[https://em.wattpad.com/753d8cf8ad990bfc66e186dbf2aed51943146a4a/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f747a54555f7064705a4b483830513d3d2d3731343034373536372e313561616430343065323635313731663135323734323734393331332e6a7067]
https://www.allwallpaper.in/artwork-dark-fantasy-art-gold-light-wallpaper-1838.html
New Quest Objective
- Unknown
You’ll be playing Grey Steel, a minotaur with a burning desire for vengeance against the creatures that destroyed his life.
***
Note to Readers.
If you’ve not read this already, I'm trying out a new combat system to make the game more fluid. Everything basically works out the same way, except when you enter combat you use your attack dice to deflect, and use the combined attack damage of your enemy to see how much damage they strike you with.
For example: If you're attacked by 2 enemies who attack with 3 dice each. Then you would roll 6 dice using a 6 sided die to calculate the damage. Then minus that amount by how much you deflect with your own dice. Then by how much protection your armor offers. So it would be: Attack Damage - Deflections - Resilience = Amount of Health Points lost.
***For those who’ve played this far with the old style you can continue playing the same way if you wish or continue on with the new. Let me know in the comments if it's become too difficult or too easy.***
Back aboard the Asgarolda, Grey stood at the ship’s handrail to watch Hargan’s boys load the transport up with as much of the supplies they could carry from the trading outpost. The sound of Lorel’s tiny voice perking his ears as he listened to her retell her sad tale. “Master Codlane told us the Ash Lands were getting much worse and that we should leave, but some people wanted the Master to send for the Blades, only the messenger came back different.
“I'm not sure if anyone noticed, but father got scared at how close the Ash was getting to the village and wanted me to take the next ship out of here, only no ships had come this way in months. That’s when people started to act really weird or disappear like my friend Sozan, Corona, and Blyden, and then Codlane would make up these stupid excuses for why they were gone. Father talked to the Master again about leaving, but he would always say everything was fine.
“Father said something about there being evil in the village and tried to take me away when we were stopped on the road by the priests from the temple. Father told me to run. But I couldn’t. I was so scared, I couldn’t move. So he pushed me into the bushes and tried to talk with the others, when they...when they killed him…” Fresh tears spilled down her pale cheeks.
“...With father gone, all of them went away, and left me alone.
"I tried to be brave and go on by myself, like father said I should, but I didn’t want to leave him like that. So I tried to dig him a hole when Glydel came and found me. He said the village wasn’t safe for me anymore and that I should go to the Citadel. But I didn’t want to go by myself. I wanted him to come with me, but he said no. He tried to leave me there, but I kept following him back, so he brought me to his store to hide in the cellar instead.
“Each day waiting down there, I prayed to the Lightbearer that he would come and save us, but he never came. He never came,” she whispered, “I can’t remember how long I was down there but when Glydel told me a ship was coming, I thought maybe the Honor Blades had finally come...but that was a lie well.”
Eyes burning with a red hot flame, Lorel scrubbed her cheeks and met his steady gaze. “That’s why I decided I would fight the darkness myself if they wouldn’t!”
Face scrunched up as more tears slipped down her cheeks, Lorel smiled for the first time. “It’s why I want to keep fighting.” The young girl’s words reminding Grey so much of himself, and the creed that had been born in him long ago. “Bring the light no matter where you go. Bring the light.” Lorel, the single candle in the dark who had kept the darkness at bay.
It saddened him that she had suffered so much, but at the same time looking down at her right now, he couldn’t help but feel a touch of pride at the way she had held herself. The amount of courage she had needed to face those monsters must have been great indeed, and yet she had done it all the same.
“What is it you would like to do now?”he asked her.
Lorel gazed down at Glydel who sat on the deck of the ship not far from her, the nervous albino’s eyes constantly twitching at every sound, and saw her fear as well as her deep sadness. It appeared that with the death of most of ghouls in the village, Glydel had withdrawn into himself, becoming a quaking mess of jumbled nerves and tics Calain said was the effect of being torn away from it’s creator. If so, at the rate his health was failing, Glydel would not live for very long, which should have made things easier for Grey, but instead all he could feel was pity for the young mino.
“Do you think the Honor Blades can save him?”She asked hopefully with upraised chin.
Grey crossed his arms across his wide chest. “I don’t know. Perhaps. But we would need to speak to the First Blade of Light at the Citadel first. But it could be possible.”
“Then that’s where I’ll go,” she said with renewed determination.
Hazel coloured eyes hardened into brown marble stones, she raised her chin higher up in defiance as though expecting an argument from him. And perhaps not too long ago Grey might have done exactly that. But if she were anything like him, she would not be dissuaded by words alone. Maybe that’s why his uncle had let Grey leave in the first place, because Cold Steel knew that this was the path Grey had chosen.
His attention drawn back to the village, he smiled to see the suns begin to rise up once more. Calain returning from his night hunt in the Ash Lands, while Sky who had decided to stay back in the village to snoop around, came back empty handed. The pair of them tromping up the plank together, when Hargan called out, “Well, let’s be off then shall we! We still have a ways to go!”
With everyone back aboard the ship, the hard nosed minotaur let out a bellow that could be heard clear across the clear blue skies. The black deviled bellow-hearts that had come to nest upon the ghoul corpses bursting into the air in a flock of wings and feathers. The huge black sails unfurling to fill with the morning breeze. And as Grey looked north he felt something come alive inside of him as he neared his goal.
***
Of course that feeling of awe and excitement died away quickly enough once he realised how far they still needed to travel.
Nights turned into days. And days into weeks with all of them cooped aboard the same ship. The lands around them becoming grey and bloated. The trees he saw, transformed into gnarled monsters with no leaves that swayed awkwardly in the sun. The river water which had once been a sparkling blue, becoming an odorous dark mush of putrid green filth that split apart beneath the keel of the ship. The stench alone so bad that most of them had been forced to sleep below decks, though that wasn’t much better.
In that time Grey had decided he would teach Lorel the same lessons his uncle had taught him when he was a young mino newly grieved with the recent loss of his family. The dark haired redling girl who had been hesitant at first to learn, now drinking in Grey's every word as though they were from the Lightbearer himself. An uncomfortable thought that had him on more than one occasion wanting to stop, but if Lorel were anything like him, she needed the distraction as much as he did. Too much time spent dwelling on the darkness of the world, could corrupt the soul. Another lesson he was forever grateful to his uncle for.
But that wasn’t the only reason Grey had wanted to stop, since that first day he had sat her down on the deck beside him, Grey had seen his audience grow substantially with Hargan’s two youngest sons Daroy and Wigrum sometimes sitting in to listen. With Sky appearing often to interrupt Grey with incessant questions that often took the lessons off topic. Calain lounging all the while on a sail he’d fashioned into a sling to always looking down at Grey with a bemused smile.
Still with the light at his back, each morning he would rise up early to train his body in the forms his uncle had taught him, before waiting for Lorel to wake up and eat a meal together. The young girl’s thin face, filling out to put some flesh on her skinny bones. Her brown robes discarded in favour of a white dress they’d found in the village as well as a pink ribbon to hold back her locks of chestnut hair.
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Halfway through his usual morning ritual, Grey heard the rustle of footsteps on the wooden deck and felt eyes upon his back as he switched from each form to the next. His arms, legs, and senses, all attuned to the rhythms of battle. Every part of him aware of the banks of poisonous fog that blanketed the sides of the river, but at the same able to move past it and see the lands as they had been before the scourge, a lush, green oasis of beauty and light. His surroundings becoming one with him until with a final flourish he came to smooth halt, Lorel clapping her hands together in excitement.
“Will you teach me that next?”she asked with an infectious smile.
Grey smiled back. “In time, yes, but for now you will need to study the seven forms of battle, the Order of Honor Blades, and the Blessings of the Lightbearer.”
Both relaxed and in a better state of mind to teach or in some cases to deal with the aggrativing duo of Calain’s smirks and Sky’s inane questions, he waved for her to join him by the foremast. Grey resting an arm comfortably on the handrail's smoothly polished surface. A testament to Hargan who took great care to keep his ship neat and tidy, despite a bored Sky who had decided to delve through what they’d found in the hold for any magical items.
Once at his side, Grey looked down at her for a moment, seeing the frightened child they’d discovered in the village slowly burnt away, then nodded his head towards the looming darkness on the horizon. The tainted lands of the deep north fallen completely away to the evils that had gripped it so that all that remained of the light was a single fiery beacon in the distance.
“Darkness comes from light, and from the darkness, light. That’s what my uncle used to say to me. That despite the darkness in the world, light could not exist if there were darkness to shine within it. And the same could be said of the light,” Grey let out snort, “It was probably why my uncle both loved and despised the Honor Blades.”
Lorel’s eyebrows furrowed up in confusion. “Why? I thought you said he served as an Honor Blade.”
Grey nodded his head and continued to stare off into the distance. “That is true. But there was one thing my uncle Cold Steel came to realise. And that was because of who the Honor Blades were, that they would always attract the attention of the dark. Draw it to them like that beacon in the distance, a signal that would eventually kill them all one by one. The war an eternal struggle without end. Cold, feared that if he stayed with them for too long, that all he would ever see of this world was the darkness within it, and come to hate it for the thousands of lives lost who’d fought to keep it at bay.”
Lorel’s hand urgently tugged on his elbow. “Why--”
“--why then do I want to be an Honor Blade?”Grey lips tweaked into a small smile as he felt the burning warmth inside of him. “Because I made a promise to my family long ago, and I mean to keep it.”
“Is that why your so surly, horn head?”asked Calain. The vampire glided out from the shadows behind them when Lorel whirled around to face him. “His name is, Grey!”
“My, my, you’ve really duped that child haven’t you with your whole life is honor gambit? Tell me Grey, have you never regretted any of the lives you’ve taken? You’ve shed far too many too easily when it’s convenient for you, but I wonder if you would do the same if it was you being hunted and despised your whole life. You have a way with words, Grey, but this childish fantasy of vengeance must end at some point. I just wonder how many of those close to will die before you realise that.”
“What is your point, Calain?”
Calain shot him a predatory smile. “Why it’s simple of course. Tell Hargan to head back now before you add anymore regrets to that growing list of yours.”
Fists clenched hard around the railing, Grey heard Lorel argue with Calain at the back of his mind, but it was though it were happening to someone else, someone far away from here. Their voices distant noise to him. The thoughts that had weighed him down for weeks, tumbling through his mind at the thought he was dishonouring his family’s memory. Father had stood up to protect his home despite those around wanting him to leave. His mother kind and wise, had always stayed right by his side, no matter the danger they faced. Should he not do the same, if not for himself, then for the sake of the darkness that blighted their land? There must be an end to it...
In his mind’s eye Grey again saw himself, but this time not as an Honor Blade, but as a warrior ablaze in light battling the darkness alone. His hand unerringly reaching up into the sky to clutch at something when he felt something heavy drop into his palm.
Eyes opened in surprise, he looked down to see Tamrel, his uncle’s greatsword, wreathed in flames and light. The magical energy dissipating away quickly to leave behind a greatsword removed of all rust and age. The weapon he had fantasized about owning as a child, now back in his grasp like it had never been gone.
Heart thundering inside of his chest, he looked up to see Lorel and Calain staring at him in open mouthed amazement when the ship pitched to the side, the young girl’s feet slipping out from underneath her as she slid down the deck, the gaping maw of a terrible sea beast emerging from the waters beneath with glistening malice filled red eyes.
(Click here if you throw yourself forward to save Lorel.)
Spoiler: Spoiler
No time to think, he threw himself forward across the deck of the ship, and reached out with arms outstretched to shove her out of the monster’s path. The sea beast’s tentacles cutting across his back like razor sharp knives, it's pincers stabbing into him. (- 40 Health Points. + 10 Honor.)
(Click here if you focus on defending the ship.)
Spoiler: Spoiler
Flooded by a wave of shame at the thought of abandoning her like this, he threw himself forward across the deck of the ship, and reached out with arms outstretched to shove her out of the monster’s path. His timely delay saving him from the sea- beast’s swinging tentacles that swept overhead. ( - 10 Honor.)
Lorel safe for the moment. He leapt back up to his feet and attacked the first sea-devil to cross onto the deck. Monsters of the sea that enjoyed the taste of flesh, who some say were the descendents of the demons that Ice Eyes had long ago driven off the land.
[https://em.wattpad.com/9a9ef21f19ae13fd73f0032ed12440f668d72b2d/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f734f5a73444a5345756131496a413d3d2d3731343034373536372e313561616366653832343764306433383536303235393034313833352e706e67] x 4
(Combat: Roll 16 dice to see how much damage they inflict on you. Then use your attack dice to deflect some of that damage, which then can be further whittled down by your Resilience. E.g. Attack Damage - Deflections - Resilience =....)
Blue bodies coated in a slimy green substance that came from the water, Grey hacked at their limbs until they fell apart, then turned to help the others who fought to defend the ship. Calain as per usual dealing with the sea-devils easily, his claws darting into their chests to tear out their still beating hearts, while Sky did his best to help Hargan’s three sons who were equipped with harpoons and tried to protect their wounded father.
[https://em.wattpad.com/9a9ef21f19ae13fd73f0032ed12440f668d72b2d/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f734f5a73444a5345756131496a413d3d2d3731343034373536372e313561616366653832343764306433383536303235393034313833352e706e67] x 6
(Combat: Roll 24 dice to see how much damage they inflict on you. Then use your attack dice to deflect some of that damage, which then can be further whittled down by your Resilience. E.g. Attack Damage - Deflections - Resilience =....)
Shoulder slashed open by a stray tentacle, Grey dealt with the last of beasts at the bow of the ship and with Calain’s help, cleared out the stern as well. Only to be confronted by a dark being that flew out of the river to drop onto the deck, it’s razor sharp teeth scooping up Torlaf into it's jaws, before shaking him from side to side and tossing his bleeding body down onto the deck. His two grief stricken brothers almost charging forward heedlessly into danger when Grey leapt inbetween them and growled, “See to him! He may still be alive!”
Tears wiped from their eyes, they reluctantly pulled back while Grey faced the beast. The demon letting out a mocking bite of laughter as it thrust out it’s chest and roared, “Come and taste my power, warrior! I have not drunk fireblood in sometime!”
[https://em.wattpad.com/cc40523031cacbd87179e3f8a44c38f39f641f33/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f3778317a594161773962654477413d3d2d3731343034373536372e313561616366653564643835616634373734353739343733373739352e706e67]
Arms ablaze with a righteous fury, he met the demon in a flurry of attacks, parrying aside the dark steel it carried, while he chopped his greatsword into it’s tough hide. His painstaking efforts, methodical and brutal as he targeted each weak point and brought the demon down to its knees. Blood gurgling out from it’s shattered jaw when Grey drew back all of his strength and drove his blade deep into its skull.
The aftermath of the battle, leaving Grey gasping for air, when Tamrel touched his mind. The two behind you will die soon. I can aid them but I will need your help. Guided by it’s words, he turned and walked towards the wounded son and father. Seeing Daroy and Wigrum standing there side by side as they tried to fathom what to do, their arms coated in their brother’s blood.
Filled with light and a sense of purpose, he knelt down in front of them, and lay his hands on their chests. The humm of power he felt building up inside of him, growing stronger still until all he could feel was the sun in his eyes. The wave of power that surged through him shocking Grey as he fell back. Hargan staring up at Grey in amazement before whispering, “Honor Blade.”
To be continued...