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Post by The Storyteller on Feb 14, 2015 21:53:23 GMT
The Magnificence was the first of its kind, or so its captain claimed. In the First Age, ships were a common sight, ferrying goods and making war on long dead enemies. The seas were kinder and the weather was merely fickle, not cruel. As the old human nations died out, and the Aetherian clans sprung up, eventually questions of trade and communication would have to be dealt with. It wasn't a question of whether there WERE other clans over the horizon, but rather how to make contact with them. A first-generation Clanfather named Osgryf, possessing one of the last few Old World educations, conceived of rebuilding one of the old Imperial warships. When he discovered that almost all of them were either at the bottom of the sea, or secluded away by desperate human survivors, Osgryf chose instead to create his own, much simpler boat. Thus the Magnificence was born. With two masts and only the wind, it was centuries behind the steam ships coming into vogue before the Long Storm, but the Magnificence was probably the fasted and sturdiest ship on the seas today. It's crew/clan typically hugged the coast, raiding small, unsuspecting villages and looting old ruins. They avoided rivers for fear of encountering the more powerful Undying overlords, and avoided the sea for fear of the unknown. They had oft encountered sea dragons, but none of the beasts ever saw them as a threat. Slide found himself aboard the Magnificence as an expedient means of travel and coin. It was not the most interesting or challenging job, but it was certainly the most convenient. His skills combined with easy means of retreat made working the crew an easy job, and it kept him far away from old locales that may remember more clearly than he liked. The current Clanfather and captain was Kulakhan, a clever but practical old Aetherian. His old clan was reportedly one of the first assimilated by the Collector, an Undying who, rumor held, had grown much more powerful in recent centuries by 'collecting' more clans. Kulakhan has decided it was time to track down his old Clan brethren who had fled to to the old kingdom of Camlann years past. He's also quick to point out that it's a safe port and they need supplies beyond what they can simply take. As they approached the ancient city of Dragon's Rest, Kulakhan points out the walls and gates, noting much of it is actually built from the remains of sea serpents who have crashed upon the sea. The upper half of a skull is postioned over the city's main gate, both welcoming and warning newcomers. Slide INT: 27 Slide recognizes that the city was not originally built with defense in mind.
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Slide
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Post by Slide on Feb 14, 2015 22:58:13 GMT
Slide barely listened to what the captain was saying. He leaned forward over the rail, and his tongue played across the surface of his teeth. His mind studied the great skull and bones of the serpent. In his mind's eye he pictured the beast, and it's strong armor. "How would you try and kill a beast like that?" He spoke aloud, but it was more a question for himself. He ran eight or nine fantasies of how he would defeat the best. None of them were very likely.
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Post by The Storyteller on Feb 15, 2015 0:25:18 GMT
"With kindness, my friend. With kindness and a long knife." Kulakhan was likely in his own reverie when he answered Slide's question. "The Clanmother here is an old friend, and mother of my second child. We came here about fifty years ago. She wanted to settle down, while I wanted to keep moving. When the Magnificence sailed by, I joined up and kissed her goodbye." He frowned in thought. "Do you have children somewhere, Slide?"
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Slide
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Post by Slide on Feb 15, 2015 0:33:50 GMT
Slide shook his head slowly from side to side, "I have never been so blessed." He kept his face blank, but privately he thought of it as more of a course then a blessing. Too many of his kind wandered this world, unable to every call a place home more then a couple nights. He wondered if this had always been true, but asked instead, "How long have you been gone? Is your child still in the city?"
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Post by The Storyteller on Feb 16, 2015 8:26:05 GMT
"I only stayed perhaps seven years before I left. I wasn't ready to be a father. After my first boy was taken from me, I kept imagining him whenever I held his brother. I don't know..."
The ship finished docking. The stone pier still stood, though it had cracked apart over the centuries. "Slide... before you came aboard, I've heard it said that..." He crinkled his brow and touched his left horn. "There is someone I need dead. And I cannot stay here long enough to see the job through."
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Slide
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Post by Slide on Feb 16, 2015 22:05:31 GMT
In Slide's imagination he was still thinking of slaying the serpents. He would have needed to a long spear to slip deep into the beasts eye. He wondered if the creatures ever slept. He knew some sea creatures did not. "And these things you have heard... did they mention that my services come with a fee." He barely paid attention to the request, still mulling over the death of the terrible creature.
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Post by The Storyteller on Feb 20, 2015 8:08:59 GMT
"My share from our previous raids, plus whatever I can get from Lilah." He stroked his beard. "It'll be easier to show you than explain the job." He turned and began giving instructions to crewmembers. While he did so, a group of particularly unpleasant locals exited the city through the skull-gate, and began making their way to the Magnificence. The clearest leader, a green monstrosity towered over the others, halted their march at the boarding ramp of the sheep. A deep yet sultry voice spoke, "Which one of you clanless sons of bitches is the shifty son of a bitch who got me with child and left me in this shithole forty years ago?!" Slide INT: 27 Slide understands why Kulakhan left after only seven years. Eternity is too long to spend with this woman. The Captain steps onto the boarding ramp. "You weren't with child, Jodam was already outrunning you, and Dragon's Rest makes most settlements look like those little homes you see dung beetles always building." "Kulakhan, I will put you over my knee and-" "Lilah, this is Slide. Slide, this is Lilah." The response was both awkward and calculated. Lilah crossed her arms and carefully studied the newcomer. "And what can the Bontender clan do for you, stranger?"
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Slide
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Post by Slide on Feb 20, 2015 23:45:16 GMT
Slide the woman with a bored look on his face that he often used to mask his wariness. He had grown to not trust his own kind over his long life span, and his instincts were rarely wrong, she was trouble. "I have not come seeking the aid of your Clan today." He kept his reply short, and inoffensive. She looked the type to use any slight to badger a man to her submission. He resisted grabbing the hilts of his blades with all of his will, but it was still a feat of great restraint.
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Post by The Storyteller on Feb 25, 2015 0:42:53 GMT
"Of course not." She gave no sign she knew who Slide was. "I'd hate to trample on your 'lone wanderer' mystique."
Lilah turned to Kulakhan, "Your men can stay a few days. I owe you that much. We just handed tribute to the Iron King, so his Emissaries likely won't be by for another few months anyway. If you want to see our son, you'll need to wait until nightfall. I'm sure you remember why."
Lilah was about to return to the city, before thinking of it and stating, "Welcome to Dragon's Rest."
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Slide
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Post by Slide on Feb 27, 2015 3:40:41 GMT
Slide bowed to her deeply, "I am grateful to be welcomed to your city, and my name is Slide. I misunderstood your question earlier. Apparantly I have spent too many years wandering alone." He shrugged slightly. "Have you always paid tribute to the Iron King?"
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Post by The Storyteller on Feb 27, 2015 4:20:53 GMT
Lilah gave Kulakhan an annoyed look, though answered Slide respectfully. "The Iron King has always ruled this region, even before the Long Storm, but he's quite benevolent as far as undead overlords go. When we first moved here, all he demanded was an oath we serve him in battle on rare occasion, regularly deliver some acknowledgment of his authority, and not feud with other serf clans. Typically, life is peaceful, and he's never employed runes on my people. I've only seen him twice, but he's far from the vicious despot you're probably used to. Still, not someone I'd cross."
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Slide
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Post by Slide on Feb 28, 2015 18:56:56 GMT
"They are all vicious despots." Slide replied and turned his black eyes toward her. "I have always found the best solution to despots, is to live in the wind." His fingers played lightly with the hilt of his blade.
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Post by The Storyteller on Mar 3, 2015 2:47:07 GMT
Lilah was not impressed. "That's not a solution, but an escape. Fleeing one danger does not prevent you encountering it the next day. And you are one man. When you have children and a clan of your own, you begin to appreciate the value of safety a little more."
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Slide
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Post by Slide on Mar 7, 2015 21:28:32 GMT
"Maybe it is safety I flee." Slide replied. He was growing annoyed having to talk to this woman. He tried to hide it, but his lonely travels had made social interactions annoying. Especially whens some tiresome woman was trying to exert her power over him.
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