Horizon Walkers (Game Thread) Dead

[Mr.Ivebeenframed]

"So go on tell us."

"Well I'm a man of my word so let me begin." Vaerys sat crossed legged and began to reminisce.

"About a thousand or so years ago, there was a mighty Dwarven king by the name of Cantor. Y'see, Cantor brought the entire Dwarven tribes together under one banner. We Dwarves are a wily bunch so this was no easy task. There was lots of fighting and killing but instead of fighting for resources, Cantor fought to unite the tribes. Tribe after tribe he brought under his wing until he conquered them all and he crowned himself the King of the Dwarves. A mighty title, don't you think?"

"Cantor took a thousand children from each tribe to be raised as his own personal army and if any of the tribes decided to rebel then he would kill them. Needless to say, Cantor had a large army with no one to challenge him so he looked to the horizons for challenge." Vaerys motioned to the horizons himself. "Cantor didn't really act as a king. He left our realm and ventured out with his unstoppable army. He went to Orcs and crushed them. He went to the Lycan realm and crushed them as well. Cantor laid siege to the largest city in all the horizons and broke the walls. But there was one foe he couldn't destroy or defeat. Cantor was the most cunning dwarf we ever had but he fell to the most human of traps: love."

"On his travels, Cantor met this elven witch who enticed his mind with promises of immortality. Cantor loved his woman but whether it was truly her or her spells, I do not know. I do know that she was hauntingly beautiful. She wasn't the kind of pretty that made you smile. She was beauty that would imprinted in your mind. She was on Cantor's mind constantly so he did what she bid. He ventured his army into a dangerous realm where magic was incredibly strong. She made him and his soldiers drink this elixir for immortality and immortality it did bring but not the one he wanted."

"Cantor and his men became mindless and shambling messes. Their skin turned pale, and their eyes became as black as the night. They were cold to the touch and cold at heart. They were no longer dwarves but slaves to the witch. To this day, the witch and her legion of dead men roam the horizons in search of the Dwarven realm. In Dwarven law, killing one of the same kin is considered a dire crime punishable by death. It is a grave sin to kill someone in your family so the Dwarves stay in their realm. The majority of Dwarves had family taken by Cantor so they dare not venture out in fear of seeing the witch's legion. So we take it upon ourselves to isolate our realm. I personally don't know anyone in the legion so that's why I'm out here but otherwise, that's why not many of my kind leave our realm. They fear the witch's legion."

 

[IFS]

"Anyone know any good stories?"

It seemed it would be a long elevator ride, every moment wasted my adversary could be getting further away, there had better be a horizon at the end of this. The dwarf, Vaerys, volunteered a war story of his though telling of a foolish dwarven king and his (no doubt exaggerated) exploits before his undoing at the hands of a foul witch. How long ago could this have been I wonder? He thought to himself, glancing over and noticing the ranglie wasn't listening to the tale but rather drawing in the dirt. Curious he moved over to see what she was drawing.

"Hmm," he thought aloud, the language was unfamiliar but it struck certain chords in his mind "What are you drawing? Or is it writing, I can't tell... it looks like a river though."

 

[Lunar Templar]

"It's the written language of my people, well, my region anyway. Those of my kinda who live on the great plains have a variation of it" she said to the human male as she finished her name. "As to it's meaning, it is my name. Not sure why I feel the need to write it out though." she said, sitting up to look at the human proper while speaking, then looked at the writing, tilting her head a bit, as if trying to see where he was getting 'river' from, but all she saw was her name.

"How so?" she finally asked, wanting to know where he was getting river from.

 

[Josh123914]

"It losses something into the translation to imperial speech I'm afraid."
''It's alright, I could follow it'' he said, leaning closer to tell his own story.

''What I'm about to tell you is real, it happened centuries ago, so I cannot be certain, but I've never heard anyone dispute its validity.'' He told them, hoping they'd listen.

''Centuries ago, on the southern shores of The Great Bay lay great cities. Some had great swaying beech trees and humid climates, others were gardens of green walled from the hostile deserts outside.''

''For a while, there was peace. Those states strong enough to fund them led expeditions to the far reaches of the Earth. Discovered the deep blueness of the Sapphire Sea, voyaged far to the Beastlands, where everything could speak. This was before the Horizons, before my world discovered their potential, and before the following events occurred.''

''Raids between rival cities were common. Wars were waged and won on The Great Bay, and those that lost merely paid in coin, not blood or in their autonomy, but all that changed when one state became too ambitious.''

''Rich off of trade, the upper classes built grand temples, fishing fleets and held extravagant feasts in the name of their leaders, but many more across all the lands built ivory towers. These towers rose high above the filth and sweat of the cities they governed. Aqueducts led into each tower, with each pillar as tall as a tower. Eventually, as more of these towers were built in each city, bridges connected them, and the aristocracy truly were above the rest of the world.''

''Decades past before tragedy struck. In the city state of Airiss, a spiteful king, with his head (literally) in the clouds, gazed out of his tower, and was irritated. Was this it? Was this tiny speck on the ground below him all the legacy he would leave? So, he set a plan of conquest into action.''

''The king, having spent his entire life in the towers, sent his generals and advisors all across the world to raise armies. To the winged tribes of the Great Sand Sea, to the Dragonlands in the south-east, to the Beastlands and even to the White Wastes in the north, he amassed an army and planned to conquer the whole of The Great Bay''

''His first victories were decisive, and quick. Soon he had all of the Southern shores under the Airissian domain, and a truce was signed between the king's armies and those to the north. A heatwave struck shortly afterwards, and his troops were not meant for this world.''

''First, the Snow Elves perished under the baking sun, then the beasts with furry coats boiled in their own skin. After, came the disease''

''A few recruited Dragonriders carried with them eggs, smuggled from their homelands and were hoping to pawn them for treasure on their travels, but these eggs were too far from home, not heated in the fiery depths of their homeland, but in the heat of the Great Sand Sea. When they hatched, a foul stench could be smelled from across Airiss''

''The eggs then began to kill. Those who could smell it would die soon after, and by a moon's turn, the only living people in all of Airiss were those who managed to be sheltered in the Ivory Towers. This included surviving locals who had not fled, nobility, sellswords, and the king.''

''The king, horrified by the destruction caused, threw himself (or perhaps was thrown. I prefer the latter) from the top of the tower below. His crown breaking into shards and smashing every glass window on the way down. This, sadly, allowed the stench to seep into the towers, chocking all within.''

''When the dust had settled, and the stench having dissipated, and refugees had returned home, they were in awe of the destruction caused. They vowed to rebuild, mourn, and ensure the ambition of one person should never lead to the deaths of so many again.''

''The dragon eggs recovered are still said to reside on the final floor of the Ivory Tower, the Last King's quarters. There's some symbolism there, but you're meant to come to the conclusion on your own''

 

[Lunar Templar]

And what's a river?

She turned and looked at the glowing woman, she was rather surprised she didn't know what a river was, so she got up and walked over to her and set about drawing a map. It was a map of the area around where she grew up, not that any of them would know that, and the map was fairly detailed as well. "A river is a body of water that cuts through the land, most start in the mountains" she explained as she used her tail as a pointer it illustrate what was what. "Interestingly, unlike a lake, rivers have no set depth or width to be called a 'river', some are shallow, some are deep, some are wide and some are narrow and so on" She explained.

 

[Lunar Templar]

"I do, but you human language lacks the sounds to pronounce it, so far as I've seen anyway" she said then set about writing her name out in the dirt again for Serragish to see "But this is it in written form" she said "Still donno where he's getting river from. Also, why do you people shake your upper limbs? It's an odd custom." she added, having noted Serragish had stuck her hand out earlier

 

[IFS]

Alex listened to the Ranglie's explanation, and to the stories both Serragish and Dalrel told. Dalrel's story raised some odd questions, how massive did such an egg have to be to release so much foul air, and how would one smuggle something so massive? He rather doubted the elf's claim that this was a true tale.

Turning back to the Ranglie he thought for a moment "Your name, at least to me, looks like a river so would you mind if I called you something related to that? River, Rivera, something like that?" he asked "It would certainly be easier than simply calling you Ranglie."

He thought for a few moments before he began his own story "If we're sharing tales I suppose I can provide one as well, the story of how evil came to be in my homeland."

He paused, collecting himself before he began to speak "In the early days of the world, when man had only just begun to crawl out of the mud and claim his place in the world, there were four great deities. Miall the goddess of the earth, mother of the other three, it is said she molded them from clay and marked them with her blood to bring them to life. Her three children were Emdah, youngest and cleverest, Urez, lord of water and father of men, and Isep, who judges the souls of men."

"For a long time the gods were at peace with each other, but eventually it came to pass that Urez became jealous of Emdah for the mortals treasured his inventions and particularly his gift of fire, Urez and Emdah bickered over who had more right to mankind, Urez who had created them with out of his own blood, or Emdah who sought to guide and teach them. This debate escalated into blows and Miall, who was filled with sorrow at the sight of her sons fighting, attempted to stop them. Tragedy struck and a vicious blow from the battle found its mark on her and she fell injured into the earth, the wound festered and soon her illness spread across the earth. The two stopped their fighting immediately, ashamed of what they had done, but the harm had been done. Even to this day they seek a cure for their mothers wound, while that wound continues to fester making the earth itself ill."

After he told his story he sat silently, the elevator seemed to be slowing almost imperceptibly at first but then much more noticeably, at last grinding to a halt with an ear splitting screech of metal grinding on metal. At the top though the unmistakable outline of a horizon sat before them. Alex moved quickly and was the first to pass through, stepping into a world that was all too familiar.

"It can't be," he muttered aloud, "I know this place, or knew it..."

Around the horizon stood the burned out remnants of a small village, rows of shallow graves lined the road leading into the village and even the ground itself appeared to have been scoured with flame. What buildings stood were coated with soot, and had holes in the walls and roof where the fires had caused them to collapse. Around the village stood empty farmland, surrounded even further out by dark and twisted looking woods, the branches of the trees looked almost contorted into grasping hands in places, though perhaps that was simply a trick of the dark. The sky overhead was a stony grey, and icy rain fell down on them as they exited the horizon.

Alex turned to greet the others as they stepped through, his normally joyful demeanor appearing grim for a moment as he spoke "Welcome to my homeland."

 

[DarkRawen]

Des listened to the stories with half an interest. While the mention of a beautiful mortal witch caught his attention, he was disappointed in an actual description of her beyond that she was beautiful, and he slipped back into a state of mostly listening to the words without caring about the meaning. Part of him wondered if he should take the chance to get to know people better, especially the ladies, but he didn't want to interrupt the story-time.

If it amuses the mortals, I might as well let them pass the time like this.

Finally, they got to the bottom, and spotted a horizon. Alex moved ahead and through it, and Des quickly followed, not seeing much of a reason to stay. He barely grabbed the dagger and the breast-plate before moving ahead, he didn't want the rest of the armor, as it gave no warmth -not that it hadn't been warm enough in this horizon, it had been a little too hot, to his liking- and it was uncomfortable. The tunic he was wearing wasn't proper clothes either, though, something he noticed when he walked through the horizon.

"It's so cold!" he complained, as a ice-cold droplets rained down on him. While he wasn't in danger of dying from cold very soon, Des didn't like it. He put on the breastplate as he spoke, but it did nothing to keep him warm, only slightly covered him better. He noticed that there was a village nearby, burned, and wondered just where they were. Alex spoke after a while, when the others had gotten through.

"Welcome to my homeland."

"If this is your homeland, do you know where I could get a coat?" he asked, still kind of hung up on the fact that he was freezing. "I think the ladies also need something to wear." Especially Kes had been wearing little, even less than him. "If not for me, then for Kes."

 

[Lunar Templar]

She pondered the name 'Riviera', which was what she heard, as Alex began his story, and after a few moments decided she liked it.

"I've decided, I like the name, 'Riviera', I find the name pleasant sounding, so I shall be using it from now on so you all have something to call me." she said after Alex finished his story, then, with her PSA done, she settle in for what turned out to be a quiet ride to the bottom of the shaft.

at the bottom of the shaft they found a gate to another land, and with no reason to stay she entered it and emerged in the remains of, what she assumed was a human settlement.

"Welcome to my homeland."

She was right it seemed, though she saw nothing but destruction around her, the rain only adding to the desolate feeling of the ruined town. "We should seek shelter first, then worry about those covering you all wear." she said in reply to Des

 

[Terratina.]

Id had nothing to do but hover and listen to whatever story what was being told; how boring. No, boring wasn't the word. The stories themselves were interesting, tales of princess, conjurers, dragons and gods... However, they were just words. Well, not even that - simply air vibrated in order to produce sounds which had an agreed upon meaning. There was a much, much better way to convey those tales. If it could be called that. Regardless, the elevator reached its destination and the others continued forward, but not all. The... elf and one of the humans seemed to be unconscious. Though, Id wasn't really sure exactly what they were, as appearances could be deceptive and all. Id floated around for a few seconds, finding that the air above the elf was slightly warmer than the rest and that there was something strange about what Id assumed to be a human female.

Curious. Wait...

As soon as Id touched the female with a ghostly tendril, it understood. Back in the chaos surrounding proud roars, swipes of large paws and powerful legs jumping from one place to the next, there had been something which wasn't the Lion or Id inside the jumbled mental space for a moment. For one brief moment. What Id felt here and now was hardly a similar feeling, however, it was somehow familiar but subdued. Sleeping. Regardless, an opportunity was an opportunity. Id sank into Serragish, finding the exhausted woman easy to slip into. The arcane experiment was welcomed by nothing, apart from the slow static of an unconscious mind. Controlling the female's movements were simple enough, through her eye Id saw the other unconscious member of the escapee group. Id chose to scoop him and carry both of them through the Horizon to the world of grey cold on the other side.

The story the irksome man had told turned out to have some truth to it: the world in front of Id looked sick.

 

[Mr.Ivebeenframed]

He listened to the other stories but somewhere there he drifted off but he returned when they arrived at a new world. He ignored the glowing woman's question, she might ask again later but so far he just brushed it off.

Vaerys looked beyond to see the sad land that lay before him. The started to all upon them as the broken village before them where the shallow graves marked the lucky ones that passed this world. Some party member complained but Vaerys was focused on what caused such devastation, curious as he was.

"We should seek shelter first, then worry about those covering you all wear."

"Or we keep moving." Vaerys suggested. "Whatever did this to the village might return and I don't fancy being out in the open. Once we find a suitable place with four walls and several hundred soldiers, then I'll feel safe."

 

[IFS]

"I've decided, I like the name, 'Riviera', I find the name pleasant sounding, so I shall be using it from now on so you all have something to call me."

Alex had nodded when she said this "Riviera, a good name," he had said.

"Whatever did this to the village might return and I don't fancy being out in the open. Once we find a suitable place with four walls and several hundred soldiers, then I'll feel safe."

Alex laughed quietly, though there was some sadness in it "My people did this, inquisitors, a plague must have claimed this place in order to force them to such measures," he explained "We have no need to fear their return, for the time being the remains of the houses should suffice for shelter until the rain passes."

With that said he moved towards the one of the larger ruins, expecting the others to follow. He noticed that Serra had carried the unconscious Kyras through the portal with her, good that someone remembered to bring him, hopefully he wakes up soon.

He assessed the others again, some were dressed warmly enough that the cold wouldn't bother them, but others like Kes were not. Staying warm and dry until the rain passed would be quite important, and hopefully they could get some much needed rest. It feels like we've done nothing but run and fight since we left the arena.

 

[DarkRawen]

"We should seek shelter first, then worry about those covering you all wear."

Des frowned, when... she'd mentioned that she wanted to be called a name during the latter period of that elevator ride, right? He was sure of it... Rivira? Riviera?

I think it's the second.

Anyways, when Riviera spoke. "Seek shelter where? I can't really see any places it'd be warmer, all the houses are burned."

Well, most of them were, anyways.

"Whatever did this to the village might return and I don't fancy being out in the open. Once we find a suitable place with four walls and several hundred soldiers, then I'll feel safe."

Why would soldiers make things safer?

Des thought to himself. These mortals might be used to other kind of creatures than he was, if something had burned a place like this where he came from, it was other humans. Still, he didn't like the thought of continuing on, actually, what he wanted to do was simply not be cold anymore.

I don't like this horizon.

"My people did this, inquisitors, a plague must have claimed this place in order to force them to such measures. We have no need to fear their return, for the time being the remains of the houses should suffice for shelter until the rain passes."

He looked at those houses again, they really didn't look like they would bring much warmth. However, the cold rain was unpleasant, and unpleasant made Des sad. "Okay, then, if you say so. Let's go," he finally agreed, and went ahead, not waiting for the rest to agree or disagree. It didn't take long for him to find a house that he thought was sufficient, and going inside.

 

[hiei82]

Kes didn't say much during the ride down. It wasn't that she didn't feel like "sharing" so much as she didn't have anything to say. She'd spent the vast majority of her life in underground cells or the Liem Colosseum. What stories could she tell? Stories of fighting monsters for the enjoyment of the crowd? Of living behind bars? What little she knew of her homeland were stories of the older slaves and the hazy half-memories of childhood. Kalidonia was as real to her as any of the stories. Still, she listened to the stories, trying to imagine the mysterious places. She didn't have a frame of reference for much of what they said, but it was nice to try and picture it.

After a long time they found and passed through the Horizon Gate. She was among the last to pass through, having settled into a nice spot on the ride down. As she did, she heard Des speak. "I think the ladies also need something to wear. If not for me, then for Kes.". At the words Kes shook her head. "I'll be fine." she said before looking around a little. The world was, admittedly, very cold compared to the land they'd crossed through but she found it jarring at most and not at all uncomfortable. She thanked her unremembered world for it; she'd been told Kalidonia was an unforgiving place which went through enormous seasonal changes.

As the group began to gravitate toward a large, mostly intact building Kes ventured out toward the ruins. She lifted fallen beams and stones in search of something dry enough that it would still burn. While she didn't require a fire, the others likely did.

 

[IFS]

Members of the group settled into the drier spots of one of the ruined buildings, gaining shelter from the wind and rain. It was already clear their stay was not likely to be pleasant, though it might at least give them some time to recover from the fights on the last two horizons. Those able to see or sense things others could not might pick up a lingering dread throughout the village, though it seemed faded and hopefully was only a remnant of what had produced it. As the last of them exited the horizon gate it seemed to waver and then fade into nothing, like it or not they were stuck here until they could find a new portal.

Searching the ruins of the house a number of items could be found that might ease their travels, wool clothes and cloaks which were singed but functional, even a blanket or two. In other places some stores of food had managed to remain relatively untouched by the blaze, and even what looked to be a few bottles of some sort of (probably alcoholic) beverage buried in a chest under some rubble. Kes in particular managed to locate a few piles of dry wood that had escaped both the blaze and the rain.

Alex helped uncover much of this before relaxing in one of the drier corners of the structure, he looked up at the dark sky before speaking to the group "We should probably rest for the night here before we begin our search for the next portal," he said "Especially given all the excitement we've been through lately, though we might want a few volunteers to stand watch while the rest of us sleep."

He would volunteer himself if no one else did, but the last horizon with its intense heat had left him feeling exhausted. His clothes were much more suited to the damp and cold of his homeland than to the desert they had exited.

 

[DarkRawen]

When Des searched around for something to use, he quickly discovered some clothes and cloaks that could be used, even a decent, if half burned, pair of boots. Putting on the larger of the cloaks -a woollen one that fit him quite well- , he brought the rest to the person he felt needed it the most, Kes. Even if she had said she wasn't that cold, he figured she wanted something less... well, not just rags, and even gave her the pair of boots.

"Hey, Kes," he smiled, and handed her the least singed of the coats, a long skirt and the boots. He simply put it in her arms. "Here's clothes for you. Even if you say you're fine, I'm sure these'd look good on you."

Without waiting for a reply, or even giving her the chance to give them back, he went over to Serragish, still carrying some clothes.

"Are you cold as well?"

 

[Josh123914]

Dalrel woke hazily, shivering through his cloak and layers. Rummaging through his satchel, he donned a dark crimson vest and re-attached his cloak. ''What did I miss?'' he asked, refreshed from his long sleep, and soaking on his arm and ass since somebody must have dragged him through a puddle without asking.

 

[hiei82]

Kes had a large log over her shoulder when Des approached her. "Hey, Kes, here's clothes for you. Even if you say you're fine, I'm sure these'd look good on you." In his hands was a slightly singed coat, a long skirt, and a pair of boots which he handed to her quickly. "I said I don't-" she started to say before he pivoted on his feet and walked over to Serragish.

Kes just shook her head and made her way to the mostly-intact building that they were using as temporary shelter. There she set down the log (and the clothes) and began trying to start a fire. A few minutes later, the one who'd been asleep - Dalrel - awoke. "What did I miss?" he asked, drawing Kes' attention. "We walked through a Horizon Gate at the bottom of that tower. Now we're in Alex's homeland. Some find it cold apparently." she answered while making sparks to light the fire.

 

[Mr.Ivebeenframed]

"Especially given all the excitement we've been through lately, though we might want a few volunteers to stand watch while the rest of us sleep."

"Aye, I'll stay on watch." Vaerys said to Alex, walking up to him and giving him a pat on the shoulder to reassure him. "This dwarf still has plenty of fight in him. If any of your inquisition friends tries to sneak up on us, it'll be my axe that'll be asking questions."

With that, Vaerys began to sharpen his axe. It had been awhile since he had done so and the sound of sharpening blades always seemed to calm him. A part of him wished that they would be bothered that night. He was aching for another fight.

 

[Josh123914]

"Especially given all the excitement we've been through lately, though we might want a few volunteers to stand watch while the rest of us sleep."

''Aye, I'll stay on watch.''
''I will too'' said Dalrel, ''What else am I gonna do? Sleep again?'' He said, thinking he was really funny.
Taking up his post and attempting to dry pieces of his cloak, grimacing at the clothing donated to him, but stuffing it into his bag nonetheless.
"We walked through a Horizon Gate at the bottom of that tower. Now we're in Alex's homeland. Some find it cold apparently."
He heard from the one making sparks. ''Well, it is, and damp too.'' He said, moving him out of the way. Flicking his wrist several ways he produced a small ember that hovered from his palm. He smiled, and then blew it onto the timber, causing a substantial fire to kick off.

He turned, and asked Kes this one, ''Whats the story with this village? Did you all find it like this or did you cause it?''
Its a wonder this village was even able to burn with the torrent of rain above.