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| Author | The journal of a mediocre knight |
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23rd of morning star,13th of the century.
1
A good death is a sudden occurrence, the best one is with a sword in the hand and honour in your heart. It is eminent; there is no running away and deceiving it. It is the ultimate truth of the life. I nearly experienced it. And, I am in a dilemma, that should I be grateful to the twin gods to spare my life or be lamenting due to what I have been through? I have been in many bloody battles, even fled for my life sometimes. But never experienced the death this way. As I had learned about it. I have decided to maintain a journal to tell about my life to my kin(If I ever have any),my family, to whomever it can be of assistance. If I ever fall prey to this horseman of apocalypse.
I was at the capital, when the griffin arrived with a mail to the outpost. I was anticipating it, for, the intense and horrific sound of volcanic eruption from the seraph’s tear was heard all over the kingdom. The mail was from my father Daniel, the first of his name, the undead, a valiant warrior, and a dexterous caravan raider. He was my foster father, he found me in a the ruins of a caravan among the corpses, he used to be a ruthless killer, but, that infant crying and puking among the corpses was the first thing in the world he could not kill. He considered that sudden feeling of mercy as a higher call. A blessing from the twin gods. He took me in since then. My childhood was a happy period. It was neither too ordinary nor too queer. He took in more orphans since then, I was his first and the eldest. My sweet little sister Kiz used to say , “If undead possessed a heart, father would have the biggest of all of them!!”.
Councilor Bilir mentioned in his book ‘The insight to human anatomy’ that “A heart is just an organ which is used to pump blood.” Many common folk considered this statement as blasphemy. But thanks to father, I knew the true essence of this right away. The goodness comes from the soul and not an organ of the body. For, all the living would have been here to preach love and compassion. My sweet little sister, my brother, my family..I always get carried away by their thoughts. Since, I have not seen any of them since we came to the foreign land.
The mail said,
“My dear son Arpit,
You always persuaded me to keep this griffin to call upon you immediately in the times of peril. I always resented. There was no other way to convey this message to you any sooner. My servants always had trouble petting this winged creature. But you had insight! You are a valiant warrior, and have sharp instincts! You proved to me you have a vigour and vitality of being the head of the family after me. I can rely on you.
The wrath of Twin Gods is upon us! And it comes from the depths of the earths and from the zeniths of the sky!! The lava is starting to consume our lands.I need you to take some of your men and ‘essential’ belongings and travel with your siblings to misty coast with much haste. I am needed here in seraph’s stronghold and will find a way to reach misty coast, but, I won’t make any promises. Do not look up for me when the time comes and you are supposed to run to the sea!!
Love,
Dan.”
I was grief stricken. I felt numb, a feeling which was uncommon to me. Before I could even put myself together, my steward cried, “My lord! The griffin died!!”
Now I came to know what father meant by ‘the wrath from the zenith’. I instructed one of my griffin riders,”Ride to the north-east. Look for anything unusual in the sky. Only observe,and that too from a distance if you don’t want to come to the same fate as the poor creature, as soon as you find something you ought to report it to me.”
I had instructed my steward Alvor to send a griffin to my sister in east bay and to my brother speed in the capital itself. Then I again called Alvor,and said to him “Send someone to ride on a horse to east bay with the message.”.Alvor asked me in astonishment, “The griffin has not departed yet, I can give your | other message to the griffin rider as well.” “No, I want the same message to be sent through land route.”, said I in a subtle manner. Alvor has been my steward since a long time. And, he is accustomed of times when I get anxious. He did as he was required to do.
Meanwhile the griffin rider was performing his errands Alvor approached me in a concerned manner, ‘My Lord, the residents of your holdfast are growing restless in the situation of immense torment. You need to address them, tell them what you have thought for their well-being?’ .’Nothing’ ,I replied abruptly. I couldn’t care about anything other than the safety of my siblings. But I came to my senses soon and realised this was the time for me to take new responsibilities and fulfill the older ones, and I called for Alvor,”Tell all the farmers to take provisions, some gold, some artifacts, enough to thrive throughout their journey but ,not to slow them down and travel to misty coast. Send the troops with them, but spare some for the castle.”
I was about to send for someone from my military clan, at the very moment I was startled by the entry of my brother’s steward Talen-ei, the dark elf, he came here in a haste. And he took his time to catch his breath. I did not expect he would send his personal steward to reply to my messages. I grew suspicious, and asked in a critical tone, “Welcome Talen-ei. Pardon my hospitality. As you can see whole capital is in the state of commotion since the eruption. What news do you bring of my brother? .”My lord and your brother, lord speed..” said he, still struggling to catch his breath, “… is nowhere to be found…”
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https://www.lordswm.com/forum_messages.php?tid=1970504 | “What do you wish to infer??”, said I in a grave manner. “My lord, as you are familiar with your brother’s fondness to venture in the wild for weeks and hunt for creatures, he is often withdrawn from capital for weeks and returns at his own will.”, replied the steward with much haste. “But there are some duties solely meant to be performed by the lord of the holdfast, what measures do you take in the time of his absence?”, said Alvor in an inquisitive manner.” “Well, I reckon that my lord was very determined that it shall not revealed to anybody else”,said talen-ei with a sudden subtle smile on his face, “He always told me the whereabouts of the landscape where he would hunt. Whenever his presence was imperatively required, he instructed me to send griffin riders in that region flying under the banners of a dragon sigil.”,concluded he in a proud manner.
I was not surprised by the reference of the dragon sigil. I seem to recall that Speed was obsessed of dragons. To the extent , that he almost got bankrupt in efforts to capture a dragon for himself in ridge of hope. Alas! He never succeeded. Either the dragon would rather fight to it’s death than being a slave or it shall fly away the moment it would sense the troops approaching. He even made himself a sigil. A golden dragon on saffron colours. He meant to infer that a dragon is flying through flames which had engulfed it’s enemies. He always wanted to assign it as the family sigil. Father and I never approved of it. We did not despised the creature, but they always struck terror in our hearts. I remember the caravans who were escorted by the dragons and how they had destroyed the will of many thieves. According to father, a family sigil was supposed to be a symbol that would characterise the whole kin. The only quality mutual in the family of a necromancer with his 3 human children was that we all were thieves. And dragon was not a creature who would describe a family of thieves.
“I presume , he must have informed you about the venue of his hunting activities?”, I asked in a pale manner. “Yes he did! He said he wished to hunt lizard cubs in blooming glade. I had sent the griffins but I wonder why they never returned?”. “I don’t”, said I gesturing towards the decomposing body of the messenger griffin. “I need you to get those banners for me and move with haste!!”. “I shall do precisely as you ask of me my lord.”,talen-ei spoke with panache and departed to run his errand.
“My brother’s life is in peril”, I said in a hush tone. “My lord, you know your brother is very passionate towards his ‘hunting’ activities. He gets too absorbed in them. It may be one of those times when he could not get enough of the thrill of raiding caravans.” Yes. Speed was withdrawn from his home for weeks, because he was fond of ‘hunting’ caravans on the outskirt routes of districts. And yes, Alvor knew all about mine ,and his activities in search of the thrill. Many members of the thieves’ guild were the elite and the respected lords of the kingdom. They won’t disclose their activities to anybody, because of the risk of dishonour it may bring to them and to their family name. They won’t do it for the money, but for the thrill, since, it was unparalleled. Alvor was with me from the time I had petted griffins in my holdfast. He knew much more than the talen-ei who regarded himself as the most trustworthy person to his lord. “He may be a passionate thief but yet he is a lord whose allegiance like everybody else lies to Her Majesty. He always stood up when the crown needed him. He won’t retreat and hide into woods now.”, I spoke in a concerned yet firm tone to show belief in my brother, “I shall pay a visit to the lads at the drunken mole, by then, I want you and some of our men to hit every tavern, every inn, every marketplace in this capital and spread the word that our homeland is facing the wrath of the Gods and misty coast is the only safe haven left.” “Did it not occur to you my lord th | “Did it not occur to you my lord that we should approach to Her Majesty if this news is that vital?”, Alvor inquired curiously. “What shall I say to Her Majesty ?That she should command all her subjects to abandon their homes, farms, and belongings to take refuge in misty coast because my father regards it as the most competent thing to do?”, I answered immediately. “But what shall I do if anybody of us gets caught by the patrol for spreading rumours?”,asked Alvor. “A rumour spreads faster than a forest fire. Put the blame on another person told you this, once a rumor is spread, it is an endless web or pretend to be a drunkard who drank too much ale and now is muttering senseless things. I require of you to complete this task by all means. I believe in my father and if lives could be saved, then we should not hesitate to do it.”, I looked out of the window and screamed, “Klimmek! Come here with the rest of the lads. I need you to assist Alvor in a task.”, then I turned to Alvor and said in a calm tone, “I shall head for drunken mole. Make sure you spread the word.”
The drunken mole was an underground tavern in the capital. Mostly popular among the thieves and petty middlemen. I was anticipating a state of commotion. Thieves and thugs running around ,trading their goods for provisions due to sudden occurrence of events. But on the contrary, all the attention of the visitors was concentrated at two places. The bar and the table set near the wall opposite to the bar. Many suspected that the volcanic eruption was the first sign of the end of the world and they wished to leave this world with bellyful of ale. The other one was just a caped man, lean build, middle heighted, a body which is not capable to wield a sword and win a combat, he came up with interesting merchandise. By the bar, an elf and a dark elf were getting involved into an amusing argument. “What you two elves are conspiring about??”,said I with a subtle smile on reunion with my two very good friends, and brother-in-arms, Baweja and Ishan. | “There he is!! The undead!! Finally peeped out of his coffin!!” ,said Baweja, an elf with a lean and tall build. “Weird occurrences are taking place today. First the eruption and now Arpit’s arrival in the mole.”,chuckled ishan. “You are yourselves a rare sight here. What made you come out of the caves??”, inquired I in a cheeky manner. “Hey Vekel!!Get my lad here a tankard of mead”, said Ishan, “I just stopped by to know the word around the town. Are you aware that the lava of the volcano is spreading throughout the empire .Seraph’s tear is engulfed in lava. Her Majesty has decided to stop it by building a wall around east bay.” “You see that man over there? The one in the cape, selling all those tactician arts? I can’t help but wonder how he got his hands on all that fancy merchandise? A week before he was broke and offering his services for a fishing job! A fishing job!!,said Baweja suddenly in a light manner, “So,what brings you here?” “I was wondering if any of you came across my brother in any time about a month ago?” ,said I in a critical tone. “Yes! I met him a week ago in a tavern in the glade. In addition to it,I saw him talking and leaving with that caped man”,replied Baweja. “My brother is missing and I have reasons to suspect that he is in a grave danger. I need to have a word with this man.”, I informed them and told them to pay heed to my conversation and man the two doors of this tavern.
I approached the caped man, he was surrounded by the crowd of people. I managed to get through the crowd. I asked in a merry manner, “Look at all these magnificent tactician arts, are they for sell?”. “Yes J’zargo here to sell you these arts in cheap price. See this shield, only 26000 gold.”,he replied in a hush and queer accent. So our caped crusader was a dark elf, as I deducted it from the ring they give to the minions of the dominix, the late ruler of dark elves ,and his name was J’zargo. “So I hear you are very skilled at the fishing jobs, I have one for you. It has a lot of gold involved”, I persuaded, in order to convince him to get him out of the crowd in a solitary place, where I can extract every news he has of my brother. “J’zargo very good at trapping people by planting evidence in their pocket for any theft. But J’zargo got lots of artifacts to sell.” In my mind I was convinced about the fact that J’zargo was involved in Speed’s disappearance, I had an urge to gut my dagger in his stomach at that very moment but I kept my weapon sheathed, but alas I could not do the same with my mouth and I screamed at him, “Just like you trapped my brother!!”. For a moment, every activity in the tavern was stopped and all the eyes were on us.I could not believe I ran out of patience. Me, a thief who got 5 artifacts from the thief leader, who could stay still and wait for hours for a caravan to appear,lost his control! What have I done??!! J’zargo sensed the danger as I clearly saw his startled eyes staring at me, and he turned the table on me and ran. The crowd leapt in to get the tactician arts lying on the ground. I had a great deal of trouble to get out of the crowd. Ishan and Baweja were already busy chasing him. I screamed with all my might, “Stop that man!!”, J’zargo was approaching the exit of the tavern, but suddenly someone intercepted by a bash of tower shield on his head. J’zargo went unconscious at that very moment and there stood Niranjan in his normal self and getting hold of his shield. “Finally! Arpit I can recognize your voice from far behind.” “I owe you Niranjan. This man has a great part in the scheme of putting my brother’s life in danger and he nearly slipped away from me.”, said I with a feeling of gratitude. | J’zargo was blindfolded and was escorted to my castle. I briefed my colleagues about the situation. After a few minutes J’zargo regained consciousness. “If J’zargo won’t speak now then, his head would be on that pike!! Surely J’zargo would hate that!”, said I in an attempt to intimidate him. “What you did to my brother? Where is he?? You shall speak or get beheaded!!”.J’zargo finally broke, “J’zargo will tell you everything! A one-horned demon paid J’zargo to lure your brother into an ambush, such that he could capture him and sacrifice him!!”, said he.”Why him?Where did they take him??”. “J’zargo was told that one-horned demon wanted revenge, they planned to take him to yellow lake in order to sacrifice him in a huge fire!!”,said J’zargo shivering. “There have been a news of pandaemonium cult who survived after being thrashed to the portal and they hid in the woods and have been carrying out their activities secretively”, said Baweja. “My Lord, may I have a word with you in private?”,Alvor intercepted.
I followed Alvor into the study. “My Lord, the griffin rider has returned. He saw the thundering clouds of smoke in the sky followed by the lava from the volcano approaching the great capital.East bay is consumed by the lava and Her Majesty has decided to take all Her subjects to foreign land on ships from misty coast lighthouse.”, Alvor told me in a grave tone. “East bay?? That is where kiz…”, I said in a startled manner. “Lady kiz is a scholar. She is intellectually superior to many on this land. She is always one of the early ones to know the news about anything unusual and to know a solution to it. Many of the East Bay dwellers were successful to migrate to misty coast in time. You were right all along. I spread the word as you asked me to. You have saved a lot of lives today.” “My father was the saviour here, not me. I have to save my brother. Did you get the sigil?”,said I. “Yes my lord, here it is. But how will you do it? You don’t have any troops now and by the sundown of the next day the ships would be leaving for the foreign land. Is there anything I can do to talk you out of it?” “No, you cannot”, said I in a calm manner, “The sun is setting down in the sky.” “It is a beautiful sight indeed”, replied Alvor. “I never got to see the sun today amidst the smoke clouds. Maybe this would be the last sundown of my life.”,my tone was getting deeper. “My lord, you are shaking my concern…”,said the steward. “I wish to be left alone in my chambers for a while. We got guests in the house and even if it is the end of the world, I shall not do less for their hospitality.” , said I in a hush tone. “I shall look into it my lord”, Alvor replied and departed from my chambers. | I descended the stairs and arrived into the chamber where J’zargo was kept. I announced, “My brothers, the wrath of the Twin Gods is upon us! There are beasts who wish to sacrifice my brother as a part of celebration of all this havoc. And, I can’t stop the lava from burning our homes but I will not let those filthy creatures celebrate it. I would rather die battling them, than fleeing like a coward! So, no, you cannot talk me out of it!”
“Wait! We have done a grave introspection and we are certain that you shall not succeed in this endeavour of yours all by yourself.. So, we are coming with you. Our troops won’t be with us, and they don’t have to, because this is our errand to perform. And you also cannot talk us out of it!!,said Niranjan. “Speed is as much as a brother to us as he is to you.”, replied Ishan. “And I was never known for my submissive qualities”, chuckled Baweja. Fellow thieves, brother-in-arms, you can burn millions of gold in military clans but you cannot develop such bond of friendship, honour and fellowship. There is a popular saying “thick as thieves”, I realized it is that way for a reason..
I replied“I shall not you from fighting by my side. The thieves guild had terrorised and raided the caravans for many centuries.As this realm comes to it’s end, it may be the end of the guild too!!The thieves’ guild will perform it’s one final ambush before it leaves this land!!Alvor! Open the door to the armory!!” | | cool | for Lord Beren:
Hello my friend. Plz put your feedback here : https://www.lordswm.com/forum_messages.php?tid=1970504
Btw thx for the compliment. | My armoury was a dark and confined space. All the artifacts were kept in a compact manner. I believed that one should not boast of his arsenal, but of his experience one acquired equipping them in the battle. All the arrangements for the heist were on progress. There was not much time to waste in the trifles. After equipping the armour, I helped Niranjan to saddle his horse, meanwhile Baweja and Ishan were preoccupied in saddling their rides. J’zargo was made to wear the dragon banner made by Speed.
“Alvor, cuff the prisoner’s hand, and tie his legs to my horse.”, I commanded for on one last time to him and he again as an exceptional steward, did it with much haste. “My lord, is there anything else you ask of me?”, inquired Alvor. “I want you to travel to Misty Coast with much haste. Take all the gold with you. If I don’t return, it belongs to you. Seek for my sister and if you succeed, look after her. Farewell, my mate.” “I shall pray for your return, my lord.”, said Alvor in a much concerned manner.
As we rode through that still and gruesome night, my mind was abound of cynical thoughts. As we approached the outskirts of the capital the commotion in the air was gradually declining. Niranjan held the lantern and guided the path, for it was a dark night. We miss the essence of lots of vital events in our life due to despair. As my heart and soul was glutted with the concern of my brother’s life, I never discovered that I shall be leaving my home, my land for the last time. For not a single moment this thought ever occurred to me.
We travelled through the woods and arrived at a narrow pass between the yellow lake and blooming glade. J’zargo showed brimful of emotion on his sulky face. “Wait! Wait! Hush! This is the very pass the one horned demon travelled! J’zargo fulfilled his end of bargain now the knight in the shiny mithril should hold his.” “I shall not set you free until I get a glimpse of the enemy. We shall move with caution and look for any activities at the other side of the pass.”, said I in a firm manner. We approached with caution. After crossing the pass, there lied a near circular embankment at the edge of yellow waters. We knew it was the yellow lake. | The embankment was nearly circular with a little part open to the main water body. The embankment was covered with bushes, which made it difficult for a foreign agent to know what foul activities were carried on inside. I asked my crew to stop twenty yards before the bushes, for had we approached to the bushes with our mounts, we would have been discovered by the presence behind them. I gestured Baweja to scout. He quietly descended his unicorn and walked light-footedly to the bushes. I thank the Gods for the acute elven eyesight of Baweja, to him the mysterious presence in the bushes were revealed and with an observant manner he jotted down the details.
He came back with much superlative sneaking of his as he went. He whispered in a serious tone, “There is our one horned demon, your brother is kept captive at the opposite side of the round shore. He looks a bit weary but I can tell no serious damage has yet been inflicted to him. We need to be cautious. This demon is a master to a heinous cave demon! And he is accompanied with a small group of devilish creatures but with feminine features.” “Succubi”, interrupted Niranjan. “Yes succubis, some hellhounds and quite a quantity of those tiny disfigured bastards. We need to be cautious, they are guarding the demon, we need to be cautious”, he concluded with a feeling of experience of something foul. Lord Baweja was a brave warrior but one can tell by look of nervousness on his face that he considers it being naive to believe you will survive this battle. “I know my brother. He is a proud man. He is of the kinds who never declines a challenge when called upon. Sometimes he becomes the slave to the vanity. I need to keep him from doing something foolish and I intend to do it by making him realise that help has arrived.”, I pointed at J’zargo, “Now you wear the dragon banner and march to the demon. I am quite sure my brother will recognize the banners. All the troops are on guard, we need a distraction. J’zargo’s arrival can serve the purpose.”, I said with much faith, I continued with a sullen tone “You will approach that demon. And tell that you are grateful for the artifacts and are willing to put yourself in his service. Do precisely as I say, for Baweja got as much apt ears as his eyes. He would be aiming for your heart throughout the little journey of yours. Be docile and I shall let you live.” J’zargo was made free of all the bounds. There was a bit of complacency in his manner, Ishan thought it must be due to being free of all his bounds. J’zargo quietly strolled to the bushes. He walked in a very plain manner. He walked straight. He won’t even turn his head to see the master bowman’s bow being aimed at him, not once. Must be out of fear of being shot. He went past the bushes and came in sight of the demonic horde. | “J’zargo is at your service my lord!!He is grateful for the generosity his infernal lord showed towards him”,J’zargo approached the demon and he shouted with highest of his voice in order to get the demon’s attention before his hellhounds chew him down. The tall demon with his yellow infernal eyes moved his huge physique. His skin was blood red, he had rippling muscles and mighty ibex hooves. His demon armor enhanced his demonicness by leaps and bounds. He was by far superlative in all means to his other demon counterparts, but alas, his one horn was missing. By observing his other curved and long ibex horn, one can tell how terrifying he must have looked with two of them. That missing horn was a reminder to him and discloser to any man who observed him that he had suffered a shameful defeat in his past.
“You came.”, said the infernal demon, “I presume the artifacts had reaped a lot of gold.” “Yes his lordship showered J’zargo with lots of riches. It has been a sunny day for him.” ,replied J’zargo. It has been a sunny day-these words changed the expression on the demon’s face. It was hard to observe on his blood red face, was it of displeasure or surprise? For the thundering smoke clouds have been in the sky all day long and it was weird of him to describe it sunny. The demon turned and took out a staff, made of fine metal with a red shining ruby adorned at the end of the metal rod. He gave the staff to J’zargo and J’zargo with a vile smile on his face turned the staff to the south, for he knew we were eagerly waiting for ambushing this horde from the south and a big ball of flame hurled from the staff towards the bushes. Followed by the balls of flame hurled by those feminine demons, and the cave demon on the gesture of his master did the same. The bushes were burnt down. No mortal form could have survived such wrath of infernal flame. J’zargo was convinced it was the end of us. But suddenly an arrow sprung from the bushes to the west of him and it pierced his nimble neck. Ironically, it was the end of him. A voice chanted –woo la hoop rapido amin!!- and two horsemen and one assailant( under the effect of the tempest of wind flowing through their body, making it feel light and enhanced pace of limb movement) charged from the west. The demonic horde was taken aback by the element of surprise. |
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