Decline 10: New Blood for the Feast

[Zephyr Arsland]

Don't stall, goddammit. We've just begun.

 

[KoolNoodles]

Don't stall, goddammit. We've just begun.

I don't know about you, but all my neighbors can feel free to stale.

 

[noisenerd]

So I guess my math was off earlier... but still.

I don't know about you, but all my neighbors can feel free to stale.

Heh, good point.

 

[Lizzurd]

CAST:

Rome, the capital of Sceleria, was seriously transformed after the last 6 months. Its white towers turned to blacked, useless fortifications were redecorated and now are glowing evilish blue. This day was a bit special - after the long work Lizzurd finally opened the portal to Shaded Lands!
Lizzurd and Lucius are standing at the steps to portal. Several ghosts has gathered around. The portal itself glows with dark light and softly wails.

Dauda morte almawt! Opinn aperto fath! Hlidid porta Bawaba!

The strong scream pierces the space. The glow of portal starts to seethe and blaze.

My dead cousins! This day will enter the history. I open the gates to Shaded Lands, the dark home to dead. From now the long dead ghosts will be able to enter this world again.
In the usual circumstances the soul leaves the body at the moment of death. However the Bless and the Curse of Lemuria binds the soul to this world and it is no longer able to escape from this plane. The Celestial and Demonic gates are forever closed to us. For a long time we were doomed to roam the Shaded Lands, but with the construction of this gates and the Enchanment of Lemuria we achieved our ancient goal - we achieved the immortality!
Our bodies may be killed, our ghost forms may be dissipated, but our souls will live forever. No living being is able to surpass our power!

The shadow figure appears before the portal. Slowly its features begin to shape in the reality.

Et in Arcadia ego! Be cursed the daylight! For a long time I was living under your dominion, for a long time I was hating you. But now I returned and I see your again. Your rays are blazing my mind. How disingenuous are you!...

Lizzurd, I am afraid this ghost is mad.

Dear Lucius, this is not a simple ghost. He was a grand traumaturg of Sceleria. When a monarch changed he was tortured, burned in fire and then left to die at the Ctissian deserts. Slowly he was burned by sun to death.

...I have mastered the art of death. I have recreated the cursed flames and soon I will spoil your heart! You rays will no longer hurt the world and your light will get drown in darkness!

Then I am afraid our immortality is not perfect. This is NOT the life I want to live.

I am afraid there is no perfect immortality. Even with immortal body you mind will slowly wither.

For a long hour Mortis was continuing his speech. His help is the most required but how much will it cost?...

 

[Matalarata]

Ctissian deserts

Which are as vast as the eye can see atm.

 

[Zephyr Arsland]

I don't know about you, but all my neighbors can feel free to stale.

Cynical, yet practical. True, too.

EDIT: Seemingly fixed my Internetz trouble so Ulm: Romance of the Three Vampires will be back soon.

 

[noisenerd]

Alfred's first battle as Prophet...

Things are not looking good for the soldiers of Man. Alfred watches in horror as the enemy horsemen charge his infantry line. He screams the order for the archers to fire again, hoping to even the odds for his doomed men. He feels a rage mounting inside him, an energy he's never felt before...

"Stand fast! Hold the line!" Not knowing what else to do, he yells encouragement, only half aware of his own words. "For Man! For Morag!"

The enemy horsemen are cutting his men to shreds. Several horsemen have broken through the line. The rage builds, becomes something else, something he can almost touch, no, grab hold of.

"NO!" A power wells up within Alfred, the burning rage becoming a holy weapon. A beam of light strikes an enemy horseman like a lance from the sky. His spearmen are fleeing, but his archers are holding. He reaches for that power again, hoping to save what's left of his men. Another bolt flashes. The enemy has closed on the archers now, and again he reaches...

After several enemy horsemen fall to the bolts from seemingly out of nowhere, the enemy begins to lose their determination and flee. Alfred is fully caught up in holy rage however, and continues to call down the wrath of Morag.

Spoiler

Finally, there are no more enemies in sight, and the rage subsides. Alfred surveys the battlefield, a grim scene of blood and death. Nearby, he sees the bodies of several of his spearmen. They had rallied in the last moments of the battle, in a final effort to protect him from the oncoming horsemen. As his head begins to clear, he notices the sound of men shouting, and looks up to see where it's coming from, thinking the worst. Almost immediately however, he realizes that it's the sound of his remaining men cheering.

"Alfred! Alfred the Prophet!"

Don't they realize that I've let them down? Some prophet. We won this battle, but at what cost? Still, I can't deny... whatever that was. Had it not been for that, none of us might be standing here...

 

[Zephyr Arsland]

 

[Lizzurd]

sqeecoo, hello friend, although there still left 22 hours to do the turn I want to ask you to do your turns now. Sorry for this, but I really want to see the next turn.

 

[Grimwulf]

Sorry for this, but I really want to see the next turn.

If you're bored, you can make a turn in Decline 7. I've heard people there want to see the next turn too.

Spoiler

 

[sqeecoo]

There you go Lizzurd. Also, one of my Jags seems to have lost his head.

Spoiler

Thankfully he's still wearing his cap.

 

[Dayyālu]

Spoiler

HEADLESS BROTHERS THROUGH THE DIMENSIONS

I guess it's the insane combo of (I presume) a N9 bless with a shapeshifter. Fun to see, though. So, who got invaded by the Spectres?

 

[Zephyr Arsland]

Man, those headless critters are really funny. I've never seen that before.

Expect an Ulm-update later today.

PS: Internet's still fucked.

 

[Lizzurd]

CAST:

(Today is only mini-edition)

THE PROPHET OF LEMURIA DREAAD IS BACKSTABBED BY HIS SQUIRE MARCUS!

Dear Lizzurd.
I hope that you perform well since i have to bring you a sad truth.
Your reign, your power, your kingdom is build on the death and lies. While you wish to achieve immortality you have accidentally killed thousands of other people. Is this what you seek? The future you want to get will stand on the bones, how can you count on greatness and happiness if you have killed so many souls already?
I refuse your order. From now i will survive on my own. A group of your soldiers agreed to join me. Let you be known that we form a new kingdom - a kingdom where everyone will reckon with each other and where will be no mad kings with bloodthirsty priests.
Marcus, the king of Elysium.

Stupid centurion! I should have executed him! Now we have lost our two best warriors and a half of kingdom!

 

[noisenerd]

Thankfully he's still wearing his cap.

Yeah, that'd be mighty drafty otherwise!

I've never seen that before either. Boy, this is some game.

 

[Matalarata]

You should have seen the pics we posted in Decline 3 after 30 turns of Burden of Time. It was glorious!

Spoiler

 

[Lizzurd]

You should have seen the pics we posted in Decline 3 after 30 turns of Burden of Time. It was glorious!

I will make sure that in a few months everyone will post pictures from Decline 10. I guarantee that Decline3 will be no match to this new pictures!

 

[Dayyālu]

I will make sure that in a few months everyone will post pictures from Decline 10. I guarantee that Decline3 will be no match to this new pictures!

Why the heck you spawned that far away, you treacherous cyrillic Reptilian

Why

I can only pray that your neighbours see the horror and fight well. Thanks to slow research we have some time, but not as much as I would like

 

[noisenerd]

The capital city of Man...

Rolf Magnus and his men arrive just after sunrise. He has come to meet with the military leaders of Man, as he has been hired to join their army in a holy war of some description. He cares little for their "Crusade", but their gold is as good as anyone's. His men weren't happy about the early march, but Rolf knew they'd be happier once they'd been paid their share of the advance and gotten a decent meal and some drink in their bellies.

"Come, lads! We can't keep the fine gentlemen of the Great Nation of Man waiting." Rolf's men chortled at the mocking tone. Truth be told, he had a healthy respect for the Castellans of Man and their army, and knew his men did too. However, Rolf and his men also knew that noblemen such as they were about to deal with looked down on working men such as themselves. Still, the nobles were the ones calling on him and his men for help. "And do try to behave yourselves boys, you know how these civilised folk can be."

At the gates to the city, they are met by Castellan Lord Morgan.

"You must be Rolf Magnus."

"I suppose I must. And you would be Lord Morgan? I was told you would be waiting for us."

"Indeed." The Castellan gestures, and another man comes forward bearing a fair-sized purse. "Here is the advance payment we agreed upon. Come, I have already made arrangements for you at a fine inn near the castle. I hate to rush you along, but we really do have little time to waste. You and your men get settled in, and I will come back around midday. We have much to discuss. Once I've informed you of the basic situation, we will go meet with the Council."

"Very well, m'Lord, lead the way." Rolf hoped he had kept the mocking tone out of that "m'Lord" well enough. This Lord Morgan seemed like a man of business, which Rolf could respect. He had been hoping they would have more leisure time in the city, but should luck stay with him, there would be time for that when this job was done and their purses were full of gold.


Meanwhile, at the Towers of Chelms:

Magister Arcane Aethelred returns from some business in the city. He hates making the trip. The city grates on his nerves, and he always returns feeling more tired than is called for by just the physical exertion. Still, it is better than having those dolts from the Military Council blundering around the Towers, touching things and asking stupid questions. He pushes open the door to the library...

"Magister Cederic!" He'd forgotten his old friend had planned to return to the Towers today.

"Aethelred! Good to see you."

"And you, old friend. Nice of the powers that be to finally send some help my way."

"Well, someone had to keep them out of trouble while we put our plans in motion. I expect we'll have more company before long, now that the wheels are turning we can get some real work done around here."

"I do hope you're right. Any news from Edward?"

"Oh, yes, I nearly forgot. He says he'll be catching up with Lord Alfred in a month's time. He expects to be moving north again before winter. I sent a message back asking him to stop and have a talk with Alfred before he moves on."

"More good news, excellent... and that is probably a wise idea." Aethelred moves towards the fireplace. "Well, I suppose it wouldn't hurt for us to catch up a little before we get to work, eh? I'll fetch us some tea."


--- End scene ---

30 turns of Burden of Time

I will make sure that in a few months everyone will post pictures from Decline 10. I guarantee that Decline3 will be no match to this new pictures!

Sounds like a threat... but it also sounds like fun.

 

[Grimwulf]

Look at these landlubbers praisin' us like heroes.

Our crew vastly expanded Marignon's borders. The Kingdom will receive more taxes, traders gonna get richer, simpletons will find more occupations in new lands.

Who cares? We did it for the booty.

Hey, did you hear the rumors about re-emerging of Ermor? They say that now it's ruled by ghosts. Some even mention that the new King is actually a Queen.

Naah, can't be true. Marignon annihilated Ermor completely back in the day.

Must be Sceleria then. I heard it's called Lemuria now.

Let the Inqusition handle the undead. I jes wanna set sails again. Hey, look - it's the cap'n!

Ahoy, cap'n! You have returned from the meeting.

Today is a historical day, me hearties. The rapscallions from the Inqusition tasked us with something both dangerous and profitable.

Just how I like it.

Good, good. Pepare the Adrian.

Shiver me timbers. Can't believe we are going to the sea again.

What's our destination, cap'n?

The other side of the sea.

What's on the other side?

The Inquisition doesn't know. They want us to bring the true faith to whatever heathens are iving there.

If this converting process involves pillage and plunder, count me in.

Enough blabbering. Batten down the hatches, old salts! The Adrian sets sails again - no coast is safe! Time to make the world fear and tremble before the great captain Cervantes!

 

[noisenerd]

Paging Harpsichord and hello friend , I postponed hosting, but it would still be cool if you could get your turns in.

 

[Harpsichord]

If you're south of the river, better get yours while you can.

 

[noisenerd]

Thanks for the heads-up. It was fun while it lasted.

Btw, I'm not going anywhere, even if the nation of Man should fall. I'm not sure how such things are usually handled, but I don't mind sticking around as game admin if I get knocked out. I'll wanna see how it ends anyway.

 

[Grimwulf]

Curses! That storm is NOT what we need right now!

That ship had seen worse, young lass.

I'm not worried about the ship, you dimwit. Look at the Kingdom's soldiers - their faces are as green as Harvey's teeth.

They were trained to endure all kinds of hardships... I hope.

What about the lizard slaves then?

Bah, never trust a lizard. They will retreat before the battle even begins.

*A shout from the crow's nest, "LAND AHEAD! LAAAAAAAND! THE BANNER OF ARCOSCEPHALE! AAARRRCOOOOS!*

Cap'n! CAPTAIN! What's our orders?

KILL EVERY LIVING BEING YOU SEE! PURSUE THOSE WHO TRIES TO ESCAPE! SPARE NO ONE! NO MERCY!!!

AYE AYE, CAP'N!

AYE!

And thus began the battle of Belegor. The Adian's crew along with Marignon elite warriors and recently enslaved lizards charged ahead, attacking those who was standing on the way.

Spoiler

Lizards retreated almost instantly, of course. For such is the cowardly nature of these creatures. But the rest of brave men fought 'til the end.

Spoiler

And then it was all over. The golden armours of soldiers were soaked in blood of Belegor's defenders. Cervantes didn't take a single prisoner. The province belongs to Marignon now.

 

[Matalarata]

Bah, never trust a lizard. They will retreat before the battle even begins.

Slander and lies! Let's meet on the field of battle and you'll know the meaning of Herpetophobia!

Spoiler