Wednesday 20 February 2008
Tuesday 19 February 2008
Claustrophobia
Sackcloth. Stinking, rancid, sacking, damp and mouldy. The taste is repulsive. Stuffed into my mouth, I can hardly swallow without wretching. Can barely breathe. Every intake seems to choke in minute hairs from the sackcloth, just enough to make you cough violently, stomach clenched.
Head seems free enough, can turn it, but something is strapped hard around my chest. Also restricting breathing. Some stray pin pricks of light shine through like divine torches from the heavens above, but not enough to make any recognisable forms. Just shadows. Angular vapid trails that pace up and down, occassionaly kicking me for fun.
Hands are numb. Tied to something behind my back. Something very strong. Something embedded and unmoveable. I move my fingers but it doesn't register. I feel amputated.
They wanted to know where the goods where.. they beat me hard.. soaked and choked me in blood, whose blood was that? Why soak me in blood? I thought it was my own at first, I held myself waiting for the pain to come. But it didn't, there was no wound on me, not that I could tell. Yet blood freely swam through the sacking and into my eyes, my mouth, congealing everywhere, I could feel lumps of it clinging soggily to my skin. My lashes fused for a while..
*another blow to the head*
The darkness opens up once more. Like a purse being unzipped. These fronds of light, heaven sent, twinkle in, and dance on my brain. Looks like I took it in the face that time. One of my eyes won't open any further.. so for now, the rays only come in from one side. What was I saying? I never talked. The goods location is still safe. They're not getting that stuff. I worked too hard for it. Its my ticket out of this sodden place. It's mine, for the Hosts sake! Sshhh! some chatting.. strain to hear, through the clothing...
Something about time wasting, something about no gold, no nothing, something barely audible about moving out.. or moving on...
Panic rising in me, I want to scream at them, perhaps I'll share the goods? perhaps we can make a deal? I was told there were some gems in the stash, they can take the gems, and any gold, I only wanted the pottery artifacts, they'd reach a fair price in Sharn. I wriggle as much as I can to get their attention.
*another blow to the head*
The familiar dull pulse of my own laboured breath rings around the inside of my darkened prison. The light is so pale. So distant. My eye is completely closed now, and I can feel blood trickling, warm and throbbing, it must be my own. One too many hits to the head. Funny though, I can't feel much pain. I guess my posture has numbed most of my limbs, and my sensory isolation has turned my bodies defenses inwards. Breathing is about the only thing I have left to concentrate on. That and my family... imagine their faces when they learn of my demise. How could I have done this to them? I thought myself so clever, agile and skillful, that I could escape all consequences, and look where its gotten me..
Somethings happening, movement, a strange curdling sound. My breath quickens, as I hear feet scatter away, they're running fast. Theres some sort of commotion. I twitch in place. Its silent. Perhaps they've left? If only I could feel my fingers, I could perhaps get one hooked into the cloth and loosen the binds? Perhaps if I edge down a little, this will free up enough room to squirm a hand free?
There seems to be some suction, cold yet burning surround my feet. Ahh! whats that? Its creeping over me. Burning. It feels as though my clothing is being removed, but not dragged off, more dissolved. The heat, followed by the cold. Oh my Host!, Lord of the Sovereign Host!, WHAT IS HAPPENING!!! Cold and cloying, yet intense heat travels up my body.. I can feel my binds shifting, sort of loosening, if only I could feel my toes, or my legs I could wiggle them free, my knees have come apart. I shift in the place I have been seated for this ordeal. And I can feel my arms coming free! The rolling motion of this suction seems to be encroaching like a scarf unfurling around my neck. I suddenly feel the intense heat of a scald settle on my cheek. White hot, then tacky cold. My arms are finally free! As the saturating mass envelopes my face first the sacking bag, then seeps through, my eyes fill up with bright flourescent gloop! The pain is precise, and acute. I reach forward to pull this off me, to wipe the burning quiensence from my face but it suspends me, rather than liberating me. I'm being lifted off the ground. Burned inside some suffocating coccoon. I can feel it seeping down my throat.. slowly, exploratory, carving a way into my lungs and stomach.
I feel the doors closing, darkness creeping in, I feel the radiant heat, but the light is fading fast. Perhaps its time to go, after all. The choking has stopped, I managed to drink the stuff down it seemed to lessen the trauma. My arms now feel heavy, my legs light, I was being turned in and around, possibly upside down, my eyes could see, the sacking had gone, but only the pitiful light seemed to dance blurry on my scorched lenses.
My greed, is my shame. My downfall. My last breath, shall rise and be expunged from this mass, shouting the name of my family, carrying the last tone of my love to them. My mother. My lost father. My sister, how sweet she is. And my close brother, Taerl.....
The ooze settled itself to feed. The little halflings body was but a small meal. But having had two fully grown human brigands already, it only needed a small meal to satiate itself. Budding season was upon the ooze, so nurishment was needed to nip off a dozen tiny fledgling oozes and keep them growing.
Head seems free enough, can turn it, but something is strapped hard around my chest. Also restricting breathing. Some stray pin pricks of light shine through like divine torches from the heavens above, but not enough to make any recognisable forms. Just shadows. Angular vapid trails that pace up and down, occassionaly kicking me for fun.
Hands are numb. Tied to something behind my back. Something very strong. Something embedded and unmoveable. I move my fingers but it doesn't register. I feel amputated.
They wanted to know where the goods where.. they beat me hard.. soaked and choked me in blood, whose blood was that? Why soak me in blood? I thought it was my own at first, I held myself waiting for the pain to come. But it didn't, there was no wound on me, not that I could tell. Yet blood freely swam through the sacking and into my eyes, my mouth, congealing everywhere, I could feel lumps of it clinging soggily to my skin. My lashes fused for a while..
*another blow to the head*
The darkness opens up once more. Like a purse being unzipped. These fronds of light, heaven sent, twinkle in, and dance on my brain. Looks like I took it in the face that time. One of my eyes won't open any further.. so for now, the rays only come in from one side. What was I saying? I never talked. The goods location is still safe. They're not getting that stuff. I worked too hard for it. Its my ticket out of this sodden place. It's mine, for the Hosts sake! Sshhh! some chatting.. strain to hear, through the clothing...
Something about time wasting, something about no gold, no nothing, something barely audible about moving out.. or moving on...
Panic rising in me, I want to scream at them, perhaps I'll share the goods? perhaps we can make a deal? I was told there were some gems in the stash, they can take the gems, and any gold, I only wanted the pottery artifacts, they'd reach a fair price in Sharn. I wriggle as much as I can to get their attention.
*another blow to the head*
The familiar dull pulse of my own laboured breath rings around the inside of my darkened prison. The light is so pale. So distant. My eye is completely closed now, and I can feel blood trickling, warm and throbbing, it must be my own. One too many hits to the head. Funny though, I can't feel much pain. I guess my posture has numbed most of my limbs, and my sensory isolation has turned my bodies defenses inwards. Breathing is about the only thing I have left to concentrate on. That and my family... imagine their faces when they learn of my demise. How could I have done this to them? I thought myself so clever, agile and skillful, that I could escape all consequences, and look where its gotten me..
Somethings happening, movement, a strange curdling sound. My breath quickens, as I hear feet scatter away, they're running fast. Theres some sort of commotion. I twitch in place. Its silent. Perhaps they've left? If only I could feel my fingers, I could perhaps get one hooked into the cloth and loosen the binds? Perhaps if I edge down a little, this will free up enough room to squirm a hand free?
There seems to be some suction, cold yet burning surround my feet. Ahh! whats that? Its creeping over me. Burning. It feels as though my clothing is being removed, but not dragged off, more dissolved. The heat, followed by the cold. Oh my Host!, Lord of the Sovereign Host!, WHAT IS HAPPENING!!! Cold and cloying, yet intense heat travels up my body.. I can feel my binds shifting, sort of loosening, if only I could feel my toes, or my legs I could wiggle them free, my knees have come apart. I shift in the place I have been seated for this ordeal. And I can feel my arms coming free! The rolling motion of this suction seems to be encroaching like a scarf unfurling around my neck. I suddenly feel the intense heat of a scald settle on my cheek. White hot, then tacky cold. My arms are finally free! As the saturating mass envelopes my face first the sacking bag, then seeps through, my eyes fill up with bright flourescent gloop! The pain is precise, and acute. I reach forward to pull this off me, to wipe the burning quiensence from my face but it suspends me, rather than liberating me. I'm being lifted off the ground. Burned inside some suffocating coccoon. I can feel it seeping down my throat.. slowly, exploratory, carving a way into my lungs and stomach.
I feel the doors closing, darkness creeping in, I feel the radiant heat, but the light is fading fast. Perhaps its time to go, after all. The choking has stopped, I managed to drink the stuff down it seemed to lessen the trauma. My arms now feel heavy, my legs light, I was being turned in and around, possibly upside down, my eyes could see, the sacking had gone, but only the pitiful light seemed to dance blurry on my scorched lenses.
My greed, is my shame. My downfall. My last breath, shall rise and be expunged from this mass, shouting the name of my family, carrying the last tone of my love to them. My mother. My lost father. My sister, how sweet she is. And my close brother, Taerl.....
The ooze settled itself to feed. The little halflings body was but a small meal. But having had two fully grown human brigands already, it only needed a small meal to satiate itself. Budding season was upon the ooze, so nurishment was needed to nip off a dozen tiny fledgling oozes and keep them growing.
Thursday 14 February 2008
Androse the Giant
The cheek of a deer exploded, as a steel tipped arrow rifled through the animals head. The lolloping corpse crumpled to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut. No sooner had the carcass hit the sodden floor, than it was being raised up into the air, like an offering to the Gods, held aloft by colossal hands, nurturing the fallen beast. The hands began to dance around the deer's injury, teasing and moulding in a fashion, slow and steady, firm but gentle. It was as if the beasts head was made of clay and it was being restructured and renewed. A long brooding chant echoed around the vicinity, as the hands enveloped the head, tunnel like, in a finger to thumb grasp. From within the clasp, a darting tongue lapped about and tasted its surroundings. The mammoth palms peeled away gracefully, and the deer shook its head, twitched nervously, and bolted for cover. It was as if not a scratch had been inflicted upon it. The hands came to rest by a man's side, contented at a job well done. The hands belonged to a giant sized fellow, only known to a few as Androse.
Fade swung down from the branch she was perched on, to survey her kill. Still proud at the accuracy of the shot, and hungry for some food after so long going without. Still wary, she would dart between tree to tree, using their trunks as cover. As she approached the small clearing where she expected to find a culled deer, she found only flattened grass, sprinkled with blood. Even the arrow had gone, nothing but a few tufts of raven feather left where the flights had been shredded upon entry. While her mind puzzled over where her quarry had gone, her stomach audibly yearned for the meat lost. The darkened forests of Caerwyn yield very little berries or fruits, the nearest morsel of nutrition coming from minute shoots that the boars like to eat. Perhaps its the soil, or the foul swamps that hinder the spread of fruit bearing foliage? No matter what, Fade had spent best part of this afternoon, stalking a suitable deer, picking the right moment to strike, and now, she would go hungry. Large tracks near the kill site, suggest something enormous dragged the fallen beast away, surely Ogres and Trolls wouldn't be this far south? Besides the freshly laid tracks didn't give off the scent of a dark largekin. It was more human, pungent in its own right, but not acrid. Fade took out a spare coiled bow string and started gnawing on the core to satisfy longing for something to chew. Besides, it comforted her. And with string in mouth, she bounded up into the tree canopy, to find a place to rest. Perhaps she'll hunt tomorrow and have some luck?
Androse had a gift. Bestowed upon him at birth. It was a gift of growth, although tiny and vulnerable at birth, he grew throughout his childhood at a rapid rate. When it was noticeable, the stigma of witchcraft was bestowed upon him and his family, and they were forced to leave their home to seek refuge in the forests. His mother frail and his father long dead, it wasn't long before Androse was alone in the forest, and still growing. His life was gentle, his soul carefree, his heart captured by the spirit of the forest and its dwellers. Long gone where the times when he wished for human companionship, humans had spurned him and only seemed to bring trouble. So he spent his days nurturing the wild, learning about its medicinal qualities and applying them where he could. Big as he was, he seemed to be able to live off mere scraps the forest would bestow upon him. A few bowls of boiled and mashed groosebush root would last him a few days. He wasn't disfigured in any way, he wasn't grotesque as such, just outsized. Combining salves he would pumice all day, Androse found he could mend injury quite easily, by channeling his growth through his hands and into fallen animals. It pleased him so much, his reason for carrying on, alone, but content. "Guardian of the darkened Vale" he like to call himself. However recently, more and more animals were being struck by sharp branches with glinting metal leaves. These evil spears from above were raining down almost daily and he had trouble keeping up with the amount of injuries caused. He suspected a dark tree spirit summoned by Orcs, probably. His utopian dream of arboreal harmony was bound to be attacked by the darkness sooner or later. If only he'd prepared for it.
Icy cold dawn arrives and shards of sunlight twinkle through the canopy to wake Fade. Her stomach is also aroused, and begins cramping on a regular basis. Nimbly clambering over tree top she spans a wide arc, always alert, looking for any movement below. A flutter of birds swoop by, as Fade spied a rather plump rabbit nuzzling around a clearing of vegetation. With bow drawn she moistens the string with her tongue, tasting her prey roasted on an open camp fire. Her arrow nocked silently, the bow whispers to her as she draws it back. A clean kill, a head shot will ensure no suffering. Fade squints and looses the arrow at her potential meal. Outrage befalls her moments before the arrow strikes, when an enormous hand is thrust forward sheltering the rabbit, a flesh built cave to hide in. Fade's arrow digs into the hand but richochet's off to the side, with only a mild scratch to show for it. In mere moments, the hand has scooped the rabbit away, and only the ghost rustling of a bush is left behind. Fade tries to follow this protector, but although heavy on foot, he seems to be light on tracks, and soon the trail goes cold, across a stream. Fade drinks deeply to quench her thirst and stave off her hunger once more.
Androse is sure a dark imp stalks the canopy top, he can see it made visible when it moves. His imagination begins to spiral wildly out of control and he conjurs up armies of these tree borne imps slaying all the forest fauna. This makes him angry, an emotion Androse has not dealt with since the death of his mother. These imps will not plague this forest. He decides he will hunt the imps down, at night, climbing the trees if he has to. He fashions some rope shoes to help with trunk climbing and gathers up his wooden tools to use as weapons if he has to. Androse waits patiently for night.
Fade is weakening, she can feel it, her bow is heavy and cumbersome, her feet slip where once they would hold fast. She needed food desperately. Perhaps a night hunt was needed? Whatever it was guarding the beasts of this Vale, she needed to catch it off guard so she could survive. Dropping to low canopy, trunk jumping, Fade made silent progress through the trees. Her elvish vision making the task a lot easier since any life would shimmer and glow slightly. At last, she spotted a badger making its way to a ground swell, no doubt a place where it has caught mice and other vermin before. As best she could, Fade squirmed around a gnarly oak, to get into a firing position.
Clambering heavily through the forest came a small troop of orcs, four in total. No doubt scouting for flesh themselves. They showed no concern for the forest, chopping at anything that dared get in their way, clearing swathes of foliage and hacking away chunks of trees, leaving only resin seeping wounds behind. The Orcs spotted something high up in one of the trees. It was unaware of their presence. They were over-exited and foaming at the mouth about the prospect of a feed. This kill looked like it could feed their clan hut for a day or two. Slowly and noisily they approached the tree, assembling at the rear and forming a body based platform, climbing one onto the others, to reach. They thought to try and pull it out of the tree and savage it on ground rather than clumsily fighting it in the canopy itself. The Orc on top, reached forward and attempted to grasp a limb.
Fade quivering with deprivation, was pulling her bowstring again, but without the strength to gain full extension. Her mind was focussed on exerting every ounce of will she had left, to make the strike. The badger waddled into the clearing, and Fade let the arrow loose, expelling all her hope behind that arrow. She must eat soon. The arrow struck the badger behind the ruffled collar and it yelped as it choked for air. Twitching and squirming for a moment till its life ebbed away. Fade closed her eyes in relief, this kill will save me. Tugged back into reality, something grasped her leg brutishly. She immediately thought it was the protector and his huge crushing hands. She fell backwards from the canopy and hit the ground hard, blacking out.
The Orcs had hit her twice on the head again just to make sure she was out. They wouldn't kill her yet, they wanted to keep her flesh succulent and fresh, till they manage to drag it back to the clan tent. Perhaps they'd have some of the flesh on the way though, it had been a long time since they felt pulsing blood gush down their gullets. They started to strip the leather Armour from her body, licking at the wound on her head, to taste the crimson nectar and to fuel the excitement of the catch. Taking a crude blade they raised it to chop a leg off at the knee, they could satiate themselves with that for the journey and claim it was lost in the confusion of the melee.
A big hand clasped the raised blade from behind and crumpled it as if it were a dock leaf. A mammoth kick landed on the back of the surprised Orc, snapping the spine and stomping it to the ground, crushing it dead. A wooden spoon with its handle sharpened at one end was jabbed into another orcs throat, it staggered backwards and squealed like a stuck hog, gurgling to its grave. One of the Orcs fled in panic, whelping loudly. Finally, another huge hand descended from above, and wrapped its fingers around the skull of the remaining Orc, the fingers began to grip hard, like a five pronged vice. The hand applied pressure steadily and calmly with almost mechanical precision. The Orc's head was crushed and contorted, until the inner contents spilled out readily, through whatever broken gaps where made to its outer shell. With a snapping motion, the five fingers released their grip and shook themselves clean, spraying the bloodied matter and fluids around. Androse the giant sighed in relief that the carnage was over. He looked down at the prone figure, Armourless and he saw that she was as vulnerable as any injured animal in his forest. This was no dark imp that plagued the area, this was an emaciated elven girl who was in some desperate need of help. Androse smeared a salve over his palms and gently placed his large hand over her head, massaging it, in very tiny circles. As he raised his hand away, he could see she was stirring, so he quickly gathered her Armour together and with the corpse of the slain badger, laid them neatly beside her. Looking around for a suitable gap in the flora, Androse disappeared off into the thick forest depths.
As she lazily regained her sight, Fade caught a glimpse of the protector, the owner of those massive hands, a gentle giant who seemed to have saved her from these foul orcs. Woozy and unsteady she pulled on her Armour, grabbed her bow, and saw the dead badger laid out like an offering of peace. To Fade, it was a meal fit for a Queen. She hurried off into full cover as soon as she could. Making her way to a shaded mountain crag with enough tree cover so that she could light a campfire and start preparing and roasting the meat. She devoured the meal greedily, but with the satisfaction of knowing that it was blessed by the protector of the forest. Whoever he may be.
The following day, no splintered attacks came from above to fell the beasts of the forest. Androse nodded contently as he went about his business. As nightfall approached he went gathering Shan moss for some poultices he needed. Bent over, busy stripping stones clean, Androse didn't notice the Orc pack hurriedly crossing the stream behind him. They'd spotted him. And what a meal he would make for the clan. Word had reached the Orc hideout, when the surviving Orc arrived back and told tale of a huge fleshman, who laid waste to the others with his bare hands. The chief rallied his warrior caste and sent them out to find this fleshman and cull him. Before Androse could react, the Orcs were upon him. Two either side, dragging his arms down with two more clambering up his back, biting and slashing at his shoulders and neck. Androse jostled from side to side to shake the clawing fiends, but there were too many of them, overpowering him despite his size and innate strength. Deep bleeding gashes in his back were weakening his grip on consciousness, bruised and battered his legs and arms began to buckle and fold, until the giant man was sprawled out face down in the mud. Orc teeth still snapping at his body, clubs and blades still pounding and raking his skin. How the mighty have fallen.
A blazing sprite seemed to shoot past high above the fighting. It erupted into a plume of sparks falling to the ground and igniting all dry material. Another burst and more sparks. Just enough to worry the orcs and cause them to flee in fear. Androse rolled over on to his side, parts of his clothing burning slightly, fizzling in the pool beneath him. Down from a high treetop leapt Fade, two more flame arrows smouldering in her back mounted quiver. Androse moaned. Using all her strength Fade managed to roll Androse into the muddy waters covering him in thick peat based bog. Androse become a little more lucid, his eyelids flickering momentarily, his body shaking in shock. Fade splashed muddy water on to his face and silently gestured for him to stand up. Androse didn't think he could muster enough strength to get up, he was still bleeding heavily. But after a stumble he rose more determined and tottered about on his feet. Fade pushed him towards a dense area of forest, where a large oak tree stood. Androse bumbled about and staggered in that direction and the little elf girl encouraged him with her boot. He wasn't sure whether he was awake or it was some kind of dream. But the pain was real. Before he made it to the thick stumped tree, he could see the elf girl flitting around the tree trunk. Fade was stripping great wads of bark off the tree whole. As tall as she could make them. Her blade carving into the tree just enough to take the top layer of bark off, that would hold fast as a single intact piece. Again and again she did this, stacking up quite a pile of thick bark strips. Androse fell forward and collapsed against the bare trunk, he managed to twist his body round to see the elf enclosing him in these strips of bark. Initially he began to panic, but Fade touched her lips with her fingers in a hushed gesture, and calmed the battered giant man. Fade danced around him, panelling him up against the tree, and covering him with the bark strips. She daubed wads of mud in between to make the strips stick to him. Once he was encased completely, she unfurled some bow string from her belt pouch and began to tie the covered man to the tree itself, grafting as best she could the "tree man" to the tree. She jumped up over Androse and into the canopy of this bold arboreal resident, where she cut leaves rapidly and dropped them on top of Androse, covering any remaining body parts that could be easily seen. Once he was hidden, she bounded across to other trees and climbed high to gain a vantage point.
Androse wasn't totally comfortable, and he wasn't quite sure what was going on. His wounds were still bleeding, the pulsing pain he felt in all his limbs told him he was in a bad way. He kept zoning in and out of lucidity, he couldn't willingly stop himself from moaning to cope with the pain. Spooked but not dissuaded, the Orcs returned tentatively. They split up and scattered more, searching the area as they moved, to determine what sort of sorcerer conjured these flaming projectiles. They expected the fleshman to be still laying there prone and bloodied. They were enraged to find he wasn't. Sniffing the air, desperately trying to gain the fleshman's scent, they paused when they heard a muffled moaning coming from a dark forested enclosure. Cautiously they investigated the noise. The Orc at the tail end of the party dropped to the ground silently, an arrow protruding from his face. Unaware, the remaining orcs were lured onwards towards the siren call of an injured victim. This time two orcs fell in rapid succession, arrow borne whispers flashed by and stuck the first in the throat, and the second in a soft point of his armour under the arm and into the ribcage. The two remaining orcs turned and panicked. Weaving back and forth trying to search out the source of these lethal projectiles. They crouched low and leapt around, the moaning now haunting them, stalking them. In terror, they reeled backwards and knocked into the large oak tree. The slender dark figure of Fade dropped out of the canopy and landed softly like a cat on all paws. The moaning behind the orcs grew louder and more constant. The dark figure approached them menacingly. The orcs panicked again, and rushed forward to attack. With a swift motion, Fade parried the blow and took his arm off at the joint, with her razor sharp dagger. Knocking him to the ground as he stumbled past in pain, she landed a side kick on the second advancing Orc sending him reeling back towards the oak tree. Turning to face the back of the first Orc, Fade sunk the dagger deep into the base of its spine and pushed downwards disengaging its pelvis. As the other Orc hit the tree, Androse howled and toppled forward snapping the bow strings, releasing him and bringing his full weight to bear down upon the orcs body. A jet of blood spewed from the Orcs mouth as its internal organs were crushed and chopped by its own skeletal shards.
Androse shook his head clear, the caked mud had helped stem the bleeding, and his natural ability to regenerate had began to reinvigorate him. He knelt down, catching his breath and pausing to look at the elf who saved him. She walked towards him, kissed his bloodied cheek, and without a word placed a wad of Shan moss in his large protective hand. He closed his fingers around the precious gift, cherishing the offer. She turned and walked slowly away, increasing the pace until she was running, fast enough to bound up into the canopy. And she was gone. Androse never saw her again. But every year he would pay tribute to her by culling and eating a badger in her honour.
Fade swung down from the branch she was perched on, to survey her kill. Still proud at the accuracy of the shot, and hungry for some food after so long going without. Still wary, she would dart between tree to tree, using their trunks as cover. As she approached the small clearing where she expected to find a culled deer, she found only flattened grass, sprinkled with blood. Even the arrow had gone, nothing but a few tufts of raven feather left where the flights had been shredded upon entry. While her mind puzzled over where her quarry had gone, her stomach audibly yearned for the meat lost. The darkened forests of Caerwyn yield very little berries or fruits, the nearest morsel of nutrition coming from minute shoots that the boars like to eat. Perhaps its the soil, or the foul swamps that hinder the spread of fruit bearing foliage? No matter what, Fade had spent best part of this afternoon, stalking a suitable deer, picking the right moment to strike, and now, she would go hungry. Large tracks near the kill site, suggest something enormous dragged the fallen beast away, surely Ogres and Trolls wouldn't be this far south? Besides the freshly laid tracks didn't give off the scent of a dark largekin. It was more human, pungent in its own right, but not acrid. Fade took out a spare coiled bow string and started gnawing on the core to satisfy longing for something to chew. Besides, it comforted her. And with string in mouth, she bounded up into the tree canopy, to find a place to rest. Perhaps she'll hunt tomorrow and have some luck?
Androse had a gift. Bestowed upon him at birth. It was a gift of growth, although tiny and vulnerable at birth, he grew throughout his childhood at a rapid rate. When it was noticeable, the stigma of witchcraft was bestowed upon him and his family, and they were forced to leave their home to seek refuge in the forests. His mother frail and his father long dead, it wasn't long before Androse was alone in the forest, and still growing. His life was gentle, his soul carefree, his heart captured by the spirit of the forest and its dwellers. Long gone where the times when he wished for human companionship, humans had spurned him and only seemed to bring trouble. So he spent his days nurturing the wild, learning about its medicinal qualities and applying them where he could. Big as he was, he seemed to be able to live off mere scraps the forest would bestow upon him. A few bowls of boiled and mashed groosebush root would last him a few days. He wasn't disfigured in any way, he wasn't grotesque as such, just outsized. Combining salves he would pumice all day, Androse found he could mend injury quite easily, by channeling his growth through his hands and into fallen animals. It pleased him so much, his reason for carrying on, alone, but content. "Guardian of the darkened Vale" he like to call himself. However recently, more and more animals were being struck by sharp branches with glinting metal leaves. These evil spears from above were raining down almost daily and he had trouble keeping up with the amount of injuries caused. He suspected a dark tree spirit summoned by Orcs, probably. His utopian dream of arboreal harmony was bound to be attacked by the darkness sooner or later. If only he'd prepared for it.
Icy cold dawn arrives and shards of sunlight twinkle through the canopy to wake Fade. Her stomach is also aroused, and begins cramping on a regular basis. Nimbly clambering over tree top she spans a wide arc, always alert, looking for any movement below. A flutter of birds swoop by, as Fade spied a rather plump rabbit nuzzling around a clearing of vegetation. With bow drawn she moistens the string with her tongue, tasting her prey roasted on an open camp fire. Her arrow nocked silently, the bow whispers to her as she draws it back. A clean kill, a head shot will ensure no suffering. Fade squints and looses the arrow at her potential meal. Outrage befalls her moments before the arrow strikes, when an enormous hand is thrust forward sheltering the rabbit, a flesh built cave to hide in. Fade's arrow digs into the hand but richochet's off to the side, with only a mild scratch to show for it. In mere moments, the hand has scooped the rabbit away, and only the ghost rustling of a bush is left behind. Fade tries to follow this protector, but although heavy on foot, he seems to be light on tracks, and soon the trail goes cold, across a stream. Fade drinks deeply to quench her thirst and stave off her hunger once more.
Androse is sure a dark imp stalks the canopy top, he can see it made visible when it moves. His imagination begins to spiral wildly out of control and he conjurs up armies of these tree borne imps slaying all the forest fauna. This makes him angry, an emotion Androse has not dealt with since the death of his mother. These imps will not plague this forest. He decides he will hunt the imps down, at night, climbing the trees if he has to. He fashions some rope shoes to help with trunk climbing and gathers up his wooden tools to use as weapons if he has to. Androse waits patiently for night.
Fade is weakening, she can feel it, her bow is heavy and cumbersome, her feet slip where once they would hold fast. She needed food desperately. Perhaps a night hunt was needed? Whatever it was guarding the beasts of this Vale, she needed to catch it off guard so she could survive. Dropping to low canopy, trunk jumping, Fade made silent progress through the trees. Her elvish vision making the task a lot easier since any life would shimmer and glow slightly. At last, she spotted a badger making its way to a ground swell, no doubt a place where it has caught mice and other vermin before. As best she could, Fade squirmed around a gnarly oak, to get into a firing position.
Clambering heavily through the forest came a small troop of orcs, four in total. No doubt scouting for flesh themselves. They showed no concern for the forest, chopping at anything that dared get in their way, clearing swathes of foliage and hacking away chunks of trees, leaving only resin seeping wounds behind. The Orcs spotted something high up in one of the trees. It was unaware of their presence. They were over-exited and foaming at the mouth about the prospect of a feed. This kill looked like it could feed their clan hut for a day or two. Slowly and noisily they approached the tree, assembling at the rear and forming a body based platform, climbing one onto the others, to reach. They thought to try and pull it out of the tree and savage it on ground rather than clumsily fighting it in the canopy itself. The Orc on top, reached forward and attempted to grasp a limb.
Fade quivering with deprivation, was pulling her bowstring again, but without the strength to gain full extension. Her mind was focussed on exerting every ounce of will she had left, to make the strike. The badger waddled into the clearing, and Fade let the arrow loose, expelling all her hope behind that arrow. She must eat soon. The arrow struck the badger behind the ruffled collar and it yelped as it choked for air. Twitching and squirming for a moment till its life ebbed away. Fade closed her eyes in relief, this kill will save me. Tugged back into reality, something grasped her leg brutishly. She immediately thought it was the protector and his huge crushing hands. She fell backwards from the canopy and hit the ground hard, blacking out.
The Orcs had hit her twice on the head again just to make sure she was out. They wouldn't kill her yet, they wanted to keep her flesh succulent and fresh, till they manage to drag it back to the clan tent. Perhaps they'd have some of the flesh on the way though, it had been a long time since they felt pulsing blood gush down their gullets. They started to strip the leather Armour from her body, licking at the wound on her head, to taste the crimson nectar and to fuel the excitement of the catch. Taking a crude blade they raised it to chop a leg off at the knee, they could satiate themselves with that for the journey and claim it was lost in the confusion of the melee.
A big hand clasped the raised blade from behind and crumpled it as if it were a dock leaf. A mammoth kick landed on the back of the surprised Orc, snapping the spine and stomping it to the ground, crushing it dead. A wooden spoon with its handle sharpened at one end was jabbed into another orcs throat, it staggered backwards and squealed like a stuck hog, gurgling to its grave. One of the Orcs fled in panic, whelping loudly. Finally, another huge hand descended from above, and wrapped its fingers around the skull of the remaining Orc, the fingers began to grip hard, like a five pronged vice. The hand applied pressure steadily and calmly with almost mechanical precision. The Orc's head was crushed and contorted, until the inner contents spilled out readily, through whatever broken gaps where made to its outer shell. With a snapping motion, the five fingers released their grip and shook themselves clean, spraying the bloodied matter and fluids around. Androse the giant sighed in relief that the carnage was over. He looked down at the prone figure, Armourless and he saw that she was as vulnerable as any injured animal in his forest. This was no dark imp that plagued the area, this was an emaciated elven girl who was in some desperate need of help. Androse smeared a salve over his palms and gently placed his large hand over her head, massaging it, in very tiny circles. As he raised his hand away, he could see she was stirring, so he quickly gathered her Armour together and with the corpse of the slain badger, laid them neatly beside her. Looking around for a suitable gap in the flora, Androse disappeared off into the thick forest depths.
As she lazily regained her sight, Fade caught a glimpse of the protector, the owner of those massive hands, a gentle giant who seemed to have saved her from these foul orcs. Woozy and unsteady she pulled on her Armour, grabbed her bow, and saw the dead badger laid out like an offering of peace. To Fade, it was a meal fit for a Queen. She hurried off into full cover as soon as she could. Making her way to a shaded mountain crag with enough tree cover so that she could light a campfire and start preparing and roasting the meat. She devoured the meal greedily, but with the satisfaction of knowing that it was blessed by the protector of the forest. Whoever he may be.
The following day, no splintered attacks came from above to fell the beasts of the forest. Androse nodded contently as he went about his business. As nightfall approached he went gathering Shan moss for some poultices he needed. Bent over, busy stripping stones clean, Androse didn't notice the Orc pack hurriedly crossing the stream behind him. They'd spotted him. And what a meal he would make for the clan. Word had reached the Orc hideout, when the surviving Orc arrived back and told tale of a huge fleshman, who laid waste to the others with his bare hands. The chief rallied his warrior caste and sent them out to find this fleshman and cull him. Before Androse could react, the Orcs were upon him. Two either side, dragging his arms down with two more clambering up his back, biting and slashing at his shoulders and neck. Androse jostled from side to side to shake the clawing fiends, but there were too many of them, overpowering him despite his size and innate strength. Deep bleeding gashes in his back were weakening his grip on consciousness, bruised and battered his legs and arms began to buckle and fold, until the giant man was sprawled out face down in the mud. Orc teeth still snapping at his body, clubs and blades still pounding and raking his skin. How the mighty have fallen.
A blazing sprite seemed to shoot past high above the fighting. It erupted into a plume of sparks falling to the ground and igniting all dry material. Another burst and more sparks. Just enough to worry the orcs and cause them to flee in fear. Androse rolled over on to his side, parts of his clothing burning slightly, fizzling in the pool beneath him. Down from a high treetop leapt Fade, two more flame arrows smouldering in her back mounted quiver. Androse moaned. Using all her strength Fade managed to roll Androse into the muddy waters covering him in thick peat based bog. Androse become a little more lucid, his eyelids flickering momentarily, his body shaking in shock. Fade splashed muddy water on to his face and silently gestured for him to stand up. Androse didn't think he could muster enough strength to get up, he was still bleeding heavily. But after a stumble he rose more determined and tottered about on his feet. Fade pushed him towards a dense area of forest, where a large oak tree stood. Androse bumbled about and staggered in that direction and the little elf girl encouraged him with her boot. He wasn't sure whether he was awake or it was some kind of dream. But the pain was real. Before he made it to the thick stumped tree, he could see the elf girl flitting around the tree trunk. Fade was stripping great wads of bark off the tree whole. As tall as she could make them. Her blade carving into the tree just enough to take the top layer of bark off, that would hold fast as a single intact piece. Again and again she did this, stacking up quite a pile of thick bark strips. Androse fell forward and collapsed against the bare trunk, he managed to twist his body round to see the elf enclosing him in these strips of bark. Initially he began to panic, but Fade touched her lips with her fingers in a hushed gesture, and calmed the battered giant man. Fade danced around him, panelling him up against the tree, and covering him with the bark strips. She daubed wads of mud in between to make the strips stick to him. Once he was encased completely, she unfurled some bow string from her belt pouch and began to tie the covered man to the tree itself, grafting as best she could the "tree man" to the tree. She jumped up over Androse and into the canopy of this bold arboreal resident, where she cut leaves rapidly and dropped them on top of Androse, covering any remaining body parts that could be easily seen. Once he was hidden, she bounded across to other trees and climbed high to gain a vantage point.
Androse wasn't totally comfortable, and he wasn't quite sure what was going on. His wounds were still bleeding, the pulsing pain he felt in all his limbs told him he was in a bad way. He kept zoning in and out of lucidity, he couldn't willingly stop himself from moaning to cope with the pain. Spooked but not dissuaded, the Orcs returned tentatively. They split up and scattered more, searching the area as they moved, to determine what sort of sorcerer conjured these flaming projectiles. They expected the fleshman to be still laying there prone and bloodied. They were enraged to find he wasn't. Sniffing the air, desperately trying to gain the fleshman's scent, they paused when they heard a muffled moaning coming from a dark forested enclosure. Cautiously they investigated the noise. The Orc at the tail end of the party dropped to the ground silently, an arrow protruding from his face. Unaware, the remaining orcs were lured onwards towards the siren call of an injured victim. This time two orcs fell in rapid succession, arrow borne whispers flashed by and stuck the first in the throat, and the second in a soft point of his armour under the arm and into the ribcage. The two remaining orcs turned and panicked. Weaving back and forth trying to search out the source of these lethal projectiles. They crouched low and leapt around, the moaning now haunting them, stalking them. In terror, they reeled backwards and knocked into the large oak tree. The slender dark figure of Fade dropped out of the canopy and landed softly like a cat on all paws. The moaning behind the orcs grew louder and more constant. The dark figure approached them menacingly. The orcs panicked again, and rushed forward to attack. With a swift motion, Fade parried the blow and took his arm off at the joint, with her razor sharp dagger. Knocking him to the ground as he stumbled past in pain, she landed a side kick on the second advancing Orc sending him reeling back towards the oak tree. Turning to face the back of the first Orc, Fade sunk the dagger deep into the base of its spine and pushed downwards disengaging its pelvis. As the other Orc hit the tree, Androse howled and toppled forward snapping the bow strings, releasing him and bringing his full weight to bear down upon the orcs body. A jet of blood spewed from the Orcs mouth as its internal organs were crushed and chopped by its own skeletal shards.
Androse shook his head clear, the caked mud had helped stem the bleeding, and his natural ability to regenerate had began to reinvigorate him. He knelt down, catching his breath and pausing to look at the elf who saved him. She walked towards him, kissed his bloodied cheek, and without a word placed a wad of Shan moss in his large protective hand. He closed his fingers around the precious gift, cherishing the offer. She turned and walked slowly away, increasing the pace until she was running, fast enough to bound up into the canopy. And she was gone. Androse never saw her again. But every year he would pay tribute to her by culling and eating a badger in her honour.
Wednesday 13 February 2008
MUDQuesting
Well I've beem at it again. Sniffing around the horde of MUD's that there is to find one that has the breadth and depth I want, as well as the interface features to make it highly usable. I've also cobbled together a list of things I deem important to me for a MUD to appeal:
One that I found very interesting at first is Legends of Karinth, it has a well versed set of descriptions and a good mapping system, but sadly (I think its still in beta) the playerbase is almost non existent. It seems to have plenty of votes on some of the MUD listing sites, but when I've logged in, theres only been me, another player and perhaps an AFK admin. Which is a shame really, because it does have most of the requirements I've been looking for in my MUDquest. I particularly like the ability to scribe your own spells, name them, tweak their power and duration etc.. very nice.
Dipping into another pool, I come across a MUD that might possibly tick all the boxes. Its called Medievia and boy does it look and play good. It has its own font for the map options.
It has a rather large playerbase, 80+ on every night. And it does draw you in with a nice tutorial and a info packed website (the only real downer is that it doesnt have a community forum, to discuss the game outside of the game). Still bashing my way through the Warrior levels at the moment, apparently your progression through Medievia is all about moving through all the 4 main classes before sub-classing and specialising, so you get a taste of the action from all angles..
/em hoped he had someone to form up with and take on the ASCII horde!
- Free to play
- Coherent Fantasy theme
- Newbie friendly - gentle introduction
- ANSI Colour - clear display
- MAPS at location, city and world level
- Flexible Configuration and Customisation
- Large enough playerbase
- Information steeped inventory and equipped
- Extensive help system
- Clean but informative combat
- Formations/Groups allowed
- Logical and attainable Questing
- Persistant World with solid Roleplay
One that I found very interesting at first is Legends of Karinth, it has a well versed set of descriptions and a good mapping system, but sadly (I think its still in beta) the playerbase is almost non existent. It seems to have plenty of votes on some of the MUD listing sites, but when I've logged in, theres only been me, another player and perhaps an AFK admin. Which is a shame really, because it does have most of the requirements I've been looking for in my MUDquest. I particularly like the ability to scribe your own spells, name them, tweak their power and duration etc.. very nice.
Dipping into another pool, I come across a MUD that might possibly tick all the boxes. Its called Medievia and boy does it look and play good. It has its own font for the map options.
It has a rather large playerbase, 80+ on every night. And it does draw you in with a nice tutorial and a info packed website (the only real downer is that it doesnt have a community forum, to discuss the game outside of the game). Still bashing my way through the Warrior levels at the moment, apparently your progression through Medievia is all about moving through all the 4 main classes before sub-classing and specialising, so you get a taste of the action from all angles..
/em hoped he had someone to form up with and take on the ASCII horde!
Friday 8 February 2008
Fadewyn Moon
Fadewyn Moon, an aspiring bow maiden and blade mistress. Her Elven beauty masking her sometimes unpredictable but determined ferocity. Her tenacity to pursue and overpower with skill or brutality sets her aside amongst her peers. Take arm with her, and she will serve you loyally without question. Take arms against her and some say the scorn of a begrudged elf can be unimagineable. Attuned with beasts and forest, she will not hesitate to heal as best she can, but also slay with cold precision and logical calm. For the most part, 'Fade' is a polite and pleasant elven girl, with a sly demeanour that can be unsettling, but once you know her is almost reassuring.
Wednesday 6 February 2008
Savage 2
S2Games has released the followup to Savage: A Battle for Newerth, a remarkable multiplayer hybrid game bringing together first person shooter, third person melee and the overwatch planning of a real time strategy game. Savage 2 is bigger, better and even manages to squeeze in RPG elements and online achievements into the heady mix. Basically its PvP, Humans versus Beasts. You have a HQ, and must defend it at all costs. You have an army of players who can collect resources and fend off enemy attacks, with gun, spell or blade. You can have a Commander who is in charge and sees the whole arena in a top down RTS view and who can organise the troops on the ground and give them dynamic objectives as he sees the battle play out. Ultimately the Commander is very important to the success of your team, but also the willingness of the troops on the ground to follow his plans, do their best to stem attacks and keep their teammates alive. Total teamplay from the ground up to the commander is key to winning the battle. Each player can select a character class to play upon entry, depending upon the amount of personal gold they have and the tech buildings available. Classes vary between the two races, but you generally have a mix of melee and shooters and magic users through to demonic beasts and huge behemoths of destruction. Getting the balance in the team can be tricky, but with a clued up set of players you can bring a whole plethora of strategies into play, especially with a sharp Commander at the helm. The Savage format gives you choice, most have close quarters and ranged combat abilities, some can set traps and turrets, some can heal, some have pets, there is a lot of variety in there. And getting to grips with each class can be an adventure in itself. As the game progresses and you earn personal kills and gold, and as the commander builds up your base and remote outposts you acquire more tech and more classes open up to you.
In Savage 2, it takes the Savage formula, tidies it up graphically and gives you the added feature of an RPG-like progression of your characters within the match. You gain stats points to customise your strength or your speed, or endurance, you can even find or be awarded items that you can carry over on your player details, as well as earn experience. The metagame outside of the matches played is very polished and you can see all the stats for each match, and even download match replays to mull over your failed strategies later. You can even award kudos points to your commander and other players. Since Savage was always a niche fantasy based multiplayer game, I think strengthening the community features will secure its fanship for even longer than the first game. Its a crying shame that such a well crafted, multi-faceted team based Fantasy PvP game gets so little attention. You can download the game and play it for 5 hours straight on trial, before you decide to buy it. The only caveat I would add, is that your online experience will be affected by the people you play with.. play a game with a less than talented commander, or solo-ist teammates and you'll probably come away feeling frustrated. However, play with a Commander who has a bit of spirit, and players who are willing to accept his judgements and calls to arms and you'll see the glory of a properly constructed team game come into play. And you'll probably win. Since Savage 2 has just been released, now is a very good time to join the community and give it a try..
In Savage 2, it takes the Savage formula, tidies it up graphically and gives you the added feature of an RPG-like progression of your characters within the match. You gain stats points to customise your strength or your speed, or endurance, you can even find or be awarded items that you can carry over on your player details, as well as earn experience. The metagame outside of the matches played is very polished and you can see all the stats for each match, and even download match replays to mull over your failed strategies later. You can even award kudos points to your commander and other players. Since Savage was always a niche fantasy based multiplayer game, I think strengthening the community features will secure its fanship for even longer than the first game. Its a crying shame that such a well crafted, multi-faceted team based Fantasy PvP game gets so little attention. You can download the game and play it for 5 hours straight on trial, before you decide to buy it. The only caveat I would add, is that your online experience will be affected by the people you play with.. play a game with a less than talented commander, or solo-ist teammates and you'll probably come away feeling frustrated. However, play with a Commander who has a bit of spirit, and players who are willing to accept his judgements and calls to arms and you'll see the glory of a properly constructed team game come into play. And you'll probably win. Since Savage 2 has just been released, now is a very good time to join the community and give it a try..
Pirates of the Burning Sea
Since the game is still hot on the shelves, this isn't a comprehensive in depth review. Having said that, the tutorial seems to guide you swiftly through the three main mechanisms of play. Armed combat, Naval Combat and Exploration/quest gathering. I must say the first thing that hit me straight away is that I've seen this sort of thing before, a few years previous. 1999 on the original Xbox a game called Pirates: The Legend of Black Kat. Except it was a single player console game, and there wasn't as many quests. Your character configuration is not as varied as you would like, but there are enough costume decisions make you look the part. The classes you can play didn't seem to have much in the way of defined variety, they all come across a bit the samey, with perhaps just factional differences. A Navy person would be similar to a Privateer, but more regimented sort of thing. A Pirate is just a Privateer but evil. Obviously many people are coming to this game because of the popularity of Pirates of the Caribbean, and indeed there were quite a number of variants on the Jack Sparrow theme running around the villages.
Privateer
Questing seems to follow MMO tradition, with a bit of textual flavour, kill a few brigands, sink a few ships and heres some money at the end. Villages and outposts are like instanced city hubs, and some quests actually step into a personal instance of the city, for you to tackle a specific enemy. These hubs seem quite small and have just the basic NPC's for trade, and questing. Although plenty of NPC's are milling about so that they don't seem empty places.
Armed Combat
Every now and then you will be drawn into armed combat, whether in a town or on a ship (mainly for boarding purposes). Melee combat doesn't seem to be the games strong point. Its in there, and you have a few skills that you need to juggle to make the kills, but the swordfighting animations didn't fill me with enthusiasm or excitement at all. In fact theres no tactile feel to the combat, you press a block a couple of times to build up your fencing power and then you press a main attack or a finishing move. I'd have preferred a much more "twitch" based combat, where position and sword strikes matter more than building a series of skill keystrokes. The skills are gained as you level up your character through questing, and the skills on offer range across the fencing and defense, through to naval combat prowess and even ship endurance.
Ship
Where the game does shine is in its naval combat, battles on the sea are quite frantic, require a measure of skill to position the boat at its optimum firing solution, selection of appropriate ammo (sail/mast ripping grape shot, anti-personnel shot to assist boarding etc), and damage management. One on one encounters include a lot of zig zagging in and out of the wind, to get a strong position to let rip, multi-ship encounters are where it gets interesting, trying to find gaps in the enemy's position to sail in and release your salvo and have the wind behind you enough to get out of there before your shredded. Although I haven't tried any grouped fleet battles, I think this is the area I would be most excited about.
Exploring the Open Sea
Apart from specific questing you can venture out into the Open Sea and join in generated ship battles there. In Open Sea, your ship moves much faster, and you don't see the crew on board. This is your main travel mechanism, between ports and cities, and anyone venturing into the trading business will no doubt be in this mode quite a lot. There is a whole player based economy, but with my limited try out, I haven't managed to delve into that yet.
Overall, I'd have said Pirates of the Burning Sea will be a curiosity for most, with the naval combat fuelling most of the enthusiasm for it. The Armed combat and character progression simply fuelling the fitting out of your ship for combat purposes, or for travel and trade. I'll play around with it for my 30 day free allocation, but whether it attracts masses to the game I'm uncertain. If you enjoy real time naval combat from days gone by, its worth the price of admission to experience that with others in a multiplayer environment.
Privateer
Questing seems to follow MMO tradition, with a bit of textual flavour, kill a few brigands, sink a few ships and heres some money at the end. Villages and outposts are like instanced city hubs, and some quests actually step into a personal instance of the city, for you to tackle a specific enemy. These hubs seem quite small and have just the basic NPC's for trade, and questing. Although plenty of NPC's are milling about so that they don't seem empty places.
Armed Combat
Every now and then you will be drawn into armed combat, whether in a town or on a ship (mainly for boarding purposes). Melee combat doesn't seem to be the games strong point. Its in there, and you have a few skills that you need to juggle to make the kills, but the swordfighting animations didn't fill me with enthusiasm or excitement at all. In fact theres no tactile feel to the combat, you press a block a couple of times to build up your fencing power and then you press a main attack or a finishing move. I'd have preferred a much more "twitch" based combat, where position and sword strikes matter more than building a series of skill keystrokes. The skills are gained as you level up your character through questing, and the skills on offer range across the fencing and defense, through to naval combat prowess and even ship endurance.
Ship
Where the game does shine is in its naval combat, battles on the sea are quite frantic, require a measure of skill to position the boat at its optimum firing solution, selection of appropriate ammo (sail/mast ripping grape shot, anti-personnel shot to assist boarding etc), and damage management. One on one encounters include a lot of zig zagging in and out of the wind, to get a strong position to let rip, multi-ship encounters are where it gets interesting, trying to find gaps in the enemy's position to sail in and release your salvo and have the wind behind you enough to get out of there before your shredded. Although I haven't tried any grouped fleet battles, I think this is the area I would be most excited about.
Exploring the Open Sea
Apart from specific questing you can venture out into the Open Sea and join in generated ship battles there. In Open Sea, your ship moves much faster, and you don't see the crew on board. This is your main travel mechanism, between ports and cities, and anyone venturing into the trading business will no doubt be in this mode quite a lot. There is a whole player based economy, but with my limited try out, I haven't managed to delve into that yet.
Overall, I'd have said Pirates of the Burning Sea will be a curiosity for most, with the naval combat fuelling most of the enthusiasm for it. The Armed combat and character progression simply fuelling the fitting out of your ship for combat purposes, or for travel and trade. I'll play around with it for my 30 day free allocation, but whether it attracts masses to the game I'm uncertain. If you enjoy real time naval combat from days gone by, its worth the price of admission to experience that with others in a multiplayer environment.
Achaea
http://www.achaea.com
One of the most popular and very deep MUD's. Its steeped in Lore, and seems to contain a whole breadth of options I've rarely seen in a MUD (well since the last time I played one). Also, I think it supports grouping and grouped combat as well as having a nifty MUD client ready to spawn from the web page itself, complete with compass and health/mana bars etc.. the initial tutorial hand-holds you through most of the basic commands, and there doesn't seem to be a shortage of people online willing to offer you help if you need it.
One of the most popular and very deep MUD's. Its steeped in Lore, and seems to contain a whole breadth of options I've rarely seen in a MUD (well since the last time I played one). Also, I think it supports grouping and grouped combat as well as having a nifty MUD client ready to spawn from the web page itself, complete with compass and health/mana bars etc.. the initial tutorial hand-holds you through most of the basic commands, and there doesn't seem to be a shortage of people online willing to offer you help if you need it.
more MUDing
I'm having real trouble sifting through the vast quantity of information on offer with Achaea.. theres just so much, and it can be overwhelming...
So I've been dabbling with The Realms of Despair (RoD), a MUD I used to play years ago, which is much more simpler in its execution and its a bit more action orientated... which has ultimately lead me to another MUD that is a balance between the two.. it has more to it, more flavour than RoD, but isn't quite as overpowering as Achaea.. its known as Dark & Shattered Lands.
With all these MMO's out, I shouldn't find myself sucked into a world that has only text based descriptions, but theres just something pure about it, its like having Fantasy Grounds without the graphics. Having said that it does have a world map, that scrolls with your character as you're exploring.. which is a welcome addition to give you an overall feel of structure and environment - something many MUD's lack.. Oh and in DSL its an enforced Roleplay MUD, so noe vanity names as such, your name is vetted upon creation I believe. Anyway, I'm sure this MUD fetish will go on and on...
So I've been dabbling with The Realms of Despair (RoD), a MUD I used to play years ago, which is much more simpler in its execution and its a bit more action orientated... which has ultimately lead me to another MUD that is a balance between the two.. it has more to it, more flavour than RoD, but isn't quite as overpowering as Achaea.. its known as Dark & Shattered Lands.
With all these MMO's out, I shouldn't find myself sucked into a world that has only text based descriptions, but theres just something pure about it, its like having Fantasy Grounds without the graphics. Having said that it does have a world map, that scrolls with your character as you're exploring.. which is a welcome addition to give you an overall feel of structure and environment - something many MUD's lack.. Oh and in DSL its an enforced Roleplay MUD, so noe vanity names as such, your name is vetted upon creation I believe. Anyway, I'm sure this MUD fetish will go on and on...
MUDQuest
Whilst exploring the plethora of MUD's available to play, to find one I will settle with, I've gone from verbose complex MUD's through to quite brief action orientated ones, and then some. I found a very popular MUD the other day I decided to try out, that does have a great mix of complexity with newbie friendly hand holding. Now I'm not sure whether its popular because many many people are playing it, or just that it actually requests you submit a vote for it everytime you log in - something which seems very odd, and goes against my nature - but which I'm willing to do if I can delve into its depths and enjoy it. This MUD is called Aardwolf and it is a very friendly MUD indeed, in terms of coaching you through your early years, as well as providing you with tools that facilitate the downsides to only having a text based world to play it. It has an ascii based map not only for the wider world (like Dark and Shattered Lands) but also for your local journey's, so you're no longer left blind without much of a clue about direction. You don't need to buy software to help you map common places, to build up speedwalk strings to get from A to B. You can see it all on an ANSI coloured ascii map, with a symbol key. Not only that but it also gives you a list of speedwalks from recall points to popular questing areas. Something which I thought would be looked down upon by the MUD vets - who had to build their own lists. Anyway, the customisation of the MUD seems very accessible, the combat and skillsets seem very involved, but simple to run, and generally it feels like a good world to play in. The MUDquest continues..
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