Lowlyspy
12-11-2011, 06:31 PM
Do you guys remember those stories where you would get to a point in the book and it told you to choose from 2 possible plot twists and whichever one you chose gave you a different story? I've been contemplating doing this for a while now and have decided to make a Choose-Your-Own-Story Alterran Journey.
Im going to start the story where we all start, Forest Haven, and have the story keep going with all the main campaigns in single installments. I will add a new chapter every week so keep an eye on this thread to keep up with the story.
Here we go.
Chapter 1: From Small Beginnings
The scene is the siege of the Queen's Royal Mage Barracks. You awaken to the sounds of screams and a scent of sulfur in the air. A sudden explosion jars you out of your sleepy stupor and forces you to your feet. After you regain your senses you realize that explosion blew a gaping hole in the wall of your quarters, worried about the people of the towne your initial thought is to leap through the window and begin a counterattack however you also know that if whatever is attacking gets into the Rune Storage Room in the depths of the fortress it could spell doom for all of Alterra. Disregarding the possible dangers you summon your staff into your hand and....
If you choose to leap out the hole in your wall and help the townsfolk go to Enchantress: 1
If you choose to head to the Rune Storage and stop the enemy go to Enchantress: 2
The scene is a seemingly quiet forest settlement. You return from another fruitful hunting trip and all seems well. You are joking with your fellow hunters as you round a large boulder and witness your village ablaze in a wild inferno. Immediately you drop your kill, take up your spear, and make for the camp to do what you can to help the villagers. As soon as you cross the threshold of the camp you are thrown head over heels into a large tree by an unknown force. You look around for whatever large foe could have done this only to see your comrades being struck down one by one by a lone shadowy figure with glowing red eyes. You begin to stand when a familiar face crashes into the tree next to you, it's your closest friend whom you consider a brother, his face contorts both expressing anger and pain then he moves his eyes away from the village as if telling you to flee. As you try to comfort him you feel him slip away, you stand, look at your fallen brother, at the figure and back at your brother. Rage builds up inside you and you turn to the menacing figure prepared to strike but then a strange voice chimes in your head "run, live to fight again"....
If you choose to ignore the voice and launch a lone offensive against this strange enemy go to Warrior: 1
If you choose to heed the voice's command and flee from the threat go to Warrior: 2
The scene is a dark forest on the very edge of the haven. You hug the ground as you creep towards the edge of the cliff to get a view of the goings on down below. As you reach the edge your prey comes into view, a tall being wearing a dark cloak, the being walks to a tree and looks behind it as if checking if it is being followed. It then uses a power that makes you feel uneasy, you can feel a strange force tugging at the bottom of your gut, you don't know what kind of magic this is but you know it can't be good. The strange power allows the thing open a hole in a tree where inside you see thousand of goblins building...something...something big. You know you have to get a better look at whatever the giant thing is they are building so you wait until the being walks through the portal then you take the opportunity to drop from your vantage point and rush for the portal. You make it through just as the portal closes and leap for cover as a patrol of heavily armed trolls march by. After the trolls go on their way, sticking to the shadows, you snake your way through the stronghold. Finally you get to the thing you have been looking for, the giant monstrosity, you don't know what it is but you know that if the goblins are building it can only be for evil purposes. You see a barrel of oil near the base of the construction, you grab a nearby torch and light the tip of your arrow. As you draw your bowstring a goblin sees the light of your arrow and calls to the trolls nearby, the trolls waste no time charging your position. With no other choice you jump from your perch and land in a tumble several feet below among an army of goblins. As the goblins begin to charge you quickly reacquire the oil barrel and launch you arrow which flies straight and true and plants itself cleanly in its target thus causing a massive chain explosion. Explosions rock the cavern as you search for an escape route in the goblins mass confusion, you run to the top of a high cliff where u see a small stream of light flowing through a hole. Just as you reach the apex of the cliff the strange cloaked creature materializes in front of you, lifts you by the throat, and says in a voice that sends a chill down your spine
"You think you have stopped my plans? Foolish worm, you have only delayed the inevitable, soon all of Alterra will be nothing but a wasteland with me as its ruler."
Ignoring the terrifying ultimatum you pull a dagger from the sheath on your leg and strike at the creatures wrist. As your blade hits the being you hear the clang of metal against metal, dismissing the confusing noise as a goblin falling in a pile of metal scraps you jump from the cliff into the darkness below.
You wake up several hours later to the sound of explosions ringing in the direction of your village. You know your family must be in terrible danger but that thing is still on the loose, and you know it poses a massive threat to the world as you know it....
If you rush back to your village to fight whatever threat is endangering your family go to Archer: 1
If you decide to ignore the uproar and head towards the other local village to find out more about the mysterious being that you encountered go to Archer: 2
Chapter 2: The Mysterious Enemy
Realizing that the immediate danger to the townspeople should be put first, you leap through your window prepared to take on the massive force that plagues the fair towne. As you touch the ground you prepare to launch a firestorm at the first group of foes you see but to your confusion....you see no one. Other than the sounds of crumpling buildings and fire you hear nothing, the screams all but extinguished. You run through the streets frantically searching for any sign of life but find nothing. You drop to your knees and let your staff leave your hand for a moment. Your mind begins to race, hundreds of voices shriek in your head, you think of all the people that lost their lives to whatever it was that attacked. While you are thinking this to yourself you don't realize you are slowly being surrounded by a group of shadows. When one of the shadows rustles a falling leaf your senses immediately return and you call your staff to your hand. In a fit of blind fury you cast an anger fueled Firestorm that turns into an eruption of fire and flaming debris. Just as quickly as the shadows had appeared you snuffed them out, dazed by the overload of power you just released your vision slowly goes black and you lose consciousness.
You awaken in a carriage. You leap to your feet not knowing where you are and bump your head on an overhead lamp. A familiar face looks back into the carriage and greets you with a smile and soothing voice.
"My boy! I see you are awake. How did you sleep?"
The old elf is your master, Grand Master Kieross.
"Master! I'm so happy to see you alive.....Wait! Where are we?!" You ask.
"Why we're in Ursan Weald of course. I had to get you out of that pit of carnage as fast as I could before you were captured. We wouldn't want such a skilled elf such as yourself to fall into enemy hands." Kieross says in a cheerful voice.
"MASTER! We must go back, the people need our help!"
Kieross' grin disappears, replaced by a solemn look. He turns away and focuses on the road ahead. Finally he speaks.
"We cannot go back. There is nothing to go back to, the towne was destroyed in a massive explosion." He says, all sign of lightheartedness had left his voice leaving the strong voice of years of wisdom.
You fall back knowing that explosion was caused by you.
"And what of the townesfolk? I didn't see any sign of them, not even remains." You ask.
"I was fighting the enemy leader when it happened. Shortly after the siege started i engaged the leader and was about to slay him when he pointed towards the door of the barracks and began to laugh. When i looked at the door i saw a short, fat figure in a black cloak holding up a very ancient and powerful rune, no doubt stolen from the Storage. There was nothing I could do but watch as he used the power of the rune to open a portal into some dark cavern, he then used a strange dark power to suck all the people of the towne into the portal. I attempted to stop him but when i got close he flicked me aside as though i was nothing. I began to get back up when he used his power to suck himself and his forces into the portal. I think something may have gone wrong however, just as the portal closed i saw what looked like the bright flash of an explosion." Kieross explains
After a long silence your vision goes blank. You see a village burning and a lone shadow casting off one ursan after another. You see one ursan stand back up ready to charge the strange figure. Knowing the warrior will surely die if he attacks alone you call out to him with your mind, "Run, live to fight again."
As quickly as your vision left it returns, you see the welcoming smile of your master looking at you from above.
"So what did you see?" He says in a playful voice.
"I saw...an ursan camp....being demolished by a shadow. And a warrior was about to attack, there was no way he could win alone so i told him to run."
"Interesting....Well i guess we are off to that ursan camp then, that warrior may need our help. Or perhaps we should continue to Fort Blackstone, a fortress such as that should surely be strong enough to hold off any offensive an enemy can throw at it. It would allow us to rest and regain our strength, I sense many dangers in the future and i think the queen may want to hear our reports from Forest Haven. The choice is yours, what should we do?"
If you choose to go to the ursan camp and help the warrior in his fight go to Enchantress: 3
If you choose to continue to Fort Blackstone to rest for the upcoming trials and brief the queen on what has happened go to Enchantress: 4
You know the people of the village need your help but you also know that more than just your village could be in grave danger if any of the powerful runes fall into the wrong hands. As much as it pains you to leave the villagers to fend for themselves you leave your quarters and rush through the innards of the Mage Barracks. As you are running through the side halls cannonballs blow huge holes in the walls all around you, some close enough to hit your robes as you run.
Finally you make it to the main hall, usually this hall is full of barracks librarians and youngling adepts scurrying to and fro performing their daily duties, now however the entire hall was a battlefield. The hall was littered with scraps of wood you guess came from the front gate and shards of glass from the stained glass portraits that used to surround the hall detailing the start of the Mage Corps. All around you see Masters and younglings alike struggling to hold back the enemy forces. Goblins were attempting to flow through the gate and into the barracks no doubt trying to get into the Rune Storage. Suddenly you see a large troll barrel through the front line taking out severals master and was heading towards a small group of younglings that were too busy fighting a squad of goblins to notice the threat headed straight towards them. On an instinct you leap from the balcony, raise your staff and hurl a lightning bolt aimed directly of the head of the troll. There was a blinding flash when the bolt made contact, so bright that the nearby goblins and younglings stopped their fighting and looked at you awestruck. You turn around and see them gawking at you, in a commanding voice you snap at them.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! THIS IS A BATTLE NOT A MAGIC DEMONSTRATION!"
Jumping back from the boom your voice makes the younglings quickly fire off a burst of magical attacks vaporizing the goblins that were still staring at you dumbfounded. They take a moment to look at you to see you what you have to say about their skills, you shoot them a quick smirk while conjuring a fireball, they smile knowing they had pleased you and run off to find another group of goblins to fry. Now assured the younglings were perfectly capable of taking care of themselves you leave the fight and head to the inner sanctum and to the Grand Master's quarters. When you reach the inner sanctum you see the goblins have already broken through the mage's ranks and are working on getting the vault to the Rune Storage open, to slow them down you launch an ice cold burst at the latch which instantly freezes the latch and the nearby goblins in a large block of ice. you run forward and begin to charge up a lightning bolt when a fat figure dressed in black appears out of nowhere right in front of you. The figure is very daunting but you know nothing can live through a direct hit from a fully charged lightning blast at this range, you loose your powerful spell and prepare to be blown away by an enormous shockwave.....which never comes. You open your eyes to find nothing had changed, the figure was still standing in front of you, except now his hand was raised and smelled of burnt fabric. You can now see a large purple hand raised in front of you and that hand is connected to an unharmed being. Your thoughts race, how could this being have survived a point blank lightning bolt, a blast of that magnitude could have leveled an entire forest yet this fat purple blob had absorbed the blast with only its hand. The creature then speaks in a voice so high pitched you can't help but giggle.
http://youtu.be/kdhhQhqi_AE
"BWAHAHAHA silly teeny man, big light no hurt me, it take lots more to hurt me!"
The contrast of size to voice pitch makes you almost double over from the sheer comedic element of this figure who looked so frightening a moment ago. Obviously the being didn't like that.
"WHY YOU LAUGH?! I NOT SOMETHING TO TAKE LIKE JOKE!"
The beast then smacks you so hard you fly into the wall 30 feet away and punch a hole into the next room. Bones shattered, you cannot even raise your staff to defend yourself when the monster lumbers over to you and raises a large chunk of wall over your head. The last words you hear are the monster telling you
"Bye bye teeny man!"
You fought valiantly but this is the end of your journey. Unhappy with your ending? Return to the beginning and start a new adventure. May you achieve everlasting glory in your journey.
The voice urges you to retreat but the loss of your brother has you seeing red. Fury builds inside you until finally it all pours out in a single burst, you let out a roar that shakes the very ground below your feet and sends a shock wave in every direction. When the figure is hit by the shock wave it is tossed off its feet into one of the burning huts. Your roar slowly dies down and you turn your gaze upon the figure as it stands back up with the same posture as if nothing had happened. The shadow's aloof look just annoys you to no end and you charge towards it. The figure raises its arm to use that power again to knock you away, it launches the blast and you raise one of your mighty paws and smack it aside with a single rage fueled swipe. In an instant you are on the figure, ripping and tearing at its body, which despite its smoke like appearance was surprisingly solid.
"YOU DARE ATTACK MY VILLAGE?! I'LL KILL YOU, I'LL KILL YOU!!!"
You raise your paw and strike the thing once.
"This is for my village!"
You raise your other paw and strike the thing a second time.
"This is for my FAMILY!"
You raise both your paws to the sky and strike the shadow with such force that a crater is formed around the two of you and a nearby tree is uprooted and tossed like a twig.
"AND THIS IS FOR MY BROTHER, DIE!"
With that last strike the shadow disintegrates beneath you. Knowing that the creature is now thoroughly dead you rest against a tree and let your eyelids close for just a moment. Suddenly you hear the snap of a twig and you jump to your feet ready for anything. You yell.
"Back for more?! Bring it on, I'll kill all of you!"
You see something move over to your right and you rush the position of the movement. You raise your paw to destroy whatever it is that threatens you but are met with a staff surging with lightning only an inch from your face. You follow the arm holding the staff up to the face of it's handler. The stranger's face was riddled with wrinkles which indicated years of wisdom. The stranger was smiling at you, a smile that comforted you like....your brother. The old elf then spoke in a warm calming voice.
"My my such a young ursan to be such a powerful fighter. Hello I am Kieross, and this is my pupil. We are friends, we seek no quarrel with you."
You look past the old man at the young elf who is backed against a tree with terror in his eyes. You can't help but burst with laughter at such a ridiculous sight. Obviously embarrassed to look so cowardly in front his master, the young elf scolds you angrily.
"Now what are you laughing at? I am master of the Royal Mage Corps and deserve to be treated with the utmost respect!" He cries.
"BWAHAHAHA YOU A MASTER OF THE CORPS? We are told stories of the bravery of the Mage Corps, with the way you looked just a moment ago you would never guess you were even a youngling let alone a master!"
Then the old elf began to laugh as well, a deep hearty laugh.
"Hahahahaha you have a point there, the boy was quite terrified of you. Give him a break though, he has been through a lot today as I see you have as well."
The young elf's face began to turn a bright shade of red and you can't help but sneer at him, when he sees you sneering at him he mutters a curse under his breath. The elf's arrogance angers you and the two of you leap back prepared to duel, Kieross stands between you attempting to mediate.
"Now now the both of you calm down, we are all friends here so there is no reason to fight."
You drop your paws and listen to what the old elf has to say.
"There that's better isn't it? Now, i see you are perfectly capable of walking on your own, would you like to come with us to Fort Blackstone? We are going to rest and report the loss of Forest Haven and now Ursan Weald to the Queen." He asks you.
You then look over at your fallen comrades, and at your brother. Kieross looks over as well and seems to understand.
"Of course we can stay here for a while if you wish, I'm certain your fallen friends would appreciate a proper burial. What do you say?"
If you choose to leave immediately for Fort Blackstone with Kieross and the young elf go to Warrior: 3
If you choose to make camp for the night and bury your brethren go to Warrior: 4
Despite your rage the voice makes a good point. Heeding it's command you turn around and flee from your burning home and your fallen brother. As you run you can hear the laughter of the shadow echoing in the distance. You run and run until you can't run anymore and finally you find a tree with a hole under its roots, you climb in the hole to rest for the night. In the dead of night you wake up to the sounds of someone running, you climb out of your hole to see what is making the noise only to be tackled by someone. The two of you roll down a hill and you hit the ground with a thud. When you open your eyes you see a face with a large beak staring down at you, at your throat is a dagger prepared to end you right there. The avian speaks.
"Who are you? State your allegiance now or I shall gut you where you lay." it says in a frighteningly cold voice.
Regaining your composure you respond defiantly.
"I advise you get that toothpick away from my neck right this instant or it will be you who gets gutted stranger. I hail from Ursan Weald and am a loyal citizen of her majesty the Queen. What of you?"
The avian then breathes a sigh of relief and sheaths his dagger. He offers his hand to help you up but you slap it aside.
"Do I look like an elderly ursan to you? I can get up just fine." You snarl at the avian.
The bird looks at you angrily obviously insulted but ignores your rudeness. He then walks off and takes out a map and compass. He mutters some curses and throws his navigation equipment to the ground.
"You there, where is the nearest towne? I must report my findings to the Queen." He asks.
"The nearest towne has been destroyed by a shadow creature, your best bet is Forest Haven off in that direction." You reply.
The avian looks at you with a serious face.
"Forest Haven has fallen as well. Very well then, do you know in what direction Fort Blackstone is? I must get to the Queen as quickly as possible." He asks with a dutiful voice.
You look up at the stars and get your bearings. Now knowing where you were and what direction the Fort was in you realize you have leverage to learn more about the thing that attacked your village.
"Yes i know where the Fort is, however I want to know what attacked my village. You obviously must know something since you aren't exactly surprised about the destruction of Ursan Weald." You reason.
The avian curses under his breath once again. He stands deep in thought and then smiles.
"Well I can't quite force you to tell me what I want to know can I? I may be skilled with this dagger but you can overpower me without much trouble. Very well then I will tell you what you want to know. I was tasked by the Queen to investigate strange activity on the outskirts of Forest Haven. I was tracking a mysterious creature and discovered something."
"And what was that?" You ask.
"Ah that I cannot tell you. As i was saying, i ended up waking up after escaping the enemy to the sounds of Forest Haven being attacked. Knowing there was nothing i could do i decided to come to Ursan Weald to seek aid. I am unsure of what was the end of Forest Haven but from what you have told me i am sure that the enemies I encountered and the creature that destroyed the Weald are linked in some way." He finished his explaination with an expectant look.
You think about the information you just heard and think about holding up your end of the bargain. But you wonder if this seemingly dutiful avian is just playing you and is attempting to get to Fort Blackstone to assassinate the Queen. As the Bird stated you are certainly much stronger than this scrawny avian and could overpower him easily, but then again he did knock you down and almost slash your throat...
If you choose to help the avian and accompany him to Fort Blackstone go to Warrior: 5
If you choose to attack the avian and take what you have learned from him to the Queen and warn her of the dangers looming go to Warrior: 6
As a father and husband your duty to protect your family comes before all else. You unsheathe your dagger, grab a piece of scrap metal that you assume fell down the cavern with you, strap it to your arm with some nearby vines to use as a makeshift shield, and dash off in the direction of the explosions. While you run you think about the ultimatum you were given by that menacing figure in the cave. What devious plans could he have in store? What could that machine's purpose be for? You begin to picture what could happen but the thought leaves your mind when you notice......the explosions were gone...just gone. You stop in your tracks listening attentively......
BOOOOOOOOM!!!
A massive explosion rings in the distance, the blast is so strong that it blows you into a nearby tree. Dazed you look ahead and see a giant cloud of dust coming from your village, you stand and attempt to begin running to help your family but you feel a sharp pain in your leg and immediately drop back to the ground. Leg broken, you stand and prop yourself up on a nearby piece of wood, you then shuffle as quickly as you can in hopes you can still do something to save your family.
After what seems like hours you finally make it to your village....or what's left of it. Where the towne square was now lies a smoldering crater. In utter shock you fall backwards onto your behind, your entire village has been completely decimated, and your family is dead. You look down at your dagger, with a quick swipe you could join them, comfort them and hug them forever more. Then you think of your wife's loving smile and the trip to the lake with your son where he caught an enormous bass so large that when you picked it up you fell out of the boat and you both just laughed. No, you will not end it like this, you will find the monsters that did this and end them.
As you stand back up you see something that shocks you again, in the middle of the crater there lies a young elf passed out. You shuffle over to check the elf and see if he is okay. "Thank goodness, he still breathes" you think to yourself. Fighting back the pain from your leg you help the boy up, he groans from exhaustion and continuously slumps off your shoulder but you pick him up and carry him to the edge of the village. Finally the pain overwhelms you and you collapse with the young elf. You roll over to look at the sky and think about what to do. Suddenly a large red cloak catches your eye. You unsheathe your dagger and prepare to put up what little a fight you can to protect yourself and the helpless elf but to your surprise you meet a smiling face. The old elf's face is wrinkled like a leaf dried by the sun, on his chin is a long white beard with a few twigs and leafs sticking out here and there, and covering his balding head is an over-sized red and white hood. In a soft voice, the elf speaks.
"Whoa calm down young one, I mean you no harm. My name is Kieross, I am Grand Master of the Queen's Royal Mage Corps. I am here to search for any survivors and help in any way i can." He explains. "Oh and i see you found my young protege, and i see he has made quite the mess of things. He always has been a bit of a loose cannon. Oh dear! It seems your leg is broken, here let me mend it for you."
Kieross reaches his hand over your leg and mutters a short charm, as he speaks a soft green hue glows over your leg and you can feel the bones moving back into place. Slowly the hue fades away and the pain is gone.
"There now isn't that better? I'm glad I was able to find you so soon, that may have become quite the nasty fracture had I not" The old elf said playfully.
You stand and hop on your leg a few times to break it in. Assured that your leg is back in tip top shape you turn your gaze on Kieross.
"Thank you sir, your aid is much appreciated. Would you happen to know what happened here? I was on a mission and I heard explosions coming from here, I rushed to try and help my family but when i was a few hundred yards out i witnessed a large explosion, when I got here the village was like it is now."
Kieross' expression hardened, all joy had left his face as he went over all that had happened.
"You say your family was here? There still may be a chance they are alive. As I said before I was sent to help in the fight, but when I arrived it was already to late. The enemy leader used an ancient rune to open a portal somewhere and wisk away all the inhabitants of Forest Haven. I tried to stop him but he was much too strong for me, he simply flicked me aside when I attempted to charge him." He said.
"Thank the Queen, my family may still live! Wait, the enemy leader, was it a tall being in a black cloak?" You ask urgently.
"The leader was in a black cloak but he was short and chubby. Do you think the two beings are related?" he asks you.
"It would stand to reason that they are working together. We may want to head to Fort Blackstone to inform the Queen on our findings and consult with her on what our next move should be." You say.
Then you notice a shadow moving on a nearby wall. Quick as lighting you fire your dagger at the shadow and catch it straight in the neck. It then materializes into a solid being and falls to the ground dead. The two of you walk over and inspect the kill, you find that it is a goblin clothed in a shroud of pure shadows and in the pocket of the goblin's burlap pants is a map from Forest Haven headed to Ursan Weald. You wonder if you should postpone your journey to Fort Blackstone to head to Ursan Weald to ensure it does not suffer the same fate as Forest Haven.
If you choose to make for Fort Blackstone with Kieross to inform the Queen of your findings go to Archer: 3
If you choose to hurry to Ursan Weald to save it from Forest Haven's fate go to Archer: 4
Fighting back a tear you turn away from the explosions and head off to find another towne to rest and prepare for your journey back to Fort Blackstone to report your findings to the Queen. After hours of trudging and climbing through brush you feel a huge explosion off in the distance, knowing that you just heard the end of your village and your family you lose track of where you are placing your feet and trip down a hill. Tumbling head over heels you roll down the hill, when you hit the bottom you stand up and begin to run. Still dazed from your downhill roll you run into a passerby, on instinct you draw your dagger and manage to come out on top after the roll and aim your dagger at the throat of the stranger.
"Who are you? State your allegiance now or I shall gut you where you lay." You say as coldly as possible to not let on that you are still grieving over the loss of your family.
The ursan shakes off his surprised look and puts on a scowl as he growls at you..
"I advise you get that toothpick away from my neck right this instant or it will be you who gets gutted stranger. I hail from Ursan Weald and am a loyal citizen of her majesty the Queen. What of you?"
You breathe a sigh of relief and sheathe your dagger, surely you wouldn't stand a chance against such a muscular opponent. You offer your hand to help him up but he slaps it aside.
"Do I look like an elderly ursan to you? I can get up just fine." The ursan snarls at you.
Insulted by the ursan's rudeness at your show of respect you open your mouth in protest but decide he isn't worth wasting your breath. You need to get to the nearest towne as soon as possible, you take out your compass and map and attempt to get a grip on where you are. Realizing something must have damaged your compass during one of your falls, you toss your navigational tools to the ground and turn toward the ursan.
"You there, where is the nearest towne? I must report my findings to the Queen." You ask in as commanding a voice as you can muster.
"The nearest towne has been destroyed by a shadow creature, your best bet is Forest Haven off in that direction." he replies.
Realization dawns on you. The strange forces in the cavern, the destruction of your village, and now the Ursan Weald is lost. There is no way these could be common occurances.
"Forest Haven has fallen as well. Very well then, do you know in what direction Fort Blackstone is? I must get to the Queen as quickly as possible." You ask.
The warrior saunters away and looks up at the stars obviously working out where you were. After mumbling to himself he turns to you and says exactly what you figured he would do.
"Yes i know where the Fort is, however I want to know what attacked my village. You obviously must know something since you aren't exactly surprised about the destruction of Ursan Weald." He says bluntly.
You mutter a short curse and think of any way you could possibly force him to tell you what you want, knowing there is no way to force him you concede to his demand.
"Well I can't quite force you to tell me what I want to know can I? I may be skilled with this dagger but you can overpower me without much trouble. Very well then I will tell you what you want to know. I was tasked by the Queen to investigate strange activity on the outskirts of Forest Haven. I was tracking a mysterious creature and discovered something."
"And what was that?" The bear asks in an inquisitive voice.
"Ah that I cannot tell you. As i was saying, i ended up waking up after escaping the enemy to the sounds of Forest Haven being attacked. Knowing there was nothing i could do i decided to come to Ursan Weald to seek aid. I am unsure of what was the end of Forest Haven but from what you have told me i am sure that the enemies I encountered and the creature that destroyed the Weald are linked in some way." You finish. You then look at the ursan expecting him to hold up his end of the bargain.
The ursan walks away again and hunkers down deep in thought. Suddenly you think about what could happen if this bear turns out to be an enemy soldier. What if he turns on you and kills you before you can deliver your report to the queen? Perhaps you should end him before he gets the chance to end you. But then again he is currently your only chance of finding your way to Fort Blackstone....
If you choose to take the ursan out before he turns on you go to Archer: 5
If you choose to put your trust in this stranger go to Archer: 6
Chapter 3: A Turn For The Worst
"We must hurry to help the ursan immediately." You proclaim.
Kieross nods as though knowing you would make this choice.
"Very well let's move out, we should go on foot though, the forest will get too dense for the carriage to fit. Did your vision provide a general direction in which to travel?" He asks.
You close your eyes and try to sense the unusual power emanated by the shadow. At first you sense nothing but the life forces of the neighboring trees and animals, then you feel a large dark force coming from the east.
"That way sir!" You shout.
You take off in the direction of the force with Kieross following closely behind. You begin to think about the vision you had and the ursan who was ready for a fight, hopefully he heeded your warning and took off before the shadow killed him. Suddenly you are knocked down by a shock wave, when you look up you see Kieross standing in front of you with his hand raised and he was breathing heavily. For something to cause the Grand Master to lose his breath like that it must be terrifyingly powerful. You prepare for the worst and continue heading toward the village.
Finally you smell the scent of burning brush and see the village up ahead, you slow down and hug the cover of a nearby bush to assess the situation. When you look your heart drops with dread, you immediately see a smoking crater and you assume the worst. Then you look off to the left and see the ursan standing there snarling heavily. When you realize what happened you leap backward out of shock and shake your bush all around. The ursan dashes towards your bush with frightening speed and an evil power about him. Terrified, you jump against a tree and pray that your soul rests in peace. You wait for a swift death that never comes, you hear Kieross talking, when you open your eyes you see the Master with his staff sparking with lightning held in the face of the ursan. Then you see the ursan look at you and burst with laughter. You feel your face begin to heat up out of embarrassment. How dare this bear shame you in front of your master.
"Now what are you laughing at? I am master of the Royal Mage Corps and deserve to be treated with the utmost respect!" You shout with a crack in your voice.
Despite you claim for respect he begins laughing even harder, almost falling over.
"BWAHAHAHA YOU A MASTER OF THE CORPS? We are told stories of the bravery of the Mage Corps, with the way you looked just a moment ago you would never guess you were even a youngling let alone a master!" He bellows with laughter.
Then you hear your master join him with a hearty laugh of his own.
"Hahahahaha you have a point there, the boy was quite terrified of you. Give him a break though, he has been through a lot today as I see you have as well."
You feel your face get even hotter.
"Rude brute." You mutter.
Obviously the bear heard you and raises his massive paws ready to fight. Following your training you jump back and grip your staff with both hands. You begin to examine the bear's capabilities when you look behind him and see the crater, still smoking. Then you remember the shockwave that knocked you down and exhausted Kieross, it dawns on you that the ursan was the one that made the crater and had the dark force flowing from him. Realization of the ursan's destructive power almost makes you jump a little farther back but Kieross steps between you and talks you both down.
"Now now the both of you calm down, we are all friends here so there is no reason to fight."
The bear lowers his paws and looks at Kieross. You however keep a tight grip on your staff with one hand just in case.
"There that's better isn't it? Now, i see you are perfectly capable of walking on your own, would you like to come with us to Fort Blackstone? We are going to rest and report the loss of Forest Haven and now Ursan Weald to the Queen." Kieross directs at the ursan.
You see the ursan turn his head toward several ursan corpses, you recognize them as the ones the shadow struck down. Seeing the pain in the bear's eyes you can't help but let out a prayer for their souls out of sympathy. Your master must have noticed the bear's anguish as well.
"Of course we can stay here for a while if you wish, I'm certain your fallen friends would appreciate a proper burial. What do you say?" Kieross offered.
Although you realize the ursan is experiencing great pain from seeing his companions laying there dead you know that you have a job to do and that job was to get to Fort Blackstone as quickly as possible and consult the Queen.
If you choose to protest Master Kieross' decision to make camp and bury the ursan's comrades go to Enchantress: 5
If you choose to allow the ursan to grieve and help bury his comrades go to Enchantress: 6
Situations like these are bound to have casualties so you decide to press forward to Fort Blackstone.
"Master, let's continue onward, though I wish we could help he is no doubt too far away for us to get there in time." You say.
Your master looks off into the distance then closes his eyes and lowers his head, understanding what he is doing you follow suit and say a silent prayer to protect the young warrior. After a moment you both lift your heads and focus on the road ahead, after a while your master breaks the silence in song.
I vow to thee, my country, all earthly things above,
Entire and whole and perfect, the service of my love;
The love that asks no question, the love that stands the test,
That lays upon the altar the dearest and the best;
The love that never falters, the love that pays the price,
The love that makes undaunted the final sacrifice.
I heard my country calling, away across the sea,
Across the waste of waters she calls and calls to me.
Her sword is girded at her side, her helmet on her head,
And round her feet are lying the dying and the dead.
I hear the noise of battle, the thunder of her guns,
I haste to thee my mother, a son among thy sons.
And there's another country, I've heard of long ago,
Most dear to them that love her, most great to them that know;
We may not count her armies, we may not see her King;
Her fortress is a faithful heart, her pride is suffering;
And soul by soul and silently her shining bounds increase,
And her ways are ways of gentleness, and all her paths are peace.
"Master, what is that you sang a moment ago?" You ask.
Kieross looks over at you and smiles even brighter than usual.
"Oh that old thing, it's a hymn I learned from my master ages ago. I sing it in times of hardship to help lift my spirits." He says with such joy he almost sings it.
You think about how you're master is always cheery even in the hardest of situations. Even when you found out you're parents had been ambushed by a group of goblins and killed he was there to help you through with his usual infectious smile and kind attitude. You look up at you're master as he smiles at you and you both turn forward and sing the hymn together.
After hours of travel your master insists you climb into the back of the carriage to rest until you arrive at Fort Blackstone, after a bit of complaining you give in and fall asleep.
You are forced out of your slumber when the carriage is flipped completely over by an explosion. Still groggy you open you're eyes to your master deflecting fireballs and bits of trees with a magical barrier. You're master begins yelling at you.
"Are you ok?! Get up now and run away! The Fort is just over there, you must be protected at all costs!" He shouts, all joy had left his voice you can tell this is a very serious situation.
If you choose to follow Kieross' command and run for the safety of the Fort go to Enchantress: 5
If you choose to stand and fight with you're master go to Enchantress: 6
You decide the burials can wait, the journey to Fort Blackstone and back couldn't possibly take more than a day or two. You walk over to your comrades and bow your head in respect, Kieross and the young elf follow suit.
"I suppose there are more demanding tasks right now, I will come with you to the Fort." You strain to keep the anguish out of your voice.
"Very well. I promise that your comrades will have a knight's burial, they may not have been knighted but they fought honorably so it's the least we can do. Well we had best be off, the young one and I's carriage is just off in that direction, let's get going then we will set off for Fort Blackstone." Says the old elf.
The three of you trudge for what seems like forever, but you finally make it to the carriage and lay in the back to try and take a nap. Just as your eyelids begin to fall you hear the inquisitive voice of the "Master elf."
"I'm terribly sorry for the way I acted towards you, you had just lost your family and i treated you like a fool. I too have lost family so I can understand how you must be feeling, if you need to talk I will lend an ear." He says, obviously struggling to say something nice.
"Pfft, I don't need your pity. I killed the thing that took my family, my revenge is done so i don't have any worries. Even proved that voice I heard wrong, fool, probably thought i was some weak child." You growl.
"Excuse me but I am simply trying to pay you a kindness seeing how you just lost your loved ones and anyhow how was i supposed to know you were strong enough to handle that thing, I bet you just lifted your arm and it ran away, I'd run from a stench like that too." The elf says in a patronizing tone.
You consider sitting up and giving this insolent punk a piece of your mind (and possibly a lump on his head) but then you realize he said he was the voice that told you to run. Understanding that it wasn't just chance that the old elf and youngling showed up, they went with the intention to help, you decide to let that one slide.
"Alright alright, calm down. I apologize for my rudeness, I know you just came to help so I thank you for your good intentions. However that doesn't mean you shouldn't trust in others strength a little more, I took that shadow thing down in three hits, how long would it have taken you to kill it?" You say with a smirk.
"HA, three hits, a child at the Barracks could have taken a creature like that down in that amount. I wouldn't even have had to flick a finger to take that thi-WHOAAAA!" As he tries to come up with a snappy comeback the entire carriage is flipped.
You jump out at the last second and land in a tumble before the carriage smashes to bits on the ground. When you stand you see something that makes you almost collapse. The shadow, standing with that same indifferent smirk. Your rage begins to build and your body tenses but a hand presses on your chest.
"You go ahead lad, take my protege to the Fort. I will handle this creature." Kieross says with a confident tone.
You turn to grab the young elf and feel a surge of heat coming towards your face, just as you turn your head you see a bright flash and shut your eyes. A second later your eyes open and see Kieross standing in front of you with his staff raised to the sky, surrounding him is a twinkling circle of what can only be explained as raw magical power. Kieross looks back at you and smiles. Knowing your escape will be covered without much trouble you turn and lumber your way to the Fort.
After the short trek and listening to fireballs and lightning and explosions, you finally reach the gate of the Fort.
"Halt! Who goes there? State your allegiance or you shall be slain on the spot." Says an archer high up on the wall above the gate.
"Hold your fire, I am a farmer from Ursan Weald and my allegiance lies with her majesty the queen. I need help immediately, this young elf is injured and Master Kieross is off fighting against some creature." You explain.
"Understood. Men open the gate and help the young elf, then send out a squad to help Sir Kieross with his battle, if he is here then that means there must be something important." The archer shouts.
The gate slowly opens and a group of young female elves rush out and take your young friend into the Fort on a stretcher. You begin to make your way in when the squad to help Kieross walks by and a warrior falls out of ranks and walks toward you.
"You must be weary, go talk to Madam Martha and she'll get you fixed up. Of course if you're feeling up to it you can always come with the squad to aid Sir Kieross if you like, I have a spare sword you can use." The ursan says.
If you choose to meet this Madam Martha to rest go to Warrior: 7
If you choose to accept the ursan soldier's offer and fight alongside Kieross to get revenge for your friends and family go to Warrior: 8
"I'm sorry if it inconveniences you and your young friend but I am going to bury my brothers, feel free to go on ahead if you wish, I can take care of myself." You say.
Kieross looks at you, nods, then closes his eyes. A moment later you see a small blue circle of rune symbols appear in front of Kieross and feel the ground beneath you start to shake. When you hear the shifting of earth you turn to see four large cubes of dirt being lifted out of the ground and moved aside leaving four equally large holes in the ground. As the ground settles you turn back toward Kieross just in time to see the rune circle fade away and Kieross open his eyes.
"It isn't what one would call a kings burial but i suppose it will do. Well let us get to work." The old elf says in a cheery yet sentimental voice.
When you finally finish the services, Kieross uses the rune symbol to again move the displaced earth back into the holes, after which he launches fireballs at the four graves. At first you turn away thinking you just watched your brothers being burned but when you take a second look you see that the four ursan corpses are sealed in glass caskets.
"The glass will never erode thus decomposition will never occur, they will remain in their youth even in the afterlife." Says Kieross in a melancholy tone. "Alright now that that business is all said and done, we had best head to the carriage to gather supplies to make camp for the night." The cheery tone joined with his joyous smile warms you a bit.
"You need not wait for me, go on, you have important business." You say.
"Nonsense, it's too dangerous to go out at night and even more so to leave you here alone. We will stay until morning then you will set out for the Fort with us, your experiences are needed to inform the queen of what has gone on in her realm." The young elf chimes, after being silent for the entire burial, in an indignant voice.
After much argument (and a small tussle which resulted in a few shattered trees and a singe in Kieross' beard) you concede and help the elves gather supplies from the carriage and make camp. An hour or two later the camp is made with a fire providing its warmth. The three of you remain silent for a while then Kieross begins to tell stories of his experiences when he was just a youngling.
"Ohoho, my master always used to say 'Kieross, you'll never amount to anything if all you ever do is conjure frogs and throw them at people!', little did he know there was a frog floating above his head ready for such an occasion. One second later, SPLAT! Oh, that was also the day all the other younglings got a nice laugh seeing their fellow student wash the entire great hall with a thimble and a toothbrush hahaha!"
The three of you shared a nice long laugh and continued sharing stories of your youth's into the wee hours of the night. Finally the sleep hit you all like a tree.
"YAWWWWWN, oh my is it that late already, we had best be off to bed. Not a very long journey tomorrow but we wouldn't want to look a mess in the Queen's presence now would we? Good night boys, sleep tight." Kieross says as he shuffles into his makeshift sleeping bag.
You and the young elf exchange a look then shuffle into your own bags as well, not much later you are asleep.
You find yourself floating above a castle in flames. Elven, ursan, and avian women and children scatter in all directions as you dart downward and light the ground below you in an eruption of fire. Voices shriek with fear as you destroy building after building. Suddenly you feel a sharp pain in your wing, you look to your left and see a tower with an archer in it drawing another arrow. You open your mouth and flames billow out, engulfing the tower. The flames hit a barrel of gunpowder but just as the tower explodes you see a shadow jump out and feel something land on your back. You look back to see the avian warrior standing on your back, dagger in hand. A smile goes from ear to ear as you turn forward and shoot into the sky, your enormous wings carrying you faster and faster into the heavens above the castle. Thinking the avian is falling to the ground you stop and flip around to watch the body impact. Just as you look down and see nothing but the flames you made, you feel a pin prick go through your throat. You turn to see the avian warrior with his dagger buried deep in your neck and a red liquid flowing down your underbelly. Your wings grow weak and you begin to plummet back down. You begin to laugh and choking on your blood you mock the archer.
"-Cough- HAHAHA feathered fool, you may have brought me down but you will also be granted a swift death from the unforgiving earth below!" You bellow as you hack up blood.
The avian smiles and jumps from your body, expecting him see him flail before he hits the ground you are shocked when you see him catch a nearby tree with his knife. You howl in anger as your vision slowly begins to fade. Just as your vision fully recedes you hear a deafening crash.
You awaken to the young elf shaking you violently and Kieross staring into your eyes with a glazed look in his own.
"It's about time! You have been shouting for the past hour and wouldn't shut up, other people need sleep too you know!" The young elf says in the most annoying tone you have ever heard.
You look past the youngling again and see Kieross come back from his trance-like state, his face covered in a veil of horror. He grabs the young elf's arm.
"Now is no time to argue, we must get away from here." The old elf commands.
"But master, we need to get to the Fort, the Queen needs to hear our reports." Says the young elf, obviously confused.
"I'm sorry sir but I am going to agree with the, as much as I hate to say it, the young master on this one. I'm going to assume you were looking into my dream so you of all people would know why we need to go to the Fort."
"There is no hope for the Fort, the best thing we can do is head as far away as we can before anything shows up." Kieross explains flatly.
If you choose to follow Kieross' advice and get away go to Warrior: 9
If you choose to ignore Kieross and go to the Fort to help the wounded go to Warrior: 10
**I'll update this as i have time to. I intend on going to AO3 and possibly beyond. Stay Tuned :)**
Im going to start the story where we all start, Forest Haven, and have the story keep going with all the main campaigns in single installments. I will add a new chapter every week so keep an eye on this thread to keep up with the story.
Here we go.
Chapter 1: From Small Beginnings
The scene is the siege of the Queen's Royal Mage Barracks. You awaken to the sounds of screams and a scent of sulfur in the air. A sudden explosion jars you out of your sleepy stupor and forces you to your feet. After you regain your senses you realize that explosion blew a gaping hole in the wall of your quarters, worried about the people of the towne your initial thought is to leap through the window and begin a counterattack however you also know that if whatever is attacking gets into the Rune Storage Room in the depths of the fortress it could spell doom for all of Alterra. Disregarding the possible dangers you summon your staff into your hand and....
If you choose to leap out the hole in your wall and help the townsfolk go to Enchantress: 1
If you choose to head to the Rune Storage and stop the enemy go to Enchantress: 2
The scene is a seemingly quiet forest settlement. You return from another fruitful hunting trip and all seems well. You are joking with your fellow hunters as you round a large boulder and witness your village ablaze in a wild inferno. Immediately you drop your kill, take up your spear, and make for the camp to do what you can to help the villagers. As soon as you cross the threshold of the camp you are thrown head over heels into a large tree by an unknown force. You look around for whatever large foe could have done this only to see your comrades being struck down one by one by a lone shadowy figure with glowing red eyes. You begin to stand when a familiar face crashes into the tree next to you, it's your closest friend whom you consider a brother, his face contorts both expressing anger and pain then he moves his eyes away from the village as if telling you to flee. As you try to comfort him you feel him slip away, you stand, look at your fallen brother, at the figure and back at your brother. Rage builds up inside you and you turn to the menacing figure prepared to strike but then a strange voice chimes in your head "run, live to fight again"....
If you choose to ignore the voice and launch a lone offensive against this strange enemy go to Warrior: 1
If you choose to heed the voice's command and flee from the threat go to Warrior: 2
The scene is a dark forest on the very edge of the haven. You hug the ground as you creep towards the edge of the cliff to get a view of the goings on down below. As you reach the edge your prey comes into view, a tall being wearing a dark cloak, the being walks to a tree and looks behind it as if checking if it is being followed. It then uses a power that makes you feel uneasy, you can feel a strange force tugging at the bottom of your gut, you don't know what kind of magic this is but you know it can't be good. The strange power allows the thing open a hole in a tree where inside you see thousand of goblins building...something...something big. You know you have to get a better look at whatever the giant thing is they are building so you wait until the being walks through the portal then you take the opportunity to drop from your vantage point and rush for the portal. You make it through just as the portal closes and leap for cover as a patrol of heavily armed trolls march by. After the trolls go on their way, sticking to the shadows, you snake your way through the stronghold. Finally you get to the thing you have been looking for, the giant monstrosity, you don't know what it is but you know that if the goblins are building it can only be for evil purposes. You see a barrel of oil near the base of the construction, you grab a nearby torch and light the tip of your arrow. As you draw your bowstring a goblin sees the light of your arrow and calls to the trolls nearby, the trolls waste no time charging your position. With no other choice you jump from your perch and land in a tumble several feet below among an army of goblins. As the goblins begin to charge you quickly reacquire the oil barrel and launch you arrow which flies straight and true and plants itself cleanly in its target thus causing a massive chain explosion. Explosions rock the cavern as you search for an escape route in the goblins mass confusion, you run to the top of a high cliff where u see a small stream of light flowing through a hole. Just as you reach the apex of the cliff the strange cloaked creature materializes in front of you, lifts you by the throat, and says in a voice that sends a chill down your spine
"You think you have stopped my plans? Foolish worm, you have only delayed the inevitable, soon all of Alterra will be nothing but a wasteland with me as its ruler."
Ignoring the terrifying ultimatum you pull a dagger from the sheath on your leg and strike at the creatures wrist. As your blade hits the being you hear the clang of metal against metal, dismissing the confusing noise as a goblin falling in a pile of metal scraps you jump from the cliff into the darkness below.
You wake up several hours later to the sound of explosions ringing in the direction of your village. You know your family must be in terrible danger but that thing is still on the loose, and you know it poses a massive threat to the world as you know it....
If you rush back to your village to fight whatever threat is endangering your family go to Archer: 1
If you decide to ignore the uproar and head towards the other local village to find out more about the mysterious being that you encountered go to Archer: 2
Chapter 2: The Mysterious Enemy
Realizing that the immediate danger to the townspeople should be put first, you leap through your window prepared to take on the massive force that plagues the fair towne. As you touch the ground you prepare to launch a firestorm at the first group of foes you see but to your confusion....you see no one. Other than the sounds of crumpling buildings and fire you hear nothing, the screams all but extinguished. You run through the streets frantically searching for any sign of life but find nothing. You drop to your knees and let your staff leave your hand for a moment. Your mind begins to race, hundreds of voices shriek in your head, you think of all the people that lost their lives to whatever it was that attacked. While you are thinking this to yourself you don't realize you are slowly being surrounded by a group of shadows. When one of the shadows rustles a falling leaf your senses immediately return and you call your staff to your hand. In a fit of blind fury you cast an anger fueled Firestorm that turns into an eruption of fire and flaming debris. Just as quickly as the shadows had appeared you snuffed them out, dazed by the overload of power you just released your vision slowly goes black and you lose consciousness.
You awaken in a carriage. You leap to your feet not knowing where you are and bump your head on an overhead lamp. A familiar face looks back into the carriage and greets you with a smile and soothing voice.
"My boy! I see you are awake. How did you sleep?"
The old elf is your master, Grand Master Kieross.
"Master! I'm so happy to see you alive.....Wait! Where are we?!" You ask.
"Why we're in Ursan Weald of course. I had to get you out of that pit of carnage as fast as I could before you were captured. We wouldn't want such a skilled elf such as yourself to fall into enemy hands." Kieross says in a cheerful voice.
"MASTER! We must go back, the people need our help!"
Kieross' grin disappears, replaced by a solemn look. He turns away and focuses on the road ahead. Finally he speaks.
"We cannot go back. There is nothing to go back to, the towne was destroyed in a massive explosion." He says, all sign of lightheartedness had left his voice leaving the strong voice of years of wisdom.
You fall back knowing that explosion was caused by you.
"And what of the townesfolk? I didn't see any sign of them, not even remains." You ask.
"I was fighting the enemy leader when it happened. Shortly after the siege started i engaged the leader and was about to slay him when he pointed towards the door of the barracks and began to laugh. When i looked at the door i saw a short, fat figure in a black cloak holding up a very ancient and powerful rune, no doubt stolen from the Storage. There was nothing I could do but watch as he used the power of the rune to open a portal into some dark cavern, he then used a strange dark power to suck all the people of the towne into the portal. I attempted to stop him but when i got close he flicked me aside as though i was nothing. I began to get back up when he used his power to suck himself and his forces into the portal. I think something may have gone wrong however, just as the portal closed i saw what looked like the bright flash of an explosion." Kieross explains
After a long silence your vision goes blank. You see a village burning and a lone shadow casting off one ursan after another. You see one ursan stand back up ready to charge the strange figure. Knowing the warrior will surely die if he attacks alone you call out to him with your mind, "Run, live to fight again."
As quickly as your vision left it returns, you see the welcoming smile of your master looking at you from above.
"So what did you see?" He says in a playful voice.
"I saw...an ursan camp....being demolished by a shadow. And a warrior was about to attack, there was no way he could win alone so i told him to run."
"Interesting....Well i guess we are off to that ursan camp then, that warrior may need our help. Or perhaps we should continue to Fort Blackstone, a fortress such as that should surely be strong enough to hold off any offensive an enemy can throw at it. It would allow us to rest and regain our strength, I sense many dangers in the future and i think the queen may want to hear our reports from Forest Haven. The choice is yours, what should we do?"
If you choose to go to the ursan camp and help the warrior in his fight go to Enchantress: 3
If you choose to continue to Fort Blackstone to rest for the upcoming trials and brief the queen on what has happened go to Enchantress: 4
You know the people of the village need your help but you also know that more than just your village could be in grave danger if any of the powerful runes fall into the wrong hands. As much as it pains you to leave the villagers to fend for themselves you leave your quarters and rush through the innards of the Mage Barracks. As you are running through the side halls cannonballs blow huge holes in the walls all around you, some close enough to hit your robes as you run.
Finally you make it to the main hall, usually this hall is full of barracks librarians and youngling adepts scurrying to and fro performing their daily duties, now however the entire hall was a battlefield. The hall was littered with scraps of wood you guess came from the front gate and shards of glass from the stained glass portraits that used to surround the hall detailing the start of the Mage Corps. All around you see Masters and younglings alike struggling to hold back the enemy forces. Goblins were attempting to flow through the gate and into the barracks no doubt trying to get into the Rune Storage. Suddenly you see a large troll barrel through the front line taking out severals master and was heading towards a small group of younglings that were too busy fighting a squad of goblins to notice the threat headed straight towards them. On an instinct you leap from the balcony, raise your staff and hurl a lightning bolt aimed directly of the head of the troll. There was a blinding flash when the bolt made contact, so bright that the nearby goblins and younglings stopped their fighting and looked at you awestruck. You turn around and see them gawking at you, in a commanding voice you snap at them.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! THIS IS A BATTLE NOT A MAGIC DEMONSTRATION!"
Jumping back from the boom your voice makes the younglings quickly fire off a burst of magical attacks vaporizing the goblins that were still staring at you dumbfounded. They take a moment to look at you to see you what you have to say about their skills, you shoot them a quick smirk while conjuring a fireball, they smile knowing they had pleased you and run off to find another group of goblins to fry. Now assured the younglings were perfectly capable of taking care of themselves you leave the fight and head to the inner sanctum and to the Grand Master's quarters. When you reach the inner sanctum you see the goblins have already broken through the mage's ranks and are working on getting the vault to the Rune Storage open, to slow them down you launch an ice cold burst at the latch which instantly freezes the latch and the nearby goblins in a large block of ice. you run forward and begin to charge up a lightning bolt when a fat figure dressed in black appears out of nowhere right in front of you. The figure is very daunting but you know nothing can live through a direct hit from a fully charged lightning blast at this range, you loose your powerful spell and prepare to be blown away by an enormous shockwave.....which never comes. You open your eyes to find nothing had changed, the figure was still standing in front of you, except now his hand was raised and smelled of burnt fabric. You can now see a large purple hand raised in front of you and that hand is connected to an unharmed being. Your thoughts race, how could this being have survived a point blank lightning bolt, a blast of that magnitude could have leveled an entire forest yet this fat purple blob had absorbed the blast with only its hand. The creature then speaks in a voice so high pitched you can't help but giggle.
http://youtu.be/kdhhQhqi_AE
"BWAHAHAHA silly teeny man, big light no hurt me, it take lots more to hurt me!"
The contrast of size to voice pitch makes you almost double over from the sheer comedic element of this figure who looked so frightening a moment ago. Obviously the being didn't like that.
"WHY YOU LAUGH?! I NOT SOMETHING TO TAKE LIKE JOKE!"
The beast then smacks you so hard you fly into the wall 30 feet away and punch a hole into the next room. Bones shattered, you cannot even raise your staff to defend yourself when the monster lumbers over to you and raises a large chunk of wall over your head. The last words you hear are the monster telling you
"Bye bye teeny man!"
You fought valiantly but this is the end of your journey. Unhappy with your ending? Return to the beginning and start a new adventure. May you achieve everlasting glory in your journey.
The voice urges you to retreat but the loss of your brother has you seeing red. Fury builds inside you until finally it all pours out in a single burst, you let out a roar that shakes the very ground below your feet and sends a shock wave in every direction. When the figure is hit by the shock wave it is tossed off its feet into one of the burning huts. Your roar slowly dies down and you turn your gaze upon the figure as it stands back up with the same posture as if nothing had happened. The shadow's aloof look just annoys you to no end and you charge towards it. The figure raises its arm to use that power again to knock you away, it launches the blast and you raise one of your mighty paws and smack it aside with a single rage fueled swipe. In an instant you are on the figure, ripping and tearing at its body, which despite its smoke like appearance was surprisingly solid.
"YOU DARE ATTACK MY VILLAGE?! I'LL KILL YOU, I'LL KILL YOU!!!"
You raise your paw and strike the thing once.
"This is for my village!"
You raise your other paw and strike the thing a second time.
"This is for my FAMILY!"
You raise both your paws to the sky and strike the shadow with such force that a crater is formed around the two of you and a nearby tree is uprooted and tossed like a twig.
"AND THIS IS FOR MY BROTHER, DIE!"
With that last strike the shadow disintegrates beneath you. Knowing that the creature is now thoroughly dead you rest against a tree and let your eyelids close for just a moment. Suddenly you hear the snap of a twig and you jump to your feet ready for anything. You yell.
"Back for more?! Bring it on, I'll kill all of you!"
You see something move over to your right and you rush the position of the movement. You raise your paw to destroy whatever it is that threatens you but are met with a staff surging with lightning only an inch from your face. You follow the arm holding the staff up to the face of it's handler. The stranger's face was riddled with wrinkles which indicated years of wisdom. The stranger was smiling at you, a smile that comforted you like....your brother. The old elf then spoke in a warm calming voice.
"My my such a young ursan to be such a powerful fighter. Hello I am Kieross, and this is my pupil. We are friends, we seek no quarrel with you."
You look past the old man at the young elf who is backed against a tree with terror in his eyes. You can't help but burst with laughter at such a ridiculous sight. Obviously embarrassed to look so cowardly in front his master, the young elf scolds you angrily.
"Now what are you laughing at? I am master of the Royal Mage Corps and deserve to be treated with the utmost respect!" He cries.
"BWAHAHAHA YOU A MASTER OF THE CORPS? We are told stories of the bravery of the Mage Corps, with the way you looked just a moment ago you would never guess you were even a youngling let alone a master!"
Then the old elf began to laugh as well, a deep hearty laugh.
"Hahahahaha you have a point there, the boy was quite terrified of you. Give him a break though, he has been through a lot today as I see you have as well."
The young elf's face began to turn a bright shade of red and you can't help but sneer at him, when he sees you sneering at him he mutters a curse under his breath. The elf's arrogance angers you and the two of you leap back prepared to duel, Kieross stands between you attempting to mediate.
"Now now the both of you calm down, we are all friends here so there is no reason to fight."
You drop your paws and listen to what the old elf has to say.
"There that's better isn't it? Now, i see you are perfectly capable of walking on your own, would you like to come with us to Fort Blackstone? We are going to rest and report the loss of Forest Haven and now Ursan Weald to the Queen." He asks you.
You then look over at your fallen comrades, and at your brother. Kieross looks over as well and seems to understand.
"Of course we can stay here for a while if you wish, I'm certain your fallen friends would appreciate a proper burial. What do you say?"
If you choose to leave immediately for Fort Blackstone with Kieross and the young elf go to Warrior: 3
If you choose to make camp for the night and bury your brethren go to Warrior: 4
Despite your rage the voice makes a good point. Heeding it's command you turn around and flee from your burning home and your fallen brother. As you run you can hear the laughter of the shadow echoing in the distance. You run and run until you can't run anymore and finally you find a tree with a hole under its roots, you climb in the hole to rest for the night. In the dead of night you wake up to the sounds of someone running, you climb out of your hole to see what is making the noise only to be tackled by someone. The two of you roll down a hill and you hit the ground with a thud. When you open your eyes you see a face with a large beak staring down at you, at your throat is a dagger prepared to end you right there. The avian speaks.
"Who are you? State your allegiance now or I shall gut you where you lay." it says in a frighteningly cold voice.
Regaining your composure you respond defiantly.
"I advise you get that toothpick away from my neck right this instant or it will be you who gets gutted stranger. I hail from Ursan Weald and am a loyal citizen of her majesty the Queen. What of you?"
The avian then breathes a sigh of relief and sheaths his dagger. He offers his hand to help you up but you slap it aside.
"Do I look like an elderly ursan to you? I can get up just fine." You snarl at the avian.
The bird looks at you angrily obviously insulted but ignores your rudeness. He then walks off and takes out a map and compass. He mutters some curses and throws his navigation equipment to the ground.
"You there, where is the nearest towne? I must report my findings to the Queen." He asks.
"The nearest towne has been destroyed by a shadow creature, your best bet is Forest Haven off in that direction." You reply.
The avian looks at you with a serious face.
"Forest Haven has fallen as well. Very well then, do you know in what direction Fort Blackstone is? I must get to the Queen as quickly as possible." He asks with a dutiful voice.
You look up at the stars and get your bearings. Now knowing where you were and what direction the Fort was in you realize you have leverage to learn more about the thing that attacked your village.
"Yes i know where the Fort is, however I want to know what attacked my village. You obviously must know something since you aren't exactly surprised about the destruction of Ursan Weald." You reason.
The avian curses under his breath once again. He stands deep in thought and then smiles.
"Well I can't quite force you to tell me what I want to know can I? I may be skilled with this dagger but you can overpower me without much trouble. Very well then I will tell you what you want to know. I was tasked by the Queen to investigate strange activity on the outskirts of Forest Haven. I was tracking a mysterious creature and discovered something."
"And what was that?" You ask.
"Ah that I cannot tell you. As i was saying, i ended up waking up after escaping the enemy to the sounds of Forest Haven being attacked. Knowing there was nothing i could do i decided to come to Ursan Weald to seek aid. I am unsure of what was the end of Forest Haven but from what you have told me i am sure that the enemies I encountered and the creature that destroyed the Weald are linked in some way." He finished his explaination with an expectant look.
You think about the information you just heard and think about holding up your end of the bargain. But you wonder if this seemingly dutiful avian is just playing you and is attempting to get to Fort Blackstone to assassinate the Queen. As the Bird stated you are certainly much stronger than this scrawny avian and could overpower him easily, but then again he did knock you down and almost slash your throat...
If you choose to help the avian and accompany him to Fort Blackstone go to Warrior: 5
If you choose to attack the avian and take what you have learned from him to the Queen and warn her of the dangers looming go to Warrior: 6
As a father and husband your duty to protect your family comes before all else. You unsheathe your dagger, grab a piece of scrap metal that you assume fell down the cavern with you, strap it to your arm with some nearby vines to use as a makeshift shield, and dash off in the direction of the explosions. While you run you think about the ultimatum you were given by that menacing figure in the cave. What devious plans could he have in store? What could that machine's purpose be for? You begin to picture what could happen but the thought leaves your mind when you notice......the explosions were gone...just gone. You stop in your tracks listening attentively......
BOOOOOOOOM!!!
A massive explosion rings in the distance, the blast is so strong that it blows you into a nearby tree. Dazed you look ahead and see a giant cloud of dust coming from your village, you stand and attempt to begin running to help your family but you feel a sharp pain in your leg and immediately drop back to the ground. Leg broken, you stand and prop yourself up on a nearby piece of wood, you then shuffle as quickly as you can in hopes you can still do something to save your family.
After what seems like hours you finally make it to your village....or what's left of it. Where the towne square was now lies a smoldering crater. In utter shock you fall backwards onto your behind, your entire village has been completely decimated, and your family is dead. You look down at your dagger, with a quick swipe you could join them, comfort them and hug them forever more. Then you think of your wife's loving smile and the trip to the lake with your son where he caught an enormous bass so large that when you picked it up you fell out of the boat and you both just laughed. No, you will not end it like this, you will find the monsters that did this and end them.
As you stand back up you see something that shocks you again, in the middle of the crater there lies a young elf passed out. You shuffle over to check the elf and see if he is okay. "Thank goodness, he still breathes" you think to yourself. Fighting back the pain from your leg you help the boy up, he groans from exhaustion and continuously slumps off your shoulder but you pick him up and carry him to the edge of the village. Finally the pain overwhelms you and you collapse with the young elf. You roll over to look at the sky and think about what to do. Suddenly a large red cloak catches your eye. You unsheathe your dagger and prepare to put up what little a fight you can to protect yourself and the helpless elf but to your surprise you meet a smiling face. The old elf's face is wrinkled like a leaf dried by the sun, on his chin is a long white beard with a few twigs and leafs sticking out here and there, and covering his balding head is an over-sized red and white hood. In a soft voice, the elf speaks.
"Whoa calm down young one, I mean you no harm. My name is Kieross, I am Grand Master of the Queen's Royal Mage Corps. I am here to search for any survivors and help in any way i can." He explains. "Oh and i see you found my young protege, and i see he has made quite the mess of things. He always has been a bit of a loose cannon. Oh dear! It seems your leg is broken, here let me mend it for you."
Kieross reaches his hand over your leg and mutters a short charm, as he speaks a soft green hue glows over your leg and you can feel the bones moving back into place. Slowly the hue fades away and the pain is gone.
"There now isn't that better? I'm glad I was able to find you so soon, that may have become quite the nasty fracture had I not" The old elf said playfully.
You stand and hop on your leg a few times to break it in. Assured that your leg is back in tip top shape you turn your gaze on Kieross.
"Thank you sir, your aid is much appreciated. Would you happen to know what happened here? I was on a mission and I heard explosions coming from here, I rushed to try and help my family but when i was a few hundred yards out i witnessed a large explosion, when I got here the village was like it is now."
Kieross' expression hardened, all joy had left his face as he went over all that had happened.
"You say your family was here? There still may be a chance they are alive. As I said before I was sent to help in the fight, but when I arrived it was already to late. The enemy leader used an ancient rune to open a portal somewhere and wisk away all the inhabitants of Forest Haven. I tried to stop him but he was much too strong for me, he simply flicked me aside when I attempted to charge him." He said.
"Thank the Queen, my family may still live! Wait, the enemy leader, was it a tall being in a black cloak?" You ask urgently.
"The leader was in a black cloak but he was short and chubby. Do you think the two beings are related?" he asks you.
"It would stand to reason that they are working together. We may want to head to Fort Blackstone to inform the Queen on our findings and consult with her on what our next move should be." You say.
Then you notice a shadow moving on a nearby wall. Quick as lighting you fire your dagger at the shadow and catch it straight in the neck. It then materializes into a solid being and falls to the ground dead. The two of you walk over and inspect the kill, you find that it is a goblin clothed in a shroud of pure shadows and in the pocket of the goblin's burlap pants is a map from Forest Haven headed to Ursan Weald. You wonder if you should postpone your journey to Fort Blackstone to head to Ursan Weald to ensure it does not suffer the same fate as Forest Haven.
If you choose to make for Fort Blackstone with Kieross to inform the Queen of your findings go to Archer: 3
If you choose to hurry to Ursan Weald to save it from Forest Haven's fate go to Archer: 4
Fighting back a tear you turn away from the explosions and head off to find another towne to rest and prepare for your journey back to Fort Blackstone to report your findings to the Queen. After hours of trudging and climbing through brush you feel a huge explosion off in the distance, knowing that you just heard the end of your village and your family you lose track of where you are placing your feet and trip down a hill. Tumbling head over heels you roll down the hill, when you hit the bottom you stand up and begin to run. Still dazed from your downhill roll you run into a passerby, on instinct you draw your dagger and manage to come out on top after the roll and aim your dagger at the throat of the stranger.
"Who are you? State your allegiance now or I shall gut you where you lay." You say as coldly as possible to not let on that you are still grieving over the loss of your family.
The ursan shakes off his surprised look and puts on a scowl as he growls at you..
"I advise you get that toothpick away from my neck right this instant or it will be you who gets gutted stranger. I hail from Ursan Weald and am a loyal citizen of her majesty the Queen. What of you?"
You breathe a sigh of relief and sheathe your dagger, surely you wouldn't stand a chance against such a muscular opponent. You offer your hand to help him up but he slaps it aside.
"Do I look like an elderly ursan to you? I can get up just fine." The ursan snarls at you.
Insulted by the ursan's rudeness at your show of respect you open your mouth in protest but decide he isn't worth wasting your breath. You need to get to the nearest towne as soon as possible, you take out your compass and map and attempt to get a grip on where you are. Realizing something must have damaged your compass during one of your falls, you toss your navigational tools to the ground and turn toward the ursan.
"You there, where is the nearest towne? I must report my findings to the Queen." You ask in as commanding a voice as you can muster.
"The nearest towne has been destroyed by a shadow creature, your best bet is Forest Haven off in that direction." he replies.
Realization dawns on you. The strange forces in the cavern, the destruction of your village, and now the Ursan Weald is lost. There is no way these could be common occurances.
"Forest Haven has fallen as well. Very well then, do you know in what direction Fort Blackstone is? I must get to the Queen as quickly as possible." You ask.
The warrior saunters away and looks up at the stars obviously working out where you were. After mumbling to himself he turns to you and says exactly what you figured he would do.
"Yes i know where the Fort is, however I want to know what attacked my village. You obviously must know something since you aren't exactly surprised about the destruction of Ursan Weald." He says bluntly.
You mutter a short curse and think of any way you could possibly force him to tell you what you want, knowing there is no way to force him you concede to his demand.
"Well I can't quite force you to tell me what I want to know can I? I may be skilled with this dagger but you can overpower me without much trouble. Very well then I will tell you what you want to know. I was tasked by the Queen to investigate strange activity on the outskirts of Forest Haven. I was tracking a mysterious creature and discovered something."
"And what was that?" The bear asks in an inquisitive voice.
"Ah that I cannot tell you. As i was saying, i ended up waking up after escaping the enemy to the sounds of Forest Haven being attacked. Knowing there was nothing i could do i decided to come to Ursan Weald to seek aid. I am unsure of what was the end of Forest Haven but from what you have told me i am sure that the enemies I encountered and the creature that destroyed the Weald are linked in some way." You finish. You then look at the ursan expecting him to hold up his end of the bargain.
The ursan walks away again and hunkers down deep in thought. Suddenly you think about what could happen if this bear turns out to be an enemy soldier. What if he turns on you and kills you before you can deliver your report to the queen? Perhaps you should end him before he gets the chance to end you. But then again he is currently your only chance of finding your way to Fort Blackstone....
If you choose to take the ursan out before he turns on you go to Archer: 5
If you choose to put your trust in this stranger go to Archer: 6
Chapter 3: A Turn For The Worst
"We must hurry to help the ursan immediately." You proclaim.
Kieross nods as though knowing you would make this choice.
"Very well let's move out, we should go on foot though, the forest will get too dense for the carriage to fit. Did your vision provide a general direction in which to travel?" He asks.
You close your eyes and try to sense the unusual power emanated by the shadow. At first you sense nothing but the life forces of the neighboring trees and animals, then you feel a large dark force coming from the east.
"That way sir!" You shout.
You take off in the direction of the force with Kieross following closely behind. You begin to think about the vision you had and the ursan who was ready for a fight, hopefully he heeded your warning and took off before the shadow killed him. Suddenly you are knocked down by a shock wave, when you look up you see Kieross standing in front of you with his hand raised and he was breathing heavily. For something to cause the Grand Master to lose his breath like that it must be terrifyingly powerful. You prepare for the worst and continue heading toward the village.
Finally you smell the scent of burning brush and see the village up ahead, you slow down and hug the cover of a nearby bush to assess the situation. When you look your heart drops with dread, you immediately see a smoking crater and you assume the worst. Then you look off to the left and see the ursan standing there snarling heavily. When you realize what happened you leap backward out of shock and shake your bush all around. The ursan dashes towards your bush with frightening speed and an evil power about him. Terrified, you jump against a tree and pray that your soul rests in peace. You wait for a swift death that never comes, you hear Kieross talking, when you open your eyes you see the Master with his staff sparking with lightning held in the face of the ursan. Then you see the ursan look at you and burst with laughter. You feel your face begin to heat up out of embarrassment. How dare this bear shame you in front of your master.
"Now what are you laughing at? I am master of the Royal Mage Corps and deserve to be treated with the utmost respect!" You shout with a crack in your voice.
Despite you claim for respect he begins laughing even harder, almost falling over.
"BWAHAHAHA YOU A MASTER OF THE CORPS? We are told stories of the bravery of the Mage Corps, with the way you looked just a moment ago you would never guess you were even a youngling let alone a master!" He bellows with laughter.
Then you hear your master join him with a hearty laugh of his own.
"Hahahahaha you have a point there, the boy was quite terrified of you. Give him a break though, he has been through a lot today as I see you have as well."
You feel your face get even hotter.
"Rude brute." You mutter.
Obviously the bear heard you and raises his massive paws ready to fight. Following your training you jump back and grip your staff with both hands. You begin to examine the bear's capabilities when you look behind him and see the crater, still smoking. Then you remember the shockwave that knocked you down and exhausted Kieross, it dawns on you that the ursan was the one that made the crater and had the dark force flowing from him. Realization of the ursan's destructive power almost makes you jump a little farther back but Kieross steps between you and talks you both down.
"Now now the both of you calm down, we are all friends here so there is no reason to fight."
The bear lowers his paws and looks at Kieross. You however keep a tight grip on your staff with one hand just in case.
"There that's better isn't it? Now, i see you are perfectly capable of walking on your own, would you like to come with us to Fort Blackstone? We are going to rest and report the loss of Forest Haven and now Ursan Weald to the Queen." Kieross directs at the ursan.
You see the ursan turn his head toward several ursan corpses, you recognize them as the ones the shadow struck down. Seeing the pain in the bear's eyes you can't help but let out a prayer for their souls out of sympathy. Your master must have noticed the bear's anguish as well.
"Of course we can stay here for a while if you wish, I'm certain your fallen friends would appreciate a proper burial. What do you say?" Kieross offered.
Although you realize the ursan is experiencing great pain from seeing his companions laying there dead you know that you have a job to do and that job was to get to Fort Blackstone as quickly as possible and consult the Queen.
If you choose to protest Master Kieross' decision to make camp and bury the ursan's comrades go to Enchantress: 5
If you choose to allow the ursan to grieve and help bury his comrades go to Enchantress: 6
Situations like these are bound to have casualties so you decide to press forward to Fort Blackstone.
"Master, let's continue onward, though I wish we could help he is no doubt too far away for us to get there in time." You say.
Your master looks off into the distance then closes his eyes and lowers his head, understanding what he is doing you follow suit and say a silent prayer to protect the young warrior. After a moment you both lift your heads and focus on the road ahead, after a while your master breaks the silence in song.
I vow to thee, my country, all earthly things above,
Entire and whole and perfect, the service of my love;
The love that asks no question, the love that stands the test,
That lays upon the altar the dearest and the best;
The love that never falters, the love that pays the price,
The love that makes undaunted the final sacrifice.
I heard my country calling, away across the sea,
Across the waste of waters she calls and calls to me.
Her sword is girded at her side, her helmet on her head,
And round her feet are lying the dying and the dead.
I hear the noise of battle, the thunder of her guns,
I haste to thee my mother, a son among thy sons.
And there's another country, I've heard of long ago,
Most dear to them that love her, most great to them that know;
We may not count her armies, we may not see her King;
Her fortress is a faithful heart, her pride is suffering;
And soul by soul and silently her shining bounds increase,
And her ways are ways of gentleness, and all her paths are peace.
"Master, what is that you sang a moment ago?" You ask.
Kieross looks over at you and smiles even brighter than usual.
"Oh that old thing, it's a hymn I learned from my master ages ago. I sing it in times of hardship to help lift my spirits." He says with such joy he almost sings it.
You think about how you're master is always cheery even in the hardest of situations. Even when you found out you're parents had been ambushed by a group of goblins and killed he was there to help you through with his usual infectious smile and kind attitude. You look up at you're master as he smiles at you and you both turn forward and sing the hymn together.
After hours of travel your master insists you climb into the back of the carriage to rest until you arrive at Fort Blackstone, after a bit of complaining you give in and fall asleep.
You are forced out of your slumber when the carriage is flipped completely over by an explosion. Still groggy you open you're eyes to your master deflecting fireballs and bits of trees with a magical barrier. You're master begins yelling at you.
"Are you ok?! Get up now and run away! The Fort is just over there, you must be protected at all costs!" He shouts, all joy had left his voice you can tell this is a very serious situation.
If you choose to follow Kieross' command and run for the safety of the Fort go to Enchantress: 5
If you choose to stand and fight with you're master go to Enchantress: 6
You decide the burials can wait, the journey to Fort Blackstone and back couldn't possibly take more than a day or two. You walk over to your comrades and bow your head in respect, Kieross and the young elf follow suit.
"I suppose there are more demanding tasks right now, I will come with you to the Fort." You strain to keep the anguish out of your voice.
"Very well. I promise that your comrades will have a knight's burial, they may not have been knighted but they fought honorably so it's the least we can do. Well we had best be off, the young one and I's carriage is just off in that direction, let's get going then we will set off for Fort Blackstone." Says the old elf.
The three of you trudge for what seems like forever, but you finally make it to the carriage and lay in the back to try and take a nap. Just as your eyelids begin to fall you hear the inquisitive voice of the "Master elf."
"I'm terribly sorry for the way I acted towards you, you had just lost your family and i treated you like a fool. I too have lost family so I can understand how you must be feeling, if you need to talk I will lend an ear." He says, obviously struggling to say something nice.
"Pfft, I don't need your pity. I killed the thing that took my family, my revenge is done so i don't have any worries. Even proved that voice I heard wrong, fool, probably thought i was some weak child." You growl.
"Excuse me but I am simply trying to pay you a kindness seeing how you just lost your loved ones and anyhow how was i supposed to know you were strong enough to handle that thing, I bet you just lifted your arm and it ran away, I'd run from a stench like that too." The elf says in a patronizing tone.
You consider sitting up and giving this insolent punk a piece of your mind (and possibly a lump on his head) but then you realize he said he was the voice that told you to run. Understanding that it wasn't just chance that the old elf and youngling showed up, they went with the intention to help, you decide to let that one slide.
"Alright alright, calm down. I apologize for my rudeness, I know you just came to help so I thank you for your good intentions. However that doesn't mean you shouldn't trust in others strength a little more, I took that shadow thing down in three hits, how long would it have taken you to kill it?" You say with a smirk.
"HA, three hits, a child at the Barracks could have taken a creature like that down in that amount. I wouldn't even have had to flick a finger to take that thi-WHOAAAA!" As he tries to come up with a snappy comeback the entire carriage is flipped.
You jump out at the last second and land in a tumble before the carriage smashes to bits on the ground. When you stand you see something that makes you almost collapse. The shadow, standing with that same indifferent smirk. Your rage begins to build and your body tenses but a hand presses on your chest.
"You go ahead lad, take my protege to the Fort. I will handle this creature." Kieross says with a confident tone.
You turn to grab the young elf and feel a surge of heat coming towards your face, just as you turn your head you see a bright flash and shut your eyes. A second later your eyes open and see Kieross standing in front of you with his staff raised to the sky, surrounding him is a twinkling circle of what can only be explained as raw magical power. Kieross looks back at you and smiles. Knowing your escape will be covered without much trouble you turn and lumber your way to the Fort.
After the short trek and listening to fireballs and lightning and explosions, you finally reach the gate of the Fort.
"Halt! Who goes there? State your allegiance or you shall be slain on the spot." Says an archer high up on the wall above the gate.
"Hold your fire, I am a farmer from Ursan Weald and my allegiance lies with her majesty the queen. I need help immediately, this young elf is injured and Master Kieross is off fighting against some creature." You explain.
"Understood. Men open the gate and help the young elf, then send out a squad to help Sir Kieross with his battle, if he is here then that means there must be something important." The archer shouts.
The gate slowly opens and a group of young female elves rush out and take your young friend into the Fort on a stretcher. You begin to make your way in when the squad to help Kieross walks by and a warrior falls out of ranks and walks toward you.
"You must be weary, go talk to Madam Martha and she'll get you fixed up. Of course if you're feeling up to it you can always come with the squad to aid Sir Kieross if you like, I have a spare sword you can use." The ursan says.
If you choose to meet this Madam Martha to rest go to Warrior: 7
If you choose to accept the ursan soldier's offer and fight alongside Kieross to get revenge for your friends and family go to Warrior: 8
"I'm sorry if it inconveniences you and your young friend but I am going to bury my brothers, feel free to go on ahead if you wish, I can take care of myself." You say.
Kieross looks at you, nods, then closes his eyes. A moment later you see a small blue circle of rune symbols appear in front of Kieross and feel the ground beneath you start to shake. When you hear the shifting of earth you turn to see four large cubes of dirt being lifted out of the ground and moved aside leaving four equally large holes in the ground. As the ground settles you turn back toward Kieross just in time to see the rune circle fade away and Kieross open his eyes.
"It isn't what one would call a kings burial but i suppose it will do. Well let us get to work." The old elf says in a cheery yet sentimental voice.
When you finally finish the services, Kieross uses the rune symbol to again move the displaced earth back into the holes, after which he launches fireballs at the four graves. At first you turn away thinking you just watched your brothers being burned but when you take a second look you see that the four ursan corpses are sealed in glass caskets.
"The glass will never erode thus decomposition will never occur, they will remain in their youth even in the afterlife." Says Kieross in a melancholy tone. "Alright now that that business is all said and done, we had best head to the carriage to gather supplies to make camp for the night." The cheery tone joined with his joyous smile warms you a bit.
"You need not wait for me, go on, you have important business." You say.
"Nonsense, it's too dangerous to go out at night and even more so to leave you here alone. We will stay until morning then you will set out for the Fort with us, your experiences are needed to inform the queen of what has gone on in her realm." The young elf chimes, after being silent for the entire burial, in an indignant voice.
After much argument (and a small tussle which resulted in a few shattered trees and a singe in Kieross' beard) you concede and help the elves gather supplies from the carriage and make camp. An hour or two later the camp is made with a fire providing its warmth. The three of you remain silent for a while then Kieross begins to tell stories of his experiences when he was just a youngling.
"Ohoho, my master always used to say 'Kieross, you'll never amount to anything if all you ever do is conjure frogs and throw them at people!', little did he know there was a frog floating above his head ready for such an occasion. One second later, SPLAT! Oh, that was also the day all the other younglings got a nice laugh seeing their fellow student wash the entire great hall with a thimble and a toothbrush hahaha!"
The three of you shared a nice long laugh and continued sharing stories of your youth's into the wee hours of the night. Finally the sleep hit you all like a tree.
"YAWWWWWN, oh my is it that late already, we had best be off to bed. Not a very long journey tomorrow but we wouldn't want to look a mess in the Queen's presence now would we? Good night boys, sleep tight." Kieross says as he shuffles into his makeshift sleeping bag.
You and the young elf exchange a look then shuffle into your own bags as well, not much later you are asleep.
You find yourself floating above a castle in flames. Elven, ursan, and avian women and children scatter in all directions as you dart downward and light the ground below you in an eruption of fire. Voices shriek with fear as you destroy building after building. Suddenly you feel a sharp pain in your wing, you look to your left and see a tower with an archer in it drawing another arrow. You open your mouth and flames billow out, engulfing the tower. The flames hit a barrel of gunpowder but just as the tower explodes you see a shadow jump out and feel something land on your back. You look back to see the avian warrior standing on your back, dagger in hand. A smile goes from ear to ear as you turn forward and shoot into the sky, your enormous wings carrying you faster and faster into the heavens above the castle. Thinking the avian is falling to the ground you stop and flip around to watch the body impact. Just as you look down and see nothing but the flames you made, you feel a pin prick go through your throat. You turn to see the avian warrior with his dagger buried deep in your neck and a red liquid flowing down your underbelly. Your wings grow weak and you begin to plummet back down. You begin to laugh and choking on your blood you mock the archer.
"-Cough- HAHAHA feathered fool, you may have brought me down but you will also be granted a swift death from the unforgiving earth below!" You bellow as you hack up blood.
The avian smiles and jumps from your body, expecting him see him flail before he hits the ground you are shocked when you see him catch a nearby tree with his knife. You howl in anger as your vision slowly begins to fade. Just as your vision fully recedes you hear a deafening crash.
You awaken to the young elf shaking you violently and Kieross staring into your eyes with a glazed look in his own.
"It's about time! You have been shouting for the past hour and wouldn't shut up, other people need sleep too you know!" The young elf says in the most annoying tone you have ever heard.
You look past the youngling again and see Kieross come back from his trance-like state, his face covered in a veil of horror. He grabs the young elf's arm.
"Now is no time to argue, we must get away from here." The old elf commands.
"But master, we need to get to the Fort, the Queen needs to hear our reports." Says the young elf, obviously confused.
"I'm sorry sir but I am going to agree with the, as much as I hate to say it, the young master on this one. I'm going to assume you were looking into my dream so you of all people would know why we need to go to the Fort."
"There is no hope for the Fort, the best thing we can do is head as far away as we can before anything shows up." Kieross explains flatly.
If you choose to follow Kieross' advice and get away go to Warrior: 9
If you choose to ignore Kieross and go to the Fort to help the wounded go to Warrior: 10
**I'll update this as i have time to. I intend on going to AO3 and possibly beyond. Stay Tuned :)**