The Lost Marshal

[ChaosLenny]

I really love the whole Malifaux setting. The cross of genres and the way classic characters are twisted. One individual I’d love to see is Wyrd’s take on the Lone Ranger. So I like the idea of twisted Resurrectionist champion back from the dead. Did a short story on it. This is my first post on the forum I hope you guys like it. Big thanks to the Wyrd staff for making such an amazing setting.

“More than you can imagine son,” the old man replied to the younger as they gazed out upon what seemed to be an endless stretch of bog that bordered Malifaux. The older man a grizzled specimen of frontiersman grinned at his a younger companion, and regarded him for a moment. The younger man had just got off the train through the Breach less than a week ago; he had the wide eyed look of an Earthsider when they first arrive in Malifaux. He was dressed smartly and completely out of place standing at the edge of the bog. The young man was reporter and was doing a story about the strange tales that came out through the Breach regarding the mysteries of Malifaux, the people back Earthside loved lurid and bloody tales of Neverborn monsters and Ressurectionist fiends. He had retained the services of the older man a well established tracker and guide upon his arrival. Now both men stood at the edge of a fetid swamp that was infested with demons, witches, and foul little beasts like the Gremlins who continued to plague the Guild’s Soulstone mining posts and the merchants who supplied them. The reporter asked the old man what really lurked out in the wilds beyond Malifaux, and was puzzled at the gap toothed grin of the frontiersman’s reply.

“Like I reckon most of you Earthside dandies have never heard of the Lost Marshal. Everybody knows about Lady Justice and her Death Marshals. I hear the Guild has her exploits turned into Penny Novels. The Lady, the Judge, and her Death Marshals with their wicked coffins. Folks know the Death Marshals know something of the necromancy that they work so hard to contain and destroy. I’ve heard another tale though of the Lady and her posse. That one night six went out and five came back. That a Marshal went bad,” the frontiersman ended his statement with a spit of his chewing tobacco into the murky water of the bog.

“Really?” the younger man said excitement in his voice. Most of what he had written about was as this man seemed to know common knowledge. He had read of the accounts of Lady Justice and her Death Marshals, and the likes of Seamus the Mad Hatter in Earthside articles. His trip to Malifaux so far had been an amazing experience personally but all he had to show for it was firsthand witness accounts of exploits already common knowledge. He had never heard of the Lost Marshal, it piqued his interest. “I’d like to hear more of the tale,” he asked the older grizzled man.

“Normally I wouldn’t,” the frontiersman said with a frown. “But you’re paying me well enough, they say to talk of the Marshal is to draw him. I’ve never seen him but I’ve seen the faces of those who have and I’d rather not meet the man all the same. Live in Malifaux long enough and the silliest superstitions have value.” The frontiersman chuckled a bit his own observation. “Let’s see as I remember the story, and mind you I wouldn’t bring any of this up to the Lady or any Guildsmen you’ll only get a cold look if you’re lucky, maybe a night in a cell if you’re not. There was Death Marshal one of the best some say his name was Cash, he was I don’t know more independent than the others. He was also the best of them master of the Peacekeeper and the Coffins they use. Some say the Judge himself was envious of his skill and the way the Lady looked at him.

The story goes he fell in love. Worse still he fell in love with a Ressurectionist. The Countess they called her, a raven haired beauty from Europe. She had come to Malifaux to study sorcery and fell to the lure of the death magic. Maybe evil souls do have hearts for as the story goes her and the Marshal became deeply in love. He turned a blind eye to her actions, I loved a woman once and I saw her through tinted glasses as many a man in love has done. They say the Marshal always had his code but a sin is a sin. Lady Justice eventually found out. That night she, the Judge, the Lost Marshal, and three of his brother Death Marshals rode out from Malifaux.

Under a dark sky Lady Justice told the Lost Marshal they knew of his treachery. He didn’t fight them; he still had his code despite his love of the Countess. Two of the Death Marshals held him as he was stripped of his weapons. His coat and shirt torn from him, the Judge carved a 13 over his heart to mark his thirteen sins. The Lost Marshal never screamed, never begged. Even as they bound him and put him in his own Coffin the very one he had trapped so many necromancers in. The Marshals put one of their own six feet down in the ground that night, under a gnarled tree in the Badlands. Left to die slowly by the dark magic of the Coffin.

Whatever sanity or humanity the Countess had was lost in the weeks that followed. Her beloved Marshal was gone. Despite her madness or perhaps because of it her skill as a necromancer grew. What pact she struck with what spirit of death I don’t know. She found the place that the Marshal lay and as the story goes cast a spell that never should have been. Howls of demons and black spirits echoed through the night as she made her pact. Her screams of ecstasy at the promised return of her lover piercing even the howls. That night something came up from the ground.

Now from time to time in hush whispers you’ll hear about the Lost Marshal. They say he is a tall lean figure his face hidden behind a skull mask and a dark wide brimmed hat. He is described dressed in tattered black leathers and carries two gleaming Peacekeepers; some say he cast his bullets in Soulstone. If his coat blows back you can see the 13 carved on his chest above where his heart may have been. He rides Onyx an inky black stallion that it’s whispered the Marshal called from the realm of death the night he rose. It’s often said he carries an axe upon his back called Retribution that rends the soul from anyone it cuts strengthening the Marshal. Upon his tattered long coat he still has his Marshal’s star, but it’s worn upside down.

The Lost Marshal is still attended to by the Countess. She is described as still being a raven haired siren clad in tight black leather arranged to drive a man mad with desire. She uses her black sorcery to conjure banshees to fight for the Marshal. The banshees are spoken of as shadowy nymphs that rend the flesh from a man with ghostly talons and rip souls from bodies with their screams. They say the marshal can call the dead to his cause as well raising them from earthly slumber.

Folks say the Lost Marshal, still has a code in his madness. He might fight to save the innocent or destroy them. What drives him on his agenda none really no. Even if he even exists I don’t know. I just here more and more tales of riders on the empty roads hearing “Onyx away!” followed by the thunder of hoof beats. More and more questions of “who was that masked rider”, the stories just grow.” With that the old man finished his tale.

“I can’t believe I never heard this before,” the reporter said. “Are you sure you’re not just pulling the leg of an Earthsider.” He added a nervous laugh as the older man shot him a stern look.

“Son, I don’t know who the,” the old man’s voice stopped dead. Both men looked to the darkness nervously. The old man had heard the story and the superstition but didn’t really believe it. So his blood ran cold, as did the younger man who had questioned the tale. They both heard it over the sound of the still bog waters.

“Onyx away!”

[Kagelong]

I really like the idea you had, and the idea of having it told through a "campfire horror story" (if you will) is cool. I can't wait to see some more from you!

[Angus Khan]

Very nice read.

[ChaosLenny]

Thanks a bunch guys:)...I really appreciate the positive feedback:)

[pancake ss]

I enjoyed it very much, a very good read.

[Nathan Caroland]

Thoroughly enjoyable. More!

[thaehl]

bravo, would be a fun project to tinker with an existing marshall. bravo great job and a wonderful read.

[daemonkin]

Great read. Couple of typos (if you want an indepth list I'll happily provide, just PM me).

Got a real 'Ghostrider' vibe to the story but all the while I was thinking what models could be used to put together a Resser crew to represent the Lost Marshall.

Let's see what Book 2 gives us..

D.

[AvatarForm]

Good concept, needs some grammar and spelling checks though. Makes it difficult to read in parts.