A background story for a summer RPG - Story - please comment

[Guest Turi]

I usually don't get many comments on my stories, I don't know if that's because people don't read them or because people don't feel like commenting. However, feel free to comment on this story, in this thread (I don't want to go all over the msg board to find comments)

 

Ohh, and please don't mind spelling mistakes and perhaps the lack of flow in the text because I wrote this story in two evenings after working for 9 hours each day. I am a very busy person these days and I don't have time to read through the story to check spelling/grammer/text flow and content. I just wrote down what was in my mind and hoped for the best...

 

 

Story begins in next post...

Edited by: Turi at: 6/12/02 2:50:24 pm

[Guest Turi]

Introduction

 

In the time of pain and suffering, a man, tainted by horrors and torn by time, wrote down a prophecy. With the help of powerful magic the scroll on which the prophecy was written was sealed into a deep cave. The old man died and the scroll fell into oblivion. People came and went without knowing about the secret held by the cave, without knowing about the prophecy that rested therein. Many years passed and outside the cave horrible beasts, horrors, ruled the earth with terror. The scourge was over the earth and horrors dwelled in the cave. Hundreds of years went by and the magic seal of the scroll weakened.

 

Broken seal

 

The sky was already getting dark as the sun was about to set and soft rain fell from the sky. From the high grass Worak, a muscular windling with an angry face, looked up to check the surrounding. Silently and very skilled he moved himself closer to the cave to get a better view. He was still there, the evil bastard that had killed several women and children in a nearby village. The horrifying sight of the horror and the remaining bones from children struck Worak like an ice pick in his soul. The face of the horror was covered with scales and colored by blood and there were several skulls pierced onto its spiky tail. Worak turned around and silently moved back to the others.

 

“Urrmmm” – Worak whispered as he nodded against the cave. From the time they all spent together they have learned to interpret Worak who usually just grunted when there was no need for more words.

 

A minute later the magician was done with the preparations and with a roar they all started running towards the cave (they had all stopped that sneaking around business since the time the magician had tripped over a stone and given out their position anyways). With a bang the first spell hit the monster which didn’t seem to mind that much. The human beastmaster ran up and started attacking the horror with clawfrency. Several hits sunk deep into the skin of the horror but the largest wound suddenly healed as the beastmaster screamed in pain. Worak flew up and with great speed he dived into the horror and managed to sink a powerful blow into the monsters forehead. The others tried to attack as well but did not manage to hit. Suddenly the horror started casting various spells and the group realized they had attacked a monster far too tough for them to beat. The magician was grabbed by the tail and thrown into the wall with such fearsome power that the cave wall seamed to crack open. It did not last long until the others were killed by the powerful spells cast by the horror, all of them except for Worak who had just hidden behind a rock. The sight of the dead friends around him was devastating.

 

Silently Worak waited for the horror to turn away so he could sneak away. For an hour he tried to keep himself from vomiting when he saw his friends being eaten by the horror. When the bones were freed from the surrounding flesh the horror pierced the skulls onto its spiky tail. This was his chance Worak thought, now the horror was turned around, occupied with putting skulls onto its tail. Worak silently moved along the wall, pass the crack in the cave wall and… and… what strange magical presence that was coming from that crack. Worak turned around and saw a scroll laying there. Quickly he grabbed the scroll and continued to move out of the cave. On a safe distance he opened the scroll, which was written in dwarven, and started to read:

 

Greed in heart, all alone, sought to find the missing part.

When you did, pride was lost, was it worth all that cost?

Clouded mind, hid in shame, what will come was there before.

Accept your fate and start the quest, look around to find the rest.

 

Bring your friends to the sea, deep below, my soul awaits.

Free my soul and you will find that here is there and you are there.

Make a wish, think it through, are you selfish or worth the glory?

Greed in heart, all alone, sought to find the missing part?

                Edwin Soulshatter

 

 

Mine, all mine

 

Greed in heart, all alone, sought to find the missing part.

When you did, pride was lost, was it worth all that cost?

Clouded mind, hid in shame, what will come was there before.

Accept your fate and start the quest, look around to find the rest.

 

 

Worak kept the scroll all though he did not really understand what the text was about, he was never any good at solving riddles. In general the whole thing sounded very awful, loosing your pride and all, except for that part about making a wish.

 

He thought about his friends who were killed by the horror and he couldn’t withstand the feeling of being all alone. After wandering around for a while he decided to move to Throal where he hoped to find some friends and get an underground contact net. Several years he spent building a contact net by the use of threats and extortion. Windlings can hear and see a great deal of things being small and able to fly as they are. Worak would stalk important people and when he found out important information he would use this to gain favours of different kinds. He did not have any friends but rather several people that would like to see him dead. Little did he mind because he had power and control over people and finding him would be nearly impossible because of how he moved around and always made sure no one was following him. Through his contacts he learned about treasures and magical items that he stole and collected. Sometimes it happened that he was discovered stealing things but as a powerful windmaster he was able to kill the person and be out of the room before anyone else had discovered him. This is how life was for Worak and it went on like this for several years while his treasure kept growing.

 

It was on one of these treasure raids that Worak managed to grab a piece of paper from the cold and stiff hand of one of his victims. The paper was actually a part of a map and it had a text written in blood on it : “Countess Erina – Windling”. The map seemed to be very old and Worak started fantasizing about great Windling treasures that was about to be his. After some research he found out that Erina was a windling woman that lived in a town south west of Throal so quickly he hurried there to get what practically belonged to him.

 

Erina lived in a very large and beautiful oak in the center of the town and there didn’t seem to be much protection there since the town seemed very peaceful. Still this would prove to be a real challenge for the Windling Windmaster/Thief. For a while he followed Erinas schedule, when she was home and when she was out. Erina was a real beauty to look on and Worak had a difficult time controlling himself. He started fantasizing about making Erina his own just as he made all those treasures his own. After learning about Erinas schedule he decided to take the chance of seeking through her living quarters while she was out on an important meeting with the village elders. Getting into the oak wasn’t really a problem and carefully he searched through the living quarters of Erina without any luck. There was no map there so the only thing he could think of was that she was carrying the map on her. “Erina can’t be that tough, I should be able to knock her down in one blow” – he thought for himself as he sat down in a dark corner of the oak. “Once she is unconscious I will take both her and the map” – he continued.

 

A few hours passed without any sight of Erina but then suddenly the door knob twisted and the door swung open. Erina flew into the room and started undressing. The sight of the beautiful Erina was to much for Worak and he couldn’t wait any longer. With a swift blow he attacked Erina and she managed to yell out of pain before she fell onto the floor. “Gaah, they must have heard that yell… Better move quick” – Worak thought for himself as he grabbed Erina and opened the door to fly out. He was right, that scream did catch others attention and there were already several windlings on the way there. Worak turned the other way and flew the fastest he could but with Erina on his shoulders he wasn’t going as fast as usual and the guards managed to catch up with him.

...

…

…

 

“For the horrendous act of kidnapping our countess Erina we now sentence you to live on the ground as an outcast, without your pride and without the ability to fly.”

 

Worak gave out a soulpiercing scream as his wings were cut off and blown away in the wind. The villagers laughed and pointed their fingers at Worak who were now without wings. Suddenly there was another biting pain and he continued to scream while the background noise revealed more laughing. “Hah, does it hurt? We’re just burning your stubs here to prevent your wings to ever grow out again… Hahaha”.

 

The pain was so overwhelming that Worak passed out. When he woke up he was all alone, laying in the forest somewhere with no idea where he was and no way of figuring out which way was leading out of the forest. He looked around and decided to head to the direction of the sun.

 

For days he walked and his clothes were torn and dirty. His back still hurt from the removal of his wings and the pain in his heart that he felt was tearing him apart. Worak never cried before, not even from those times when he was almost killed, but this, this was too much. Without his wings he was nothing, just a mere outcast without any future. He was about to give up hope of finding his way out of the forest when he noticed a village up ahead. He sneaked closer and avoided being seen. What he saw made him very surprised because the villagers were all somehow mutilated. Some trolls were missing their horns, a few were missing hands and some were just laying there without the ability to walk. “Hmmm, the windlings obviously had the decency to place me near a village in where I could continue my life” – Worak thought to himself as he moved into the village. It did not take long until he was discovered by the villagers and questioned. He figured it was no use in lying any more so he told them about what happened and they didn’t seem to mind the fact that he was a thief, they claimed there was nothing to steal there anyways as they were all outcasts and were living from what the forest had to offer. For the first time in a very long time he felt welcome although he could not forget the shame that weigh heavily on his shoulder.

 

For years he stayed in this little village, avoiding contact with other people. He was slowly starting to accept the fate of being forced to walk on the ground instead of flying and everyone in the village was treated equally.

 

To all things there is an end and so also to the time spent in the little village of outcasts. The day came when Worak decided it was time to regain his pride and honour. “There must be a way to regain my wings” – he thought silently to himself. Together with his closest friends, a troll warrior and a T’Skrang elementalist he left on the quest to regain what was lost.

 

Choice of destiny

 

Bring your friends to the sea, deep below, my soul awaits.

Free my soul and you will find that here is there and you are there.

Make a wish, think it through, are you selfish or worth the glory?

Greed in heart, all alone, sought to find the missing part?

 

Through these years Worak had learned many things, to be humble and to honour friendship among other things. For strangers he would still just grunt and use as few words as possible but the close friends knew him better and thought about him as a friendly and caring little windling. There had been times in the forest when they had saved eachothers lives and slowly they had come to trust eachother like brothers.

 

First stop were to be Throal library as they hoped to find some useful information in searching for something that could restore their honour and give them back their pride. They walked for several days without coming across someone who could tell them the way or how long they had left until they reached Throal. On the way the talked about the past and after a while they were talking about their glory days when they were slaying horrors and protecting the weak. Worak felt he was forgetting something, something that happened along time ago, something important. He couldn’t ease his mind and was determined to remember what it could have been that he had forgotten. “Horrors… hmm… It was something about horrors, or something that happened when I was fighting a horror. I wish I could remember… hmm… Wish… yes, that’s it. It was something on a paper that said something about making a wish” – he thought to himself as they were walking along. Worak searched his pockets and there it was, folded into a very tiny bit of paper. He gently picked the paper up, unfolded it and told the story to the others. “Hmm, Edwin Soulshatter, I think I have heard of him somewhere” – the elementalist said. “We should ask a troubadour about it in Throal and maybe search the Throal Library for information about this Soulshatter fellow”.

 

Several days passed and they finally reached Barter town. Ahead they could see the massive gates leading into Throal. Worak hid in the backpack of the Troll and they started their walk into Throal. To make a long story short, what happened was that they found out some information about Edwin Soulshatter. He was a very powerful magician before scourge who was also very greed. His greed had led him into dealing with horrors in order to collect magical items and other treasures. Rumours foretold that he had his lair deep below under the water south east of Uropa. There were also a riddle included in one of the old books:

 

“Stars above and fire light

will reveal my place at night

Let my words lead you right

To gain your pride you have to fight”

 

They were all very confused by these words and could not figure out how this would help them find the final resting place of this Edwin Soulshatter. It was obvious however that this was an important mission since everything else said on the scroll had already happened to poor Worak. They spent many nights outside looking at the stars with a torch in their hand and they tried every combination of things. They read the words they had found in the book and they read the words found in the scroll. Something strange happened though when Worak was asked to hold the torch. Worak is very short compared to the others and the light from the fire came from below and the light from the stars above shined on the scroll and on the paper some kind of map appeared. None of them had seen any of this before but now they could see it clearly, it was a map over the sea. Uropa was marked on the map and south east of Uropa there was an X with the marking – 80 yards below.

 

It was clear they had to head east and find this place. They bought fish breath charms and started their journey. In Uropa they rented a boat and some equipment and also bought a map over the known part of the sea. They were very stubborn, Worak in particular. They were going to find this place no matter how many days it took. It did take several days but then at one place, a little further south than they had expected, they saw something deep below when they swimmed down. Worak did not really like the water but without any wings it wasn’t like his wings was going to get wet and the hope of finding something of value down there he overcame his fear of water and dived into the water. Worak and the troll had learned how to swim by now as they had spent several days in the water already. They waited until morning to get a whole day to search through the place down there.

 

The next morning they started their descendant into the depth and with lightquartz they could see contours of what seemed to be an underwater castle. They started swimming to what looked like an entrance and swimmed through the opening. To their surprise they fell onto the ground as they passed the door. There seemed to be no water in here and the air seemed just fine. Worak climbed into the backpack of the troll again and carefully they walked into the castle and looked in every room as adventurers usually do. Finally they came to a large door that they suspected would lead to some kind of throne room. Gently they started to open the door but as they turned the doorknob the door swung open and thick black fog surrounded them as they were standing. They could suddenly feel themselves sinking down into something and a few seconds later they could not move from the spot. From the door creepy tentacles started spreading and they snared themselves around the troll and the t’skrang. Worak, who was in a backpack could still move freely so he jumped out and sneaked into the room in order to find the source of these tentacles. Maybe he would be able to save his friends?

 

Worak tried his best to avoid tentacles being thrown at him and the few that did hit him he managed to fight off by the use of his sword. He moved closer until he could see the source of these tentacles. What he saw shook every fibre of his soul, a twisted human, by the looks of him VERY old. His skin revealed every bone in his body and from his sides tentacles had torn through his clothes and they were now swirling around seeking for victims. Around his neck the man had a very beautiful necklace and his fingers had several gold rings. Behind the man piles of treasures were stashed, both magical and valuables in general. On a table a pair of shining wings were placed, as if someone had just placed them there on display. Worak prepared himself for attacking the old man who was holding his friends captured. As he was about to strike the old man spoke with a wheezing voice: “Welcome to my lair Worak. I am Edwin Soulshatter who has guided you here. If you leave my palace now I will let you take any of the magical items behind and all the valuables you can carry. If you don’t leave now I will surely kill you like your friends were killed in the cave where you found my scroll. I am much more powerful than that horror and I can kill you in an instance.”

 

Worak stopped his attack, tempted by the very good offer. Not only would he come out of this battle alive but he would also get his hand on those marvellous wings back there. His friends back there had no family and noone who would miss them. The thoughts swirled around in Woraks head and suddenly he remembered the years in the forest… … … … He shook his head and shouted: “I had everything, I had power, treasures and my pride but still I was dead. Now I have nothing, no treasures, no power, no pride, no honour, BUT… I have learned the value of friends. Friends can never be replaced, friends can never be bought by treasures, they can never be traded for valuables. I’d rather die in honour saving my friends than live alone as a coward.” With those words Worak lifted his hands and ran towards the old man. With fearsome power he slashed the old bones and the old body fell to the ground in pieces. At that moment the tentacles dissolved and Woraks friends were freed. Before Worak had time to run back to his friends and help them out a shining figure appeared infront of him. The ghost spoke: “I was once greedy and slowly I made myself a slave under darkness. I have been here waiting for someone who wouldn’t make my mistake and put greed first. You have freed me from my imprisonment and as thanks I will allow you to take one of these items behind me but hurry because this place will not stand much longer.” The ghost disappeared and Worak quickly ran and grabbed the wings then he ran to his friends, helped them up and they just managed to escape the castle before it collapsed. They were free and Worak had gained a pair of magical metal wings.

 

The years there after

 

Well, if you haven’t guessed it already, Worak is me. Many years have passed since me and my friends escaped the underwater castle. We have gone on separate journeys now but they will always remain my dear friends. I can’t say that I lost my need for valuables and magical treasures but atleast I have learned to put my friends first. Whenever I can I will still sneak out and steal the treasures I can get hold of. Oh, I have gotten a nice little nickname aswell: Worak Steelwing but my friends just call me Steelwing. They have proven to be more than I had hoped for. In the beginning they felt very heavy but atleast they allowed me to fly again. Now however, as I have learned some more about them and tied some threads to them I have found them to enhance my speed both in flight but also in battle as they seem to have some kind of magic mechanism that reacts on attacks and makes me harder to hit. If I fold them right in the air they will also improve my dive attack so I can get greater speed and accuracy. Recently I also noticed how they wingpens have become very sharp, like small blades and I from what a friend of mine, a weapon smith, have told me they are for throwing and will grow back as I throw them. He also told me how I can flap my wings to achieve lightning throw.

 

I have been through so many things that I have started to feel a little old but I guess it’s nothing that a little adventure can’t fix *tries to upbring a smile*

 

Edited by: Turi at: 6/12/02 2:48:27 pm

[Gyrfalcon]

*Gyrfalcon applauds* An interesting beginning, Turi.

 

However, information about the world you're writing from would help readers who didn't know Earthdawn.

 

This is written in the world of Earthdawn. I'm a bit too tired to explain its history, so I'll just dump out the links I have here, and you all can go research.

 

*smiles*

 

pages.infinit.net/ebernier/map1.html -A map of Barsaive

www.seankell.com/strands/index.htm -Strands (Extra Earthdawn stuff)

storm-wolves.plugged.net.au/ -Company of the Storm Wolves. An excellent Journal series. Its worth reading.

www.access.digex.net/~moz...cter1.html -Earthdawn character creation.

www.cfar.umd.edu/~keveril...paign.html -another journal site. Not sure what 'tis about- had it in my links but never really read it.

 

Edit note: I wrote this during finals, but I still must appologize, Turi. *switches brain to OFF position for the summer, and falls over*

 

Edited by: Gyrfalcon25 at: 6/14/02 9:34:50 pm

[Guest Minta Rose]

*bonk* Gyrfalcon, in the entirely un-selfish interest of not confusing females with the initial T.

 

Broken Seal

(or, Plan B: Run like hell)

 

Repetitions of the word 'horror' make the sentences stumble; they could be replaced with pronouns, as (if I understand this correctly) there ARE no proper synonyms. I recognize that you asked not to have comments on this, but it's the only point where it happens.

 

Mine, all mine

 

Wonderful characterization of Worak with the glimpses into his thoughts. This part is natural and well-balanced. (I was a little surprised when the windlings giggled at the punishment, but I guess some little callousness is inborn into them, and not just Worak.)

 

Choice of destiny

 

One of the best details was Worak agreeing to dive out of greed--there was still a chance that he might betray his friends. Wonderful description of the shell of Soulshatter!

 

The years thereafter

 

"Wingpens"? . . .you mean the long, flat flight feathers? The pinions?