Grimnebulin
Apprentice
King Lord Master of Space and Time! And Awesomes! Who gets free pie!
Posts: 85
|
Post by Grimnebulin on Nov 22, 2008 15:29:31 GMT -5
Ramón enjoyed the forest. All the dangers would mainly be around at night, and he'd probably reach his destination before then. Meanwhile, he had plenty of food, and could enjoy a landscape unspoiled by human trash or those little painted poles. On the other hand, it would probably get pretty annoying in an hour or three. I wish I had my backpack. He noticed how much wilder the forest looked. At home, the trees would be lined up in neat lanes next to well-maintained paths, and you'd see signs every fifteen minutes. There would be occasional small fields dominated by a strange tree from another continent - the result of a brief fashion among the nobility, a hundred years ago. Large patches of trees would be planted in a near-perfect grid, an old attempt from the government to make sure there would be enough telephone poles in the 21st century. And of course you wouldn't run into a plantation of rhodondendrons or christmas trees here.
This was a natural forest, nothing like the tame Dutch forests, which needed constant maintenance to protect the artificial ecosystem. And it was wonderful.
He almost didn't hear the cracking of branches. A couple of hundred meters back, a girl was making her way towards the path. And she wore a t-shirt. There are more people! Ramón walked back, hoping to meet her on the path.
"Hey. Hello!"
|
|
|
Post by Novalyyn on Nov 23, 2008 6:03:44 GMT -5
Ha, yes, two more ways to keep herself from thinking. The path that Brandi found seemed smooth enough that it wouldn't be so much a bother to walk properly, despite the fact that it wasn't paved. Even better, it seemed the movement had been a person who was now coming to greet her. No better way to stop the brain than to get talking!
She smiled and waved, then remembered that she still didn't have a bra. While the over-sized shirt might let her get away with it, it still felt odd to be around someone as such, and so her arms were quickly crossed in front of her as she yelled back, "Hello! Nice day, isn't it?"
Well, that was stupid. Really, trying to randomly talk to anyone she didn't know seemed stupid, especially when they appeared to be on their way somewhere. But hey, if she could get herself into a conversation, at least she could stop wondering what was going on. Or, at least, she hoped so. Anyway, this was a dream, so what did it really matter?
|
|
|
Post by knightc3 on Nov 24, 2008 0:05:28 GMT -5
"Oh well, if that's the case, then thanks for taking the punches I guess John...", Bhuvan replied with a wide smile. He ignored the comment about him being afraid. But I am still gonna stay away from you especially if we get captured again, he thought to himself. His face of course didn't give a hint about his thoughts.
He was a bit surprised when he heard about the prophecy next. By the time Uther had stopped speaking, the surprise was gone. Typical fantasy alternate world. How in the world did all those fiction writers get all this right? He didn't object when Uther left but then he didn't need time to absorb the whole deal.
He looked over as John spoke and smiled as he replied, "Look on the bright side, you get to be a hero in this world and kill orcs. What could be more fun eh? I wonder if they have elves in this world too..."
|
|
|
Post by The Mammoth on Nov 24, 2008 6:13:45 GMT -5
John grinned, "assuming we don't die..." He rose up and gave a friendly slap along Bhuvan's back. "Well, take it easy, man. I'm gonna go get something to eat. Sorry if I scared ya back there... Scared myself to be honest... Still hurts..." John said, grinning. He walked outside of the tent and was confronted by the man who had punched him and nearly split his head in two. "Sorry about that whole deal..." The soldier said, obviously forced to. "Don't worry on it too much, ya got a hell of a right, I'll give ya that much!" John said, laughing. He headed off to get some food, and as he did so, he was followed by the Paladin from earlier. Once John had grabbed a plate from the mess tent and sat down, Uther sat down across from him. John looked up and nodded, continuing to eat before Uther spoke. "You have an aura, you know..." Uther said. "Eh?" John responded. "I can feel it... You have the natural ability of a Paladin. Yours is Leadership Aura, it bolsters the hearts of men around you. Interesting that you and Bhuvan have skills you don't even know about. His are different..." John stopped eating, dropping his spoon, looking around and leaning forward. "You mean to tell me I'm a Paladin?" "Not exactly. You have no training to be a full Paladin, but you have the natural abilities of one, which means you'll be good at it once I train you..." John leaned back in his chair, looking up at the sky then back down at Uther, "So... That's how we fulfill your prophecy, we train... find a mentor of sorts..." "That's what I'm assuming..." Uther said, "I'd be glad to take you under my wing as a squire, if you clean up your language that is..." John laughed, "Fat chance of that..." "We'll see..." "So what now?" "Tomorrow morning, we begin your training. My tent at dawn..." "Great..." John said, not exactly excited about it. He was interested, but worried... ((Okay, so I gave a basic idea of the "mentor" thing you can do. I assume most of us want to be involved in this prophecy, and considering I doubt we're gonna figure this all out on our own, we will need to be trained. So, while mine was pretty much straightforward, you can be more creative with yours. The basic idea is pick a class you want and find a reason to have you be stuck with someone of that class who will train you. Be as creative as you like. Or you can learn on your own, whichever you prefer.))
|
|
|
Post by knightc3 on Nov 25, 2008 14:52:28 GMT -5
Bhuvan buckled under the slap deliberately. He never liked it when people did that. "Yeah you too...", he replied back and followed John out of the tent after a few moments. He was hungry too but he had lost sight of John and went on his own search for food and water. He was passing the big tent he had fallen through when he heard a table crash to the floor. He stopped and looked at the guards standing outside the tent. They were staring at him curiously. He looked from one to the other and saw one of them shrug.
Bhuvan smiled and walked forward to enter the tent. He was expecting to be stopped but he wasn't. He emerged into the tent again and saw the Hulk-man staring at him, the table to his side broken. He, no doubt, had power in his hands.
He growled in obvious anger, "You again! What the hell do you think you are doing in here?"
Bhuvan looked around at the others and found everyone staring at him again. Well, no swords pointing at me this time at least, good progress...
"Your friend says there is an orc stronghold up ahead and my scouts have just returned and confirmed the same thing. So I guess you are not an assassin." He didn't look pleased about it much. He looked over towards the calm man he had asked for last time and spoke in a mocking tone, "Ashgar, fine people your prophecies chooses to give us. They give us kids when we need heroes and warriors." The man simply smiled in return but said nothing.
The large man started speaking again, ignoring him now, "We will attack the stronghold in force. I will not allow their orc filth to spread on my front. We hit them from all sides, simultaneously." No one said a word in response. Ashgar didn't look pleased when he looked towards Bhuvan's direction and held his gaze.
Keep your mouth shut, keep your mouth shut!, Bhuvan kept thinking to himself but just as he looked away from Ashgar he spoke, "Uh..."
His voice was met with a harsh, "What??", and more stares from everyone. "You have something to say about my plan?"
"Well...", Bhuvan began to say but was cut off.
"I will hang you for to dry outside these walls and to be picked by scaven...", the large commander was shouting but was shut up by Ashgar. "That's enough Sudra. Let him speak... What's your name?"
"Uh, Bhuvan."
"Ok Bhuvan, tell us what you think."
"Well, is it safe to assume that the orcs in this world are very aggressive and relay on force rather than strategy?"
"You are right about the aggressiveness but the latter part is not completely true. They do become hard to organize when they are enraged and have been known to... divert from their plan of attack considerably in such a state."
Ashgar had a cultured and intelligent way of speaking which was probably why it seemed that all the captains as well as Sudra were listening carefully, some even nodding.
Bhuvan, on receiving a more warm response continued with a bit more confidence but trying also to avoid looking at Sudra, "Can't we use that against them then? Draw as many of them out as possible, deal with them, then charge in."
"That's... a possibility, yes. But that's not enough of a plan. Go on."
Dammit, I should have thought this through. "Uh, ok lets see. Send out a small force, unit, whatever to fight them. Let them get spotted early on. When they are about to be defeated, retreat back. I am assuming the orcs would follow to finish the job. Set up an ambush... no wait, Lead them all the way back here!"
"You are crazy!!", Sudra shouted again, this time on his feet. "We never retreat and that plan involves wasting my soldiers for nothing!" He was looking at Ashgar now.
Ashgar in turn looked at Bhuvan. "Care to explain your reason to Sudra?"
Run! "Well, I haven't seen the terrain in between but I was thinking...", Bhuvan paused and looked around. It was obvious he didn't have much support. Ah, what the hell, here goes!
"... that we let that orc party see the camp and allow them to go back unharmed and un-ambushed. They will surely convey back the news that we have a camp with the reduced strength we want them to see. They will come back in force. That way, we can set up the ambush for the larger force wherever we want to. Then we choose the ground."
Bhuvan didn't hear a word for almost a minute. He looked around nervously at the others. They seemed a bit stunned and confused. Sudra on the other hand was... smiling! "He talks like you Ashgar. What do you think?"
Bhuvan was a bit surprised at that reaction. He had expected the man to run across the room and break his face like he had broken the table."
Ashgar smiled and spoke, "We will see Sudra. Why don't we go have a look at the terrain Bhuvan?" What the hell is happening?
Sudra point his large finger at a man to his sides. "Take your unit and escort these two..."
Bhuvan looked at Ashgar to get some clue of what the heck had just happened. Where they actually considering that plan? He had thought that up on the fly! Even he could see major problems with it now... right after he had laid it out. Oh crap, Bhuvan thought yet again.
|
|
|
Post by Da Pwny on Nov 28, 2008 2:55:26 GMT -5
Robert never really saw where he was taken, as a blind had been placed around his eyes when the group was just a few yards out. His 'bodyguard' had a firm grip on him, however, and there again was that warm touch. He couldn't quite make it out, but certainly it felt out of place. He'd lost his glasses long ago, which hadn't helped much in the least; however, oddly enough, the slight tugs he felt here and there seemed to pretty much keep him upright on what was surely a path that had plenty of stumbling blocks.
Finally, he was shoved to his knees in a slightly warmer area, the blindfold removed to show what appeared to be a holding room inside a tent of some sort, somewhere along those lines; the place was about as bare as could be, not even a bed to sleep on or a covering over the dirt floor. Not even the sort of place one would keep a criminal in for very long. Deciding against attempting escape, Robert sat down, noting the silhouettes of the guards both outside and inside, one of whom seemed to be leaning up against the tent pole in the most casual way possible. Of course, without adequate light, he couldn't even see his hand in front of his face very well; the only source was a small hole at the top of the tent which poured through layers of dust, showing up as showers of particles scattered in the beams of light.
Still not quite getting what the hell was happening, he sat there a few minutes longer, then started to get up with a slight grunt. No sooner had he moved half a foot than a distinctive twang froze Robert in his tracks, the feeling of air rushing by him at tremendous speeds killing any second thoughts of coming near the figure.
Abruptly, light rushed into the tent, blinding the poor young man and causing the head of the inside guard to turn. Quiet, inane chatter started, then stopped abruptly as the guard dismissed the messenger, then walked over to Robert, yanking him off the ground. "Human, it your lucky day. Seems boss wants to see you."
The figure finally removed the layers of wrap around its face, and left Robert pretty much in hard-boiled shock: the guard he thought to be a man all along, turned out to be a female, and a fairly hot one at- No no no no! Back on track! So what if its a woman? 'She' just tried to kick you off... but she is kinda- NO! BAD HORMONES!! BAD!
|
|
Grimnebulin
Apprentice
King Lord Master of Space and Time! And Awesomes! Who gets free pie!
Posts: 85
|
Post by Grimnebulin on Dec 2, 2008 15:30:38 GMT -5
((For the ones who haven't watched the other thread: I had MAJOR computer trouble, and couldn't respond. Sorry.))
"Hi. Are you from Earth too? My name is Ramón." For a moment, Ramón thought that she would be from yet another world, but the girl was unmistakably from Earth. She wore rather normal clothes, though the shirt was a bit stained. Ramón cringed a bit at this reminder that he'd probably have to wash his clothes with pig fat in the river when they got dirty. Dammit, I really got to get back. I probably couldn't manage even little things like that. "Have you eaten?" he asked. "The hobbits gave me some food, and I think it isn't poisonous, though I'm not sure, but I already ate some, and so did the cat. And the food is really similar. They have bread, and I think this sauce is made from vinegar with brown sugar and herbs, and they have cheese." He stopped, realizing he was rambling. "So, what's your name?"
|
|
|
Post by Novalyyn on Dec 3, 2008 4:14:03 GMT -5
((Ah, alright. ^^ ))
"Uh..." Brandi had to think for a moment to process all that had rather suddenly been said. It seemed perhaps she was not the only one desperate for someone to talk to. Hoping to answer all at once, she hurried as she said, "Alright, so... Yes, I'm from Earth, name's Brandi. No, I haven't eaten, I kinda ended up wearing my breakfast, and I'll love you forever if you're not just teasing me. Also, I'd love you forever if you happen to have an extra pair of shoes..."
She paused for a moment, uncertain if she'd heard correcting who had given him the food. So many things she'd misheard through the years, things that made no sense... but then, this was a dream, right. "By the way, um, I... I'm not sure if I heard you right, it sounded like you said hobbits gave you the food? Like, the little halfling people from Lord of the Rings."
As she thought about it, she suddenly very much hoped that she had heard him wrong. That, or that he was some sort of strange person who carried extra shoes around.
|
|
Grimnebulin
Apprentice
King Lord Master of Space and Time! And Awesomes! Who gets free pie!
Posts: 85
|
Post by Grimnebulin on Dec 3, 2008 11:41:29 GMT -5
"Yeah. Small, hairy feet, give out lots of food. Most of it's still in the basket. No shoes though. Sorry." He brightened a bit. "Anyway, I saw a sign that pointed to a stronghold in the forest, and I'm planning to go there. I've studied physics for two years, so I could probably earn some money there, improving siege engines or something. And there's probably magic here, so they might use wizards in warfare. If there's one, he could send us back. If you're coming, would you mind carrying the breakfast basket? I'll carry the cat." He raised the arm holding the other basket a bit.
|
|
|
Post by Novalyyn on Dec 4, 2008 4:37:47 GMT -5
"Jeez, been awhile since I even saw the movies, let alone read the books," Brandi mumbled more to herself than anything. And it'd be pretty cool to meet Tom Bombadil... Kitty! Though she still listened, her attention turned mostly on the cat. As his words sank in, that quickly changed and she looked at him utterly confused.
"Uh, war? But..." As she tried to figure out what exactly it was she wanted to say, her hands moved back and forth, pointing in various directions that, really, made absolutely no sense. Of course, there wasn't anything it was supposed to mean anyway; it was pretty much just something to do. Her eyes finally went to the basket though, and her arms crossed before her once again as she stared. "Alright, so... hobbits gave you food, and now you're going to a stronghold to help them make war stuff, and you plan to find a wizard to send you, us, whatever, back... back... oh!" Her face lit up a bit. "Yeah, this isn't... erm, isn't home... But..."
Oh, screw it.
With a smile, Brandi took the basket offered, saying as she did, "Yeah, I can carry that... although, you give me the food basket, I will be eating. I'll try not to take too much or anything. Just, I don't get to just be hungry anymore, I get sick instead... and it sucks..."
|
|
Grimnebulin
Apprentice
King Lord Master of Space and Time! And Awesomes! Who gets free pie!
Posts: 85
|
Post by Grimnebulin on Dec 4, 2008 8:58:42 GMT -5
"That's OK, the hobbits gave me plenty of food. Try the ham, it's great." He handed the basket to her. "My name is Ramon, by the way." He started to walk towards the stronghold. "Anyway, it's probably thebest way toget home. We'll probably need money to get home, and lots of free time to find out what happened, and you can't have that as a medieval peasant. So, I'll just have to sell my knowledge." "Hey," he continued, "How did you get to here? Did you fell through a black orb, too?"
|
|
|
Post by Novalyyn on Dec 5, 2008 6:21:28 GMT -5
"Ramon, Ramon... So you said. Heh, I might actually remember that..." Brandi's free hand promptly stared rummaging around, completely ignoring the ham. Bread, that seemed good enough to munch on. Under normal circumstances, she'd had held out refusing to eat the stranger's food for as long as she could, but aside from being rather hungry, she was still trying to keep herself convinced that this was all just a dream.
After taking a bite, she asked, "Hm, orb?" She thought as she chewed, and nodded when she remembered. Swallowing, she said, "Yeah, I s'pose. Y'know, I don't think I've got any sell-able knowledge... Never took Physics, and I dropped outta, ah, Chemistry... Heh, made the mistake of sitting next to a talkative friend and I couldn't afford another F in the gradebook."
To help keep herself from rambling on, jumping from topic to topic as she tended to, she stuffed another bit of bread in her mouth. As she chewed, she figured it was as good a time as any to let him know, "By the way, if I get annoying, please just tell me to shut up. Seriously.
"But, what's with the black orb thing?"
|
|
|
Post by Da Pwny on Dec 7, 2008 20:40:58 GMT -5
Dumped unceremoniously in front of a fair-sized tent, Robert cautiously entered the confines of this new establishment. Once inside, his mouth gaped in awe; hung all around were decorative items of all kinds, from war pieces like shields and swords to jewelry and necklaces that looked far too expensive to even risk touching. The carpet was Oriental-rug-like, obviously expensive, and a sign hanging above written in an indecipherable language, the letters or whatever they were embossed in gold flake.
The rug wound around a central platform, where, sitting right in the middle of everything, Robert guessed was the head honcho. He didn't look like much; thinner than a railroad tie, and about half as tall, the big man looked actually a little scrawny. But his eyes... good lord, those sapphire eyes looked like they could drill a hole in solid steel with them alone. And for all he knew, maybe they could. His clothes, surprisingly enough, were rather simple, mostly in dark colors, but all of it rather common-looking. After he'd gone so far, the guard lady came in behind Robert, then stopped about a foot behind him and dropped abruptly in a practiced manner, seemingly almost bashing her forehead on her knee as she spoke "Forgive our lateness, m'Lord, but we had an... unexpected visitor."
Before Robert could do much more than continue looking around, one of his legs was yanked out from under him, forcing him down to one knee as well, though in a much more forceful fashion. That got the leader's attention quickly; after sitting quietly discussing things with an attendant, the man stated in a rough but mannerly voice that didn't match the body he inhabited "Arcarina, there is no need for such violence. Treat this one as a guest of honor, as we may finally have a breakthrough."
The elven woman who'd been addressed as Arcarina looked up abruptly, but was stifled from whatever she was going to say by a hand. "Stand, young man. I believe a quick explanation of your misadventure would be appropriate right now." Staring for a moment longer, Robert finally replied "Oh, right. Well..."
Several minutes later, after finally finishing his part of the story, Robert kinda stood back a bit, unsure of what to do as the bandit chief mused for a few minutes. Finally, the man spoke again in that off-beat voice of his "Interesting... I never would have thought such things could happen. Perhaps... no, that's not possible. But... hmm..." Consulting an attendant, the man finally stood and introduced himself "Son of Man, my name is Kae'Trine, chief bandit of this tribe. I officially welcome you as a guest of honor among us, Robert the Outworlder. If you would like, there are room facilities that you may use at your convenience, or you can wash up anytime, though before dinner would be nice. Forgive my second-hand if she was harsh with you, but these times make all of our kind a bit more edgy than usual. I'm sure you two will... warm up, if you will, as will the others. Again, welcome."
Taking a slight bow, Kae'Trine left, two attendants following him as Robert stood there in a fair amount of confusion. The elf man-chick-girl-whatever glared at him, and then back to the one she was supposed to be guarding, growling under her breath "Still don't trust human, but you live for today longer. Follow."
|
|
|
Post by The Mammoth on Dec 11, 2008 0:54:20 GMT -5
So now that he had a goal, John was sent to find himself some armor from the smith. With a small symbol bearing the Paladin's code of arms, he was able to convince the Blacksmith, who spoke in a scottish accent, much to John's amusement, to craft him some armor.
The sun was beginning to fall, and the camp was starting to calm down, most guards turning in for the night. As the blacksmith took measure of John, he began hammering away.
"A'ight boy'o, It'll be ready by 'awn... Jus' in tiyme fer ya fun wit ya paladin friend." (misspellings intentional for accent sound)
"Thanks..."
John walked outside the blacksmith's makeshift shop, looking around in the middle of the camp for something to occupy his time. After all that had occurred today, there was no chance he was getting any sleep. As he was walking toward the center of the camp, the soldier from before, the one whom had punched him in the stomach, and nearly sliced him in two, approached him. John stopped walking, preparing himself for a confrontation now that the sun was down. Surprisingly, however, the soldier invited John to drink with them in one of the garrison tents.
Apparently, John's bravery, or foolishness, had impressed them. So, as the night began to grow darker, John and the soldiers got drunk.
Once he was intoxicated enough that he figured it was best he stopped drinking, John stumbled laughing out of the tent. He fell to the ground, face planting in the dust of the camp. He looked around for Bhuvan, who had seemingly disappeared since the last meeting. Eventually, he gave up on finding him, and fell asleep in the dirt...
About two hour later he woke up, the soldiers from the tent had apparently dragged him inside, because he was on a cot in the tent. The others were asleep. As usual, John woke up after a short nap. He could never sleep a full night when he was drunk. So, somewhat improved over a nice nap, he staggered out of the tent, walking slowly, but not stumbling. As he looked out the gate, by the two guards, he could swear he saw someone, or maybe someones, walking in the distance.....
|
|
|
Post by knightc3 on Dec 11, 2008 3:07:29 GMT -5
The cavalry unit escorting them was a bit perplexed as to why the suspected spy was travelling with Ashgar and with orders from Sudra! Bhuvan was a bit uncomfortable with the notion that now his 'plan' was looking like it would be used in the assault. Why didn't he just move away from the bloody tent to get some bloody food earlier? Noo, he had to go in didn't he!
He was not used to riding a horse. In fact he had never been on the back of one before. It seemed easy enough though. He even liked it, or he was when their horses were running across the paths leaving the camp and the dust behind.
Ashgar was a bit surprised as to how quickly Bhuvan had got used to the horse. He looked like a rider who had been riding for a long time. Maybe there was some truth to this 'prophecy' after all. He was leading the group and slowed down at a few places and looked back at Bhuvan. He found him look about him intently but his face giving away nothing. Ashgar turned back on the horse and smiled to himself. He will find out soon enough how many of these places he recognized to be useful.
Bhuvan was looking up at one point, specifically at the tall trees a few feet into the forest beside the rough path they were on. He looked around, his mind forgetting his hunger for the moment as he spoke, "Go slow for a while." He asked Ashgar a few questions as the horses strolled casually on the dusty path. How many soldiers did they have? What kind of units were available?
"So how far is the stronghold?"
Ashgar smiled and rode off faster on his horse. Bhuvan and the others followed. He stopped the horse and they entered the forest. After about half an hour he slowed down considerably, looking around for signs of scouts as he approached carefully. And then there were looking at it. "Whoa...", Bhuvan uttered as he gaped at the stronghold. Oh yeah, a full frontal attack would be suicide.
|
|