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Shouja

Themes of Eternity

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“The law can go to Hades!â€

 

It was a good story, but I think you should change that line. People wouldn't call the underworld Hades. Maybe change it so something like "The law be damned to Mortos' realm." or something like that.

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Isn't that part of the problem? I thought one of the consequences of the curse, according to the main story that Lyanna posted, was that the people were growing too old to live but couldn't die? :) Quite a few of my stories were based on that idea, like "Gloom".

 

 

The ones that are old when the curse happened, which would have been many, ARE too old to live but can't die, yes. Your story doesn't contradict anything that I've noticed..don't worry :)

 

And yea hte Hades line needs to change..the Underworld I guess would be it.

Edited by Roja

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Well, going to Hades means going to the realm of the Greek God Hades. EL can be multi-cultural, just one of the most common Pantheons is that of the EL Gods.

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Well, going to Hades means going to the realm of the Greek God Hades. EL can be multi-cultural, just one of the most common Pantheons is that of the EL Gods.

 

In EL there is no such thing. There is only the EL pantheon. So "the underworld" is the term we use for the Lower realms, aka the Realms of Mortos and his minions.

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Okay, I changed Hades to the Underworld. And here's the other half of the equation that I promised earlier, from the soldier in Futility. With a touch of dark humor.

 

~Shouja~

 

 

Compassion

 

The man’s screams were grating on my nerves. For Unolas’ sake, it was only flame! Nothing to get too excited about. Fire magic was commonplace. Now, if I had been really exotic, I could have tried Meyerham’s Festering Pimples of Acidic Pus. That would have been worth screaming about.

 

Finally, the screams extinguished and the burning figure collapsed onto the floor. I checked the timepiece. One minute and twelve seconds. That’s how long it took for him to die. I gestured, and the pair of apprentices moved into the room to sweep the floor clean. They avoided the spot where the charred remains of the criminal were slowly vanishing.

 

“Well?†I asked, over the mental link to Pythias.

 

“I say, N’tala, what did you do to him? The poor wretch is still screaming down here in horror,†Pythias complained.

 

“So he didn’t permanently vanish after all? Drat. That’s another option gone.†I was feeling frustrated. We had been working for ten days now, experimenting on criminals and convicts, to try and find a magic spell that would be able to bypass the curse’s resurrective power.

 

“Nope. In fact, he seems to be more alive than ever, from the volume of noise he’s making here in the underworld,†Pythias said.

 

“Well, hurry up and teleport him back to his cell up here,†I said, letting some of my irritation show. “I don’t want to waste any more time than necessary.â€

 

“Umm… maybe we should wait a while and let this fellow calm down,†Pythias said doubtfully. “We don’t have many mentally-stable test subjects left, and I want to preserve them for as long as possible.â€

 

The apprentices were bringing in the next subject, who was whimpering and trying to wrench himself out of their grasp. I gestured in irritation and cast a mild stunner spell to render him unconscious for ten seconds. They quickly dumped him on the testing grounds and evacuated into the safety chambers.

 

“Whatever,†I said absently to Pythias. “Just make sure he’s ready to go by the time I finish off my supply of bodies. I’m about to start on another one now.â€

 

“Oh no, wait! I haven’t had time to prepare yet!†Pythias was sounding flustered. I ignored him and looked down at the huge tome in front of me. 3,782 spells left to go. I scanned the list, and found one that caught my eye. Oh, why not?

 

“Meyerham’s Festering Pimples of Acidic Pus!â€

Edited by Shouja

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I'm running out of steam for writing, so this will be the second last piece. Again, a rather nice and optimistic piece.

 

~Shouja~

 

Enterprise

 

“I’m telling you Marsley, we’ve got a golden opportunity here!†Perschal was talking at his usual rapid pace, effervescing with excitement at his latest idea. “I’ve just met a guy who came back from ancient times, and he says that he knew what Naralik used to look like, back when it was a city. It turns out that he was one of architects hired to build the castle in the first place!â€

 

Now that did sound interesting. Most of Perschal’s ideas were half-baked, crackpot schemes for economic domination, but every now and then a gem would turn up. It was my job to weed through the piles of rubbish and find the rare ones that were worthwhile.

 

“He says that he can sell us the blueprints, for a tiny share of the profits,†Perschal continued. “I’ve had a look at them, and they’re fantastic! Ancient architecture was a lot different from modern styles. The locals would get a kick out of it!â€

 

“So what exactly are you suggesting, Perschal?†I said, trying to dampen down his enthusiasm with a chilly tone of voice. Of course, that worked about as well as trying to freeze a fireball.

 

“It’s brilliant, man! You’re going to love it! I’m thinking of rebuilding the place and marketing it as a tourist attraction! It’s got all the qualities of a great tourist spot – historical and cultural landmark, something new and different, and heck, it could even be nostalgic for the guys from the past, like my architect friend! We charge 100 gold coins a pop, and we’ll be rolling in millions in no time!†Perschal was almost beside himself with anticipation, rubbing his hands together as though he could already see the gold clinking into them.

 

My mind was suddenly swept away by the allure of Perschal’s vision. Naralik, ancient city of the humans, arising from the ruins of time like a phoenix. Yes, the locals would love it. Even the Irilians might be interested, if we market it to them properly. With difficulty, I forced myself back to cold, hard practicality.

 

“You’re forgetting two things, Perschal,†I said, holding out two fingers and ticking them off methodically. “One, there are several monsters who view Naralik as their home…â€

 

“Yeah, but we can just hire some mercenaries and go kill them off…†Perschal’s voice trailed off as he realised what he was saying.

 

“… and two, they are unkillable,†I finished. Perschal hung his head in despondency. I shook my head in disgust as well. It was a brilliant idea, but the curse had changed our normal way of doing business. Mercenaries and roving guardsmen had begun charging higher prices for their services, and now we had to maintain a constant guard on all of our projects, since they could fall prey at any time to the never-ending hordes of undying monsters roaming the continent. That added considerable amounts to the running costs of any project.

 

“Darn it, and it was such a good idea, too,†Perschal said sadly, nursing his beer mug. I glanced over at him. Perschal was mercurial in nature. One minute he was as high as the sky, and the next minute he would sink down into the lower depths of the ocean. I needed to cheer him up again before he went depressive on me.

 

I clapped my hand on his shoulder. “Well, don’t worry about it too much,†I said kindly. “It would have worked very well in another age, but we’ve got to adapt to the times, old boy. New situations call for new ways of doing business!â€

 

“Yeah, you’re right…†Perschal started to brighten up.

 

“And that’s why we love it so much, don’t we?†I cried, thumping the table. “That’s what we do best! Perschal and Marsley, Entrepreneurs Extraordinaire!â€

 

“Yeah, that’s right! Hey Marsley, listen up! I’ve just thought of another idea…â€

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These are incredible. After these are done what are you going to write for us. :P Im hoping you will continue, you have a good grasp of writing and how the world of EL would work. Please let us know if we can help at all, I am a proofreader, but I can do little with your pieces because they are written quite well. Good job.

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Thanks for all the compliments. :P I have no plans yet, since I'm also involved in half a dozen other projects on the Net. This was just a short excursion to practice my writing skills, which were getting a little rusty. I'm glad you liked them. Now, to finish off on a sour note (since it IS a collection of angsty tales after all...) here's the final themefic. This can probably serve as a quest background story too, for people who want to play 'evil' characters.

 

~Shouja~

 

Betrayal

 

When I awoke, my first thoughts were of Liselle. The bride of my youth, the flower in my heart. I was happy to find out that she was still alive, and it had only been four years since my death. I rejoiced at the new lease of life that I had been given – a life that I could now enjoy with my love. Quickly, I ran back to my village, where I was sure to find Liselle, still staying in the house that we had first moved into as newlyweds, the house that I had built with my own hands during our long betrothal.

 

I arrived at dusk, and there were the villagers returning from their fields, but I avoided them at the moment. I wanted the first one to see my resurrected self to be Liselle. Quickly, I hurried under the cover of gathering nightfall to the little cottage at the edge of the woods.

 

When I arrived, I was a little surprised to find the house empty. However, Liselle’s shoes were at the doorstep, and a pot of stew had been left to boil over a merry little fire, so I surmised that she had only left for a short while. She must have gone into the woods, as she was often wont to do. I remember how we had many such walks among our beloved trees during our courtship.

 

I strode through the trees, delighting in the memories that flowed back to me through the mists of time. Love had made this a hallowed place, love had brought me back even from death to be at her side again. I could not wait to see Liselle and wrap her in my arms.

 

Hark! There she was! But what was she doing? And who was that man beside her? I could only see his back, as they were both facing away from me. I was puzzled and curious. Something stirring within me warned me not to approach them carelessly, so I carefully muted my footfalls and sneaked close enough to overhear their conversation.

 

Liselle was kneeling down, putting flowers in front of a gravestone. Straining, I managed to make out the words on the epitaph and was surprised to find my name there. That was my grave! That was where I had been buried. I was pleased that Liselle had chosen to bury me in the woods that we loved, instead of the horrible decrepit village cemetery.

 

“Jonathan,†Liselle was saying. “The time I spent with you was truly a precious memory to me. They will be memories that I will always cherish.†I was warmed to hear my love speak of our moments together. “But,†she continued. “That’s what they are – just memories now. I’ve spent four years mourning you. It’s time for me to move on.â€

 

She paused for a second. The man put his hand on her shoulder and drew her to his side. Abruptly, I recognised him as my dear friend Sidney. But what was he doing to my wife?

 

“Sidney has been very kind to me, in all those years that you’ve gone,†Liselle continued. “And I’ve grown to love him as well. So…â€

 

“So we ask for your blessing on our wedding,†Sidney interjected softly. “We hope you’ll watch over us from afar and rejoice that we’ve found happiness again.â€

 

WHAT was THIS?!

 

I reeled back in shock, my mind spinning. My best friend and my wife were getting married? How could they? How could they do this to me?

 

Absently, I realised that Liselle and Sidney had gotten up and were beginning to walk back towards me, arm-in-arm. They stopped for a kiss, and my lips and heart burned like fire. Liselle’s eyes were shining – shining like the way they did when they had looked into mine. Shining at Sidney. I couldn’t stand to see anymore, so I fled blindly into the woods, my aching heart a wellspring of tears that continued to blur my vision.

 

Why? Why did I come back, if it was only to see my wife in the arms of another man?

 

What did I do to deserve this? How could she have forgotten me so easily? How dare Sidney betray me and steal my wife?

 

The longer I thought, the darker my mind became. The day had faded away into night, and the darkness aided my brooding. Inside, I could feel all the love I had for Liselle slowly crumble into ashes, and a rising tide of hatred began to build up. This wedding must not happen. They did not deserve to have happiness without me. How dare they!

 

I stayed in the darkening woods, plotting my revenge.

Edited by Shouja

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excellent! ;)

 

Well, I hope you do write more, on another theme. You can do anything you want really as long as it stays within the specs for EL :D

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Can someone make these into .xml books, and also give me the book id's, coordinates, and what maps they are in(with a good detailed description of where the book is).?

 

We can put them in the update if someone can do this :D

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Can someone make these into .xml books, and also give me the book id's, coordinates, and what maps they are in(with a good detailed description of where the book is).?

 

We can put them in the update if someone can do this :w00t:

will do (so that no-one else does it at the same time :) )

 

ed: okay, finished bookifying them. but before i send it in...

Compassion

“Oh no, wait, geez! I haven’t had time to prepare yet!â€

this is one line I'd suggest for a bit of a change. geez comes from jesus, and there's no such person in EL's mythology :)

Edited by ttlanhil

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ed: okay, finished bookifying them. but before i send it in...

Compassion

“Oh no, wait, geez! I haven’t had time to prepare yet!â€

this is one line I'd suggest for a bit of a change. geez comes from jesus, and there's no such person in EL's mythology :w00t:

 

I think it can stand as it is.

 

I don't mind seeing it changed tho :blink:

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I think it can stand as it is.

 

I don't mind seeing it changed tho :blink:

if Shouja wants to keep it as is, that's fine with me, but it's the sort of thing that happens naturally and you don't realise you've added it. so I'll wait for a yay/nay about changing that before sending the books & list to Roja

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Removed the heck. (The only one I spotted was in "Compassion"... was there another one?) You guys can edit it by yourselves whenever you want to. The idea of not ageing still disturbs me, but I couldn't figure out why until I took the concept, reversed the direction, and went all the way with it. The result was the story you see below. I think it shows the problem quite nicely. :P

 

~Shouja~

 

Hope

 

When I went to see the magic midwife at Grahms' Village, she confirmed that I had conceived and was with child. I was ecstatic at the news. David and I had been trying for years to have a child of our own, and to be finally told the news at this point in time where the world was in gloom was a special blessing. Our child, the culmination of our hopes and prayers, had finally arrived.

 

I couldn't understand why Minerva, the midwife, was expressing her heartfelt sympathies.

 

Not until she explained what had happened.

 

With the coming of the new age of eternity, no one aged anymore. The old were saved from death, and we rejoiced in that, although those that were mortally ill were saddened. But those were a mere few. David and I, being in the prime of our lives and deeply in love with one another, were supremely happy.

 

It would never affect us, we had thought.

 

But Minerva had been one of the first to encounter the other consequences of the mixed blessing that Aluwen had given us. No one grew old, yes. But it didn't just stop there. No one grew, period. Not the old, not the young, not the infants.

 

Not the babes lying in the wombs of their expectant mothers.

 

Mothers who had suckling infants were forced to bear their wails when their own milk had run dry, and watch their eternal babes suffer for the lack of nourishment. Farmers who had planted seeds never saw their harvests, for the curse had affected plants as well. Some farmers became instantly rich from a never-ending harvest of crops that regenerated their fruits after one night. Some became penniless, with no produce from seeds that would never bud.

 

Just like how the seed of David and I would never bear fruit.

 

I sat back and contemplated an eternity of pregnancy without childbirth.

Edited by Shouja

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