Author Topic: The Tale of HappySinner and WarNick (Read 37414 times)

HappySinner · « **Reply #100 on:** February 28, 2006, 10:56:22 AM »

Having a Beavis & Butthead moment are we, Spider?

HappySinner · « **Reply #101 on:** March 12, 2006, 06:21:55 PM »

The Tale of HappySinner and WarNick
Part 17.

Before the men lay a large domed room, dimly lit and with the same glazed rock walls as the passage they had just traversed. In the available light Sinner could make out several large wooden chairs set around a massive table and a small but ornate altar cut into the rock of the far wall, the source of the faint illumination in the room. Other furniture formed indistinct shapes in the gloom, and doorways and wall hangings showed as opaque squares in the slightly reflective walls of what was obviously a well furnished living area.

“I think we’re alone” said Sinner, but his step was nonetheless cautious as he crossed the room, scanning left and right. Nick took two paces into the room and stopped, his eyes on the shadowy doorways in the left wall. To his right was a large fire pit surrounded by cooking utensils and various small knives, and a couple of dilapidated old wooden stools. The room ended there with no doors or other features save for the reflective sheen of the glassy wall.

Sinner had reached the niche containing the altar, and was inspecting the objects laid upon the altar’s highly polished stone surface. An ornate wood cup filled with a dark, viscous fluid sat next to the skull of a small rodent and a stone bowl half filled with water. Across the front of the altar lay several small burnt twigs and two narrow strips of dried meat, each with a piece of thread (one black, one white, Sinner noted) tied at one end. Sniffing in distaste, Sinner turned his attention to the source of the illumination coming through the top of the niche. Leaning into the niche and looking up, Sinner saw that the top of the niche was in fact a narrow tunnel, extending straight up the height of two good-sized men before ending in a highly reflective surface, not unlike polished metal or glass. Sinner smiled to himself. Ingenious, he thought. The light’s coming in via a series of mirrors and lenses set in a tunnel reaching to the outside of the mountain. Nosaj had help with this.

Withdrawing from the niche, Sinner was careful not to disturb the objects on the altar. The room grew suddenly brighter, and he turned to see that Nick had relit his torch and used its light to find a cache of oil lamps. In a short time the room was well lit and the weary travelers were exploring what had been Nosaj’s lair, starting the fire in the fire pit and finding a surprisingly large and fresh supply of foodstuffs in a well-stocked pantry. Whatever Nosaj had become, he still had the requirements and needs of a normal man - a very fortunate fact for Sinner and Nick, as it had turned out!
The doorways - there were three - led to a sleeping room, a store room and a steep stairway spiraling up and out to a huge ledge cut into the side of the mountain. Upon reaching the ledge the pair found that night had fallen so they had decided to leave any further exploring for the safer daytime, returning to the main area to prepare a much needed meal. Nick found some wineskins, completing a repast the likes of which they had not seen since leaving their homelands. Cured meat, baked tubers, fresh leafy vegetables and a coarse but nourishing bread were washed own with goblets of the potent fruity wine, and the strain of the past weeks slowly eased. Here, at least for now, Sinner and Nick had a chance to revive their battered and weary bodies and minds without any immediate threat from man, beast or demon.

HappySinner · « **Reply #102 on:** March 12, 2006, 06:23:48 PM »

Nick lay on one of the heavily padded lounges, his goblet balanced next to him. The effects of the wine had eased some of the aches and pains, and he smiled to himself as he watched the lamps’ myriad reflections on the walls. Sinner was standing in front of the altar niche, goblet in hand as he idly examined the stone surface of the altar. He had said little since their meal, and Nick what it meant when his friend was in one of his thoughtful silences. However, there were still some questions that had gone unanswered from the past day, and he was in no mood to wait any longer. He made an exaggerated show of clearing his throat, bringing a glance and a smile from his companion. Sinner knew that Nick had been patiently bursting with questions, so he took a seat across from him and drew deeply on his wine as Nick sat up to face him.

“You know, Sinner, I nearly coughed my heart up when you said that stuff to Nosaj out there today. What a stroke of chance to befall us! How do you know him? Is he - was he of your people?” Nick thought for a second, and then looked at his friend, who had sat without answering. Nick realized that there was a lot he didn’t know about this man with whom had shared this incredible journey. The real question he wanted to ask flashed into his mind. Blinking twice, he looked at Sinner again. Sinner was smiling slightly, as if he knew what was going on in Nick’s head. He was waiting for the question, Nick was sure of it.
“Come to think of it, Sinner - who are your people? I know you’re from the North somewhere, that you travel widely, and that you are welcome in most places, but where are you from? Who are your people?”

“Sinner - who are you?”

Nosaj · « **Reply #103 on:** March 13, 2006, 04:16:57 PM »

Oh sure . Just go and MAKE yourselves at home in MY home and take all my food just because you killed me.

HappySinner · « **Reply #104 on:** March 13, 2006, 06:49:53 PM »

Since you're here...

Where's the pickle?

Nosaj · « **Reply #105 on:** March 14, 2006, 03:48:56 PM »

I had those with me when you and Nick killed me. So it's in the filth slugs belly.

HappySinner · « **Reply #106 on:** March 14, 2006, 06:33:58 PM »

Gross. Oh, well - good thing Nick found the chutney.

chewie · « **Reply #107 on:** March 15, 2006, 12:07:17 PM »

any rum?

HappySinner · « **Reply #108 on:** March 16, 2006, 02:35:13 PM »

Nope - just this wine that's a cross between Lambrusco and Avgas.

chewie · « **Reply #109 on:** March 16, 2006, 02:41:51 PM »

" it tasts like... BURNING"

Nosaj · « **Reply #110 on:** April 02, 2006, 07:56:05 PM »

This needs some serious updates.

HappySinner · « **Reply #111 on:** April 03, 2006, 12:14:38 AM »

Sorry dude. Some family matters to take care of, and I'll be right with you.

Nosaj · « **Reply #112 on:** April 03, 2006, 04:30:05 PM »

Fair enough. Can't argue with that.

HappySinner · « **Reply #113 on:** April 28, 2006, 05:48:49 PM »

The Tale of HappySinner and WarNick
Part 18.

Sinner chuckled softly as he leaned forward and placed his goblet on the low table between them. Leaning back in his chair, he regarded the young man before him. They had traveled far together and risked many perils. Nick deserved at least some of the truth.

“My people are from the north, yes. Far to the northwest, near the Mountains of the Rim.”
Nick’s hand stopped halfway to his mouth, his wine momentarily forgotten. “The Mountains? There’s only one place out there that I know of, and you - well...“ He paused to sip his wine. “You don’t look like the type of man who would be one of... those...” Nick’s voice trailed off into silence, a quizzical expression crossing his face as he looked at Sinner, who was nodding slowly, an enigmatic smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
“Indeed, lad, I am by birth a citizen of the kingdom of Merrin.”
“But Merrin is full of Priests and Priestesses of the Sphere of Music, and besides, legend says that it’s the kingdom without a king - or at least, a kingdom ruled by a ghost.” Nick took a long draught on his wine and shook his head - something he seemed to do a lot when talking to Sinner.
“Surely, you can’t be one of the Priests of Merrin - They never leave their homeland. Legend has it that they perish if kept away from their crystal cathedrals for too long.” Nick rose to retrieve the wineskin hanging on the wall. When he was seated again, Sinner spoke.

“First of all, no - I’m not a Priest. Not in the literal sense, anyway.” Sinner held up a restraining hand to stifle Nick’s quick response. “I know, I know. That wasn’t the complete and final answer you wanted, so let’s leave it at the fact that I am not a Priest of Merrin. If I was, I could not have come on this journey past the boundaries of civilization, and not just because of the crystal bleed. A Priest of Merrin cannot commit an act of violence, for any reason, for to do so would be to sink too deeply into the third dimension, and connexion with The Spheres would be lost forever. That is something the priests must avoid at all costs, for all our sakes. It’s a lot to explain, but...”
“Sinner, wait... just - wait.” Nick interrupted, his brow knotted with questions. “Okay, the priests can’t get into a fight, but did I hear you right before? Did you say crystal bleed? What in all the hells is that?”
Sinner heaved a deep sigh and took a sip from his drink. “Like I said, lad, it’s a lot to explain. There are many things that you would have to be a Merrinite to fully understand, but I will tell you this. It is not a thing we share with men, therefore I must ask for your blood oath that this knowledge dies with you, never passing your lips to another soul.” Sinner’s voice was kindly, but there was no mistaking the seriousness in his eyes.
As a warrior, Nick understood the meaning of a man’s honour. “We have been through too much together for there to be anything between us but trust and loyalty to the death. You have my word.” Their gazes met, and a tacit agreement was made in that moment. Sinner nodded slowly and accorded his friend a satisfied smile.
“I value nothing more. Here is the thing, Nick. The priests are not originally of Merrin. They are... different from the rest of the Merrinites.”
Nick was intrigued. “They originate with another tribe?”
Sinner looked at Nick intently, as if judging his resilience.
“Not quite. They originate with another species. Another world....”
Sinner stopped and sighed again. Nick was staring, mouth agape. If he could handle that much, he would live through one little bit more.

“The Priests of Merrin are from another dimension. Their cathedrals’ crystals sustain them in this world - without them, their cells break down and they simply internally bleed to death. They are the reason that men have no real knowledge of The Orms. They have been protecting our world from his influence, with a little help from some special friends on this side. I am one of those friends.”
Nick was still staring wordlessly. It was not just the import of Sinner’s words that had struck him dumb, it was Sinner himself. As the minstrel spoke, he seemed to begin to glow with an inner energy, as if the duress of their long journey had fallen away, far more than a meal and a few hours rest could account for. A new suspicion began to grow in Nick’s already overloaded mind.

And he wasn’t sure if he really wanted to know the answer.

Ormsby_Guitars · « **Reply #114 on:** April 29, 2006, 06:38:11 AM »

... maybe i dont know how this ends after all...

HappySinner · « **Reply #115 on:** April 29, 2006, 10:51:26 AM »

...that makes two of us...

TnT · « **Reply #116 on:** May 02, 2006, 12:22:57 PM »

I sense the biggest sham since The Neverending Story.. PART 2 !?

HappySinner · « **Reply #117 on:** May 02, 2006, 04:34:06 PM »

Sense this. We have a mountain to climb yet.

chewie · « **Reply #118 on:** May 31, 2006, 01:31:05 AM »

UPDATE

Nosaj · « **Reply #119 on:** May 31, 2006, 06:48:14 AM »

I recon.

HappySinner · « **Reply #120 on:** May 31, 2006, 11:11:30 AM »

The Tale of HappySinner and WarNick
Part 19.

The two men sat in silence, each watching the other. Nick was visibly distressed. He had on this adventure encountered things that he had never dreamed existed in the heavens or earth, and the one constant throughout his travels had been the tall, quiet minstrel from the North. Sinner was his contact with reality in these hellish times, and that contact now seemed gossamer-thin as he regarded his companion with something approaching awe, tinged with fear. The aura of energy surrounding his friend was no phantasm. If he was not one of the Priests of Merrin, then...

“Nick” said Sinner, rousing the warrior from his stunned paralysis. “Listen to me. Carefully.”
Nick blinked several times and took a sip of his wine. His mouth had become bone dry. Taking a deep breath, he focused on his friend. The aura was gone now, and he wondered briefly if he had indeed imagined the whole thing. Sinner’s voice had a soothing tone, emoting calm and comfort as he continued.
“I am a man, just like you. You have seen my blood. It is as red as yours. What you just saw was a communion with The Spheres. It is one of the benefits of my... association with the Priests.”
Nick was feeling more in control now, and was trying to assimilate this amazing new information. “Communion?” he said. “You communicate with these - spheres?”
“Not exactly” replied Sinner. “It’s more like a transfer of energy on a spiritual level that manifests itself in the physical. That’s as close as I can come to explaining it. The Priests say that it is an infusion of the life-force, the basic essence of our existence.” This time it was Sinner’s turn to shake his head. “I get something more, though. I feel something else coming in with the energy. Every time it happens, I think that I’m about to grasp the meaning of the message, but it never quite crystallizes in my mind.” Sinner looked at Nick and chuckled, a warm, familiar sound to the younger man’s ears.
“I think I’m being prepared for something by the Priests. I’m damned if I know what it is, and they’re not telling me, but they know something I don’t.” Sinner drained his tankard and motioned for his companion to refill it.
“You said ‘message’ just then” said Nick as he upended the wineskin. “Do you think the Spheres are telling you something? Who - or what - are these Spheres anyway?” The initial shock of the evening’s revelations was fading, and in its place were countless unanswered questions.
Sinner thought for a second. “The message - if that’s what it is - is not in words, but feels like more of a concept, an understanding of what is going to happen to me.”
“Happen to you?”

“Did I say that?” Sinner smiled, half to himself. “Hm. I don’t know. I guess... I guess I’ll know when I’m supposed to“. He took a deep draught of his wine and placed the tankard on the table.
“What about the Spheres?” Nick asked. He was still feeling out of his depth, and was trying to understand a situation that seemed to him to be straight out of a fairy tale - or a nightmare.
“The Priests tell me that the concept of the Spheres cannot be fully expressed in terms that we would understand. I can tell you that the Priests are intimately connected with whatever the Spheres are, and might even be Third Dimensional extensions of that same energy.”
Nick stared blankly at Sinner. This was all too much. “I don’t get it, but if you understand some of it, then I shall trust your judgement and your word, Sirrah.” Nick smiled crookedly and raised his tankard in a salute to his friend.

“You may have had a little more experience with these things than you realize, lad” said Sinner as he returned the salute with a grin. Then, setting down his tankard, he leveled an unreadable gaze at Nick and asked a question that seemed to instantly sour the wine in the young warrior’s stomach.

“Tell me about your visitation from The Orms.”

HappySinner · « **Reply #121 on:** July 21, 2006, 09:54:55 AM »

The Tale of HappySinner and WarNick
Part 20.

Nick flushed and looked away, his cheeks reddening with the memory.
“I - don’t think it was The Orms himself, Sinner.” Looking back at his friend, he slowly shook his head. “I just don’t think it could’ve been... well... oh, hells!” Nick looked decidedly uncomfortable, but Sinner made no move or sound to prompt his agitated companion.
“The Orms sent one of his demons for me. Only I didn’t realize at first... She was just so beautiful...” Nick’s eye’s focused on a time before the beginning of their journey, a time, in fact, that precipitated the chain of events that brought the young warrior and the enigmatic minstrel together, and to this place. It seemed a lifetime ago, though - almost as though it was the memory of another person leaving a ghostly image in his mind.
Sinner finally broke his silence. “A woman, then? A Demon in female flesh?”
Nick took a deep breath. “It was the end of the young men’s final training, after which they were accepted at the warrior’s tables as equals. There was a bigger celebration than normal, because I was leading the group of new warriors before the chief - my father - to receive the oath of protection from the head of our clan.”
“The son of a chief should receive no less” chuckled Sinner, sipping his wine.
Nick smiled in return. “I had presented the new warriors, and after the celebrations were underway, I slipped back to my pavilion to change my parade uniform for one more suited to - ah - socializing.” Sinner’s eyes twinkled, but he said nothing, nodding for Nick to continue.
“I was about to leave my pavilion for the celebration, when I suddenly became aware of someone in the room with me... someone with an incredible aura of energy about them.” Nick’s eyes again took on a far-away look. “I reached for my sword as I turned, but was struck still by what my eyes beheld - a vision of loveliness such as I had never seen! A warrior Princess by her garb, but with a softness and womanliness unlike any of the warrior women of the Southern Plains. She looked at me as if she could see into my soul, and moved without a sound. She said to me; You are not the killer your father is. Your soul is in music.” Nick shuddered at the recollection. “I had never told a single person about my feelings about taking on the War Chieftainship. Everyone knew I played, but many of the warriors have a musical bent. It never affected their efficiency as killers. I wanted to be the first Music Master of our tribe since the great Ruenthal, generations ago. I had never uttered a word of it to anyone - ever.” Nicks eyes now held a pleading look as he wrung his hands together. “She was standing in the entrance to my room, then she was in my arms - like that.” Nick snapped his fingers. “And I don’t mean she was eager to be with me, Sinner... I mean, I didn’t see her cross the room. But when she was in my arms, I... I couldn’t quite control what happened. She had... she knew what was in my head and my heart, and she knew how to make a man forget his own name, by the gods below.”
Nick’s brow was glistening slightly with a thin film of perspiration, and he drew a ragged breath before going on. “I don’t know if I took her, or if she took me, but my sleeping furs were all around us, and all I could hear was her voice, telling me I had a destiny to find the instrument that was the extension of my soul - even as she took my body, she filled my mind with the image of what could be, and I was almost gone. I would have handed my soul to her on a platter at that moment. But then...” Nick stopped, and closed his eyes. “For some reason, I noticed something that turned everything around. As she whispered my name, kissing my face, telling me of my destiny, I... realized... she had no breath! She spoke, she sighed, she moaned my name in way that... but she wasn’t breathing!” Nick’s eyes opened at that moment, and were rimmed with unshed tears of remembered terror. “She saw me realize this, and let me see then in her eyes what she was, without letting me leave her embrace or her body. I was in congress with a - a creature not of my kind, that had planted the seed of my soul’s instrument in my heart, to tear at me from within until I sought it out.” Nick’s face twisted into a grimace of disgust and he spat on the floor. “Aaach! I leapt up from her and found my sword, but she just lay there on my bed and laughed! You have all of me that you need now, my little man-thing, she said, And soon enough, I will have all of you.”

HappySinner · « **Reply #122 on:** July 21, 2006, 09:57:09 AM »

Nick looked ill. Taking a long, slow breath to calm himself, he then took a long draught of his wine. “Then she just faded into the night air, like a whisper of mist. The smell of her - it - was still in the room, like sickly perfume. And in my head, a sound... the sound that was to drive me to the Inn at which you met me. The sound of my guitar. The instrument of my soul.”
Nick held his cup to be refilled, then; “If I can claim my instrument and vanquish The Orms, then I may go some way to washing the stench of that demon whore from my body and my soul. If I have to slay an army of his minions, I will get to him! I will revenge the taint on my blood from his succubus lackey bitch!” Nick made as if to throw his cup across the room, then thought better of it and leaned back in his seat, smiling shakily at Sinner.
“Sorry, Sinner. I have never spoken of this before, and it turns my stomach to know that I have been used by a creature such as that. I will save my vengeance for The Orms, when I meet him.”
“You have no reason to apologize, lad - I have knowledge of what you have faced, and you have fared better than most I have seen.” Sinner was still looking intently at Nick, concern and uncertainty playing across his craggy features. “That is why I am glad that it is you I am on this journey with. The Orms chose you, because he knows that you were the son of a warrior chief, and your bloodline has qualities that he wishes to assimilate into his own being. He has already started.”
Nick started. “What? What do you mean? His demon took some of my essence back to her stinking master for a taste?”
It was Sinner’s turn to take a deep breath. “I know a little more than most about The Evil Orms, lad, and I have an idea what he ultimately is after. Your bloodline has something he - or it - needs, and The Orms must vanquish me to complete his mission and achieve mastery over this world and all the souls on it.” Sinner hesitated, then went on. “The Orms is a very powerful creature, and only the Priests of Merrin have his measure. That is why the priests have connected me to their energy source, albeit a very subtle connection. What I do know is that we are nearing the end game as far as this world goes, and The Orms will take the souls from this world, then move on to another. He is that powerful. I have to tell you... The Orms inhabits this mountain alone, as he is shunned by his kind, as well as by all other sentient beings. Among other things, he is a shape-shifter. That - demon that you...” Sinner’s voice faded as he watched intently as a horrible awareness dawned on his young friend.
Nick paled, his cup dropping from numb fingers with a clatter on the stone floor.
“No... don’t tell... oh, my... aagh!”
Nick’s mind rejected the very idea of what had happened to him on that night in his pavilion, as his stomach rejected a meal and several goblets of fine wine.

chewie · « **Reply #123 on:** July 22, 2006, 03:50:34 AM »

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahahahahahahahahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

nihilist · « **Reply #124 on:** July 23, 2006, 11:24:36 PM »

Change some names and publish this.

...so I don't have to hit "mark as read" on the bloody post anymore!