Nameless: Notaku

[This is part of my Creative Writing Experiment.]

"So, Drisana didn't make it huh?" said Notaku with disappointment after Nessa introduced him to her new party.

"Sorry Notaku. Tell us what happened here, what became of the Wizard King? Did anyone from our rebellion survive?" asked Nessa.

Notaku sighed. "Some cult from abroad arrived, Shadowstar they called themselves, and they ... assisted in the regime change. Rumor is someone caught Tectuk napping and made him into a pincushion of arrows. Those that join the cult are rewarded with riches and power. That's pretty much anyone who actually owns property in this city. Those that oppose are hunted down and killed. Everyone else is just fighting for scraps. All up it's the same as before, only now we are under the foot of a hydra instead of a dragon."

"Do you recognize this symbol," interrupted Florin as he held up the bloodied cloth.

Eyes wide with shock, Notaku immediately pushed his hand back down. "Don't go waving that around," he whispered angrily while trying to maintain a facade of normality. "This is a sigil of the new rebellion," he continued. "Some folk don't like the new order that's taken over after Tectuk was assassinated."

"Where can we find these 'folk'?" asked Buster bluntly.

"Underground in what is now called the 'Sorrows'. There are entrances to it via the many sewer ways around town - the closest being just there," said Notaku as he pointed the way with his chin. "Look for Arslan. Short, angry, bearded guy. Can't miss him."

With a nod of thanks, Florin and the others began heading off. Nessa lingered for a moment longer and asked him "After our rebellion... did Chaya make it?"

Notaku opened his mouth but stopped himself saying how the Wizard King had captured the blond warrior and subsequently used her as a public plaything for his army for weeks until her torturous death. "No," he ultimately said, deciding to omit all the details. Nessa nodded and left to catch up with the rest of the group.

Nameless: Victorious

[Day 9 of Blaugust 2015!]
[This is part of my Creative Writing Experiment.]

As they turned the corner to the front gate an arrow struck Nessa in the shoulder, dropping her to the floor. This seemed to wake Nerith up as she scrambled to drag her sister back into cover. While doing so, she saw that the gates had been breached with soldiers beginning to pour in. Only Chaya remained on her feet upon the parapet, somehow still fighting back the enemy horde. There was no way to get to her. On the other side the telltale clicks of the scorpion men grew ever closer and Nerith broke down into tears as she looked at her wounded sister. Having no more options she held her magical amulet in her hand and hugged Nessa.

In a flash they were suddenly in the midst of smoking debris and dead bodies. At first Nerith thought it didn't work, that they didn't get transported back to the Sand Market but upon closer inspection that was exactly where they were. "The Wizard King didn't take kindly to my helping you," said a sad, broken voice from behind some smoke.

As it cleared, Nerith saw that it was Drisana - the caravan mistress. She was covered in ash, beaten, and wore only what seemed to be dirty rags that didn't belong to her. The two women silently stared at each other for a moment before they both turned their attention to the injured Nessa and wordlessly removed the arrow and dressed the wound with fabrics torn from her sister's attire.

"What do we do know?" asked Nerith blankly as she blinked back tears.

"We start over," replied Drisana. "Somewhere else. Fortunately the soldiers didn't take from me what they couldn't find so I think I can get us passage across the sea."

"But the Wizard King..." began Nerith, with a clear edge of rage to her voice.

"The Wizard King has won," interrupted Drisana forcefully. "At least for now."

Without the heart to continue arguing, Nerith just looked back at her sleeping sister then across the smouldering field of debris.

Nameless: The Siege

[Day 7 of Blaugust 2015!]
[This is part of my Creative Writing Experiment.]

The enemy army was not easily dissuaded by the large shards of broken glass along the path. While Chaya and the others exchanged arrows with the opposition, other soldiers ran forward to shovel a clear path to Tea Kettle's gates. In front of them was a mobile wall of shields on a log stand that protected many of them from the incoming fire. Every so often Jasmine could break this wall with her magic, but there seemed to be an endless supply that they would simply bring up.

A loud explosion followed by a scream from the opposite side of the village startled the defenders. "Go," nodded Chaya to Jasmine and the sisters of the sand. "I'll handle things here." Leaving their bows and arrows for whoever could man the wall, the girls quickly made their way to the source of the noise and were horrified to find that monstrous creatures had managed to dig their way in and were now tearing into the few defenders they had left. These giants looked like a combination of half-man, half-scorpion similar to the creatures they first encountered in Dagolar's laboratory. This was no coincidence.

Without wasting a moment the gladiatrixes rushed into the fray, slicing and hammering the monsters to death only to find more of them emerging from the hole despite Jasmine's best attempts to collapse it. A loud grinding noise and a strange shadow caught Nerith's eye for a moment and time seemed to slow down as she turned her head to see a massive stone golem about to land on the hapless blonde mage. With a ground shaking splat, pieces of Jasmine flew everywhere. Nerith's hands shook as she looked down to discover one of Jasmine's eyeballs on her palm.

Indas flew into a rage, attacking the ugly stone construct and with a mighty swing of her hammer shattered one of the golem's stubby stone fingers. Despite her size she was too fast for it to swing at and with another strike Indas had destroyed its right knee. As she came in to finish it off the golem somehow grabbed a piece of a nearby hut and threw it right into her though - sending her flying right towards the hole in the ground.

Nerith could do nothing as she watched her friend try to get to her feet, only to be stabbed in the back by one of the scorpion stingers as the creature grabbed one arm in each of it's black pincers. A second scorpion monster quickly stabbed her in the front too while grabbing her muscular legs, then in unison they ripped her limbs apart in a shower of blood.

At that point something pulled Nerith away, back towards the center of the village. It was her sister.

"We need to get out of here," Nessa said, but Nerith was in too much shock to hear.

Nameless: Buying Time

[Day 6 of Blaugust 2015!]
[This is part of my Creative Writing Experiment.]

With a gleeful smile on his face and a wave of his hand, King Tectuk shattered the glass tornado into smaller fragments but instead of them raining down on his own troops he sent them flying at an incredible speed towards those infidels that dared to defy him. "Retreat!" was all Chahl could yell as he soiled himself just before watching his own hand get dismembered by a shard of glass, followed by his leg and then... the rest of him.

It was not going well for the warriors below either, suffering massive losses from the glass rain. Those not being killed were pinned - taking cover behind rocky outcrops or Jasmine's magical shield as minced pieces of their leader and their friends rained down upon them. While the terrifying attack quickly passed, it did leave a field full of sharp glass pieces that would make any movement a risky affair, especially if they hoped to retreat into the walled village. With the enemy army having reformed ranks and again on the move towards them there was no choice but to try it though.

Concentrating on the path back, the blonde mage magically separated the top sand along with any glass pieces embedded on it to create a safe path through. "Go quickly," Jasmine ordered. "I don't know how long I can hold it." While the other survivors fell back in single file, Indas noticed that Jasmine herself wouldn't be able to move and concentrate at the same time so the huge lady waited to be the last one and simply decided to carry the mage with her. "Don't stop," she muttered through her broken teeth.

The enemy archers who were now in range began to fire arrows at the retreating column, hitting more than a few off the path into the glass riddled sand. Indas also took an arrow to the back, but simply shrugged off the pain until she made it to safety where other allies quickly treated the wound. With no more allies coming behind them, Jasmine put the "glassed" sand back on the path to hopefully buy some time before Nerith and Nessa shut and barred the gate. Exhausted from effort the sorceress sat down on the floor next to Indas and looked at the dwindling number of people they had left, including the archers Chaya was organizing on the parapet above her. Things did not look good.

Nameless: The Wizard King

[Day 5 of Blaugust 2015!]
[This is part of my Creative Writing Experiment.]

It was a few days after Notaku's caravan had departed that the army of the Wizard King Tectuk began nearing Tea Kettle. Observing from a high outcrop, Chahl was relieved that the merchant brought with him the few citizens who were unable or unwilling to fight. As the chief expected, Tectuk had sent his largest force to stamp out this village first since it was the largest threat, and realistically none of the smaller towns would be able to withstand the sheer number of soldiers that approached from the distant horizon. The short man instinctively ran his thumb over the ornate symbols upon a small ornate jug hanging from his waist, one he had found in his younger years while adventuring through a cursed temple. One that might be able to turn the tide.

The Sisters of the Sand, along with Jasmine, Chaya and most of the combined rebel warriors waited on the open sandy plains below. While it seemed foolish to engage such a large force outside the town walls, Chahl wanted to draw them in and bait an attack. Hiding behind the walls too early could just lead to a prolonged siege, during which time Tectuk's forces would have free reign to send raiding parties to the further villages.

The soldiers were drawing close now. While the two front lines continued to march onwards the remainder slowed to a halt. As Chahl predicted, there would be no diplomacy here. The first group were likely the rawest of Tectuk's recruits, being sent in to test the enemy, to tire them out, and as fodder for whatever traps may be waiting ahead. Chahl needed to trust that his warriors below could handle them. With clashes of steel and the crackling sound of magic he watched as the enemy force seemed to engulf his own, but like a weak chain they quickly fell one after another until none were left alive.

As his forces regrouped below, the chieftain turned his attention back to the rest of the massive army that had once again begun to move forward. It was time. He uncorked the small jug and from it formed a misty blue figure. "Destroy my enemies," commanded Chahl as he pointed at the Wizard King's forces. The spirit hummed then leaped down into the sands below and began to spin like a top before the enemy front line, blinding and pushing them with whips of sand. Chahl grinned as the spirit quickly became a massive tornado of sand that slowly began to move into the enemy ranks, throwing them around like rag dolls and killing many. Those fortunate enough to not be in the path quickly began to lose their morale.

Suddenly, the cloudy skies cleared as a massive, shining column of burning light shot down right atop the tornado and turned all the spinning sand into a gigantic glass monument. Everyone on the field stopped in awe at the magnificent sight. There, on a distant ridge was a figure in gold and white robes, seated a top a magnificent throne with one hand clutching a jeweled staff raised to the heavens. It was the Wizard King.

Nameless: Payment

[Day 3 of Blaugust 2015!]
[This is part of my Creative Writing Experiment.]

The village of Tea Kettle was little more than a cluster of mud brick huts surrounded by a great stone wall in turn was surrounded by mountains but because of the great well which never seemed to run dry it had quickly become one of the largest settlements of free folk in the desert. The chieftain, Chahl, a short bald man who happened to also be built like a brick wall watched as numerous wagons full of weapons and armor rolled into his town. Beside him stood the leader of the caravan train, a slender and sly looking man with sharp eyes.

"That's the last of them," the merchant said proudly as he nodded to himself with his hands on his hips. "Now great chieftain, you might stand a chance against the army of the Wizard King! Compliments from my master, Drisana, of course."

Chahl's steely gaze didn't move. "Chance bigger with more people. Your master to send warriors also?"

"Sorry," shrugged the trader. "That wasn't part of the deal. Speaking of warriors Where are our pretty gladiators anyway?"

The stocky man turned slowly to him and ever so slightly cocked his head in a vague direction with a grunt. The merchant knew better than to ask for specifics as Chahl was renowned both for his combat mastery and for a temper as short as his stature. The wry merchant simply bowed and made his own way from hut to hut. Eventually, after pulling open the curtain door on the eighth or so house he found the people he was looking for... in various states of undress.

After sharing a moment of being awkwardly shocked with each other Nessa managed to yell a few choice curses while Indas, fully nude bar for the bandages wrapped over her wounds grabbed the scrawny man by the neck and forced him back outside. She looked particularly menacing now that she was missing many more teeth. The other townsfolk stopped as they watched the naked giant effortly lift and slowly choke the scrawny merchant with one hand. Fortunately for the man, Nerith managed to get a long tunic on and calm her companion down enough to release him. With an angry grunt, Indas returned inside the hut while he coughed some air back into him.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..." began the heavily embarrassed merchant, who wisely remained down on his knees.

"Who are you and what do you want?" asked Nessa from within the hut. She had opened the curtain just enough to show that she was armed.

"I am called Notaku and Drisana sent me here to deliver her thanks and the payment you earned for eliminating the wyvern bandits and Balkazar. She also wanted me to give you this amulet. It's of the magical variety and through simple touch and concentrating on Drisana's caravan can instantly warp the four of us right to the Sand Market."

The sisters shared a quick look between them before Nerith spoke "That won't be necessary."

"B...but there's a war coming! Having seen what you are capable of Drisana doesn't want you to throw your lives..."

"I said, that won't be necessary," repeated Nerith, more sure of herself this time as she leant down to help the man to his feet.

Flustered, Notaku looked at the sisters meekly. "Ok fine, but please just take the amulet anyway. I'll get into trouble if Drisana thinks I stole it from her."

With one eyebrow raised Nerith cautiously took the amulet from him and feeling no danger from it, decided to put it around her neck much to the chagrin of her sister. Having completed his task, Notaku gave an awkward bow and took his leave while the girls all relaxed back into their hut. It wasn't long before the curtain door opened again though and once more Indas, who was dressed this time, was the first on her feet but stopped suddenly when she saw the two blonde ladies at the door.

"Long time no see," smiled Jasmine of sorceress of Gedrin. Beside her was Chaya, the leader of the Sedrite village, also grinning from ear to ear.

"We heard there was a war coming and we want in."

Nameless: Easy

[Day 1 of Blaugust 2015!]
[This is part of my Creative Writing Experiment.]

"Why do we get to be the bait again?" grumbled Nerith to her sister as they cautiously approached the tall mouth of the large cave, lit torches in hand. A deep growl followed by heavy foot falls from within confirmed that the beast had seen them and in mere seconds advanced angrily out of the shadow and into the moonlight, letting the girls get a good look at its gigantic claws, heavily scaled back, and hideously ugly beak face. It was so focused on the two intruders in front of it that it never detected Indas and Chaya, patiently waiting above with a rather heavy looking boulder. With a large thud and a splat, the boulder found its mark right on the beast's head, killing it instantly.

"Hah, that was a lot easier than I thought," mused Chaya as she watched Indas climb down to her friends. Just before they vanished into the darkness below Chaya waved to them and gave the old arena hand sign for good luck.

The initial cave interior was pretty spacious and littered with the bones of whatever the rampager had been eating. There were higher ledges though which Indas was key to reaching, helping her smaller allies climb up the slippery and mossy rock faces. Those higher passages narrowed into a maze of cobweb filled tunnels, and more than once did the girls see the big, black spidery shapes skittering deeper into the darkness. Choosing the paths that had less webs and an an upward incline, they found a draft of cool air blowing into the caves and following that eventually found another exit near the top of the mountain which led right beside the old and crumbling stone castle.

The cold air was a good change from the sticky and hot ascent through the caves but they were given no chance to rest as a loud bell began ringing atop one of the towers: an alarm. Tossing the torches aside, the three women quickly charged towards the nearby castle walls to do what they did best - darting in serpentine lines to avoid incoming arrows and easily finding holes in the crumbling walls to breach into the ancient courtyard. The defenders were so unprepared for an attack that they were easily dealt with as they trickled in, even while Nerith climbed the crumbling parapet to get rid of the archer pair above. After a few minutes of slaughter no more reinforcements came. The girls grinned to each other, covered in blood while standing over the bodies of over a dozen bandits and a few, now mangled, wyverns, the only surviving beasts still locked in their cages - blankly staring out behind the bars.

Amidst the bodies Nerith spotted an oddly carved flute that must have belonged to one of their victims. Curious, she bent down to pick it up but before she could do so Indas quickly stomped on it - crushing it into dust. The caged wyverns suddenly all began to frenzy, as if only realizing now that they were prisoners.

"Bad magic," said the big lady in a low tone.

It was rare for Indas to say anything, so Nessa and Nerith didn't question her when she did. They considered what to do with the trapped wyverns for a moment but since it was equally dangerous to let them go or kill them, they ultimately decided to leave them where they were, letting the fates decide which ones would be strong enough to escape and which would simply die in captivity. The irony wasn't lost on Nerith as they returned through the tunnels to Sedrite to report the good news to an overjoyed Chaya.

"Our village can now rebuild properly," said the thankful woman. "We owe you our lives. We would be more than happy for you to stay of course!"

"Sorry," apologized Nessa "We still have things to do, but maybe one day you can return the favour."

After some hugs and final goodbyes, Chaya watched as the three girls walked out into the wasteland they had appeared from.

Nameless: Sedrite

[This is part of my Creative Writing Experiment.]

They were terrifying to behold, covered from head to toe in blood and leaving a trail of dead bodies in their wake. The sight of even the leathery winged creatures being dismembered by the three she demons in the fiery darkness finally caused the bandits to flee - mounting what wyverns remained and taking to the star-lit sky.

"Get back here you cowards!" yelled Nessa as she saw them retreat.

It had taken them a few days travel from Gedrin before reaching here, the village of Sedrite. Jasmine's directions had proved accurate, as did Drisana's knowledge of the wyvern bandits who happened to be raiding the poor village just as they arrived. A figure moved in the corner of her eye, causing her to ready her weapon but the shadowy form put two hands up as a sign of peace and slowly advanced into the nearby firelight. It was a woman. One as well built as them.

"You sure picked a good time to arrive," she said. "It's always a pleasure to meet another ex-gladiatrix. I am Chaya, leader of what remains of this village."

"How did you escape from the arena?" asked Nessa with more than a little suspicion.

"I didn't," Chaya laughed. "I escaped from my previous owner's bedroom. Right after I slit his throat."

"Looks like you have a bandit problem," said Nerith absent mindedly as she looked around at the state of the village. Chaya shook her head.

"No, I have a wyvern problem. I can fight back the bandits just fine but I can't chase them up to their base on the mountain. You can't see it right now but when the sun comes up it's pretty easy to see the old castle. The cliffs are just too steep to climb and I didn't want to risk being away when they decided to run another raid. Bastards have taken almost everything now: our tools, weapons, supplies. They'll be taking lives next."

"They haven't killed anyone?" asked Nessa incredoulously.

"Not for lack of trying. Me and the boys have always managed to send them running before they can do any serious harm. At least serious enough that our healers can't fix it. Alas that also means we're spread pretty thin chasing them off and not actually managing to kill them either. If you are interested in getting rid of those wyvern riders just let me know how I can help. Just remember, I'm not comfortable leaving my folk on their own."

"Do you know of any cave systems nearby?" asked Nerith, already searching for a way up the mountain. "There must be a path up there for people on foot, unless they built the whole thing while flying on wyverns..."

"There is one cave entrance I know of a bit West from here, but it is home to a nasty ravager so we always steered clear. Those beasts are not to be taken lightly. Have any of you ever fought a Ravager before?"

The sisters looked at each other and shook their heads. Indas, quietly towering at the back smiled and nodded.