Tormsskull
2008-09-04, 09:29 PM
Hi all,
I wrote this story for last year's National Novel Writing Month. I couldn't come up with any solid ideas, so I ended up writing the story about my characters in World of Warcraft. Its no where near done, and I'm only posting the first two chapters here. If anyone gets bored enough to read it, I hope you enjoy (and let me know what you think).
Chapter One
The serrated blade of the axe swished overtop Bargle’s head as he ducked under the hulking humanoid’s attack. Taking a few quick steps backwards, Bargle stretched his hand foreword and three luminescent purple missiles arced out and pounded into the creature’s side, and it crumpled to the ground.
Off to his side Bargle saw the flurry of motions as his elf ally swiped forward with his pair of daggers, slashing and piercing as the opportunities presented themselves, cutting the gnoll that had charged him to ribbons.
When the elf finished with his first victim he quickly stepped forward to intercept a second gnool that was heading straight for Bargle. A quick horizontal slash across the gnoll’s face temporary stunned it, giving the elf enough time to rotate to the rear of the creature, and plunge both of his daggers into its back.
“Behind you!” The elf called out, pointing one of his poison-covered daggers over Bargle’s shoulder. Bargle quickly summoned forth the powers of frost, sending a ring of ice outwards from himself, and then turned around. A vaguely humanoid figure composed of shadows was frozen to the ground, but only for so long.
The creature’s eyes, blood-red points of light, flared angrily at its present condition. Its seething hatred was barely contained in its frame, as it tried to reach out and touch the gnome, but was unable due to the frost that had stuck it to the floor.
“This one’s mine!” The woman stepped over from Bargle’s left, raised her gleaming sword in one hand, and held her shield in the other to ward off any attack that the creature might make.
Her entire body glowed as she channeled the powers of the Light, her sword encompassed in holy power as she struck the shadowy creature several times. It reared from her attacks, but was unable to withstand the onslaught, and dissipated into nothingness.
Bargle took a moment to breathe, scanned around the room at his companions, and kept an eye out for any more enemies. “I think we’ve earned ourselves a moment of rest.”
The elf nodded towards the gnome, and then directed his attention towards the human woman.
“Felva, do you suspect Kravos knows we are here yet? We’ve smashed through his front lines so far, and not nearly as quietly as I would have liked.”
Felva sheathed her sword and then turned to face the elf, her once shiny plate armor now covered with the blood and filth of the creatures they had been dispatching.
“I’m sure Kravos has eyes all over this place. It would have been impossible to assault this castle completely hidden.”
“For you.” The elf replied, as he suddenly vanished from sight.
“We don’t all have your skills in stealth, Rhuobhe. Besides, if we were to have snuck passed all of these guards, Kravos would have simply called for them once we breached his inner sanctum. Instead of facing Kravos and his elite bodyguards, we’d have been facing them plus all of these other goons at the same time.”
The voice that replied seemed to come from inside the room, but it was difficult to pinpoint exactly where. “If we had snuck passed these goons we could have killed Kravos swiftly, without giving him anytime to raise the alarm.”
“I disagree. I think-”
“Enough of this bickering.”
Bargle interrupted the paladin and rogue’s conversation. “This is the situation that we are currently in. I don’t see the benefit it trying to deduce what would have been the better plan when it makes no matter now. I suggest we take a moment to catch our breath and then move on.”
Neither Felva nor Rhuobhe answered, but he suspected that both agreed. Bargle eyed the large double doors that barred their way from advancing further into the dark castle, wondering what dangers lay ahead. In the back of his mind he wondered how the second strike team faired.
Chapter Two
The quietness of the small forest encampment ended abruptly as the massive moonstalker quickly prodded its way next to the fire. It glanced at the elven woman and then towards the dwarven man before motioning with one of its massive paws, a clear indication that it wanted them to follow it.
The elven woman glanced towards the dwarf. “I’ll handle this Heiligaxt. Fhileraine must want to show us something, but I see no need for us both to abandon our camp.”
The dwarven priest simply grunted in response. He grabbed a piece of bread and set to devouring it.
As she got to her feet and started to walk away, the moonstalker leading the way, the dwarf called out. “Just ye be careful lass. I dun wanna be looking for your soul in the Great Beyond.”
She turned her head back towards the priest. “I’m more than capable of taking care of myself. My druidic powers have yet to fail me.”
Heiligaxt nodded. “I know this Nialee, but your courage sometimes eclipses your better judgment. Keep that in mind.”
Her smile faded from her face, and she solemnly nodded. She turned back to the moonstalker and motioned for it to continue.
The large feline lead her through several patches of sharp thorns and abrasive foliage, but it didn’t faze her in the slightest. Having been a druid for longer than a century, her knowledge of the natural parts of the world surpassed all but the Elder druids. She deftly walked around the pickers and dangerous plants and followed the cat until it stopped in the middle of a clearing. Fhileraine appeared suddenly, as if walking out of the shadows.
“There you are Nialee. I’ve tracked the humanoid’s movement, and I thought it would be a good time to fill you all in.” She turned towards the other elf and waited for him to continue.
Sensing that she wasn’t about to say anything, he continued. “It seems as though there are at least three separate groups of enemies we face her, my dear. The humanoids, of course, but I also spotted a small group of the Forsaken traveling a few hundred yards east of the humanoids, but in the same direction.”
Nialee sighed, brushing her long green hair over her shoulder as she scanned the horizon. “And the third group?”
Fhileraine rested his back against a massive tree, taking care not to lean against his quiver full of arrows. He took a moment to scrounge through the pack at his side and toss one of the catfish inside to the moonstalker.
Oreo, the moonstalker, caught the fish in the air and hungrily gulped it up. Fhileraine smiled down at her before returning his gaze to Nialee.
“There is a group of human rogues who have also aligned themselves with our enemy, possibly from the Syndicate. I saw them stalking several hundred yards behind the humanoids, acting as rear scouts. I haven’t seen them in the last day or so, but I am sure they are still out there.”
As Fhileraine finished talking, Nialee saw a cloud of powder strike him in the face, and he moved his hands to his eyes in an effort to cleanse them. Oreo reacted instinctively, jumping forward at the attacker and bringing him to the ground.
From all around the trio the attackers emerged, rogues now visible to Nialee since they were so close.
“And here I thought there wasn’t going to be any action today.” She grinned at the rogue closest to her, and called upon her druidic powers. In a flash her lithe elven frame was replaced by that of a massive bear, its body rippling with muscles and its mouth full of jagged teeth.
The rogues set upon her in a group, coordinating their attacks so that one or more of them could always be behind her. The ferocity of the bear ran through Nialee’s veins, and she let out a guttural growl. The rogues nearest her seemed to think twice of their ambush, though remained to press the attack.
Using her massive frame she bowled right through the rogue in front of her,
then quickly turned around to bash another with a meaty paw. The rogue’s head was nearly taken from his shoulders as he careened into a nearby tree.
Daggers stabbed at the bear’s skin, trying to penetrate the thick hide, but having little success. Nialee charged forth at the rogue nearest to Fhileraine, who was still having trouble seeing, and swiped her clawed paw, ripping into three of the attackers.
Oreo finished mauling her initial target, and then leapt over Nialee to strike into another rogue headed for Fhileraine. The cat made short work of that rogue as well, but it had slashed her across the chest when she leaped, and a thick stream of blood leaked down to the ground from the wound.
Nialee sensed that the rogues were preparing to flee. She turned towards the closest one and called upon her druidic powers to surround him in a pinkish aura of harmless fire. Four of the remaining five attackers backed away, and then vanished in puffs of smoke as they threw something from their hands to the ground.
The fifth rogue, the one that was lit up by the aura, sensed his predicament and tried to run. His speed seemed inhumanly fast, as he sprinted from the encampment. Oreo was on his trail, but unable to move as fast.
Fhileraine, having now cleared the powder from his eyes, pulled an arrow to his bow and let it fly true. The arrow, charged with the hunter’s magic, struck the rogue and slowed him down considerably. Fhileraine managed to fire off two more shots, each striking the rogue, before Oreo caught up with him and tackled him to the ground. One quick bite to the neck ended the rogue’s struggling.
As the trio reconvened, Nialee resumed her elven form, and then glanced towards the cat’s wounds.
“Are you going to heal her or should I?” She glanced towards Fhileraine and awaited a response.
“I think thar be a job for me.”
Heiligaxt stepped forward into the clearing and channeled the powers of Light. Over the next few seconds the Light encompassed all of them in the area, soothing the injuries, sealing open wounds, and injecting vigor back into their bodies.
“Is everybody alright now?” The dwarf glanced around at the others, and then took a moment to look at the bodies of the rogues.
Both elves nodded towards the dwarf, and the moonstalker went so far as to lick his hand.
“Garr, silly cat. Keep yer tongue to yer self!”
Fhileraine grinned towards the dwarf, and then playfully patted Oreo on the head.
“I think it is safe to safe that we have now been discovered. Those rogues that escaped will surely inform their masters and eventually the entire army will be looking for us. I only hope that Rhuobhe’s group is having better luck than us.”
“Worry not lass. With a paladin leadin’ thar group, Rhuobhe an them are in good hands.”
Fhileraine nodded his agreement, and even Nialee didn’t raise any arguments. Oreo took a few steps forward and glanced towards the tower that was vaguely visible in the sky.
I wrote this story for last year's National Novel Writing Month. I couldn't come up with any solid ideas, so I ended up writing the story about my characters in World of Warcraft. Its no where near done, and I'm only posting the first two chapters here. If anyone gets bored enough to read it, I hope you enjoy (and let me know what you think).
Chapter One
The serrated blade of the axe swished overtop Bargle’s head as he ducked under the hulking humanoid’s attack. Taking a few quick steps backwards, Bargle stretched his hand foreword and three luminescent purple missiles arced out and pounded into the creature’s side, and it crumpled to the ground.
Off to his side Bargle saw the flurry of motions as his elf ally swiped forward with his pair of daggers, slashing and piercing as the opportunities presented themselves, cutting the gnoll that had charged him to ribbons.
When the elf finished with his first victim he quickly stepped forward to intercept a second gnool that was heading straight for Bargle. A quick horizontal slash across the gnoll’s face temporary stunned it, giving the elf enough time to rotate to the rear of the creature, and plunge both of his daggers into its back.
“Behind you!” The elf called out, pointing one of his poison-covered daggers over Bargle’s shoulder. Bargle quickly summoned forth the powers of frost, sending a ring of ice outwards from himself, and then turned around. A vaguely humanoid figure composed of shadows was frozen to the ground, but only for so long.
The creature’s eyes, blood-red points of light, flared angrily at its present condition. Its seething hatred was barely contained in its frame, as it tried to reach out and touch the gnome, but was unable due to the frost that had stuck it to the floor.
“This one’s mine!” The woman stepped over from Bargle’s left, raised her gleaming sword in one hand, and held her shield in the other to ward off any attack that the creature might make.
Her entire body glowed as she channeled the powers of the Light, her sword encompassed in holy power as she struck the shadowy creature several times. It reared from her attacks, but was unable to withstand the onslaught, and dissipated into nothingness.
Bargle took a moment to breathe, scanned around the room at his companions, and kept an eye out for any more enemies. “I think we’ve earned ourselves a moment of rest.”
The elf nodded towards the gnome, and then directed his attention towards the human woman.
“Felva, do you suspect Kravos knows we are here yet? We’ve smashed through his front lines so far, and not nearly as quietly as I would have liked.”
Felva sheathed her sword and then turned to face the elf, her once shiny plate armor now covered with the blood and filth of the creatures they had been dispatching.
“I’m sure Kravos has eyes all over this place. It would have been impossible to assault this castle completely hidden.”
“For you.” The elf replied, as he suddenly vanished from sight.
“We don’t all have your skills in stealth, Rhuobhe. Besides, if we were to have snuck passed all of these guards, Kravos would have simply called for them once we breached his inner sanctum. Instead of facing Kravos and his elite bodyguards, we’d have been facing them plus all of these other goons at the same time.”
The voice that replied seemed to come from inside the room, but it was difficult to pinpoint exactly where. “If we had snuck passed these goons we could have killed Kravos swiftly, without giving him anytime to raise the alarm.”
“I disagree. I think-”
“Enough of this bickering.”
Bargle interrupted the paladin and rogue’s conversation. “This is the situation that we are currently in. I don’t see the benefit it trying to deduce what would have been the better plan when it makes no matter now. I suggest we take a moment to catch our breath and then move on.”
Neither Felva nor Rhuobhe answered, but he suspected that both agreed. Bargle eyed the large double doors that barred their way from advancing further into the dark castle, wondering what dangers lay ahead. In the back of his mind he wondered how the second strike team faired.
Chapter Two
The quietness of the small forest encampment ended abruptly as the massive moonstalker quickly prodded its way next to the fire. It glanced at the elven woman and then towards the dwarven man before motioning with one of its massive paws, a clear indication that it wanted them to follow it.
The elven woman glanced towards the dwarf. “I’ll handle this Heiligaxt. Fhileraine must want to show us something, but I see no need for us both to abandon our camp.”
The dwarven priest simply grunted in response. He grabbed a piece of bread and set to devouring it.
As she got to her feet and started to walk away, the moonstalker leading the way, the dwarf called out. “Just ye be careful lass. I dun wanna be looking for your soul in the Great Beyond.”
She turned her head back towards the priest. “I’m more than capable of taking care of myself. My druidic powers have yet to fail me.”
Heiligaxt nodded. “I know this Nialee, but your courage sometimes eclipses your better judgment. Keep that in mind.”
Her smile faded from her face, and she solemnly nodded. She turned back to the moonstalker and motioned for it to continue.
The large feline lead her through several patches of sharp thorns and abrasive foliage, but it didn’t faze her in the slightest. Having been a druid for longer than a century, her knowledge of the natural parts of the world surpassed all but the Elder druids. She deftly walked around the pickers and dangerous plants and followed the cat until it stopped in the middle of a clearing. Fhileraine appeared suddenly, as if walking out of the shadows.
“There you are Nialee. I’ve tracked the humanoid’s movement, and I thought it would be a good time to fill you all in.” She turned towards the other elf and waited for him to continue.
Sensing that she wasn’t about to say anything, he continued. “It seems as though there are at least three separate groups of enemies we face her, my dear. The humanoids, of course, but I also spotted a small group of the Forsaken traveling a few hundred yards east of the humanoids, but in the same direction.”
Nialee sighed, brushing her long green hair over her shoulder as she scanned the horizon. “And the third group?”
Fhileraine rested his back against a massive tree, taking care not to lean against his quiver full of arrows. He took a moment to scrounge through the pack at his side and toss one of the catfish inside to the moonstalker.
Oreo, the moonstalker, caught the fish in the air and hungrily gulped it up. Fhileraine smiled down at her before returning his gaze to Nialee.
“There is a group of human rogues who have also aligned themselves with our enemy, possibly from the Syndicate. I saw them stalking several hundred yards behind the humanoids, acting as rear scouts. I haven’t seen them in the last day or so, but I am sure they are still out there.”
As Fhileraine finished talking, Nialee saw a cloud of powder strike him in the face, and he moved his hands to his eyes in an effort to cleanse them. Oreo reacted instinctively, jumping forward at the attacker and bringing him to the ground.
From all around the trio the attackers emerged, rogues now visible to Nialee since they were so close.
“And here I thought there wasn’t going to be any action today.” She grinned at the rogue closest to her, and called upon her druidic powers. In a flash her lithe elven frame was replaced by that of a massive bear, its body rippling with muscles and its mouth full of jagged teeth.
The rogues set upon her in a group, coordinating their attacks so that one or more of them could always be behind her. The ferocity of the bear ran through Nialee’s veins, and she let out a guttural growl. The rogues nearest her seemed to think twice of their ambush, though remained to press the attack.
Using her massive frame she bowled right through the rogue in front of her,
then quickly turned around to bash another with a meaty paw. The rogue’s head was nearly taken from his shoulders as he careened into a nearby tree.
Daggers stabbed at the bear’s skin, trying to penetrate the thick hide, but having little success. Nialee charged forth at the rogue nearest to Fhileraine, who was still having trouble seeing, and swiped her clawed paw, ripping into three of the attackers.
Oreo finished mauling her initial target, and then leapt over Nialee to strike into another rogue headed for Fhileraine. The cat made short work of that rogue as well, but it had slashed her across the chest when she leaped, and a thick stream of blood leaked down to the ground from the wound.
Nialee sensed that the rogues were preparing to flee. She turned towards the closest one and called upon her druidic powers to surround him in a pinkish aura of harmless fire. Four of the remaining five attackers backed away, and then vanished in puffs of smoke as they threw something from their hands to the ground.
The fifth rogue, the one that was lit up by the aura, sensed his predicament and tried to run. His speed seemed inhumanly fast, as he sprinted from the encampment. Oreo was on his trail, but unable to move as fast.
Fhileraine, having now cleared the powder from his eyes, pulled an arrow to his bow and let it fly true. The arrow, charged with the hunter’s magic, struck the rogue and slowed him down considerably. Fhileraine managed to fire off two more shots, each striking the rogue, before Oreo caught up with him and tackled him to the ground. One quick bite to the neck ended the rogue’s struggling.
As the trio reconvened, Nialee resumed her elven form, and then glanced towards the cat’s wounds.
“Are you going to heal her or should I?” She glanced towards Fhileraine and awaited a response.
“I think thar be a job for me.”
Heiligaxt stepped forward into the clearing and channeled the powers of Light. Over the next few seconds the Light encompassed all of them in the area, soothing the injuries, sealing open wounds, and injecting vigor back into their bodies.
“Is everybody alright now?” The dwarf glanced around at the others, and then took a moment to look at the bodies of the rogues.
Both elves nodded towards the dwarf, and the moonstalker went so far as to lick his hand.
“Garr, silly cat. Keep yer tongue to yer self!”
Fhileraine grinned towards the dwarf, and then playfully patted Oreo on the head.
“I think it is safe to safe that we have now been discovered. Those rogues that escaped will surely inform their masters and eventually the entire army will be looking for us. I only hope that Rhuobhe’s group is having better luck than us.”
“Worry not lass. With a paladin leadin’ thar group, Rhuobhe an them are in good hands.”
Fhileraine nodded his agreement, and even Nialee didn’t raise any arguments. Oreo took a few steps forward and glanced towards the tower that was vaguely visible in the sky.