I have weekends off (barring extra shifts) for the rest of the summer! Expect regular updates at least once a week! Unless I'm camping. Here's the votes since our story last carried off:
Farmers vs Weeaboos: IIII
SEA RAIDERS: IIIII IIIII I
Assist the Collector: IIII
Swamp Bandits: I
You leave the
Collector on good terms. He welcomes you to assist him in further ventures when you
safely return. The northern coast is only a day or two from the capitol city on foot. This is why it is so important for the empire to defend it -
invaders by sea could
seize the
capitol in short order. Along the way, you meet several other hopeful members of the
militia. They tell you the rumors they've heard:
"The sea raiders are preparing for retreat!"
"They've sat on their boat for over a week! The sea raiders are cowards!"
Your confidence soars, and you stride towards the northern coast with vigor. All you'll have to do is show up for duty, collect your wage, and watch the enemy navy retreat! This will be a piece of cake compared to what you've been through. When you arrive at the coastal outpost, you settle in with your fellow
militia members. Around the campfire, a
veteran tells a spooky story to scare newcomers:
visitors can't see pics , please
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retreating. They're
waiting for backup. We captured one of 'em, and the bastard said they have some kinda
monster that will
eat anything in front of it! People, animals, buildings, dirt. It'll just swallow 'em whole! Bastard must be delusional, or lying to get out of his certain death! Ha ha ha!"
You and several other new
recruits shudder. Beyond the feeble light of the campfire, anything seems possible. In your mind, impossibly large shadows lurk just beyond the flame's reach. You fall into a fitful sleep, and awake early the next morning to act as a guard during the morning shift. After a breakfast of oatmeal and dried fruit, you patrol the coast just outside town. The sea raider longboats
drift on the horizon, never making a move. As you begin to
doze off behind a fence post, someone a little further down the coast
yells. You perk up and look on the horizon.
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THING is wading across the ocean, only ankle deep. The sea raider boats look like toys floating in a child's bathwater. Your skin prickles with dread and anticipation. Despite its size, this creature is treading towards the coast at incredible
speed. Once it gets here you have no chance of
outrunning it.
Soldiers armed with bows and crossbows release volley after volley of shots. The creature shifts its weight and catches the arrows and bolts with its immense shoulder, showing no signs of damage or pain. As it lumbers towards the coast its outline begins to tower over you. And the tallest guard member. And the church steeple. It's..
a giant! It breaches the coast right in front of you! Several
soldiers flee into the wilderness, screaming like madmen! The giant
slams a building to dust, then its dinner-plate sized eyes settle on you.
visitors can't see pics , please
register or
login"MY NAME IS
EATS-THE-MOUNTAIN, BECAUSE I DO. AND ONCE YOU'RE DEAD I'LL EAT
YOU TOO!" His voice resonates through the earth, shaking you to the bones. It hurts to hear him talk. He is barely clothed; a loincloth consisting of a whole cowskin covers his waist. Bands on his wrist and arm are hung heavy with dead knights and peasants alike; some kind of grisly charms. You cower uselessly behind your
board shield until his enormous arm
swings towards you. A
building topples like a pile of twigs. His log-sized fingers curl around you, and he raises you level with his face. Every pulsing vein is visible in the whites of his eye. His breath smells like moldy hay. You are growing
dizzy as the giant's hand
constricts you.
visitors can't see pics , please
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CRUNCHY. I WILL ENJOY THIS
SNACK!" says the giant. You begin to feel almost as if you are no longer present. You can see your own body being
crushed in the giant's hand. Your past flashes before your eyes - your family left behind in a no-name backwater town. Your caravan friends, taken too early from this earth by bandits. You won't join them.
Not yet.
A
power wells up within you, and you manage to unsheathe your sword.
visitors can't see pics , please
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loginWith two hands, you drive it down into the giant's knuckles. The blade lurches to one side and it rends flesh, pushing around the cartilage and bone in his hand. The giant loosens his grip for a second, staring in disbelief.
visitors can't see pics , please
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visitors can't see pics , please
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climb up the giant's arm. Over his mountainous shoulder. Your chance to flee has long since passed. You put
everything into this attack. With a leap and a dive, you push the blade into the giant's
eye.
visitors can't see pics , please
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loginIt bends and bursts open like overcooked haggis. Retinal fluid and blood flow down the blade and cover your body. The giant groans and exhales one last time, before tipping forward like a felled tree. The
impact with the ground knocks you out cold.
When you awake, the militia and the local population stands around you. Their looks of concern and pity turn into smiles as you wobble to your feet. They erupt into cheer when you raise your sword over your head, still holding the
impaled oculus of the giant. That night, the meadhall flows with drink and good food. A courier is sent to
the king himself to tell of your feats. The sea raiders' longboats have disappeared over the horizon. The unearthly giant lies dead on the shore. This is all your doing.
visitors can't see pics , please
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victory, you still have trouble sleeping at night. Phantoms of
the past haunt you. Desert bandits mow down your allies, leaving you alone in an empty blue field. What should you do next?
Hunt down the
bandits that killed your friends? Surely they can't be as strong as that giant...
Visit the
king - his courier will reach you eventually, but if you
meet him in person maybe he will help your noble cause of vengeance.
Return to the
Collector - His offer may still stand. If not, he will gladly offer more business to you.
