I've posted my next Travelogue over at Brando's new website for roleplayers. It's a bridge story without pictures, mostly due to my lack of internet for the past 2 months. This won't be a regular thing, but I thought, if any of my readers aren't aware of the new site yet, they should be!
There's a thread with an explanation over at the official Darkfall forums.
http://forums.darkfallonline.com/showthread.php?p=4524717#post4524717
and here is the link to the bridge story on the new website.
http://www.mmorp.org/entry.php?13-Darkfall-Travelogues-Ending-of-an-Era
And once again, I encourage you guys to give any feedback on these Travelogues. I love comments, and if you've got any things in game you want me to check out/post about, say so here!
Edit: For continuity's sake, I'll stick the "exclusive" story here.
That was how my first chapter in the land of Agon ended.
Our habits and lifestyles changed over the next month just as radically as our surroundings had. For the first few days, we kept quiet, only traveling at night, avoiding areas that looked like they might hold some dangerous creatures or men. The encounter with the raptors had left us shaken, and the other wildlife on Yssam was truly fearsome. There was an old beauty as well though. We discovered great elementals of fire and earth marching about the land, gods only knowing how many years they'd seen.
One of our more eager recruits wanted to do battle with the creatures, and refused to be talked down. I allowed him to make the attempt, but told him the rest of us wouldn't be around to help. We heard shouts of pain mere minutes later, and the recruit came running back to camp looking very battered and more than a little singed.
As we became more and more comfortable on Yssam, it became harder to maintain our low profile. Soon we had discovered actual cities, much like the ones back on the mainland, but the laws were different in each one, and they all seemed to attract the worst sorts of individuals.
We lived off the foreign land as well as we could. Many of the plants didn't appear to be edible, but the few that were tasted like they came from heaven itself, or that's how I felt anyway. Redham didn't quite care of eating "rabbit food".
However, our simple life as wandering adventurers did not last, and was soon changed forever.
One of the largest threats on Yssam was not the exotic creatures or poisonous wildlife, but the people that lived there. They were a cutthroat bunch that would rather shoot first than ask you why you were trespassing. It's a harsh world, and it's understandable that behavior like this would develop. But some went further than just defending their land. Some groups rode out in force, hunting other humans, laughing as they sliced.
I took great pains to avoid these lunatics, but the resolve of the company with me was not as strong. While the men were undoubtedly monsters, they were wealthy monsters. The land they controlled was extensive, and rich with farms and mines.
One morning, as I was laying in the mud with Redham Publius and the others, avoiding yet another raiding party, a recruit finally called it quits.
"I'm sick of being hunted like an animal, I'm sick of eating these foul smelling plants, and I'm sick of being cold all the time. You won't even allow us a fire!"
I raised my head to glance around, thanking the gods that the raiding party wasn't within earshot of the outburst. "Keep your voice down, they're hardly even over that hill! We don't have a fire because it would draw these murderers right to us!"
"You call them murderers but they're not that different from you or I" he responded coldly.
I sat up slowly, not sure how to react. "We aren't the ones riding around slaying anything that moves! And how would you know anyway? It's not like you can get one of them to talk, save when you hear their taunts as they run you through."
The recruit looked a bit unsure, but soon hooves were heard in the mud again and we all ducked back down. This seemed to steel his resolve and he angrily hissed "Yes, I did meet with one of them. He ran into me when he was on patrol. You know, we don't HAVE to fight eachother!"
Face pressed to the mud I glared, "You call THIS fighting?"
Getting more and more determined the recruit nearly shouted, "He offered for us to join them! We could live in houses, share the wealth from their raids, eat cooked meat again!"
I had no words to respond, the proposal was mad, I was aghast, but the others weren't quite so taken aback, and soon they appeared interested in hearing more from the recruit. We had a full blown discussion right there in the muck. It was clear within the first five minutes what the outcome would be. I fought as long as I could, but even Redham was against me. I implored them all to think about it throughout the day and then sleep on it, and the matter was put aside for a bit longer.
Before the night was even a quarter through, a thunderstorm kicked up, and our company, soaked and cold decided enough was enough. I reluctantly agreed, and that very night we gathered all our belongings and marched towards the lands of the marauders. The days that followed were every bit as bad as I feared they would be.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
Run Through the Jungle
My foot was hooked by a wine vine and with a great crash I fell face down in the sucking mud. I tried pushing myself back onto my feet, but my arms just slipped out from under me and I collapsed again. I gave up the struggle and just lay still. I was too exhausted and scared to move. The only sound was my labored breathing into the grime and the loud plinking of rain hammering into the back of my armor.
I had been running for what felt like hours. I had little clue as to where I was. The coast was somewhere behind me. I was drenched in rain sweat and mud. I had lost the others almost immediately after reaching the shore. Once again, our shoddy planning had gotten us into a mess.
After we had secured the raft we started off at a quiet run through the dense jungle. The plant life was unlike anything I'd seen before. Great red fungi stood around the base of massive trees. Everything was brimming with life and I had a great desire to examine such foreign beauty, but we weren't in safe lands and Piratejim reminded us we needed to continue moving.
We ran unopposed for the first 5 minutes or so, but soon out of the darkness came the whistle of arrows. If the foliage hadn't been so thick, I think that would have been the end right there, but our attackers were only tracking us by sound. Even so within seconds I had several arrows sticking out of various bits of my armor. None bit deeply, but not everyone was as well armored as I. Llemon cursed and reached for a potion as one arrow punched into his ribs and Redham suffered one to his shoulder.
We all ducked into the brush and tried to stay as still as possible. Publius told us all to stay down while he took a quick look around. Every instinct in my body was screaming for me to run. The danger wasn't greater than any of the other challenges I'd faced, yet the terror was entirely different. It wasn't the deep brooding darkness like I had felt from the Guardian, it was the simple animalistic terror of not being able to see your attacker, not knowing where and when the final blow may come from.
Soon the arrows stopped, and Publius returned informing the rest of us that our attackers had gone off to the east.
"Anyone too hurt to run?" Redham asked. Not waiting for a reply he continued, "whoever controls this place now knows that we're here. Our best chance is to stick together, and we do not stop running, got it? Let's go!" We rose and began a dead spring northward, where we knew a bindstone would be waiting for us.
We hardly made it another minute before we hit our next snag, a very hungry and angry snag.
All our heads swiveled to stare at the creature that had thundered through the brush ahead of us. It was a living raptor, something I thought I'd never see. It was just like the pictures I remember, from the sharp teeth to the hooked toe claws, and the far too intelligent reptilian eyes. It screeched to the sky and from the jungle all around us came answering cries, maybe half a dozen of them. That was too much for me and I gave into instinct and tore off blindly by myself.
That should have sealed my fate, separating myself from the group with a pack of hungry predators around me, but by some miracle our old attackers had returned and fired upon us again. It was a perfect storm of chaos. Tails and teeth flashed as the raptors tore off in different directions. Some went after the bowmen, some after my friends, who were now all running in different directions. I bolted north, praying to come across the bindstone before a raptor decided to follow me.
As I ran a heavy rain started, and it became difficult to carry on, my heavy armor causing my feet to sink deep into the mud. If anyone had decided to come after me I wouldn't have had a chance. Hopefully the others were having similar good fortune.
I didn't stop running, not even when I saw a lone rider on a horse. Under normal circumstances I would have considered sneaking up on this man to get a closer look, maybe even try to steal his horse, but my fight of flight responses were continually screaming flight. Between my heavy armor and heavy breathing, the rider had no trouble hearing me, and soon it gave chase, calling something out to me. Wish blood pounding in my ears, and the rain pouring down on me, I could hear nothing. Drawing on my last reserves of endurance I changed course and ran straight into the dense jungle hoping the horseman wouldn't be able to follow.
Perhaps it wasn't luck. Whoever was ruling my fate just wanted to see me struggle a little bit longer before I was inevitably hunted down. It was here that I collapsed into the mud, with no strength to rise. I sat in terrified silence, listening to the occasional thunder rumble through the sky. I silently prayed that I wouldn't be found on the ground, covered in mud amidst the flora. Soon though, it became clear that my wishes were not going to be granted. Through the rain I heard the snort of the horse and the sound of its shod feet plodding through the mud. The squelches got closer as the horseman walked his mount up to my body. I tightened the grip on my sword, preparing to strike when the man got too close. It was about all I could hope to do, I was already utterly spent.
"I never took you for a coward, Signus. Are you going to get up or am I going to have to tie you to the horse?" I rolled onto my back and when I wiped the muck from my helm I could see Publius sitting atop a horse, shaking his head at me. "Come on and get up, there's another horse at the edge of the wood you can use... What?" I had begun laughing at him. Slowly at first, but soon I had fully lost control of myself and was laughing so hard that I was choking for air. The ridiculousness of the situation just had me entirely bewildered. I could not even begin to imagine a situation where Publius would have ended up here with me, with two horses, sitting there calm as can be. "Stop laughing like an idiot and get over here, it isn't exactly safe in case you hadn't noticed."
Still laughing I followed Publius to the other horse and we took off at a gallop northwards. Before long we saw the tell tale sign of a bindstone, a bright ray of white light shooting into the sky. We made it the rest of the way without incident and bound ourselves to Yssam. The rest of the crew was there well ahead of me, and said they were about to send someone out looking for me and Publius. With relief I removed my armor and placed it inside small camp's vault and quickly fell asleep right there in the dirt.
I had been running for what felt like hours. I had little clue as to where I was. The coast was somewhere behind me. I was drenched in rain sweat and mud. I had lost the others almost immediately after reaching the shore. Once again, our shoddy planning had gotten us into a mess.
After we had secured the raft we started off at a quiet run through the dense jungle. The plant life was unlike anything I'd seen before. Great red fungi stood around the base of massive trees. Everything was brimming with life and I had a great desire to examine such foreign beauty, but we weren't in safe lands and Piratejim reminded us we needed to continue moving.
We ran unopposed for the first 5 minutes or so, but soon out of the darkness came the whistle of arrows. If the foliage hadn't been so thick, I think that would have been the end right there, but our attackers were only tracking us by sound. Even so within seconds I had several arrows sticking out of various bits of my armor. None bit deeply, but not everyone was as well armored as I. Llemon cursed and reached for a potion as one arrow punched into his ribs and Redham suffered one to his shoulder.
We all ducked into the brush and tried to stay as still as possible. Publius told us all to stay down while he took a quick look around. Every instinct in my body was screaming for me to run. The danger wasn't greater than any of the other challenges I'd faced, yet the terror was entirely different. It wasn't the deep brooding darkness like I had felt from the Guardian, it was the simple animalistic terror of not being able to see your attacker, not knowing where and when the final blow may come from.
Soon the arrows stopped, and Publius returned informing the rest of us that our attackers had gone off to the east.
"Anyone too hurt to run?" Redham asked. Not waiting for a reply he continued, "whoever controls this place now knows that we're here. Our best chance is to stick together, and we do not stop running, got it? Let's go!" We rose and began a dead spring northward, where we knew a bindstone would be waiting for us.
We hardly made it another minute before we hit our next snag, a very hungry and angry snag.
All our heads swiveled to stare at the creature that had thundered through the brush ahead of us. It was a living raptor, something I thought I'd never see. It was just like the pictures I remember, from the sharp teeth to the hooked toe claws, and the far too intelligent reptilian eyes. It screeched to the sky and from the jungle all around us came answering cries, maybe half a dozen of them. That was too much for me and I gave into instinct and tore off blindly by myself.
That should have sealed my fate, separating myself from the group with a pack of hungry predators around me, but by some miracle our old attackers had returned and fired upon us again. It was a perfect storm of chaos. Tails and teeth flashed as the raptors tore off in different directions. Some went after the bowmen, some after my friends, who were now all running in different directions. I bolted north, praying to come across the bindstone before a raptor decided to follow me.
As I ran a heavy rain started, and it became difficult to carry on, my heavy armor causing my feet to sink deep into the mud. If anyone had decided to come after me I wouldn't have had a chance. Hopefully the others were having similar good fortune.
I didn't stop running, not even when I saw a lone rider on a horse. Under normal circumstances I would have considered sneaking up on this man to get a closer look, maybe even try to steal his horse, but my fight of flight responses were continually screaming flight. Between my heavy armor and heavy breathing, the rider had no trouble hearing me, and soon it gave chase, calling something out to me. Wish blood pounding in my ears, and the rain pouring down on me, I could hear nothing. Drawing on my last reserves of endurance I changed course and ran straight into the dense jungle hoping the horseman wouldn't be able to follow.
Perhaps it wasn't luck. Whoever was ruling my fate just wanted to see me struggle a little bit longer before I was inevitably hunted down. It was here that I collapsed into the mud, with no strength to rise. I sat in terrified silence, listening to the occasional thunder rumble through the sky. I silently prayed that I wouldn't be found on the ground, covered in mud amidst the flora. Soon though, it became clear that my wishes were not going to be granted. Through the rain I heard the snort of the horse and the sound of its shod feet plodding through the mud. The squelches got closer as the horseman walked his mount up to my body. I tightened the grip on my sword, preparing to strike when the man got too close. It was about all I could hope to do, I was already utterly spent.
"I never took you for a coward, Signus. Are you going to get up or am I going to have to tie you to the horse?" I rolled onto my back and when I wiped the muck from my helm I could see Publius sitting atop a horse, shaking his head at me. "Come on and get up, there's another horse at the edge of the wood you can use... What?" I had begun laughing at him. Slowly at first, but soon I had fully lost control of myself and was laughing so hard that I was choking for air. The ridiculousness of the situation just had me entirely bewildered. I could not even begin to imagine a situation where Publius would have ended up here with me, with two horses, sitting there calm as can be. "Stop laughing like an idiot and get over here, it isn't exactly safe in case you hadn't noticed."
Still laughing I followed Publius to the other horse and we took off at a gallop northwards. Before long we saw the tell tale sign of a bindstone, a bright ray of white light shooting into the sky. We made it the rest of the way without incident and bound ourselves to Yssam. The rest of the crew was there well ahead of me, and said they were about to send someone out looking for me and Publius. With relief I removed my armor and placed it inside small camp's vault and quickly fell asleep right there in the dirt.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
The Open Seas
When I finally saw Piratejim again, he was nearly bouncing with excitement. Clearly he had some good news for me, and before our drinks even arrived at the bar in Sanguine, he was raving about the things that had happened to him while I was gone. Amidst his adventures, he apparently found two new recruits for our group of adventurers, and better yet, secured enough materials to construct our first raft.
"So it's finally happening, you get to be a real pirate?"
"It's not much, just a raft, but it's a start. And I already am a real pirate! Maybe we can use it to board some stray merchant vessel or..." he rambled on, outlining several profitable scenarios and ways to build his own fleet. I smiled and started in on the drink that had finally arrived. I let him finish telling me of the ship and the new recruits before I got started on my visit to Sandstone.
Recalling that night, the Darkness crept into my mind again, and I decided to leave out the part about the guardian speaking to me. It was proving difficult to forget.
"Hunting these artifacts sounds like a pretty big deal, maybe something we can take on in the future, but not yet," I finished.
"Mm, I suppose you're right. Besides, there's no water near Sandstone! We need to get our new vessel out on the waves as soon as possible! And, I know just the place to take it to." Redham ordered more drinks and we talked well into the night, until finally, drowsy from too much ale, I staggered up the stairs to get some sleep. Redham continued to drink long into the night, chatting up the local patrons.
A few days later, the new group stood along the shore waiting for Piratejim to arrive with our hard earned raft. We took our best armor and weapons with us, and plenty of supplies, in case we ran into trouble on the water. We didn't want to lose the raft to some random band of pirates, that was supposed to be our job, as Redham continually reminded us.
Beside me stood Publius, and next to him the two new recruits, Pangalactic, a fire wizard, and Llemon, a dwarf, the first I'd seen! Very strange folks, but they fit in with the group all the better for it.
Another hour passed, and Piratejim at last came floating down the river on our very first raft.
It was small and quaint, but it was ours. We all quickly boarded and shoved off towards deeper waters and the open sea. The water frothed around the sides and as we got closer to the ocean I heard the cry of gulls. The salt from the waves collected on my burnished steel armor.
Redham couldn't be happier, and I finally believed that at some point he must have been a pirate, because he handled the craft and the sail well and with familiar hands.
When we got out to open water the rest of us got our fishing poles out and cast them deep into the ocean's waters. Soon it became a competition to see who could catch the most swordfish. It turned out to be a great way to get to know Llemon and Pangalactic, because when the waters are calm and the fish are biting your almost forced into a jovial and talkative mood. Only Piratejim stayed quiet as he guided our ship to unknown lands.
The journey was long, and after a time even fishing began to lose its appeal (that, and we were beginning to run out of room to store our catch) So with the sun setting and little else to do, we turned to sparring on the tiny vessel.
The results were about as good as anyone could have expected. The fighting was good natured, but it soon got carried away and someone ended up overboard, trying to stay afloat in their heavy armor, chasing after the raft as it sailed away. It was good for a laugh, until we saw fins poke out of the foam in the distance.
"Redham, stop the boat, Publius is overboard and there are sharks!"
"Damnit guys, I just wanted one trip without someone dying! This is why we can't have nice things!" Piratejim shouted as he dropped the sail and tried to steer the boat around. Publius was in full panic now trying to crawl up the ramp and back into the boat, slipping over the wet hardwood.
Where once there were two fins, now there were three, as other predators gathered to see what was causing the commotion. Llemon took out a shortbow and began firing into the water, but the blood just attracted more beasts and drove them into a frenzy.
They began throwing themselves at the boat, sometimes attempting to bite it, not acting like any sharks I had ever heard of. The crew was pretty terrified and we began tossing fish overboard to try to sate our pursuers.
Piratejim turned the sail and it caught a good gust, pulling us ahead of the feasting sharks. The crew cheered as we left the fins behind. No one poked so much as a toe over the side of the boat for the rest of the journey, and things went smoothly for a time.
We weren't safe yet though. Piratejim called to us when he saw land drawing close on the horizon. We were coming up on Yssam, a jungle island much further north than we'd ever traveled. It was a place full of terrible beasts and even more dangerous people. We approached the beach under cover of night, praying no one had spotted us as we ghosted to the sand.
"Once we hit the beach we're going to have to charge into the jungle in a dead sprint. There's a vault and a bindstone north through the jungle, if we get killed before you make it there, that's the end of the raft, and we'll have no way to come back." As Redham gave instructions to the recruits I marveled at how life could still be so incredibly difficult despite being unable to actually die. If I was killed and PirateJim didn't we'd be split off with an entire continent between us. Little chance of seeing one another again after that, and our small guild would die an early death.
"So as soon as the raft is secure, I want everyone to follow me through the jungle, stay as quiet as possible, but do not stop for anything."
"Quiet? Sprinting in this? How?" Publius said, knocking on his metal breastplate.
"Just don't make more noise than you have to, and don't be stupid!" There were nods all around, and Piratejim turned back to the wheel to guide is in. I took a steadying breath and got ready to charge.
"So it's finally happening, you get to be a real pirate?"
"It's not much, just a raft, but it's a start. And I already am a real pirate! Maybe we can use it to board some stray merchant vessel or..." he rambled on, outlining several profitable scenarios and ways to build his own fleet. I smiled and started in on the drink that had finally arrived. I let him finish telling me of the ship and the new recruits before I got started on my visit to Sandstone.
Recalling that night, the Darkness crept into my mind again, and I decided to leave out the part about the guardian speaking to me. It was proving difficult to forget.
"Hunting these artifacts sounds like a pretty big deal, maybe something we can take on in the future, but not yet," I finished.
"Mm, I suppose you're right. Besides, there's no water near Sandstone! We need to get our new vessel out on the waves as soon as possible! And, I know just the place to take it to." Redham ordered more drinks and we talked well into the night, until finally, drowsy from too much ale, I staggered up the stairs to get some sleep. Redham continued to drink long into the night, chatting up the local patrons.
A few days later, the new group stood along the shore waiting for Piratejim to arrive with our hard earned raft. We took our best armor and weapons with us, and plenty of supplies, in case we ran into trouble on the water. We didn't want to lose the raft to some random band of pirates, that was supposed to be our job, as Redham continually reminded us.
Beside me stood Publius, and next to him the two new recruits, Pangalactic, a fire wizard, and Llemon, a dwarf, the first I'd seen! Very strange folks, but they fit in with the group all the better for it.
Another hour passed, and Piratejim at last came floating down the river on our very first raft.
It was small and quaint, but it was ours. We all quickly boarded and shoved off towards deeper waters and the open sea. The water frothed around the sides and as we got closer to the ocean I heard the cry of gulls. The salt from the waves collected on my burnished steel armor.
Redham couldn't be happier, and I finally believed that at some point he must have been a pirate, because he handled the craft and the sail well and with familiar hands.
When we got out to open water the rest of us got our fishing poles out and cast them deep into the ocean's waters. Soon it became a competition to see who could catch the most swordfish. It turned out to be a great way to get to know Llemon and Pangalactic, because when the waters are calm and the fish are biting your almost forced into a jovial and talkative mood. Only Piratejim stayed quiet as he guided our ship to unknown lands.
The journey was long, and after a time even fishing began to lose its appeal (that, and we were beginning to run out of room to store our catch) So with the sun setting and little else to do, we turned to sparring on the tiny vessel.
The results were about as good as anyone could have expected. The fighting was good natured, but it soon got carried away and someone ended up overboard, trying to stay afloat in their heavy armor, chasing after the raft as it sailed away. It was good for a laugh, until we saw fins poke out of the foam in the distance.
"Redham, stop the boat, Publius is overboard and there are sharks!"
"Damnit guys, I just wanted one trip without someone dying! This is why we can't have nice things!" Piratejim shouted as he dropped the sail and tried to steer the boat around. Publius was in full panic now trying to crawl up the ramp and back into the boat, slipping over the wet hardwood.
Where once there were two fins, now there were three, as other predators gathered to see what was causing the commotion. Llemon took out a shortbow and began firing into the water, but the blood just attracted more beasts and drove them into a frenzy.
They began throwing themselves at the boat, sometimes attempting to bite it, not acting like any sharks I had ever heard of. The crew was pretty terrified and we began tossing fish overboard to try to sate our pursuers.
Piratejim turned the sail and it caught a good gust, pulling us ahead of the feasting sharks. The crew cheered as we left the fins behind. No one poked so much as a toe over the side of the boat for the rest of the journey, and things went smoothly for a time.
We weren't safe yet though. Piratejim called to us when he saw land drawing close on the horizon. We were coming up on Yssam, a jungle island much further north than we'd ever traveled. It was a place full of terrible beasts and even more dangerous people. We approached the beach under cover of night, praying no one had spotted us as we ghosted to the sand.
"Once we hit the beach we're going to have to charge into the jungle in a dead sprint. There's a vault and a bindstone north through the jungle, if we get killed before you make it there, that's the end of the raft, and we'll have no way to come back." As Redham gave instructions to the recruits I marveled at how life could still be so incredibly difficult despite being unable to actually die. If I was killed and PirateJim didn't we'd be split off with an entire continent between us. Little chance of seeing one another again after that, and our small guild would die an early death.
"So as soon as the raft is secure, I want everyone to follow me through the jungle, stay as quiet as possible, but do not stop for anything."
"Quiet? Sprinting in this? How?" Publius said, knocking on his metal breastplate.
"Just don't make more noise than you have to, and don't be stupid!" There were nods all around, and Piratejim turned back to the wheel to guide is in. I took a steadying breath and got ready to charge.
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