The Tales From Westruna blog is now live

The title says it all, the blog that will be supporting the books is now up. At present it has the Art Gallery, Contact Page, Current Book Progress Tracker and Release Schedule up. 

Also a small preview of the Wanderers Tale is also up, the link to the blog is below:

http://talesfromwestruna.blogspot.co.nz

The Book Information Post

There has been some interest in my upcoming book release. So i thought i would put together a post with the aim of providing some general information about the book, the setting and the overall plan. 

The Book
The Book is called the Wander's Tale Esmor, and it is an adventure book. Simiply put it follows two young adults as they try to reach a place called Mymt Lagoon in a Kingdom called Esmor. The reason they are dong this is simply to see the Lagoon. 

Though i am a fan of the Fantasy genre i do get a bit tired of how high the stakes are set in fantasy books. Often main characters have to contend with vast threats, and failure means the end of their world as they know it, and sometimes the literal end of the world.  While i don't mind those kind of stories i feel that for them to be effective readers must be given a reason to care about the world at stake, and given that this is the first book in the setting readers will have no reason to care at all. 

In my previous post about this i mentioned that i was dissatisfied with my current job, and i was able to draw inspiration from that for this book. Esme, a young female mage in training, feels fed up with  being told to constantly study and train in order to become a mage. She has never  set foot outside the city she was born but is told constantly of what lies beyond the city walls, for Esmor (the name of the region) is a vast, mostly unexplored and wild land. One day she decides sod it, she doesn't care about studying any more and decides to go to Mymt Lagoon, a lake in the far east of Esmor. 

This who idea came from my dissatisfaction with my job, and the fact that i can see dense bush, hills, and snow capped mountains from where i work. It wasn't an uncommon desire for me too look out the widow, see those snow capped mountains and wish that i could just get up and walk there. I was able to take this desire and make a book from it, and hopefully in doing so accurately express that desire in a way that is interesting to read. 

The book will be released on Kindle for Ebooks and via a website called Createspace for those who prefer physical copies. Links to both will be posted to this blog on November 21st. 

The Setting
I have mentioned the name "Esmor" and so is should explain the setting. Esmor is the name given to one of the five regions, and the human kingdom located in that region, of a continent called Unith on a planet named Westruna.  The other four regions are called: The Heartward Isles, The Northlands, Rulun and Drackmoor. Unith wont be the only content but i thought it best to start of simple and expand when i need too. The same goes for the races, which are :Humans, Elves, Dwarves and Orcs. 

On top of this there is a place called the Skittering Dark; the name given to the vast network of Tunnels, caves and caverns the run underneath Westruna's surface. The Skittering Dark is not a place anyone of stable sanity would go willingly.

I am hesitant to provide anything more than only the barest of descriptions for the setting, as i prefer people to learn about it from reading the books.  I am not a fan of unnecessary exposition so there is room for readers to figure things out for themselves.

The Plan
I plan on trying to get one book and one short story out per year. The short story will be related too the previous book and will be free, with the aim of building audience goodwill and expanding the setting.

After the Wanders Tale, and the short story Her, will come a book called The First War. While the Wanders Tale is a more light hearted adventure book the First War is a book of war. It covers the first war ever waged on Unith and is already looking to be a far longer book than the Wanders Tale. 

On top of this i have a Blog, Facebook Page and email address set up for the books. None of them are live yet but on release day the Tales From Westruna Facebook Page, Blog and Email address will go live. The FB page and Blog will have information about upcoming books, a release schedule, a progress tracker for the current book and commissioned artwork for the setting to help people get a better idea of what Westruna looks like.

The release schedule and progress tracker are part of my desire to be as transparent as possible. Often you will be waiting for news on upcoming book only to get periodic updates from the author, or you will want to know what comes next after a series has finished only to no announcement on the matter for some time, and the release schedule and progress tracker are my ways of countering this. 

Thats all for now. This blog will remain up through out as my separate Wargames Blog, and i hope to return to doing content for it ASAP.  Until netx time.
Rex

The Dice Odyssey on Hold

There has been a distinct lack of content on this blog for the past few months. This is mainly because i have been diverting all my free time to writing my own series of Fantasy novels.

I have always had a love for the fantasy genre, and after job dissatisfaction reached its limits i decided to start writing my own fantasy books with the aim to one day become a full time author. My first book is nearing completion and i hope to have it published by December 1st this year, with other books to follow.

This is why this blog has been forgotten as of late,  all the time i would spend working it has gone to my book and setting. I hope that, once the first book is published, i will have some time to come back and do more narrative battle reports and similar content, but that wont be until December/January. Until next time.
Rex

Final Hour of The Apocalypse Ruins Kickstarter

The Apocalypse Ruins Kickstarter, produced by Printable Scenery, is in its last 60 minutes and has passed 100k. For those who don’t know the Kickstarter gives you files which you can use with your 3d printer to create your own wargaming and Table Top RPG terrain.

While this Kickstarter has already broken every expectation and they could easily reach 103 or even 105K at the rate they are going. If you have ever wanted to back this KS, now is the time, you can find the link to to Kickstarter here

The 9th Age Vs Kings of War: Army Building and Rules at a Glance

While I have yet to play a game of 9th Age i have been looking at it closely to see if it is anything like WHFB 8th edition, a game that i greatly enjoyed. I have however watched a game of 9th Age, and will be playing a game next week, and what i will say is from what i have seen my hopes are high, it looked like 8th edition with tweaks, not the tweaks you would expect from a ETC group either. These tweaks seem to improve the game and make it better. I have had a chance to look at the army lists for many of the races in the game and so the main point of this post is to focus on the army building options of 9th Age and compare them to the main competitor, Kings of War.

I was lucky in that of the two full army books the 9th age team have produced so far one was the Wood Elves, so imagine my surprise and delight when i opened the PDF and saw this.

The (Diverted) Path to Call to Arms: Elf Space Pirates

Progress on the Autumn Elves was non existent this weekend as all my time and effort was diverted to completing my Warhammer 40k Army, Eldar Corsairs. This sudden change was due to me being asked to get the army ready for a show game, and since its mostly done i thought i may as well post the pictures of it for all to see.

The Corsair Prince

The Path to Call to Arms: Long Weekend Edtion

Despite having a Four Day Weekend progress on the army was slow, this is solely down to The Witcher 3, a Fantasy RPG video game, getting a new expansion on May 31st, however some work was done. All the Characters for the army are completed and work as been started on the first regiment.

The Path to Call to Arms: Herder of All Trees

Work has progressed on the Autumn Elves this weekend with a now decided upon Colour scheme for the Glade Stalkers as well as the assembly and painting of my Meirce Miniatures Tree Herder.  

The Tree Herder was always the planned enter piece of the army and i am happy that, after being painted, he fulfills that role nicely. 

Paid in Full: KoW Narrative Battle Report

Part One Here

Yevin Wynwarin sat astride his spectral mount as the column of troops moved on by. They weren’t the most professional army the Asrai every mustered for war and in truth what was currently marching past him was whatever spare troops they had in Winterdell Hall. Three days back a messenger from Taegen Wynwarin’s host had showed up at the Hall’s gate, exhausted and bearing grim news from his brother, his army had been bested by the humans who had also recovered the Waystone Fragments Taegen had been sent to retrieve. Upon hearing this Yevin railed what troops he could gather on short notice and set out at a forced march in the direction the messenger had said Taegen went. That had all been five days ago and he had still to catch up with his brother.

It was a testament to how deep he was lost in thought that he didn’t hear the sound of footsteps coming closer and was startled when a voice said.

“Yevin, I have something”

He turned and saw his mage Oacenth looking at him with an amused expression on his face.

“What” Yevin snapped at the mage, partly out of irritation at the mage’s amusement but mostly due to his embarrassment at being so lost in thought.

“I don’t often catch a Wynwarin by surprise, I was just savouring the moment”

“Are you done”

“Almost”

“Oacenth…..”

“I found their trail”

This stopped Yevin’s next words dead on his tongue. A moment passed before he asked.

“Where, and how?”

“We are on the right trail” He affirmed “I know this because at least one person leading that host was thinking. The Green Lady left a trail only those who practice Asrai Spell weaving could follow, whats more we are only a day behind them”

Yevin’s annoyance at the mage’s slight against his brother vanished at those words.

“When, today?”

“Yes” he replied “Whats more a steady pace will suffice”

“Can we take another day of forced march?”

“Yes” Oacenth replied with some reluctance. “But I cant vouch for our fighting condition when we arrive”

“But I can” Yevin said, with confidence ringing in his voice. “They are my troops, I trained many of them myself, they can do it”

Oacenth nodded “I will give the order”

As he hurried off to the head of the column Yevin smiled grimly to himself, removed his antlered helm from his mount’s saddle and donned it. It had become a symbol of his family, one that he and his brother had started and so when Taegen first saw him at the head of his relief force it would be with his helm on, sunlight reflecting off the iron antlers and atop his spectral mount. And then the Wynwarin brothers would rout these humans, together as one.

Haera, leader of the relief forces’ Wildwood Rangers regiments had just set the pace for her units as she heard the sounds of heavy paws behind her and turned to see lord Yevin come up behind her on top of his mount. As he drew up to her he spoke.

“Warden, did Oacenth give you the news?”

“He did sir” she replied

“Good, I have a task for you and the Rangers you command. When we reach my brother’s host I want you to stay close to him. His messenger had nothing good to say about the state of his remaining forces or his own condition. Guard him Haera, it is all I ask”

“It will be done my lord”

“Good, I thank you”

“Sir”

“Yes”

“Are the rumours true, was the Hunt banished?”

At this Yevin paused before dismounting and motioning her in close.

“I tell you this because you are among my most trusted officers, only Oacenth has been told before now. Yes it is true, the Humans managed to banish the hunt.”
She stared into the eye slits of his mask, all the unspoken implications of that sentence flowing between them like a fast moving stream. After a long pause she spoke.

“Sir, nothing will happen to your brother. This I swear upon my Oath as Ranger”

“Thank you Haera, your words reassure me greatly”

She saluted as he turned, remounted and rode on ahead. In truth his words had done far more harm then he could have ever known. To her the Hunt was sacred second only to Isha and Kurnous themselves and for mere humans to have, have banished them was the greatest blasphemy they could have committed. As she began marching her she could feel the rage building inside her, Yevin had nothing to fear, the humans however had no idea what was coming for them.

By the time Yevin saw his brother’s host they were down from the snowy mountain glades and into the hilly plains that edged the human’s domain. Yevin might have been impressed that so battered a army had managed to pursue its victorious opponent so far but three things stopped that. First was the ragged state of his brother’s army which was far worse than he had been lead to believe. Secondly was the sight of the fully resupplied and reinforce human army that faced his brother’s force across the hilly terrain and thirdly was the sight of not three but seven Waystone Fragments scattered across the ground throughout the battlefield. This last point would have puzzled Yevin if not his entire being had been focused on reaching his brother.

Printable Scenery's Apocalypse Ruins Kickstarter

Disclamier: I know both Matt and Nick, the people behind the Apocalypse Ruins Kickstarter. They are my friends and as such any argument i make as to why you should support this Kickstarter would be suspect, after all my bias is clear. So i wont make any arguments, instead i will simply show you some of the terrain produced thus far by 3D Printable Terrain.

The Path to Call to Arms: Autumn Elves

What with Call to Arms 2016 coming up in August i deiced to prepare new army for the event, or in this case a new take on a old army. 

One of my few grips with KoW is that there is a lack of variety in the army lists, and that while the Elf list is good it doesn't feel like a WHFB Wood Elf list, despite some units that definitely fit the army.  So i decide to take the few units from the Elf list hat could be labeled as Wood Elf units and i made a list from them, the army list that i created is what i would expect from a n army of lightly armoured Elves who fight in primarily Forest or Wooded terrain. 

1 Horde of Kindred Archers w/ Heart Seeking Chant

3 Glade Stalker Regiments

2 Hunters of the Wilds Troops

1 Green Lady's Wild Guard w/ Brew of Strength

1 Treeherder

1 Masterhunter w/ Sabre Toothed Pussy Cat

1 Elf Mage w/ Inspiring Talisman, Fireball (10) and Bane Chant (2)

1 Green Lady

The Resolve of Humans: KoW Narrative Battle Report

The wind moaned through the tops of the trees and brought with it a breeze that slide through the trunks and swirled the snow on the ground. A figure stood next to a large shape at the top of a slope that looked down on a mountain glade. Off in the distance past the naturally formed glade was an another clearing in the forest, this one man made and home to a large human army. The camp was as obvious an infected wound on pale skin and the glow from campfires painted the nearby trees in an orange light. The lone figure let out a slight sigh as he observed the camp and wondered about the humans huddled around those fires. Why were they so eager to reject their natural roots and try to banish the cold? Was not it natural for the high places of this world to be cold, and was that not doubly true in times of winter? True there were few even among his own people who go bare skin in these conditions but even the most fragile among them would not seek to burn wood and branch just to fend off nature, and if there were those among them who could not survive them they died for this was way things worked in nature, the endless cycle of life, death and rebirth. But no, humans rejected all this and did all they could to survive and this thought caused the figure to turn his antlered head and spit onto the ground. At this movement the large shape raised its wedge shaped head looked the figure.

“It is nothing old friend” said the figure in a slightly deep, musical voice. “I was merely thinking on the nature of humans and those thoughts left a sour taste in my mouth”.

At this the head seemed to dip slightly in a gesture of agreement and the antlered figure gave a light laugh and said. “Come, we must discuss with the others how tomorrows battle will be fought”. With that the figure grasped hold of a jutting protrusion just behind the shape’s head and vaulted onto its neck, the shape then stretched out in full to reveal its full draconic form. With a roar the dragon leapt from the ledge glided down through the glade and over the human camp. As the sound of panicked voices rose to meet it the dragon beat its wings once, twice and was soon far past the camp and turned back the way it had come, flying in the direction of its own lines. 

Spellweaver Uldreiyn Carzana stood on a small hill near the Wood Elf camp and looked at the figure standing across from him. The Green Lady, for that was the only name she had ever given him, stood with her back to him with arms clasped at the small of her back and her gaze looking out over the camp towards the mountain glade where the battle would be fought on the morrow.  She was average height for a elf, and average in a lot of other ways as well except for the small antlers that emerged from her raven black hair on the sides of her head. If it weren’t for those then she could have been mistaken for any elf, but those antlers not only marked her out from the crowd they also her symbol of what she was. For the Green Lady was the envoy of nature itself, she was personified nature of the Wood Elves, their twin halves given flesh with one being elven and the other being of the wild.  He was startled out of his reive when she said.

“He is coming”

At once a large dark shaped passed over the hill to be followed a moment later by a slight tremor through the hill and then footsteps. Striding onto the hill and into their sight came the figure of Taegen Wynwarin, his long black hair falling in a disorganized mess down his bare back. He came to stand before the two of them and withdrew the antlered great helm from his head, holding it under his left arm as he addressed them.

“They are there, resting. I could see their camp from well across the glade and make out their sentries just back inside their treeline”

“Humans” sorted Uldreiyn in disgust “Clumsy, brutish and obvious. Tomorrow we will defeat them”

“Arrogance is the general’s bane Spellweaver” Said the Green Lady “Though they may be lesser to us in many ways they still pose a threat. If not, then how else did they come to occupy so much of the land and press on our boarders?”

“Breeding my lady” he replied “And those damm dwarves teaching them the secrets of forging”

She tilted her head slightly at this, gave a faint smile and replied “Perhaps”. Then turning back to Taegen she asked.

“Did you see Waystones?”

“I did” He replied “And for all their failings no doubt the humans have seen them as well. There will be a battle, neither side will allow the other to make off with those fragments without one”

He unsheathed his knife and squatted down. “We will favour the left flank and the central hill” He drew a quick sketch of hill and its surroundings in the snow. “Uldreiyn you will be in command of the forces near the hill, My Lady you will command our Eternal Guard units”. At their nods he went on.

“I will command the Hunt from the top of the hill. I will only commit myself, Ohan and the Hunt when battle is joined and the Human’s attention is focused on our units. The Hunt’s appearance will shatter their resolve and terrify any human units who see them in fight. After that we will have them”

He stood and brushed away his sketch with his boot. “I agree with you both”. At their quizzical looks he carried on “The humans are inferior to the Asrai in many ways but we must not underestimate them. We will win this battle but I would prefer that as many of our kin live through it as possible” At their nods he donned his helmet, the metal a perfect fit to his head and face.“Rest well, we march at first light”

At this he strode back to the waiting form of the dragon and vaulted up behind its head. Once he was seated the dragon took to the air and soon both dragon and rider were lost to the night. As he turned to go the Green Lady spoke.

“Their Resolve Spellweaver, of all the things you may doubt them on never question their resolve". As he walked down the hill he replied.

“How can they have resolve when they are dead, my Lady”

Why Narrative Battle Reports Matter and the Golden D6

For a while now the only type of battle reports i have been willing to write have been Narrative Battle Reports as i found i liked the story telling potential of battle reports far more than reporting on what happened in the game from a rules point of view. Also it gives me a excuses to create stories in settings that i have come to cherish.

Although GW may think they are done with i still have many tales to tell of battles and wars in the WHFB World

Another reason why i do Narrative battle reports over standard battle reports is that there is a trend online to brush aside the lore and settings of war games in favour of pure rules analysis, when was time you saw lore mentioned in a codex/army review? This issues is addressed in a far more elegant and detailed post on the blog "The Good, the Bad and the Insulting and i recommend anyone reading this post to go and give it read. By writing narrative battle reports i hope to rekindle interesting in the lore and settings of the wargames we play, because lets face it its the settings and lore that makes the factions and armies we like and don't like.




At current count i have published 10 narrative battle reports:




Cowardly Elves: Warhammer Fantasy

The Forrest Must be Fed: Warhammer Fantasy 

A Pyrrhic Victory: Warhammer Fantasy 

Let Xenos Kill Xenos: Warhammer 40k

Feet First: Firestorm Planetfall

Operation Blindstrike Part 1: Firestorm Armada

Operation Blindstrike Part 2: Firestorm Planetfall 

For Dramos: Firestorm Armada

A Lesson in Soldiering: Firestorm Planetfall

The Hunt Begins: Warhammer 40k

And i have plans for many more ranging across a variety of different settings and scales.  In addition to this i am now also writing Narrative Battle reports for the Online Hobby Magazine The Golden D6. My relationship with this magazine and its editor started when "The Forrest Must Be Fed" was republished in issue one. If anyone is interested in checking out issue one or any subsequent issue you can follow the link in the side bar or this one.

I do have more narrative battle reports in the works so if you have enjoyed the ones i have produced so far then you are in luck. Until next time.

Rex

The Mantica Story: The God War

Gather round friends gather round and listen to the tale of our fair realm. Last where i left off the powerful elven mage Calisor had been instructed  by the Celestians Oskan to build a enchanted mirror to aid the elf in winning the heart of his love Elinathora of the Primovantor. However in aiding the mage Oskan warned Calisor not to allow Elinathora to view past when the golden bird sings. Now my friends see what comes of ignoring such a cryptic warning.

Forest Shamblers prior to The God War

The Greenest of Ladies: Kings of War Tactica

One of my favorite units in the Elf Army is the Green Lady, and so i am surprised that i don't see her appear in more Elf lists. The amount of support she can give your army is well worth the modest cost of 200 points. Admittedly of the bat she looks like a unit to pass on but upon closer examination she becomes a auto include, for me at the least.

The Lady in question

Heal is a powerful spell in Kings of War. For those who don't know Heal is a spell that, for each successful "hit" on a friendly unit reduces the amount of damage that unit has suffered  by 1, and Elves get a additional bonus because the Elite rule effects this roll so you can re-roll Heal rolls of 1. The Green Lady makes this even better by having a Heal Value of 8, one of the highest in the game. On top this she can fly meaning your Heal spell has a effective range of 22 inches which should cover all but your most far flung units. 

The Mantica Story: The Beginning

Mantica is the name given to the planet where Kings of War is set. All the factions, magic items, special characters and units belong to that world. As a WHFB player when i first made the move over to KOW i didn't pay much heed to the setting as i was still trying to cling to the Warhammer World pre End Times. Now, many months on, i have decided to take a good look at the lore of my new favorite Wargame.

Mantica

Rediscovering Motivation

It has been quite some time since my last post to this blog, and the main reason for that was lack of motivation. After WHFB was ended and the abomination, also know as Age of Sigmar, took its place my desire to blog dwindled. Even after discovering KOW i didn't feel the need to post about and was content to simply just play the game.

What changed my mind was the creation of a solid KOW community in my local area. In the Greater Wellington region of New Zealand Kings of War has emerged as the THE massed regiment table top fantasy war game and a few new blogs have popped up to discuss the game, all authored by local wargamers (Jerkhammer and Council of War specifically). All that, combined with KOW rising to become my number 1 wargame, has motivated me to restart this whole blogging thing again.

So what can you expect going forward?

- Narrative Battle Reports: I love writing Narrative Battle reports and as i am currently getting  in at least 2 games of KOW in a week it shouldn't be hard to find materiel to work with, plus it gives me a chance to explore the lore of Mantica, the setting of Kings of War.

-Tactics: With about 150 games of KOW (yes, i play that often) i feel like i now understand the age, the units and play styles well enough to start doing tactical articles for KOW.

-Model Reviews: Having seen the as yet unreleased Salamander Models for KOW i really want to do a full Mantic Model KOW army. Until then i will be looking at Mantic Kits that catch me eye and do a full review for them.

-Hobby Updates: What with my Elves almost done its time to start a new army, so why not document the new armies progress online on this very blog.

-Lore Posts: The setting of KOW (Mantica) hasn't got a decent look at so far, which is a shame because their is potential in that setting. Being the huge Fantasy Fan that i am i will be doing a series of posts looking at the lore of Mantica and the background of its many factions.

-Occasional GW Updates: Even thought i don't play their games or care for the lore anymore i still cast a eye their way to see what they are doing and to see if they have even taken the first step to redeeming themselves in my eyes (they haven't yet). There will be no rage this time, only a strong undertone of disappointment.

The above list only covers the things that i can think of right now and i am sure that i will be posting about more that whats listed above. Until next time.
Rex

Flaming Kings of War

After a too long break i am back, and what a eventful break it was. During that time i was hardly absent from the hobby just uninspired to post about it, but thats over now. What with the shift from Warhammer to Kings of War that has been going on recent (and especially in New Zealand) i have been hard at work converting my WHFB Wood Elves to KOW Wood Elves as well as getting in as many games as i could. Here are the results of my KOW Conversion work. 

Short Story: The Warning Part 2

After much editing i have finally finished part 2 of my short story, so sit back and read on.

The Warning Part 2

Elder Jeb was right, Caldaria did respond to the threat. Being the largest, most technologically advanced and prosperous settlement on the plains people in Caldaria had a lot of time to do things that weren't farming or just surviving. Built in the crater of a extinct volcano the soil provided a bountiful crop every year and the rim of the carter made for a excellent natural wall. This had allowed Caldaria to grow and its people to do more with their time, of course they weren’t Dwarves, a single Dwarf settlement had more people than Caldaria and was more technologically advanced but all the same Caldaria was impressive by human standards. So it was no surprise when, a week after Thomas left Tall Hay, a column of twenty five Caldarian soldiers came marching towards Tall Hay. Elder Jeb greeted them in the hall and had asked for both Theo and Rachel to be by his side when they arrived. This allowed Theo to see the soldiers up close and he was impressed. Of the twenty five ten of them wore Chainmail Hauberks while another ten wore studded leather armour, of the five remaining one was dressed in a red cotton shirt with a brown leather jerkin over top that also had emblazoned over its right breast the icon of staff topped with a blue orb, he also wore riding breaches made of cotton with leather on in side of the legs and thighs and wore leather boots. Another three wore leather armour with green cloaks and the last one wore a steel breast plate and shoulder guards with a chain shirt and leather leggings. All the soldiers aside from the green cloaks and red shirt had medium sized curricular wooden shields with the icon of a sickle and sword crossed over a green field and were armed with a combination of spears and hand weapons while the green cloaks had bows and daggers, the red shirt had a quaterstaff and the last one had a similar shield to the others and a sword. As he observed them the steel plate armoured one stepped forward.

“Greetings Elder Jeb Quail. I am Captain Wolfe, leader of the first Caldarian expeditionary force”

As Jeb came and shook the captain's hand Theo was able to see that the captain was a she and that her face was gaunt but not skinny. She had brown hair done up in war braid and had light blue eyes. Until he saw her up close he had assumed she was a man seeing as her build matched that of the rest of her command. As he took this in Jeb spoke.

“Greetings Captain, we are honoured that Caldaria has sent you as fast as it did. We haven’t returned to camp since the raid and people were getting fearful”. She nodded at his greetings and turned to Theo and Rachel.

“These are the survivors?”

“Yes they are indeed Ma’ma”

“Excellent, do you have somewhere private to talk?”

“I do”

“Good”. She turned back to her troops and addressed them.

“Soldiers you are to set up camp where Elder Jeb’s men direct you to and wait further orders. Earl, Todd you are to follow me”

As the Caldarian soldiers followed her orders and Theo, Rachel, The Captain, and Jeb went out back to Jeb’s private meeting room the man in the red shirt and one of the green cloaks followed. As they entered the private meeting room out back of the hall and Jeb closed the door the Captain spoke.

“May I introduce Tracker Todd Murphy” she nodded towards the man in the green cloak “and Earl Greer”, at the sound of his man the red shirt man gave a small bow and the Captain went on.

“Todd is one of the finest trackers in Caldaria, Mayor Crawford takes your situation seriously and to sent only the best. Earl is a member of the newly founded mage’s guild, it was felt that the situation required the support of a mage” 

Jeb nodded at that, word had reached Tall Hay of people who had strange abilities and skills and that settlement of Caldaria had founded a place where these people could come to learn of their abilities in peace although no such people had yet appeared among the population of Tall Hay. He turned to Theo and Rachel.

“Go on now, tell the captain what happened”

Theo and Rachel recounted the events at the logging camp start with Rachel’s discovery of the red rose and their shared “Prickly” feeling then going onto describe the attack the following day. Captain Wolfe got them to repeat how the attack started and shared a knowing look with Greer and Murphy, as they finished she spoke up.

“This sounds like a attempt to scare off loggers from the wood. Maybe they are claiming it as their own little kingdom but bugger what they want. Caldaria had a deal with you to log that wood which you did for us and now we are going to ensure its safe for you to continue to do so”

Jeb smiled and nodded at that, he then turned to Theo and Rachel

“You can go now, thank you”

As they turned to leave Greer spoke up.

“Brave kids” he said in thoughtful voice “Notice how they didn’t even shake when telling their story. After what they saw you would think that remembering it let alone repeating it aloud would scare them”. Captain Wolfe nodded in agreement and Jeb look pleased “They are good kids, some of the best Tall Hay has to offer. Now if you don’t mind me asking how and when will you deal with these bandits?”

The Captain looked at tracker “Murphy?”

“Well Ma’ma, sir.” He began “it sounds like these bandits rely on speed and surprise. They can't surprise us again because we know they are there and will be expecting it so thats one advantage gone, we just need to draw them out as our lads will win in a stand up fight”.

Wolfe and Greer both nodded in assent, but Jeb just raised a eyebrow

“Are you that confident in your soldiers?”

This time it was Greer who spoke up “Have you ever seen a mage in action?”

“No”

“Ah well then it will be a surprise for you too” he said with a wink. Capitan Wolfe suppressed a grin as she addressed the now slightly offended Jeb.

“If you don’t mind sir we should be getting underway as soon as we can”

“Yes, yes of course” replied Jeb “You have access to our supplies and whatever else you need for the duration of your stay”

As Murphy and Greer filed out of the room Wolfe replied “Thank you for the offer but we won’t be here all that long”.

The midday sun shone down on the logging camp and the small slope that lead to it. The logging camp itself was empty of anything other than sawdust and chopped wood, the bodies having been scavenged during the week it remained empty. As the small formation of troops advanced up the slope Captain Wolfe stopped to take a sip from her canteen and quickly check on her men. They were deployed eleven wide two deep with the ten chainmail equipped soldiers and herself in the front rank and the other studded leather troops plus Greer behind them with their shields up and over lapping one another. Murphy and his trackers were ranging around the formation in an effort to try and deter any ambushes or flank attacks. She felt a tap on her left shoulder and turned to see Greer grinning at her.

“Regretting that ironmongery yet captain” he asked with a impish grin.

“Sure because I much more prefer having arrows sprout from my chest” she replied with a smile

“You doubt my ability to keep you safe, you wound me Captain”

“Not as much as I am going to wound you shortly”

Greer snorted “You couldn’t catch me while wearing all that, I am too fast for you”

“At least it gives me immunity to sprouting arrows from my chest”

Greer gave a short bark of laughter and they carried on. Normally Wolfe would reprimand someone under her command for breaking noise discipline like that but in this situation there weren’t trying for stealth and would have failed if they were and besides she liked the mage. As they reached the top of the slope she gave the signal to halt and looked around the camp, oddly enough there were no signs that there was ever a battle here. As she took a step towards the camp a voice sounded from the treeline, deep and old with a menacing echo.

“We warned you”

“Magic” Greer growled the mirth and good humour gone “I can feel it”

Wolfe nodded and replied “This forest belongs to the village of Tall Hay, leave and allow the villagers to return to work or we will be forced to fight you”

Laughter echoed out of the woods at that, the tree tops rustled slightly as the sound reverberated around the camp. “You humans think you own this forest yet you don’t even have the slightest idea what resides in it, I shall show you”

As soon as the last syllable was spoken a hail of arrows sped from the tree line towards the Captain but Greer was faster. With a gesture and a word he drew inwardly and conjured a fiery dome around the Captain that he dispelled a few second later to reveal Captain Wolfe, unharmed and smiling savagely. She called out:

“You aren't the only one with magic on your side. Soldiers! Steady Advance!”

The formation came up behind her and began to move towards the trees, Wolfe slipped neatly back into position and from behind her she heard Greer say “See, you were in no danger”.

As they neared the trees the rain of arrows continued but few found their mark, most bouncing off the shield wall or a chain mail armoured arm or leg. Two did find their mark one in the eye of one trooper in the front line who died instantly and an other in the knee of a trooper in the second line who simply collapse howling in pain. At the point where they could see the figures shooting at them from the trees she ordered the charge and at once her line dissolved in a rush of armoured forms, shields up, towards the trees. They were met just shy of the tree line by twenty lion cloth clad figures, short and slender with pointed ears and wielding all the weapons Theo and Rachel had said used, hiltless swords, quarterstaves topped with blades and throwing weapons. Wolfe let out a wordless cry as she rushed one carrying a hiltless sword in each hand, keeping her shield up she thrust out with her sword but her opponent saw the attack and dodged to her left where he attacked her with both of his weapons at once. She used both blade and shield to desperately parry or block the rain of blows coming at her until she saw her opening, as soon as she parried one blade she lashed out with the flat of he shield and caught her attacker full in his face throwing him back trailing blood and spittle. He landed flat on his back blood leaking from mouth and broken nose too stunned to move, she lept forward and plunged her blade down with all her weight into his stomach and he howled. She then finished him off with one of his own blades with a quick thrust to the heart.

Greer laughed with delight as the battle raged around him. This was the first time a mage of the guild had been involved in anything more than a minor fight and he loved it. He saw a Caldarian soldier about to get run through by a attacker wielding one of their bladed quaterstaffs, he pointed his staff at the foe and with a word drew the power out from within himself and a second later a ball of fire hurtled from the tip of the staff and smashed into the attackers head throwing him to the ground where he was killed a moment later by his former victim. Inwardly he knew he couldn’t keep up this rate of spells, already he was starting to tire but he couldn’t stop, they hadn't won yet. It was then he felt that faint buzz that all magic gave off, he was certain it came from whomever had spoke to them at the start of the battle and Greer felt it was his professional responsibility to find out who it was but he would need more power than he currently had left in him, he would need to draw from external sources. Retreating back to the entrance to the camp he planted his staff on the ground and drew instantly feeling energy stored in the grass and earth rush into him and fill him with power , he felt like he could burn all these bandits, heal all his comrades wounds, and even bring bask the falle, No! He stopped himself with a effort and focused on the task at hand, that was one of the dangers of drawing upon external power for spells, it could be a difficult and dangerous sensation and one that would lead to calamity if not properly controlled. With enough power amassed he reached out with his mind and was suddenly above the battle and could see the village of Tall Hay, the green expanse of the plains, the dark green of the forest and waay off in the distance he could see the crater wall of Caldaria. He looked at the forest and searched for source of the magical signature. That was odd he thought, he had found the source near the battle but he could also feel the exact same signature coming from deeper in the forest, but that couldn't been as no two mages had the exact same….

Pain, white hot and blinding flooded Greer’s body and he screamed and came slamming back into his body and screamed again. Something had taken the power he had gathered and had turned it against him while it was in his body causing every inch of his himself to feel as if it were on fire. It was then, curled up in a ball in the center of dead grass  that the unknown force struck again once more flooding his body with pain, he tried to scream but found he couldn’t, nor could see for some reason. Then he heard the smell of sizzling, smelt the smell of cooked flesh and felt a great burning pain over the his head and upper torso, he tried to scream again but instead passed out from the pain.

Captain Wolfe paused and surveyed the battle. Her troops were winning, their superior training and gear overcoming the attackers speed and numbers, what worried her was Greer as she had heard  horrible screams coming from where he had fallen back too a moment ago. She was about to order someone to go check up on him when she saw something moving back in the woods, it was a humanoid figure about her height but she couldn’t make out much more than that. She did order someone to check on Greer and then turned to face the new threat but as it emerged into the sunlight she wished she hadn't. It was the same rough body shape as the attackers, medium height with lean muscles and pointed ears but thats where the similarities ended. Its skin had been replaced with, as far as she could tell, some sort of flexible tree bark. Its hands ended with hooked thorns and the back of its hands and arms where lined with ridges of hooked thorns but it was the eyes that were the worst, or rather where the eyes should be. Its head was utterly bald and shared many of the same traits as the attackers but where the eyes should be there were only empty sockets with vines growing from the centre of each socket. The vines spread over the figure’s entire face and ended in tips that curved up and away from the skin and seemed to follow her.

“You were warned” said the figure in the same deep, old voice with its menacing echo that  had addressed them at the start of the battle. “Now you will have to die”

Wolfe responded by charging the figure, she have never been one to trade words with an opponent when you could just be killing them. She came in low, shield across her chest and slashed diagonally upwards with her blade as she reached him. The figure ducked under the slash and lashed out with one hand, catching the shield on its edge and ripped it out of her hand causing her to stumble to the right but she quickly regained her balance and wheeled around to face him blade ready, her opponent had been faster than she thought. He didn’t give her time to think anything else as he lept  arms out stretched and talons extended, she divided aside taken aback by how quickly he recovered from his initial attack but she hadn't moved fast enough. He caught her left shoulder with his right hand and, with a strength that no one his build should have, threw her several meters across the battle field. She landed in a heap with her left arm feeling as if it were on fire and her sword nowhere to be seen. All around her the battle raged on but somehow it parted for him as if all the combatants, both his troops and hers, knew better than to get in his way. She saw him walking calmly towards her and knew to remain still was to die, she regained her feet and picked up a discarded sword in her right hand and upon seeing this her opponent smiled a predatory grin and started to run at her but suddenly stopped and rocked back from the impact of two arrows embedded in his bark skin. Wolfe risked a glance behind her to see Murphy a few meters away already pulling back another arrow, seeing this she turned back, smiled her own predatory grin and charged. Her opponent answered with a deep bestial roar but it was for nothing as before he could recover from the first two arrows another hit him followed seconds later by a steel clad shoulder as Wolfe's charge hit home. Stunned by the impact he toppled over with Wolfe rolling over top of him not expecting him to fall, with  a simple duck and roll she got back to her feet and turned around but didn't see what she thought she would as she expected to see him flat on his back dazed and stunned with three arrows sticking out of him but instead he was not only up right but was now being borne aloft by a whirlwind of grass, dirt, leaves and sticks. Both of his hands were fully extended above his head both holding balls of emerald flame and he brought them together with a sudden boom of sound and violent gust of air that pushed Wolfe and several others nearby over and when she looked up he was gone.

His departure marked the end of the battle but in truth it had almost from the very start been a fighting defeat for the bandits. Wolfe had hurried over to Greer as soon as she could and almost lost her breakfast at what she saw, lying in a perfect small circle of dead grass lay the mage with his face burned horribly as well as his neck and shoulder. Murphy and his trackers were tending to him and she only just saw what remained of his face as they wrapped it in bandages, adding it to the list of things she dearly wished she hadn't seen today.

“He is in bad way Ma’am” Murphy said as he fished tending to Greer “very bad burns on some very vital places, he is asleep now but” he trailed off and gestured towards the mage.

“Understood” she replied in a strained, neatural tone “We didn’t lose many, six wounded and three dead.”

“The Bandits are all dead?”

She suppressed a shudder at the memory of what she hoped was their leader’s face. “Yes but something tells me” she began “that they weren’t bandits. Regardless we need to get back to Tall Hay. If we get there soon enough we can leave for Caldaria today. Greer will have the best chance there and I need to deliver my report as soon as I can.”

With a nod Murphy began to get Greer ready for transport back to Tall Hay and Wolfe gave the order to return, they had dealt with the attackers and soon the camp would be full with workers, but a small voice in that back of her mind told her that this wouldn’t be the last time blood was spilled at this camp.

As the soldiers returned, bloodied but victorious, the villagers turned out to congratulate and thank them. Fear had ruled here since the attack but the sight of victorious troops put that fear to rest. When Wolfe finally got to talk to Jeb again, after pushing through jubilant villagers, she told him that they would be leaving that day using the excuse of Greer’s wounds to brush aside the village Elder’s talk of celebrations and feasts. It was when Jeb asked if she wanted anything in return for their service that Wolfe gave him a knowing grin.

“Now Theo, Rachel” Elder Jeb began “We have checked with your parents and they give their permission, you are to accompany Captain Wolfe to Caldaria and give Mayor Crawford a full report you understand”

Theo and Rachel shared a look, they had grown closer since the attack and the chance to visit Caldaria was too good to pass up, especially together. Regardless they both gave hesitant nods and made it look as if they were going reluctantly.

Captain Wolfe looked back over her shoulder at the village of Tall Hay some way off in the distance. She couldn’t help but be happy given that the task was as success and had been done with minimal loses and to make things better she had easily got Theo and Rachel to come along under the guise of reporting what they had seen to mayor Crawford, in truth she was hoping to recruit them both given their amazing resilience to battle shock. As they traveled her mind wandered to the battle, to thew strange features of all the attackers, the features that made it unlikely that they were bandits and their leader, who made it almost impossible that they were just bandits.

He walked through gloom of the forest, head bowed relying on his senses to steer him clear of obstacles. It had been a week since the battle at the logging camp and it had taken him all of that week to reach here, to reach Her court. He approached a perfectly circular break in the woods where there was a clearing in whose centre sat a mighty and ancient Oak, perhaps the oldest living thing on the planet. He paused before entering the clearing, feeling something utterly foreign to him seize up his legs and stop him from entering, with a effort he shook off the feeling and continued on towards the Oak. As he drew nearer to it he could see the others watching from the tree line, vague shapes in the gloom some humanoid others less so. As he got closer to the Oak he could see the throne that resided within it, and the figure that sat on it. A few feet in front of it he went to one knee and bowed his head.

“My Queen, I have failed you” he spoke, the echo the accompanied his words had none of its usual depth or malice and instead was tinged with fear.

The figure stood and walked up to him so that he could see he vine wrapped bare feet and he felt a long cold talon touch the base of his chin and raise his head.

“You have failed no one” the figure said in a deep feminine voice that echoed with age and deep malice. “Look at me Warden”

He did. His eyes had been replaced with vines that grew from his eye sockets the day he had been chosen as Warden, on most days this was a great boon allowing him to see more than even the most sharp eyes of his kin but in that moment he dearly to be able to see less detail. The figure before him was tall, very tall at least two head higher than him. She was slender and graceful with long arms whose hands were tipped not with fingers but with talons of black wood, her hips were gently curved and lead down to long powerful legs and the aforementioned vine wrapped feet and her whole form was covered in a weave of vines that covered her neck to feet in alluring and beautiful patterns, but it was her face that sent the unfamiliar ice cold sensation of fear shooting down his spine. Her face was sharp and angular, from her scalp grew brambles that reached down to just below her breasts, her ears were small and ended at a fine slanted point and her mouth and nose with both small and perfect but it was the eyes that terrified him. The entire eyeball was pitch black save for the pupil which was a deep, deep green. Looking into them he felt himself falling into something old and terrible, he was a Warden of a Heartwood Tree, its proxy, its mouth piece and he had undergone transformations that had spit his skin and bones until his new form had been more fitting to that Tree’s whims.He shared a symbiotic relationship with that Tree, every thought it felt he felt, when it spoke it did so though him but even after all that he was still terrified of what he saw in those eyes. Something of what he was thinking must have pass over his face and she smiled, he almost shat himself in fear.

“You failed no one” she repeated “The humans have grown since we first encountered them, they learn to harness energy, magic they call it. They took us by surprise and it was just your misfortune that it was you who they surprised first”. She turned away from him and he almost sobbed In relief, as she walked back to the Oak she continued.

“I understand the mage among them tried to reach and out touch you, to uncover the secret of our people?”

“Ye-e-e-s” he stammered, his voice containing none of the malice that the humans had heard in it.

“Good, he will serve as our warning to them. It may not have been what we planned but it will make do” She reached out her hand towards the Oak and in response a branch moved out towards her, a branch with a translucent blood red Acorn hanging off its tip. She reached out and gently plucked it from the branch.

“In the mean time we will change our tactics, the Humans assume your raiding party were simple bandits . We will take advantage of that mistake, you will take advantage of that mistake”. She turned back and strode towards him and offered him the Acorn, something inside it uncoiled and moved. “Make an example of them, don’t underestimate them. This will be our opening move, go”. He took the Acorn, stood up, bowed and left quickly. As he do so she addressed the forms waiting around the treeline.

“And for you my Wardens learn from this, know that Humans can be dangerous if underestimated. Show them no mercy and treat fear as your most potent weapon, we will strike them in force in time but first they their spirit must be weakened, now go”.

As the figures departed she returned to the Throne in the core of the Oak and sat. As the roots and branches of the tree closed around her she murmured.

“Now to give them their fair warning”

Earl Greer woke and started screaming almost instantly. The healers came running mere second later and tried to restrain but he had also started to writhe and twist violently so they were unable to calm him with sleep inducing herbs. After five minutes one of the healers asked a nurse to run and get aid from the Caldaria Mage’s Guild which the nurse did with great haste. Not long after two mages entered Greer’s room and with restrain him with magic, even then it took both mages, three healers and two nurses to finally get him to take the sleeping herbs and not long after he fell into a deep, troubled sleep. While all this had been going on Greer had continued screaming and at first it was thought that they were just the cries of a man in great pain but the mages knew better, for some reason they didn’t hear the howling of suffering man, they heard a single word repeated over and over again , Run.

The end of Part 2

So there you have it, the final part of my short story. If you liked it please feel free to spread it around the internet and if you have any feedback please let me know. Until next time.
Rex 

Short Story: The Warning Part 1

This has been something i have been working on for a while. I have always loved fantasy as a genre and this goes for all areas of entertainment be it video games, movies, podcasts, books or wargames.  Recently i stared to do narrative battle reports and the feedback to them has been positive, so on my drives to work each day i started thinking about writing my own fantasy. Once i decided to do this i started working on the basic concepts for a setting and as of Friday (11/09/2015) i finished those concept notes and began to write the very first short story set in the universe. Below is part one of that story, i divided it into 2 parts because posting it in one go would have made for a huge post and i haven't finished writing part 2 yet. Hopefully you will enjoy it and feedback is more than welcome espacilly for this post.

The Warning

Chopping wood, Theo decided, was the worst job he could have got. It was a hot summer’s day which only made the physically demanding job of hitting a solid bit of wood with a equally solid axe that much harder. He paused to wipe sweet from his brow and looked around, the logging camp belonged to the village of Tall Hay one of the many human villages that dotted the plains. Tall Hay lay near one of the many forests and as such made a good living off the lumber it collected with villagers usually only gathering dead wood and trees that were felled during a storm, but recently envoys from a far off place called Caldaria had shown up with the aim of teaching the villagers a new language called Common. While in Tall Hay the envoys had asked the village Elder if they could gather more wood and send it towards the far off settlement in exchange for better tools and more supplies. The Elder had quickly agreed and immediately set up a logging camp on the forest edge which had also had the addition benefit of providing work for idle teenagers, such as Theo. As he paused to take a sip of warm water from his canteen Theo recalled the town meeting where the Elder had announced the new camp, most of the village's fifty inhabitants had been in favour except for one old man, the oldest man in the village in fact. He had warned the Eldar and the others against the camp saying the forest was guarded and protected by strange fey creatures. The rest of the village had laughed at him and the Elder had rubbished the claim saying that in all his thirty five years they had never once been troubled by these “Fey Creatures”. The old man was out of his mind Theo thought, the camp has been running for a week now and we have had no trouble with any “Fey Creatures”. His thirst quenched he carried the wood he had been chopping over to the wagons, greeting a few of his friends as they passed by and chucked it down to on the to load pile, as he did so Oscar the camp boss came over.

“Good Job Theo, nicely split” he said to the young man in a gruff tone.

“Thank ye sir” Theo replied as he met the eyes of the older man, though in truth Oscar was only twenty four a mere 5 years older than Theo himself. Oscar began to order to the loaders to get the wood onto one of the waiting wagons as Theo went back to his spot and began to chop more wood. Only a few more hours left he thought as his arm muscles began to burn again.