Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
On the Trail of Copper Bloodhounds… [16August06]
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Monty Tomasi" data-source="post: 2890898" data-attributes="member: 40137"><p>Part VIII:</p><p></p><p></p><p>Ella retreated in to the past, searching for a place amongst her memories where she could hide, if only for awhile. </p><p></p><p>Her body, she knew, was lying on a wooden pallet in the basement of a tenement house in the Hive ward. The barbazu had bandaged up the wound in her abdomen; given her something foul-tasting to drink and her captor had then wordlessly disappeared up the staircase.</p><p></p><p>Rats scurried out of sight, scratching and rustling as they moved furtively though the darkness. A leak in a pipe running along the ceiling dripped and dripped. Spiders had spun their webs, retreated in to the corners of the web and been devoured by time’s hungry passing. Thick dust covered the floor, broken in places by rat trails criss-crossing in search of food and refuge.</p><p></p><p>The magic that was released when Ella had fired the pistols still coursed within her, but at a sluggish pace its vigour having dwindled along with the Harmonium officer’s strength. She felt its sinuous embrace simmering inside her, waiting for another release of devastation and death.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>“Darkness,” was the first word that Ella remembered from her youth. ‘There’s darkness in that child’ was a phrase she’d often heard in childhood. A number of the children on her street were called tieflings and worse, but something set Ella aside even from them. Her mother rarely let her out and for the first decade of her life, Ella’s world consisted of a room in a basement where she and her parent lived. Her father was a figure that made only fleeting appearances in her childhood and for that Ella was grateful.</p><p></p><p>Scorn, obedience and shame. Those were the main-stays of Ella’s early years. Her mother treated her with scorn, obedience was demanded without question and despite her tender age she sensed even then the shame her parents felt at having brought her in to existence. When Ella did finally move beyond the borders of her small world, she found her second birth even more painful than the first.</p><p></p><p>“There’s a witch living in our street,” the children used to boast. “That there is her child, the one with the dark wings and golden eyes. Careful lest she steals your soul and devours you whole.”</p><p></p><p>Ella was groomed for begging, spying, cheating and lying. These were the skills a mother taught her child in order to scrape a living in the Hive. There was never any love between mother and daughter. At least not from the mother. Ella did once try to open up to her mother, to draw close to her, but the punishment she received was sufficient to teach her never to try again.</p><p></p><p>On Ella’s twelfth birthday her mother died, killed by a man in a fit of rage over a few copper coins. Ella saw the remains taken away by the collectors and was then left by herself. That evening her father came by to visit. He appeared quite suddenly with his lover at his side. The tall lord looked down his nose at the girl, all the while his fey companion laughing hysterically at the twisted progeny of a past coupling.</p><p></p><p>“So is that thing really your daughter?” the dark, beautiful, and malevolent creature asked.</p><p></p><p>“Regrettably so,” the nobleman replied.</p><p></p><p>“And will you take her to the Unblessed Court, my lover?”</p><p></p><p>“No, my dear, I will leave her here with the human filth. Darkness only knows what possessed me to conceive such a child.”</p><p></p><p>Without another word her father departed and just like that Ella was left on her own, without family or friends. </p><p></p><p>Orphans in the Hive have little in the way of opportunities; their lives are brief and violent affairs. Ella survived the next few years through sheer force of will alone and for some of that time she was in control of the direction of her life. </p><p></p><p>Not a day went by without misery, hunger and fear. Living from one moment to the next Ella developed in to a beautiful woman sought after by many. Fearing the entrapment of her childhood, she never remained in one place for long. Breaking out by guile, luck or skill with a blade she managed for a number of years to remain one step ahead of the gangs that roved the Hive.</p><p></p><p>One day her luck ran out, cornered in a street walled up by the Dabus, a gang closed in and a net dropped from a nearby house preventing her from taking flight. There was only darkness after that. </p><p></p><p>When she awoke from the nightmare she immediately felt that they had taken her wings. Black, silky wings that protected her in the night and lent her flight when there was no other way out. </p><p></p><p>“My wings,” she cried and prayed for an end to her suffering.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>With a start Ella awoke from her dreams of childhood. The memory of losing her wings returning her to present. She cried for the void left inside of her. She cried for darkness re-awoken inside her from those early childhood years by the sorcery of the Rhulic-forged pistols. And she cried for the man who had carried her away from the torment of her life in the Hive to be re-born as an officer in the Harmonium.</p><p></p><p>“I have a message for your boss,” tormented voices echoed around the chamber. “So listen closely girlie.”</p><p></p><p>Ella opened her eyes and all she saw was the mould-covered ceiling, detritus strewn across the floor, her wooden pallet and a bone scroll-case lying along side her. She could not identify the source of the voice and it sounded to her as if the pain-wracked voices were reaching her across a great distance.</p><p></p><p>“We have no interest in you or your kind. Nor do we have an interest in what is happening to the Believers of the Source.”</p><p></p><p>“The erinye is what concerns us. She is being investigated for irregularities that took place during the process of her promotion. If you or your kind interferes with her capture; both you and she will be taken to Dis to stand trial.”</p><p></p><p>“Take my advice,” dying voices whispered. “Tell your boss to back off.”</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Monty Tomasi, post: 2890898, member: 40137"] Part VIII: Ella retreated in to the past, searching for a place amongst her memories where she could hide, if only for awhile. Her body, she knew, was lying on a wooden pallet in the basement of a tenement house in the Hive ward. The barbazu had bandaged up the wound in her abdomen; given her something foul-tasting to drink and her captor had then wordlessly disappeared up the staircase. Rats scurried out of sight, scratching and rustling as they moved furtively though the darkness. A leak in a pipe running along the ceiling dripped and dripped. Spiders had spun their webs, retreated in to the corners of the web and been devoured by time’s hungry passing. Thick dust covered the floor, broken in places by rat trails criss-crossing in search of food and refuge. The magic that was released when Ella had fired the pistols still coursed within her, but at a sluggish pace its vigour having dwindled along with the Harmonium officer’s strength. She felt its sinuous embrace simmering inside her, waiting for another release of devastation and death. “Darkness,” was the first word that Ella remembered from her youth. ‘There’s darkness in that child’ was a phrase she’d often heard in childhood. A number of the children on her street were called tieflings and worse, but something set Ella aside even from them. Her mother rarely let her out and for the first decade of her life, Ella’s world consisted of a room in a basement where she and her parent lived. Her father was a figure that made only fleeting appearances in her childhood and for that Ella was grateful. Scorn, obedience and shame. Those were the main-stays of Ella’s early years. Her mother treated her with scorn, obedience was demanded without question and despite her tender age she sensed even then the shame her parents felt at having brought her in to existence. When Ella did finally move beyond the borders of her small world, she found her second birth even more painful than the first. “There’s a witch living in our street,” the children used to boast. “That there is her child, the one with the dark wings and golden eyes. Careful lest she steals your soul and devours you whole.” Ella was groomed for begging, spying, cheating and lying. These were the skills a mother taught her child in order to scrape a living in the Hive. There was never any love between mother and daughter. At least not from the mother. Ella did once try to open up to her mother, to draw close to her, but the punishment she received was sufficient to teach her never to try again. On Ella’s twelfth birthday her mother died, killed by a man in a fit of rage over a few copper coins. Ella saw the remains taken away by the collectors and was then left by herself. That evening her father came by to visit. He appeared quite suddenly with his lover at his side. The tall lord looked down his nose at the girl, all the while his fey companion laughing hysterically at the twisted progeny of a past coupling. “So is that thing really your daughter?” the dark, beautiful, and malevolent creature asked. “Regrettably so,” the nobleman replied. “And will you take her to the Unblessed Court, my lover?” “No, my dear, I will leave her here with the human filth. Darkness only knows what possessed me to conceive such a child.” Without another word her father departed and just like that Ella was left on her own, without family or friends. Orphans in the Hive have little in the way of opportunities; their lives are brief and violent affairs. Ella survived the next few years through sheer force of will alone and for some of that time she was in control of the direction of her life. Not a day went by without misery, hunger and fear. Living from one moment to the next Ella developed in to a beautiful woman sought after by many. Fearing the entrapment of her childhood, she never remained in one place for long. Breaking out by guile, luck or skill with a blade she managed for a number of years to remain one step ahead of the gangs that roved the Hive. One day her luck ran out, cornered in a street walled up by the Dabus, a gang closed in and a net dropped from a nearby house preventing her from taking flight. There was only darkness after that. When she awoke from the nightmare she immediately felt that they had taken her wings. Black, silky wings that protected her in the night and lent her flight when there was no other way out. “My wings,” she cried and prayed for an end to her suffering. With a start Ella awoke from her dreams of childhood. The memory of losing her wings returning her to present. She cried for the void left inside of her. She cried for darkness re-awoken inside her from those early childhood years by the sorcery of the Rhulic-forged pistols. And she cried for the man who had carried her away from the torment of her life in the Hive to be re-born as an officer in the Harmonium. “I have a message for your boss,” tormented voices echoed around the chamber. “So listen closely girlie.” Ella opened her eyes and all she saw was the mould-covered ceiling, detritus strewn across the floor, her wooden pallet and a bone scroll-case lying along side her. She could not identify the source of the voice and it sounded to her as if the pain-wracked voices were reaching her across a great distance. “We have no interest in you or your kind. Nor do we have an interest in what is happening to the Believers of the Source.” “The erinye is what concerns us. She is being investigated for irregularities that took place during the process of her promotion. If you or your kind interferes with her capture; both you and she will be taken to Dis to stand trial.” “Take my advice,” dying voices whispered. “Tell your boss to back off.” [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
On the Trail of Copper Bloodhounds… [16August06]
Top