Bluenose
05-22-2003, 03:40 PM
Well I realised we never actually posted our first 2 chapters in this forum. They have only been available on the sof forum and site. So here for you all is how SoF began.
There will be many more chapters to come, but as me and delta are short of time, it will take quite a while. The first chapter is Mostly Delta's work, the 2nd is Mostly Mine. And the entire thing has been edited by fhman. Hope you enjoy!
___________________________________________________________________
Chapter 1 The Journey begins
Years have passed, Centuries have passed. The people of Ganareth remember us only from stories and legends of days past and our faces have not been seen by man or beast in many an age. We have been avoiding contact with the outside world, we ate what nature brought us, without having to come close to any civilization and have stayed in the shadows like this... until now.
She was amazing, she was gorgeous, and she was all I ever wanted. First she was an elf, one with dark long hair, and those beautiful deep blue eyes. A few seconds later she was a human female, with a breathtaking shape and a ready smile on her lips. Then she was a human goddess, a brave, with the aura of the gods around her body. I could tell that she was the same person because I knew those deep blue eyes, those eyes which always stayed the same through her many incarnations. She came closer, and closer, until her hand touched my cheek. Then her lips moved slowly towards mine...
"Delta you lazy tolos*, get yourself off the ground and start a fire, its freezing here."
I opened my eyes, closed them again immediately, but she was already gone. Feeling momentarily lost and sad I stood up, searched for a couple of stones, placed them in a circle, whispered "naur", and a nice, warming, magical campfire appeared before me. Bluenose hurried to the fire with a basket filled with all kinds of captured animals, and we started roasting our last breakfast in the Guina woods.
"BN, I had that dream again"
"Again the same woman?"
"Yeah, I can't get her out of my head"
"Well, I have a couple of those too, but we go way further then just kissing. In fact..."
Before Bluenose could finish the sentence the campfire started to pulse and expand. In a quick response, Bluenose grabbed his staff and bowed it into the fire. The fire gave began immediately to subside, and began burning normally. Before he could complain about the bad casting of the campfire spell on my side, a strange voice issued from inside the campfire:
"Delta, Luin Nengwi, too long have you been idling in these woods of the undead. There is another who needs help; you know the one I mean. Go to the city of Nim, where you will find the one you seek.. On your way to the city you will befriend two whom you will know, but have never met. They will join you and help with what lies ahead. Now go, time is short, and any delay will be costly".
Suddenly the ground began to shake, and before we could react we were teleported to the border of the Kingdom of Light, close to the city of Nim. Bluenose quickly summoned a shield to hide us while we gathered our bearings.
“Damn, our breakfast didn’t teleport with us.” Bluenose said, massaging his stomach to quiet its rumbling.
“BN, what the fiery 7th hell is happening? We haven’t been called upon by the Powers in ages, why do they suddenly need us now?”
“I don’t know, all I know is that it would be wise to do what they said. Maybe we can kill some light elves on our way.”
“They will rue the day they met us!”, I said watching the feral looking smile growing on Bluenoses's face.
And so we went on our journey to Nim, not knowing what lay before us, only that time was crucial and we had to depart immediately. I couldn’t help thinking that there was more to this than first appeared. Why had we once again been summoned… The undercurrent of something else, more sinister seemed to be at work here but I was at a loss to identify it's source.
_______________
Tolos = lump
Luin Nengwi = Bluenose
_______________
Chapter 2
The First
She was back, the one I had seen each night for the past five moons, and many times before that. I was walking through a forest, I remembered it from generations that had past, it was a memory from a time long gone and I thought, long forgotten. As I started to walk towards her, It felt like I was there, that the hundreds of years between then and now were but a dream.
I moved closer, and as I did I realized she was as I first knew her, the first incarnation I knew her as, a tall, beautiful wood elf. She started to speak to me, faintly at first, but becoming ever clearer. “Bluenose….” She said, “WAKE UP!”
It was the morning after the talking campfire, and as I opened my eyes the image of my dream was replaced by one a lot less pleasant. Delta holding off a barrage of arrows with what looked like a rather shaky half-visible barrier. The arrows were being fired at us from high in the trees. “Accursed wood elf’s, they never dare show their faces clear, always hiding up the top of their beloved trees.” With that he dropped the shield for a moment, thrusting his arm towards the trees in the direction of our unknown assailants, and muttered something under his breath. The arrows stopped as suddenly as they had begun, and Delta turned towards me looking very pleased with himself. A moment later I heard three thumps one after another in quick succession. From my bed I looked up at my smirking friend. “What did you do this time? Can’t you do something normal like launch a fireball at them?” I asked.
“Where’s the fun in that?” Delta replied. “Besides, it would have damaged the trees more than them. All I did was remove the branches they were standing on.” He said, with the smile on his face turning into a laugh.
“How did they get so close anyway?” I asked, giving him a stern look.
“Well, the thing is…” he started to say.
“You fell asleep didn’t you!” I laughed as he struggled to come up with an excuse I would believe.
“Well I couldn’t help it, its your own fault for getting me up so suddenly this morning, besides they weren’t very good shots anyway, and I heard them as they fired and stopped the arrows before they made one scratch your lovely nose.” He said, the smile returning to his face.
“You know after 200 years, that joke is still as funny as the first time you said it.” I said sarcastically. “Let’s go and see who they were.”
We packed up the camp and walked over to where the three light wood elves were lying, one was obviously dead, having hit the edge of a large rock his body was virtually snapped in half, blood staining the area around the ground where he fell. The other two seemed unconscious, but alive.
“I wonder who left that rock there” Delta said, laughing as he gazed at the broken body of the dead elf.
“At least you left some alive this time, makes a change from the usual piles of aesthetically unpleasing dismembered bodies I’m usually left looking at”
“Can I help it if I like a bit of blood?” Delta replied.
The other two elves, who were by now awake and attempting to move, drew our attention away from the bloody mess who was once a member of their party. They were young, and obviously did not expect to find us in the middle of their home forest so far into the lands of light. They looked terrified as we advanced on them.
“I would say we aren’t going to hurt you, but I would obviously be lying.. Just look at your friend over there.” Delta started to say. I gave him a look and he backed away laughing to himself.
“We aren’t going to kill you, unfortunately, although you may wish we had.” With that I took a deep breath, closed my eyes and pointing with my finger, passed a line down each of their right shoulders, cutting off their arms in my mind. Opening my eyes I was pleased to see each of them passed out, their right arms severed from their bodies and lying on the ground beside them.
“They won’t fire another arrow at us anytime soon.” I whispered to myself.
Searching the bodies we discovered maps of the surrounding area, one of which had a small cross on it, with the word mori earendil* scribbled underneath.. “That looks like where they were heading, shall we pay it a visit?” Delta asked.
“Sure.” I said, “I could do with some food, perhaps whatever is at the cross will be nice, toasted on some lembas.
We traveled towards the mysterious cross, chatting to each other about what it could be. We really should have known before we arrived, but had forgotten part of what had been said to us the day before. As we got close, we started to sense a presence around, which did not belong. It felt… comforting, which is what alarmed us, as we were as deep into the land of light as we had been in some time. As we got closer, we realized it was obviously another from the dark side, but before we could deal with this, we saw just ahead a small clearing, in the centre a small figure crouched over, a longbow pointed straight at us.
Laughing I started to walk towards the archer, thinking I could brush the arrow aside with a mere word. The arrow in the bow was released, heading straight at my face. Sensing it coming I waved it out the way. The arrow continued for my head, and at that instant I realized my mistake. With as much speed as I could muster I leapt as fast out of the path of the seemingly unstoppable arrow. It flew past me, catching the side of my hat as I threw myself to the side.
The stranger spoke for the first time. “I see I have not been deceived about the strength of your powers. I am Thunderelf, but you can call me DivZ3r0. The day prior to this an apparition in my campfire told me to await the arrival of two great dark wizards, who I would help in a quest. In return I was told you would allow me to join you and rid Ganareth of all light. Of course I thought I had mistakenly picked and eaten some delusion mushrooms, but it seems my health is not in question after all.” With that he started laughing and lowered his bow. “So where is the other?”
“Ahh so you are the first.” Delta spoke as he emerged from the trees. “We had been expecting some help. The voices you heard are from beings more powerful than you or I could ever dream of becoming. Call them what you will, they go by many names, we simply call them the Powers That Be. If you can think of a less obvious name, then please let us know.” Delta said smiling.
“Who am I to argue?” Said Thunderelf. “But please, who am I speaking to?”
“I am Delta, and my friend here to whom you owe a new hat, is Bluenose. We are Dark elves, and are known by other names, but for now you may use these.”
We talked long about how we had come to be here, and what the voices had said to us, but eventually the time came to continue on our journey.
“Before we start, seeing as I am to join you and more besides me if what the Powers say is true, then what are we to be called?” Thunderelf inquired.
“Well we are soldiers of dark, and go where we are needed.” Delta said.
“We are Soldiers of Fortune.” I shouted from the edge of the clearing with a smile on my face. “Although I have to say, I’m not feeling very fortunate at the moment.”, pulling the arrow out of my hat. It came out reluctantly with a ripping sound as the sharpened reverse tines of the arrow tore at the hat material. “Now lets get out of here, we are needed, and it is not safe while we remain. The forces of light were coming here, and others will no doubt follow. When their comrades do not return”
“Very well, let’s go.” Said Delta. “Welcome to the Soldiers of Fortune DivZ3r0.”
And with that, we turned our back on the camp and left the clearing, If only we knew what awaited us at the end of our journey, or what it would eventually lead to.
To be continued…
_______________
Mori = Dark
Earendil = Half-elf
Lembas = Journey bread
_______________
There will be many more chapters to come, but as me and delta are short of time, it will take quite a while. The first chapter is Mostly Delta's work, the 2nd is Mostly Mine. And the entire thing has been edited by fhman. Hope you enjoy!
___________________________________________________________________
Chapter 1 The Journey begins
Years have passed, Centuries have passed. The people of Ganareth remember us only from stories and legends of days past and our faces have not been seen by man or beast in many an age. We have been avoiding contact with the outside world, we ate what nature brought us, without having to come close to any civilization and have stayed in the shadows like this... until now.
She was amazing, she was gorgeous, and she was all I ever wanted. First she was an elf, one with dark long hair, and those beautiful deep blue eyes. A few seconds later she was a human female, with a breathtaking shape and a ready smile on her lips. Then she was a human goddess, a brave, with the aura of the gods around her body. I could tell that she was the same person because I knew those deep blue eyes, those eyes which always stayed the same through her many incarnations. She came closer, and closer, until her hand touched my cheek. Then her lips moved slowly towards mine...
"Delta you lazy tolos*, get yourself off the ground and start a fire, its freezing here."
I opened my eyes, closed them again immediately, but she was already gone. Feeling momentarily lost and sad I stood up, searched for a couple of stones, placed them in a circle, whispered "naur", and a nice, warming, magical campfire appeared before me. Bluenose hurried to the fire with a basket filled with all kinds of captured animals, and we started roasting our last breakfast in the Guina woods.
"BN, I had that dream again"
"Again the same woman?"
"Yeah, I can't get her out of my head"
"Well, I have a couple of those too, but we go way further then just kissing. In fact..."
Before Bluenose could finish the sentence the campfire started to pulse and expand. In a quick response, Bluenose grabbed his staff and bowed it into the fire. The fire gave began immediately to subside, and began burning normally. Before he could complain about the bad casting of the campfire spell on my side, a strange voice issued from inside the campfire:
"Delta, Luin Nengwi, too long have you been idling in these woods of the undead. There is another who needs help; you know the one I mean. Go to the city of Nim, where you will find the one you seek.. On your way to the city you will befriend two whom you will know, but have never met. They will join you and help with what lies ahead. Now go, time is short, and any delay will be costly".
Suddenly the ground began to shake, and before we could react we were teleported to the border of the Kingdom of Light, close to the city of Nim. Bluenose quickly summoned a shield to hide us while we gathered our bearings.
“Damn, our breakfast didn’t teleport with us.” Bluenose said, massaging his stomach to quiet its rumbling.
“BN, what the fiery 7th hell is happening? We haven’t been called upon by the Powers in ages, why do they suddenly need us now?”
“I don’t know, all I know is that it would be wise to do what they said. Maybe we can kill some light elves on our way.”
“They will rue the day they met us!”, I said watching the feral looking smile growing on Bluenoses's face.
And so we went on our journey to Nim, not knowing what lay before us, only that time was crucial and we had to depart immediately. I couldn’t help thinking that there was more to this than first appeared. Why had we once again been summoned… The undercurrent of something else, more sinister seemed to be at work here but I was at a loss to identify it's source.
_______________
Tolos = lump
Luin Nengwi = Bluenose
_______________
Chapter 2
The First
She was back, the one I had seen each night for the past five moons, and many times before that. I was walking through a forest, I remembered it from generations that had past, it was a memory from a time long gone and I thought, long forgotten. As I started to walk towards her, It felt like I was there, that the hundreds of years between then and now were but a dream.
I moved closer, and as I did I realized she was as I first knew her, the first incarnation I knew her as, a tall, beautiful wood elf. She started to speak to me, faintly at first, but becoming ever clearer. “Bluenose….” She said, “WAKE UP!”
It was the morning after the talking campfire, and as I opened my eyes the image of my dream was replaced by one a lot less pleasant. Delta holding off a barrage of arrows with what looked like a rather shaky half-visible barrier. The arrows were being fired at us from high in the trees. “Accursed wood elf’s, they never dare show their faces clear, always hiding up the top of their beloved trees.” With that he dropped the shield for a moment, thrusting his arm towards the trees in the direction of our unknown assailants, and muttered something under his breath. The arrows stopped as suddenly as they had begun, and Delta turned towards me looking very pleased with himself. A moment later I heard three thumps one after another in quick succession. From my bed I looked up at my smirking friend. “What did you do this time? Can’t you do something normal like launch a fireball at them?” I asked.
“Where’s the fun in that?” Delta replied. “Besides, it would have damaged the trees more than them. All I did was remove the branches they were standing on.” He said, with the smile on his face turning into a laugh.
“How did they get so close anyway?” I asked, giving him a stern look.
“Well, the thing is…” he started to say.
“You fell asleep didn’t you!” I laughed as he struggled to come up with an excuse I would believe.
“Well I couldn’t help it, its your own fault for getting me up so suddenly this morning, besides they weren’t very good shots anyway, and I heard them as they fired and stopped the arrows before they made one scratch your lovely nose.” He said, the smile returning to his face.
“You know after 200 years, that joke is still as funny as the first time you said it.” I said sarcastically. “Let’s go and see who they were.”
We packed up the camp and walked over to where the three light wood elves were lying, one was obviously dead, having hit the edge of a large rock his body was virtually snapped in half, blood staining the area around the ground where he fell. The other two seemed unconscious, but alive.
“I wonder who left that rock there” Delta said, laughing as he gazed at the broken body of the dead elf.
“At least you left some alive this time, makes a change from the usual piles of aesthetically unpleasing dismembered bodies I’m usually left looking at”
“Can I help it if I like a bit of blood?” Delta replied.
The other two elves, who were by now awake and attempting to move, drew our attention away from the bloody mess who was once a member of their party. They were young, and obviously did not expect to find us in the middle of their home forest so far into the lands of light. They looked terrified as we advanced on them.
“I would say we aren’t going to hurt you, but I would obviously be lying.. Just look at your friend over there.” Delta started to say. I gave him a look and he backed away laughing to himself.
“We aren’t going to kill you, unfortunately, although you may wish we had.” With that I took a deep breath, closed my eyes and pointing with my finger, passed a line down each of their right shoulders, cutting off their arms in my mind. Opening my eyes I was pleased to see each of them passed out, their right arms severed from their bodies and lying on the ground beside them.
“They won’t fire another arrow at us anytime soon.” I whispered to myself.
Searching the bodies we discovered maps of the surrounding area, one of which had a small cross on it, with the word mori earendil* scribbled underneath.. “That looks like where they were heading, shall we pay it a visit?” Delta asked.
“Sure.” I said, “I could do with some food, perhaps whatever is at the cross will be nice, toasted on some lembas.
We traveled towards the mysterious cross, chatting to each other about what it could be. We really should have known before we arrived, but had forgotten part of what had been said to us the day before. As we got close, we started to sense a presence around, which did not belong. It felt… comforting, which is what alarmed us, as we were as deep into the land of light as we had been in some time. As we got closer, we realized it was obviously another from the dark side, but before we could deal with this, we saw just ahead a small clearing, in the centre a small figure crouched over, a longbow pointed straight at us.
Laughing I started to walk towards the archer, thinking I could brush the arrow aside with a mere word. The arrow in the bow was released, heading straight at my face. Sensing it coming I waved it out the way. The arrow continued for my head, and at that instant I realized my mistake. With as much speed as I could muster I leapt as fast out of the path of the seemingly unstoppable arrow. It flew past me, catching the side of my hat as I threw myself to the side.
The stranger spoke for the first time. “I see I have not been deceived about the strength of your powers. I am Thunderelf, but you can call me DivZ3r0. The day prior to this an apparition in my campfire told me to await the arrival of two great dark wizards, who I would help in a quest. In return I was told you would allow me to join you and rid Ganareth of all light. Of course I thought I had mistakenly picked and eaten some delusion mushrooms, but it seems my health is not in question after all.” With that he started laughing and lowered his bow. “So where is the other?”
“Ahh so you are the first.” Delta spoke as he emerged from the trees. “We had been expecting some help. The voices you heard are from beings more powerful than you or I could ever dream of becoming. Call them what you will, they go by many names, we simply call them the Powers That Be. If you can think of a less obvious name, then please let us know.” Delta said smiling.
“Who am I to argue?” Said Thunderelf. “But please, who am I speaking to?”
“I am Delta, and my friend here to whom you owe a new hat, is Bluenose. We are Dark elves, and are known by other names, but for now you may use these.”
We talked long about how we had come to be here, and what the voices had said to us, but eventually the time came to continue on our journey.
“Before we start, seeing as I am to join you and more besides me if what the Powers say is true, then what are we to be called?” Thunderelf inquired.
“Well we are soldiers of dark, and go where we are needed.” Delta said.
“We are Soldiers of Fortune.” I shouted from the edge of the clearing with a smile on my face. “Although I have to say, I’m not feeling very fortunate at the moment.”, pulling the arrow out of my hat. It came out reluctantly with a ripping sound as the sharpened reverse tines of the arrow tore at the hat material. “Now lets get out of here, we are needed, and it is not safe while we remain. The forces of light were coming here, and others will no doubt follow. When their comrades do not return”
“Very well, let’s go.” Said Delta. “Welcome to the Soldiers of Fortune DivZ3r0.”
And with that, we turned our back on the camp and left the clearing, If only we knew what awaited us at the end of our journey, or what it would eventually lead to.
To be continued…
_______________
Mori = Dark
Earendil = Half-elf
Lembas = Journey bread
_______________