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Call of the Dagger 2548 (35 comments)

Added by jaliun over 14 years ago

The Town crier, appointed by Emperor Dexton himself, shouted at the top of his lungs in the city streets of Pyr:

Oren Pyr, Fyros!

Light and warmth are on the Empire! By imperial order, the date of the next elections of Akenak has been determined! They will be held from Tria, Pluvia 9, 3rd AC 2548 until Prima, Mystia 19, 3rd AC 2548*! All Fyros Patriot candidates must respect the tradition of the Dagger!

Spread the word, my brothers, Akenak campaigns are now open and applications will be taken by a senator at regular intervals!

Glory to the People, glory to Emperor Dexton!

Thus he continued shouting himself hoarse, in accordance with his duty of town crier, while distributing posters on which were recorded the rules of nomination and election:

Applicants should make daggers to give to Fyros citizens, which are then given on the day of the vote to the officials in charge of the elections! The campaigns are open for the Akenak!

[*] Friday 12th at 18:00 GMT until Sunday 14th at 18:00 GMT of December at the Agora in Pyr. An official will be there to receive the daggers at regular intervals.

A Seed Planted in a Botanists Mind (270 comments)

Added by jaliun over 14 years ago

Removing his boots, Cuiccio puts his achy feet into the soft grass that covers the soil of his home. Burying his toes in the green, thick carpet, he re-thought having had left the Grand Greenhouse on the informational excursion in the interest of homins. If he had not been away, perhaps... He had told those concerned to meet him at 18h Quinteth, Winderly 5, 3rd AC 2548(JY) *.

Through lectures and writing, Bebi Cuirinia and he had reminded them of several such important things of the history of the Matis people: Rotoa, the work of beauty from the biggest Architect in all of lifetime, benefactor of homin banishment to the Prime Roots after the Great Swarm. The importance of this symbol for all Matis... Funeral traditions, or how Bebi Cuirinia, Royal Embalmer, prepared the bodies of the late noblemen, gathering their sap which families would inject into their tree homes so that they live for ever. And finally the tragic destiny of Lenardi Bravichi, deprived of this honor which was deserved due to having supported our King Yrkanis.

Fingering the bark of the wall, he thought of his forefathers who were there. Numerous ones that had been lost during the Great Swarm. His destiny was to delve into botany. He had poured over Lenardi Bravichi's notes. He thought again of the beginning... A smile illuminated the face of the Botanist and Royal Historian suddenly as he thought: of shade and light, ignorance and knowledge, dung and nourishment... the beauty of a flower.

Extract of Memories of the Botanist and historian Royal Cuiccio Perinia, page of Tria, Nivia 9, 2nd AC 2548(JY).

[*] Saturday 28 November 02:00 GMT and Saturday 28 November 19:00 GMT

EXTRA! EXTRA! Gingos attack again! (404 comments)

Added by jaliun over 14 years ago

PYR, Burning Desert - Evidence of yet another attack by rouge gingos was found south of the ruins of Barkgully Workshop. Though investigators searched the area thoroughly, nothing else but homin remains, gingo tracks and an empty bottle of fragrance were found. When the couple who found the remains were asked about the perfume bottle, the male witness claimed, "A more heavenly scent is not known to hominkind." It should be noted that his female companion gave him a questionable glance.

All homins traveling through the Burning Desert should remain observant of their surroundings and report any unusual activity.

The Pyr Pyre Tria, Mystia 15, 2nd AC 2548 (JY)

NEWSFLASH! (37 comments)

Added by jaliun over 14 years ago

PYR, Burning Desert - The remains of an unidentified homin have been found in the dunes near Canyon Pass. Numerous gingo prints were spotted in the area. The shocked local merchant that found the body told our reporter, "I've never seen such large gingo prints in my life!"

Anyone who has seen any suspicious activity near Canyon Pass or Blackburn Trade Post should report to the local authority immediately.

The Pyr Pyre Quinteth, Pluvia 5, 2nd AC 2548(JY)

Botanical Excursion (37 comments)

Added by jaliun over 14 years ago

Cuiccio Perinia, the renowned Matisian botanic and historian will present an informative excursion through the Majestic Garden with interested homins. The target of the excursion is to show the unbelievable beauty of the flora in the Verdant Heights to the inclined listener. On the tour the prevailing coppice, but also mushrooms and ferns will be shown in their natural environment.

Meeting point is 22h Quinteth, Pluvia 29, 2nd AC 2548(JY) *, beneath the gate of Yrkanis. We hope that many will take the opportunity to learn about the amazing flora of Matis.

Firm footwear and a return ticket to Yrkanis is advised.

Royal Botanical institute,
Yasson district, Yrkanis

[*] Tuesday 24 November 19:00 GMT and Wednesday 25 November 02:00 GMT

In the King's Chambers (34 comments)

Added by jaliun over 14 years ago

Preparations for the ceremony progressed rapidly. The King was proud of it. Finally, a resurgence, excitement ... It was good to see the palace in a lively spirit which had not been seen for a long time.

He looked at the parchment that he held in his hands, his eyes posed on the date written by the hand of Miagio. The ceremony would take place 23h on Frutor 29, 2nd AC 2548(JY) *.

This time, he would make the ceremony public. His orders were clear, his desires well defined. This day, the people would have an appointment with history and their King. On this day, Yrkanis life would finally resume.

[*] Saturday 21 November 19:00 GMT and Sunday 22 November 02:00 GMT

the Matis Festival (70 comments)

Added by jaylomin over 14 years ago

Libi Freldo, Matis Herald, paced through the lit streets of the city of Yrkanis. Her mission was simple. She walked on, thinking of what the King had told her:

"I want you to carefully note the names of the guilds, the heads of guilds, and their officers which have sworn allegiance to the Kingdom. We will need that information. And do be fast Libi, the clock is ticking."

So Libi walked the streets of Yrkanis, addressing each Matis subject of the different guilds living in Yrkanis.

Screaming Shadows (38 comments)

Added by anarkia over 14 years ago

I´ve found this old cracked parchment, buried deeply under piles and piles of others. It is a Story told by a dying man at his deaths bed. It contains what were probably the last words and confessions of a consciousness that could not keep this terrible secret any longer, to someone he either trusted with them, or who simply did not care. A tale of suffering and regret. The Name of the confessing Man is not know, for the document was torn and smudged in many places and barely decipherable at all. Also the name of the one taking the confession and writing it down for others to read is not known anymore. I will give them to you to read, so that you may come to your own conclusions and judge by yourself the deeds of a desperate man. Dictating his sins at with his dying breath. The document reads as follows:

“I remember… yes, I remember. It isn´t even hard for me to recall those hours and moments, for they’re burned into my mind forever and the sights of this night have been etched into my brain with the sharp blade of a master craftsman.

I was a young member of the city watch. Just a few short weeks ago I had joined up and I was hoping to be promoted into the palace guard someday and from there eventually into the royal guard. Little did I know that my promotion was only to come at a great cost and in the twilight of the prime roots, for I was one of the few guardsmen left, that could be promoted at all. But I still don´t know if I´m even worth it, because of my deeds that night. Thinking of what came of them later, but that´s not our point here, isn´t it? And there´s not much time left for me, so let me tell you my Story and then let me die in peace. You want to know about the last night of the old empire, the “Night of Claws”, or “Night of screaming shadows” as some like to call it oh so poetically. Well, a night of claws it definitely was, and also many screaming shadows… I surely was one of them.

The previous day our army had left for Trykoth to officially “reclaim” some territories that would guaranty our kingom a steady water supply in the years to come. As the last of our soldiers vanished between the forests trees I longed to be with them. To reach glory and claim heroic deeds that would ensure my name a place in the records of our people. Little did I know that this night would bring more “heroic” deeds for me to last more than one lifetime.

Me and a few comrades were on our way to the watch house to begin our shift from dusk until dawn. It was warm and the streets were filled with the normal hustle and bustle of the hours just before the closing of the shops. We all were speculating on how long it would take the army to return and what might be keeping the Fyros from their duty of protecting the Tryker borders. “Maybe the water rats have let them dry up lately?” One of my friends exclaimed. Another replied: “No, they´re sending water alright, but the Fyros are fed up with constantly “guarding” their their own latrines.” We all laughed at that, except for Girio an older member of the watch, our squad leader. He looked on with a thoughtful expression. “I heard they´re fighting. Some speak of a new great fire, others of an unknown army that is attacking the empire from its southern border. Still others speak of monsters…”, his voice trailed of. “Monsters?!” I replied laughing. “Surely these monsters will run from the Fyros upon first sight, for no self respecting monster will hurt something more ugly than itself.” Even Girio laughed at this and I momentarily felt proud. Silly, I know… We walked on to the watch house unaware of the change that went through the city at first. Then one of our comrades fell behind, walking slower, his head slightly tilted to the right, as if listening to something. We stopped our banter and waited for him to catch up. “What is it?” I asked. “Don´t you hear that?” he replied.

Now we all stopped and listened. A strange buzzing sound was beginning to fill the night air and from far off the crackle of branches was becoming audible, as if something huge was moving through the undergrowth. Before we could puzzle much a scream pierced the warm night air. Coming from above, we all looked up and at first I wasn´t sure of what I was seeing. Atop one of the walkways spanning between two hometrees people were running from the middle of the gentle arch. A dark shadow moved there with unnatural speed, strangely flickering in the half-light of the canopy. Then something dropped over the railing of the walkway and fell down right on top of us. At first I thought it was a branch or part of the ornamentation of the bridges arch, but as something wet splashed against my cheek and the thing landed right before my feet with an audible thumb I realized what it was. Dumbstruck we all stared at the severed arm that lay before us. Horrified I saw that its fingers were still moving in a spasmic clutch. When my own raised hand came away from my face it was red with blood. And again we heard screams. All around the city now voices were raised in alarm and pure terror. As I looked up again what I saw almost made my own blood curdle in my veins. The strange shadow we´d seen moved away from the archway. Flying through the air with predatory ease, its huge wings buzzing and trailing blood behind it, flowing in crimson streams from the struggling form of a man speared on its front extremities. Then the giant locust like insect shook itself violently and the man was dropped from its sting. Limply falling to the ground and crashing into a shrub beside the street. The crash startled us from our shocked stupor. As one we began running to the guard house, around us panic and confusion began to take their toll on the late night pedestrians. Everyone was running somewhere and or looking for someone. Panicked screams echoed through the streets and all around the city the forest seemed to move with unseen presences. The bells of the guard house began tolling their shrill notes to summon every available man to arms and as we arrived many of our comrades were already armed and ready to move out against whatever was attacking us. But still many didn´t have a clue to what we were up against. And Jena, I wish we´d never known. Over the confused din our Captain shouted orders for us to calm down and do our duty.

We grabbed our Kara Krop pikes and ran out into the streets again. My squad tried to make its way to the outskirts of the city, but before we were even halfway through town center, people came running towards us. I never saw so many terrified eyes again. Many were shouting and screaming something about the forest coming for them and snatching away friends, loved ones and strangers alike. Some spoke of Monsters that suddenly appeared from the undergrowth and attacked whatever was in their way, others told of flying beasts that tried to enter the upper floors of hometrees. We ran on and with lungs hurting from the effort our squad finally reached the outskirts of our appointed district. Strangely all was quite except for the buzzing that became louder by the minute. No Homins were about, the smaller buildings abandoned and all hometrees locked against intruders. Cautiously we moved towards the forests edge. Never before had these woods seemed so dark, so malignant to me. I thought I saw movement there, between the tall trees and the lush underbrush, something incredibly fast scuttled there and as we neared the dark bushes, a deep hissing sound emerged. We took a halting step closer and suddenly something leapt at us. It was fast as a falling star, its dark green carapace glistening in the glow of the streetlights behind us. It rushed at us with a sudden ferocity that took us all by surprise, its 4 legs tapping a staccato on the hard ground, front legs raised to sharp points, flat, wide head lowered like a shield to protect its torso. It was about half as tall as a grown man and hacked at us with its front pair of legs. Together we nine quickly killed it with our pikes, keeping our distance, trying to avoid its mad slashing. As it lie twitching before us we gathered around it. “What in Jenas Name is that!?” “Dragon fetch me, if I know.” “It´s a spider, see its legs?!” “A spider´s got eight legs, this´s got only six. It´s some kind of bug.” “T´is a really big bug.” “Keep it together folks, we don´t know if there are some more out there.” “Right, we better keep our eyes open. At last they´re easy to kill…”

Right at this moment the buzzing we´d heard the whole time increased even more in volume and a blood freezing shriek came from the darkness beyond the city limits. Answered by another and another a little further to our left and right, other shrieks and deep growling, chattering sounds emitted from the forest all around the city now and from above we heard the sound of breaking branches. Big things were crushing though the canopy and behind us, we heard homin screams and the frantic ringing of the guardhouse bells. Then the darkness beyond our sparse light came alive. I still only remember impressions of giant, slender legs and bodies dislodging themselves from trees where they had crouched camouflaged against the deep brown bark and green bushes. My mind having mercifully spread the shroud of shock over these initial glimpses of the horror that was to come. All around us the forest began moving toward us. Horrified we turned and ran. I freely admit it and I´m deeply ashamed of it. But all of us ran that night. Nobody didn´t run that night. We didn´t stand a chance. Many poor souls stayed behind to fight and were torn to pieces. But just as many of us simply ran and never looked back, or ran right into the waiting claws of other Kitin.

Of course back than they didn´t go by that name. Nobody had yet bothered to attach names to the different monsters. How would they? Oh, don´t look so surprised. Do you really think someone would see a 7 foot insect come charging right at him and thnik in his head: “Oh, I´ll call that think a Kipuka from now on.” and life to write that down?! Ha, silly youth. You think everything is and everything´s all been as it is now, eh? Tcha! They had no names. They simply were there, nameless horros, killing everyone the got their claws on. Man, woman or child. They moved through the city like reapers through a field of wheat, harvesting terror and blood. Streaming in thousands from the forest. Dropping onto archways from the low canopy. Climbing up and down hometrees. Simply ripping away the bark of their higher, younger parts, like it was so much paper and crawling into them to get at the soft life hiding there. They were flying through the air, picking up people in full flight, with pincers and stings sharp as swords, ripping and tearing them apart letting the parts drop onto the terrified homins below.

I remember all too clearly my fist glimpse of what came to be known as a Kipesta. It swooped down from the sky unto a group of homins huddling beneath the great root of an old hometree, at first trying to reach them with its sting, but realizing that it didn´t fit into the opening and the homins proved to defensive, it simply deflated its strange secretion sack into the hollow. The small space beneath the root immediately filled with searing flames. I was too far away to do anything and too surprised and appalled by this perversity against nature I was witnessing to do anything about it, but the screams of those trapped and burning alive in that confined space still haunt my dreams after all these years. I hope my release from this torment is soon to come. I saw the heavily armored forms of Kipuka drop down from the canopy like giant pine cones, crushing lucky homins beneath their weight. Unlucky homins were torn limp from limpf seconds later, when the Bub emerged from the gore stained craters with clicking pincers to wreak more havoc. I’m not certain I’m lucky that I survived, - Jena knows its more of a punishment. I simply ran, dropped my pike and ran. Dodging other homins and giant insects alike, fleeing headlong into the forest, running until my legs wouldn’t support me anymore and I dropped to the floor unconscious from shock and exhaustion. Later I found another group of refugees and we made our way to a Karavan camp they had heard of. Now I´m here, at the end of my life. This is my shameful tale and I will tell no more. Now, let me rest.

in « Witnesses » from Ridio Sillia, itinerant bard.
(Thanking Acridiel for this chronicle)

Screaming Shadows

OOC: Fun and Games Weekend (40 comments)

Added by jaliun over 14 years ago

You are invited to a weekend of fun and games!

First will be the introduction of the team PvP Arena game of MADcapped Tag in both the Matis and Silan arenas at 20:00 GMT Saturday and 03:00 GMT Sunday. Rules to be post in capital cities and Silan soon(tm).

Level specific treasure hunts will be held on Sunday at 20:00 GMT across Atys. You decide which challenge you are up for as all hunts will be simultaneous. Level 1 will be held in Majestic Gardens, Level 2 in Fount and Level 3 in Grove of Umbra with Silan having their own hunt as well.

Spirit of the Lakes (42 comments)

Added by jaylomin over 14 years ago

A short time later, posters were pasted at the entrance of each city tryker.

Citizens Trykers, Guild Leaders of citizen Tryk,
The Government of New Trykoth will soon be modified and its doors will be opened to you.
To let you know in person of this change, the Governor Ailan Mac'Kean calls you
at 7h Quarta, Germinally 10, 1st AC 2548(JY) * at Frogmore place.
A new era begins for the Children of the Wind!
Glory to the People!
For New Trykoth, Shaley Nara

[*] Saturday 24 October 19:00 GMT and Sunday 25 October 02:00 GMT

(81-90/110)

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