"A servant awakes", part 1. The palanquin drifted menacingly down the narrow street of the wretched warmblood settlement, carved stone and gold floating in the air half a world away from its jungle home. It came to a halt as, ahead, a pair of hulking kroxigor battered their way through a makeshift barricade, swinging stone hammers larger than a man. An upturned cart formed the bulk of the obstruction, and the reptilian beasts, each a twelve foot tall mountain of muscle, roared their victory as it shattered under their relentless blows. Around their legs, a pack of skinks had been darting to and fro, hurling short javelins at any sign of movement from the barricade's defenders. As the breach was torn wider by their giant kin, the smaller reptiles hissed and forced their way through. The first few fell to desperate swords as the melee erupted, but there were too few defenders to hold them all back, and red-robed bodies began to fall. The skirmish ended as abruptly as it had started when the kroxigor, frustrated at being kept from the fight, dropped their hammers and ripped the remaining timbers apart with their clawed hands. The last few defenders promptly fled as one of their number was bitten clean in half by a snarling jaw full of vicious teeth. Denied their enemy, the two creatures contented themselves by hurling what was left of the barricade through the walls of the houses beside them before moving on down the street. With the way now clear, the palanquin began to move again. The Slann atop the looming stone construction cared little for the damage his troops did to the hovels around him; his sole purpose here was to locate and destroy a single individual, one who would otherwise cause a great battle to be lost in years to come. His brow furrowed as he floated past the site of the barricade and realised how few defenders there had been; something wasn't right. Seconds later, realisation dawned as he felt an ethereal shadow forming in the building beside him. With time for no more than a single thought, a battle of wills erupted, arcane shadows scrabbling against ancient wards. --- Bright yellow eyes flickered as she moved cautiously down the street at the back of the skink pack. Concerned by the growing gap between the vanguard and their master, she chittered for the pack to slow its pace. With a brief flash of an angry red crest and a barked command, the leader of the pack countermanded her. As she was drawing breath to respond to this impertinent challenge to her authority, she staggered as a thought suddenly slammed into her mind. "The huagerdon's gamble!" Recognising the less-than-delicate touch of her master's mind, she span round to see the floating throne facing the fractured wall of the building next to it, lightning blazing around it and flaring into the rapidly-disintegrating structure. Frantically, she looked back and snapped a command, the urgency in her tone and purple-tinged crest leaving no room for argument. The pack streamed past her to take defensive positions in the street around the Slann to guard against a physical assault, leaving the kroxigor to hold their position. The pack leader gave her a deferential nod of apology as he passed her, but she didn't even notice as her mind reeled under the backlash of the magical assault hammering against her master. The huagerdon's gamble? Why that? The small lizard's gamble, as it was known, was that if one of their number was grabbed by an ambush predator, the rest of the pack would swarm the threat from all sides... Abruptly, she turned and sprinted down an alleyway between two of the hovels. Pausing briefly at the next street to glance around, she started to move up it, into position behind her master's assailant. As she did, she let her own magic flare in warning, just as the little huagerdons would hiss and flash their neck frills as they surrounded their attacker. The intent was to say "this will be an expensive meal", the gamble was that the predator might call their bluff... A shadow suddenly leapt through the wall ahead of her, twisting and reaching for her, and she lashed out with her own powers, blowing the shadow into harmless smoke and dispersing it. She could sense that her master's defences were weakening, though he was slowly turning more and more of his attention to the struggle. It was a question of time, not strength, she knew - with his full attention roused, the ancient Slann could easily crush one warmblooded spellcaster. She just had to make sure the enemy didn't find a weakness before that happened, and so she threw all her power into a series of crackling bolts of energy, sending them smashing through the walls between them. Her opponent's powers stuttered briefly and she grinned viciously, before gasping in shock as a brutal counter-attack struck her. Desperately, she threw up mental wards, and staggered back. Just barely, she could sense the same black, grasping tendrils tearing at her master, stunning him and scattering his thoughts before he could focus them. She was failing him... failing them all... What could she do to give him more time, what could she give that she hadn't already given? As she weakened, she realised that more and more of the tendrils were seeking her instead of her master... she was the weak link. If her defences failed, the full force of the attack would rebound onto her master, and he... She couldn't let that happen. She knew this spell now, had the measure of it, and there was one last thing she could do to keep its attention for a few moments longer. "The antok's choice" was the thought she pulsed to her master, before she dropped her wards. The tendrils ripped into her and forced a shriek from her mouth. As her mind clouded, the cry of pain turned into a choking laugh as she dimly felt the full strength of the spell greedily turn on her... she was right; without the flaring backlash of failing defences, the tendrils had latched on to her instead of rebounding... As her mind slowly went dark, she felt the echoes of her master's conciousness coming into full focus... and she smiled.
Wow! Really awesome! Descriptions were good, let me see the scene in movie terms! Has me wanting more!
Looks like someone expanded on my vague descriptions of huagerdons. Should I be flattered or annoyed?
Scalenex has flatteroids? It's from sitting on those cold stones back at the temple city. I want to know what an "antok" is. Physical setting, characterisation, tactical situation, description of threat, consequence of failure, reversal of fortune-nicely done. Ready for more whenever it is available. Funny how that old Slann remembered a skink priest with eyelashes...
Thanks, all - I'm flattered! Scalenex - I'd prefer flattered, but I can change the name if you'd prefer; it's not a problem. I needed some extra "local colour", so I raided the " flora & fauna" section of the Lustriapedia SoB - according to that same source, it's a "small gazelle-like creature"... Beyond that, I haven't "adapted" it yet! Re your other comment, it's funny what an old Slann's subconscious mind dredges up EDIT: I should clarify - Tziruzitza has always been of the female persuasion in my mind, even in her original bio snippet when she was written as an "it"... Her gender wasn't directly influenced by the pronoun discussion in the Prologue. After all, she is effectively my avatar (just help me make sure she doesn't go all Mary-Sue!) Thanks again, all - working on part 2...
Antoks were created by @discomute because he wisely realized not everything in Lustria could be a sharp tooth predator. There has to be some prey species.
Yup, antok are herbivores/red meat that roam the forest. I guess I envisage them as a jungle species of deer/elk
@discomute - I did have a specific behavior in mind for "the antok's choice" but... are they described anywhere else apart from your red / green / black day series (really good stuff, by the way)? Or have you got them fleshed out more in your head for future work? If you do, I don't want to clash with it! @Scalenex - are the huagerdons described in detail anywhere? When I saw the reference to them in the Lustriapedia, I didn't remember seeing the name anywhere else, but I'm happy to amend if there is a clash with anything else already written about them!
@Tziruzitza - I think they were briefly mentioned in 'my father the inventor' and 'ramifications'. In any event, feel free to do what you will with the antoks, my stories were set in @Scalenex's world anyway.... I like the idea of a shared world, sort of like a marvel style thing where different authors move seamlessly throughout it.
I conceptualize huagerdons as being equivalent to boofy dogs or puppies. Loyal pack animals. Their physical features matter less to me than having something I can insert into familiar phrases: He followed me home like a lost huagerdon. He's like ahuagerdon with a bone. Scalenex, you have just kicked the baby huagerdon. And then killed it. And all of its extended family.
"A servant awakes", part 2. Gradually, she woke up. She was lying curled up on a stone slab, dripping wet, with her tail trailing over the edge and into a small pool. Slowly, she forced her eyes open and tried to gather her thoughts. "What... where..." It was dark, and completely silent except for the soft sound of breathing. Her own breathing, she realised belatedly. Shaking her head slightly to dislodge a drop of water stubbornly clinging to one nostril, she sniffed the air. "Musty", she thought, "old and dry... yet I'm wet...?" Confused, she rose into a crouch, legs aching, and looked around. Aside from the small pool beside her, tumbled pillars and fractured stonework were all she could make out, all choked with crawling vines. She had the impression of walls in front of and behind her, and to one side a shadowy blackness swallowed everything. On the other side, a hint of light drew her attention, and she tasted the air again. The faintest of breezes stirred the air from the direction of the light. Water was still running off her scales and collecting slowly on the stone beneath her, as if she had just crawled out of the pool. She couldn't remember... anything? Her confusion rising further, she started to pick her way carefully towards the light, slinking through the dangling vines and ignoring the nagging protests of her muscles. As her eyes adjusted to the gloom, she started to make out more details of her surroundings. Amongst the rubble were bigger blocks of stone, with carvings decorating them, and vague hints of recognition stirred in the back of her mind. The floor ahead started to slope upwards, and she realised she was in some sort of pit, walls rising to either side of her and a ramp leading... out? Slowly, in a daze, she moved up the ramp, the occasional scrape of a claw against stone or rustle of leaves the only sounds to accompany her breathing. The air felt close and heavy, thick with energy, and she paused frequently to cautiously taste it for any sign of danger. Her pace was so slow that, although her legs claimed it was much further, she had moved less than thirty feet from where she had awoken, the weaving trail of slowly-drying footprints behind her marking her path. Her surroundings were gradually becoming brighter, although she still couldn't tell where the light was coming from, and the carvings on some of the collapsed stonework were becoming more distinct. Recognition stirred again, and she stopped halfway up the ramp when one in particular caught her eye. She stared at it for a few moments, mesmerised... and then beams of sunlight, playing in a jungle clearing an avalanche of black, grasping tendrils fragmented memories began weaving through the tangled tree roots to cascade through her nerveless fingers, unable to hold on mind, and she threw her head back and laughed collapsed. A silent shadow drifting past scream forced her to look round quickly head back, until she managed a final thought to regain control and draw a mystical symbol in the air shuddering breath. Blinking rapidly, she forced herself to her feet again. The flood of memories had left her shaken, and she struggled to make sense of what was happening. One conclusion, however, was undeniable: they were real. "I remember...", she whispered finally, as she shook off the last of the haze clouding her mind. She looked around with renewed clarity and searched through her memories for answers. "I was sure I was dead... they must have found me just in time... but where...". She stared in disbelief as she suddenly realised where she was. "One of the sacred pools? It can't be!" Refusing to believe that a spawning pool, the most sacred of sites for her entire civilisation, could have been reduced to rubble like this, she turned and ran the rest of the way up the ramp. When she reached the top, she froze in horror. There was no mistaking the chamber, despite the ruined state it was in: she had taken her first ever breath in this exact place. After a moment of stillness, the memories came flooding back again. --- Cuasihuatec was packing his equipment away when he heard the approaching voices, and gestured for one of his attendants to finish the task. He stepped down from the side of the raised dias, careful not to get too close to any of the guards clustered protectively around his lord, and headed quickly towards the small box in the far corner of the room. Made of elegantly-carved wood and inlaid with delicate traceries of gold, its significance was marked by its huge and ever-watchful bearer and guardian. The kroxigor, towering over the skink, grunted and stepped aside as he recognised the seer. Keeping his attention focussed on the open door from which the voices could be heard, the reptilian brute shifted his weight and flexed his grip on the giant stone-topped mace he had in one hand, before relaxing again as the two skink guards at the door stepped aside deferentially. At the head of the small party that entered was an older skink, his ceremonial staff liberally decorated with gold and precious gems. Behind him were three scribes, each carrying bundles of reed paper and quills, followed by a pair of message runners. "My lord", said the elder priest, bowing so deeply towards the dias that he had to stretch his tail for balance. With no response from the dias, he turned to the skink rummaging through the chest in the corner. "Cuasi? The runner said it was urgent - what is it?" "Something... odd... aha! Found it!" Cuasihuatec turned from the chest, a scroll clutched in one hand. "Do you remember this, Teheraztec?" he said, waving the sheet excitedly. "It's that vision we couldn't work out." Tehetlanoqraztec simply laughed. "Which one, my old friend? There's a few of them in that box of yours!" Before Cuasi could reply, both of them suddenly stiffened and looked around at the dias as the air momentarily turned thick with unseen energy. Both were used to the effects of their master's magics, but this felt... different. The reaction of the saurus guards on the dias was immediate as well, each of them shifting into a battle stance in perfect synchronisation. It was Cuasi who broke the silence after a few moments. "They did that last time, too." Teheraztec blinked and looked at him curiously. "Last time?" "A few minutes ago - I sent the messenger as soon as it happened," explained the seer as the warriors slowly relaxed again. "It felt like He was remembering, didn't it? But..." The older skink nodded slowly. "It did, you're right... but... odd, somehow. And He always goes to the Golden Hall to remember." Teheraztec pondered for a moment, then turned to one of the messengers. "Go - fetch the duty patrol. I want the old pools below us searched. And you," he said, gesturing to one of his scribes as the messenger bobbed his head and scurried off, "go with them when they get here. Record anything out of the ordinary, but do not put yourself at risk - stay behind the patrol if there is trouble." At that, the captain of the saurus guard on the dias looked around sharply. "Master of the temple," he said, using the elder's formal title in a rare display of deference, "Do you think there is a threat?" "I do not know," replied the priest simply, looking up at him. "I think only that something has been remembered, something unusual, and I know not what." The ancient veteran nodded once, and two pairs of his warriors instantly left the formation to take up positions at both doors to the chamber, scattering the skinks that had been on guard. The priest turned back to Cuasihuatec, knowing there would be no more conversation from the warrior. "So, let me see that." Cuasi handed him the sheet carefully. "Hmm. The water-born... you think it might be connected to the pools?" "It would make sense, wouldn't it, though? The ruins would fit, too, and..." The two of them fell into an animated discussion, interrupted only by the arrival a few minutes later of the patrol. Their pack leader bobbed his head in respect to the two priests, and spoke swiftly. "The pools are to be searched, masters? What are we to look for?" "I don't know," replied Teheraztec, "but I suspect you'll know it when you see it. My scribe goes with you." Giving a swift jerky nod of his head, the scribe joined the patrol, who were chattering quietly amongst themselves. "By your will, master" replied the patrol leader, before motioning his pack forward and into the corridor which led deeper into the ruins of the old temple. --- She couldn't tell how long she had been crouched there, mind racing as she fought against the tidal wave of memories threatening to overwhelm her. All she knew was that the sound of a claw on stone that had snapped her back to the present had come from somewhere close behind her. Experimentally, she flexed her mind to test her magic... and smiled.
Quite the Cheshire Cat, isn't she? Those first two paragraphs were so heavy with atmosphere. I got comfortable drinking in the images and then the intercuts in paragraph three had me reeling, just like Tziru. One more for the long list of devices on L-O that I wish I had thought of. The temple cast all seem very familiar and "right". It is interesting that your cast seem to respect each other more than than most L-O author's. That means that the story driving conflict must be about to come from... Spoiler Bob has no idea. Write some more!
Sorry I didn't reply sooner - glad to hear you're enjoying it, though! Part 3 has been delayed - a bit got scrapped and I'm rewriting it - but it should hopefully appear in the next few days