seasong's Light Against The Dark II (May 13)

[Indigo Veil]

<reads seasong's post, watches as her brain melts into a puddle of gray mush, and then shuffles her feet around in it>

Gahhhh, more numbers than I like, especially in a post that talks about sleep. i like sleep..a nap would be really cool right about now. ^_^

<falls down dead> 0->----<

Eh-heh heh heh... ^^;;

I'm currently in the finals, and will be devoting some time to IronDM this Saturday

Ahhhh. Then I guess I should go and get that address for the "benkyoo paatii" on Saturday night--it's a party where a few classmates get together to "study" Japanese, get drunk, watch anime and play video games. LOL

I love my Japanese class...well, except for the homework. And the quizzes. And the tests. And I'd like it lots better if I didn't actually have to *attend* class... ^_^ Wait, I guess that means that I don't actually like it that much at all! ^^;;;

Don't worry Indigo - I tease seasong becasue I'm jealous of his talent as a writer!

<grin> yeah, me too.

Here is the link. Seasong has posted two adventures - but I think you'll be impressed with several of the writers there.

thanks for the link! I've already started reading, and it all seems so exciting! ^_^ "Llamas." <laugh> Too funny.

 

[seasong]

LAtD: Babes in the Wilderness

Athan's mother spent a lot of time in the wilderness, ranging far from the normal Theralis borders, and so she occasionally met others of a like mind. One of those was Chatham, an orc wanderer who belonged to no tribe save his own, and had some mutual respect going with Athan's mom... so it was to Chatham that she sent her son when he said he needed a wilderness guide.

When they arrived at the spot they were supposed to meet him, there was no one on hand, and all three tensed a bit - Theralis was at war with a number of orc tribes, and it was still summer, the raiding time for orcs.

"Hello." The voice came from above, and had a deep, rich timbre to it. They looked up until they saw him - a leonine humanoid, wearing tanned leather pants, a copper torc around his bull-like neck, and a hide vest. Under one arm was tucked a three foot wardrum, and an orc spear lay across his back. Orcs look fairly close to human, save for their slightly brutish features and unusual (7 foot plus) size, but this one was positively gorgeous.

As he gracefully slipped to the ground from his loft, looking like nothing so much as a boneless cat, he grinned at the three heroes, "You must be they who I was sent to guide. My name, if you will, is Chatham, and I would love to know yours."

Athan grinned, Merideth looked sour, and Greppa openly gaped... but they managed to sort their names out. As everyone explained that they needed to find the site where the Bunahken fell to the dragon Amalan, Chatham grew more serious and nodded.

"My price is 2 argur per day, and I will guide you where you need to go so long as you pay that. However, we can save time if we run..." he looked at Greppa appraisingly, "Will you be able to run with us? I could carry..."

"I'll keep up." It came out a bit sharper than Greppa intended, and inwardly he grimaced. Could he run? Just because he had short legs... the inward grumbling continued as he cast hawk's flight and flew alongside the others.

Unfortunately for everyone, an orc's idea of running turned out to be just that. He kept the pace at a kind of hustling jog for a human, for hours. Greppa, proud of his newest spell, found himself continuously recasting and soon grew as exhausted as Athan and Merideth despite the relative comfort of flying.

Chatham showed no sign of fatigue, but eventually let up as afternoon slid in. Without a hint of breathlessness, he grinned at the trio of sprawled youths, then laughed out, "Did you never wonder how orcs covered ground? We will camp here."

Still not trusting Chatham, but unable to stay awake, Greppa finally summoned a minor mud doll and instructed it to watch over them. He'd been asleep for an hour when he woke up again, cursing himself. He should have been summoning mud dolls during the whole war - they could have warned of the coming orcs each night.

Then he fell asleep again, and the world faded into dreams.

 

[seasong]

Note: mud doll, for those new to the story hour and my style, is the alarm spell with different appearance and special effects. The mud doll appears as a tiny earth elemental that vaguely resembles a doll made of sticks, wattle and mud. It flows through the area, patrolling for anything larger than a rat. If it sees something of the sort, and isn't given a password, a mouth opens in the ground and begins a low wail that pitches upwards into a shriek.

All game effects are the same as for alarm.

 

[Talix]

Very cool - I love the custom spell descriptions, as always.

 

[seasong]

Another note: I tend to fall down a hole and disappear on weekends. I may get a vignette and a few background details written this weekend... or I may not. If I don't, though, Monday will surely see something.

Anyway, I'm off to run a superhero soap opera. See y'all later!

 

[seasong]

Vignette: Killing An Orc

He went by Akeros, although it was not his name. Akeros was one of the great rivers beneath the earth, and it was into this river that murderers and villains were cast in the afterlife. Akeros (the person) was one of the individuals who cast them there.

Long and lean, with dull black eyes and casual manner, Akeros crouched among rocks, out of sight of the orcs he watched. He had identified the target, the orc hero who had wrecked havoc weeks ago on the front lines, and had watched the target's patterns closely. Although orcs never slept exactly the same hours twice, and avoided habitual timing of any sort, Akeros had identified a range of times that the orc hero might be found by himself.

Unfortunately, he had also determined that a swift, silent death would not be possible. And Akeros had no taste for glorious death.

So he waited until there was a clear path, and stealthily slipped away from the tribe's encampment. He explained the situation to his general, and was given a small group of soldiers - only the most loyal and close-mouthed - and they went on a "scouting trip" for a pair of days.

At the passing of dusk, when Akeros was more certain that the target would be alone (or close to it), the soldiers charged in and attacked him with weapons poisoned by Akeros, and then retreated and fought their way back to Theralis while the orc hero died. Some of them died, but the majority successfully returned, with tales of stumbling across the hero and defeating him at great loss.

Akeros stayed behind, still hidden among the rocks, to make certain the target did not fight off the poisons. When he was sure the target had died, he too retreated.

 

[seasong]

Running With Orcs

Chatham turned out to be an excellent idea... despite the constant exhaustion Athan, Greppa and Merideth were suffering. He knew the wilderness inside out, and neatly avoided all manner of danger without pause, although he did occasionally point out this or that vicious thing.

Then they arrived.

Below them lay the Bunahken valley. No orc stirred here, but everyone could make out the charred remains of a small group of warriors. Most had fallen to the elements or animals, but three remained standing after more than a year, their blackened hands still gripping the spears that failed to help them against Amalan the dragon.

No orc stirred in the valley - none felt it wise, yet, to risk being mistaken for the Bunahken.

After a moment, Greppa found his voice, "How are we going to find the Uhkamah tribe now?"

Chatham, seemingly unimpressed with the carnage below, shrugged, "You said you wished to see the valley of the now-dead Bunahken. If you wish to find the Uhkamah, I can lead you there instead."

No one said anything. Greppa nodded, face burning. Chatham grinned and pointed to the east, and the party began to run, following the orc at 2 argur per day... again.

 

[incognito]

and now I can get back to my true calling. This story hour's groupie!

Wow, Greppa got FLY!

I don't trust that dragon. Anything that big...can't be trusted. He's probably the shape changed Nercomancer.

 

[seasong]

Greppa got fly and fireball. He is now prepped to follow in his former master's footsteps.

 

[Greppa of Tartwater]

Follow in his master's footsteps?

Since he's dead, exiled to some hell dimension or is some uber-orc's ***yatch, I'm going to have to stay out of those sandles.