Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Eastep]

The Legacy of Hada Freeblade

The Dimension of Prophecies is a dark world, full of war, and monsters. Civilizations span the globe, dominated by demons, hindered by ancient grudges, and haunted by the creatures of the world.
Armies clash, and blood soaks the ground. Dragons soar, and villages are left in ash. The thrones of tyrants and demons rest on the bones of the downtrodden.
But this is not a tale of woe, but the saga of Hada Freeblade, the man who dared to rise up among his peers and change the world.



And so it begins, in humble Beanknots, the hometown of Hada.
The lad, no more than fifteen, aspires high. He is most certainly not a man of looks, and knows it, but he sets his sights on other things though, things greater than himself.
He aspires to be a hero. A champion of the people, and of good.
Under his blade, dragons would perish, titans would fall, and the demons of hell would go running back at his sight. Tyrants would fall, towers would topple.
Hada would save the Confederacy of Brims, and the world.

-------------------

Hada Freeblade found an old, battered scimitar one day at the market. His eyes sparkled and admired every inch of the worn weapon. It had stories ingrained in the metal, of blood and battle. He saw it, and he knew he had to have it. Weeks were spent slaving under the owner of the stall, every coin earned with hard labor. Every day he prayed to the gods that nobody would buy the scimitar, and every day, they passed it by. Every day, he gazed into the tarnished surface, rubbing his ratty shirt over it, as if to coax the mysteries from it.
It was a silver scimitar that he earned from his work. It was pocked and marred with years of use, and notched countless times. The handle is a mere wrapping of decaying leather and frayed stitching, but it is his sword, and he loves it.


"There goes Hada again... with that blade of his. I swear, he must have cut the heads off of a hundred flowers already." Xugot, a miner by trade, give a sigh and a shake of her head, looking to the companion on the porch of their meager building.
"Well, at least he's getting better with it. He's dabbling, maybe a novice, but he'll improve with time." Nac the Weaponsmith added, watching the boy swipe and feint at a passing butterfly. The two watched on in silence for a few minutes, watching Hada swing the blade at a hitching post.
"The Silver Scimitar has stuck in the -Palm Wood Hitching Post-!" The blade seemed to sing as it buried itself into the tough wood.
"You twist the Silver Scimitar in the -Palm Wood Hitching Post-! You remain in control of the Silver Scimitar!" Nac and Xugot both cocked their heads for the last line, not certain if they were hearing things or not.

After a few more minutes of silence, Nac finally spoke.
"You know, I've got a big old hunk of iron in the shop. Some sort of shield in bad need of repair. I'm a weaponsmith though, so I don't really do shields... do you think Hada would want it?" She tried to sound hesitant about the idea, but her bluff was lost on Xugot. The sly miner nodded slowly, trying to bite back the small smile brewing on her lips.
"Just some shield, huh? Well, if you aren't using it, see how he likes it." The woman replied cheekily, knowing that the old girl would gladly give Hada the shield.

Nearly two years later, Hada swung and swirled the scimitar as if it were as light as a feather. Its now sharp blade swung through the -Palm Wood Hitching Post- as if it were nothing. The top half of the post collapsed into a heap on the ground, rolling slightly away from the fiercesome Hada.
"I've got all of my things together, and I'm ready for adventure. I should probably go ask around though, and see what I can do first. Maybe my friends will know..."

-------------------

And so begins this story! This is all just stuff that I wrote up to set the tone of the story. So, the next few updates will be about Hada Freeblade and his quest to rid the world of monsters, and become famous!

Now, let me get down to the meat of this thread. I'm a writer. I write. So I reeeeaaally wanted to write a story for Dwarf Fortress, and this is as close as I could get. Because I suck at fortress mode.
Now, I'll be doing a story for Hada as I play along through my game of Dwarf Fortress, but once he dies... then you get to take up The Legacy of Hada Freeblade. I'll upload the world after his death, and then you start a new adventurer in it, and try to accomplish Hada's task of saving The Dimension of Prophecies.


THE OATH OF HADA FREEBLADE
"Here on this day, I swear on all that is good and true.
To protect the weak and defenceless,
To give succour to widows and orphans,
To refrain from the wanton giving of offence,
To live by honour and for glory,
To despise pecuniary reward,
To fight for the welfare of all,
To obey those placed in authority,
To guard the honour of fellow warriors,
To eschew unfairness, meanness and deceit,
At all times to speak the truth,
To persevere to the end in any enterprise begun,
Never to refuse a challenge from an equal,
Never to turn the back upon a foe.
Not for Kings or Gods, but for the goodness and justice of the world."

-------------------

If you want to play one of the adventurers upholding the legacy of Hada Freeblade, simply say "I swear The Oath of Hada Freeblade and will uphold it in trial and tribulation, fire and flame, and in the face of all adversity."

If you would merely like to be dorfed as one of the companions of good old Hada or the upholders of his legacy, simply say "I swear to uphold my comrade above all, The Oath of Hada Freeblade, Faith, Charity, Justice, Sagacity, Prudence, Temperance, Resolution, Truth, Liberality, Diligence, Hope, and Valour to the grave and beyond."

-------------------


I hope you enjoy the story.


P.S. I wonder how many of you will notice that The Oath of Hada Freeblade is mostly the Chilvaric Code. Sneaky, eh?

[Eastep]

The Upholders of The Oath:

• Eastep

[Eastep]

Honour The Fallen

These brave souls have given their lives to uphold The Oath:
    ...nobody yet. Soon though, there will be blood.

[Eastep]

Here goes with the next part of Hada's Saga! I set out from Beanknots, and got in a nasty scuffle!

-----------

Hada trudged through Beanknots, eyeing each building as he passed. Each one was filled with the people he had grown up with, and he felt a small twang inside of him as he realized that he would not be seeing them for a long while. Homesickness welled up within him before he had even left home.
"Hada, there you are. What are you doing all dressed up like that?" Xugot referred to his whaleskin leather that he had just finished treating, and then to his equipment.
"I'm going to go out adventuring Xugot! I think I can make things better around here... but I don't know where to start." His tone turned from boastful to bashful in an instant.
"Travelling alone in the wilds?! You know better than that!" The rough miner grumbled under her breath, and then sighed. "Well, I don't suppose I can stop you. You've been preparing for this for a while..."
"Thank you Xugot! Do you have any suggestions as to where I should start?" Hada shifted closer to the doorway where she stood, and gazed past her at all the people inside. There was Nac, in the back, and the blacksmiths, the cheesemaker, and all the other people who had poured their sweat into building up Beanknots.
"Well, there is a particular outlaw that has been troubling us..." Xugot sounded hesitant as she spoke. "Her name is Lin Hatchetswing. She's a great big brute with a huge hammer and a foul attitude. She's stolen from us repeatedly, and he needs to be brought to justice." Her voice regained it's strength with every word, and her last few were spat out in a righteous fury.
"Where can I find her?" Hada asked, after a moment of thinking. Lin might be too difficult for him to take on from the start, but he knew the name well. Nac had lost two shields to the woman in the past two months, and one of the bonecarvers complained of missing crowns and scepters all the time. Lin was the obvious culprit, but nobody would confront her and her gang about it.
"I think she's been holed up in Scouredwiped with her gang."
"Thank you Xugot. I will try to bring him to justice." Hada nodded his head fiercely, and made his way past her into the room.


"Hada!" He heard, from nearly everyone in the room. "It's good to see you again, boy." The two blacksmiths, Behal and Pesor, and their metalcrafting apprentice surrounded him.
"How's that blade doing? You know, you should probably look into getting something a little nicer soon. I've got work you could do if you need the coin." More hands slapped him on the back and numerous voices gave him compliments.
"My, what a nice piece of leather that is, Hada. If you like, I could dye it for you sometime."
"No thank you. I'm about to leave, actually. I'm going to try my luck as an adventurer." Hada's announcement left the room quiet.

"It's too dangerous. We have duties and responsibilities here, son." Pesor gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze, and then the room watched on while Hada set out from the building, and out into the wilderness.
Alone.





"Tell them it was the Whiskers of Kindling, if you live!"
Brigands burst from the surrounding jungle, and Hada unsheathes his scimitar, eyes racing over each of his opponents, tallying them up.
He is most certainly outnumbered, and they charge in from every direction. A burly man with a mace bellows out a challenge from behind, and rushes forward. Hada meets him, slashing at his hand. The man moves to parry, but misjudges it, and the scimitar cracks into his arm, tearing apart his mitten, his muscle, and his nerves.
"Ahhhh!" He screams, swinging his mace blindly as Hada struggles to free his blade from the man's mutilated hand. He misses outright, and Hada yanks the blade free, spreading his stance to ready himself for a brutal stab. His blade slides past the maddened maceman's guard, and buries into his chest, splitting muscles and bursting his lung. Again, the blade sticks, and Hada yanks on it, hearing the charge of the men approaching from behind.
"Ha! I am Lin Hatchetsling! Prepare to die!"




The blade wrests free, and then plunges in once more before the dying warrior crumples to the ground, mad with pain.
Lin, a broad shouldered woman with long hair and a crazy rage in her eyes, bursts through the bamboo and the undergrowth.
Hada attacked, swiping time after time in a dangerous dance with her. They leapt around each other, scoring minor nicks here and there, and finally, a mistimed tackle left them both in the soft grass.
"Ha!" Hada strikes for her, before either can get up from the ground, and the woman blocks with her hammer,the exertion of the fight clear in her features.
An arrow flies into the fray, bouncing off the wide iron shield Hada had luckily pulled over himself. His blade flashes out as Lin stands, and he strikes her foot, nearly splitting it in two. She bellows and collapses to the ground, swinging wildly as she does.

Hada jumps up from the ground, and buries the silver scimitar into her guts, tearing apart organs and rending muscle. She cries out, and swings with her maul, catching his toes. He yelps in pain, and then utilizes the gap in her defence she's left. He swipes his blade across her face, and the life leaves her body immediately. Blood and brains ooze out of her destroyed skull, and the maceman from earlier limps after Hada, desperate for vengeance.
A quick slice to his head dispatches him, and another arrow flies after him, pinging off his shield. Hada whirls around, looking around for the source of the shot, and then charges after the bowman gauging the distance between them.
An arrow catches him in the chest, barely piercing the flesh, and then Hada is on him, slashing furiously.  A moment passes, and then Hada lunges for his head, spitting him on the tip of his sword. He goes limp, and then falls into a heap on the ground.
"I'll tell them about the Whiskers of Kindling... I'll tell them that I defeated you brigands." Hada raises his sword in victory and hollers.
"I stand victorious!"