Harmonia Mortis
16-11-2005, 02:53
It was, as usual, a perfect day in Harmonia.
The large island, located in an area which, until now, had totaly escaped all observation for some odd reason or another. It had developed at its own pace, ending with an idealized 1400's-ish flavour. It had huge castles, it had knights in shining armour. There were some wizards as well. It was quite possible that the better sort of dragon would be allowed in as well.
The population of about two million was mostly happily occupied in such idyllic peasant activities as farming, dying at the age of thirty and gossip. The sun shone, the grass grew and other sickeningly idyllic activites took place.
The King, as he was known, sat in his white palace on the slopes of the islands idyllic mountain and gazed down on the idyllic terrain. A herd of sheep was currently crossing the large (and idyllic) field. It was, overall, a pleasant view because the King had never seen a sheep up close (unless it was making sizzling noises), and didnt know about the smell. If he had, sheep would most likely not be allowed on Harmonia.
What had escaped the King was the sound of tapping in his wine cellar (the castle had no dungeons, there was no need, all crimes were punishable by summary execution, usualy people were thrown off a cliff to avoid getting blood on things), it echoed throughout the wine barrels and disturbing the rest of a butler who had descended to the cellar for a little break.
"Wstfgl?"
The chair the man had been leaning on fell over and he hit his chin rather hard on the cobbled floor. Looking up, he noted that a steady stream of dust was falling from the wall and the 'taptap' noise had become a sort of 'thwack thwack' noise. Several of them, in fact. The man stood up and placed his ear on the wall. Yes...somebody was tunneling, quickly.
"Hello?"
The tunneling stopped.
"Is anybody there?"
...
A voice that sounded vaugly like somebody attempting to chew gravel said, "No."
"Oh, thats good then. Carry on."
The citizens of Harmonia didnt have to deal with liars, lying was a non-success trait on Harmonia.
Thwack thwack thwack THOK!
Very faintly, the butler heard somebody say:
"Run fer it!"
He put his head against the wall again, all he heard now was a faint sort of crackle.
"I wonder what that is..."
The noise stopped.
"-"
BOOOOMMMM!!!
The cellar wall promptly blew inward, taking the butler with it.
The gap was promptly filled with, amoung other things, two dozen skeletons of assorted species, a small horde of goblins and a sprinkling of demons. These swarmed up the stairs, dispatched and ate the guards at the top and set about a general rampage throughout the castle.
After a few minutes of this, and when the group was sure that the locals were subdued enough, a messenger was dispatched.
The tunnel darkened somewhat, the remaining torches flickered out.
Out of this particular darkness advanced The Keeper, as most of his servants addressed him. His current form was the 'standard' Large Evil Daemon, red with big horns on.
The Keeper nodded to the group of demons, sent the skeletons and Goblins back into the gaping hole in the castle cellar, and spoke:
"Watch the portal, I will return."
This received a salute where hands were present, a few simply nodded because tentacles dont work well in military tradition.
The Keeper advanced through the castles many corridors, in keeping with tradition he slaughtered anybody he met on the way and set fire to a few things. At his destination, the Keeper stopped, briefly impressed by the magnitude of the door in front of him.
It was big, it was silver, and it had spikes on.
Clearly whoever was in charge had anticipated his arrival or was planning on repelling a serious angry mob at some point.
The Keeper made a gesture and the door imploded with little fuss.
Behind the fortification was a second, much more serious looking door and the kings Champion, who had apparently been asleep on the other end of the hall.
The man had managed to get his helmet on in the time it took for the Keeper to remove the door, which was quite good timing. He had his sword out by the time the Keeper had gotten halfway across the room and was settling into the 'twirly sword' routine.
It was, in keeping with everything else, impressive. And the Keeper even felt a bit sorry when he ripped the mans soul from his body and ate it. This was not strictly required, but it was good for appearances. The Keeper did not beleive in wasting things either, so he dropped the Big Evil Daemon body and took up station inside the corpses head.
He then kicked the door in, beheaded a startled king and nailed three wizards to the wall with the knights greatsword.
After some deliberation, the Kings head was nailed to the throne and the wizards were removed to the outer hallway and generaly spread around a bit to give that 'Fresh massacre' feeling.
This was a good start, overall.
---
In approximatly a week, the forces of the new state of Harmonia Mortis spread over Harmonia, while the peasants watched and did nothing, as they had for hundreds of years. The small garrisons were destroyed in no time, various fantasy castles were leveled with no trouble and the tall, black spires of Harmonia Mortis took their place, held up by the will of the Keeper, they lorded their presence over the landscape, making it clear that the new King was here to stay.
There was no resistance once the last Army was destroyed, the peasants of Harmonia had no concept of fighting back, something the late king might have regretted had he been alive to witness this.
The fight in the air took somewhat longer, the Harmonian Skyship fleet was tough, and had to regularly fight off pirates and various other intruders on Harmonias peace, they were in practice and, indeed, would have defeated the Mortian fleets had the Keeper not been present to do some more imploding.
In the end, however, the new flag flew over every part of the island, giving the Keeper near absolute control. The landscape itself became a good deal less idyllic. The grass turned black, the former Kings castle went black and there was a general blackening of things. Low-lying clouds obscured the daylight, casting a grey deadlight over the land.
None of the Harmonians seemed to mind though, the new King could hardly be any worse, could he?
(OOC:
Greetings, again, for those who remember Harmonia Mortus. Im back, and with a more accurate name!
For those who dont, 'Fantasci' is not a soft drink, its a mix of Future-tech and Fantasy, think Final Fantasy, only better ;))
The large island, located in an area which, until now, had totaly escaped all observation for some odd reason or another. It had developed at its own pace, ending with an idealized 1400's-ish flavour. It had huge castles, it had knights in shining armour. There were some wizards as well. It was quite possible that the better sort of dragon would be allowed in as well.
The population of about two million was mostly happily occupied in such idyllic peasant activities as farming, dying at the age of thirty and gossip. The sun shone, the grass grew and other sickeningly idyllic activites took place.
The King, as he was known, sat in his white palace on the slopes of the islands idyllic mountain and gazed down on the idyllic terrain. A herd of sheep was currently crossing the large (and idyllic) field. It was, overall, a pleasant view because the King had never seen a sheep up close (unless it was making sizzling noises), and didnt know about the smell. If he had, sheep would most likely not be allowed on Harmonia.
What had escaped the King was the sound of tapping in his wine cellar (the castle had no dungeons, there was no need, all crimes were punishable by summary execution, usualy people were thrown off a cliff to avoid getting blood on things), it echoed throughout the wine barrels and disturbing the rest of a butler who had descended to the cellar for a little break.
"Wstfgl?"
The chair the man had been leaning on fell over and he hit his chin rather hard on the cobbled floor. Looking up, he noted that a steady stream of dust was falling from the wall and the 'taptap' noise had become a sort of 'thwack thwack' noise. Several of them, in fact. The man stood up and placed his ear on the wall. Yes...somebody was tunneling, quickly.
"Hello?"
The tunneling stopped.
"Is anybody there?"
...
A voice that sounded vaugly like somebody attempting to chew gravel said, "No."
"Oh, thats good then. Carry on."
The citizens of Harmonia didnt have to deal with liars, lying was a non-success trait on Harmonia.
Thwack thwack thwack THOK!
Very faintly, the butler heard somebody say:
"Run fer it!"
He put his head against the wall again, all he heard now was a faint sort of crackle.
"I wonder what that is..."
The noise stopped.
"-"
BOOOOMMMM!!!
The cellar wall promptly blew inward, taking the butler with it.
The gap was promptly filled with, amoung other things, two dozen skeletons of assorted species, a small horde of goblins and a sprinkling of demons. These swarmed up the stairs, dispatched and ate the guards at the top and set about a general rampage throughout the castle.
After a few minutes of this, and when the group was sure that the locals were subdued enough, a messenger was dispatched.
The tunnel darkened somewhat, the remaining torches flickered out.
Out of this particular darkness advanced The Keeper, as most of his servants addressed him. His current form was the 'standard' Large Evil Daemon, red with big horns on.
The Keeper nodded to the group of demons, sent the skeletons and Goblins back into the gaping hole in the castle cellar, and spoke:
"Watch the portal, I will return."
This received a salute where hands were present, a few simply nodded because tentacles dont work well in military tradition.
The Keeper advanced through the castles many corridors, in keeping with tradition he slaughtered anybody he met on the way and set fire to a few things. At his destination, the Keeper stopped, briefly impressed by the magnitude of the door in front of him.
It was big, it was silver, and it had spikes on.
Clearly whoever was in charge had anticipated his arrival or was planning on repelling a serious angry mob at some point.
The Keeper made a gesture and the door imploded with little fuss.
Behind the fortification was a second, much more serious looking door and the kings Champion, who had apparently been asleep on the other end of the hall.
The man had managed to get his helmet on in the time it took for the Keeper to remove the door, which was quite good timing. He had his sword out by the time the Keeper had gotten halfway across the room and was settling into the 'twirly sword' routine.
It was, in keeping with everything else, impressive. And the Keeper even felt a bit sorry when he ripped the mans soul from his body and ate it. This was not strictly required, but it was good for appearances. The Keeper did not beleive in wasting things either, so he dropped the Big Evil Daemon body and took up station inside the corpses head.
He then kicked the door in, beheaded a startled king and nailed three wizards to the wall with the knights greatsword.
After some deliberation, the Kings head was nailed to the throne and the wizards were removed to the outer hallway and generaly spread around a bit to give that 'Fresh massacre' feeling.
This was a good start, overall.
---
In approximatly a week, the forces of the new state of Harmonia Mortis spread over Harmonia, while the peasants watched and did nothing, as they had for hundreds of years. The small garrisons were destroyed in no time, various fantasy castles were leveled with no trouble and the tall, black spires of Harmonia Mortis took their place, held up by the will of the Keeper, they lorded their presence over the landscape, making it clear that the new King was here to stay.
There was no resistance once the last Army was destroyed, the peasants of Harmonia had no concept of fighting back, something the late king might have regretted had he been alive to witness this.
The fight in the air took somewhat longer, the Harmonian Skyship fleet was tough, and had to regularly fight off pirates and various other intruders on Harmonias peace, they were in practice and, indeed, would have defeated the Mortian fleets had the Keeper not been present to do some more imploding.
In the end, however, the new flag flew over every part of the island, giving the Keeper near absolute control. The landscape itself became a good deal less idyllic. The grass turned black, the former Kings castle went black and there was a general blackening of things. Low-lying clouds obscured the daylight, casting a grey deadlight over the land.
None of the Harmonians seemed to mind though, the new King could hardly be any worse, could he?
(OOC:
Greetings, again, for those who remember Harmonia Mortus. Im back, and with a more accurate name!
For those who dont, 'Fantasci' is not a soft drink, its a mix of Future-tech and Fantasy, think Final Fantasy, only better ;))