination on their faces the signal was given to attack and with shouts of defiance and rage, the five men rushed from their hiding to lay this foul creature low ... ... some were still alive when the creature began its grisly feast, their screams echoing through the forest, accompanied by the ghastly chortle of this king amongst ghouls.

__________ They had all laughed when old man Jelpin had told them to beware the worms. Teeth as big as your hand and oddly glowing green eyes and an appetite for flesh to which he would then point at the old puckered scar on his arm. Worms, HAH! Everyone new Jelpin was a drunk and a lazy lout. Some said he used to be a swordsman back in the day, but most likely that was more of Jelpin's drink and lies talking. They were adventures! They had practiced with swords for months now and the thought of a bit of excitement was almost too much to bear. They were off for the Delphine Crypts where it is said the dead lie with riches thick for the taking, just lying about for anyone to take and become rich. No more plowing and milking the cows for them. They four of them were going to be famous! That had been two days ago, and they reached the crypts early this more with little more than the occasional animal to cross their path. It was easy. Entrance into the crypts was a snap as well as the thick doors that had kept the burial chambers safe for oh so many years lay broken and rotting upon the stairs leading down into crypts. At first there was little to be seen other than the occasional bone or broken pottery. It seems that all of the easy loot had been taken long ago but as they went further into the crypts they began to find small coins here and there, as is dropped hastily. Then they came upon a pile of strewn bones and a bulging sack which had contained more jewels and gold than any of them had ever seen before, enough to make them all rich! If this was just lying up on the floor, what else could there possibly be?! So they continued further into the crypts. Jasmine was carrying the torch so they never did see what got her, but suddenly something rushed from the shadows, a slithering sound and the smell of carrion proceeding it and with a screech she dropped the torch, sending everything into shadows and chaos. By the time they had grabbed up the torch and lit another there was no sign of her, though her screaming could be heard and a large trail of blood that something had been dragged through told them where to look.Her screams stopped long before they found her, but when they found her, their own screams of fright and horror joined hers. Entrails and gore lay strewn across the dusty crypt floor while something near half the size of a man bored within her stomach, the sounds of tearing and chewing echoing loudly within the chamber. Pulling its blood and gore covered head free from Jasmines body a worm like creature hissed menacingly at them, two large mouths opening with long teeth and undulating tongues probing the air before it. Their torchs bounced off its purple mottled skin and its multiple green eyes seemed to shine with a light of their own. Three more joined it from the shadows .... .... Yosef huddled within the sarcophagus, tears streaming down his face and fear making his teeth chatter, the original occupants bones grinding together while he rocked himself slowing back and forth. The heavy lid lay mostly over him as he hid, though he could still hear the sucking sounds of the crypt worms as they continues to eat his childhood friends. "Old man Jelpin warned us ..." kept rolling through Yosef's thoughts.

Here are a few miniatures that I have painted over the last year and I certainly invite comment and critique upon. When I'm working on a miniature, I tend to think up 'stories' to go along with them which is sort of my way of zoning out and relaxing as I tend to have an active imagination. Thanks for looking!

There has always been the supernatural, the strange and the unknown in the world. There has always been witches and cults and creatures that went bump in the night ... or simply bypassed the bumping and went straight to the murder and mayhem. It's always been there, but on the fringe of society, forbidden knowledge, well hidden, or at the very least, feared. Vampires, shapeshifters, black magic practitioners, demonic entities and other things we simply never had a name for. They were there, but hidden, cautious and fearful. And for good reason! There has also always been those that opposed the darkness that has plagued mankind through the ages. Fellowships, religious brotherhoods, ancient organizations and powerful secret societies, some which could rightly be called cults, that have controlled the information of the forbidden and hunted down the darkest dangers to humanity. With knowledge comes power, but also responsibility. It was our task to see that dark grimoires were safely hidden away, that beasts and beings that became dangerous or made themselves known were hunted and destroyed. We were the protectors of humanity and kept dark knowledge in hands better suited and prepared. But that was then, not now. I blame the Internet. And Politicians. With the advancement of technology, computers and that blasted Internet, what was once hidden and coveted knowledge suddenly became common every day information - something that could be easily searched and precious knowledge that someone had no right or even experience in knowing was suddenly at hand! For the Gods sakes, I found the Thule Magnius Grimoire, in full, scanned and footnoted upon that damned 'information highway', a book that I had spent over twenty years searching for, and there it was, available to anyone! Some college student in the Netherlands apparently had access to it, though shortly after the fool immolated himself with a spell from that grimoire. Next thing you know, those without the dedication, patience or proper guidiance and caution were casting spells. It soon became an everyday occurrence as more and more knowledge was leaked, stolen and disseminated amongst the masses. We tried to stem the tide of forbidden knowledge, but it was no use. We were able to keep some of the most damning, and dangerous knowledge hidden, but entirely too much was already known and new applications were being developed almost daily. Of course, it wasn't long after when those creatures which always crouched at the fringes of society were suddenly out in the public. Shapeshifters, blood drinkers, and some of the more human looking beings were suddenly of great interest, and suddenly it became the latest fashion to be 'different' or as the media had dubbed it, 'Wyrd'. 'The Wyrd' ... a trendy label that every newspaper, media outlet and teenage practitioner was using to describe the anything that had to do with magic or otherworldly nature. Suddenly it was 'Wyrd' this and 'Wyrd' that and people were actually having relationships with these things. It makes me sick. Then of course, some politician came up with the bright idea of legalizing these things. Legalizing! Making them citizens! There use to be a time when I and my cohorts would hunt these creatures and destroy them, but now, its considered murder! Lots of money must have changed hands to push that through to the law books. We still haven't managed to track who backed the transaction. So there you have it - the world as we know it has changed over the course of nearly two decades. Magic ... excuse me, 'Wyrd' is an every day occurrence and commodity, embraced by the masses, governments and corporations. Creatures once hunted ceaselessly now mingle with humanity freely. Knowledge that should have remained hidden and protected is blatantly, without regard for consequence, published. Of course, there is some good done with the knowledge, as much as I dislike admitting it, but for every good that is done, there are ten evils. Licensed practitioners are now part of the law enforcement as crimes of the Wyrd are now a daily occurrence. And then of course, there are the wars ... It is now up to my brethren and I to become the bulwark for humanity, to watch from the shadows and guide as we are able and protect when we can. I'm not sure if its enough. Professor J.T. Cornelius Senior Member of the Society of Fractured Sight