Moto NimthatBeing born a Moto was bad enough. Inheriting the Cursed Blade of Mol-Ghan only made matters worse. Jumbo Character Sheet (slow: 194K) At your gempukku you and your family were called away. Another skirmish had broken out against a small outpost of goblins and undead samurai. They had formed a wall of soldiers along the farthest edges of the Shadowlands. The clan was engaged in a constant, heated war with Kuni Girakuma - the family's hated enemy and a necromancer. You had been raised to know and hate his name. the long history of war with this undead sorcerer is well known to all of your family. Your father had special cause to hate him. The soldiers of Girakuma had been preparing to attack the encampments of Moto and would begin there attack just as the sun hid beneath the mountains and the moon rose in the sky. Scouts reported that Girakuma was there, smiling and sneering, his foul stench of decaying flesh and breath permeating everything. All of the Moto soldiers gathered, preparing to receive another onslaught. When the battle commenced, your father asked you to fight along side him. He wielded the Blade of Mol-Ghan a fiery scimitar his ancestors had brought back from the Burning Sands. He told you when the battle was over the Sword would be yours. Your father had recived the sword at his gempukku ceremony, from his father; it would remain with the family forever, until the undead sorcerer Girakuma was put down. It was meant for your older brother, but he was killed in a raid several years earlier his body dragged into the Shadowlands by hungry Ogres. The Charge of the Moto began. Hundreds of goblins and undead emerged from the murky bog and flooded the Plains of Foul-Tears. Another hundred emerged from the nearby woods. The Moto were pinned in, but fought savagely. The battle was deadly and swift. The Moto cut down goblins as fast as they charged; undead pulled Moto down to the earth and wrestled them to unconsciousness and death. Your father was there, and the fight was quick to come to him. Girakama knew his strength and sent his best goblin warlords to subdue the Moto warrior. Your father never had a chance. His hands fell to his side as blood fled from his body. The sword lie glowing on the ground, as life fleeted from him. Others charged into the fray and in the chaotic skirmish no one noticed you lift the sword from the muck. Confused and distraught, you backed away from the fighting. Your movement halted when you met a zombie samurai wearing armor with the mon of your family. The sword struck out from your hand without hesitation. It's strength was not yours; but somehow you wanted this abomination dead. Your body slumped forward with the blow as the zombie split in two. The fight was over quickly and decisively. Another of your family found you. Spent and crying, you looked upon the scene. A bloodied blade lie on the ground embedded in the chest of a your undead older brother. The last six years have been a blur. Battle after battle, the sword has carried you screaming into the Shadowlands killing everything you find. Your wife remains at home waiting for your return. Unable to conceive any children, the duty to destroy Girakuma is your inheritance. This war keeps you forever in the Shadowlands. But the glory that some day the death of Kuni Girakuma will come, keeps you alive. When that day comes, the sword will rest, and so shall you. The Blade of Mol-GhanA holy man, from the Burning Sands, blessed the water and forge during this blade's creation. Centuries later it was anointed in a boiling cauldron with a few drops of blood taken from the tissue of the undead Kuni Girakuma. The Blade of Mol-Ghan is a scimitar of remarkable features and strength, and is considered a flne longsword with a damage rating of 2k4. When used on Shadowlands creatures, it automatically negate their inherent defense abilities, such as armor, invulnerability, and zombie damage reduction. When the sword is within range of Girakuma it glows with a magical orange fire, and becomes warm to the touch. The exact history of the sword dies with each wielder - most Moto don't have poets to tell their tales. The strength of the Moto ancestors resides with the blade and while a Moto wields it all memories of it's previous glory are obvious. Back to Imperial Herald Issue #8 Table of Contents Back to Imperial Herald List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master List of Magazines © Copyright 1996 by Alderac Entertainment Group This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. |