: It isn't much for the time I've had, but, like I said,
: I've been busy on vacation here in Sing'pore. Rushing
: here, rushing there, trying to buy as many video games
: as I can... You know the deal.
: This "section" has yet to be complete, but I
: like it so far.
: By the time the two had reached the camp, dawn had
: started to stain the sky with a rosy glow, and the
: pair had become fast friends. A lone man dressed in
: fur robes and holding a crude, almost shovel-like axe
: stood on watch at the eastern entrance to the camp,
: but Kalvar surmised that at one word from that man
: would awaken dozens of warriors who probably all slept
: but lightly near that post.
: “Ho, Nine Serpent,” ny’Marro called out to the man. “It’s
: just me.”
: The man looked inquiringly at Kalvar. “Who is that with
: you, young archer?” he asked in a deep, rumbling tone
: that sounded hauntingly familiar to Kalvar, who drew
: the hood of his thick woolen traveler’s cloak down.
: “My name is Kalvar,” he answered before his new friend
: could say anything. “And you are…?”
: “I am known as Nine Serpent Bloody Sun,” the strange man
: replied, "and you hide your true name, I see. I
: am sure, though, that you have your reasons; I shall
: not ask them of you.”
: “Thank you for such consideration, Nine Serpent,” Kalvar
: answered formally and nodding his head slightly.
: “Come, Kalvar, there is much that has happened in recent
: years that I am sure you are curious of. I think I may
: yet persuade Alric to see you. Your skills ever were
: of the highest degree, and I am sure that the leader
: of the Nine shall be interested in your myriad
: talents.” The man started leading the way back towards
: a large pavilion set up in the center of the camp in a
: shuffling gait, stopping once only to shake a warrior
: of middle years awake and curtly ask him to take his
: place at watch.
: “Did I miss something there?” ny’Marro asked his friend.
: “You two were almost speaking as if you had known each
: other for years.”
: “Don’t worry about it, friend. I’m not really sure if
: there was anything to miss. Perhaps this Alric can
: answer some questions for the both of us.”
: They soon arrived at the pavilion, and there Nine Serpent
: requested audience with Alric, which, surprisingly,
: was granted almost immediately. As they walked into
: the tent, Kalvar noticed that it was surprisingly
: devoid of grandiose furnishings of any kind, and the
: thing that immediately caught his attention was the
: round table set up in the exact center of the room.
: Around that table were ???# men, ???#-1 of which
: appeared to be of great wisdom and experience. The
: other, a fearsome looking Berserk of the great
: northern lands stood off to one side, holding a cask
: or some kind in his arms.
: “Yes, Nine Serpent?” one asked respectfully.
: “Greetings, Alric. I wished to introduce you to this man
: standing beside me,” he said, gesturing to Kalvar. “He
: has great skill as both a tactician and a warrior, and
: I felt that perhaps you might like to meet him for
: yourself.”
: Alric curtly nodded his head at Kalvar. “If Nine Serpent
: Bloody Sun gives you so much credit, I would gladly
: take this matter further.” He looked back to the other
: men standing around the table. “However,” he
: continued, “we shall have time for introductions
: later. We ought to return to the matter at hand, I
: think.”
: The other men nodded their agreement, and they all turned
: expectantly towards the Berserk. The giant northman
: set the cask upon the table and opened it, then put
: his hand in and drew out a severed head by the hair.
: Quite suddenly, the head opened its eyes and stared
: balefully around the tent. Kalvar drew in a sharp
: breath, and deliberately turned away from the thing,
: drawing his hood back over his face. ny’Marro, though
: a bit shaken at the sight of the head, looked at his
: friend, perplexed.
: Nine Serpent caught on almost immediately. “Perhaps I and
: my two companions ought to adjourn for a short while,”
: he rumbled.
: Alric looked first at Kalvar, who still stood with his
: back resolutely facing the table, and then back to
: Nine Serpent. “Perhaps you’re right, old friend. You
: can introduce us to your friend later this afternoon,”
: he agreed.
: The three exited the pavilion, and Nine Serpent led them
: back to a largish tent not far from the eastern edge
: of the encampment. Kalvar didn’t take his hood down
: until they had all entered the tent, and his face was
: a conflict of worry and disgust.
: “They dug him up?” he asked incredulously. “After all
: these years of warring the Dark, they’re still stupid
: enough to dig up him?”
: “He always was an enemy of Balor’s,” Nine Serpent told
: him. “Besides, the rest of us don’t have quite the
: same perspective about him as you do.” Kalvar glared
: at him, then walked to the back to the tent and drew
: up a chair, where he sat fuming. He could hear
: ny’Marro questioning Nine Serpent behind him.
: “What’s wrong with him?” the fir’Bolg asked.
: “That head that was in the cask was an enemy of the
: Light, long ago. We would all do well to take a large
: grain of salt, if we are to believe anything it says.”
: Nine Serpent looked towards Kalvar. “He holds a
: personal grudge of some sort against it on top of his
: knowledge of what it is. He’s never told anybody
: exactly what happened to make him despise the accursed
: thing so much.”
: “So you and Kal do know each other,” ny’Marro said. “How
: so?”
: “That is a long story, young fir’Bolg,” the grizzled man
: replied in his gravelly voice, “and—”
: “And one we don’t have time for at the moment,” Kalvar
: cut him off. He turned around then. “More importantly,
: though, exactly what is going on? All I know are the
: garbled rumors that reached the lands of the east.”
: “Balor resurfaced some fifty years ago,” Nine Serpent
: began. “He had six generals under his command, who we
: called the Fallen Lords. The four actively attacking
: us now are known as Soulblighter, Shiver, the
: Deceiver, and the Watcher. I believe you know of the
: last two.”
: “Myrdred and Bahl’al... why am I not surprised. What
: about Damas?”
: Kalvar asked.
: “He and Soulblighter are one and the same. He’s the very
: worst of them.” The old man paused. “When Balor
: reemerged, he released the Trow and coerced them into
: joining his forces. The Watcher, of course, summoned
: up Thrall by the scores of thousands, and the Deceiver
: had soon captured entire armies. Balor himself tricked
: the Kithless into joining him, though that was some
: two and a half centuries prior. They are also known as
: Myrmidons now.
: “After he had assembled his army, he marched on
: Muirthemne... the Heron Guard had been called away,
: and the skeletal forces they had left behind were no
: match for the hordes of the Dark. Muirthemne fell, and
: the Heron fell with it. We have all become journeymen,
: and we all carry five of the golden tiles from
: Muirthemne’s broken walls. The great cities of the
: dwarves were razed by the ghôls, and all civilization
: between the Cloudspine and the ???? has been
: decimated.
: “That was when the armies of the west joined together.
: The berserks of the north, the warriors of the
: Province, the fir’Bolg, and the remnants of the
: dwarves all joined together. Nine of the most powerful
: living Avatara have joined together to lead us. Yet
: still, Balor has continued to defeat us at every turn.
: Madrigal is the last free city of the north, and the
: south is not much better off. That is how we fare.”
: “I see...” Kalvar trailed off. “It is hopeless then?”
: “Not quite. Alric shows much promise. It is possible that
: he may yet lead us to some victory, though how he
: might do it is quite beyond my many years of
: experience.”
: You can read the beginning at the link below, if you
: want.
: Dm.
Very good, both parts.
Kind of long though, but interesting.
Seraph
