The Greed of Ucim Ironbreath pt1

The Story of Ucim Ironbreath the Simple Tightness

Ucim was born in 156 to unknown parents, in the world known as the Realm of Tempests.
His prowess with a sword and his natural physical ability quickly distinguished him from his peers, and he rapidly entered the service of his lord.
Ucim, however, was not content with being a mere hearthsperson of an insignificant mead hall. He wanted to be more.
His deepest desire was to be remembered for all eternity, sung in legends.
He worshipped the God of Fame after all.
Joined by his two childhood friends, Usan Lovetreasures the swordsman and Itvid Burialbears the bowman, he set out with a bronze greatsword and iron determination.
His first kill was a bandit by the name of Ezif Spongygrowth, whom he murdered ruthlessly, much to the horror of his two companions, who barely recognized their friend anymore.
After conversing with a lord, trying to find a quest worthy of him, a specific name caught his attention.
Irka Daugbloss, a human vampire. Irka was ancient, one of the first of her kind, appearing at the very beginning of recorded history.
Having traveled and changed names numerous times for almost 200 years, she had acquired a impressive amount of kills to her hand, almost 300.
Despite her foul nature, one man had fallen in love with her. Bok Groveswallow.
Her husband was struck down by the giant Tislam Freegland, the Direction of meteors, one year after their marriage. Whether Irka would have killed him or not if it were not for Tislam, history will never know.
Her long life would come to end at the bronze shortsword of Usan, after Ucim denounced her and revealed her identity.
Despite what he claimed, merely slaying the cursed murderer was not Ucim's true purpose.
He had heard legends of the incredible strength and speed of vampires, something he had seen for himself in his scuffle with Irka. She would surely have bested him without the aid of his companions.
Ucim knew that his frail human form would never be strong enough to slay the horrors of the world and become legendary. To fullfill his ambition, he had to become a horror himself.
Unbeknowest to Usan and Itvid, he licked his bloodied blade.
Almost immediately he felt the change. He felt how his armour and his sword became lighter than a feather. He felt his lungs stop pumping air. Finally, he was strong.
His courage bolstered by his newfound power, he set out to kill a mighty beast. A giant. Not just any giant. Unbeknowst to him, he set out to slay Tislam Freegland.
Ucim snuck upon the giant, stunning him with a powerful blow, and finishing the unconscious beast off with numerous hacks of his sword.
Perhaps it was fate that led Ucim to the giant Tislam. Ucim avenging the death of the loved one of the monster who gave him his curse was much too ironic and unlikely for it to be mere coincidence. It was surely marking the end of irka's curse, and the beginning of his, even if he thought it was a blessing.

On their way back, ucim's small party stumbled upon a bandit camp. Everything was going normally as they were setting up their ambush, but suddenly, ucim felt a thirst like he had never felt before. It was unbearable. He was completely overpowered, jumping onto the nearest bandit and sucking him dry of blood. His companions, his childhood friends, horrified, suddenly turned against each other and ucim. Maybe it was because they didn't agree on what to do with what was left of their old friend. Maybe they had simply gone mad with absolute horror. Either way, ucim didnt care. He rendered them both uncsconscious easily and drank their blood dry. Finally, now that his thirst had been quenched, ucim realized the consequences of his actions.

He had just murdered his two best friends in cold blood, faithful hearthpersons of his lord. He knew there was nothing here for him anymore. He would be hated by everyone he loved most. All that was left for him was to leave the continent and never come back. No boat would take him, he thought, so he swam across the channel, unafraid of drowning since he no longer drew breath.

Upon arriving, it was late at night and much too dangerous to travel. He had heard stories of brave -or, more likely, foolish- adventurers who slept in trees at night to avoid the infamous boogeymen. He climbed the tree, and prepared to wait out the night, since he no longer needed to sleep either.

After a few hours, he heard the most blood curling noise to ever be made: a vicious, cruel cackle. The noise grew louder and seemed to multiply. He knew it could only mean one thing. "Surely i am safe up here" he thought. "How could those adventurers have ever survived if boogeymen could climb trees?" Despite his self reassurance, the incessant laughter chilled him to the bone. Even if he was a creature of the night himself, darkness was still a truly dreadful thing.

He looked over the edge of the tree when suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his foot; one of the horrible creatures had climbed the tree and bit him! If one of them could climb, it was undoubtable the others could too. He quickly slashed at the creature, severing an artery and knocking it off the tree. Another one attacked him, and in turn, he fell too, but thankfully, the fall didnt hurt him. The creatures struck at him from the branches, but he quickly scurried away and braced himself for a fight. 3 of the creatures charged at him, the other who he had wounded crawling away, bleeding to death. Despite his strength and speed, the boogeymen were faster. Even if they were not very strong, they would have torn him to shreds if it were not for his armour.

The battle lasted the entire night, and the last of the abominations bled to death seconds before the sun rose. Ucim came out of the engagment shaken to the core and missing three fingers and an ear, but he had survived, something few who had encountered boogeymen could claim.

Ucim had decided that if his gear was not strong enough to withstand kicks, scratches and bites, it would be no match for dragonfire and talons. Having heard of the wealth and fine equipment stored away in the tombs of lords, he saught one out.

The tomb he found was that of a faithful law-giver. Inside, he easily dodged the traps, and the undead that resided there payed no heed to him, since he was technically one of them. After sifting through mounds of treasure, ucim found high quality armour and expensive, finely decorated goods. The most valuable of his findings, perhaps, was a superior iron greatsword. Content with his loot, ucim began to make his way out of the tomb.

His ease at avoding traps and joy at finding such valuable items made him careless, however. Near the exit, he stumbled upon a trap he had missed upon entering. It sprung upon the unready vampire and sliced his left hand clean off. When ucim got over his shock and pain, his realization hit him like a steel maul: how could he ever be a powerful warrior with only one hand? How could he ever defeat the terrors of the realm of tempests a cripple?

In that instant, ucim almost lost hope, but the force that drove him to become a monster also saved him from utter hopelessness. His steel will and insatiable ambition grabbed him from the jaws of despair. Without even thinking, he cast away his bronze shield and bronze longsword.

He drew his iron greatsword, only to find he could wield it like a weaker man would wield a shortsword.

Ucim Ironbreath the Simple Tightness was not yet defeated.