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The Rise of Felskein [Completed]
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<blockquote data-quote="Iron Sky" data-source="post: 4943009" data-attributes="member: 60965"><p>Session 24, Part 3</p><p> </p><p><Some day I'll go back and do a second edit of my posts. I used to just post-and-forget, then go back a few days later and maybe tidy it up. Now I go through and do a quick skim-over edit right before I post it. It's not perfect. I apologize if any of my errors made the reading confusing or difficult at any point. I went through and edited the whole first page of this thread to fix all the little errors and fix some awkward phrases, but when I go back and try to edit it all I realize how much of it is here. By the time I finish this thing it might be novel-length! Then I can print it out and put it in a binder with the novel I wrote in college that's sitting under my bed gathering dust. If anyone thinks writing a novel is hard, try getting one published... I gave up at the query letter.></p><p></p><p>After most of a day inside the bubble, Suniel was about at his wits end. Between Harold's endless pacing and dark moods, Bail's blatant hostility towards the archer, and Kormak making smart remarks about everything and flaring the two's animosity up even more, Harold wished they were all like Keeper. The construct didn't even watch their drama, staring off through the bubble as though he was watching something off in the distance. Ambassador Roderic hadn't said a word since the bubble closed over them and the lift had started to move.</p><p> </p><p>“What is it Keeper?” he finally said as it began to get dark – at least, the level of the ambient silver light dropped for evening as it had during their nights on the Landspear lift.</p><p></p><p> “The Nexus.”</p><p></p><p> “Oh.” He thought about it for a minute. “What is it like?”</p><p></p><p> “It's like being alive,” Keeper said, his flickering eyes meeting Suniel's. It might have been his imagination, but Suniel thought he might have seen a spark of something else in them for the first time. It was like looking at a person and not a machine. “At least, I what I have imagined what living must feel like.”</p><p></p><p> That took Suniel aback. <em>Does he spend those long hours watching and listening to us trying to imagine what it is to live, to feel? Can a construct of living metal feel </em>longing?</p><p></p><p> “There is a different energy that flows this close to the Nexus. Like something massive and intelligent is waiting for me, so close I can feel it. I think for the first time I understand the look that comes over you when you speak of things like 'home' and 'family.'”</p><p></p><p> “Are you going to rejoin them when they come?” Suniel said, feeling true empathy with Keeper for the first time even as a feeling of alarm tensed in his shoulders and gut. “Return to your family?”</p><p></p><p> Keeper shook his head and placed a hand on Suniel's shoulder. It was warm and the grip was light. “You are my Master. I will follow you until my destruction... whenever it happens again that is.”</p><p></p><p> Suniel he thought he might have seen a smile quirk the corner of Keeper's mouth for a moment. He nodded to Keeper and smiled back, shifting Keeper's hand from his shoulder and he clasped the construct by the wrist as elves did among friends. Keeper glanced down for a moment, then looked back at Suniel and grabbed Suniel's wrist as well.</p><p></p><p> “Touching... really,” Kormak said from where he sat next to the small tent he'd erected on the Span lift. “I think I'm about to cry.”</p><p></p><p> Suniel rolled his eyes and let go, then sat down next to the dwarf. “Fine Mr. Dwarf, what's your story? If you're not too choked up to talk about it that is.”</p><p></p><p> “My story?” Kormak said, quirking up an eyebrow. “Well, I was found, by some monks, unconscious in a field. I had no memory so they took me in and put a magic stone inside me that awoke me.”</p><p> </p><p>Suniel squinted at the straight-faced, wide-eyed Dwarf trying to decide if he was telling the truth for once.</p><p></p><p> “Then we went on a magical journey to the shining Quartz Keep, for I had a feeling that maybe my family was there and I heard them calling to me from just out of-”</p><p></p><p> Suniel shook his head as he stood up.</p><p></p><p> “Wait, don't you want do your elven friendship grabiness with me too?” Kormak said, standing up with Suniel, his hideous grin widening. Suniel bumped Harold as he walked away from the dwarf and Harold glared at him. Bail glared at Harold. Ambassador Roderic simply sat quietly.</p><p></p><p> <em>Let's hope this lift gets there soon,</em> Suniel thought. <em>Before we kill each other or jump off</em>.</p><p></p><p> ***</p><p></p><p> The moment the bubble was down, Harold activated the enchantment on his armor and flew straight up towards the Span. Black clouds churned in the sky overhead and the chill, biting wind carried a foul stench like a ten thousand rotting corpses. He reached the edge of the Span and flew upwards. A flock of small birds flew past in a blur, but he thought he saw rotting flesh and the smell they left in their wake confirmed it. <em>What was tha... </em>he thought, then he flew over edge of the Span and higher still.</p><p></p><p> Where the Span reached the Crystal Towers mainland, the Spire stood rising into the sky – as it always had – and the 25 mile long, hundred-foot-tall Span Wall that had been built centuries ago to protect the mainland still stood. </p><p></p><p> But upon the Span, stretching back as far as he could see, was a seemingly endless mass of the dead, pressing ever forwards towards the Span Wall like a rotting tide of flesh. Where they reached the Wall, the Crystal Towers defenders upon the Wall rained down arrows, rocks, spears, and magic, slaying the dead by the thousands. The air was thick with the reanimated corpses of all manner of flying creatures, diving in to harry the Crystal Towers soldiers that somehow still stood to resist. So numerous were the dead their corpses made a ramp the reached almost half-way up the Span Wall. </p><p></p><p> Harold stared in terrible awe, the faint surge of hope and pride he'd felt upon seeing that the Crystal Towers still stood smothered by the endless doom that filled the Span and threw itself mindlessly at the Crystal Tower's defenses. <em>There is no hope for the Crystal Towers in the face of the Ashen Tower's might, </em>he thought, seeing the moaning press of dead stretch further into the horizon the further upwards he flew.</p><p></p><p><em>We cannot win against this... the Crystal Towers will fall!</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>---</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em></em><em>Here ends Act II of the Rise of Felskein. The party has finally completed their long journey to reach the Crystal Towers and finds it on the brink of being overrun by an army of the dead forged by the Ashen Tower's dark necromancy. But looming larger the even black storm that engulfs the Crystal Towers is the immanent Iron Sky invasion that Keeper speaks of and that they fear may destroy all of Felskein...</em></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Iron Sky, post: 4943009, member: 60965"] Session 24, Part 3 <Some day I'll go back and do a second edit of my posts. I used to just post-and-forget, then go back a few days later and maybe tidy it up. Now I go through and do a quick skim-over edit right before I post it. It's not perfect. I apologize if any of my errors made the reading confusing or difficult at any point. I went through and edited the whole first page of this thread to fix all the little errors and fix some awkward phrases, but when I go back and try to edit it all I realize how much of it is here. By the time I finish this thing it might be novel-length! Then I can print it out and put it in a binder with the novel I wrote in college that's sitting under my bed gathering dust. If anyone thinks writing a novel is hard, try getting one published... I gave up at the query letter.> After most of a day inside the bubble, Suniel was about at his wits end. Between Harold's endless pacing and dark moods, Bail's blatant hostility towards the archer, and Kormak making smart remarks about everything and flaring the two's animosity up even more, Harold wished they were all like Keeper. The construct didn't even watch their drama, staring off through the bubble as though he was watching something off in the distance. Ambassador Roderic hadn't said a word since the bubble closed over them and the lift had started to move. “What is it Keeper?” he finally said as it began to get dark – at least, the level of the ambient silver light dropped for evening as it had during their nights on the Landspear lift. “The Nexus.” “Oh.” He thought about it for a minute. “What is it like?” “It's like being alive,” Keeper said, his flickering eyes meeting Suniel's. It might have been his imagination, but Suniel thought he might have seen a spark of something else in them for the first time. It was like looking at a person and not a machine. “At least, I what I have imagined what living must feel like.” That took Suniel aback. [I]Does he spend those long hours watching and listening to us trying to imagine what it is to live, to feel? Can a construct of living metal feel [/I]longing? “There is a different energy that flows this close to the Nexus. Like something massive and intelligent is waiting for me, so close I can feel it. I think for the first time I understand the look that comes over you when you speak of things like 'home' and 'family.'” “Are you going to rejoin them when they come?” Suniel said, feeling true empathy with Keeper for the first time even as a feeling of alarm tensed in his shoulders and gut. “Return to your family?” Keeper shook his head and placed a hand on Suniel's shoulder. It was warm and the grip was light. “You are my Master. I will follow you until my destruction... whenever it happens again that is.” Suniel he thought he might have seen a smile quirk the corner of Keeper's mouth for a moment. He nodded to Keeper and smiled back, shifting Keeper's hand from his shoulder and he clasped the construct by the wrist as elves did among friends. Keeper glanced down for a moment, then looked back at Suniel and grabbed Suniel's wrist as well. “Touching... really,” Kormak said from where he sat next to the small tent he'd erected on the Span lift. “I think I'm about to cry.” Suniel rolled his eyes and let go, then sat down next to the dwarf. “Fine Mr. Dwarf, what's your story? If you're not too choked up to talk about it that is.” “My story?” Kormak said, quirking up an eyebrow. “Well, I was found, by some monks, unconscious in a field. I had no memory so they took me in and put a magic stone inside me that awoke me.” Suniel squinted at the straight-faced, wide-eyed Dwarf trying to decide if he was telling the truth for once. “Then we went on a magical journey to the shining Quartz Keep, for I had a feeling that maybe my family was there and I heard them calling to me from just out of-” Suniel shook his head as he stood up. “Wait, don't you want do your elven friendship grabiness with me too?” Kormak said, standing up with Suniel, his hideous grin widening. Suniel bumped Harold as he walked away from the dwarf and Harold glared at him. Bail glared at Harold. Ambassador Roderic simply sat quietly. [I]Let's hope this lift gets there soon,[/I] Suniel thought. [I]Before we kill each other or jump off[/I]. *** The moment the bubble was down, Harold activated the enchantment on his armor and flew straight up towards the Span. Black clouds churned in the sky overhead and the chill, biting wind carried a foul stench like a ten thousand rotting corpses. He reached the edge of the Span and flew upwards. A flock of small birds flew past in a blur, but he thought he saw rotting flesh and the smell they left in their wake confirmed it. [I]What was tha... [/I]he thought, then he flew over edge of the Span and higher still. Where the Span reached the Crystal Towers mainland, the Spire stood rising into the sky – as it always had – and the 25 mile long, hundred-foot-tall Span Wall that had been built centuries ago to protect the mainland still stood. But upon the Span, stretching back as far as he could see, was a seemingly endless mass of the dead, pressing ever forwards towards the Span Wall like a rotting tide of flesh. Where they reached the Wall, the Crystal Towers defenders upon the Wall rained down arrows, rocks, spears, and magic, slaying the dead by the thousands. The air was thick with the reanimated corpses of all manner of flying creatures, diving in to harry the Crystal Towers soldiers that somehow still stood to resist. So numerous were the dead their corpses made a ramp the reached almost half-way up the Span Wall. Harold stared in terrible awe, the faint surge of hope and pride he'd felt upon seeing that the Crystal Towers still stood smothered by the endless doom that filled the Span and threw itself mindlessly at the Crystal Tower's defenses. [I]There is no hope for the Crystal Towers in the face of the Ashen Tower's might, [/I]he thought, seeing the moaning press of dead stretch further into the horizon the further upwards he flew. [I]We cannot win against this... the Crystal Towers will fall! --- [/I][I]Here ends Act II of the Rise of Felskein. The party has finally completed their long journey to reach the Crystal Towers and finds it on the brink of being overrun by an army of the dead forged by the Ashen Tower's dark necromancy. But looming larger the even black storm that engulfs the Crystal Towers is the immanent Iron Sky invasion that Keeper speaks of and that they fear may destroy all of Felskein...[/I] [/QUOTE]
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