The Lost

[Shal]

Who are ‘The Lost,’ you ask? The answer is not as simple as one would think …


Centuries ago a band of pilgrims ventured from the Aktoan Empire to settle a new land in the name of Aktoan. The pilgrims flourished in there venture. The new kingdom, Toan, became vastly known for its power and diplomacy. The Toan army was well trained and equipped, and the diplomats well educated and informed. Great armies can work well without diplomacy, but diplomacy cannot work well without a great army.


In preparation of establishing a trade deal with the Phelsacians to the east, a portion of the army was sent into the forested mountain range that lied in our path, to clear and rid the area of villains and creatures that may compromise our trade caravans. My role in all of this was to accompany the diplomats to the city of Phelsac. Friendly communication with the Phelsacians had already been established. I was chosen to accompany the party not because of my experience wielding a sword, because I had little experience doing that, but because the blood in my veins were directly descendant of the throne of Toan. This gesture showed respect, in hopes that it would have a positive influence on the negotiations. The army had cleared the path east, and had split into separate battalions to work the wooded range north and south. Little defense was necessary, but it gave me reason to wear my battle armor in full dress and color. Most of our battles had been won with ink upon parchment, a show of arms was a rarity to say the least.


The new trade would, with no doubt, help the Phelsacian Empire build a stronger army. Helping the allies around us has historically benefited our own empire, not only with the added income that it would provide, but a strong neighbor can be a first line of defense against other foes. No doubt, The Toan Empire had its fair share of enemies. Upon passage of the mountain range, we started to see the outward settlements of Phelsac. It soon became apparent that the new trade would bring some wealth to the peasants too, as we were greeted with formal festivities to mark the occasion. Even the preparation of the trade route by the army brought economical resources to the lower class there, as they tend to follow our army and loot and ransack valuables from the ogre camps and nests of kobalts after they had been cleared of their inhabitants.

Compared to Toan, the city of Phelsac seemed mediocre at best. Its defenses would have been nothing for our army, but before long, it was predicted that Phelsac would fall to the Toan Empire through economics and diplomacy like many had in the past. The battle won with parchment was something I never understood or cared for.

Our caravan was greeted in Phelsac with the greatest fest I had ever seen. Even when our army returned home after winning an unwinnable battle, the fest was hardly to compare. It seemed there were parties and feasts in all the streets and taverns all around the citys. Our wizards might struggle to show a more impressive array of dancing lights. We feasted for three days, great feasts, before the talks even began. Then we feasted for four more before word came to me by messenger eagle, sealed by the King of Toan.


My father’s message read:

Shallister, seventh heir to the throne of Toan, Daughter to King Azure


The Grethian Empire has conquered the Strongholds of Baship and Argmon to the north, and has allied with the Frethian Empire that now lays siege to our western outreaches. We have learned that the Grethians plan to bypass our remaining allies to the north and head straight to the city of Toan itself. Our army has been dispatched in sufficient numbers to hold off the Frethian Empire from further advancement from the west, but the Grethian are moving much to fast to counter at distance before the forces are recovered from the mountain forest.


Further negotiations with the Phelsac are not likely to be beneficial at this time. You and your party are instructed to return to help defend Toan immediately.

Your King,
Azure


I had no doubt that even without the forces from the mountain forest, the defenses of Toan were more than sufficient to, at the very least, hold Toan. There were enough oils stocked to burn the moats hotter than red dragon’s breath for days, if not weeks, while the trebuchet pounded their numbers, but war is war. And when the King says “immediatly,” he means get your hide on the horse and move.


We left Phelsac within the hour of receiving the king’s message. The festivities were still going, to soon for word to trickle down that the Grethian were making a move on Toan, if they succeeded it would be certain doom for their entire civilization and there would be nothing festive about it. I’m sure word made it to the masses quickly after we left, as they would need time to organize their army in the unlikely case that things were to not turn out so well at Toan.


The trip home took less than two weeks, less than half the time of the casual trip in the other direction. Had it been under different circumstances, I would have laughed at the diplomats bouncing around in the back of the carts and cursing all the way. We approached Toan from the east, and looking down to the north we could make out the blithe camps of the Grethian just out of range of our trebuchet. The defensive posture of the outer walls were apparent. I still remember the emotion that nearly escaped me when I seen the gates closed and the bridge up for the first time in my life. In fact, it was the first time in over a century since the gates had been lowered and the bridges lifted in wartime. The farms usually busy with peasants and plows, lay before us unkempt. The brilliant blue of the mote was replaced with deep black from the oils. Fires lit on the portcullises ready to light the moat and the arrows of the archers. And the sky ...


As we rode up to the east gates, the rain came. No more than a light drizzle but defiantly nothing natural. The breeze that was barely noticeable suddenly disappeared and a wall cloud had been formed directly over head. This was very troubling to say the least. The Grethian were known to dabble in crude sorcery, however we had never though them capable enough to master something of this magnitude.


By the time I had got there, it had rained for two days. Nothing more than a pestering drizzle. Their messenger that had been sent with a demand of surrender had already been turned away. Our wizards had determined that the drizzle that has plagued Toan was, as unnatural as it was, just that, a drizzle. The wizard said that because of the way that it was conjured, that it couldn’t become anything more that what it already was. Just a drizzle. After another week of it, it still wouldn’t be enough to hurt morale. Stocks of provisions were still more than enough to sustain the entire city until the army returned from the mountain forest. The northern forces were already closing in from their rear. The attack planned to commence when the forces from the south moved into position. Another three days at most. It would be an obliteration. “What were they even thinking when they marched on us?” I asked father. The next day, the answer sank in. Literally …


You walk the halls and courts of the keep every day for years on end. Your metatarsal guard buckles scrape the stone pathways. Outside the main chambers there always driving piles, building another fortification or keep. Workers banging around on scaffolding making repairs. Horseshoes clapping on the stone paths, but because you have heard these things all your life, you stop hearing them at all. That is until something about the sound changes, or something makes the sound change from what it always has been.


Dull. The sound was dull. That’s the best I can explain it. I scraped my metatarsal guard buckle, intentionally, against the stone path and the sound … dull. I kneeled down out of curiosity and when my knee plate touched the stone … dull. I hid my panic, but stood up swiftly. When my page went to clean my knee plate, I cursed her away. Out of further curiosity, and partially because I felt bad for cursing a very good page for doing what she was supposed to do, I tossed a platinum piece to her feet. When it hit the stone … Dull. The sound was dull. Outside the keep, engineers were gathered near the piles. Their look was puzzled, and I don’t know what possessed me then, but I turned straight to the castle cemetery and fixed my sight straight on the fifteen and a half acres that housed the remains of people like Sir Asople the Great Marauder. Sir Gareth the Dragon Slayer. No doubt now, only the bones, stripped of flesh, of my father’s father are all that’s left in his tomb. Three steps off the stone path toward the cemetery my steps became encumbered from the mud. Three more and the mud on my shin splints added ten pounds to my weight. I stood there for what seemed to be hours, but turned out to be only a few minutes. The people in the yard that always act as though they had no interest in my doings, no longer concealed their curiosity. Conversations started, and while nobody dared cross my view, I knew a large gathering was forming behind me. “Quiet!” I screamed, and then I looked at my page and told her, “Run to my father. Run! Tell him the battle has begun.”


I seen things that day that still scare me out of my sleep. Uncle Sterth, or Sir Sterth the Avenger, was the first one my sword laid upon. He, or shall I say it, was no longer my Uncle. Its shield and sword bore all the colors and crests that were laid to rest with him, but my uncle would never allow an inexperienced and half trained soldier like me, such a solid and clean hit. And if he did, he certainly wouldn’t have been in any condition to keep coming after me the way that this thing did. Jester Frye, I used to call him Jelly Frye before I could pronounce jester. Once a jolly soul, he used to make my stomach cramp from laughing so, and then tuck me into bed at night. The bells on his cap rang just the way I had always remembered. It was my request that granted him burial in a castle plot. Aunt Besh. From the waist down, aunt Besh reminded me of that nasty gruel she used to cook in the ten gallon kettle. Green and mushy, her legs all twisted up together and squishy. They seemed to float her torso just over the ground and a just plain awful green vaporous stench wafted up behind her.


I don’t remember much after that until well after the battle was over. The castle and city defenses were set up to thwart off an invasion from outside the walls. Not one that originated from within. The dead rose from all the cemeteries all around the city. It was said that peoples pets, long buried, were rose from makeshift burials in the peasant yards. I awoke to find myself being healed by a cleric in a small tribe far to the south of what used to be the great city of Toan. While the soldiers of Toan were battling the undead, the Grethians made their move. It wasn’t a huge surprise, but our forces were scattered and unable to keep the west gate secure. The oil in the mote went unlit in large areas due to the confusion and chaos of attacking and being attacked by long lost relatives in various states of decay. After the fall of Toan, the Grethians moved west and surprised the forces fighting off the Frethian. The army gathering from the mountainous range disbanded, unable to defeat such a large force created with the merger of the Grethian and Frethian.


The large majority of the survivors, including the band of six that carried me, sought out means to the old land of Aktoan. On our way south, to the coast, we worked our way around several Ogre camps. One camp we stumbled right into the middle of. The Ogre camp boss must have felt pity upon us. I don’t know why. I didn’t think ogres were capable of such an emotion. Maybe he knew that the rain was coming and what was in store for his tribe. Regardless, on our way out of the camp he muttered something to another that stuck with us. The best we could translate it was, “The Lost.”

My presence in Stormreach tells that we never made it back to our ancestral homeland. We had traded all our equipment for passage aboard a trade ship that never made it to its destination. My armor paid most the price. We washed up on the beaches of Korthos after our ship was attacked by a dragon. There is much work to do here, and we have made this our new home.

[Strakeln]

Spend some time here in Stormreach, stockpile some plat, then convince Gtar to sell your homeland back to you.

[Shal]

Spend some time here in Stormreach, stockpile some plat, then convince Gtar to sell your homeland back to you.

i hope your not implying that im not welcome here

[Deadz]

What about the hatch.. and the smoke monster.. where do they come into play?

[Strakeln]

i hope your not implying that im not welcome here

No. <edit: snarkiness reserved for future misunderstandings>

<double-edit: so much for trying to play along>

[Shal]

No.

fogive me for asking, but you can never be to sure the charecters youll run into in a strange land ... or a familier one for that matter.

[Raegoul]

Not sure if it is any good i only read the first three words. I stopped reading as soon as i realised i had to scroll down to finish reading this story.

[Lee4416]

Not sure if it is any good i only read the first three words. I stopped reading as soon as i realised i had to scroll down to finish reading this story.

Three words?

You're doing so well on that "reading for beginners" course Rae, last week it was 2 words... keep it up mate!!

[seldarin]

Not sure if it is any good i only read the first three words. I stopped reading as soon as i realised i had to scroll down to finish reading this story.

I never did pay any attention to those that said you couldnt read, im glad my stance was justified

[Raegoul]

Three words?

You're doing so well on that "reading for beginners" course Rae, last week it was 2 words... keep it up mate!!

I am trying

[Strakeln]

Not sure if it is any good i only read the first three words. I stopped reading as soon as i realised i had to scroll down to finish reading this story.

It was actually fairly good, to be honest. One of the few I've managed to finish.

[Shal]

Not sure if it is any good i only read the first three words. I stopped reading as soon as i realised i had to scroll down to finish reading this story.

theres something really important that people dont understand about people with ADD ... oh look, a chicken!

It was actually fairly good, to be honest. One of the few I've managed to finish.

thank you kind sir. and again, my appologies for the previouse misunderstanding.

im definatly no writer. i took typing class in school so that i would have a class i could sleep in. not very easy sleeping in typing class though, so i slept in english class. needless to say, i can type pretty good, but cant write for beans. lol.

[Strakeln]

thank you kind sir. and again, my appologies for the previouse misunderstanding.

No need, I was at work and have a tendency to crank up the snarkiness there.

im definatly no writer. i took typing class in school so that i would have a class i could sleep in. not very easy sleeping in typing class though, so i slept in english class. needless to say, i can type pretty good, but cant write for beans. lol.

I care a lot less about structure/spelling/whatever than I do the story, and that one was pretty interesting. You actually had me sitting there wondering how the outnumbered invading force thought they had a chance, what the heck they were thinking... then... oh!

[Shal]

No need, I was at work and have a tendency to crank up the snarkiness there.

I care a lot less about structure/spelling/whatever than I do the story, and that one was pretty interesting. You actually had me sitting there wondering how the outnumbered invading force thought they had a chance, what the heck they were thinking... then... oh!

then i guess it wasnt you that gave me a hard time about spelling necropolis with a c at the end instead of an s on the lfm. lol. thanks for the kind words.

[cdbd3rd]

then i guess it wasnt you that gave me a hard time about spelling necropolis with a c at the end instead of an s on the lfm. lol. thanks for the kind words.

*chuckle*

Wasn't me either, but the thought is amusing. Even better adding another 'e'... "Necropolice"



Twas a good read, Shal.

[Shal]

*chuckle*

Wasn't me either, but the thought is amusing. Even better adding another 'e'... "Necropolice"



Twas a good read, Shal.

necropolice might scare off the convics. lol. thanks cdbd

[Raegoul]

theres something really important that people dont understand about people with ADD ... oh look, a chicken!

I wish i had ADD that would give me a medical excuse, however my excuse was that i could not bring myself to scroll thru a wall of text. Of course, that meant i had no idea whether it was any good. So instead of scrolling and reading i will agree with Strakeln and read it when i feel inclined to... *eyes closed* /sleep

[Shal]

I wish i had ADD that would give me a medical excuse, however my excuse was that i could not bring myself to scroll thru a wall of text. Of course, that meant i had no idea whether it was any good. So instead of scrolling and reading i will agree with Strakeln and read it when i feel inclined to... *eyes closed* /sleep

first time read might take fifteen minutes. i just reread it and found big mistakes. probably isnt worth the time. my hopes are that you get a good nights sleep.

[Joseph]

I thought it was well done.

Many, many more people are capable of being technical editors, and technical writers.

Few are capable writers (telling a good story) or capable editors (making a good story even better).

I like it. Well written.

[Shal]

I thought it was well done.

Many, many more people are capable of being technical editors, and technical writers.

Few are capable writers (telling a good story) or capable editors (making a good story even better).

I like it. Well written.

thank you i wanted to put more in there about the battle, but i was already out of my league. lol. all in all, i think it turned out ok. good for the casual reader, but not for the critic. glad you enjoyed.