Prince zen sat in his throne room as usual papers piled high all around him. Suddenly he noticed a shadow fall over his work. "You know, it always bugs me the way you sneak in here like that", Zen looked up at the cloaked figure that emerged from the shadows. "I know, are you ready to launch the attack on the underground structure yet?" Zen slammed his fist hard onto the table. "No!, dark is still in the hospital and Ishar is… crazy. I need some more time to prepare, not to mention the fort has been under constant siege." Meph studied Zen's notes. "Don't worry, I have the forward tower defended. You just take care of the underground structure." Zen spun around and stood up staring at meph face to face. "LOOK!, I'm in charge here and I say we aren't ready yet!", "Fine, very well. Don't say I didn't warn you…" and he slinked back into the shadows.
Zen stared around his room, particularly the door and the shadows. One of these days he would figure out how Meph did that, but in the mean time he had work to do.
Zen headed down the the hospital to relieve some anger. Yelling at dark had made him feel better lately. "So, how are those new squads coming? and hat about the secret project.", "Bugger off, my wrist is still hurt. I put.. people in charge of the new squads already" Dark pointed to the doctor, and Rth, captain of the guard who was in the room checking on a wounded soldier. "Ask them if you want updates on the troops. I've been stuck in here." "I see, and Project X?" "Someones working on it, I'm sure." Zen flipped over a bed, and started screaming. "Do you realize whats at stake here!? I do not have time for your lazyness and incompetence, you have been holed up in here for 5 months with a limp wrist. I need the head of my military!" Zen punched the closest sauropod and stormed out of the room.
He sounded the General alarm and ordered the troops assembled. He looked them over. Most of them where wearing tattered cloths and had no armor or weapons. "Why haven't you equipped yourself!?" silence.. Zen walked up to the closest recruit. "I asked you a question!", "Uh sir.. err.. your highness, uh.. we have orders that the best weapons and armor are forbidden to us.", "who's orders?", zen looked up and down the ranks. "Actually, I don't know, you see we have had so many overseers running things here while you where locked up in your tower…uhh.. conducting important business I'm sure.", "Well new orders. PICK UP SOME WEAPONS AND ARMOUR, USE ANYTHING!" Zen stormed out angrily.
Suddenly the alarms started up. "Back to work!, Craterous pillars, to the surface to deal with whatever is attacking us." as the dwarfs flowed out of the dinning hall zen stopped the miner Deler. "Not you, I have a special project for you." Zen handed him some blueprints. "Grab your pick and head down into the depths. I want you to dig an expository tuned following my map exactly. According to my research what you will find at the end is very valuable, do not stray from the path I have laid out for you however. You will be digging in a very dangerous area. What you will find at the end of your tunnel is crucial for the fort, tell no one what you are doing. Do you understand?" "Deler regarded the prince. Before today he had never spoken to him once… no one important had as a matter of fact. Deler nodded. He would prove his parents wrong after all. He would make a name for himself in this place after all.
Zen headed back to the surface. The Craterous pillars where nowhere to be see. Meph however was. His eyes glowing bright and flames dancing from his fingertips. Also flames burning down the inner courtyard. Zen looked in the distance and saw Mind flayers running in fear from a charging golem. Once it realized it would not catch them the golem turned and came back to the courtyard. "You know, they never used to do that. It's good we finally trained those dumb pieces of junk." One of the nearby golems looked at zen and made a strange noise, they wandered off into the fort. "Hey! where are you going!" The other iron golem glared at zen and followed the other golem into the fort. "Where are they going?" Meph glared at zen. "Guess you shouldn't have taught them about union breaks.", "But we aren't a union fort!", "Tell that to the golems." Zen huffed at meph and took off back into the fort.
He decided to head down to his crypt to see how work on the renovations was going. Several dwarfs where working in the back statue room. He nodded approvingly as he inspected their work. Then he noticed something was missing. "Don't the plans call for all these walls to be engraved?" He ran his hand over the smooth walls. "Uh, yes" on of the workers replied. "But you see, the engravers can't get to the walls because the statues are in the way. Some idi--- er.. someone ordered the statues put in first." "Hmm, I see, so rip the statues out, engrave the walls and put the statues back!." "Aye aye!" The workers swarmed over all the carefully arranged statues, pulling them out from their nooks and piling them hap-hazardly in the room. "You do realize this will add a few more months of construction time.?". Zen replied, "Oh yes, of course more delays more problems, nothing new" Zen felt his anger rising, but it was near lunch time. It wasn't time for tantrums, it was time for drinks. "Just keep me posted on the progress."
Zen headed to the dinning room and saw his pal Hostergaard drinking, so he joined him. He sat in silence for a few minutes just enjoying his booze. "Hows work on your project going?" He inquired. "Oh, I think we are getting close.", "Good, Meph won't quit bugging me about that mysterious structure. He wants us to launch the assault now.", "Well, don't you think we could handle it?", "Possibly but we are down a few of our best fighters currently, and I worry about how many injuries we will sustain in the process. There is just so many zombies, and hive workers down there. Recent reports also indicate that troglodytes have been spotted down there as well as a forgotten beast. I cannot risk losing any of our champions, or a large portion of our populations getting injured. I would feel much better having cracked the secrets of life healing and sending someone who can mend our wounds while we are down there… Don't get me wrong.. I have the highest regards for our doctor Domas, but we will be fighting supernatural beings.. We need supernatural healing." "Yes, don't worry. I have Mokar working on the project as well. We are studying constantly. We will have this figured out soon."
"Ahem"
Zen turned to see Smake the forge master standing over them. "I couldn't help but overhear you two talking… again" Zen raised an eyebrow, "Again?" "Yes, sorry… no one ever seems to noitce me, I'm just a simple forge master, but I wanted you to know I agree with what your doing." He lowered his voice. "I don't trust that advisor of your's Meph." Zen Hmmed. Hostergaard nodded in agreement. Zen replied. "He is my most trusted advisor, I have known him since I was a child, and he is a trusted friend of my fathers… But I agree with you. He isn't the same, since his transformation, Honestly I don't trust anyone who has been touched by the dark magics. I am starting to think it was a mistake to ever meddle with the dark powers at all, this cost is just to great, but this isn't the place to speak of it." Zen looked around the room cautiously. He noticed a barrel next to Smake. "Whats that?", "Oh, thats for you! It's a barrel of ale, from me in the misses, to show our appreciation for how smoothly everything has been running since you took charge." Zen smiled. Smake cracked the lid and together they drank, and had a merry time, until they where interrupted by the alarm again.
We are under attack! "Oi, again? Well no good letting this go to waste." Zen grabbed the barrel of Ale and lugged it up the stairs to the surface…
"HELP!!" Dr. Domas yelled loudly. Then he quickly hid behind a bush in the outer courtyard. He looked over towards the fort and the pillbox. He was alone. No, he wasn't alone. There where plenty of elven shield dancers advancing on his position. He was just alone as far as dwarves, or any help where concerned. The turrets began firing at the elves. The dexterous pansies jumped and twirled in the air easily dodging the boulders. He looked in his pouch. He only had a few axeheads to defend himself. He took a deep breath and calmed himself. He thought back to what these very same elves had done to the other Domas. The one that everyone had mistaken for him. No one else had bothered to check out the corpse, he was the doctor after all. It had taken him a while to convince everyone that he was actually still alive and kicking.
He studied the elves from his hiding place. The closest had a bow, the rest where shield dancers, armed only with sharped edged shields. They didn't look that bad but he remembered from Domas's corpse how deadly they could be. He threw a carefully aimed axe head, then another. The elf was caught off guard. It fell to the ground and surveyed it's surroundings, then expertly rolled aside to avoid a turret launched spinning blade. It crouched to the ground and studied it's surroundings again, holding it's shield to the side, ready to pounce, and bash his skull in. Domas was scared. Where was his squad? Where was Meph? Where where the golems? or the dire wolves, saber toothed tigers, war dinosaurs, dragons, anyone really. How did he, the forts only doctor end up defending the entire fort by himself. He threw a few more carefully aimed axeheads. They hadn't spotted him yet, and he was holding them at bay. His life began to flash before his eyes. Suddenly he saw the prince charge out from the fortifications and drop a barrel on the field. The prince ran up to the elf with the bow, grabbed its foot, flipped it over and wrapped a quick arm around it's neck. He spun around holding the elf between him and the others as a shield. "Drop your weapons!" the prince shouted. The elf squirmed in his arms. The prince tightened his grip and the elf gagged. It stopped struggling. Another dwarf charged out to the princes side and stood facing the remaining elves his weapon held at the ready.
Domas stood from behind his bush, with an axehead in each hand readied to throw at the other elves. They stood unsure of what to do. "Leave us or you will all perish!" the prince bellowed. Domas couldn't believe it. The fear in the elves eyes, they where not expecting this. Domas wasn't expecting what happened next either. There was a flash from the corner of his eye, suddenly flames burst forth from the fortification towards the barrel, prince, and elves. The barrel of booze exploded. Domas was thrown back from the blast. When he returned to his feet the dwarves and elves who had been in front of him where gone. In their place, flame, smoke, a pile of ashes… Domas looked towards the fortification. Meph stood there. His eyes glowed with fire and flames danced around his finger tips. Meph pointed off in the distance in the other direction. In the distance Zen's bewildered dragon was running of into the woods roaring in anger.
Meph spoke. "It would seem our friends pet found his master in danger… and panicked, doesn't it?" Domas regarded Meph, the piercing gaze, the flames dancing between his fingers. The pile of ash a few yards away which had been the prince… and some other dwarf it would probably take him forever to identify. "Yes… It would seem that is the case." Domas left, in a hurry. He went straight to his room and locked himself inside.
Meph strode casually over the Zen's remains, and picked up the princes crown. "No worries about your tomb not being finished my friend, their isn't anything left of you to use it anyhow. Now, to take care of that underground structure you kept putting off."
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Topic: ☼Angelictower☼ (overseers wanted: new fort soon!) (Read 39195 times)