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#Post#: 29267--------------------------------------------------
The Warlord
By: K Date: August 24, 2015, 1:51 am
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As an apology for discontinuing 'The Lords of Order and Chaos.'
[center]The Warlord
A Short Story
[/center]
“He was an average man with an average family, living an average
life on an average farm. He ate average food and wore average
clothes. He died a not-so-average death. It was a tragedy. His
whole family was ruthlessly slaughtered, like the chickens in
the barn during the harvest.”
“Why? What happened?”
“The last Stormlord died, me boy. A tragic death too; the
Stormlord had no family left, you see. They all died in the war;
every last one of them. The Stormlord drove back the enemy, but
it wasn’t enough. He got assassinated the day he got back to the
citadel. Who could have thought? The mighty Stormlord, struck
from his saddle of his mighty Stormhorse by his own Stormguard.”
“Who were they? The enemy, I mean.”
“Nobody back then really knew. However, today we know for sure
it was those warlords that started all this. Charlie, me boy,
Promise me never to challenge a warlord. Ever.”
“Yes, Grandfather. I promise. “
“There are thousands of these warlords, Charlie. I know of a
dozen in the nearby area. They are the ones that now rule these
lands.”
[hr]
Welcome to the Kingdom of Stormlore, a world torn apart by
conquest, war, famine and death.
Charlie looked down from the elevated position of the bitter,
wooden watchtower. The watchtower was a simple affair of a bare
design. The pine wood support beams were old and half rotted,
the only thing that kept the tower standing was the occasional
repair made by the village’s half-taught carpenter. The sorry
excuse for a ladder leaned lazily against the broken structure,
threatening to snap at any given moment.
From up there, Charlie could see the gated wooden fence that
surrounds the village, supposedly acting as a wall. He could
also see the entire village, it was not a big community; only
about fifteen individual households. If just a few metres
higher, he would see the hastily built stores that the farmers
in their village would use to store crops. He shifted to survey
the countryside. The forest was quite ancient, skirting the
village. The hundred year old pines made for great building
material if there was still a lumberjack in the village.
Although his eyes scanned the treeline, he did not pay any
attention; his mind wandered. He thought about the ‘good old
days’ that his grandpa told him about; the days when the Kingdom
of Stormlore still had a Stormlord to bow to. The people back
then were happy and well fed, enjoying life as much as a peasant
could afford to. Now, the Kingdom was split apart as individual,
self-proclaimed warlords murdered each other for the crown. In
fact, none of the warlords owned any territory bigger than a
village. Attacking another village was simply suicide: with all
the able-bodied men off to battle their neighbors, other
warlords could simply raid the undefended village.
Charlie sighed. He never asked for this. No one in his village
did. He was so deep in thought that he didn’t notice the shapes
that flittered just beyond the treeline. A few seconds later,
figures emerged from the undergrowth. As they drew closer, a
passerby in the village would probably be able to identify that
the newcomers carried long shafts, of some sort.
Charlie jerked awake from his daydream at the sound of a
missile, of some kind, smashing into the side of the watchtower.
He quickly dropped to his hands and knees as a second missile
struck a glancing blow on the railings of the tower. A
triumphant yell was heard from the attackers. Charlie quickly
crawled to a strongbox that stored the guard’s equipment. He
lifted the heavy, lockless lid and reached inside for a smooth
animal horn. He brought the horn to his lips and blew hard,
producing a loud, high pitched baying noise. He tried again;
producing a loud, low pitched braying sound. Men emerged from
their cottages armed with sharpened stakes and clubs, ready to
defend their homes.
The attackers yelled some sort of a war cry and the men of the
village yelled back defiantly. Charlie watched fearfully from
the watchtower. He saw that most of the attackers carried stakes
of their own, and there seems to be a blade tied onto the
unsharpened end of the sticks. The attackers also wore leather
armour and helmets. Two of them even carried actual spears.
There was one attacker that stood out from the rest. He was clad
in steel and mounted on a horse, a sword in one hand and a
shield in the other. A warlord, Charlie realized.
The Warlord was clad top to bottom in what could only be steel.
He had it all – helmet, breastplate, gauntlets, greaves and even
sabatons – a full suit of armor. The armet the Warlord wore
covered his face, the only reason that Charlie assumed it was a
man was the fact that there were no female warlords as far as he
knows.
Charlie was suddenly aware of some more figures in the trees. He
watched, terrified, as they raised the bows they carried and
drew back the bowstring. The Warlord waved his sword at the
village and the attackers surged forward, another war cry was
initiated. The villagers never saw the volley of arrows. Shocked
and disorientated, the villagers turned and fled. The Warlord
charged after them on his horse, cutting them down as he neared
them, while the rest of the attackers busied themselves with
burning and looting the village. Charlie never stood a chance.
[hr]
“You’re back, my lord.”
“Indeed, Oliver,” The Warlord confirmed, brushing aside the
obvious statement, “Have a look at how many things we managed to
get and then report to me afterwards.”
“Yes, my lord.” Oliver bowed before hurrying to unload the goods
from the horse-drawn cart.
The Warlord dismounted and headed for the castle keep, his steel
sabatons clanked on the cobblestone as he walked. He was quite
lucky, in fact. His domain was this castle which used to belong
to a baron of the fief. The baron was long gone by the time he
arrived with his party of a hundred or so followers, men and
women that escaped the destruction of their pervious homes. The
stores were still full of supplies and the armoury still
contained some decent equipment. He kept the best for himself,
of course. He could still remember that day he stumbled across
this abandoned fort, it seemed like it was only yesterday;
mainly because it was only yesterday.
”Be careful, Oliver. You don’t want to fall off the battlements,
you know. Okay, let’s take a look at the armoury. Open the door…
There we go… Now, let’s have a look at these beauties… Hum…
Oliver, open the chest. No? What do you mean, no? Traps? Those
traps won’t kill a fly! Now open it! No? What do you mean? No?
That’s an order! See…? No traps… Now, get a lantern over here,
Max! John, come over here. Look what I found... Yes, of course
it’s a sword! What else could it be?... Do you feel that?
Perfect balance… This, my friends, this is Stormsteel. It’ll
keep its edge long after you and I are gone. Dead. That means no
sharpening is required. Of course, I’m having it! Get your own!”
The Warlord unsheathed the sword to admire the gleam of the
weapon. The blade was flawless, the crosspiece was decorated
with silver and gold lacing and the hilt was surmounted by a
polished ruby gemstone. The blacksmith of the weapon obviously
knew his trade to craft such a fine sword. He sheathed the sword
as he drew near the keep. His steel gauntlet rasped against the
rusted iron handle as he opened the door of the keep.
The Warlord entered the keep and began to mount the stairs. The
stairs spiraled to the right, a standard design choice for all
the castles in Stormlore. The Warlord reached the third level.
The stairs stopped there, but the tower goes higher than three
floors. He picked the door on the left of the landing and opened
it. He entered and found himself in the barracks. Another turn
left lead him to another door. Beyond the door, he knew, was the
next flight of stairs. This design meant that an enemy would
have to deal with the troops in the barracks before they could
advance any further up the tower. The Warlord ascended the next
three flights of stairs; his fitness guaranteed that he would
manage the climb easily. The Warlord entered the door on the
right and locked the door behind him. He had claimed this room
his own as it was the biggest of the three on the floor.
The room was a simple one; a massive desk dominated most of the
room and the two armchairs that sat facing each other, one on
either side of the desk, were of simple design and furnishing.
The single arched window, currently opened, had both shutters
and heavy curtains in case of bad weather. Curtained off to the
side is the bed and closet for the inhabitant to retire to for
the night.
The Warlord lay his plain, unpainted shield down against the
stone wall. He had wanted a coat of arms or some kind of
insignia for the shield, but he does not possess the materials,
or skills, to paint such a design. He laid his sheathed sword on
the massive oak desk, angling it so as not to disturb the little
piles of books and scrolls. The warlord himself was not
literate, but a few of his followers are educated scribes. He
took his armour off, piece by piece and laid them near a rack to
organize later.
There was a knock on the door, followed by Max’s cheerful voice,
“Sofia? Are you ready yet? Oliver has some news to share”
Only the Warlord’s most trusted lieutenant are allow to call her
by name, and Max is, of course, her most trusted lieutenant.
“Just a second, Max” The Warlord replied, donning a heavier robe
over her tunic to keep out the chill of early spring. Being a
female warlord is hard. But after accessing the situation, the
Warlord was more than content with the underestimation that came
with her gender.
#Post#: 29335--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Warlord
By: GRACETHEDUCK Date: August 24, 2015, 5:05 am
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Iluvit! Great description of action and [I]such[/I] an
interesting plot. One thing though, I noticed you would tend to
switch back and forth from present tense and past tense - such
as "There [U]was[/U] a knock on the door", and "and Max
[U]is[/U], of course, her most trusted lieutenant" - but
otherwise, it's still great. Is this going to be continued?
#Post#: 29648--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Warlord
By: Oafish Team Date: August 26, 2015, 7:36 am
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[quote author=GRACETHEDUCK link=topic=181.msg29335#msg29335
date=1440410719]
Iluvit! Great description of action and [I]such[/I] an
interesting plot.
[/quote]
Was that sarcasm or enthusiasm...?
#Post#: 29649--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Warlord
By: GRACETHEDUCK Date: August 26, 2015, 8:13 am
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It was genuine. Though it probably does look like sarcasm . . .
#Post#: 29851--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Warlord
By: K Date: August 27, 2015, 5:40 am
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[quote author=GRACETHEDUCK link=topic=181.msg29335#msg29335
date=1440410719]
Iluvit! Great description of action and [I]such[/I] an
interesting plot. One thing though, I noticed you would tend to
switch back and forth from present tense and past tense - such
as "There [U]was[/U] a knock on the door", and "and Max
[U]is[/U], of course, her most trusted lieutenant" - but
otherwise, it's still great. Is this going to be continued?
[/quote]
Thank you for pointing that out.
I'm think of continuing this but I'm not actually certain. We'll
have to see.
[quote author=GRACETHEDUCK link=topic=181.msg29649#msg29649
date=1440594834]
It was genuine. Though it probably does look like sarcasm . . .
[/quote]
It does if you're in the negative, pessimistic mindset.
#Post#: 29890--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Warlord
By: Oafish Team Date: August 27, 2015, 7:55 am
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[quote author=K00 the Sane link=topic=181.msg29851#msg29851
date=1440672029]
It does if you're in the negative, pessimistic mindset.
[/quote]
And are you in the negative, pessimistic mindset, K00?
#Post#: 34387--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Warlord
By: K Date: October 16, 2015, 7:16 pm
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[quote author=Karin Oafish Team link=topic=181.msg29890#msg29890
date=1440680145]
[quote author=K00 the Sane link=topic=181.msg29851#msg29851
date=1440672029]
It does if you're in the negative, pessimistic mindset.
[/quote]
And are you in the negative, pessimistic mindset, K00?
[/quote]
No. Why on Earth would you ask that?
I've probably have a sequel up some time later...
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