ic Icy Dead People

[MisterShoebox]

Phantasmo, in the meantime, had struck up a conversation with several...disreputable-looking men, one of whom spoke a little bit of english. "Yes, sir - give me a time and I'd be happy to show up at the pub and put on a bit of a show, but for now, I could use some info." 

 

He smiled amicably at the man. "...So, duckie, mind telling old Phantasmo - that's me, tell your friends - all about spookies, ghosts, and things you may or may not have attributed to one too many nights in the company of wine, women, and wonderful evenings?"

Edited December 4, 2014 by MisterShoebox

[Supercape]

GM

 

"Schmarrraroff...fugoff!" mumbled one drunk, trying to warm himself by the library radiator. His nose was too big, and too red. His breath smelled like boot polish. 

 

"Yeah.,..I saw...thing...in snow....said that give money to me and wish come true..." smiled another, holding his hand out expectantly to Phantasmo. 

 

"Rebruggerantmshmsh..." slurred the third. "Ischlaw vikings in schnow! Then I drink and go away..." he whispered, before falling asleep. 

 

Meanwhile...

 

The librarian was young with pale blue eyes that would haunt a young man's heart. Her hair was dark, her skin was pale. She had a few traces, here and there, of an Inuit about her, but she looked like a norsewoman. She was neither thin nor plump, neither tall, nor short, but she had the most handsome of faces and the most piercing of eyes. 

 

And a warm smile for the Black Knight. 

 

Her English was good, but with an accent. 

 

"I don't see a Knight in Shining Armor every day" she said. "But I could hardly say no to one..."

 

She ushered the Knight through the archives, with Tanya following (as she was not one for hanging around with drunkards). Tanya was a pretty girl, but without the striking appearance of the librarian. She was prickled with slight envy. 

 

"Here we are...yes...we have all sorts of stories of spirits and ghosts and elves and trolls. Inuit and Norse mythology. But, now you mention it, we have had a couple of quite credible stories recently...in Narsarsuaq, in the south. There are some old Viking Runsetones there. Everybody says they are haunted...but, here..." she showed the Black Knight and Tanya some newspaper clippings of ghost sightings, all over the last two weeks. 

[Exaccus]

Hale feels his heart fluttering beneath the black steel of his breastplate as he follows the beautiful woman through the archives but manages to keep his composure as she speaks with her wonderful accent, verily if it were a cartoon he'd be bubbling hearts out of his helmet like a teapot puffs steam, but theres time to be chasing his heart later, right now a very old and very dead man needed his help so he steels his spine and tightens his grip on his sheathed sword's handle.

 

"Ah, Wonderful." he says as he takes the news paper clippings and looking them over before handing them to tanya, somewhat oblivious to her envy before turning back; "I feel i should warn you though fair maiden, there may be a horde of undead vikings soon to befall this city, I wouldst prefer to stay at your side during this harrowing i suspect but i fear i am needed to stem the tide at its source." he says getting down on one knee and with one hand on Aldonites Crossguard takes her hand once more in his gauntleted hand "wouldst thou grant me a token of thy favor to carry me through the battle milady and promise me you will secure yourself against any dangers that might elude my sword?" he asks earnestly.

 

"i wouldst also ask thy name but i fear I have not given thee mine own yet...mayhap we could exchange them over that coffee?"

[MisterShoebox]

Phantasmo sighs...welp, time to be diplomatic. That is to say - bribe them. He fishes around in his pockets and removes a crumpled twenty dollar bill. Hmmm....well, time to see if what one sees on telly actually works. If not, hell - at least he might be able to purchase a good sandwich when he gets home. 

 

He pauses, though. Showing money to a bunch of drunken retrobates may cause a bit of a punch-up...but what does HE have to lose? Besides, it may prove a bit more helpful than just sitting around on his bum. And his assistant CAN handle herself - he remembered that she had trained in Tae Kwan Do. So, risks, benefits. Etcetera.

 

"Oi...rise and shine, duckie," he gives the sleeping drunk a not-too-gentle shake. "You were telling old Phantasmo all about the viking ghost, right? Remember? Don't let old Andrew Jackson here get lonely, sunny jim - he tells me you look like a right sort and would love to buy you some drinks...but you have to be forthcoming."

[Supercape]

GM

 

"Arnarsaq. Like the missionary. Everybody calls me Arna, though. And if you buy me a coffee, rich, dark, and handsome, then you can too!" she smiled. "I never got coffee from a Knight before. I can't really turn down the offer, can I? You may have to show me your face properly though, without that helmet!" she said, tapping his visor. 

 

"As for a token, well, I think this is traditional!" she said again, still smiling. She brought her finger down, bringing the visor over the Black Knights face, and gave it a kiss, leaving a slight lipstick stain. 

 

"Let me know what you find, seriously. It sounds exciting!" she finished. 

 

"Hmph. Ill be dating Mr. Spooky Next" whispered Tanya under her breath, although she was pleased enough with Arna's help. 

[Supercape]

GM

 

Whilst at the other side of the Library...

 

"<What is this American !$%£>" mumbled the first Drunk in Danish, full of contempt at the sight of the twenty dollar bill. The recipient was not, however, so discriminating. 

 

"Yes...I saw them...big strong men...like from the sagas, yes? Even you must have heard of the sagas...like Erik the Red? They were just bones and ghosts, with axes and shields and spears..." he said, almost wistfully. 

 

"I was down in Narsarsuaq, in the south, having a little drinking..." he said, fighting to stay awake. The man looked like he had been awake too long, and drunk even longer. 

 

"Might be drunk, but I saw what I saw!" he protested. 

[MisterShoebox]

Phantasmo nods at the drunken man, processing what he learned. He slips the man an extra fiver to go with the twenty he gives him, thanks him for his information,  and mosies on back to where Black knight, Tanya, and BK's Exotic Crush are conversing. "All right, my duckies- according to the drunk chap over there in yon corner attempting to purchase extra alcoholic provisions from the...wall, apparently...someone should really take care of him before he hurts himself - anyhoo, there are ghosts and zombies about that aren't just our big, red, sword-wielding lad who gave you cryptic advice, Black Knight my boy. The poor man saw the beasties in...Narsarsuaq, I believe was the pronunciation. So that's where I suggest we make tracks to."

 

Not willing to let a potential client - or rather, someone who can tell her friends about him so he can possibly enchant, amaze, and perform feats of magical daring-do in a more exotic location than "Local Community Center in the butt end of a major new jersey city" - not that he minds, he reminded himself, it was usually quite awesome giving shows and the charity money really was helpful to rebuilding stuff that had been smashed during various super-villain attacks - but hey, work is work. He bowed to Arna and grinned widely...it wasn't a pleasant sight, but at least his posture and showmanship were top notch. "Allow me to introduce myself, young lady - Phantasmo...THE UNLIVING...at your service. My card." He did the usual snap-fingers-make-business-card appear and presented it to her. "Tell your friends."

 

He then turned to BK and Tanya. "Right then, you two - what have we learned in this corner?" 

Edited December 5, 2014 by MisterShoebox

[Exaccus]

"Lady Arnarsaq has been most helpful" he says, able to keep from swooning like a love sick boy at being kissed for now "Seems that a lot of strange occurrences hath been occurring at Narsarsuaq's viking rune stones...mayhap why Erik's ghost was aware of the omens." he muses, not quite sure about magic himself but eager to put his two pence in all the same.

 

"possibly creating sympathy with sister sites across the world...something most foul is at work and the swifter we put it down the better." he says full of confidence and eagerness to be impressive in front of his new acquaintances.

 

<ohmygodohmygodohmygodigotkissedohmygod.>

[Supercape]

GM

 

"Sounds noble and exciting" said Arna, a little creeped out by Phantasmo. "Ill give you boys a ride...no questions! Happy to help a noble night and his err..." she looked Phantasmo up and down. "Squire....?"

 

A few hours drive through dark icy landscape later...

 

"No no, the other right...." said Arna, turning her map upside down as they reached progressively more rugged road. Her little car was a squeeze for four, and designed for the roads of Nuuk, not crawling around what was almost a mountain. 

 

She had at least provided thick jackets for herself and Tanya. A jacket didn't really go over the Black Knights shiny armour. 

 

The Viking rune stones were a little further up, on an icy footpath that threatened to trip and slip all but the most agile of feet. The stars were out in full force, with a nearly full moon, and a crystal clear sky, black and peppered with light. It was almost enough to see by, but Tanya had a flashlight or two to hand around. 

 

The Stones themselves were small, weathered, but undeniably runic, covered in snow and in a small circle. 

[MisterShoebox]

Phantasmo is quite aware of the young lady's discomfort, so attempts to make nicey-nice by using that age-old ice-breaking method...giving a speech! "So, Arrrrrrna - " he begins, rolling his r's expertly - "Seems you're a bit spooked of old Phantasmo. I know I'm not much to look at, duckie, but I'm not a bad sort - just a bit more decayed that your typical long-pants type. So - tell you what. How 'bout I cut the ice - hah, no pun intended - by telling you a bit about myself. First off, my real name's Harry Trent. Typical Londoner - enjoy a drink, enjoy a game of darts, enjoy the Sex Pistols - remind me to loan you my old records, BK-old-boy, your generation is woefully music deprived - " He glances at Black Knight. " - anyway, Arna - ooh, that's a good name, fun to say - bottom line, I'm just a bloke. Standard bloke, who does blokey things and occasionally scares the bejeezus out of vicious sods who decide that just because some unlucky bugger is down on his luck it'd be a good idea to bash his head in. It's like my mum and dad used to say - they said to my brother Alfred and I - "Treat others the way you want to be treated, boys, and your kindness'll come back and getcha."

 

He does not smile, but does hold out his hand for her to shake. It's gloved, so she won't feel any zombie-flesh. "Right, so - what do you say? YOu a little less spooked by old Phantasmo now?" 

[Supercape]

GM

 

Arna's english was good, fluent really. But Phantasmo's slang and swagger made the finer points hard to understand. Still, she appreciated the drama. 

 

"You should go into the Movies, Mister Phantasmo! Or perhaps your own chat show. That would certainly be an interesting one. Phantasmo's Friends, maybe. Or Night Chat, with Phantasmo the Corpse?" she laughed gaily, hand to mouth, as she contemplated the idea. 

 

Even Tanya thought that was a good idea. "Spooky Gossip? Live talk with the Unliving?" she joined Arna in a little chuckle. 

 

Distracted, the two women failed to notice what Phantasmo and the Black Knight Did. Shadows, moving underneath the ice. Cracks forming...

[Exaccus]

Black knight gives phantasmo a knowing glance and places his paper flower in the back seat of the car, deciding he can finish it off later "Excuse me ladies I believe we're being enroached upon by villains beneath the ice; might be an idea to get clear for I have no clue what power they hold." he states as matter of factly as possible, trying not to sound like he's telling his friends and new crush to go away. but more please leave if it gets dangerous.

 

Clambering with confidence he's unused too and with a new pillar of strength to lean on he walks out infront of the car without so much as a shiver from the extreme cold and raising aldonite of his head flourishes it, the silver of the sword gleaming in the pale light of the moon and dancing between his hands like a puppet on a string before coming to a stop pointing down, driving it into the ice and letting loose a blast of purple black energy 175ft in radius sphere, attempting to dig enough of a break to prevent them from tunneling up behind the vehicle, careful to exclude it  and the occupants with what control he had over the power of the sword unleashed as well as leave an escape route should it be needed.

 

"Hold villains, you will not pass me unchecked!" he thunders, not quite sure if they can hear or understand him "Come, seek your eternal rest on the end of my sword."

 

<lets rock.>

Edited December 6, 2014 by Exaccus

[MisterShoebox]

"Right..." Phantasmo sighs, He turns to the ladies in the car. "No disrespect meant, my duckies, but mayhap you should stay in the auto until it's safe? If things get antsy I don't want to have to tell your parents - "They got their heads lopped off by a big burly bugger with a sword that says "I was severely unsatisfied with my manhood in life and not a damned thing has changed in death.' Unless you have shotguns or something that can help in beheading a few undead buggers - but I doubt it highly. And I know of your martial arts prowess, miss tanya - but these fine gents won't go down with a good...whatever it is you do. So please stay here and try not to die. Ta!" 

 

He squares his shoulders and doesn't even bother to open the car door - he just 'ports out of the car and stands next to his knightly ally. He clears his throat and lets out a loud, theatrical bellow. "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN...CHILDREN OF ALL AGES...THE CURTAIN RISES, THE SHOW BEGINS!" He shouts in a voice quite unlike his usual amicable rasp - it's a loud, clear, somewhat echoey voice. "CAN WE HAVE A FEW VOLUNTEERS FROM THE AUDIENCE?" He asks as he conjures a pair of over-large, rigid, razor-sharp playing cards into each of his hands. 

 

"COME ON NOW, DON'T BE SHY! THE SHOW'S JUST STARTED!" 

Edited December 6, 2014 by MisterShoebox

[Supercape]

GM

 

Arna and Tanya didn't scream, although it was a scene straight out of a horror movie. Both gasped and went white (or more white, it the pale Tanya's case), and perhaps, had they been on their own, they would have. But the two women did not fancy loosing their nerve in front of the other. 

 

A sword stabbed through the ice, held by a skeletal hand. An axe chipped out elsewhere, at the Black Knights feet. 

 

Then a helmed head smashed through the ice. 

 

Five skeletons clambered out of the ice, dripping ice and snow. They wore mail, helms (no, not horned ones), swords, axes, and shields. Little flesh remained, but it was rotten and dead. Eyes were white or missing. No sound was made but for the beating of axe against shield. Fixed skulls showed no expression but for the ominous and unreadable grin of bone. 

[Exaccus]

Unable to make out much in the darkness of Greenlands winter his next action is rather an obvious one, raising aldonite over his head and willing the blade to shine like a sun in miniature, bathing the surroundings in its intense golden rays of light that illumiate the 10ft radius around him as well as the daylight would.

 

"i say phantasmo, what say you we show these louts what for?" he says, trying to keep the nervous excitement out of his voice, very aware that he needn't worry about holding back the swords wroth against these Undead.

[MisterShoebox]

Phantasmo nods and takes a deep breath. Underneath his domino mask, the yellow glowing orbs that are his eyes seem to glow a lot brighter. The zombie lets out another bellow. "AAAND NOW, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN...A HUSH, PLEASE, AS PHANTASMO...THE UNLIVING! AND HIS LOYAL ASSISTANT TAKE CENTER STAGE WITH THE VOLUNTEERS! NO NEED TO SHOVE, LADS, YOU'LL ALL GET A CHANCE TO PARTICIPATE!" 

The zombie twirls the cards in his hands and takes aim at each zombie. "COME HAVE A GO IF YOU THINK YOU'RE HARD ENOUGH!"

Edited December 6, 2014 by MisterShoebox

[Supercape]

GM

 

The skeletons were impassive. The ladies were impressed. 

 

"You really are a Knight in shining armor, aren't you?" shouted Arna, excited, afraid, amused all at once. 

 

Axes and Swords beat against metal shod shields, as the undead climbed fully out of the snow and ice and started advancing on Black Knight and Phantasmo. 

 

"Erik...your seed shall be slaughtered as you slaughtered mine...." came a whisper in the wind, almost too hard to hear, but grim and determined all the same. It came from everywhere and nowhere, a feeling more than a sound. A pledge of retribution that seemed to be the force behind the bone and rot of the animated dead. 

[MisterShoebox]

Phantasmo was nothing if not a showman...and to be honest, he lived for this sort of thing. Sure, taking care of evil thugs and such was fun, but he rarely got the chance to do something like this. 

 

"ABRACADABRA!" He vanished in a puff of red smoke, only to appear about twenty feet away from the that was closest to him. He gave out a laugh that was, in a word, chilling, and threw one of the cards he held into its neck, severing the head. If a skeleton could look surprised, this one did before the head rolled away and the skeleton fell to the icy ground.

 

"AND THE FIRST ACT OF THE NIGHT HAS BEGUN, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN - THE REVIEWS ARE IN, IT'S A ROUSING SUCCESS!" he bellowed and gave out that laugh again. "EEEHEHEHEHAHAHAAAAAHEHEHE!"  He gave a bow to the remaining skeletons and held up his other three cards. 

 

It went without saying he was having the time of his life...er, death...well, unlife. 

Edited December 6, 2014 by MisterShoebox

[Exaccus]

emboldened and encouraged by the shouts of support from the car black knight takes this oppertunity to test his most fearsome power on the unlucky zombie closest to him as he ponders why they don't have horned helmets.

 

<Should probably ask Arna about that later>

 

he moves without hesitation, no pity or worry for the shambled corpse to impede his blows he looses the most fearsome force the sword can muster, the gold of its glow becomes vained with streaks of utterblack energy as it whistles through the air and strikes the enemy zombie with its terrible might, shattering it, but not in the way bone should shatter, indeed it crashes to the ground in fragments as if it were made of delicate glass which further crumbles into powder.

 

"Come Feigr!, Surely you can do better!" he says, attempting to draw out what he suspects is the sorcerer in question.

[Supercape]

GM

 

The cold still air was silent. And no Feigr Iss was to be seen. If he even could be. 

 

Instead, the three remaining undead started to march, grinning at the heroes. The Black Knight was the noble option, and both sword and battle axe swung at him at the same time. The zombies, for all their slowness, were not unskilled, and had a kind of ferocity to them, a testament to the viking warriors of old. Axe and Sword were swung with skill and cunning. And the Axe bit deep into the Knight. 

 

The third marched up to Phantasmo, but was slow, almost slipping twice on the precarious ice, needing to get up again, slow, slow, too slow for the unliving magician. 

[MisterShoebox]

Phantasmo grinned. He was doing a lot of that today, but just couldn't help himself. Skeletons! Evil skeletons! He felt like Jason!...Not Jason the bloke who used to live up the street from him and who thought he was the Duke of Earl, but Jason of the Argonauts! He loved that movie!

 

He smoothly stepped a good few feet more away from the zombie, wishing desperately he had a cane to twirl...ah, well, ces't la vie. 

 

"PICK A CARD, ANY CARD!" He crowed as he nonchalantly tossed a second playing card into the eye socket of the slippery skeleton. The skeleton did not appriciate this - in fact, it fell all to pieces! Hah! 

 

He looked over at Black Knight. "All right, BK?" he asked in his normal voice. "Everything duckie, duckie? These lads aren't giving you any trouble, are they?" 

[Exaccus]

catching the ancient axe on his Pauldron and managing to deflect the force of the edge away from his neck with a screech, tarnishing the armour with its ruined but none the less razor sharp edge, he feels himself almost panic but he manages to swallow it, unable to hear Phantasmo over the sound of his own heart beating in his ears he surges forward and in a single stroke of his sword release its full wrath in another torrential expulsion of purple-black magic that sweeps outwards, shattering the frostbitten husks and sending there ancient arms armament skittering away.

 

he takes a moment to catch his breath, letting his heart slow down and his feet get steady once more.

 

"Verily, though i fear these knaves were merely the opening act; be vigilant mine squire."

[Supercape]

GM

 

Tanya and Arna actually broke into spontaneous applause at the heroic victory of the Black Knight and the amazing unliving Phantasmo. 

 

"That was quite impressive! You are actually a real Knight!" said Arna. She stopped, put hand on hip, and finger, tapping, on chin. 

 

"But...there must be hundreds of dead vikings in Greenland. Maybe thousands? Are they all coming back to life? Were these just the beginning? We don't even know all the funerals and burials. Ice covers everything in Greenland..." she wondered, a hit of fear around the concept. 

 

"What about this Feigr Iss? If he was real, and behind this...maybe we could find him?" suggested Tanya. 

 

Arna considered it a moment. "I am no professor, but if you are a Librarian for the Greenland university, you pick up a thing or two" she said, a statement flavoured with modesty and pride. "I can only guess, but we think the most holy place for the Inuit people before Erik the Red travelled was up a mountain just north of here..." she suggested. 

 

Yes.....whispered the wind, the faintest sound of the ghostly lips of Erik the Red. 

[Exaccus]

"I fear the man within the Armour may not live up to your expectations." he admits dropping his facade ever so slightly, already aware that Arna is clearly smarter than himself he's ready to go with her line of reasoning before the faint words reach him on the wind.

 

"Verily, T'would be most likely the placeto find Feigr, Let us make haste and put a stop to this scheme before it can get underway." he says, facade back to full because right now, regardless of his own doubt and worry, people needed black knight, not a boy in a tin suit.

[Supercape]

GM

 

"Verily, and yeah..." said Arna, hand on mouth suppressing what was, to some, a rather cute giggle. "Thats all very valiant and so on, but it is also up a mountain. This is Greenland. The land of Ice. And snow. And also, at this time of the year, no sunlight. Climbing is not a good idea?"

 

"Although do come in the Summer, the days are endless and the skies are blue!" she said with a smile to the Black Knight. 

 

"I can drive us there, but the ascent...I mean, I know you are a valiant knight, but...are you that valiant?"