Curse

Raven Wing · Jun 11, 2010, 08:10 AM // 08:10

I have always had a little roleplayer inside me, and been making up stories in my mind about how it would feel to go out and kill things with your heroes for real.
Now I have transformed a bit of it from daydreaming to writing.

The setting is very simple, it is just my necro Hrefna Asynja going with 3 favorite heroes to hunt for treasures. In the game she is GWAMM, and know everything about the game and lore. In the story she is somehow reduced. Not a all knowing hero who saved all. She is just a treasure hunter that has witnessed a few of the recent historical events. I stick to the lore and the personality of the people as you will see, just with Hrefna made a ordinary human instead of the biggest hero ever. I picked a uncharted area for location, right north of Scoundrel's Rise so I could have the freedom of populating it with friends and foes of my own choice.

It is thought of as a diary with Hrefna as the narrator, for that reason there isnt much revealed about her personality and looks, it will come bit by bit during the story.

Here it comes, I hope you like it

Another day of hunting.

While waiting for the crabs to start boiling on the fireplace inside we were benched outside, watching the sun slowly sinking . Without any doubt the sunsets over Giant’s Basin were the most beautiful view to be seen in this place. The village itself was nothing special, just a few primitive huts and sheds and the usual fishing boats on the shore.

Alann, the fisherman was like the rest of the villagers, a caring and friendly host. When we arrived two weeks earlier he was obviously about to turn around and leg it by the sight of us: A brown skinned, scarred warrior, with 3 more who obviously looked like people involved with magic of some kind. But after we had convinced him that were neither hunting nor eating poor villagers he accepted to house us for a time. A few small silver coins also helped improving his attitude.

Earlier when counting the harvest of the day Olias and Koss had one of their usual arguments, this time over a wand with magic inscriptions that had been in possession of a mage in one of the bastard birdmen bands we encountered. The birdmen on the eastern side of Giant's basin are similar to their Krytan cousins, but some of them look like crossbreeds with the quetzals of the northern area, a few even have greenish feathers.

“This wand got to be mine. It was clearly my kill, my sword did the work.”
“On the contrary, it was my servants who did weaken it so a girl with a sewing needle could have finished it off”
It was almost like a ritual that had to be performed each day. Returning to camp, washing, mending clothing and equipment, and then going through the the small and not so small treasures we had found this day. And almost always Dunkoro came up with a suggestion on how to share, which I would approve, and then the rest had to accept the decision.

More serious was the question of this abandoned asuran workshop that was supposed to exist in the foothills near the mountains. I was sceptical, as always when Koss returns from some dwarven inn after having had so much ale that he starts calling me Melonni and wants to hug me. Its surprising how he always manages to get in touch with the most shadowy types wherever we go. He seems to attract them like insects are attracted to light in the night. It wouldn't be the first time we would go hunting for a treasure that was either pure myth or in the possession of a very vital demon or warlord or otherwise inaccessible. But the map looked genuine enough. The asuran coordinates on it clearly pointed to a place nearby although it was impossible to verify exactly without the proper asuran instruments. It was filled with technical asura speak of which most was impossible to decipher, but the map part had some drawings which were clear enough. There was the drawing of the surface of this hill with a distinct shape, symbols relating to workshop and magic crystals, and a tunnel leading to a nearby asura gate that was supposed to be demolished some years ago. If they really had been forced to evacuate the place during some war they might have left very valuable equipment behind.

This was why we were here. Even Dunkoro had agreed that there could exist a slim chance of some real findings. Olias, as usual started one of his speeches about meting out justice to these white mantle people but I must admit, I didn't feel tempted by that idea. The problem was, when we showed the map to Alann he told us that there were no less than three hills with a shape similar to the drawing within a few miles of his village. We had spent almost two weeks searching the hills, it was easier said than done. Thick undergrowth, poison ivy and other vigorous vegetation that could easily hide a tunnel entrance, especially a small one of Asuran size. There were also mosquitos and other insects, almost the size of the size of doves, Dunkoro was running low of certain herbs needed to treat the blisters and scabs we all got. And then the mergoyles and birdmen, all too eager to have a human snack. We were all becoming tired of this place, but there still remained the south slope of the third hill.

A fresh day ahead of us, we left the village to continue the search. The air was fresh and cool after a light rain during the night, bright sun shining and birds could be heard from the spread trees. Even a few butterflies were to be seen. A light breeze would hopefully keep the insects down, everything looked good. As we walked, chattering about exotic natives from faraway lands, more than one hour passed and we reached the first low hills. We reached the remains of the abandoned farmhouse we had used as a landmark earlier, and took a more southern direction from it than the day before. The landscape looked like itself, more brushes and no paved paths this far from the village. For a while we moved on, not noticing the difference that couldn't be seen: There were no sounds of birds any longer. It struck me at once: This isn't right! Without having any good reason I ordered full alert, wands out, tight formation with Koss ahead, him with sword and shield up.
“I don't like that opening in the brushes, it almost looks like a path and we shouldn't go there before we know who made it.” Dunkoro as usual.
But it was too late, Koss had already stepped in. Luckily with his shield high, he neatly caught the three arrows that came zooming through the air. Suddenly the air was filled with terrible cacophonic squawking. Birdmen! They all rushed at Koss. With my wand out and mentally ready I didn't need further preparation to summon my strength and chant my hexes. Koss was swinging his sword in wide arcs. Too wide, it looked strange. He didn't seem to be able to hit anything. Again it was Dunkoro who first realised what was wrong and took action. One of the birdmen was using magic to misguide Koss' aim. Shifting his healing chant to a different tone Dunkoro was able to lift the curse and bring back Koss' aim. That gave us the momentum in battle that we needed. Feathers were flowing in the air, and soon the first foes fell, weakened by me and chopped by sword. Now we had company, Olias' servants were rising from the bird carcasses. But the battle was far from over, there were many of them. Suddenly I had an arrow sitting in my wand arm, and a burning hot pain was spreading, I could hardly concentrate any more. I think it must have been poisoned. Dunkoro had to spend all his concentration on removing the arrow and chanting over the wound . Koss shielding us, it was only Olias's servants that saved us and held the enemy occupied. With renewed strength thanks to the healing I could resume battle, and soon it was over.
When we examined the bodies we could see that they looked more like pure blood quetzals than the smaller groups we had encountered earlier. They also had these green feathers that some traders pay well for, so we took a moment to pick some of the best ones that weren't broken and spoiled. Their equipment was bad, but their leader had a belt pouch with a small handful of gold coins in it.
The one of them that dulled Koss' aim had also used a magic staff with a human skull attached to it.
After having had a short rest we decided to scout a little and see if they had some camp nearby. We assumed so, since none of them had any camp gear on them, only weapons and a few small packages containing some dried meat with a quite strong smell. I decided not to try to determine what species it could come from, it could only lead to more unpleasant thoughts.
Not far away we found their camp, it was deserted. It was some nest-like structures made from branches, with a few hides and tools inside them. But in the largest ones we found 2 bags, one with various weapons, jewelry and other items, clearly what they had looted from innocent people.
The other bag was so much more disgusting, it was full of skulls! That was clearly the trophy bag. There were several kinds, some human, others being thicker seemed to be dwarven and some with a shape telling of asuran origin.
After a short debate we decided to show these poor people a last honour. Since a proper burial was not an option we created a mighty bonfire from all the nests and placed the skulls on it. I lit it while Olias chanted the old rhymes wishing them a calm rest by Grenth in the Mists.
When the fire burned out the sun was starting to descend so we decided to return to the village.
When Alann heard of the birdmen he started kneeling to us and singing to our praise. The village had always been living in fear of these beasts, it was only a few weeks ago that a nearby village had been raided and several poor people had been dragged away, never to be seen again. Now they were happy to be relieved from this threat.

***

Next chapter will follow in some days.

loopysnoopy · Jun 11, 2010, 10:27 AM // 10:27

Hello's ive been reading this and nice very well done. ive been doing a simler thing but with keeping it in GW ive been makin a video of my war and 3 hero's banshing the evil that lies in GW and giving them all voicies with a compleling story, it's good to see other ppl doing the same thing at first i thought i was mad lol looking forward to your next chapter .

following spirit · Jun 11, 2010, 10:58 AM // 10:58

EXCELLENT
oh Boss, you could of let us into this little secret

, Any thoughts of adding guildies into the mix? Would love to see Kordis setting everything on fire or Spirit being confussed whether hes a ranger or ritualist. lol or even Zop argroing everything in sight

.

Keep it up cant wait for the next installment.

Mei Fen · Jun 11, 2010, 11:29 AM // 11:29

Very nice! There are some improvements that could be made (there will always be) but as you continue writing, your style will surely improve. Keep it up!

Eragon Zarroc · Jun 11, 2010, 03:56 PM // 15:56

nice story

look forward to the next chapter

Mr. G · Jun 11, 2010, 04:45 PM // 16:45

Golem approves

Raven Wing · Jun 11, 2010, 06:43 PM // 18:43

Thank you all for the kind comments

This is the first EVER attempt at writing fiction in English since it isnt my native language. I have written several articles in English about economics, politics and so on, so I'm aware that I might be lacking some of the finer nuances. I have createdd a few short stories and tons of job related text in Danish, so I am not new to writing as such.
I have taken advice by PM from Mei Ling to use in the future.
And for Spirit: I have the next 2 chapters clearly lined out, there aren't any other GW players involved there. But since the Hrefna in GW plays with guildies it is not impossible that some of them could blend in at a later stage^^

Raven Wing · Jun 14, 2010, 01:44 PM // 13:44

Chapter Two

Over yesterday's meal we were discussing what to do today. (I'm gradually becoming tired of seafood, but there isn't much of a choice. The villagers have no cattle nor pigs, and they dare not venture far from the village for hunting, in fear of getting caught by roaming birdmen or other predators)

“We have produced a good amount of conserved fish and crafted wooden tools” Alann told, it's about time to go to Lions Arch and sell them on the market. I also need certain iron tools to make repairs on my boat, and I think I might be able to afford a simple dress for my wife, but please do not tell her that, it's supposed to be a surprise for her. He winked at us and we promised to keep the little secret. He told us that it only took 2 or 3 hours to sail across the lake with good wind and then another 3 hours to make it by foot to the town. And so he set off in the morning across water while we left by foot. He was expecting to arrive in afternoon and be attending market the following day. Dunkoro had given him a gold coin and a note written on a scrap of parchment to the Canthan trader at the docks, listing certain herbs he needed.. “Yes I know she is charging a ridiculous overprice, but I know she won't cheat, I can trust her wares to be genuine, and with the gold from the birdmen we can afford it,” he said.

We had decided to search the hillside near the birdmen camp we demolished yesterday, and here we were. It was the piles of rocks that finally lead us on the track. The surface, even of the hills in this region is gravel and a few eroded rocks, but here we saw this pile of sharp edged rocks that had been carved from the depths not many years ago. A little above the rocks we saw the entrance. There was no gate or ornaments, just this hole in the hillside, dark and quiet.

While approaching we once again recalled what we knew about Asuran traps and protection. I still remembered very well another adventure involving a cave filled with these metallic monsters they call Golems and all kinds of traps in it. So we decided to appear at full alert and very slowly, ready to call on our protection chants at any time. Koss with a torch instead of sword since we assumed a sword would be of little use against traps anyways. Not far in we encountered a twisted and burned metallic structure, it was impossible to figure out what it once had been. There were also smaller pieces scattered on the floor. Here the tunnel branched, the right path going slowly downhill, the left path slowly rising. We decided for the left side, according to the map it should lead to the workshop. Here and there we found more bits of equipment and whatnot on the ground. Finally we saw what was the shattered remains of a gate. The left part of it was still attached to the wall, but on the right there was just a large hole, and pieces of rocks were spread on the ground. “Looks like there has been a mighty explosion here” I pondered. Behind the wrecked gate it was an incredible mess. Rocks, twisted pieces of metal, some of them as large as a small boat, others just tiny splinters, shards of glass and all kinds of rubble. All of it was blackened and sooty. “Well, what did I say, Koss exclaimed, this is certainly the place we are looking for”. We decided to search the room, since we had spent so much effort to get here we better make sure there was nothing of value left behind.

“Koss, did you set something on fire with that torch, I smell fresh smoke!
“Who do you think I am Olias, don't you belive I am able to handle a torch”
They went bickering, but now I could also smell smoke, harsh and acidic, not the fat oily smell that our torch could have created. Now heavy footsteps were heard, quickly approaching, and a flickering reddish light started to spread in the room.

Oh my gods! Dunkoro exclaimed. “How could we be so stupid and forget who it was the Asura were fighting! It's the Destroyers! "Balthazar bless us! I don't expect we'll live through this. For the record, it's been a pleasure working with you. All of you."

True enough, they were coming from the other branch of the tunnel, and they had cut us off from the exit. We were trapped.

Trapped by some of the most dangerous flame demons I have ever met, more intelligent and cunning than the Titans from The Ring of Fire islands, but there were only four of them. We still had a slim chance.

Time to act quick. I told Dunkoro to cease his goodbye speech and instead start on his coolness chant, we would need it soon enough with the heat approaching. Koss didn't need to be told to call on the courage of Balthazar and the stone armor of Earth itself.

Here they were. Walking on two legs like ourselves, two arms and a head, but nothing could look less human. They looked like they were made of molten lava, kept together by some unknown evil force. The first flame arrow hitting the wall right above my head. A bright white flash and a hot flare engulfing me. I almost felt my skin starting to boil and blister, but all of a sudden it ceased. Dunkoro was really doing his coolness chant. I did my curses the best I could, also mixed in some tricks I had learned by an old Asura mage I once met. Now they all aimed for Koss, the leather on his helmet and the surface of his wooden shield was brightly burning. He was slowly dropping to his knees. But my magic also had it's effect. The biggest destroyer suddenly stopped glowing and fell over. Olias was gaining strength and called forth his servants. One of them exploded in a green cloud and that made the next destroyer stagger. And now the battle was over! We had done it!

Dunkoro was chanting his old Dwayna song and slowly a dizzy Koss could stand up.

The room was once again completely still and almost dark, only the torch on the ground, still burning weakly, shed a bit of light. When I looked around I realised that a blast from a flame arrow had blown away a pile of rubble and uncovered a small metal chest that was only a bit sooty. I picked it up and realised it was not locked. When I opened it the room was filled with a pink light. This was it!. Without doubt this was one of the magic asuran crystals. Our expedition had finally paid off. I was already imagining the size of the gold pile we could trade it for.

But the air was somehow uneasy, it was like a feeling that this place had not seen the last acts of violence yet. It was not hard to agree, that if there can be four of these abominations, there can be more. It was not exactly a place suitable for a prolonged stay. So we headed back to the village, expecting to have a quiet dinner only with Alann's wife for company since he was in Lions arch until the following day.

To our surprise he was at home, seemingly quite upset.
“They took everything!” Who? What are you talking about?
“It was three big trolls and a small man looking like a bandit. They called themselves “peacekeepers” and required a travel permit. Told me that I was sentenced to death but in the name of some unseen master they would let me go. They took everything. My fish, the tools, the small coins , even the gold coin from Dunkoro!”
“Unseen! I know these unseen demons and this Mantle scum! Now it is time to mete out justice!”
It was of course Olias, he has always been hating these people more than anything else.
But I also felt this had gone too far. Stealing a poor fisherman's fish and money from a decent monk. I had no idea if these trolls were really associated to the White Mantle order that were ruling Kryta or if it was just some excuse they used for plundering honest people. But I would very much like to find them and teach them some manners.

Mr. G · Jun 14, 2010, 02:42 PM // 14:42

Not actually started readin it yet - But I'd suggest putting it into paragraphs so people don't go blind trying

Raven Wing · Jun 23, 2010, 09:51 PM // 21:51

Chapter Three

I was starting to look forward for a night in town. Without these three guys. Olias got his inner strength, but he's like blindfolded, if there are none of the White Mantle around or Grenth is on the agenda he is kind of dull, rarely engaged in anything at all. Dunkoro is very talented, but too old. Koss is some of a mystery. He is a real man, good-hearted, strong and wise. I just cannot figure out why he is traveling around abroad for so long when he got his fiancee at home. I even met Melonni when I was in Elona, she looked like a good girl. Could be a good wife for him once they regained that estate Koss claimed. Could manage the peasants for him if she wanted. She was good enough at issuing orders when we were there in that band that fought against that nightfall thing they had going over there. Maybe that is why he is on extended leave from the estate. I guess he can't stand taking orders from a strong wife all the time while having no major task himself.

In other words the three of them are out of the question. Apart from the fact that we are oath bound to assist each other. No, I had the urge to see a regular man and have some leisure time with him. Not a warlord or hero or some primitive drunkard worker, just a regular handsome guy. But these are rare nowadays. I remember when I was a kid my Mother could visit any cafe or inn in Ascalon she wanted unharmed while Father did his business elsewhere. Now I am grateful to the old witch in the abbey, and the fact that I took the time to follow her lessons. There is no better self-defense for a lonely girl in a inn late night than some good old life transfer spells. Once you master them they are there, ready to use, not like the curses I use in regular combat. They require a complicated chant, and fail if I loose my concentration. I felt the impatience growing, I wanted a night in town in Lion's Arch.

I was not alone in the desire to get there. Two days of strong winds and rain that had made Giants Basin impossible to pass for Alann's small boat. My companions wanted to get to Lion's Arch too.
Olias kept rambling about white mantle, but the rest of us had concluded that we only had to find a band of trolls with some human bandit for leader and destroy them. Easy work and then off to relax in some good Krytan inn.

Raven Wing · Jul 06, 2010, 01:39 PM // 13:39

Sorry for the delay, but I have been real busy, and next I'm going on holiday, so don't expect more in the next week or 2.
But here we go

Chapter Four

Finally, on the third day the rain had left us. We wake up to bright sunshine and a nice strong breeze from northeast, perfect for sailing. (but less perfect for Alann to return home once he had ferried us)
Within little more than an hour we landed on a sandy beach, and I handed Alann a fresh gold coin for the effort. He decided to stay near the shore for some time hoping to catch some crabs after we promised him to make sure he wouldn't get attacked by mergoyles.

The wildlife of this area is not particularly dangerous, at least not to a trained magician or warrior. They are always hungry, rushing at you once they see you. Mergoyles got some inherited magic-alike ability to make you slow down and freeze, but that can be overcome. The skales of the inland swamps can spread disease and poison, again easily countermeasured with the right treatment. Apart from that they just try to tear at you with their small claws. None of them are intelligent enough to cooperate in larger numbers or make ambush.

As expected, 4 mergoyles came rushing at us after we had made a few steps, they were easily done with. I felt the expected chill and then they were neatly beheaded by Koss. We were planning to take a small detour towards the mountains and then through the swamps, thinking it most likely that the troll band would be hiding away from the near vicinity of Lions arch. So when the path branched we took the left one going towards the mountains. All was peaceful and quiet, we enjoyed the sight and the fresh air. Actually I was starting to wonder where the wildlife had gone, we hadn't seen more mergoyles or skales than the first mob.

And there they were. Around a bend we saw the trolls, and that small dirty-looking human. And just as Alann had described the small man demanded to see a travel permit. I tried to approach him politely but he went on to claim that we were under arrest in the name of the Unseen and we had to surrender and give him all our possessions.

I had no need to order an attack, Olias went berserk and started cursing them and calling forth minions once he heard the word Unseen. Koss had his still black and sooty shield up the moment the trolls started hammering him with their clubs. I started my hexing too, but I only managed to hex the first troll when the thug pointed his bow at me and fired while mumbling some words. I was hit in my left shoulder. It wasn't a real bad hit, it only hurt little. But the effect was most surprising. I lost my concentration and couldn't finish the chant I was doing. What was worse, it seemed to have completely disappeared from my mind. But the first troll was dropping dead, Olias did his thing with the corpse and made us a new “friend”. I could remember other curses that I swiftly used, and while the last fell over the lost chant suddenly came back to my mind. I think it must have been some magic arrow that I have heard the most talented archers can master.

When we searched the corpses the thug did indeed have some gold coins in his purse, but it was not ours. The coins Dunkoro had lost were Kournan coins with the insignia of the Kournan ruler dynasty Varesh. These coins were Krytan. We decided to keep them anyways.

Next we moved on, intent on searching these foothills a little more. When we approached one of these wrecked ships we were suddenly attacked. This time it was no trolls or thugs, but three White Mantle Knights in full uniform. They did not speak a word, just rushed at us. I tried to make them stop, this could not be true. I have met White Mantle in Kryta before, and they have been peaceful although pretty arrogant. But speeches was not an option, they were already attacking. Skilled as they were, it was just swordfighters, they did not use any magic. With Koss holding them off protected by Dunkoro it didn't take long for Olias and myself to put them down.

This did not look good, I was real worried about what was happening to these Mantle. I wondered if a war had broken out, but still it did not make any sense. My little band is not part of any force or nation that could be at war with them.

We decided to proceed with caution, approaching the shipwreck. Then we heard voices from the other side.

"DAMMIT! We're running out of mergoyles!"

I took the chance to peak out through a hole in the side of the ship.
It was a Mantle officer with a casters uniform, and more of these trolls. Also, there was the answer to my question about the missing mergoyles. A large pile of dead mergoyles was behind them.

"Ummm, Boss? I'm pretty sure these things ain't ever gonna talk..."
"Shut up! You just make sure our men have secured the perimeter!"

And yes they had. We were discovered! Shouts of alarm, heavy footsteps approaching from all directions. The air was feeling heavy from magic energies loading up. Arrows came zooming in. Olias managed to animate a few of the dead mergoyles. I hexed two trolls and a Mantle lady with flame insignia. Now I heard this stone grinding sound I remembered so well from when I was at the volcanic isles. Hot agony spread over me and started draining my energy. Mursaat demons! I had hoped to never see one again, but no, here they were. Three big ugly ones among at least twenty Mantle and trolls. Dunkoro did his best but his protection spells were quickly cancelled. Koss went down. Olias lost control of his servants, they were being turned against himself! Dunkoro went next, he managed to cast a last coolness on me to put out the flames that were engulfing me. But I was disabled, had no mental strength left, and a knight, a troll and the flame lady were all aiming for me.
There was no choice but to use an Escape Orb.
I popped it open, a bright flash, and we woke up in a quiet place a small distance away.

This was not just a patrol or a mob, it was regular army. Weakened as we were, we had no choice but to sneak away. We finally agreed to attempt to reach Lions Arch and see if my old friends or at least some friendly locals could be found in the lower part of city near the docks. There was this inn where we used to meet. We had to learn more about what had happened while we were out in the wilderness looking for Asura crystals.