The adventures of Arthago chapter II, The Rebellion Options

[Agent Griff]

Here's the link to Chapter I of Arthago's tale.
http://www.waiting4oblivion.com/forums/ind...?showtopic=1782

We can get this new chapter over with. I can also tell you that after this chapter, Arthago will move to a new province. I'm not telling though, you have to be on your guard. Well, blabbering over, here's the begining of the newest chapter of Arthago's tale. Enjoy!


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I found myself in an icy Arena, fighting someone I didn't know. He was a tall Imperial, wearing ebony plates under his blue cloak. He wielded a great mace which gave him supernatural power. He lunged at me with a ferocity I had never seen before, forcing me to put all my strength into evading his blows. He had a red in his eyes which froze the blood in my veins. What did he want? Why was I fighting him? I woke up in my inn bed after managing to hit this powerful foe. I was sweating heavily, and my head was banging. It had been a nightmare, a very realistic one. I hoped that this I wouldn't experience this kind of nightmare ever again.

Nightmares and monstrous foes aside, I had a meeting with the king of Sentinel and I didn't want to be late. I took a look at my armour. It had some patches of dirt on it, the weather in Sentinel was very windy at the time so sand storms often engulfed the city. I gave the armour a quick scrub with a cloth then put it on. I wanted to look my best if I was going to meet the King and talk affairs of state with him. I made my way downstairs and after greeting the regulars I was on my way to the palace. I decided to collect Marshall Daron from his house first. When I reached his house, I found him shaved and wearing some expensive clothes. So the Marshall had an official side to him eh?
"Are you ready sir?" I asked.
"Ready as can be, let us be off!" Marshall Daron said. And with that we were on our way to the palace.

We reached the palace soon enough, and entered the throne room. The king wasn't wearing his crown or any fancy clothes. This must have seemed like an unofficial meeting to him. Whatever. I greeted him.
"Greetings sire! We have come to discuss the subject of Lord Kain's murder." I said in an official tone.
"Yes. Lord Kain was, a good man. But sadly, the ambitions of another got into the way and he was murdered in cold blood." the King said in a sad voice.
"Aye. Lord Vhosek." Marshall Daron said.
"Yes. Lord Vhosek's personal ambitions were to rule his own province. He has it now, in the form of Lainlyn. The terms I agreed with him were that, if Lord Kain refused to rule in our name Lord Vhosek could slay him and rule the province himself. It seems Lord Vhosek didn't even propose any terms, he just plain murdered Lord Kain. If I were to send soldiers to arrest him, he could go to the kingdom of Wayrest and start a war with us. I can't have that, the men have just returned to their homes after a war. We must wait and somehow bring Lord Vhosek to justice." The king said.
"I know how." I said.
"And how may that be Arthago?" Marshall Daron asked me.
"I will go to Lord Vhosek's palace in Lainlyn and slay him myself. I can't let Lord Kain's murder go unpunished." I said in a bold tone.
"Bold words for someone so young. How will you get past Vhosek's guards? He has his own knight order to protect him." The king said. He was right, I was geting too bold for my own age and experience.
"Yes, you are right my king. But what shall we do? Lord Vhosek might as well build his power in Lainlyn and start a war with us. We must neutralize him. If he lied to your Majesty and murdered Lord Kain just to gain power then he doesn't feel any fear towards your Highness." I said.
"Aye, true words. I must say that you have a great ammount of political savy my boy." the king said. Wow, beeing aknowledged by the king felt great.
"I have heard that some rebellious groups have been popping up in the north of the kingdom. Maybe Lord Vhosek has already started his movements?" Marshall Daron said.
"Unprobable, but we must check into it. We cannot risk Lord Vhosek making troop movements in our own backyard. You are to look into it Arthago." the king said.
"I would be proud my king. Where must I go?" I asked.
"Go to the town of Verkath, south west of Skaven, and inspect the situation there. Come back and report once you've found any evidence of troop movements alright?" Marshall Daron said.
"Aye, I'll be on it right now. I'm off to pack my things and any suplies I might need on the journey. Farewell my king! I shall return once I find enough evidence of troop movements." I said in an anxious tone. Finally, a new quest, not just any quest, a quest from the King! And with that I was off to the market to buy some food and water.


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And that's the first bit of this chapter. It was kind off short, but the next one will be longer, I promise you. And if some of you missed the last update of the first chapter then you should check it out. Cheers!

This post has been edited by Agent Griff: Mar 26 2006, 10:34 AM

[Agent Griff]

I won't keep you waiting with the next update. Here it is!


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After buying a sack full of food and some bottles of water, I was off to the stables to get Whisper, my horse. I found him sleeping. Damn horse, the lack of recent activity made him fatten up. No matter, he would get all his fat off in the coming journey! I woke him up with a slap on the back of the neck. He reacted just as he always did in a shy way and got up. I saddled him and we were off to Verkath to inspect local unrest. Since Verkath was a northern city close to the Dragontail mountains I bought some warm clothes.

My 20-th birthday caught me on the road, just as my 19-th one did. I really needed to catch a birthday in the city. If I continued to make my aniversary in the middle of nowhere, I don't think I would ever receive any presents. At most a fart from my horse. Birthdays and honour aside, I was a few miles out of Sentinel and already a highwayman aproached me.
"Well, what have we ere'? A little Redguard from Sentinel?" the highwayman said. He was a tall Nord.
"Step back bandit! I'm a knight of Sentinel in service of the King! If you don't want to have a whole guard squad after you then step away from me!" I boldly said to the tall Nord. He seemed intimidated and stepped away a few steps. I had seen bigger men than him in my days.
"I'll be seeing you around Redguard. I'm Beomir. Remember the name you hear?" the Nord said while turning his back to me. So my intimidation tactics finally worked for a change eh? It seemed the name of the King held power even outside the city.

The journey held no events from that Nord bandit onwards. I was already crossing a path through the mountains that would help me reach Verkath faster. It was a perfect place for an ambush. The good thing was nobody knew I was coming, so I was safe for the moment. I wasn't puting too much strain on Whisper. That Nord bandit gave him enough unpleasant feelings. Night was falling though and I had to make camp quickly if I wanted to avoid any creatures of the night. I had heard rumours of unholy creatures in the mountains so I had to watch out. Since I forgot to buy a tent, I had to make due with a small cave I found in the mountain crags. It was abandoned, thankfully. I made a small fire inside to keep me warm and baked some food over it. I gave what pieces I didn't like to the horse. He didn't quite like it either, but he was on a diet so he didn't have much choice. He ate the food anyway, seems he wanted to keep his belly. I then, slowly acustomed myself to the cold floor of the cave. I fell in a deep sleep after that.

I found myself in that Ice Arena again, fighting with that monster of a man. I don't even think he was a man, he seemed to lack the fear of dying that most men have. He lunged at me with all he had and succeded in throwing my scimitar out of my hands. I dodged the blow of his mace that followed but I still felt it connect. I realised that I had to fight this oponent or die to exit the dream. If I died in the dream maybe I died in the real world too, I had heard tales of men dying in their sleep. The monster picked me up with his free hand and with great force threw me across that arena. Something gave him unnatural strength. It must have be the mace he wields, it seems to glow with evil. Still, I managed to lead him into attacking me. If this oponent had any weakness, it was his overconfidence. I managed to vault over him and aquaint him with my foot. It felt good to be on top of things after a while. We both took distance between eachother, but before I or he could act, I woke up in the cave. Damn these nightmares!

Whisper was already awake. Pretty strange, he loved to sleep more than it was necesarry in the morning. I saddled him and hunged the sack of food to my back. I was ready to resume my journey to Verkath. The shortcut through the mountains had given me a day's advantage. Later, close to sun set, I set my eyes on the city. It wasn't that big and it wasn't much of a city, it was more of a stronghold in the mountains. A stone wall protected its eastern face while the sheer rock of the mountains closed off all of its other sides. If Lord Vhosek's men were to strike here, our forces would have a hard time capturing the city back from Vhosek's men. I aproached the gates....


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That's it for this update! I hope you've liked it thus far. And good luck in the Clash of the Titans, you're gonna need it!