Lantern Bearer

[Alexius Carthwall]

A rough encounter story, written to show how a Lantern Bearer (someone who hunts down Shadow creatures in my campaign Setting Afterworld) might potentially encounter one of these shadows, and how he would fight then.

Lantern:
The leaves slowly drifted past the lone mans face as he silently treaded through the rapidly darkening autumn forest, carrying only his long staff adorned with a burning lantern. All around him the cascading colors of leaves provided a carpet as he paused to glance up from under his long cowl. In front of him stood a dark figure that seemed to be there one instant, then simply gone the next. A shadow is simply what most people called them, but he knew each of there names, each of their weaknesses, the shadows were his prey, and it was for this particular shadow that he was now a good six days travel from any form of inhabited civilization.

They stood facing each other for a good half an hour as the light slowly faded, and it wasn't until the sun winked it's final goodbye as it crossed over the horizon that both creatures erupted into action.  The apparition seemed to disappear among the deep shadows that the forest cast as it charged forward, only visible for moments as it crossed between the patches where, what light remained, spilled through the overhead branches.  The man held his course till the creature was almost upon him, then with inhuman speed he flung open his deep cloak and drew forth a long curved sword that shone with the brightness and intensity of the sun.

Holding the sword before him, the creature stumbled and fell amid screams of anguish as the light pierced into it's very being. "Begone spawn of Shadow! This world is not yours!" Screamed the man, whose cowl had been flung back, uncovering his face as he drew his sword. The shadowed creature, despite its howls of pain, frantically dragged itself away from the light. Slowly the man followed the creature, hoping to allow it to feel at least a part of the pain it had inflicted upon the sixty eight men, women and children whom it had slaughtered as they were attending a night sermon in prayer for the rain that their crops so desperately needed.

A full twenty minutes the man followed the creature, listening contently to it's screams of pain, it's body pock marked by the light that shown from his sword, until he finally took pity on it.  Bringing forth his lantern, he pointed the hooded opening at the shadowy aberration, and with a whispered command it flared ten times brighter than the sun, a burning beam of light so bright that literally dissolved the creature, leaving the nothing but the shadows of the trees dancing over head. The man sighed, the creature was stronger than he had expected, and the amount of power he had ended up requiring to destroy it had completely drained his lantern of power, leaving it dimmer than a glowing ember.  It would be a full three days before it had fully recharged, and he prayed to whomever was willing to listen that his display tonight would be enough to ward off anything else that may be stalking this forest until then.

[Nomadic]

Wow, that was incredibly awesome. I think it would be fun to play someone like this, using light to vanquish the creatures of shadow.