Post by Grandi on Oct 6, 2008 17:27:26 GMT -5
I have parts 1-4 written out at the moment. And Dave, sofie and mercedes = RL names of ltdan, kohana and luthien.
Also there's inside jokes etc etc so don't be surprised when the plot doesn't make complete sense because I really wrote it for a small group of people who'd get the jokes.
PS, for those who have read this before I've rewritten it a bit, and I might rewrite it more when I post the different parts.
Part 1
_____________________
I stood on the rocky edge of an almost forgotten canyon. The sun was rising, a glowing horizon of searing red flame painted the pocked bands of rock deep within the canyon blood red. My horse had died of exhaustion two days ago. My food supplies were dwindling at the time and I must say, he was delicious. After nearly three months of trekking across this unnamed desert, I had reached my destination. The fabled Morning Canyon.
The Morning Canyon. Forgotten by time and most of mankind. Myth claims that its steep walls are untraversable. However one morning every year, when the heavens set themselves into position shadows reveal a hidden pathway that serpentined down the walls. It had taken years to gather the information to calculate. Begging, stealing, killing. I had gathered a dozen ancient and sacred scrolls and artifacts. I pulled up the sleeve of my brown leather coat and tapped the glass face of my watch impatiently. Forbidden technology, a trinket I picked up while visiting a Tech temple a year back to steal an artifact that turned out not to exist.
A small rock formation to my side about as tall as myself lit up in blazing red light. Its long shadow pointed toward the edge of the Morning Canyon. I watched the second hand on my watch tick once more then trodden toward my destination.
The shadow led to a descending rocky pathway that blended in so well with the rock wall it was practically invisible. The canyon path seemed to descend forever, undulating and looping back on itself to traverse the steepest sections. At several points I had to jump downward several feet because centuries of weather had erased sections of the ancient pathway. The deeper I went the dark shadows of the canyon seemed to engulf me. It felt as if I was entering my mother’s womb again, though with significantly less alcohol.
The smell of wet stone tickled my nose, I was almost to the bottom. A rushing current which had been rising in decibel for the past six hours had reached a roar that would put lions to shame. I lit a torch that had been taking up most of the room in my rucksack. Scanning the walls I saw a roughly human size hole chipped into the rock face. The hole was a pathway so narrow I had to turn sideways to let my shoulders through. My torch’s light flickered on the eerie carved stone walls. The passage ended abruptly leading into a huge chamber. The light from my torch didn’t reach the ceiling nor the other wall of the massive room. I glanced at my watch again. It had been eight hours since daybreak. Sighing I took a few steps forward. Suddenly a soft female voice filled the chamber.
"Hallo reiziger, we hebben je verwacht" the voice was almost a whisper but it managed to echo several times throughout the chamber.
“Um… what?” I asked, my voice reverbing several times more than the girl’s voice.
Spreek je Nederlands?" the voice was inquisitive yet still a whisper.
“Er, I’m just here to steal your priceless artifact, don’t worry about me. Go back to haunting or whatever you were doing. I’ll just be a second.” Once again echoes filled the chamber.
“I trust you can understand me now.” The female voice was no longer a whisper it had shifted tone again to the accusatory tone of a teacher who had just caught you passing notes about how large her buttock was relative to a marine mammal. “There will be no pillaging of our property, you will leave empty handed.”
“If I pretend I still can’t understand you can I still steal it?”
“No.”
I paused for a second then responded, “Well I hardly see what you can do anyways, disembodied voices don’t really make the best security guards.”
At that moment three robed figures entered the small sphere of light my torch was giving off, their faces masked by darkness under brown cloth hoods. “We are very bodied, I can assure you.” The voice was smug.
“Did I mention I had a knife?” I asked them casually.
“A knife?”
“Yes, a knife.” I patted the leather sheathe on my hip.
The robed figures huddled together and I could not make out their unintelligible whisperings. Then a male voice spoke. “Is it sharp?”
“I’m afraid it is.”
More huddling and whispering. Another more mature female voice spoke. “Well, we can take you to the treasure vault, but you won’t like it.”
“I’ll decide that for myself.” I said then immediately regretted the cliché.
The figures turned around and shuffled forward, I followed a few yards back wary of any traps. The large chamber was exactly that, very large. In fact it took around an hour to get to the other side. The floor was tiled in what looked like polished marble with intricate designs of rising suns and ancient mythic beasts. The wall at the other end of the chamber rose up from the floor. The same roughly carved rock that the entrance had consisted of. The robed figures led me to a huge door.
It must have been fifty feet tall. Made of the same stone as the rest of the chamber it was polished and two huge carved dragons adorned it, entangled in a mighty battle far over a shining city. One of the figures walked to the side of it and seemed to slip a key in a tiny slot. The entire huge chamber reverberated with the sound of stone scraping against stone as the doors both opened outward several feet, leaving a human sized gap in between them.
The robed figures motioned me forward into the crack. I smiled, “Nonsense, weird creepy cultists first.” It seemed as if all of them simultaneously shrugged and walked forward into the chamber, I followed.
“It’s empty.” I said dumbfounded. I had paced across the treasure room. The entire chamber was pretty small, I could walk across it in a few seconds. My torch had illuminated a rectangular rock chamber filled with absolutely nothing.
“It’s empty!” I said again, emphasizing the point to the robed figures.
“Well, I said you wouldn’t like it.”
“F*** you, it’s empty!” I was not trying to hid my anger. “I came here for the key to Distant Horizons, the f***ing lost city of riches, wonder, free booze, all that jazz! Three godforsaken years of gathering clues, stealing clues, killing people for clues, I think I dug through camel poop for a small jade figurine of a monkey once, and I finally get here and it’s EMPTY?!”
“Well, we were robbed about a week ago, sorry.” The male was speaking.
“What? You were robbed, how the hell? This place is impossible to find! It’s not like the DMV hands out dang maps to it!”
“It was the Calabri Bandits.”
I cringed at the word, if any group was capable of finding this place it was the Calabri Bandits. A loosely associated group of the best thieves spies and assassins in the world. I had stolen a few of the clues from them myself, barely escaping with my head still attached to my neck.
I was still mad, “You didn’t try to stop them? Seriously how can you call yourselves… wait what do you call yourselves?”
The man flicked back his hood, revealing a kind face. He was wearing what looked like an ancient baseball cap, another forbidden item. His voice was surprisingly cheerful, “We’re the immortal guardians of the Morning Shrine. The Morning Love Team.”
My face congealed itself into a mask of dumbfounded confusion. “Wait… The Morning Love Team? Seriously? Did you name yourself after getting done playing with your sparkly pony toys?”
He ignored me and instead elaborated, “But more specifically my name is Dave.”
The second member of the Morning Love Team pulled their hood back. She wore a face that spoke of wisdom beyond what looked to be her thirty years. A streak of white swirled its way through her chest length black hair. “I’m Mercedes.” She said in a soothing voice.
The remaining member flicked back her hood. Her face was youthful and kind, a young, pretty woman. If I had to use one word to describe her expression it would be hopeful. Her green eyes looked at me almost puppy dog like. “I’m Sofie.”
I opened my mouth and it took a few seconds for words to form in my mouth. “So let me get this straight, you’re the immortal guardians of the Morning Shrine. The Morning Love Team, consisting of Dave, Mercedes and Sofie?”
“Yep!” Sofie answered enthusiastically.
“Okay hi my name is Grandi. You’re all f***ing nuts and I’m going home.”
Also there's inside jokes etc etc so don't be surprised when the plot doesn't make complete sense because I really wrote it for a small group of people who'd get the jokes.
PS, for those who have read this before I've rewritten it a bit, and I might rewrite it more when I post the different parts.
Part 1
_____________________
I stood on the rocky edge of an almost forgotten canyon. The sun was rising, a glowing horizon of searing red flame painted the pocked bands of rock deep within the canyon blood red. My horse had died of exhaustion two days ago. My food supplies were dwindling at the time and I must say, he was delicious. After nearly three months of trekking across this unnamed desert, I had reached my destination. The fabled Morning Canyon.
The Morning Canyon. Forgotten by time and most of mankind. Myth claims that its steep walls are untraversable. However one morning every year, when the heavens set themselves into position shadows reveal a hidden pathway that serpentined down the walls. It had taken years to gather the information to calculate. Begging, stealing, killing. I had gathered a dozen ancient and sacred scrolls and artifacts. I pulled up the sleeve of my brown leather coat and tapped the glass face of my watch impatiently. Forbidden technology, a trinket I picked up while visiting a Tech temple a year back to steal an artifact that turned out not to exist.
A small rock formation to my side about as tall as myself lit up in blazing red light. Its long shadow pointed toward the edge of the Morning Canyon. I watched the second hand on my watch tick once more then trodden toward my destination.
The shadow led to a descending rocky pathway that blended in so well with the rock wall it was practically invisible. The canyon path seemed to descend forever, undulating and looping back on itself to traverse the steepest sections. At several points I had to jump downward several feet because centuries of weather had erased sections of the ancient pathway. The deeper I went the dark shadows of the canyon seemed to engulf me. It felt as if I was entering my mother’s womb again, though with significantly less alcohol.
The smell of wet stone tickled my nose, I was almost to the bottom. A rushing current which had been rising in decibel for the past six hours had reached a roar that would put lions to shame. I lit a torch that had been taking up most of the room in my rucksack. Scanning the walls I saw a roughly human size hole chipped into the rock face. The hole was a pathway so narrow I had to turn sideways to let my shoulders through. My torch’s light flickered on the eerie carved stone walls. The passage ended abruptly leading into a huge chamber. The light from my torch didn’t reach the ceiling nor the other wall of the massive room. I glanced at my watch again. It had been eight hours since daybreak. Sighing I took a few steps forward. Suddenly a soft female voice filled the chamber.
"Hallo reiziger, we hebben je verwacht" the voice was almost a whisper but it managed to echo several times throughout the chamber.
“Um… what?” I asked, my voice reverbing several times more than the girl’s voice.
Spreek je Nederlands?" the voice was inquisitive yet still a whisper.
“Er, I’m just here to steal your priceless artifact, don’t worry about me. Go back to haunting or whatever you were doing. I’ll just be a second.” Once again echoes filled the chamber.
“I trust you can understand me now.” The female voice was no longer a whisper it had shifted tone again to the accusatory tone of a teacher who had just caught you passing notes about how large her buttock was relative to a marine mammal. “There will be no pillaging of our property, you will leave empty handed.”
“If I pretend I still can’t understand you can I still steal it?”
“No.”
I paused for a second then responded, “Well I hardly see what you can do anyways, disembodied voices don’t really make the best security guards.”
At that moment three robed figures entered the small sphere of light my torch was giving off, their faces masked by darkness under brown cloth hoods. “We are very bodied, I can assure you.” The voice was smug.
“Did I mention I had a knife?” I asked them casually.
“A knife?”
“Yes, a knife.” I patted the leather sheathe on my hip.
The robed figures huddled together and I could not make out their unintelligible whisperings. Then a male voice spoke. “Is it sharp?”
“I’m afraid it is.”
More huddling and whispering. Another more mature female voice spoke. “Well, we can take you to the treasure vault, but you won’t like it.”
“I’ll decide that for myself.” I said then immediately regretted the cliché.
The figures turned around and shuffled forward, I followed a few yards back wary of any traps. The large chamber was exactly that, very large. In fact it took around an hour to get to the other side. The floor was tiled in what looked like polished marble with intricate designs of rising suns and ancient mythic beasts. The wall at the other end of the chamber rose up from the floor. The same roughly carved rock that the entrance had consisted of. The robed figures led me to a huge door.
It must have been fifty feet tall. Made of the same stone as the rest of the chamber it was polished and two huge carved dragons adorned it, entangled in a mighty battle far over a shining city. One of the figures walked to the side of it and seemed to slip a key in a tiny slot. The entire huge chamber reverberated with the sound of stone scraping against stone as the doors both opened outward several feet, leaving a human sized gap in between them.
The robed figures motioned me forward into the crack. I smiled, “Nonsense, weird creepy cultists first.” It seemed as if all of them simultaneously shrugged and walked forward into the chamber, I followed.
“It’s empty.” I said dumbfounded. I had paced across the treasure room. The entire chamber was pretty small, I could walk across it in a few seconds. My torch had illuminated a rectangular rock chamber filled with absolutely nothing.
“It’s empty!” I said again, emphasizing the point to the robed figures.
“Well, I said you wouldn’t like it.”
“F*** you, it’s empty!” I was not trying to hid my anger. “I came here for the key to Distant Horizons, the f***ing lost city of riches, wonder, free booze, all that jazz! Three godforsaken years of gathering clues, stealing clues, killing people for clues, I think I dug through camel poop for a small jade figurine of a monkey once, and I finally get here and it’s EMPTY?!”
“Well, we were robbed about a week ago, sorry.” The male was speaking.
“What? You were robbed, how the hell? This place is impossible to find! It’s not like the DMV hands out dang maps to it!”
“It was the Calabri Bandits.”
I cringed at the word, if any group was capable of finding this place it was the Calabri Bandits. A loosely associated group of the best thieves spies and assassins in the world. I had stolen a few of the clues from them myself, barely escaping with my head still attached to my neck.
I was still mad, “You didn’t try to stop them? Seriously how can you call yourselves… wait what do you call yourselves?”
The man flicked back his hood, revealing a kind face. He was wearing what looked like an ancient baseball cap, another forbidden item. His voice was surprisingly cheerful, “We’re the immortal guardians of the Morning Shrine. The Morning Love Team.”
My face congealed itself into a mask of dumbfounded confusion. “Wait… The Morning Love Team? Seriously? Did you name yourself after getting done playing with your sparkly pony toys?”
He ignored me and instead elaborated, “But more specifically my name is Dave.”
The second member of the Morning Love Team pulled their hood back. She wore a face that spoke of wisdom beyond what looked to be her thirty years. A streak of white swirled its way through her chest length black hair. “I’m Mercedes.” She said in a soothing voice.
The remaining member flicked back her hood. Her face was youthful and kind, a young, pretty woman. If I had to use one word to describe her expression it would be hopeful. Her green eyes looked at me almost puppy dog like. “I’m Sofie.”
I opened my mouth and it took a few seconds for words to form in my mouth. “So let me get this straight, you’re the immortal guardians of the Morning Shrine. The Morning Love Team, consisting of Dave, Mercedes and Sofie?”
“Yep!” Sofie answered enthusiastically.
“Okay hi my name is Grandi. You’re all f***ing nuts and I’m going home.”
