The Dread Legion Advances...(Updated 08/02/2005)
Edward Kann@StoryART
First Post
The Dread Legion Advances...
"Zzzzz...what do think will become of usszzz?" The Dromite nudged me back to the present with his elbow.
"I'm not sure. I'd never heard of the Nameless before. What do you think it means?"
"Nothing good for usszzz, of that I am certain." The Dromite shifted around on it's haunches the sunlight throwing rainbows of dark blue and purple over it's rigid chitonous skin.
I stretched my legs out and leaned against a wooden railing, wincing and trying to ignore the unsteady rocking as The Poison Arrow gathered momentum slipping higher towards a thick bank of cloud.
"Before this, my name was Timus. What was yours?"
"Scout." The name seemed more of a title than a personal name. Maybe Dromite didn't name themselves in the same way that the Xeph or Humans did.
A pair of Humans, a male and a female emerged from below decks and stretched. They were not Rigger crew and they were not Fleet. The male was thin, medium in build with thick black hair and a scrubby goatee. His face was long and deeply lined. The heavy black eyebrows over dark eyes nearly met in the middle. In a word I would describe him as striking in appearance but rather homely. The female was short in stature for a Human, the height of a Elf female. Her hair was chopped short and her bare arms and legs were covered in spiral markings that gave her the appearance of one associated with one of the Noble Households in the Provinces but that was impossible here in the Dominion. Wasn't it? Nothing much seemed impossible today.
The pair spied us and made their way over. Scout and I regarded them cautiously but stayed seated. The last thing we wanted was a repeat of the earlier scenario that had landed us into this trouble.
The female sat on the deck and the male leaned against a spar.
"Relax friends." The male introduced them. "Officer Sorrow told us that there would be a Xeph and a Dromite joining us on our journey to train. Have you decided on your alias yet? Mine is Candle and this is.."
"Spiral." The female's voice was quiet but held a certain intensity that caught my attention. "Part of being Nameless is that you aren't held to the magic of the naming ceremony so you can introduce yourself under any name you like. Other Brothers are forced by the magic to speak only their true Legion name. That is how they get caught. They are unable to lie about their identity when pressed."
"Let me see your hand." I asked the female.
She held out her right hand which still held an angry red tone to the flesh of the palm. "It has been more than a month since we swore the oath."
"We have not had time to conzzzzider such thingzzz."
"Well we only have four or five days before we reach the moons of Sepulcher." Candle smirked. "I think I can come up with a few names."
"I am a Scout, call me Scout." Chirped the Dromite.
Wonderful, I thought to myself, the Dromite's lack of imagination has him facing the same odds as a sworn Brother.
"Thiszzz one." Added the Dromite. "Should be called Froszzt. Ice muszzt flow in his veinzz. Don't be fooled by him, he is a cold blooded killer."
"Hazzzz hazzzz hazzz." Apparently Scout had just made, for him, a world class jest at my expense.
Candle and Spiral looked amused. "Very well. Nice to meet you Scout and Frost."
"Zzzzz...what do think will become of usszzz?" The Dromite nudged me back to the present with his elbow.
"I'm not sure. I'd never heard of the Nameless before. What do you think it means?"
"Nothing good for usszzz, of that I am certain." The Dromite shifted around on it's haunches the sunlight throwing rainbows of dark blue and purple over it's rigid chitonous skin.
I stretched my legs out and leaned against a wooden railing, wincing and trying to ignore the unsteady rocking as The Poison Arrow gathered momentum slipping higher towards a thick bank of cloud.
"Before this, my name was Timus. What was yours?"
"Scout." The name seemed more of a title than a personal name. Maybe Dromite didn't name themselves in the same way that the Xeph or Humans did.
A pair of Humans, a male and a female emerged from below decks and stretched. They were not Rigger crew and they were not Fleet. The male was thin, medium in build with thick black hair and a scrubby goatee. His face was long and deeply lined. The heavy black eyebrows over dark eyes nearly met in the middle. In a word I would describe him as striking in appearance but rather homely. The female was short in stature for a Human, the height of a Elf female. Her hair was chopped short and her bare arms and legs were covered in spiral markings that gave her the appearance of one associated with one of the Noble Households in the Provinces but that was impossible here in the Dominion. Wasn't it? Nothing much seemed impossible today.
The pair spied us and made their way over. Scout and I regarded them cautiously but stayed seated. The last thing we wanted was a repeat of the earlier scenario that had landed us into this trouble.
The female sat on the deck and the male leaned against a spar.
"Relax friends." The male introduced them. "Officer Sorrow told us that there would be a Xeph and a Dromite joining us on our journey to train. Have you decided on your alias yet? Mine is Candle and this is.."
"Spiral." The female's voice was quiet but held a certain intensity that caught my attention. "Part of being Nameless is that you aren't held to the magic of the naming ceremony so you can introduce yourself under any name you like. Other Brothers are forced by the magic to speak only their true Legion name. That is how they get caught. They are unable to lie about their identity when pressed."
"Let me see your hand." I asked the female.
She held out her right hand which still held an angry red tone to the flesh of the palm. "It has been more than a month since we swore the oath."
"We have not had time to conzzzzider such thingzzz."
"Well we only have four or five days before we reach the moons of Sepulcher." Candle smirked. "I think I can come up with a few names."
"I am a Scout, call me Scout." Chirped the Dromite.
Wonderful, I thought to myself, the Dromite's lack of imagination has him facing the same odds as a sworn Brother.
"Thiszzz one." Added the Dromite. "Should be called Froszzt. Ice muszzt flow in his veinzz. Don't be fooled by him, he is a cold blooded killer."
"Hazzzz hazzzz hazzz." Apparently Scout had just made, for him, a world class jest at my expense.
Candle and Spiral looked amused. "Very well. Nice to meet you Scout and Frost."
Last edited:
Argent Silvermage
First Post
WOW great start. i'll be reading.
Edward Kann@StoryART
First Post
The Dread Legion Advances...
The Poison Arrow passed into deep towering formations of clouds that engulfed us and cast the world into a fog. The cold damp hung on the canvas and ropes making them heavy with moisture and the vessel a little less swift, a little more lubberly in her gait.
Our helmsman and Captain turned out to be an independent merchant, which explained the absence of Fleet personnel on board. He looked like a Human when I approached him but corrected me almost immediately when I tried to make small talk.
“So…can you tell me a little about where we are going?” I leaned against the railing on the raised aft deck. The Captain stood at the ship’s wheel and took readings off of a tall complex looking device, a collection of gears, metal disks, clockwork and a tall silver filled tube set with numerals.
The Captain grunted and continued to take his readings.
“Not interested in talking to me? You only speak to other Humans? A Xeph not good enough for you?”
“Elan.”
“What?”
“I am not any more Human than you are. I am Elan.” The Captain peered at me through thick white bangs that fell over his eyes. The wind tossed his rather impressive mane of hair about him. His eyes were an old color, a sort of amber golden color.
“What’s an Elan?”
“You don’t know? I thought all Xeph would know. Is this your first time to Sepulcher?”
I answered with a nod feeling uncomfortable that my lack of knowledge about my own people would become the topic of conversations. I had only meant to draw the Captain into small talk to pass the time.
The Captain stood and gestured with his hand. Strangely the wheel held to its course as though invisible hands guided it. He stepped over to me and offered a hand.
I shook hands with him.
“I am Victor.” The Elan gestured with long pale hands at the device next to the ship’s wheel. “Have you ever seen one of these before?”
I shook me head. This was my first time on a Rigger ship of this size. The first time I had left the city in my entire life.
“This….is called the Ship’s Vein. If the Poison Arrow had a heart then this would be it.”
Victor gestured to the ribbons tied to the top of the Ship’s Vein. “As you know all of the moonlets travel in orbits around the great permanent storms found at the center of each of the four realms. What you might not know is that weather and wind always pass outwards from these central storms…”
“You are talking about the Gods Eyes.” I stepped closer gaining interest.
“Yes, exactly right. Wind and storms move out from the central storm eye or Gods Eyes as they are known in The Dominion in a counter clockwise direction. These ribbons, the flags on the Poison Arrow, they easily show with a glance the direction of the wind. Facing into the wind we call the direction Windward and facing down from the wind we call…”
“Haven.” That much I knew.
“Why do we call the downwind direction Haven?”
I shrugged.
“Because all ports are constructed on the downwind side of any great moonlet. You see that the sheer cliff face on the trailing edge of a moonlet provides a natural windbreak for Rigger Ships that arrive in port. Vessels docked on the Haven side are less likely to face troubles from storms or high winds.”
Victor tapped a compass set in the top of the Ship’s Vein with his finger. “You know what a compass is I hope…”
I answered with a nod.
“Good. So you know the compass needle points at the closest God’s Eye. The great storms create an invisible force. It is like a magical force but it is not magical. This force pulls the compass needle to point towards the God’s Eye and since the God’s Eye is at the center of each orbiting system of moonlets we know…”
“You know when you are sailing deeper into a system of moonlets, or a realm.”
“Exactly, and that direction is called?”
I shrugged. I was no sailor.
“Core. It is called sailing into the Core or traveling Coreward.”
“What about sailing out of a system with the God’s Eye behind us?”
Again I was a blank. Victor looked disappointed.
“That is sailing Spinward. Remember Spinward is out of a system and Coreward is into a system. So the four directions we now know are?”
“Windward..Haven..Core and Spinward?”
“Yes, perfect.”
Victor tapped the tall glass tube filled with silver liquid. “This tube of liquid changes depending on the pressure of the surrounding atmosphere. When we sail lower the liquid climbs higher into the tube. When we go upward the liquid goes lower in the tube. The markings here, they measure where we are high or low in the Empyrean. That is important as well if you intend to find your way from place to place.”
“What’s this?” I pointed at a glass that had the appearance of a spyglass but was attached to an odd ruler like device.
“That is for taking readings.”
“Readings? I don’t understand.”
“You can find your position using a map, the compass, the silver, and this. You find a star, not just any star, but certain stars or the moon or the position of the sun and you can work out where you are on one of these.” He tapped his finger on one of the etched metal discs.
“What is that?”
“This? It’s a chart…you know, a map. You see the moonlets move in their course the same position, at the same time, year after year. Some take less than a year to orbit all the way around the God’s Eye, some take two or three years to go all the way around. The fact is that we know exactly how long it takes to go around once and where each moonlet is depending on the…”
“Depending on the time..and the date.”
“Yes…”
“So what your telling me is that this device with the gears inside is basically a mechanical calendar and clock…like they have in the Fleet offices?”
“Yes, exactly like those and you see these discs each have a map etched on them. I set the maps in correctly and using the Ship’s Vein…”
“You can find your way anywhere you like.”
“Well, almost. Some places are quite a bit easier than others to find. If you sail outside of one of the more well traveled charts you take your chances. Some regions have not been explored or mapped very accurately. Not like the Empyrean within one of the four realms.”
I stretched and looked out over the deck of the ship to spy Scout, Spiral and Candle clustered together talking on the central deck.
“Do you know what is to become of us then?”
“Not really. I try to not pay very close attention to matters that involve The Dominion. No offense. Officer Sorrow doesn’t pay me to know too much about what goes on.”
I sighed and gave a nod.
“Don’t be too horribly sad young master. I’m sure that you and your friends will be alright. One thing I do know is that the Dominion doesn’t pay good money to sail perfectly useful individuals such as yourselves off without having something quite special in mind for you.”
“Yes, exactly, that is what worries me.” I answered.
Victor laughed. It was a good solid hearty chuckle. “Good point lad. Good point.”
The Poison Arrow passed into deep towering formations of clouds that engulfed us and cast the world into a fog. The cold damp hung on the canvas and ropes making them heavy with moisture and the vessel a little less swift, a little more lubberly in her gait.
Our helmsman and Captain turned out to be an independent merchant, which explained the absence of Fleet personnel on board. He looked like a Human when I approached him but corrected me almost immediately when I tried to make small talk.
“So…can you tell me a little about where we are going?” I leaned against the railing on the raised aft deck. The Captain stood at the ship’s wheel and took readings off of a tall complex looking device, a collection of gears, metal disks, clockwork and a tall silver filled tube set with numerals.
The Captain grunted and continued to take his readings.
“Not interested in talking to me? You only speak to other Humans? A Xeph not good enough for you?”
“Elan.”
“What?”
“I am not any more Human than you are. I am Elan.” The Captain peered at me through thick white bangs that fell over his eyes. The wind tossed his rather impressive mane of hair about him. His eyes were an old color, a sort of amber golden color.
“What’s an Elan?”
“You don’t know? I thought all Xeph would know. Is this your first time to Sepulcher?”
I answered with a nod feeling uncomfortable that my lack of knowledge about my own people would become the topic of conversations. I had only meant to draw the Captain into small talk to pass the time.
The Captain stood and gestured with his hand. Strangely the wheel held to its course as though invisible hands guided it. He stepped over to me and offered a hand.
I shook hands with him.
“I am Victor.” The Elan gestured with long pale hands at the device next to the ship’s wheel. “Have you ever seen one of these before?”
I shook me head. This was my first time on a Rigger ship of this size. The first time I had left the city in my entire life.
“This….is called the Ship’s Vein. If the Poison Arrow had a heart then this would be it.”
Victor gestured to the ribbons tied to the top of the Ship’s Vein. “As you know all of the moonlets travel in orbits around the great permanent storms found at the center of each of the four realms. What you might not know is that weather and wind always pass outwards from these central storms…”
“You are talking about the Gods Eyes.” I stepped closer gaining interest.
“Yes, exactly right. Wind and storms move out from the central storm eye or Gods Eyes as they are known in The Dominion in a counter clockwise direction. These ribbons, the flags on the Poison Arrow, they easily show with a glance the direction of the wind. Facing into the wind we call the direction Windward and facing down from the wind we call…”
“Haven.” That much I knew.
“Why do we call the downwind direction Haven?”
I shrugged.
“Because all ports are constructed on the downwind side of any great moonlet. You see that the sheer cliff face on the trailing edge of a moonlet provides a natural windbreak for Rigger Ships that arrive in port. Vessels docked on the Haven side are less likely to face troubles from storms or high winds.”
Victor tapped a compass set in the top of the Ship’s Vein with his finger. “You know what a compass is I hope…”
I answered with a nod.
“Good. So you know the compass needle points at the closest God’s Eye. The great storms create an invisible force. It is like a magical force but it is not magical. This force pulls the compass needle to point towards the God’s Eye and since the God’s Eye is at the center of each orbiting system of moonlets we know…”
“You know when you are sailing deeper into a system of moonlets, or a realm.”
“Exactly, and that direction is called?”
I shrugged. I was no sailor.
“Core. It is called sailing into the Core or traveling Coreward.”
“What about sailing out of a system with the God’s Eye behind us?”
Again I was a blank. Victor looked disappointed.
“That is sailing Spinward. Remember Spinward is out of a system and Coreward is into a system. So the four directions we now know are?”
“Windward..Haven..Core and Spinward?”
“Yes, perfect.”
Victor tapped the tall glass tube filled with silver liquid. “This tube of liquid changes depending on the pressure of the surrounding atmosphere. When we sail lower the liquid climbs higher into the tube. When we go upward the liquid goes lower in the tube. The markings here, they measure where we are high or low in the Empyrean. That is important as well if you intend to find your way from place to place.”
“What’s this?” I pointed at a glass that had the appearance of a spyglass but was attached to an odd ruler like device.
“That is for taking readings.”
“Readings? I don’t understand.”
“You can find your position using a map, the compass, the silver, and this. You find a star, not just any star, but certain stars or the moon or the position of the sun and you can work out where you are on one of these.” He tapped his finger on one of the etched metal discs.
“What is that?”
“This? It’s a chart…you know, a map. You see the moonlets move in their course the same position, at the same time, year after year. Some take less than a year to orbit all the way around the God’s Eye, some take two or three years to go all the way around. The fact is that we know exactly how long it takes to go around once and where each moonlet is depending on the…”
“Depending on the time..and the date.”
“Yes…”
“So what your telling me is that this device with the gears inside is basically a mechanical calendar and clock…like they have in the Fleet offices?”
“Yes, exactly like those and you see these discs each have a map etched on them. I set the maps in correctly and using the Ship’s Vein…”
“You can find your way anywhere you like.”
“Well, almost. Some places are quite a bit easier than others to find. If you sail outside of one of the more well traveled charts you take your chances. Some regions have not been explored or mapped very accurately. Not like the Empyrean within one of the four realms.”
I stretched and looked out over the deck of the ship to spy Scout, Spiral and Candle clustered together talking on the central deck.
“Do you know what is to become of us then?”
“Not really. I try to not pay very close attention to matters that involve The Dominion. No offense. Officer Sorrow doesn’t pay me to know too much about what goes on.”
I sighed and gave a nod.
“Don’t be too horribly sad young master. I’m sure that you and your friends will be alright. One thing I do know is that the Dominion doesn’t pay good money to sail perfectly useful individuals such as yourselves off without having something quite special in mind for you.”
“Yes, exactly, that is what worries me.” I answered.
Victor laughed. It was a good solid hearty chuckle. “Good point lad. Good point.”
Edward Kann@StoryART
First Post
Thanks! Laughs, actually I've never read Ringworld. I know, I know, it's a little like saying someone has never read Tolkein. I've meant too. I've heard about the books to be sure but just never got around to reading them.
Spinward actually came out of my niece putting cheerio's on our old LP turn table and watching them shoot off across the carpet. What a mess. She happened to be over several years ago when I was working on the setting for the kids summer camp adventures and I was trying to come up with names for the cardinal directions.
Tossing the cheerio's off the spinning turn table made me think of something be launched Spinward..and it seemed like a good analogy for sailing out system at the time.
Since North, South, East and West don't work in this environment very well.
Now I know I need to read them for sure.
Ed
Spinward actually came out of my niece putting cheerio's on our old LP turn table and watching them shoot off across the carpet. What a mess. She happened to be over several years ago when I was working on the setting for the kids summer camp adventures and I was trying to come up with names for the cardinal directions.
Tossing the cheerio's off the spinning turn table made me think of something be launched Spinward..and it seemed like a good analogy for sailing out system at the time.
Since North, South, East and West don't work in this environment very well.
Now I know I need to read them for sure.
Ed
Edward Kann@StoryART
First Post
The Dread Legion Advances...
We were drawing close to Sepulcher. Victor had shown me the prior evening that we were now only a day or so distant according to his clockwork machine and the disc maps.
I was enjoying a lazy musing moment in my hammock when something landed heavily on my chest. I opened one eye and saw that Scout had tossed one of my boots onto me.
"Wake up sleepy. There is something ahead of us."
I rubbed tired eyes and swung bare feet out of the hammock, pulling one boots, closing up my leather hauberk and landing on the deck with a grunt. I pulled on my sword belt and squinted my eyes against the bright morning light on deck as I tromped up out of the birth below.
Scout was at the railing along with Candle and Spiral. I strode over and stretched rubbing the sleep out of my arms and shoulders and letting the snap of the cold wind pull me awake more fully.
Only a league or so off from The Poison Arrow another Rigger Ship hung suspended in the open sky. A long greasy black finger of smoke drifted off of its central deck leaving a black scar across the horizon like an old wound.
Something large was suspended in a great net below the other ship. Whatever it was looked still, dead. Not cargo. More likely some enormous creature. The sky surrounding the Rigger Ship was filled with spiraling birds.
Victor came up behind us, joining us at the railing.
"Hunters. Those are Hunters out for Windsail. They use nets and harpoons the capture and kill the great beasts and then butcher them, boil down the flesh for the oil that it produces and harvest the beasts bones for spars up in the windage. Nothing is as light, strong and of good length as the bones of a Windsail."
We drew closer, watching the vessel. Half a league. Closer still. Now only a few hundred yards off.
"Why are they letting the birds at their prize?" Scout buzzed curiously and pointed.
"They wouldn't." Victor's hands tightened on the railing and his eyes scanned the horizon in all directions. "Something is amiss."
The other ship was called The Dancing Girl. Her deck, spars and sails hung unattended. With the exception of hundreds of birds and the great racket they threw into the air there was no sign of any movement on board. It was clear now that she was drifting. No sailor manned her wheel.
The ship was flying the gold and silver flags of the Free City of Measure and the flag of The Dominion. While an independent merchant she still declared herself a loyal vessel of the Empire.
"We should board her and discover what became of her crew. Perhaps they were attacked and there are wounded that require attention?" Candle looked thoughtful and drummed his fingers on his hips.
"Very well." Victor agreed. "We'll set alongside and allow you to board. Be cautious. Hunters are not the sort to give up a catch without a fight, much less their vessel. If they abandoned her, they must have had good and desperate reasons..."
We set about the task of preparing ourselves to board. Readied weapons, armor, and any other equipment we might require. Candle, it turned out, was armed only with a light dueling sword. He had studied for a time as a apprentice at the Order of Sorcery and was a spellcaster. This impressed us all quite a lot. Spellcasters of any sort were rare these days.
Spiral was donned scarlet studded leather armor and armed herself with a sword and a pair of wheellock pistols. I oggled her. Mainly for the pistols. They must have cost her a small fortune.
Scout was armed only with his throwing blades.
I had my gladius, a short sword strapped behind my back and a pair of thrusting daggers. I supposed that circumstances being what they were that I would be in front.
"Join the cavalry." Father had told me.
Here I was. Infantry and poorly armed at that.
We were drawing close to Sepulcher. Victor had shown me the prior evening that we were now only a day or so distant according to his clockwork machine and the disc maps.
I was enjoying a lazy musing moment in my hammock when something landed heavily on my chest. I opened one eye and saw that Scout had tossed one of my boots onto me.
"Wake up sleepy. There is something ahead of us."
I rubbed tired eyes and swung bare feet out of the hammock, pulling one boots, closing up my leather hauberk and landing on the deck with a grunt. I pulled on my sword belt and squinted my eyes against the bright morning light on deck as I tromped up out of the birth below.
Scout was at the railing along with Candle and Spiral. I strode over and stretched rubbing the sleep out of my arms and shoulders and letting the snap of the cold wind pull me awake more fully.
Only a league or so off from The Poison Arrow another Rigger Ship hung suspended in the open sky. A long greasy black finger of smoke drifted off of its central deck leaving a black scar across the horizon like an old wound.
Something large was suspended in a great net below the other ship. Whatever it was looked still, dead. Not cargo. More likely some enormous creature. The sky surrounding the Rigger Ship was filled with spiraling birds.
Victor came up behind us, joining us at the railing.
"Hunters. Those are Hunters out for Windsail. They use nets and harpoons the capture and kill the great beasts and then butcher them, boil down the flesh for the oil that it produces and harvest the beasts bones for spars up in the windage. Nothing is as light, strong and of good length as the bones of a Windsail."
We drew closer, watching the vessel. Half a league. Closer still. Now only a few hundred yards off.
"Why are they letting the birds at their prize?" Scout buzzed curiously and pointed.
"They wouldn't." Victor's hands tightened on the railing and his eyes scanned the horizon in all directions. "Something is amiss."
The other ship was called The Dancing Girl. Her deck, spars and sails hung unattended. With the exception of hundreds of birds and the great racket they threw into the air there was no sign of any movement on board. It was clear now that she was drifting. No sailor manned her wheel.
The ship was flying the gold and silver flags of the Free City of Measure and the flag of The Dominion. While an independent merchant she still declared herself a loyal vessel of the Empire.
"We should board her and discover what became of her crew. Perhaps they were attacked and there are wounded that require attention?" Candle looked thoughtful and drummed his fingers on his hips.
"Very well." Victor agreed. "We'll set alongside and allow you to board. Be cautious. Hunters are not the sort to give up a catch without a fight, much less their vessel. If they abandoned her, they must have had good and desperate reasons..."
We set about the task of preparing ourselves to board. Readied weapons, armor, and any other equipment we might require. Candle, it turned out, was armed only with a light dueling sword. He had studied for a time as a apprentice at the Order of Sorcery and was a spellcaster. This impressed us all quite a lot. Spellcasters of any sort were rare these days.
Spiral was donned scarlet studded leather armor and armed herself with a sword and a pair of wheellock pistols. I oggled her. Mainly for the pistols. They must have cost her a small fortune.
Scout was armed only with his throwing blades.
I had my gladius, a short sword strapped behind my back and a pair of thrusting daggers. I supposed that circumstances being what they were that I would be in front.
"Join the cavalry." Father had told me.
Here I was. Infantry and poorly armed at that.
