The Tale of the Elk Man Coñar Uzinret "Ironhoof"I have to confess I remember little of my youth. I've never met anyone like me before, an elk man, so I am told.
I was raised in the castle of Blotflashes by humans, of the Heroic Group, and taught to hunt and tend animals. I worked as a ranger, but I grow tired of this life.
There is a yearning in me to leave this place, and explore the world. Perhaps even find more like me?
I spoke with the Baron and his retinue. He told me I needed to leave and prove myself in the world, but that if I left the castle before I was ready, I would not last very long.
I am not sure if he is joking or not, but the advice he gave was to find some wildlife, and spar with it! I started by training my skills on the packs of feral wolves who roamed outside the castle.
I wander to the west wrestling many animals, and swimming. I am starting to feel very strong and agile, though I do not enjoy swimming very much.
I return to the castle, muscles bulging and skin scarred by the teeth and claws of wolves. The humans look at me incredulously. The baron thinks maybe I am strong enough after all.
At dinner that evening he tells me of the legend of a sacred sword, made hundreds of years ago. It is called Stalkmatches, and possessing this sword is a badge of great renown.
I tell the humans that I will find this sword and they all laugh! The baron suppresses a smirk, and tells me the sword has belonged to giants and dragons, but never an elk man. He says it was last seen to the west, in the hands of a vulture-like being. Perhaps he is joking with me again.
I gather my belongings, a battered set of bronze mail that the artificers crafted for me, and an old bronze sword. Gathering some wolf meat, I leave at dawn.
I hope one day I will return here, having gained great honour. I suspect the humans feel this is the last they will see of Coñar Ironhoof.
I arrive at a small town called Soulmeads and visit the mead hall, where I find a curious piece of rock, which has writing on it. I am puzzled by this.
I ask the monk and the priest who live here and they shrug. They say the slab had been there for as long as anyone can remember, but a shifty looking creature had stolen earlier in the summer, only for it to miraculously reappear a short while later.
The writing on the slab makes my head swirl and somehow I don't feel tired or hungry. I continue meandering west and arrive at nightfall in a strange tower complex.
I am frightened by a fat human who says he is the "master neck romancer" Astri Feedseared, and accidentally spill his guts with my sword.
He runs away screaming and holding his guts... I run afer him, this is a terrible mistake! I find his pale corpse in the highest room of the tower. The neck romancer had a very nice shiny silver dagger, which I put in my pack. He won't be needing it any more.
I make a strange gesture, almost by accident, and he shudders back to life. He has a rather Empty expression on his face, and he stares at the gaping hole where his guts were, then shambles off.
I spend the next few days wandering the wilds. I find a shrine to a bronze colossus, which appears to have been killed.
I find a cave surrounded by scorched earth, and the partial skeleton of a grizzly bear man, with a backpack full of gems.
I wander the mountains westward, drawn to some unseen beacon. Could it be the sword, calling to me? The huge human citadel of Standardflies emerges on the horizon. I've never seen so many people in all my life! There are countless shops, but nobody has any clothes for an elk man.
The weapon shop is sadly full of copper rubbish. Even my bronze sword is better. As I make my way to leave, some strange monster emerges from the sewers and shambles towards me, in broad daylight! This moon beast is quickly dispatched as it wears no armour.
I continue south west passing through several villages, and even meet a mummy in a tomb! I stumble into a camp outside a dark pit. There are humans here dressed in goblin garb and they attack me without warning, despite my requests to end hostilities. After one is beheaded, the others yell in panic and call me the Erased Vigor of Cooking. I have no idea what this means.
Finally, I find myself at a compact fort. It looks oddly familiar, like I have seen it in a dream. Just inside is a dead creature with the wings and beak of a great vulture, among other items. I find several masterfully cut gems, and an incredible sword made of a metal I have never seen before. This must be the fabled weapon, Stalkmatches! Gripping its handle I feel the breath driven from me and my head swims. Glimpses of past lives. Dwarves, a giant. A bear-man fleeing in terror from the terrible flames of a dragon. A cat-person lying broken in an ancient tomb. Some creatures I have no way of describing, all flashing at once. This blade is steeped in legend, and perhaps Coñar Ironhoof the elk man will add his own destiny to this fable.
Further inside the fort is a keep crammed with all sorts of motley outcasts. Humans, goblins, twisted nameless things, and a strangely mute human slave necromancer warlord. This is all very strange.
I speak to the bandits here and they tell me about the surrounding area, which appears to be filled to the brim with various horrible monsters. I learn about minotaurs and ettins and other such beasts! I take my leave and head south, to where I hear a labyrinth lies.
The labyrinth is found easily enough, and is littered with goblin skeletons. I soon hear the boasts of the bull headed beast, who lunges at me with a copper pick. I easily wrest it from his hand, and unsheath the magnificent new miraculous steel sword I found on the corpse of that vulture-creature. A few quick slashes with the impossibly sharp blade and the minotaur is without arms and screaming in terror.
The next lair I enter, marked on my map, is home to a hulking and filthy giantess! The giantess is fat and naked and falls easily to my blade. Not far from the giant's lair is the roost of a great roc, and I approach it from the south. There are two great birds, larger than anything I have ever seen.
I attack the largest of the two and it immediately flees in to the sky. Sneaking up on the smaller roc, I get a lucky strike to its neck and its wings fall limp at its side. I drive my shield against its great skull and hear a satisfying crunch, then bite out its throat in a shower of blood.
The roc camp has meagre treasure, and again nothing to fit my size. Using my necromantic magic, I raise the roc into undeath, and climb astride its back. The great undead bird bears me into the sky, as I continue my monster hunting trek. I know of at least one cyclops and an ettin in the mountains to the east, and they are my next targets.
The zombie roc did not last long, flew off in the night. Stupid bird. The humans of the nearby village point me in the direction of a lair to the east. I stumble into a tomb and end up fighting another mummy. This land is bristling with threats - hopefully I can end a few more!
I find the lair - and inside is a horrible beast, an ettin! In one hand it hoists an immaculate artifact spear, a human skull totem in its other. Strapped to its back is a sturdy copper mace.
It is slow and unskilled with these weapons, and I quickly tear its right brain. The great beast shrugs off this attack! The creature keeps on going, thrashing clumsily. It writhes in a pool of its own blood and sweat before finally I ram Stalkmatches into its left brain, finally killing it.
I head southwards, and end up in a bandit castle teeming with goblins. They all fall to my sword.
I come across a strange camp populated by humans, dwarves and reptle men. Their leader claims to be an agent for a merchant company. I bid them good day but a short while to the west, I am ambushed by suspiciously similar fellows. The brigands fall to my sword.
Further west is a refugee camp, where an olm man necromancer cowers with a human priest and a small child. I trade him some gems from the vulture man for a masterwork dingo bone amulet, crafted by an artisan of some renown, Alim Questbalanced.
In the town of Clearrake, I find two dead dwarves and some roc bone rings on display. Some mighty adventurer must have travelled through here. In the next town over, Paddleclubs, I am again ambushed by a motley group. They swarm over me, smiling. They dont seem to be very aggressive but are behaving very strangely.
Jogging away from this ambush, I arrive at the mead hall to find it full of priests, and a jovial human who introduces himself as a criminal necromancer, Dunem Mobrooted. I suspect this is an assumed identity but he seems harmless enough. The dwarf tooth amulet around his neck is a little unsettling though.
To the northeast of the town is a strange circular structure. I edge closer and I am ambushed by a horrible looking beast with mandibles... Are Thinmeadow the Phlegms of Shadow. I quickly slaughter it, and head inside the structure... some kind of vault?
Inside are various dismembered creatures. One holds a massive two-handed sword made of incredibly strange warped metal, its surface pock-marked and weeping. I quickly stow it in my pack. This place is a maze... Soon I find one of the creatures... a great feathered rabbit in humanoid form, covered in malodourous pustules. It is a servant of Erong, a dwarven God of a great many things, including minerals, deformity and death. That explaines the pock-marked metal. I help myself to the rabbit-thing's tall shield made of the sinister metal. It is light and sturdy.
Further inside the vault, I come upon a pile of possessions relating to a bobcat man, including many fine bone crafts and essays he has written. This brave hero must have slain the beasts who reside here. Strangely, despite the pile of armour and weapons, there is no sign of the bobcat man's corpse...
Finally, in the deepest bowels of this place I hear a great beast moving. I open the door to find it right in front of me. A gigantic sauropod, composed of some kind of reddish gem. It has a bulging trunk. Its right rear leg is broken and cut open, and it is smeared with bobcat man blood.
It doesn't react as the sword flies upwards. I am not sure if I am controlling the blade, or if it controls me, but in one perfect strike I cleave its head from its neck. The enormous gemstone beast collapses to the floor with a deafening crack.
I find a slab in the final room of the vault, with the forbidden name of some demon. No treasure is found but the strange pock-marked metal. Retracing my steps I find two exceptional copper swords belonging to a toad-creature, and finally make my way back to the surface.
I come across a camp, inhabited by a necromancer and some strange silent warriors. No sooner had I approached than they raised their hands and I could feel my fat bubbling and rotting. I took their skulls, but now I am deformed and rotting. The stench of miasma follows me everywhere. It is strangely familiar, like I have seen this before... I am heading south, wandering aimlessly for some sign of purpose. Again I ponder. Is the sword controlling me? Am I controlling it?
I am ambushed by a group of flying demons... twisted things with wings. Perhaps they used to be dwarves, for they have steel weapons and shields! They are squat and surprisingly weak despite their superior equipment.
If I could find a forge I may be able to melt it down and forge some armour from this steel, as my battered bronze is starting to show some wear. I have wandered in these hills for days, slain necromancers and more night beasts. All the dwarven forts I have encountered seem to have no access to forges. I retrace my path and end up at an eerily abandoned rutile block fort... Mouthiron. The fort is huge and labyrinthine, but seems deserted. The many forges lie cold and empty. I soon discover why. In one of the forge halls, next to statues of long dead dwarves is an enormous, fat Roc.
I manage to best the beast, and exploring this place further, discover magma forges. I smelt the gear I took from the night creatures, and craft some steel armour fit for an elk man warrior.
I decide now is a good time to settle down. I travel back to the castle where I was raised, Blotflashes. The humans are mesmerised by my tales, and my steel armour. They are shocked when I show them the sword and the tales of the great foes I have slain ... rocs, a great angelic being constructed of garnet, a huge ettin, and many others. The Baron is very impressed, and makes me his new Head Treasurer. I don't know much about money, but I do know treasure when I see it.
The sword has granted me fame and fortune, and now it is time for someone else to have it. I gift it to the dwarves of The Weak Lancers, who have many forts in the mountains to the south and west of us. They are particularly enthused by the tale of the slaying of the great Dragon with this blade, and promise to construct a fort to keep it safe... Dragonclaw the Black Spire.
Coñar Ironhoof the Erased Vigor of Cooking:
OOC:
So, firstly, I tried to level up swimming to improve my Endurance but no matter what, I don't gain any experience. Maybe it is an elk man thing. Do elk swim?
I found the slab in literally the first village I encountered, which was nice. Later on I met some intelligent undead who casted "Rot" on me. I know where this is headed... *sigh*
The sword is in the fort I made. There are working magma forges and smelters, various workshops and plenty of steel, silver and gold to play with. It is nestled in the hills between three necromancer towers. So many towers in this world... so many...
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Topic: Stalkmatches - The blade of many hands (Weapon Succession Game) (Read 23471 times)