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Wait for the next release. I want usable mugs damn it!

55 (71.4%)

We can use the current one. I like the big trees and slightly smarter dorfs.

17 (22.1%)

I'll take .34.11 thanks. I want to know I'll get to kill things for sure.

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Total Members Voted: 77

[Splint]

Time for another literary abortion from me! This focuses on The Battle at The Smooth Points of Pride, the Jesters of Armok's involvment in the battle and further cementing that Ballpoint draws at least a number of competant soldiers from these "Historical MIAs."

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

"There's the signal! To the levers! The Coalition is counting on us, and now is the time to turn the scales!" The Ranger Captain Thili shouted to his soldiers. They'd been defending a painstakingly set up network of levers rigged to engage the various traps the 88th Pikedwarf Company had laid weeks before. Landmines made of what goblins called "boomjelly" were scattered far ahead and the explosions were clear enough indicator the goblins had done something right when they arrived a few days after the 88th. "Watch it! Giant bat swarm!" An archer yelled as he let fly, the magma-forged arrow striking the lead bat's rider in the chest. The bat mounted blood suckers had been trying for almost two days to take the lever nexus, if only so that the Coalition Army wouldn't have it. The elves were posted here because of thier skill with archery, and thus far it had paid off.

"Lever one ready!" And elf called, ready to yank one of the cave in mines' activation. "Two ready!" "Three ready!" And so on as the spare elven soldiers took thier positions. Another bat swooped in, and plucked one of the archers up, dropping him to his death in the battle below. "Damn it somedoby kill that wretched bloodsucker!!!" The captain yelled. He himself hadn't brought a bow, largely due to forgetting it in his haste to get to the lever nexus. More arrows made of dwarven iron flew into the cloud of angry flying monsters and thier handlers, some dropping out of the air, some merely screeching before they attacked again. The elves were thankful the signal had been given by the dwarven general on the ground, as thier numbers had already been halved defending this position. "Lever two, PULL!" Thili shouted as he saw a flag in the distance colored to the second lever raise. After some effort on the elven soldier's part, the lever went active and a terrific boom was heard as a massive cloud erupted from the vampire's midst. "One hell of a cave in trap they rigged up." The captain said to himself. He then sighted lever one and fours flags. "Fena, Datome, you're up!" The soldiers did as ordered, and down below an onrush of vampirc cavalry found itself charging into a massive net, which most of the force rammed into full force, many riders and thier mounts being crushed under the wave of thier own men. The dwarves in the vicinity then happily rammed fullforce into the net, thier pikes easily passing through the holes in the net and perforating hide, bone and organ alike.

"And there's the other big drop. Otoga-" Thili was horrified to see the poor girl take a crossbow bolt to head as she began pulling back on the lever. The offending vampire was peppered with arrows, but his dying actiosn seemed to seal the fate of the Coaltion's left flank, and possibly it's entire army. The first was merely a bolt that sent an elven ranger to his death as he fell from the cliff edge with a bolt embedded in his neck, the second was managing to direct his dying mount into the lever, crushing it and Otoga's body. "No! Mafina, Dinade, grab the singal flags! Alert the troops down there lever three is gone!" As he finished issuing his order, he was met with one of the others shouting "It's too late!" Thili looked up to seer the remant of the vampires' still siazable bat contingent bearing down on them full force. They were done for. Thili rushed over and grabbed Otoga's sword from her mangled corpse and prepared himself mentally to finally become one with the land itself, ready to meet the bloodsuckers on the cliff face. He and his men were doomed not because of numbers, but because they hadn't kept track of thier remaining arrows: They were almost gone.

However, the forces of nature (or, if you prefer, the will of the highest of gods) works in mysterious ways. Thili wouldn't be joining the land, but rather he would witness the terrible majesty of not one, but several dragons, each with thier own strangely equipped rider (or in one case, carrying some wood and metal technological abomination) and armor. Several dove through the cloud of flying vampires, except for one mounted by a stange little kobold, which had it's dragon let loose a torrent of flame that incinerated whatever the sheer mass of the massive dragons that plowed through hadn't brought to the ground. It was only when both sides heard the horrible roars of these mighty beasts did they up. The dwarves and humans knew these terrible riders well.

---

Armok's Chosen had finally picked a side in the war to end all wars, and they sided with the races of the Global Coalition. "The Overseers have come! Praise to the blood god and his mercy! praise to his angels of death and fire!" A dwarf could be heard shouting. The first of these 'Overseers, to join the battle proper was the human in the strange machine, steam hissing from it as it moved and snapped up a jabberer with a vampiric master and rent the beast in half, before ramming one of it's long iron pincers into the fanged one and opened them, splitting him in half and sending gore in all directions. The other 'Overseers' followed suit, thier dragons dropping them off before hurling themselves into the fray elsewhere, except for the kobold who seemed content shooting at vampires with a crossbow and having his dragon incinerate anything it felt like in the vampiric army's mass. Following the mechanical man, was a human woman wielding a pair of bladed whips who seemed to take the greatest joy in the agonizing screams of the dying around her as she lashed her way into the vampires. Following her was a dwarf wielding only shields who had dove from his still flying dragon onto a cave dragon below and bludgeoned it's skull to mush before attacking the rider. After that came a strange human woman in a funny hat with ears sewn to it, who, compared to the lasher was far more sane, though none wanted to know what foul concotions were in the glass spikes she threw into any enemy she saw. A string of explosions heralded the next, an average sized human in a tophat, and monacle with the rest of his face below his eyes obscured with a face veil. He hurled strange little metal balls with burning wicks into the enemy, the resulting explosions sending showers of metal and gore into all around the site of the blast.

Following that came another dwarf, axe in hand who lept into the battle upon a voracious cave crawler. he left his shield weged in its head as he attacked the rider, his axe becoming stuck in the vampire's midsection after having clove through his arm and mail. The vampire, undaughted though obviously in pain punched the dwarf in head, sending him skidding accross the ground disarmed. the vampire tried fruitlessly to spur his mount to act, but it only twitched and let out some kind of pitiful cry. The dwarf came back with avengance, and beat the vampire to mush with a severed arm. He then wrenched his axe out, and delviered the death blow to the crawler after prying out it his shield. The last to hit the ground, and likely least to be feared was a rather unimpressive looking human, sword on belt and halberd in hand. Unlike the others who lept into the midst of the brutal melee, he had jumped off ahead of a contingent of human soldiers, even strangely enough, being dressed in that nation's colors, seeming rathe rintent on being at the forefront of the charge. As the human and vampire soldiers clashed, the halberdier bashed the fangs from one's head, and brought the axeblade down on the prone night creature's head through her helmet's open face. The sudden appearance of these saviors on thier left side led to the coalition forces to redouble thier efforts, and a massed cavalry attack was launched using thier reserves, though they were careful to avoid the Overseers' belligerent steeds.

---

"Form up warriors! There's work to be done below!" Thili yelled to his surviving troops. They had already staked ropes to make an escape down the cliff face, but now they needed to no longer hold the perch, and with small leather straps wrapped over the ropes to keep them upright, charged down the cliff-face, blades in hand. Thili never did tell his fellow elves his sword was made of dwarven steel, which was what he'd need to face the iron-clad human night bringer. As the small band of elvish soldiers entered the fray Thili tackeled the monster of a man to the ground and sent his short sword right through the iron plate at the middle, where there had been a crack visible. His troops were close behind, and they met vampires of thier own, thankfully thinned enough so that it boiled down to single combats between the two groups. As the captain brought himself to his feet he was met with the hateful gaze of a fallen elf, now a blood sucker like all the rest he and his fellow soldiers of the Coalition fought. Before the fell one-elf was several of Thili's rangers, one with no head, one bisected and the last with thier skull split open, thier brains in a chunky mess leaking out of the hole in his helmet. "You've turned your back on the ways of our kind blood drinker!" Thili spat. "As have you." The monster said, gesturing to his sword. "I recognize the cold gleam of steel when I see it." Thili cringed at the word "steel." "I'm aware of what it cost to make this blade, and I'll leave it in your skull!" thili roared as he charged forward. The fanged elf swung his iron claymore into the captain, sending him sprawling to the ground but not long enough  for the encumbered vampire to strike him down. Thili righted himself in time to parry to heavy swings of the claymore, and tried to get withing the vampire's guard, only to be elbowed away the first two times and nearly bisected the third. Then he got the chance he wanted: The vampire swung awkwardly and wound up wedging his sword into a  boulder, and when he tried to wrench it free, he shattered the blade. Thili lept upon the now disarmed vampire,  but in place of the quick kill he wanted, he instead got a roundhouse kick to the head and the cheek guard broken off of his mahogany helm. "You forget what I am now feeble little mortal." The vampire said, the cold intent to kill the ranger with his bare hands seeming to drip from his words. Thili simply got onb his feet, and charged again, aiming to deliver a slash to the monster's head. As expected, the vampire blocked with his armoed forearm, but Thili anticipated this and abruptly swung with the wieght of the sword going back, and delivering a crushing blow to the bloodsucker's ribs, several shattering from the impact of the sword against the only lightly padded armor. The vampire staggered and that was it. His death knell had sounded. Thili  slashed again, the injured vampire, while not bothered by his reduced lung capacity was in agonizing pain and din't react fast enough to block the blade, which splintered his right bracer completely and took his arm, blood spraying from the stump like some grotesque fountain. "Your filthy kind's overconfidence brought this upon you, once-elf." Thili said as the wounded vampire stumbled onto his back. His last words were simply "Not like this..." When Thili simply drove his sword into the fallen nature worshiper's skull, his helmet offering little protection from the superior metal.

Thili look around, the main battle starting to push the enemy back. He coudl see explosions, clouds of dust, and of course those magnificent dragons in the mess, but from where he was, he was alone. His remaining rangers were dead, from what he could tell being bloodloss from lost limbs or being outright chopped in half or decapitated. But at least the vampiric straglers were all dead. He slumped against the blouder near the splintered claymore, depressed at just how horribly he'd failed his rangers.59 elves all dead because of his orders. Because he'd volunteered his unit for the lever defense post. As he lamented he heard a strange crackling sound, like a sort of quiet lightening. He grabbed his word and carefully went 'round the boulder, expecting some foul wizard or some other nonsense, but he was instead greeted with a tear in the very fabric of reality. A tear in which two elves stepped out clad in dark gray armor. "Thili Craftchasm?" One said, his speech heavily accented as if he spent more time amongst dwarves. "I am." He said, keeping his sword raised. "Good, looks like we're on schedule. You won't be able to contribute any more to the battle here sir, and we'd like you to come with us." The gray-clad elf continued. "Give me a reason why I should go with you then. You understand if I'm a touch..... Untrusting of someone who blips into existance behind a rock in the middle of a warzone." Thili said irritably. "Because we could use an elf like you sir. This battle has left you behind and as far as the army knows, you and your men all died here." Thili looked around the skirmish site. Indeed any who hadn't died defending the levers were already dead here. Nobody would even miss him. "Alright," Thili sighed "Let's go then. There's not much left for me here as it stands." "Good choice sir. I assure you you won't regret this." The other elf said.

"Time may forget heroes, but we don't." The first elf said as they went back through the precariously stable tear. Once through, Thili Craftchasm seemed to have never even existed.

The overseers are references as follows

Shield-dorf: Hans and a reference to his stated habit of shield bashing people
Halberdier: human!Splint
Kobold: Corai
Grenadier: Mr Frog
Lasher: KodKod
Syringe-thrower: Girlinhat
Axedwarf: A reference to Jack Magnus' dwarf
Mechsuit guy: A reference to ThatAussieGuy and his penchant for insane engineering feats.


Likely a shitload of typos but I don't trust spellcheck. Probably missed a bunch as I went over it again for them.

[Jack Magnus]

Excellent writing as always, Talvieno and Splint

And Armok's Chosen (including a reference to me, at that) flying in on dragons? Kickass.

Aussie in a mechsuit seems all too fitting, as well.

[Corai]

Good story, good sir.

[Talvieno]

I don't really have much time at all to be on right now, but I do have enough to post the next part as promised. I'll read your story post when I can, Splint, sorry I can't do it right now.

Vanya's Journals, Chapter 22, Part 3

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Vanya's Journals, Chapter 22, Part 3
The journal continues.

    "Mr Frog, stop this," Urist said, stepping in front of me. "Give the girl a chance to calm herself, or you won't get anything out of her."
    My heart froze at the ensuing silence, and I worried that Mr Frog might do something terrible. The windless air, thick with tension, seemed more difficult to breathe. Finally, Mr Frog spoke. "Very well..." he said slowly, "you may leave us, Urist. I will give her 'a chance to calm herself'."
    "...leave you?" Urist asked in confusion. "I do not know these paths."
    "We stand in an intersection," Mr Frog replied, pressing on the wall to his left. With a bluish glow, it scrolled down into the floor with the rumble of machinery. "Take this path; it will place you near the barracks. Vanya and I have a different path to follow."
    With one last, long look at me, Urist slowly turned and left. I watched him wistfully as he walked away through the moss-lit side tunnel, wondering when I would see him again.
    The wall scrolled back up into its original position, blocking my view of my friend, and Mr Frog opened a different hallway to his right. "Come," he commanded, leading me forwards into the darkness.


    After walking a while, we finally emerged in the upper layers of the fortress, just below the watchtowers. Together, Mr Frog and I climbed the spiraling stairs of our oldest tower until we reached the top, fifty feet above the plains. There was a cold breeze in the night air, flowing from the west, and I tucked a few stray strands of hair behind my ear from where they blew across my face. The light of the moon far above provided faint illumination, and I looked up at it where it lay among scattered clouds. I'd forgotten how beautiful it was... it had been five years since I'd seen it last... five years since I'd seen the sky. Five long years since I'd felt the wind on my face. My heart calmed its anxious beating as I felt myself relax, and I took a deep breath. I could smell fir and feather trees, the sweet scent of long-aged oak. Far above us, the stars twinkled in the sky - myriads upon myriads of them, like tiny needle pricks in the heavens through which shined Armok's fires.
    I walked over to the fortifications, laying my hands gently on the rough stone and gazing up dreamily at the serene beauty of the night. I inhaled again, catching the faint, sweet smell of rain. I felt so free... so alive... caught up in wonderment at it all.
    "What are we..." I breathed in a whipser, "to spoil such beauty?"
    Behind me, slow, soft footsteps approached. I looked back at Mr Frog, who had an atypical expression on his face. He looked calm and thoughtful. "That's the elf in you talking," he spoke quietly, stopping beside me and gazing upwards. He didn't sound accusatory, only observant.
    Looking back up at the sky, I considered his words. I'd always tried to be a dwarf, even if I knew I wasn't. "No..." I said quietly, "We bring out the beauty of the living stone. It is ugly 'til we smooth it, 'til we engrave it with our love. 'The beauty of earthen gems sparkles brighter than the trees; better a single engraved hall than a thousand unfelled forests,'" I said, quoting an old king. I was silent for a moment. "I may be an elf, but I have the mind of a dwarf..." I whispered thoughtfully, almost with a touch of pride. "Even so... I still respect beauty... but that doesn't make me an elf."
    "And I respect serviceability," Mr Frog added. "That doesn't make me a goblin. But remove your gaze from the starlight - look down below us in the fields."
    I did so, and was shocked at what I saw. Gone were the meager entrances I'd passed through when I'd migrated to the fortress, instead replaced with moonlit towers and wide, paved roads of stone. It glistened beneath the moon with recent rain, and scattered puddles reflected the light with a silvery gleam. Mr Frog pointed to my left, and I followed his hand with my eyes, up sturdy bastions of shale, up columns and beautiful fortifications that rose steadfastly from the ground. Patrolling the far-off torchlit towers and walkways were dwarven guards, their adamantine armor glinting as they walked.
    "It's beautiful..." I said, both awed and confused, "but how is this all here? I've known nothing of it until now..." I thought for sure I would've heard something of such a project.
    Mr Frog turned from the fortification and started walking away. I turned and followed him slowly with my eyes as he walked to the other side of the tower, and looked up in amazement at a massive metal fist raising its middle finger towards the sky. I'd never seen anything like it before at all, not even at the mountainhome. I could only shake my head in disbelief.
    Finally, Mr Frog spoke, raising his voice to send it through the chilly night air. "It was Ballpoint," he said simply. "Count Splint wasn't satisfied with cleaning up the corpses. He paid the Ballpoint soldiers with hundreds of mugs and ingots of iron, and kept them here. We didn't build these beautiful structures - after all, how could we have, in so short a time? No... Ballpoint has taken over Spearbreakers. All the Parasol agents have either fled, or died. Wari is gone, too. This is why they're still here, and how they can keep watch for you. It's part of why Urist had to leave earlier this year."
    His words puzzled me. "It was Ballpoint?" I asked. "But it's all so beautiful..."
    "Do not be fooled, young one. Evil can create beauty as well."
    "Young one?" I repeated. I hadn't wondered before... but how old was Mr Frog exactly?
    He answered my unasked question, pacing slowly across the stone rooftop. "I am three-hundred and twelve years of age, Vanya. I was here when Ballpoint released the Spawn... It's not something I'm proud of... but now, in my own way, I'm making amends."
    "Three hundred years?"
    "Gnomes live longer than dwarves..."

    For a time, I watched him, suddenly realizing how he seemed so wise, so ancient. Gnomes... it was something I'd only heard of in fairy tales. However, Mr Frog had come from a different world... one I would probably never see. I thought it all over silently - Ballpoint, and Spearbreakers, and Parasol... and the ever-lurking threat of Joseph and Eris.
    "Mr Frog..." I said quietly, "I have something to tell you. The reason I left my room tonight..."


    The old scientist listened as I explained my recent revelation, nodding and scratching his beard thoughtfully. Finally the tale ended, and I quieted, wiping my moist eyes with my fingertips.
    "Hmm..." he mused. "There is no need for you to feel guilty for those actions."
    "What?"
    A flickering smile crossed his lips. In the open air, he seemed more relaxed, and less threatening. For a moment, I could almost see him as a grandfather, telling his grandchildren bedtime stories. "Always, always 'what'. You should attempt to discern the reasoning behind a person's statements before engaging in blind speech," he advised. "But in this case, I shall explain.
    "Your actions weren't your own, Vanya. An agent of Parasol was controlling you. This is what a 'Fallback' or 'Sleeper' agent is. They 'sleep' until awakened, and then 'sleep' while they perform their duties. Your actions weren't your own. They were Parasol's."
    "But..." It seemed all too easy to place the blame on someone else, almost as if it was a trap I was stumbling into. "But I still did those things - I killed those people."
    "And then your memory was erased when the objective was complete. Your agent side went back to sleep. I have only a slight knowledge of the psychological tendencies of Parasol... but now that I know more about your situation, we might be able to learn more from those hidden memories of yours... I might be able to recover some things that have lain hidden for quite some time."
    "Another remembrance potion?" I asked.
    He nodded as he turned back towards the steps. "Correct. Now come - it is late, and tomorrow starts sooner than you think."

☆

Wow, how did I get ninja'd? o.O

[Splint]

Excellent writing as always, Talvieno and Splint

And Armok's Chosen (including a reference to me, at that) flying in on dragons? Kickass.

Aussie in a mechsuit seems all too fitting, as well.

I wanted to do something suitably dramatic, plus the way I figure they would have had ample time to capture thier own dragons for emergencies, or when Armok tells them to get off thier asses finally get some shit done because the current fight would end up in the world destroying itself. "I'm the only one allowed to completely fuck up this place, so put those pansy ass vampires in thier place. Violently."

[Talvieno]

Why is it so quiet in here? Two nights in a row... I get not derailing, but come on - I prefer some talking over nothing.

Where is Reudh, anyway? Haven't had an official update from him for almost a week now...

[Splint]

I appear to be the only one left with any time on his hands during the day now. And that's gonna suck because my classes are all night classes so I'll more or less be cut off when school starts for me aside formt the thread. :\

[Reudh]

Sorry, sorry... Left home at 8am, got home at 9pm. Just had dinner. I'll get an official update during tomorrow.

[Talvieno]

Sorry, Reudh, I just realized I missed one of your updates. Found it again while getting the archives updated.

In other news, the archives are updated!

I appear to be the only one left with any time on his hands during the day now. And that's gonna suck because my classes are all night classes so I'll more or less be cut off when school starts for me aside formt the thread. :\

or at night. This is the second morning in a row where I've gotten up and almost nothing's been posted. Usually I have a couple pages to read through.

[Splint]

Well between getting bitched out by Mr Frog kind of freaked a good bit of us out. ANd the last thing we need is more srguing and whatnot becuas ewe went off topic or whatever. So.... We're trying to avoid talkif if we can help it it seems.

[Reudh]

It wasn't a bitch out... negative language like that'll get us more rifts between us...

but anyway. Minor update time.

People kept getting scared because Longland shot a raven just above the entrance of Spearbreakers, so I sent Fischer's group to go get it. Forget who got there first, but Fischer was sound asleep at the time. They lightly tapped the unconscious raven who exploded into ludicrous gibs.

Very annoying because now i have to unsuspend all the floor that was cancelled because of a beaten, unconscious and broken raven. :/

"But it could come alive at any moment an' peck me eyes right off!"
"Don't you mean 'peck my eyes right out'?"
"Nae! Peck 'em right off!"

[Splint]

I tend to use alot of negative language. Don't take anything by it.

[Aseaheru]

i just havent had anything to say...

so, ...... bye!

[Talvieno]

Raven problem, eh? Shoot at it? That might work... Or just send Fischer after it. Given the choice between Fischer and the Grim Reaper, I think it'd choose the latter...

It's humorous, at least... "IT'S A LITTLE BIRD! IT'S GONNA KILL ME!"

[Xahnel]

It's quiet because i'm playing Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time on my Wii, and i'm going for 100%.