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SanguisAevum · 09-26-2011, 08:31 AM

Great thread!

Inspired me to do a snippet about an NPC of mine...

Spoiler

I am the last of my people.

As I admit the awful truth to myself, the cold desperate realisation of this most terrifying fact freezes the very blood in my veins. I look back through the ages at the line of my kin and I weep for them all. The collected works of a civilisation as old as speech itself have been torn asunder in the name of hatred and fear.

I am the last of my people.

My grief is absolute as I stare blindly down at the corpse of my wife, my soul mate. I look back through the memories we shared. They are all tainted now... no longer do I see those emerald eyes looking fondly back at me, instead all I see is the blood stained ground outside the place that was once our home. Her rich and vibrant voice is gone, replaced by the shrieks of agony that sounded out her painful death to me as I tried in vain to reach her. In stricken silence I reach forth and one by one pluck out the spears that protrude grossly from her perfect form. She was not killed, she was butchered.

I am the last of my people.

What little remains of my world crashes down around me as my gaze falls to the remains of my daughters. Barely old enough to speak, they would not have understood what was happening. Sweet mercy of the gods I thank the powers that be that they did not have time to cry out as my wife did. My tears stream down my cheeks as I imagine them welcoming the invaders to our fields with naive smiles, only to be mercilessly cut down where they stood. They, above all other did not deserve this, but the northerners have no compassion, no morals, they know only violence. This above all else steels my heart, such abject cruelty for the sake of ignorance is intolerable. I howl my pain to the world in raw uncontrolled rage.

I am the last of my people.

And now they come for me. The king of the raiders leads his army this way even now. And rest assured, an army he will need, for the last of my people is also the greatest of my people! Through might and magic have I reigned over my subjects, and for five thousand years my empire has held true. I tell myself that as long as this crown sits atop my brow my people live on. But the words are hollow and without meaning. What use do I have for an empire now? I would trade it all gladly, just to hear my wife's voice, or to hold my daughters one last time. With their tainted memory haunting me as I fly, I go forth to meet my destroyers.

I am the last of my people.

But the last and greatest of the dragons is more than a match for even a hundred thousand barbarians. And though I know I must surely fall in the end, I shall lay about me with fire, tooth, claw and spell, and the ragged hordes of the north shall flee before my vengeance for at least a time.

So sayeth Rathranox the ancient!

(Translated from Old Draconic)

09-26-2011, 08:31 AM	Top - End - #580
SanguisAevum Dwarf in the Playground Join Date: Sep 2011	Re: D&D Snippets Great thread! Inspired me to do a snippet about an NPC of mine... Spoiler I am the last of my people. As I admit the awful truth to myself, the cold desperate realisation of this most terrifying fact freezes the very blood in my veins. I look back through the ages at the line of my kin and I weep for them all. The collected works of a civilisation as old as speech itself have been torn asunder in the name of hatred and fear. I am the last of my people. My grief is absolute as I stare blindly down at the corpse of my wife, my soul mate. I look back through the memories we shared. They are all tainted now... no longer do I see those emerald eyes looking fondly back at me, instead all I see is the blood stained ground outside the place that was once our home. Her rich and vibrant voice is gone, replaced by the shrieks of agony that sounded out her painful death to me as I tried in vain to reach her. In stricken silence I reach forth and one by one pluck out the spears that protrude grossly from her perfect form. She was not killed, she was butchered. I am the last of my people. What little remains of my world crashes down around me as my gaze falls to the remains of my daughters. Barely old enough to speak, they would not have understood what was happening. Sweet mercy of the gods I thank the powers that be that they did not have time to cry out as my wife did. My tears stream down my cheeks as I imagine them welcoming the invaders to our fields with naive smiles, only to be mercilessly cut down where they stood. They, above all other did not deserve this, but the northerners have no compassion, no morals, they know only violence. This above all else steels my heart, such abject cruelty for the sake of ignorance is intolerable. I howl my pain to the world in raw uncontrolled rage. I am the last of my people. And now they come for me. The king of the raiders leads his army this way even now. And rest assured, an army he will need, for the last of my people is also the greatest of my people! Through might and magic have I reigned over my subjects, and for five thousand years my empire has held true. I tell myself that as long as this crown sits atop my brow my people live on. But the words are hollow and without meaning. What use do I have for an empire now? I would trade it all gladly, just to hear my wife's voice, or to hold my daughters one last time. With their tainted memory haunting me as I fly, I go forth to meet my destroyers. I am the last of my people. But the last and greatest of the dragons is more than a match for even a hundred thousand barbarians. And though I know I must surely fall in the end, I shall lay about me with fire, tooth, claw and spell, and the ragged hordes of the north shall flee before my vengeance for at least a time. So sayeth Rathranox the ancient! (Translated from Old Draconic) Last edited by SanguisAevum : 09-28-2011 at 07:52 AM.