Fleeing a pair of newly arisen and vengful gods,
a contingent of keepers of the old faith have fled across a sea and found themselves
stranded in hostile wilderness. Beset on all sides the exile colony struggles to maintain its
foothold in the new lands. Times are hard but the colony is slowly starting to flourish,
however, the threat of the living gods continues to lurk ever present on the horizon.
| A New Beginning; The great war and now | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: November 15 2017, 07:52 PM (61 Views) | |
| Twokgoddess | November 15 2017, 07:52 PM Post #1 |
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The old game ended with an apocalyptic war. A year’s long realm wide storyline that pitted medieval characters against Borg like scouting parties ended in a full out invasion. Many players wanted to see what happened… and how things are now on Kystrel The Heavens The skirmishes with the Ex-Machina had become far more than a few isolated unwelcome visitors that the residents of the realm were able to deal with. For years the gods had watched from afar, resolute in their decision to not interfere, to let the lands citizen deal with the occasional scouting party. The multitude of ships showing up on the horizon had rapidly changed their thought process. This was not an issue that the realms occupants could swat away, this was a full invasion of their realm, and while the gods concern was great for their realm… it was even greater for their followers, as without them, the gods would not exist. Emerald came up with the alternate realm, her hands moving faster than her thoughts as the new realm was woven into existence, by the time the feet of the gods hit the dirt to engage the enemy the world, sea and land had been formed for Ravenera, each god ripped open portals and literally pushed, shoved and in some cases picked up and threw their stubborn followers through to a safer place. The plan was to land their followers in the underground city where they would be sheltered and mostly safe. Even the best laid plans go awry when interrupted and Emerald was interrupted. One foolish ex-machina had thought the pretty blonde to be an easy target. His attack managed to distract Emerald, landing the Realms citizens in odd places, beaches, the water and deep forests instead of the safety of the underground city. The exmachina was gutted for his efforts as Emerald shoved her quarter staff down his throat and lit off a chain lightening spell that fried him as well as his six backups before the goddess moved to land where the battle was raging. The war going on before her was staggering, magic spells mixing with modern weapons lit the sky, reflecting off the thick clouds of smoke from burning cities and woodlands. A few of the Realms citizens still stood, their own gods not willing to face their wrath to hurl them through the portals. Another few, chosen and allowed by the gods to stay and fight by their sides. Ishta Jasper, Peridot and Chalcedony had joined forces within the land once known as Ishta. Jasper was in his glory was the god of war cleaving through endless masses of Mechanized warriors all the while laughing and taunting them with their lack of skill. Chalcedony for once was not attempting to reign in Jasper, and instead was joining him in his blood thirsty rage against the machines, the two gods truly appeared as twins, moving in tandem their skills matched as they tore through armies of the invaders. Peridot remained behind them, healing them as necessary. When the 20th army arrived, beaming down from whatever ship was over head, she’d had enough, her left hand lifted toward the sky, in an instant her hand began to glow, the clouds and even smoke cleared a path for a single sunbeam to came down and touch her palm. The single beam grew in size, from thin as a pencil to encompassing a twenty-five-foot area around the goddess, Jasper and Chalcedony took notice and dove for cover, absorbing into the ground beneath their feet milliseconds before the goddess raised her right hand and pointed to the invading ship. The fire ball that was released towards the ship had harnessed the actual strength of the worlds sun and blew the ship apart on impact, the violent explosion of that ship taking out three others with it. Burning metal rained down on the troops on the ground, the explosion so large the largest piece of falling metal was merely the size of a kobold’s palm. Even as the ground troops dealt with fire raining down upon them, Period still was harnessing the suns strength and waved her right hand in a circular motion then pushed out with her palm. A wall of flames a hundred feet tall sprung up around the goddess then pushed out, burning through the invading armies and leaving twisted charred lifeless mounds where thousands of invaders once stood. Jasper and Chalcedony rematerialized behind Peridot as the flames continued moving outward. Jasper snorted and shook his head in disgust “You took the easy way Perri—it’s much more satisfying to kill them hand to…” his words were cut off by Chalcedony clamping a hand over his mouth and muttering at him “Save your life and shut up... don’t piss her off even more” Nippon The gods in Nippon were not giving the invaders a chance upon their lands. Their lands, always quiet and well-ordered was infested with the mechanized warriors, the fools apparently taking the quiet nation as an easy mark with little capability for resistance. Nippon had a well kept secret and as the invaders flew in, their own air force launched to meet them. One nation’s limited air force verses an invading army of space traveling mechanized warriors was an uneven battle even on the best of days. However the Nipponese air force fought their hearts out in the air, as their numbers grew scant and their ammunition ran out the remaining pilots steered their planes into the ships of the invading force, sacrificing their own lives to take out the larger ships that were transporting troops into their beloved country. As the airforce depleted itself the gods for the island nation were already on the ground Shina-to-be, Bishamon and Amaterasu had split up to the North, East and West of the lands, while Nai-No-Kami claimed the central part of the large island Susa-No-Wu taking the southernmost portion. Skillfully the invaders were driven to the very center of the island herded like sheep by spell and brute strength to the domain of Nai-No-Kami. By the time the invaders came face to face with the god of earthquakes, it was far too late. The ground beneath their feet roared and rose thirty feet in the air as the god raised his hands together as if in prayer, as his palms separated as they reached the level of his face, the earth ripped apart violent earth quakes rocked the lands making the ground beneath everyone’s ripple, shift and buck. The screams of tortured souls were heard as the army of warriors plunged into the heat of hell, melting into morbid pillars in the hall of the Susa-No-Wo’s castle. As Nai-No-Kami brought his hands back together to seal the realm of hell once more the ground heaved and the quake from the land crashing back together was felt around the world, all man-made buildings crumbling to the ground as well as several mountains. Tsunami’s rose out of the oceans swamping the coastlines and drowning the water vessels the Ex-machina had deployed around the world. With a shrug Bishamon lifted his jug of sake and took a swig before passing it around to the others. United Islands of Mandrake “Don’t even think it old man” Stevanie felt the hand on the collar of her shirt seconds after the portal ripped open before her. The hand on her collar was most familiar, friend and foe, father and creator she twisted out of his grip and leveled an emerald glare at Maliki who stood behind her, flanked by Giz and Jarek. “Someone has to watch over them and keep them from killing themselves or each other” His familiar voice had deepened, “Then send Hematite if you have to send someone this was what you made me for, not for babysitting!” For a moment the elder god thought about it: Keep the evil god of war and strength to fight by his side… or the evil goddess of Death and Destruction. There was in truth no contest in his mind for women were inherently far more evil and more vicious than men. The one standing before him was indeed made for creating death and mayhem. More to the point, as his creation, she was blindly loyal to him and would not seek to raise her position by killing him off as Hematite might. She might kill him just because the mood struck her but not for his position. Even as Hematite protested Maliki nodded ever so slightly to his backups and Jarek and Giz shoved the still protesting deity through the portal into Ravenera to watch over the realms citizens. As the portal sealed behind the still protesting god, his fingers snapped and the ornate choker that had encircled Stevanie’s neck for so many centuries unlocked. As the small padlock fell from the clasp to the ground a trail of dark shimmering mana followed it. In an instant the expression on her face altered, to one of absolute childish glee. The smile on her face only widening as a battalion of exmachina came into view. In less time than it took to draw a full breath, she unleashed. Wings sprouting from her back, horns from the top of her head, there was no display of pyrotechnics from her, instead she dove into the center of the battalion, sword drawn and in short order had proven the title of Death and Destruction to be accurate as a swing of only one of her swords lopped the heads off of three of the warriors, sending blood spraying like a fountain as her others sword tore through a forth soldiers torso, slicing from pelvis to collar bone a childish giggle passing her lips as the rotting guts of the mechanized warrior spilled across the ground before him. “She’s fucking Carnelia?!? Oh hell… that makes you Malachite” Craig’s presence might have been unexpected but there was no change in Maliki’s expression or tone at the mention of the name most mortals knew him as, he did offer the highlander a small piece of advice that might or might not save his life as Craig never was one to listen to warnings. “Say that name a little louder, you’ll be next on her list, she hates it.” As more troops moved in through the small chain of islands he motioned to Jarek and Giz with a jerk of his head. “You’re on Trafalgar. Save what you can of the port and town, don’t leave one of these things alive. No sooner had he spoken than the two would fade out and find themselves in the center of the port city, which was overrun with the exmachina footmen. Drawing weapons the two constructs fought their way to the port where several ships had docked offloading supplies and re-enforcements. These two constructs had fought the exmachina on many prior occasions, attacks were meant to disarm, their laser guns confiscated, set to explode them tossed onto ships to blow up destroying the supply line and sinking two of the ships in the process. Back on Mandrake Maliki finally looked at Craig “You can go with them, or stay here and fight and hope she recognizes you as friend… instead of foe.” As a legion of the mechanized soldiers approached a dismissive wave of Maliki’s hand knocked them down like a set of dominos stacked in lines. “Trafalgar, something tells me you two have this island covered” no sooner did the words leave his lips than Craig would find himself six deep in a battle on the smaller island. It didn’t take long for Craig to figure out what the pair was doing. The guns he confiscated, set to explode and thrown to the center of the soldiers already on the streets of Trafalgar. Giz, Jarek and Craig were in the fight of their careers yet were managing to hold their own for the moment. Neither of these two islands were firing off spells, the sounds of clashing steel, crumbling buildings and modern weapon explosions filled the air. Smoke rose from the sinking ships, buildings burned from the exmachina lighting them on fire. And then for just a moment, the sun broke through the clouds and smoke, illuminating the winged woman, Airborne she was engaged with three of their flying soldiers, and seemed to not only be winning but to be utterly enjoying herself. It was then that a bright beam of light came through the closest smoke bank. The beam striking the woman in the center of her back, sending her plummeting to the ground to land in a crumpled heap at Maliki’s feet. The beam had blasted straight through her chest leaving Maliki able to see the grass that she laid upon, by looking through her chest cavity. “Now you have pissed me off”. The words were softly spoken, but the growling fury in them vibrated the ground and they carried them to the other island and into the ears of the men who knew some of what Maliki was capable of. Almost in unison the trio dove off the dock they were fighting on and into the water. Milliseconds later the blast of pure force of the gods temper exploding shattered the buildings on both islands and collapsed the dock down into the water as well. As the three men held their breath beneath the water and looked up towards the water’s surface they realized the first blast was no were near the end of Maliki’s rage. As they watched from partial safety beneath the water they could see sheets of fire skimming over the surface of the water, the flames burning blue from the heat of Malachite’s rage. Mixed with the blue flames, large jagged bolts of lightning wove, spreading out and striking any living being above the waterline. It seemed as soon as the flames paused was when hell truly broke loose for the trio. The water surrounding them sucked out to sea, dragging them nearly to Cormyr’s shores before they became stuck in the thick mud that had lined the bay. Stuck to mid-thigh they could do nothing as a roar came to their ears. The tsunami released by the Nipponese gods had reached the mainland. Rising over 100 feet from the floor of the bay it rushed in, swamping the three men, the incredible strength of the wave pulling them out of the thick mud and muck, and despite the constructs heavy weight, pulling them up into the wave as it crashed upon the shore of the mainland. The men were lifted over tree tops, city walls and then crashed down bouncing the three men off buildings, trees and boulders as the wave carried them further and further inland. When it finally began to recede, Craig would find himself hanging onto a large rock, that at one point had been part of a mountain that should have been several thousand feet higher than what it currently was. Giz and Jarek would find themselves over a mile further inland than Craig, the wave slamming them down into a wall of rock. Tumbling down the rock they would land in a ravine currently overflowing with water. As the wave receded, so would the water, leaving the two battered warriors behind. Cormyr Taking to the air As the first troops approached the city by air, sea and ground Ky would find himself snatched out of bed and drug from his room, he had a perfect view of a pair of magic boots moving at lightning speed. When they came to a stop he would manage to get his feet under him just in time for a wall before him to light up and open. With a light shove Ky would find himself in a room that was lined with metal tables that glowed with various dials, meters and digital read outs. Ilmarinen did not have time for long conversations or detailed instructions. The orders were barked at Ky “Listen to your crew, figure it out… and DO NOT destroy it! Open season... no bag limit. Now get it off the ground while you can!” Before Ky could figure out what in the nine hells the King was speaking of the wall closed between them and another opened on the far side of the room, revealing a small army of tinker gnomes who were all grinning and rubbing their hands together in anticipation. “Up up and away! Yeeeeeehahhhhh! It’s happening we are going up! Ok this is the gas… these are guns… Glimmt to NOT push that button!!” It seemed each gnome was talking to Kai all at once each explaining in his or her own way, what lay ahead. Meanwhile In the mountain ranges above Cormyr the sound of battle woke the sleeping dragon Jenellies. Sounded like her humans were mad at each other again. The dragon rolled out of her nest and stretched and shook herself before lumbering towards the door. It was or they were once again fighting with the metal men. Peeking her head out of her cave she blinked. “Oh hell”, it was a good thing none of her little mortals were around, as Jenellies had them convinced she was a kind-hearted airhead, whose lips couldn’t form let alone utter a curse. The dragon watched the sheer volume of invaders streaming into the city below her, coming by air, sea and land. As she watched the ground started to shake, huge cracks appearing within the walls of her cave and spreading out racing down the side of the mountain. Teleport was an awesome spell in her arsenal and in a few seconds time she was standing in the center of the city, once more polymorphed to look like a elf. Not even had she been there a second when something heavy struck her in the back of the head. Had she been an elf, instead of a hard-headed dragon she likely would have died from the blow, instead she whipped around and grabbed the exmachina by the throat lifting him off the ground while throttling and shaking him. “Boy I will eat you and pick your flesh out of my teeth with your spine!” “First time I have every heard you sound like a dragon. Yet your still cloaked as an elf.” The comment came from the half dragon that hung out near the human city. A distinct thud was heard as Kalthariam threw a few dead exmachina he’d been carrying at an oncoming small army of them. Scoring a direct hit, the first six fell like bowling pins. To their left the castle doors swung open, the King emerging dressed for battle himself. He paused seeing the two polymorphed dragons, then pointed to them and up to the air. Message received, in tandem the two morphed into their dragon forms, Wings spread they took to the sky, a hundred feet up Kalthariam would feel a jolt and then a rush of power unlike anything he’d felt before. A glance to the ground in the direction the jolt came from would see a soft golden ray emerging from the kings’ hand aimed straight at him. And the whole city below him suddenly seemed a lot smaller. The spell even had Jenellies making a mental note to learn it from the king when this was over… whatever it was had turned the normal sized half dragon into the size of a elder Amethyst dragon. Time would tell if it would last, or fade as most spells do. Acting as each other’s wing man the two dragons attacked the smaller airships with breath weapons and spells, then realized swatting them out of the air with their tails was far more effective as the ships would spiral out of control and crash into the ground killing exmachina ground troops as a bonus. As they left each other’s side to pursue ships fleeing from them, a large roar was heard from the ground, a deafening boom and then the main tower part of the castle shot straight up in between them leaving both dragons blinking and hovering in midair momentarily trying to wrap their brains around flying castles. Inside the tower Ky was plastered into his seat unable to lift his head, the small army of tinker gnomes pinned to the wall behind him. Glimmt had pushed the button after being told not to and the whole damn main spire of the castle had literally launched itself as if thrown by a catapult manned by the gods themselves. A hum and click was heard a moment later, the two smaller towers on that had once decorated the city’s front gate had lifted off as well, joined with the main tower and created Cormyr’s own war ship, once the ‘wings’ were on the main tower its speed leveled out allowing Ky to lift his head and wrap a hand around the contraption one gnome had called a “stick” it was made out of an odd material wrapped around what felt like metal and had odd wires that ran into the arm of his chair. Directly before him had been a window it had grown and was now covered in glass offering a perfect view screen to the outside world and through it Ky could clearly see that they were aimed at one of the huge troop transport ships that kept sending troops down to the ground. Right ahead of them. Hells bells they were going to crash into it!! Bracing himself for impact his hand wrapped tighter around that stick, by accident or Devine intervention his thumb depressed a red button, lightening arched out from the tip of the tower and the transport ship exploded mere seconds before impact, pelting the tower with metal and fire but doing far less damage then the impact would have. For just a second Ky could hear the echo of the King’s words in his head “DO NOT destroy it” then excitement coursed through his veins blocked out the kings final warning. “OH HELLS YES!! Fire power!! Bring it on metal heads I got something for you!” It seemed that would forever more be the battle cry of the tinker gnomes as each gnome repeated the call and found their work station to man the ship. In short order the dragons realized the tower was a flying ship and closed in to protect it and help destroy the flying airships of the exmachina. Ground war On the ground the battle was raging City guard, Ilmarinen, Derek Daeton, Topaz, Catshifter and Emerald fighting together and cleaving their way through what seemed endless battalions of the machines that seemed to multiply faster than roaches in a greasy kitchen. For hours spell after spell left Ilmarinen’s finger tips, igniting, blowing up and electrocuting mass numbers of the troops. The other gods could tell he was beyond tired the mortal Catshifter would notice only when the façade of Ilmarinen cracked, and the Goddess Amethyst stood in his place. As the goddess no longer had the power to hold onto the form she had adopted so many years before. That momentary distraction was all it took, an exmachina took advantage of the break in Sharif’s concentration and struck hard, knocking the weapon from his hand and leaving him backing away with no way to parry the continuing blows. From behind him Sharriff heard a shrill while and the call “right up” trusting the call his right arm shot up and his fingers wrapped around the hilt of a sword that had been tossed to him. Once his hand wound around the hilt fully the world tilted for the shapeshifter, an odd buzz filling his ears and a shock of pure power jolted up his arm then raced through his entire body, dazed from the jolt for a moment it was as if he stood outside himself watching as his arm came down, the sword arching through the air, the etched name Cormyr in Elvin he could see from the reflection of the lightning bolts the gods were throwing around like rice at a wedding. Mentally he braced for it, legend had it that anyone but the king who wielded the sword the sword would attack, instead the blade sliced through his opponent like a hot blade through soft butter, cleaving the exmachina in half neatly. Blinking Sharif came back into himself just as another opponent presented himself, with no hesitation the sword performed its job, not once injuring the man wielding it. In fact, once when it seemed Catshifter made a near fatal mistake stumbling and falling with the sword between him and the ground, sure to cleave his chest in half on impact, the sword tucked itself away in his hilt instead of harming him. The battle raged on, through earthquakes, tsunami’s and crashing star ships that had been beaten by Ky and the dragons. By the end… there was not much left of the world. Every city had collapsed. The lands themselves had altered from the earthquakes and waves. What were once thick healthy forests were now burned to a crisp, the ground covered in ash, barely an animal to be found nothing green was spotted. Death and destruction now took the place of what was once a mostly green healthy world. Ky had managed to land the towers back where the main tower once stood. Pock marked and cracked from extensive fighting the towers looked horrible, like ruins instead of the once majestic architecture they used to be. As he and the dragons approached where the gods and Sharif stood, surveying the land around them a sharp crack was heard and Amethyst splintered apart. The goddess had been standing there but after the crack, she broke apart into what seemed thousands of small sparkling lights. The sparkles slowly sank to the ground and disappeared. “What the hell just happened?” Ky’s voice would be the one that broke the shocked silence. “She exhausted herself. When the world was created… it created Amethyst” Derek was the one to answer, while tucking his bow onto his back. “The world regenerates her… she is the mana that flows in this realm. The world is screwed up, not generating new energy to sustain her… so she fell apart.” “She’s dead?” that horrified whisper came from Jenellies. “Not dead... just not capable of doing anything but riding the few ions of mana that still float through the air. As the world heals she will as well. Watch her realm “His hand would gesture to the towers Ky had flown into battle. “As she heals, they will heal themselves. They are her realm, her home, her safety.” With a nod, Derek turned and walked away, going to check on his own family and likely face a son who was still pissed as hell since Derek had heaved him through a portal for his own good. Sharif would gently clear his throat, and offer the sword he’d fought a large portion of the battle with to his goddess Emerald “When you next see him… ahh make that her… could you please return this for me? And thank her for me?” Emerald merely shook her head and smiled “She chose you… the sword accepted you. It is yours to guard and keep. Take good care of it… for it shall let you know when the lands have recovered… enough.” One by one the gods would leave. Returning to their homes to rest, their devoted followers who had helped so much each left with a parting gift. The mortal survivors would band together, making shelter out of scraps, starting from scratch and slowly rebuilding their lives as the land beneath their feet ever so slowly recovered. Sharif would hide the sword of Cormyr. Trying to keep it safe until his king returned. 150 years later he would feel a soft hum, calling to him. Growing more insistent until Sharif returned to the sword as he lifted the sword from its hiding spot he would notice the hilt now ornately engraved with the image of a fighting lion.. as he turned the sword over the elvin script down the side of the blade no longer bore the name of the dead city Cormyr… in its place, in bold elegant script was the future…. Edited by Twokgoddess, November 15 2017, 08:05 PM.
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1:44 AM Jul 13