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UnOrthOdOx
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Hello....
Jun 2002
time: 22:29
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The Trappings of War: Volume XIX
An UnOrthOdOx view of the Glory of War
As Alva led me through the streets, I began to notice that the local populace was staring in our direction. To my surprise, however, it was not myself that they were staring at, it was Alva. I immediately knew that he must be someone very important within Gathering Storm, someone not seen very often in public.
I was led into a large circular room, a single hole had been cut into the roof, allowing the light to come down in a straight column. When we reached the center of this column, Alva spoke up “Please wait here until the Storm is gathered.”
I watched as Alva strolled quietly into the darkness, and disappeared. I could hear the rustling of many people gathering, but was unable to see into the dim lights that surrounded the circle, made all the worse by the column of light in which I stood. I did not like this one bit, and the warrior inside me began to search for possible routes of escape.
The room suddenly fell silent, and I could hear a single individual stepping forward, obviously this must be the GodGather I had been hearing about. I had long since ceased to be amazed by anything I saw here in the strange lands of Gathering Storm. As such, I was not too surprised to see the largest cat I had ever seen step forth into the column of light. An imposing presence, to be sure, he stood the height of my shoulders, and there was power enough to rip through any man in those massive paws. I could instantly see that this was the leader, if you could claim such a team to have one.
“Greetings UnOrthOdOx” His voice reverberated around the room “I welcome you to Gathering Storm, I am NotYouEither, shall we begin?”
My mind was working, how had I gotten myself into this? To be well behind enemy territory, surrounded, weaponless, in a country where we were currently at war. And what was this strange talk? Of course he was not me, how could he be? “It is a pleasure to be brought before the Storm here, I am humbled at this opportunity and hope that this can be the beginning of…”
A massive paw was raised to interrupt me. “Indeed. We know who you are and your mission. Let us dispense with this trivial nonsense and get right down to business, hmm?”
I could only smile at this. Diplomacy was not exactly my forte, and I was glad to speak plainly about such matters of state as we had to discuss. The meeting raced away and before I knew it the light coming into the room had begun to dim. With little fanfare, we ended the meeting and I was escorted back to Arrian’s Deception. Now well into the dead of the night, I sat down and contemplated all that had been accomplished in this meeting. Not only had a peace been arranged, but I had learned that Gathering Storm would soon be completing harbors. This meant that a new trade route for our now famous wines could be established, and I hoped that the furs we would receive in trade were as excellent as Shiber had been describing. In addition, the highly secretive Stormians had actually decided to share their map with us. We were very proud of our mapping endeavors, and I was sure that such a trade would be greatly agreeable to both parties.
Try as I might, though, I could not sleep, so I began my preparations to leave and soon was all packed and prepared to go. Now, if I only knew where I was and which direction was the coast, I would be on my way. At any rate, I decided to seek out this Arrian and have that discussion about the horse with him. No sooner did I descend the stairs, though, than my heart began to sink.
“Oh, you’re awake! How are you doing? That was some meeting wasn’t it! It’s so nice to be at peace again, we sure do like peace. Why if we had our choice we would have stayed at peace this whole time! Guess what? I’ve been chosen to escort you back to your ship! Isn’t that great? I actually asked for this, I have many questions I want to ask of you. I was just reading in the Glory of News that you slew a dragon! What’s a Dragon? How did you kill it? Can I come see it? No, I don’t mind, I want to come visit now we are at peace again! Wow, a Dragon! Who wouldn’t want to see that? Are you going to kill more? Think I can help? You know, I really am quite a sailor, I am sure that I would be of great assistance to slaying a dragon! Besides, I want to see this ‘ballista’ too.”
Shiber had apparently been unable to sleep either. I highly doubted he ever did.
“You know, we can leave now if you want. I have instructed our forces to allow your ship to land again, and we are loading it now with the first shipment of furs! I picked them out myself! You know, there is nothing better than curling up next to your wife under some furs on a cold night. Did I tell you about my new white fur? The whitest I have ever seen! I bought it just the other day, say, why don’t we go up and take a look, you can see how we make them! Oh, wait, you have some on your ship! I can tell you all about how we make them on the trip over to Glory of War! Picked those out, I did! The ones on your ship are some of the finest in our land! Did I tell you that I am really quite a sailor too? Why during the Inchon invasion I commanded….”
Surprisingly as we headed down the road towards the course, Shiber’s constant babbling seemed to make the time fly by. It seemed to take no time at all as we boarded the ship and set sail. I could see the crew casting angry glances at the distraction that Shiber was creating, but I had actually begun to enjoy such nonsense. It seemed to keep my mind occupied, which also kept me from the dreams that were haunting me.
A stop in Port Isolation to unload the first shipment of furs, I discovered that my family had headed back to Camulodunum, and that the preparations had been begun for me to begin training the new commanders there. I decided, then, to continue to sail around northern Bob straight to Camulodunum. An overland route may have well been quicker, but I saw no reason to drag Shiber right through the heart of our continent where he would potentially gain information on troop strengths and locations. Peace we were at, sure, but nowhere near the point of sharing such information. I thought for an instant that the crew would kill me for such a thought, keeping them with Shiber for days yet to come, but I assured them that in time they might actually come to appreciate the constant drivel that seemed to spew from his mouth.
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UnOrthOdOx
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Hello....
Jun 2002
time: 22:29
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The Trappings of War: Volume XX
An UnOrthOdOx view of the Glory of War
It was several days for the galley to make it around the tip of Bob, we could see several Voxian ships in the distance as we traveled, but made no attempt to really contact them . The crew had finally come to enjoy Shiber’s company, and we would often laugh openly at some of the things that would fly from his mouth. On the second day of the voyage, he had been overcome with a sickness, and had calmed down considerably as a result. As it was, he was almost normal. Well, as normal as a talking dog could be. I was sure that once we hit land, and he felt better, he would start up his constant stream of excited speech, though. So much for being some great sailor.
Finally on the fifth day, I spotted the now familiar sight that Aro had taught me meant land. Birds could be seen out in the distance, that surely meant we were near Zenophobia, and only a short hop from Camulodunum. It did not take long for Mount Zen to come into view, and I could even make out the vague shape from the carcass of the Dragon that Master Zen had hauled up there, a pale white against the cool grey of the mountains cliffs.
As we rounded Mount Zen, I caught a glimpse of a group of Dragons breaching the water in the distance. I pointed it out to Shiber and for the first time since I had known him, he had nothing to say. He simply sat and watched the Dragons as they moved, flailed, and blew spouts of water, showing off their power. Occasionally he would glance back at me in obvious disbelief that such a thing could be killed.
A warm reception awaited us at the beach, and the town quickly set about to prepare a feast in honor of my guest. Looking around, I could find neither schIsmAtIc nor Aro. I heard a caw and a flutter of black swooped in from my left, and quickly back away again. Searching for it as it flew away, I could see a necklace dangling from it’s talons. Rushing forward through the crowd to give chase, I was not surprised to find it resting on Aro’s arm, schIsmAtIc grinning by his side.
“Damn it ‘dOx! You were right!” Aro bellowed. “These **** birds have their uses after all.”
I simply laughed and embraced them both. Shiber seemed to be the center of much attention back on the beach, especially with the children of the town. A large mob had gathered around him and the children seemed to match Shiber’s excitement, since his apparent sickness was now gone, they exchanged many questions between them. As we strolled up the beach, I was halted in my tracks.
There before me stood a building, obviously designed with a sole purpose in mind. The doorway had been assembled from the massive jaws of the Dragon, spread wide open in a great display of teeth, it was easily large enough for any man to walk through. I fell silent and began walking toward what was obviously a temple built in honor of the Dragon.
“Now look, ‘dOx. I know you are not much on religion, but after you killed the thing, and seemed to be transfixed on it…well, the people wanted a temple, it was all going to waste otherwise.” Aro was trying to explain.
“It’s ok, Aro. I think it is quite fitting.”
This stopped him suddenly. I knew that any admission of religious devotion on my part must have been a shock to him. But my recent dreams and events had brought me to question such things myself.
As I walked through the mouth…err, door, I was instantly impressed. The walls of the temple had been forged from the largest of the ribs of the Dragon spread out and acting as columns. Smooth marble filled the spaces between the ribs, and they had apparently covered the ribs with what appeared to be some sort of Bronze sheeting that made them shine. Slots in the ceiling had been forged to allow the light to enter, and it glinted off the Bronze in a dazzling fashion. On the far wall was a mighty mural depicting the Dragon, the hunt, and all the bounties the Dragon had yielded upon it’s death. It was obviously the work of Aro after many, many hours spent working away. I was overcome with emotion, the same feeling from my dreams welling up inside of me, as if the spirit of the Dragon had indeed come to reside in this temple. I could feel myself begin to tear up despite any attempt to hold it back.
“Wow! Look at this! Why, this reminds me of the Shrine in Arashi! Man, I never knew you guys could build such things! Look at these columns! Is this really all from the Dragon? How did you make them? Can I get a small piece to take back home? You know, NotYouEither would love to come and see this, he enjoys studying such buildings! Did you know that he…”
I was thankful for the interruption and composed myself quietly thanking Shiber for once again freeing my mind of such thoughts. And was happy to see the kids begin chiming in with similar questions for Shiber. It almost appeared as though Shiber and the children were sharing some unique form of communication.
After sitting down for the feast, I was pleased to learn that all preparations were made and I would begin training the captains in the use of the new horses and saddles with their stirrups tomorrow. The Dragon’s hide that I had requested to be tanned had formed into a tough leather, very nearly as strong as steal, but far lighter. Aro had taken the initiative and formed me a suit of armor from it. Upon seeing this armor, though, a chill ran down my spine. It was the same I had been seeing in my dreams. Jet black, no shine to the armor itself, it was truly a beauty to behold. What could this mean? I hid such thoughts, though, and thanked Aro for the thought. I was sure it was a fine suit of armor, but I no longer had any need for such things. Still, as a ceremonial piece, it was magnificent. Bronze plating gave accents, and formed the image of a raven on the chest.
That evening, after making time to be alone with my wife and finally seeing her to sleep, I quietly made my way into the Temple of the Dragon.
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09-07-2003 23:27
I think you should change that to when you Ride(r)s to war. 
Spain isn't the one with the recently attained offensive UU. Are you telling me we need to prepare for something?
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