Disclaimer: I hereby state that I in no way own "RWBY" or "Terraria", and I attest that they are owned by Rooster Teeth and Re-Logic respectively. The Calamity Mod for Terraria was created by Fabsol. I own naught but my own work.
"The Necrogolem" Chapter 1
"Origins"
My colleagues on the Atlas Council,
When one's enemies are so numerous as to be nigh-undefeatable, it must sometimes seem to humanity that their cause is hopeless. This is the case today, as it was many centuries ago. If you would take a seat, and tell you why no humans today live on the continent of Draconis. You see, it wasn't always so barren of civilization. It wasn't always so completely covered in all kinds of Grimm known and unknown. But it is not the Grimm of Draconis that each city fears. No, the real danger there is of human creation.
A hulking form sat more straightly in his chair and settled his blue-hemmed crimson cloak across the shining, lustrous gold power armor that coated his body. The chair itself would be almost absurdly large for a normal human, but the man's armor caused him to be twelve feet from the top of his helmet to his metal feet. The chair and its owner currently faced a wall-mounted screen larger than most televisions and of far better quality, with an outsized keyboard made primarily of leftover alloy from his armor so as to preclude the possibility of it being damaged. Right now, his mechanically augmented fingers were poised across it as the armored man pondered why he was writing this letter in the first place. He spoke aloud; his deep voice was amplified by expensive, high-quality speakers built into the armor: "Ah, yes. The Atlas Council has forgotten the threat Draconis poses to humans and faunus alike. As I am presumably the only living human from that time, I suppose I should keep these fools causing hundreds or thousands to die pointlessly." He shrugged, a surprisingly fluid motion testifying to the quality of his suit. "I don't even live there, for it would certainly hunt me down if I did. No matter my armor and weapons, I would have not so much as a prayer against such an aberration. But if I can't stop it, then Salem certainly can't either." He turned back to the screen and continued writing.
Nine hundred and sixty years ago, there was indeed a city on Draconis, near the center of the "south wing" as I have heard it referred to. Tyraria had been prospering and growing since its founding so long ago even I don't quite remember it. Most of our trade was with Vale and Vacuo, since they were the closest to us geographically. Now, there was always an unusual abundance of Grimm on Draconis, and we dealt with them as best we could: with walls and vigilance. Inevitably, a city cannot expand forever behind its immobile citadel and we began to push outwards. Colonies were established and killed off almost every week. Hundreds perished and the survivors came running back, but almost never did they seek shelter inside Tyraria's walls. They joined new colony expeditions, always ready to try again. A few times, we succeeded in establishing towns around us, and they began to grow as well.
Life was going so well back then, too.
As you might have surmised from the lack of any humans on Draconis today - hence your foolish desire to settle it - something catastrophic happened in the past. "Well, what happened?" I hear you all ask. Grimm attacks had dropped to an all-time low; we rarely encountered more than Beowolves and their Clawtipede brethren, and the great Wurms had vanished from the burrows where they had lived for millenia. That was our first warning that something bizarre was happening.
Eight hundred and twenty-two years in today's past, we received a runner from our largest colony, Hallow, screaming of a horde of Grimm well beyond any seen before. Screaming about the Wurms. Set aside your illusions as to the "invincibility" of your military; the Wurms are some of the largest and toughest non-unique Grimm known to humanity. A juvenile is at least a hundred and eighty feet long and five feet wide. They burrow - sometimes kilometers underground, especially when reproducing - and just one could flatten an army. The ancient Wurms are worse. One in particular, we simply called the Eater of Worlds. Its mile-long body, when it deigned to move, caused earthshaking tremors. If it were awakened, it could conceivably seek out the other kingdoms and destroy them. But it was the only Wurm that was not present at the attack on Hallow. After days of slowly faltering defense, Grimm poured through tunnels made by the Wurms, through the walls and through the gates as well. The colonists fought with the primitive technology we had at the time, even using raw dust crystals - there was a mine at the center of the settlement - but the tide of Grimm could not be stemmed. Finally, the remaining few colonists were trapped at the entrance to the dust mines by the great horde of Grimm, and it was there that the Ravager of Draconis was born.
Conceived by the vengeful, irrational minds of two humans and a faunus - details of the trio have faded away - the group used the immense and unstable power of the dust crystals surrounding them to force the corpses and ruins around them into a towering, terrible figure. It was stout, standing on two thick legs. Thick stone and bone served to protect it from harm, and where there was none the awful fleshiness of the Ravager could be viewed for the horror of all. Arms bearing sets of claws at least nine feet long per length of sharpened steel jutted from its sides, and two skulls sat at the height of this mountainous monster, eyes glowing with the hatred imbued by its creators. It immediately killed all three, of course. Such a powerful golem had never even been considered, certainly not one born by such horrid means. I was just arriving with an army when the Ravager came to life, and I assure you that it was a terrible sight to behold. It loomed above the remnants of the town wall by a good twenty or thirty feet, and it was possessed of a great ability to do damage. Even from three quarters of a mile away, I could see projectiles flying from it and its spiked fists lashing out across the settlement. When we marched closer, we could see larger, older Grimm like the Wurms fleeing - fleeing! - from the ruins of Hallow. The swarms of younger ones stayed to fight… and die. The Grimm stood no chance against the Ravager and fell by the tens of thousands. Eventually, the tide dried to a trickle and the monster looked for more lives to end; it found lives to end. My men fled to warn the colonies and Tyraria itself to evacuate, that a monster unlike any we had faced before was approaching. We convinced some to run to Vale and Vacuo, but the aquatic Grimm had returned in full force and destroyed every ship that left harbor. We were trapped.
Two months later, the other colonies had been wiped out, which could only mean that we were next up to face the Ravager. The other cities of Remnant had no knowledge of what was occuring on Draconis, for no news could escape the Grimm Decaclaws and Sawteeth. Fires burned bright orange and blue and blood red around Tyraria as the end slowly stomped closer. Almost reaching the height of our great city's wall, it turned a massive section to granite splinters in just one punch, and then azure fire rained on my people. Using experimental flying technology, I escaped with just a few others as Tyraria glowed balefully, silhouetting the Ravager against the darkening sky. That terror-filled evening was burned into my memory, and I said to myself, "Never will I allow humanity to face that monster. Not until we are ready." And, my fellows, we are not ready.
I know that Mr. Schnee is pressing the Atlas Council to approve colonization efforts, but I strongly suggest that you do not approach Draconis. Nothing good will come of it. Do not make your choice lightly, for uncounted lives depend on it.
Yharim
A/N: Well, this was not what I expected to start writing when I sat down. Nonetheless, here is the tale of the Ravager, one of the Calamity Mods bosses and probably the most rage-inducing before Moon Lord, in Remnant. Prepare for excessively drawn-out fight scenes and not nearly enough dialogue… though I will try to include it. This is the shortest first chapter I've published. What do you all think? I want to know your opinions, so please leave reviews!
The release of "Stained, Brutal Calamity" is driving me to pick up a lot of work I might have left to rot otherwise. Expect updates and new stories mostly on weekends, since that's when my day isn't consumed by schoolwork.