The Spread of Darkness [WZ7- E8- HC]

[Adair]

A slow, warm, desert breeze floated past Adira's face, bringing a hint of the smell of the river with it. She inhaled deeply, letting the dank smell linger in her nose. Almost like the smell that hangs so thickly in the Nestlands... Opening her eyes, Adira surveyed the work site in front of her. Not very far, seeing what terrible selection of tools we have, but they should be done with the barricade by the time the Desert King forces arrive.

“Captain, requesting permission to allow the civilians a rest-bit and have the soldiers take over for a while.”

Adira turned to see Lieutenant Sirhan at attention. She sighed. “No, Lieutenant, we can not afford to leave the site unguarded. With the soldiers working we would be much more open to attack.”

“What do we have to fear? The Desert King forces are hours away.” Sirhan responded, annoyance showing clearly in his voice.

A smile played at the corner of Adira's mouth. “The Unexpected.”

There was a thud then a gurgling sound behind them. Adira spun around just in time to see their sentry, one of her Guerrillas, fall to the ground, an arrow embedded in his throat.

There was a thudding of mail-clad feet on the dirt road and an inhuman shriek as a party of orcs rounded a curve in the road and charged toward them, shrieking their war-cries.

Adira's thoughts flew out of her head as a burly orc wielding a large war-club charged her. She was barely able to draw her sword before he was upon her, his war club descending. She raised her blade, barely deflecting his, and retreated a few steps. Think! Remember your training! Adira fell into a swordsman's stance, her mind searching for the next step. He will attack forcefully and with momentum, use that against him.

The orc charged again, slicing toward her head. Adira ducked and sliced toward the orc's leg. Her blade bit into flesh. Pressing her advantage, Adira got side stepped the orc's flailing war-club and scored another hit on his chest, bringing him down. Stepping forward she plunged her blade into his neck, bring his war-shrieks to an abrupt stop.

Adira stood and glanced around her. One of the villagers was down, and Sirhan had decapitated one of the orcs. The rest of the workers were falling back in disarray, tossing down their tools. We need to form up, fast. Adira raised her voice above the clamor of the skirmish. “Form a line atop the barricade, are the workers!”

The orcs were temporarily stymied by the losses they had been dealt, and fell back several yards, giving the High Council troops time to gather their forces. Adira made her way back to the mound of dirt that would have been a barricade, her mind racing. How did the Desert King forces get behind them? They must have crossed the river, but how did they get past the guard we set there?

Adira saw one of her sergeants giving orders on the other side of the mound and strode over to him. “How are our chances, Sergeant?”

The man removed his helmet a ran a wiped the sweat from his forehead. “With this rabble? Slight. If they can just hold the line against the Desert King charge, then we will be fine. Other then that, we're as good as dead.”

Adira nodded toward the building to their left, some shrine or burial chamber. “What if they send a force around the other side of that? Do you think we could withstand a two-pronged attack?”

“No.” The man said flatly. “In that case we would have to put our chances behind one charge.”

The workers, with a large amount of orders from various sources, had finally formed a line on the top of the mound. Adira motioned for Udgr and he came after launching a few parting orders at the line of workers. “Udgr, I want you to watch the other side of this building, make sure we are not surprised on that side. You may have to hold them off until we can send reinforcements.”

Udgr saluted. “It shall hold.” He turned and trotted off toward his position.

There was a sudden commotion coming from the Desert King lines. Adira glanced toward them just as their lines parted, allowing a hooded Mummy in black armor to pass through, along with several other hooded men. The mummy surveyed their lines until his gaze rested on her, then it stopped. Adira felt a prickle of fear run up her spine. He's here for me...

The mummy finally turned back to his men and motioned for some of them to move around the building. Adira was about to send someone to warn Udgr when the mummy raised his sword... then let it fall. The orcs and Desert King soldiers charged like a body of water bursting through a dam, letting letting loose their collective war-cries.

The mummy Commander charged strait toward Adira, dodging the spears of the workers and the bolts of the Council soldier's one crossbowman. Adira's palms began to sweat and she readjusted her grip on her weapon. He looks dangerous, I wonder how much so...

A blur of black and dark green rushed past Adira as Sirhan charged the Mummy. The Mummy, surprise written on his face, was barely able to bring his sword up in time to block Sirhan's blow, throwing himself off balance.

Sirhan pressed his advantage and put his weight behind the blow, throwing the mummy onto his back, where Sirhan leaped on top of him. There was a short scuffle and the mummy struggled out from under the soldier just as Sirhan's blade descended toward the ground where he had just been.

The mummy retreated, limping slightly, back along the road. Adira just then noticed that the course of the battle had been in their favor. The line held! We beat them off! They had maintained a few losses, but the Desert King had taken more, and were now pulling back, their force greatly depleted. One of the Assassins took down a High Council pike-man before retreating, and then the fight was over, as quickly as it had started.

A clash of swords came from Adira's left and she spun toward the noise to see Udgr and another of his kind, the short, mountain orcs, exchanging blows almost faster then her eye could follow. Another assassin was trying to circumvent them.

There was a quick, high shriek and the other orc leaped back, his hand on his arm. At the same moment the High Council crossbowman shot a bolt over the other assassin's head, forcing him to retreat back behind the building. The wounded orc let out a strange hissing sound and then retreated as well. Udgr hissed back then turned, and his eyes quickly turned from fierce, animal eyes back to their almost-human form.

Adira turned back to the road, just in time to see the last orc turn the bend farther up. We have this skirmish, the Desert King will not get to Queenscross this way. We may yet survive this war! Queenscross may hold... I hope.

The build. I was originally going to have an irregular base, but it was getting so square do to the restrictions that I decided just to go with a normal, square base. This is my first time building a completely dark tan building, and I think it turned out well. Experimented with some Gothic architecture for the shrine thing as well.

And count this as a parting shot, and the Main Pic I was not able to include anywhere else.

Soli Deo Gloria & Sola Gracia!

_____________________________________________________

I would like to claim UoP credit for:

Military Science: Battle Scene.

And if I win, I would like to have F8 as the next Warzone.

Edited April 26, 2015 by Adair

[Captain Dee]

Whew! That's a lot of action! And yes, I did read it all - it's very well-written (and more than a bit violent...) As for the build itself, it's beautiful. The trees are a nice colorful touch and the style of the building is nice and unique. I really like all the dark earth tones in the base as well. Good job!

[Captain Braunsfeld]

Good story, good build, well photographed - well I should say: all in all = excellent!

[LittleJohn]

Very nice entry! The landscaping is superb and I really like the architecture on the shrine

[Spader]

Nice build! I think the keep/monastery looks great!

[Graham Gidman]

Lovely colors!

[Adair]

Whew! That's a lot of action! And yes, I did read it all - it's very well-written (and more than a bit violent...) As for the build itself, it's beautiful. The trees are a nice colorful touch and the style of the building is nice and unique. I really like all the dark earth tones in the base as well. Good job!

Whoa! Thanks! Yes, I hope to get some more dk. brown pieces in my next BL order.

Good story, good build, well photographed - well I should say: all in all = excellent!

Thank you!

Very nice entry! The landscaping is superb and I really like the architecture on the shrine

Great! I'm really enjoying building Gothic, and I think there will be more of it later.

Nice build! I think the keep/monastery looks great!

Great! A big improvement from the earlier versions, aye?

Lovely colors!

Thank's a lot!

[Blufiji]

Compared to what you've been putting out, this one is a bit lacking on the landscaping, but the colors are nice and the posing is well done.

Edited April 26, 2015 by Blufiji

[Kai NRG]

Very nice job here Adair! The roof looks neat and the trees are good! Lots of action going on as well!

[Adair]

Compared to what you've been putting out, this ne is a bit lacking on the landscaping, but thecolors arenice and the posing is well done.

Is it the base?... Thanks though!

Very nice job here Adair! The roof looks neat and the trees are good! Lots of action going on as well!

Thanks!

[Lord Vladivus]

You're fast turning into one of my favourite storytellers! Great build to go along with it to boot!

[Adair]

You're fast turning into one of my favorite storytellers! Great build to go along with it to boot!

Thank you! That means a lot to me, actually.

[MassEditor]

Beautiful build and fantastic story as always, a lot to appreciate in this build! The building looks beautiful, the roof technique and steeples look excellent. The landscaping, color usage and battle posing is good too. My only disappointment is that, with all the green in your build, it doesn't really fit the terrain/style of Queenscross. It just doesn't strike me as Kaliphlin, you know? Still, another solid build from you.

[Adair]

Beautiful build and fantastic story as always, a lot to appreciate in this build! The building looks beautiful, the roof technique and steeples look excellent. The landscaping, color usage and battle posing is good too. My only disappointment is that, with all the green in your build, it doesn't really fit the terrain/style of Queenscross. It just doesn't strike me as Kaliphlin, you know? Still, another solid build from you.

Thank you! And yes, I'm saying that it is situated very close to the River, and is watered regularly (by worshipers/relatives), but I do see your point.

[Blufiji]

Is it the base?... Thanks though!

Thanks!

Actually it was. It was about blocky in the coloring as compared to your usual builds, which have very color balanced bases.

[Adair]

Actually it was. It was about blocky in the coloring as compared to your usual builds, which have very color balanced bases.

Ok, never would have seen that, so thanks! I'll see what I can do about that later.

[soccerkid6]

Cool shrine, I like the shingled roof

[Adair]

Cool shrine, I like the shingled roof

Thank you! Yes, there are several techniques in that roof I like as well, even though I've used that overall technique quite often on MP.

[Jakorin Swiftsword]

Nice job Adair!

[Adair]

Nice job Adair!

Thank you, Jakorin!

[Sir Gillian]

Awesome! The ground is very well done, as well the roof! Very nice action and story too!

[mrcp6d]

I really like the building. The tall stained glass windows and the spires on either end really work well here.

[Adair]

Awesome! The ground is very well done, as well the roof! Very nice action and story too!

Thank you! Yes, I'm starting to really enjoy this landscaping style...

I really like the building. The tall stained glass windows and the spires on either end really work well here.

Thanks! I would have made them taller if I hadn't run out of pieces and the building wasn't so short.

[frumpy]

I love this build. Great job.

[Adair]

I love this build. Great job.

Thank you!