Dangerfall (tentative title)

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KingOfDoma
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Dangerfall (tentative title)

Unread postby KingOfDoma » Thu Jun 09, 2005 12:44 am

Also Known As Dae in the Doghouse. You'll get what it's about later...




Daenj’r Tymisonn didn’t like things that were that big. He didn’t know why, they just felt… insurmountable to him. That’s why he didn’t quite like this cathedral. His brethren had built this place called Ashura’s Heart to the east of Doma years and years ago. Supposedly it was near to the place where the faithful began their worship of the Goddess, but he had a feeling they just started off in one direction and stopped before it got too hot. But one thing was sure, they built it big. Too big.

He stood outside this monumental structure. Oh well, he thought. Time to face the music.

He approached the doors. They too were big. Gah, he thought, doesn’t this ever quit? Luckily, they were ajar, and his fellow Ashurans were going in and out of it as well. He wasn’t quite strong enough to drag the things open himself. He dodged and weaved between the acolytes, finding nimbleness he didn’t know he had, and found his way inside.

“Welcome, brother!” Daenj’r winced. There was a welcoming committee. There was always a welcoming committee. This one came in the form of a squat priest in robes as traditional and straightlaced as you could get. Along with him was a familiar face, that of his old friend Gelvin, who he knew when he was still at Father Lagnus’ temple. So, instead of talking to his more vocal greeter, Dae addressed the other directly, slightly sidestepping the other mage.

“Gelvin! How’ve you been, pal? I haven’t seen you in, what? Four years?” he exclaimed. “It’s good to see you!”

“Good to see you too, Dae,” Gelvin responded, with his usual calm demeanor. Gesturing to his committee-mate, he said, “This is Father Natrick, one of the residents here.”

“Greetings, my brother!” Natrick said enthusiastically. “I am very glad to meet another family member in Ashura!” With that, he gave Dae an emphatic hug. It was tight. Too tight. Dae kindly returned the embrace and escaped as quickly as possible. “What brings you to Ashura’s Heart?”

Gelvin cut in. “He’s been experiencing some trouble with his faith, Natrick… I told you that, remember?”

“Oh?” Natrick puzzled. “You did? I don’t seem to recall…”

Dae and Gelvin exchanged a look, the kind that friends give when they both know exactly what’s funny in the room. “Yes, Natrick, I told you on the way in here, remember?”

The funny little mage rolled this about in his head for a moment, and then something came loose. “Oh yes! You’ve had some problems, yes? I sincerely hope you’re fully healed by Her Divine Light in very little time!”

Dae bowed. “I hope so as well, Father. I am in dire need of Her guidance at this time.”

“Well, may She bless you, my friend.” Natrick patted himself down, as if he’d forgotten his pen. “Well I… believe I have forgotten to be somewhere. Perhaps a prayer meeting… well, take care, Daenj’r!” With that he toddled off, slightly aimlessly, and before long, you could hear him say, “Welcome!”, beyond any sight of him.

“C’mon, I’ll show you where the quarters are,” Gelvin said, and led him down another big hallway, and they blended in with the bustle of tan and red. “Your message was cryptic, Daenj’r… what exactly brings you here?”

Daenj’r gave out a silent sigh before responding. “I’ve not exactly been living up to the standard that Ashura sets out for her closest followers.”

“Well, we are all allowed a stumble now and then, Daenj’r. Our Lady knows we are not perfect and…”

“No, man, I mean, in parts, not even remotely close.”

“Oh. Hm. Well, there is nothing She will not forgive, if we are willing,” Gelvin assured. “But be prepared, my friend. Our Lady’s also full of surprises,” he said with a smirk.

“Quite aware of that, buddy,” Daenj’r replied. “But da- ” He cut off his swear word. “But it’s worth it, man. There’s too much at stake.”

“May I inquire as to what?” Gelvin asked.

“I’m sorry, but no. I have to take it up with the Lady in charge.”

With this, Gelvin put a hand on Daenj’r’s arm, stalling their stroll. “You mean you wish to enter the Heart of Hearts?”

“You bet.”
The progression of people in the corridor encased them, like a twig standing straight up in a current. Gelvin looked intently on his friend. “Are you SURE, Daenj’r? The Heart of Hearts isn’t a place to go glibly. It is the presence of Ashura maintained on our world. Don’t- "

“I realize that, Gelvin.” Someone bumped into Daenj’r’s arm. “But I gotta be made clean if I’m gonna make my life right, and the Heart of Hearts is the best place to do it.” He looked intently at his friend. “I gotta make my life right, Gel. I gotta.”

Gelvin paused, then nodded. “I understand. Someone has a big day ahead of them tomorrow- ” With that, an unaware female acolyte plowed into Gel, bowling him over and spilling her scrolls all over the ground.

“Oh my gosh!” she exclaimed. “Are you alright?”

“I’m OK,” Gel responded with a smirk. “It’s just a little fall.”





Forgive the bump, but the forum barfed up some more topics. Twice. >.>


[edit] That would be me, editing old posts so they're no longer invisible. With the aid of yalogank. Sorry and whatnot. Expect more of it. -Dia- <p>--------------------
Remember, even God has a sense of humour. Just look at the platypus.

-Kevin Smith</p>Edited by: [url=http://p068.ezboard.com/brpgww60462.showUserPublicProfile?gid=pdrydia>pd]&nbsp; Image at: 6/11/05 18:29

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Re: Dangerfall (tentative title)

Unread postby KingOfDoma » Thu Aug 11, 2005 11:46 pm

Dae thrashed that night. His eyes flitted about underneath his eyelids like frightened birds. There were screams. There were shouts. There were broken pieces of pottery. And, at the end, at dawn, there was a black man on the floor, cursing the headache he’d just caused by falling out of his bed.

“Good morning, sunshine,” said Gelvin, slightly chuckling as he marveled at the friend he had at his feet.

Dae just held his forehead in pain as he pulled himself into an upright position. “Do you remember NOTHING from the old days? If I’m having a nightmare…”

“Don’t wake you up, I remember,” Gelvin recalled. “But the sun’s nearly up. It’s time to go.”

“Wow. They MUST be making dawn come earlier now,” Dae muttered. “Oh well. Let’s get on with it.”

Gelvin ushered his friend into a preparation area not too far from the Heart of Hearts. There, Natrick and other mages prayed prayers of blessing over Daenj’r, for Her protection and providence, that sort of thing. But even then, Daenj’r committed what some would consider a sin.

His mind wandered.

The first thought that popped into his head was how much it tickled to have hands on his slightly fuzzy head. How it’d been so long since someone had touched his head, shaved or no. And the last person to do that the last thousand times was Jazz. Oh, his lovely Jazz. He missed her so much. And his kids! Jenna, the twins. Even Kodi Rae.

The J-Macs. They seemed like such a pack of harmless morons. Do a few things for them, get some dough, and all those people he loved so much wouldn’t have a care in the world.

Did he leave Rai’m a note saying he’d be doing this? Yes, yes he did.

Man, some of these hands smell REALLY good. I wonder what these gu-

“So let it be,” said Natrick finally.

“So let it be,” said Daenj’r and the rest of the priests. He hugged them all, and thanked them for their prayers. And then, he thought, Please Ashura, don’t let this be the end.

The doors to the Heart were the biggest set of doors the temple had to offer. Ornate, gilded, covered in runes… it was a holy gateway to the very core of the Goddess.

The wolves that kidnapped him came back to his mind. They brutalized him, and had every intention of eating his flesh in front of his children.

This was far more frightening.

“Don’t make me do it, man,” he calmly begged to Gelvin. “Talk me out of it now. You tried before, do it again. Just tell me this is a bad idea and I’ll go back to Doma and…”

“Sorry, Dae,” he replied. “You’ve convinced me this is a good idea for you. So, I’ll do everything I can to make sure you go through with this.”

Gelvin’s face began to have an odd look on it, like something that didn’t usually come into his head came into his head. He realized what happened, and gave Dae a friendly smack upside the head. “No swearing at me in your head, man.”

Dae gave up, and got on his knees and began reciting the Ashuran prayer again and again, in front of the door. He shifted his shoulders a bit to get the slightly itchy ceremonial robe to be comfortable, but the prayer continued, silently, rhythmically. Three men, on each side, pulled at ropes to drag the doors open and reveal the Heart. But it was not there, as Daenj’r saw as he popped open an eye. There was another door, smaller, beyond the great one, which must hold back the floodgates of power the Heart contained.

He stood, and approached the door. He looked down at his ceremonial robe, and back to Gelvin. “Are you sure?” he asked.

“We need that robe back, Daenj’r. And it won’t come back if you take it in there.”

Dae sighed again, and dropped the robe, revealing his bare self to them all. He began to proceed to the final door, but he heard someone clearing his throat behind him.

Dae then kicked off the booties he had on, as well.

And with that, the six men closed the door behind Daenj’r, and watched as a tiny crack of light could be seen beneath it, brilliant, but brief. And then the group waited, and prayed, and prayed.

…

Hours passed. Gelvin stayed vigilant, attaching his knees to the floor. Natrick began to grow groggy, to the point where he nearly tipped over. And then the flash came again. The ordeal was over. A loud banging could be heard hitting the door.

Waking himself sharply, Natrick commanded, “You men! Come now! Rouse yourselves! He’s come out!

The men took hold of their cords, and pulled the doors apart. Daenj’r, a man drained of all strength, fell out the door and collapsed on the floor. Gelvin rushed to his side, and asked him, “Dae! Pal! What happened?”

Daenj’r simply stared at Gelvin, with eyes half-closed as a man who was almost asleep. “The astral plane… all the power She’s given me… She removed it …

“I couldn’t cast a spell now if I tried…”
<p>--------------------
Remember, even God has a sense of humour. Just look at the platypus.

-Kevin Smith</p>

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Re: Dangerfall (tentative title)

Unread postby KingOfDoma » Sat Apr 08, 2006 12:26 am

Another nightmare, as bad as the first one he had here. Outside observers would think he was being beaten by some unseen force, pummeled by invisible fists. And Dae fought back, in vain.

And again, he woke to Gelvin’s face, though this time not to NEARLY as much pain. “Are you in love with me or something? Is watching men sleep your fetish? I mean, really man. What time is it at night and you’re still ogling me?”

“Daenj’r, it’s the middle of the day. You fell asleep just after your encounter.” And to illustrate his point, he threw open the window, the full light of the sun shining into Daenj’r’s eyes.

Dae squinted. “Oh. Right. Close that thing, would you?”

Gelvin obliged, but only in part, letting some of the sun’s rays shine through. “So, you really do not have any power left? Not a drop.”

“Well, from what I can tell right now. I feel like I did before I came here… like a normal, unblessed man.”

“Tell me the truth, Daenj’r,” Gelvin asked, “were you acting like that before you came here?”

A sigh came. “Maybe… probably… yeah. I don’t know what I’ve been doing. I’ve… I’ve lost faith in Her providence.”

“I understand. Things are tough for our order in Doma. I don’t even think you’re the first priest to have a crisis. It’s quite easy to-”

“A vision! A vision! I have had a vision!” came the voice from down the hall.this was repeated over and over as the voice got louder and closer. Finally, the two men saw Natrick run past their open door, arms open to his Lady, and naked as the day he was born. For some reason, this was surprising. That fact surprised them both.

They stifled their snickers as best they could, and were about to continue their conversation, when Natrick popped his head in and said, “A vision about YOU, Daenj’r! Come along, both of you!” This time, stifled snickers were replaced by surprised glances, and they set off after him.

Natrick was making a beeline for the Heart of Hearts, and nothing was stopping him. He kindly and apologetically pushed anyone in his way out of it, letting nothing stop his rush to those big, bad doors. And when he got there, he began to pound on the door, “Please! My lady! Allow me passage! I must know what the vision you’ve shown me means!”

Gelvin arrived at this point. “Allow him in!” Six men scrambled in, took hold of their ropes and pulled open the gates to the Heart. He squeezed through the doors as soon as he could, and the pullers, pushed as quickly as they could to keep the Heart contained.

Daenj’r and Gelvin took to their knees. “How long do you think it’ll take?”

“Well, you took hours. But I’ve seen these things go…” The door was being knocked upon politely. “Quite quickly…” One or two of the six men rolled their eyes as they pulled open the doors once again.

Natrick squeezed himself out again, and exclaimed, “I am blessed to tell this news! Daenj’r, she spoke to me about you! I know where you must go to complete your journey! I must see the bishop!” And he took off again.

Dae just had to blurt out, “BUT YOU’RE STILL NAKED, MAN!”
The little mage padded off in another direction, towards the bishop’s chambers. Gelvin and Dae pursued, just in time to see a tall hat and a golden robe usher him inside. “Well, this is interesting,” Dae wondered aloud. “What’s he got to go to the bishop for?”

“I don’t know, but we’ll know...” Natrick emerged from the bishop’s chambers, clothed in a robe of the bishop’s, thankfully. “Soon. Why does that man’s entrance keep interrupting me?” Gelvin exclaimed with frustration. Dae couldn’t help but chuckle.

Then something came that surprised them both. Natrick pointed at Daenj’r and cried, “Guards! Come! Take him away! I shall show you the place to leave him!”

“What?!?” exclaimed Daenj’r as guards grabbed his arms and dragged him away. Gelvin exhibited an equal amount of surprise.

“What are you guys doing? He hasn’t done anything to us! There’s no reason for this!” he yelled. Dae fought against their grip, but there was no use. At least, not after one of them cast a sleep spell upon him…

…

Dae’s eyes flittered open to see his home town through the portal of a covered wagon. He wondered for a moment why they’d brought him back here, and then, he saw a structure in the distance, and he understood. “No… no, not this… ANYTHING but this. No, no, no…”
The cart stopped in front of the building, and he was forced out. As soon as both his feet hit terra firma, the cart sped away, and he was left alone. In front of a Doman guard, who had a uniform on his arm and a smile far too large for his face. Dae groaned, and knew exactly what was going to be said next.

“Welcome to the Doman Guard, recruit!”
<p>

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Re: Dangerfall (tentative title)

Unread postby KingOfDoma » Sat Apr 08, 2006 12:29 am

“No, no, no, gods no, HELLS no, why, Ashura, why, strike me down now, aw crap, please no!”

This is what Dae said within the first 3.2 seconds of hearing he was now a Doman guardsman. Now as for the next 4.7 seconds, things got a little more potty mouthed. Dae’s greeter laughed. “Son, you’re going to fit in here just fine.”

Dae looked at him in horror. “Please tell me you’re joking.”

The greeter’s smile disappeared. “Yup. A scrawny little spellcaster like you isn’t going to last a second. This is going to be interesting.” He waved Dae inside, and entered the guard station.

Daenj’r breathed a sigh of relief, and silently prayed a prayer as he followed the armoured man. Thank you Ashura, he fervently thanked, for not letting me fit in here.

Once inside, Dae observed a lot of rough looking enlisted men, talking, laughing, and punching each other in the arm for fun. They all kind of paused what they were doing for a moment to eye Dae, warily, before reluctantly returning to what they were doing.

Yup, Dae thought. This is what the entrance to hell looks like.
As they walked, the greeter piped up. “They call me Sarge here. You’ll be training under me.” He stopped short, and looked the young “cadet” in the eye. “And I don’t expect you to do well.”

He shrugged. “But, that just means that it’s fun for me. Change rooms are down there, your locker number’s 47, training area’s marked with signs. See you out there.” With that, Sarge gave Daenj’r a wide grin, patted him on the back, and headed off down some corridor, leaving the young, currently separated ex-mage on his own.

With a frown, Dae headed for the change room and found his locker, complete with a lock, and key, unlocked in the bracket. He removed the lock, and was about to open up the door, when he detected an odour. He sniffed again to be sure. It was unmistakable.

He stepped to the side, out of the way, and opened the door, watching rotted garbage fall to the ground. “OK, now who are the uneducated jackanapes who did this?”

On cue, it seemed, a couple of cadets emerged from nowhere, looking quite cocksure. One piped up. “How’re ya doing, newca?”

“Newca. What kind of skewed Common is that?” Dae asked.

“New. Cadet. Newca. Do ya get it now, newca?”

Dae scoffed. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Is this supposed to be humiliating or intimidating or something? Cuz it’s really, really not.”

“Oooh, lookie here, Jeg, we got ourselves a spunky one!” said the second cadet, grinning as sweat dripped from his drenched hair. “Can I do it now?”

“No,” Jeg said. “I just barely got started playing with his head. Lemme fiddle a bit more.”

“No no, that’s probably as far as you’ll get,” Dae said, interjecting. “I’ve faced greater mental manipulators than you and succeeded. So, whatever your little surprise is, bring it out. You guardsmen are starting to bore me.”

Jeg sighed in disappointment. “Fine. Finny, do it up.”

The scrawny little guard smiled gleefully, and started banging his fists on a locker door. Bit by bit, little by little, the footfalls multiplied. And within moments, Daenj’r was surrounded by guards, all grinning and cracking their knuckles.
“Y’see, newca, we got a little tradition here. Everyone goes to their first day of training with a black eye. So I’m going to give you a choice. Either you stand there, and take it like a man, or, we force it out of you, and maybe give you a few bruises to go with it. What do you say?”

“I say,” Dae said slyly, “that I saw a broom closet on my way in here.” With that he whirled and shoved the thugs behind him to the side, and ran for it. With a rallying call from Jeg, the small contingent gave chase. A bit frantically, Dae searched for the closet, and when he found it, he reached in, and took hold of a broom, and used it to hold the pack of wolves at bay.

Jeg looked at him with disbelief. “What kind of idiot uses a BROOM to fight with?”

“This kind.” With an emphatic gesture, Dae slammed the end of the broom on the ground, breaking off the head. “How do you like that?”

Jeg was confused. “Why’d you do that?”

“Because, genius, I just turned a clumsy hunk of wood into my chosen weapon.” Dae spun the broom handle across his neck. “Now- ”

“Y’know,” said a voice from behind him, “you could have just unscrewed the thing.”

“True, but it wouldn’t have looked nearly as dramatic.” Dae did not turn to view the man just yet. He still had a mob to hold off.

“All right, all right,” said the voice to said mob. “You’ve had your fun, boys. This one’s not getting sullied today. Move along…”

Jeg looked as if he wanted to be indignant, defiant. But anyone could tell the old voice had more steel in it than Jeg had in his whole being. With another wave of his hand, Jeg dismissed the wrecking crew and the footfalls began to diminish, and fade.

Dae turned around. An old, old man, holding a broom of his own stood before him. “Well, young man, what’s your name?”

“Wow. You’re actually talking to me with respect?” Dae responded in surprise. “I’m pleased and shocked.”

“I still want your name, son.”

“Oh. Daenj’r. Tymisonn. Nice to meet you, sir.”

“Oh, a Tymisonn,” the janitor said knowingly. “I’ve heard of your family. Your line’s done great things.”

Dae was floored. “You’ve HEARD of my family? I was beginning to think no one had.”

“Oh yes, I’ve heard all about Ak’Zhis, Ak’Zuhl, Phee’Ur… even you.”

“Me? Oh, I haven’t done anything important. I just helped around here and there.”

“Didn’t you defeat Father Lagnus, the evil Ashuran leader?”

“… well, yes. But I couldn’t have without my sister.”

“And Arnast?”

“That was me and my wife.”

“Oh. Well, who’d have thought? Anyways, you, sir, are late for training. Better get changed and going.”

“Really? Ah, Sarge is going to bend me over a pommelhorse for being late on the first day.”

“Wow,” mused the janitor as he slid away. “You really sounded like a soldier there.”

“Oh joy of joys, I’m in the- ” Daenj’r finally noticed the janitor was nearly out of sight. “Wait! I never got your name!”
He spun slowly, still walking. “Hargrove. See you around.”

Again, Daenj’r was alone. He looked down on his shoes. Then he realized something.

The cadets filled his locker with garbage. He HAD nothing to change into. <p>

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