Lords of RPG

Deiter took off his outer cloak, and stuffed it into a leather bag, which he then tied shut.  He shoved the bag into a hole between two root boles of a large oak tree.  The big man then dropped to the wet ground, and rolled around in the mud and half-rotten leaves of the prior Fall.  When he stood, the hunter was filthy with earth and debris.

He then pulled a bottle from his pouch, popped the cork, and started sprinkling the pungent liquid on his head and shoulders.  The deer piss ran down his face and body, further obscuring his human scent.  He rubbed some of the urine on his bow, and other equipment, ensuring his quarry would have no warning of his presence.

This was a routine Deiter had performed many times.  And each of his kills resupplied his piss bottle from the bladder of the dead deer.  He was a good hunter, and proud of his long-practiced skills.  He supplied his small village with lots of fresh meat, and had built a good life for his family with his trade.

What Deiter the Hunter did not know this day, was that he himself was hunted by a most dangerous foe.

Deiter chose a tree with a good strong limb that would give him a clear view of a nearby meadow.  He scurried up the tree much more quickly that was usual for a big man such as himself.  He crawled out onto the limb, and sat astride it like a horse.  He strung his bow, notched an arrow, and waited.

The hair on the back of Deiter's neck stood up, and a tingle went up his spine, and into the base of his neck.  He shook it off as a reaction to the chill air of morning, and kept his eyes upon the meadow.  There was movement there.

A buck and two does entered the meadow, and paused, looking around for danger.  Deiter slowly pulled back the arrow, waiting for the deer to start eating the succulent grasses.  That would be his moment.  His best opportunity to bring a prize back to his village.

Fire shot through his mind...like an unseen blade had pierced his skull.  Deiter moaned, and let loose his grip on both arrow and bow.  The buck and does fled.  Both of Deiter's hands reached up and grasped each side of his head.  There was no wound and no blood.  Just intense pain.

Dieter tried to crawl off the limb, but he found it impossible to balance, and fell to the forest floor with a thump.  He writhed on the ground, still grasping his head, but the pain only worsened.  "No...Gods No...Make it stop!!!"  This was followed by a blood curdling scream, and then relative silence.

Deiter was unconscious, his breath raspy and labored.  His eyes were still open, but rolled back in his head, showing mostly the bloodshot whites of his eyes.

A strange four-legged creature approached his body from the undergrowth.  It looked like a brain, scrambling about on four grotesque legs ending in claws.  The creature approached Deiter, and seemed to also sniff at his body, through it had no obvious nose.

The creature scratched tentatively at the back of Deiter's neck, and then thrust a beak like mouth through his flesh and bone.  The only signs of violence, were the sounds of wet sucking as the creature ate Deiter's brain directly from his skull.

When the entire brain was gone, the intellect devourer faded from view, and Deiter's eyes shot open with a start.  Deiter rubbed a hand across his face, feeling his nose, probing his mouth, running a finger across his teeth.  Deiter stood, a grim and unnatural smile on his face.  He ran a hand over the back of his head, smoothing his dark hair over the small bloody hole at the base of his skull.

Deiter brushed some of the dirt and leaves from his body, and collected his cloak, bow, and arrows. And then he spoke to the empty forest in Deiter's voice.  "Thank you for your gift Deiter.  I have debt's to collect.  The thief and his friends will regret what they did to me."