A Warrior's Sorrow [G: A15- HC vs. DK]

[Adair]

“There is nothing I can do. I surrender the tower.”

Adira shook her head, refusing the Dessert King Officer's sword. “I will not strip you of your honor. You have retained it in sparing the lives of your men, when vain pride would have destroyed them and yourself.”

The Mummy remained somber, following Adira as she moved away from the two Mummy guards by the watchtower they had just captured, the sum total of the Officer's troops. Adira surveyed the black clad soldier, wearing the traditional headpiece of the Dessert King and shrouded by a dark cloak. “It was a pleasure doing business with you. The High Council will reward you once the war is over, if you can manage to keep yourself alive that long.”

The soldier spat on the ground. “I do not look for your rewards. I only seek what is best for nation. The Dessert King will enslave Kaliphlin in Iron until his tyranny forces those under him to revolt, in which case they would die. I would prevent that, along with other reasons.”

“And what are those other reasons?” Adira pressed. Immediately she regretted asking and considered asking his forgiveness but for the sake of retaining face.

Lines of anger formed around the Officer's mouth and he stared at the path ahead of him. His answer caught Adira by surprise. “I was not a friend of the Dessert King when I died. In fact I was the youngest son of a key leader of the Kaliphlin resistance to the Dessert King that helped overthrow his regime. When I first was brought back and before I had recovered my sense of being I was drafted into the Dessert King's army and, since they could tell I was of noble blood, put in a position of relative power. I have only recently come to my senses.” He turned, his face as expressionless as ever, but his eyes showing a strange curiosity. “What of you? Why do you resist the Dessert King?”

The question caught Adira by surprise even more then his answer had, even more so in that she did not think she had an answer. “I... It is not the dessert King I have a quarrel against, but their enemies, Ulandus.”

The Officer slowly shook his head. “Ulandus is weak, they have not even the might to control their own Island, let alone all of Kaliphlin. No, the dessert King is the one you should fear. Even as we speak all things evil flock to his banner. Are you afraid?”

Adira considered denying all fear, but in the end just nodded.

A grim smile spread over the Mummy's face. “Not nearly frightened enough.”

A shout rang out behind them and Adira spun around to see one of the Mummy soldiers leaping through the air toward her, a long knife in it's upraised hand. How did he find a weapon? We searched both guards thoroughly! But it was too late to leap out of the way, the Mummy was already upon her.

There was a blur as Sergeant Adra tackled the Mummy to the ground. Adira drew her sword only to see the Mummy plunge the knife into Adra's throat. Even as he did Sirhan's blade sliced into his back, putting an end to him.

Adira's mind went numb, her eyes staring at the puddle of blood collecting on the road. That knife could have pierced me, and yet it killed him... was I just lucky? She slowly strode over to where Adra lay bleeding, dry eyed, and knelt down next to him. His wound was bleeding rapidly, much too fast to bandage in time, even if that would have helped.

Slowly his eyes opened, already half clouded-over. Adira felt them focus on her and saw the recognition enter them, ten times a slowly as it would have normally taken. Slowly, ever so slowly, a smile spread across the man's face. Then his eyes clouded over and stared past her.

Adira stood, half wishing she could cry, yet knowing that, after so many such deaths, she would not. We've all got dead people, Adding one more to the list is nothing new. And yet she knew she was wrong. Every time someone else close to her died, a part of herself died with them. She stepped back, allowing others to pay their last respects, and turned back toward the Mummy captain. “Do not worry, your other soldier will not be harmed.”

He shook his head. “Do not worry about prisoners. These ones are not sentient. They are merely corpses with weapons, it would be doing a favor to let them rest again.”

Adira did not bother to reply to him but instead continued down the road, back to the ship where extra supplies stolen from the Dessert King were even now being loaded for the return journey. All they would have to do now is wait for the troops from Everlast coming to occupy the land, coming through the now unguarded paths leading this direction. Maybe when we return to the Nestlands we will be allowed some rest-bit in Berigora or maybe even Barqa. It would be good to find a place to rest.

To cry.

The build. This is my first time experimenting with the colors sand green and dark brown in landscaping, and I love it. The dark green is rather sloppy, do to lack of the right pieces, but hopefully it's still good looking.

Anyway, I'll let the rest of the Pics speak for themselves. A Picture is worth a thousand words anyhow.

Anyways, I would like to claim UoP credit for:

Hydrology: still water.

Trees: 2^nd design (for me).

Soli Deo Gloria & Sola Gracia!

[Graham Gidman]

Definitely your best build! So much to love!

[Adair]

Definitely your best build! So much to love!

Thanks Graham!

[gedren_y]

UoP DoH +1 on both credits.

Adira will be welcome in the Clans warriors camp. Sdair would suggest the teas made by Ffirk for a restful sleep.

[Adair]

UoP DoH +1 on both credits.

Adira will be welcome in the Clans warriors camp. Sdair would suggest the teas made by Ffirk for a restful sleep.

Thanks for the credibility!

[Yzalirk]

Nice posing and the story is pretty good too.

[Halhi 141]

Nice build, I like the colors and the layout. I assume you mean "desert" king though?

[Lord Vladivus]

Damn. This will be hard to counter! Great build!

[Kai NRG]

Nice work! The base is really good and so is the water section, and the slanted pathway!

I just thought I would mention - the way you intertwine your story with the guerrillas, it will be hard, not to say impossible, to counter the build without sticking our fingers in your story. Presumably you've already taken this into consideration, but just in case, I thought I'd warn you!

[LittleJohn]

Great build! I really like the water Neat touch with the owl in the tree as well

[Spader]

Nice build! (look for a less lazy comment on MOCpages)

[Adair]

Nice posing and the story is pretty good too.

Thank you!

Nice build, I like the colors and the layout. I assume you mean "desert" king though?

Ya, dat. Thanks!

Damn. This will be hard to counter! Great build!

I hope so! Thanks!

Nice work! The base is really good and so is the water section, and the slanted pathway!

I just thought I would mention - the way you intertwine your story with the guerrillas, it will be hard, not to say impossible, to counter the build without sticking our fingers in your story. Presumably you've already taken this into consideration, but just in case, I thought I'd warn you!

Thank you? All you would have to do is send troops to block the one road, or burn the ship, but yes, I will keep that in mind.

Great build! I really like the water Neat touch with the owl in the tree as well

Thank you!

Nice build! (look for a less lazy comment on MOCpages)

yeah, figured as much.

[Gideon]

Very nice build and great story!

UoP +1 for the claims.

Edited March 25, 2015 by Gideon

[Adair]

Bert nice build and great story!

UoP +1 for the claims.

Thank you! It feels so good to be creditable!

[Robin Creations]

Nice build! I really like the water. I feel however, that it looks like water crashing into rocks rather than still water

[Adair]

Nice build! I really like the water. I feel however, that it looks like water crashing into rocks rather than still water

Yes, I was trying to make some ripple patterns, since no exposed water is perfectly still, but I take your point. Thanks!

[Gideon]

Thank you! It feels so good to be creditable!

And it should be "Very nice"...autocorrect fail. (Forgot to switch language )

[Adair]

And it should be "Very nice"...autocorrect fail. (Forgot to switch language )

Ok, I never would have noticed.

[Balbo]

Very nice build and story

The water and the vegetation look great. Moreover I like the owl on the tree.

[Blufiji]

Nice build, particularly the tower. Despite that I was more impressed by your story telling abilities.

[Adair]

Very nice build and story

The water and the vegetation look great. Moreover I like the owl on the tree.

Thank's a lot!

Nice build, particularly the tower. Despite that I was more impressed by your story telling abilities.

Thank you! My story is my central focus, so that means a lot to me!

[MassEditor]

Nice build and enthralling story once again! I love the build, but the story is the real treat here - very well written and I like the (somewhat) nonviolent route taken.

As for the build itself, the dark green/sand green/dark brown combo is great and would perfect for Nocturnus. The irreg base is quite interesting too, the tide effect is nicely done. The tower itself looks great with the dark bley mottling, though the smoothness of the battlements doesn't quite match the rest of the structure.

In any case, great GA and one we'll have to work hard to counter! You're making a great contribution story- and build-wise, keep it up!

[Adair]

Nice build and enthralling story once again! I love the build, but the story is the real treat here - very well written and I like the (somewhat) nonviolent route taken.

As for the build itself, the dark green/sand green/dark brown combo is great and would perfect for Nocturnus. The irreg base is quite interesting too, the tide effect is nicely done. The tower itself looks great with the dark bley mottling, though the smoothness of the battlements doesn't quite match the rest of the structure.

In any case, great GA and one we'll have to work hard to counter! You're making a great contribution story- and build-wise, keep it up!

Thanks for the detail critique! Yes, I did run out of pieces on the battlements, though now I'm thinking I could have scraped together something. Thanks again!

[Capt Wolf]

Great build. I really like your technique on the tower, and the dark green / dark brown landscaping works well. good story, too. Impressive all the way around!

[Adair]

Great build. I really like your technique on the tower, and the dark green / dark brown landscaping works well. good story, too. Impressive all the way around!

Thank you!