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[IndigoFenix]

Sorry!

I will make no more suggestions.  It's your story after all.

[Imic]

Remind me again, is she going to found a new fort, or is this only an adventure?

[Cathar]

This is just a chill adventure for the sake of describing the path between Opencraft and Watershield. Right now I just want to experience the last month of peace before everything goes to absolute hell

[Imic]

Cool!

[Cathar]

Spoiler:  A bit of OOC stuff (click to show/hide)

I feel a little bit more comfortable posting now, since my big project has made substancial progress I will be able to show very soon (probably tomorrow/during the week).
So before everything goes to shit once again, let us finish our little tour of the shores of the interior sea, where most of the action took place until now (and probably for a bit of time ahead).
I should also mention that, if my project made some progress, it is far to be finished, so I'll release it in episodes. Out of 100-ish pages, 26 are finished. I don't think any DF based comic has gone that far. If we count the pages I have yet to show, we're at 180 full inked, colored and shaded drawings.

That is quite a thing, and since I'm very proud of it I thought I'd brag about it just a bit. Also, quality has improved drastically since the beggining, and will continue to do so. Thanks to people who followed it so far.

In Minbazkar, Darkness has constantly been the lone traveller's worst enemy. Left alone after midnight, people disapear without traces. As for now, no one knows what happens of them, and scholar debate this topic to this day, without any clear consenssus on the matter. In the meantime, the hamlets and villages of the Land of Oak had to adapt to it, and developped an unspoken, unwritten law of hospitality. No matter the war or the racial tensions, travellers should always find shelters in the hamlets on their travels.
For this is, as far as we know, the bottom line in local geopolitics : friends may become foes and foes turn to friends, but the darkness will always be there - and for that reason, refusing hospitality is seen, accross the political board, as not only incredibly heartless, petty and selfish, but also as a sign of short sightedness - as a bad host is seen as abandonning a temporary foe to a timeless one.
In all bad, therefore, there's a bit of good. No matter how harsh and cruel the war between the people of the Land of Oak may become, travellers might always enjoy a night of shelter in the home of their enemy.

However, if the Darkness is the traveller's worst enemy, it is not the only one. As Luki soon discovered, the nothern shore of the interior sea was still a savage place that remained to be tamed. Soon after her encounter with Pilalene elves, she found herself attacked by a pack of hungry wolves.

Wolves can be the death of any ill prepared warrior - Luki however, was in her younger days, the captain of Tetzobsha famous second reserve. Some time ago, she wouldn't even blink to a confrontation like this... but it was twelve years since the last time she fought, in the vicinity of Edetledir.

This time, she managed to pull herself from the situation without a scratch, and routed the animals. But that quick confrontation reminded her of the ill effects of passing times. Clearly, she wasn't as quick as she was before, and her glorious day wouldn't come back anymore at this point.


Twelve years ago

After dwelling upon that realization for a couple of minutes - just the time to regain her breath, she resumed her travel.


It was early in the afternoon when Luki saw the castle of Edetledir appear in the distance. Which would mean she had bypast the royal manor of Asuciro. Earlier in her life, she would probably feel confident in paying a visit to the Queen Uzu - as the prowesses of her team made her quite difficult to ignore, but today, she was a nobody. In Edetledir, at least she hoped, people would still remember her.


Edetledir was a ghost town, as it was since 130. People fled in droves after a furious attack of the elves of Wulemaapasi, and the local government set itself to exile. This is in this context that the second reserve could find a place they could call their own in the castle. To this day, only two places in the city were still hosting sentient life : the castle, hosting the soldiers of the second reserve, and the the inn, in which mercenaries often come to enlist before a battle against Wulemaapasi or Osme- its two current enemies.

As she approached the castle, she was greeted by one of her former comrades in arms, namely Zefon Daggermatch, a sky dwarf whose sword skills would preceed.


Zefon was 65 years old at this point. He had a bunch of grandchildren back in his moutainhome, but ever since the Second Reserve elected residence in Edetledir, he decided to stay.
Twelve years ago, Zefon accompanied the regiment as a footsoldier and participated in most of their battles. However, after a protracted fight against one of the very numberous gangs of the western subcontinent, he was separated from the group and had to wander on his own.
It was during that time that he was singled out by an officer of the Doomed Dells, a Bomrek-Laltur dwarf by the name of Erith Sibrekineth, expert hammerman, and challenged to a duel to the death.

Both dwarves were martial experts - but Zefon turned out victorious. After the death of Erith, negociations were carried out with the Doomed Dells and they would eventually join the second reserve in their attempt to rebuild the eastern shore.

Zefon was a bit surprized to see Luki again - everyone thought she'd have die when she suddently disapear in winter 130 - but she had a face that was quite hard to forget, even with age dragging her traits and whitening her copper hair.

Inside the castle, everyone was still here.


Lucmen, the bard who led the defense of Edetledir against the elves from Wulemaapasi was now the lady of the castle. Jal, the criminal Luki dragged out of the sewers at the time, was now her heartperson, and Fath, another bandit officer from the Doomed Dells, became her personal bodyguard.
Twelve years without seing each other left the ladies with a lot to speak about, and they spent the following hours drinking and remembering the good old days, when bandits and local rivalries were the worst problem to blight the region.

However in that picture, someone was clearly missing.

"Hold on, where's my Gorlak ?" Luki asked, suddently stroke by that realization. "I thought Waka-Waka was still here?"
"Oh yeah, Waka-waka" Fath answered. "I saw him gearing up this morning. He mentionned business in his hometown - he bid us all farewell already"

Luki bursted into the streets of Edetledir like she was twenty years old again, Jal and Zefon on her tail. No way she would allow her Gorlak to leave without saying goodbye. She knew him well enough to know he couldn't have gone very far on his two tiny legs, and had good hopes of finding him, rolling somewhere in a corner of the town.



Of course he couldn't have run very far. He was still in the vicinity of the city when she finally found him, his goldenrod skin, a mystery of evolution, contrasting furiously with the environment.

'Hey ! Waka-Waka ! I found you !
- Ah SHIT
- I missed you so much ! Ten years ! It's amazing you're still alive !
- Yeah, but I have some stuff to settle at home, so I'll be going right now
- You can't go right now ! I just arrived !
- To be honnest with you I hoped to leave before you arrive
- But I have so many unanswered questions !
- Ah.. Ask away, at this point. What do you want to know?
- If you trip on top of a mountain, how do you stop before you reach sea level?
- AH F*CK. You haven't changed in ten years ! I'm out !"

It would take Luki a bit of convincing before she could learn why the hell her gorlak was leaving - as she knew that deep down, it was probably not only to avoid her.

[Haspen]

Poor Waka-Waka, he gets no peace :C

[Cathar]

I wish so much I could find a female gorlak, marry them and have a bunch of baby gorlaks :c
But unfortunately he's one of the four civilized gorlaks in the entire world so it might be hard

[Imic]

 

[Megaman_zx]

I wish so much I could find a female gorlak, marry them and have a bunch of baby gorlaks :c
But unfortunately he's one of the four civilized gorlaks in the entire world so it might be hard

LOLOLOL

Great to see the story continuing, and this mystery project sounds really cool as well. I hope you share it with us when you're done.

[Sir Knight]

Well yes, art.  And its awesomeness.  And my general encouragement of more in all this.

[Haspen]

But unfortunately he's one of the four civilized gorlaks in the entire world so it might be hard

His new quest....

Adventure hard.
Assemble the Gorlaks.
Defeat the Primal Evil.

[Imic]

But unfortunately he's one of the four civilized gorlaks in the entire world so it might be hard

His new quest....

Adventure hard.
Assemble the Gorlaks.
Defeat the Primal Evil.

Profit?

[Cathar]

Dragons are extremely rare and powerful. Gorlaks are also extremely rare. Draw your own conclusions, but to me it's crystal clear : gorlaks will rule the world at one point.
Alright, let's conclude our little trip now, so we can start the next one in the immediate future.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*


After convincing Waka-waka by dragging him by the backpack, Luki decided to have a drink with him. Jal, too, decided to tag along. The sudden departure of their old friend was a bit suspiscious, and the two women wanted to know more.

The bread of dumpling, the local tavern, had no owner for twelve years, but remained a rally point for mercenaries and travellers of the region. Its stocks of alcohol and food had been emptied a long time ago, but the structure remained, the chairs are still in place the beds were still in good shape. For most travellers of the region, this was enough to make of the city of Edetledir a stepping stones during their travels.



Around mugs of blueberry wine taken from the city warehouse, Waka-waka explained his problem.
He never really opened about it before, but he always was a citizen of the dwarven kingdom of Lålrigoth and most specifically the fortress of Thabostlor, in the south easten mountain range. For a long time - most of his life really, he never made a big deal of it, as times were calm and the kingdom prosperous. As the opportunities to shine, when one is but a gorlak in a dwarven kingdom, are few and far between, he decided to become a monster slayer and spent eight years travelling from place to place in order to prove himself to his dwarven brethen.



However as glory was seemingly unatteinable all by himself, he joined the Second Reserve in 130, hoping this was his call. His contributions to the overall party was... not as great as he expected, but for the first time in his life, he could feel proud of himself. Hunting Moon Horrors, necromancers and dragons, that would show the dwarves of Lålrigoth, that's for sure.

When the second reserve settled in Edetledir, he decided to stay aswell. The ghost town was under siege, and the ensuing battles would provide him with the opportunity to shine he was looking for.

That was in very brief terms the story of the last twenty years of his life.

However, lately, he received some dire news from his hometown. Thabostlor had been under attack by the Osmestobûb empire. Its sister fortresses had fallen in the area, and Thabostlor itself sustained a large attack that left its military crippled. Only by a hair they managed to defeat the invading force, and would likely fall on the next attack.

That is why Waka-waka decided to terminate his contract with Edetledir and rush to the defense of his hometown. During his years of adventuring, he became somewhat of a good fighter, and if he had to die in battle, he would prefer it to be on the walls of his home fortress.

Neither Luki nor Jal decided to interfere with his plan. Requesting his help further to defend Edetledir, as Thabostlor was under heavier attack, would have been selfish to begin with.

However, Luki was still determined to undertake her trip to Thomocemir, and since the travel to Thabostlor followed a common road for a few walking hours, she decided to go with him.

Waka-waka protested but there was no escaping. Moreover, it was only a matter of hours before he could get rid of her for good.



They walked in silence down the dirt road, and into the wilderness. Their small trip took them some three hours, before they would arrive to the crossroad. From this point on, Thomocemir was to the east, Lålrigoth to the south.

"You can turn this map upside down as much as you like and keep pretending we're lost, we know exactly where we are, said the Gorlak as Luki was visibly struggling with her map.
- Nonono, doesn't make sense. We're totally lost.
- Luki it's written here. There. Right in front of you. Thomocemir is this way. To Lålrigoth kingdom, I got to cross Egapesor's territory and keep following the road to the east. See ? We know exactly where we are.
- I don't believe it
- You don't believe what ?
- Look that crossroad sign is suspiscious. What if it's an Osme's plot to lose us?
- ...Just repeat what you said but this time listen to yourself
- Okay maybe that's far fetch but it's not beyond the realm of possibility is it?
- Osme would not learn to write a human language, pass by Thomocemir and just plant a fake sign to lose random travellers. It's stupid
- But Osme are not very bright to begin with ! I'm sure they could
- I'm telling you, I lived here for twelve years. I know this place. Thomocemir is down that road. You just have to follow it, then you'll find copper walls. And bam,you're there. It's not a long trip.
- But what if I get lost?
- Even you can't get lost in a straight line, Luki ! Just follow the damn road !
- And what about you? You'll disapear into the night if you go alone
- Ah, don't worry about me, I have my trip planned and theres villages everywhere in the south.
- Well that won't do
- What won't do ?
- It's already sunset, if you go alone you might get lost at night, and you'll be good as dead !
- Luki, I can read a map and I know where I'm going. If you stop making me waste my time I'll have a wide margin.
- Okay I made a decision !
- You what
- We're going to camp here tonight, and we'll go our ways at dawn, okay ?"

And there it was settled, inspite of Waka-waka's protests. They established a camp near the crossroad sign, and spent the night drinking before passing out, like old battle comrades they were.



There's not much more to be said about that. When the morning came, they bid each other farewell, and went their respective ways. Luki was adament about her fighting days being over - after her trip to Thomocemir, she would find a job as a butcher in a village in the countryside, and forget about her glorious days of year 130.

Waka-waka marched toward Thabostlor with determination - to him, the war against the Osme empire was just about to begin.



*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

And that concludes our little exploratory trip in the world of Minbazkar for now. I know there was barely some action, but I wanted to draw and tell a chill story before everything goes to absolute hell as it always does in DF, and this story will be no exception.

Tomorrow I'll present the little project I've been working on this last months o/

[Imic]

Good-bye, Waka-waka. Or good-bye Luki. It matters not, stone walls of a town or bronze walls of a fortress, all adventures must end eventually.
That last scene in the forest was beautiful. Thank you for doing this, Cathar.

[Cathar]

My pleasure really :')

I hope you guys are ready for the massive "screw everything" update of autumn 142