A Walk on the Wall (SEMI-Open)

Andre sat back as he saw the Headsman enter the tent.

"That was General Valeria. She will be aiding us prepare for Undead assault should such a thing ever occur. My men will learn in shifts and train your men as time becomes available. You will treat her with respect. You piss her off, and I will not defend you. She has requested prisoners to feed her minions, and I expect her to be appeased.

Do you have issue with these orders?" Andre's voice had a bit of an edge, but he maintained his cold business attitude.

"I don't give a damn if you don't respect the bitch. You are to act like it. If she asks you to do something detrimental to the wall, you can tell her to go pound sand, but if she wants to talk to you, you will be as sociable as LeBlanc. If you don't want to put up with her, stay away from her. Do not make her stay uncomfortable or extended.

I expect to find five chained men served up to Valeria today. I don't care for their quality save that they are breathing and not one of the specialists. She just wants feed for her minions. You don't need to deliver them personally, but if she loses a ghoul, I'll tell her to create one from your ranks, and you will have no choice in who she takes. If she wants more than five, send her my way." Andre growled without standing.

The Lecture day arrives, being held at the training pit found in every Noxian encampment. There were neither seats nor blackboard, and a few pamphlets found their way into the hands of officers... though the information in them was academic, mostly. The good doctor-General stood beside her cages, while her aids stayed on top of them.

The soldiers are now slightly less willing to joke than normal, given the General’s reputation. However, that reputation was fairly slow to propagate at first, and when there was a call for ‘brave souls’ to attend her lecture a few hardy men took to standing inside the pits with the General, armed and armored.

The General seemed rather tired as always, a lethargy that seemed to characterize her in a negative light by Noxian ideals. A few murmurs point out the size of her entourage, painting the General as highly dependent on her minions. A few retorted the Grand General was a cripple.

Her aid handed her a list and promptly excused herself from the pit. She looked at list and began roll call. The volunteers chuckle among themselves. Was this some kind of classroom setting? They respond “here” when their names were called.

She looked at Andrei and nodded, beginning her lesson on an easy note. "Of course. we all come to these meetings with expectations, and predictions. While it is true that some undead are mindless, and thus stupid this applies only to the most rudimentary types. "

The first cage was opened, and out came a skeleton and a zombie. Both wore the tattered rags of street dwelling homeless; the zombie's skin looked dirty and suffered leprosy enough to indicate their forgettable backgrounds. They shambled slowly towards the closest living thing- but overlooked Valeria, the doctor-General quite literally pointing them to the soldiers- and slowly made their way over to the small 'class', hungry for living flesh.

One soldier moved forward, chuckling to himself. He chopped at the slower zombie's legs at the knee, sending it sprawling while crushed the oncoming skeleton's skull with the pommel of his sword, before finishing the zombie with a decapitation. His fellows clapped weakly. A few wisely gripped their weapons.

"Threat neutralized, General." He proclaimed.

"The threat of the undead is measured in either the predatory instincts of advanced forms, or the cunning of their masters... exploiting any lulls in our guard." At that last word, a trio of Noxian War Dogs sprinted from the cage, instantly closing the gap with the soldier who had moved forward and was wiping his weapon- too slow to defend himself as the hounds pounced upon him and floored him.

He was quickly screaming in a panic as the hounds bit down on his limbs. A good look at them showed that the War Dogs were undead- large parts of their bodies had lost skin and fur, exposing thick undead muscles. Valeria had just unleashed Ghoul hounds... and the soldiers took about a moment before they could react.

These Ghoul Hounds were quick and well trained, combining the training of living war dogs with the unholy speed, strength and toughness of Ghoulification. the soldiers moved to assist, but were in disarray, as their spear attacks did not discourage the animal as it would've living ones at all.

Valeria awaited them to resolve the situation.

Andrei's assumption was correct... if he was dealing with living dogs. They behaved like no such thing, and Valeria emptied the first cage, driving the whole pack of eight hounds between Andrei and his soldiers, flushing them out. Their undead howls shuddered the morale of the troops, and though their officer commanded them to form closed ranks, to lock shields and have spears pointed out, they were effectively isolated from their General, being encircled by the massive war dogs that might've passed as miniature bears. They most certainly did not attack Andrei, but rather kept him at bay, while they would work on the more susceptible prey.

Valeria continued her lecture, the hounds' fearsome barks turning to low growls, the spears doing nothing to discourage them. A soldier got a lucky hit in and skewered the unliving hound in its side, which only caused it to snarl and squirm violently, causing the man to give up his weapon. "Like I was saying. These are not living enemies anymore. While our intelligence on the Shadow Isles is not complete, we can assume they are under the control of skilled tacticians... Hecarim perhaps, or Mordekaiser, the most... martial Champions from the League. Or whatever passes as their Necromancers."

"They will behave like nothing you expect." She looked at Andrei, then at the dog he decapitated. "They feel no fear, no pain, no loss of morale..." She snapped her fingers and the dogs leave the soldiers, going up to cannibalize their fallen foe, leaving only a bloody stain.

"And they will use our dead against us." She stood over the lone man who was bitten, meeting his gaze, as if to emphasize his fate. He gripped his sword and wanted to strike at the General, cursing that such a little bratty girl could assume such a rank. She steps aside to avoid his feeble attack, knowing what the bite does to men.

"You... you killed me...as a demonstration... General?" He asked, vomiting his breakfast with a tinge of blood in it.

Valeria looked at him tiredly. "Of course not. you are not one of mine, that is not in my authority." She knelt down to inject the man with the antidote, the soldier too weak to resist. He fell to the ground, but he would live... and keep this experience close to his heart.

"Of course, once you have met the undead in battle... It is a valuable experience that benefits you all in future confrontations. Are there any questions so far?" Valeria asked around, pacing her lecture. There was a long silence from the soldiers.

Valeria goes over to pet her ghoul hounds on the head, though they all had nothing but blank expressions and drooled, staying unnaturally still like statues. They were truly not of the living, and it was disturbing to see it.

The men though, began to get a grip and heed Andrei's words. Really, it only took surviving one encounter to get over fear. Valeria responded to the General.

"I recommend tactical dismemberment, General. Your enemy is likely stronger, tougher and more numerous- so, you resort to what I believe most of the soldiers have- brains."

The dogs all began to move in unison and approached the men once again. They cluster together, their sergeant repeating Andrei's words in sharp barking tones.

"...Keep them at a comfortable distance and cut them down at the limbs. Realize what is the threat and remove it. Yes, that is good... the phalanx is a forgiving formation in such confrontations."

The dogs move in on the formation, but the soldiers regain their nerves, and very slowly march backwards, and impale the dogs on the spears. This time the men hold fast, bringing them in one at a time and cutting them down... a slow, steady process, but the men begin chanting in unison, cheering their fellows as they hack off clawed limbs and deadly jaws.

In time, the dogs are dismembered and are strewn on the pits, their stinking blood pooling on the sands.

"Do not be afraid, gentlemen. Always work together, and do not think to grab glory. This enemy cannot be intimidated by shows of bravado, only cut down in methodical steps. Forgo the sword against such unskilled foes, it is must easier to replace simple weaponry such as spears and axes when your enemy outnumbers you."

Valeria sighed, and her aids come in to retrieve the dog bodies, taking a few minutes to do so. The attending soldiers learn their lesson and take it to heart, appreciating the seriousness of the Lecture.