RuneScape Forum Archive | Draconic Interactions (3)

Darlantan

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Glaruindem was hardly a sprawling metropolis, but the city was great enough that the thick clouds of dust spewed into the air from the collapsing buildings would last hours, spreading over much of the intact portions of the city. If one could somehow see through the obscuring clouds, they would witness pits of rubble several stories deep where proud buildings had once stood, streams of water cascading in from destroyed water lines.

This was a last ditch effort: there was no ignoring that. The Imperalists really had no hopes of holding out indefinitely, but that was no longer a scenario now that the Imperium had learned of the situation here. The invaders needed to be routed and they needed to be routed now lest the Imperium gain a foothold beyond the mountains for the war that was sure to come. Particularly with the harsh, impassable mountains surrounding the city on three sides; there would be no retaking those if they were lost and the city was essential for maintaining a supply line to the forces entrenched in the stony peaks. Well... perhaps not, the Tempests did have a habit of thinking with portals for slipping past enemy lines, but it was still a risk which could not be afforded to take.
The defenders were prepared for the clouds of dust, most fitted with gas masks before the buildings crumbled (and most dragons vacating the skies above the city, for that matter). Friendly fire would be inevitable; they were just as blind as the Imperialists. However, that would not prevent the defenders from setting up toward the edge of the sinkholes and firing into the piles of rubble, along with occasional bolts of lightning. This was mostly a distraction; forces gathered in the Undercity began advancing on the ruins as soon as the city stabilized, taking full advantage of the soldiers' likely disorientation and ignorance of what laid below the surface city.

04-Jan-2016 11:55:26

Darlantan

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Several contingents of messengers departed from the city, organized like scouting parties. They'd spread the word as soon as they escaped the dead zone around the city; it was time to mobilize forces from the surrounding lands to prepare for the Imperium. There was no doubt a far greater force of Imperial troops would be sent to occupy Glaruindem.

The forces garrisoned in the mountains began preparing for an impending assault, having no need to take extra measures to remain hidden now that their presence was known. Not that they'd strip themselves of camoflauge, but fortifying the the high cliffs and labyrinthine cave networks of the mountains was more important than trying to be invisible now.

Michael's words had little to no impact on Ventrus, the dragon's expression unchanging and unflinching. Almost as if the conversation was about nothing more trivial than the weather today. "I will obey what orders I am physically capable of obeying," the dragon answered simply, tonelessly. His eyes did not leave the human, even as he turned to leave. "My species does not have an organ for breathing fire. To remove that would require removing the entirity of my lungs."

04-Jan-2016 12:34:52

Darlantan

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"Truly only time will tell. I can say little more about such a great unknown," Caelidorus replied, dipping his head slightly. "Come, let us be off. It's slightly silly for us to stand around chatting about it when Soul is just a short flight away."

Forlirn merely nodded his head and opened his wings, taking to the air.

Umbra eyed Rhen quietly, seeming somewhat curious as he listened to his words. Perhaps strange to even imagine a being of his nature could be curious of mortal affairs, but that very much did seem to be the case. "Rambling? Hah, that is my sin, not yours. I have quite literally rambled as the seasons changed in the past, although not any time recently. Intriguing, so your kind are simply reiterations of the elder members of your kind in a way, part of an endless stream of knowledge shared of unaltered and uninterrupted experiences of those who came before... but with more substance and perhaps more individuality, I expect. Your burden certainly would not have been a light one in such a society, but I think it more a blessing than a curse. For knowledge to be passed on as such, to be the next chapter in a book with a hundred chapters already written... it easily leads to stagnation. In a hunt for new knowledge, past knowledge is drawn on, and if every creature possesses the same knowledge to base on I find it highly likely they will follow similar pursuits and reach similar conclusions. You are a fresh mind; you may have had access to the same knowledge, but you learned it in a very different way. Such would grant you a very unique perspective among your race... and I think it has likely led you on pursuits no other would have followed. Ah, but now I am beginning to ramble. Yes, I do believe I would enjoy accompanying you. I simply hope we are not on the eve of the commencement of the current cycle."

Frilarth wandered over to Rhen to offer him a lift to follow the other dragons. He'd been fairly quiet, seeming lost in his own thoughts.

04-Jan-2016 13:00:48

Darlantan

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Laertes woke with a jolt, clutching the tree limb he'd been napping on and staring about at the ground below. Gunshots... always seemed to be gunshots between draconic territory and the lands of the Imperium. It was called the Imperium, right? He wasn't quite sure... not that it mattered much. Did sound about right... quite a silly name though. A nation of humanist conquerors shooting at dragons all day with a name leaving nothing to imagination... well, fitting, even if silly. Although it did sound like they were insecure and overcompensation for something. Maybe that's why they killed dragons all day...
The man let out a sigh, dropping from the tree at the sight of no immediate danger. His gaze turned northward, eying those enourmous, distant mountain peaks guarding the edge of the continent. Names hardly mattered, thinking about it wouldn't stop them from killing him. Those mountains though... well, they'd probably also kill him, such inhospitable peaks. Such a shame... Soul lived up there and she'd be nice to live with, wouldn't stab or shoot him for his appearance or origins. Perhaps... perhaps he could go, actually, he could fly now after all. But... no, he didn't know how to survive up there and would likely freeze to death before he found the Soulbound. So the border it would be. Far enough out of Imperial territory to not be shot and far enough out of dragon territory to not be eaten. Unless his luck ran out...
The man shook his head, sighing to himself again. He truly had no safe place in this alien world.

04-Jan-2016 13:13:45

Basileus257

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How the defending human soldiers reacted to the fall varied from person to person. As expected, the majority were disoriented for some time. While many of the defenders were able to regain control of their senses before encountering the advancing enemy, a large number were struck down in their confusion. A few were hardly disoriented at all. These lucky few were able to almost immediately return fire from the shelter of the ruined buildings. The defending humans as a whole were fully aware of the situation. Although thousands of them were still fighting, the collapse of their portion of the city had caused their limited ability to communicate to collapse. There were no orders from the higher ups and no way to coordinate with other survivors. There was no conceivable way for the humans in the city to emerge as the victors in this battle without outside help. There was still hope however. The Imperial aircraft has appeared to escape back over the border and into what they assumed was still Imperial territory. Rescue was still a possibility. Even if the rescuers could not make it in time, the Imperial Army had trained each soldier to accept the inevitability of their death in war. So long as they died in battle, they were told that they would be viewed as martyrs and be given great rewards in the next life for their sacrifice. Even if the legends were not true (though none of the soldiers had any reason to doubt what they had been told), the soldiers were more then happy to die killing their enemy.

“He who has overcome his fears will truly be free.”

¯ Aristotle

“Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.”

Marthe Troly-Curtin

05-Jan-2016 01:45:21

Basileus257

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A plan had been drawn up. It was a massive undertaking. Over a quarter of a million troops and 2000 tanks were to take part in the counterattack. That wasn't even counting all of the AD vehicles and artillery that would take part as well. An entire army was being shipped to the front to prepare for the upcoming offensive. Codenamed Operation Iron Will, it was to be one of the largest operations that had been conducted in years. How could it be any other way? The idea of inhuman parasites trying to attack sacred Imperial territory was beyond insulting. It had to be shown that this would not be tolerated and that the Imperium would use overwhelming force to defend their lands. Even if (Goddess forbid) the attack were to fail, the enemy would still suffer greatly. There was a contingency plan in place for such a failure. It was perhaps the one weapon the Imperium had that their demonic enemy could not hope to match: atomic fire. Were the attack to fail, Glaruindem was to be destroyed by a single atomic missile. In addition, another five missiles were to be launched into the occupied northern territories. Such weapons had not been used in decades. The thought of beginning to use them again was a horrifying one. Still, a message had to be sent: if the enemy denied the Imperium rule in any of her territories, then the Imperium would respond in kind. Her enemies would obtain nothing more then a wasteland of no value.

“He who has overcome his fears will truly be free.”

¯ Aristotle

“Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.”

Marthe Troly-Curtin

05-Jan-2016 01:55:56

Basileus257

Posts: 1,584 Mithril Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Matt climbed onto Caelidorus's back and patted the dragons' neck to let him know that he was ready. "You're right. We don't want to dally while this... person or creature or whatever it is is out in the wilderness and in danger. As much as I wish we could take our time with this, we'd best hurry and conclude our business with Soul as quickly as we can." Matt said.

“He who has overcome his fears will truly be free.”

¯ Aristotle

“Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.”

Marthe Troly-Curtin

05-Jan-2016 02:02:52

NarBloodwolf

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Rhen wandered over to Frilarth and climbed up on his back as he noticed the others doing the same and already taking flight. It was still a long journey yet back to the Soulbound but now Rhen had company for the long road ahead.

''I do believe you are right Umbra. While the others of my race went right to their tasks and duties when created, I did not. I asked questions and spent most of my time in the crystal library which houses all our stored knowledge. Years of learning and research as I had to learn everything as a human would, through study and practice.'' said Rhen with a sigh as he got settled onto Frilarth's back. ''Because of the way I had to learn my people's collective knowledge I have an insatiable curiosity for more. That is what lead me to study the Void, as no other of my race had dared to do so. Mostly because it is taboo to interfere with the Void, but that did not stop me and no one else dared stop me either. I paid the price though and it was a heavy one. In the resulting failure of an experiment, I lost my wings and my arm. On top of that I was exiled from the city never to return. But that was long ago, I doubt they would remember me as they are buried in their own work. But I have grown since then in many ways, I have seen and experienced things that no other of my race has. That is why I must return home some day with the knowledge I carry so that the others will know and possibly spark their own curiosity so they will stop relying upon the past to help them and actually look into things themselves.''

Rhen took pause for a brief moment looking out on the snow covered landscape. Despite his recent long winded speech, he was now lost in thought himself.

06-Jan-2016 16:58:12

Darlantan

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Most of the counter-assault continued much in the same way after the collapse of the buildings, the more elaborate planned beforehand impossible now due to the impenetrable clouds of dust covering the battlefield. Occasional clusters of portals would open sporadically in the ruined buildings followed by Tempests blitzing through and rapidly vanishing back to Elune to keep the Imperialists on their toes, but that was about the extent of exotic tactics left. Mostly it was just a matter of advancing and shooting until there were no enemies left, none of the defenders expecting surrender or attempts to flee.

A knock at the door drew Peter out of his thoughts, the coded knock of a messenger. Minutes later the man sighed to himself, resting his head in his hands. Scenario E... he was very much hoping they could avoid this one. The civilians sheltered in the Undercity would have to be evacuated with a battle still raging... hopefully before Imperial reinforcements arrived, considering most were not human (although a substantial number were). The speech meant to address both the city and the Imperium would be far less effective without the city secured, but it was vital to begin before any additional troops arrived, be they his allies or soldiers of the Imperium. Perhaps his plead for peace might cause the Emperor to reconsider... or perhaps make citizens of the Imperium doubt his cause in a city so removed from the Imperium. Highly unlikely... but he had to try. Try for the thousands of innocents who would die to the hand of the Imperium... for the thousands of innocents of the Imperium who would die simply from following orders. Bloodshed was the last resort... and he'd be damned if he didn't make it the last resort. So the man slowly rose from his seat and stepped into the ruined city of Glaruindem, escorted by guard far from the areas of fighting. He had a speech to give.

06-Jan-2016 20:13:40

Darlantan

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Caelidorus opened his wings, taking off after Frilarth. "Besides, chatting while flying is hardly difficult."

Frilarth joined the others soon after, humming a cheerful tune to himself all the while.

"You made a mistake, but I would not say the mistake was pursuing the research. Rather, the methods which caused what I take was an accident," Umbra mused, his illusionary form allowing him to stay put without need to hold on tightly or anything of the sort. "If your kind is as isolated as you make them out to be, I imagine your experiences out here have given you far more knowledge to contribute than any other of your kind discovers in your current lifespan... if they care for such knowledge. Although you have met some of the very 'creators' of the world, so I would hope at least that interests them. Ah, but the Void you speak of..."
The ancient trailed off in thought, eventually tilting his head slightly. "...The purpose of this venture is the destruction of *ril*roth. He is one of the four elders... I suspect we will require an elder at some point to succeed and Vates will offer no help. That leaves Lux... or Glacignes, if you prefer... and Tenebra. Light and Darkness. The two most ancient, primal forces of the world from which all others arise in some way. It will matter not who we seek out; they are twins, and one is never seen without the other. This Void... I cannot identify it precisely, but I sense it in you... and it reminds me strongly of darkness. It is possible Tenebra will be capable of identifying its nature."

Hours would pass before a mass of color would become visible in the distance, giving away the current location of the Soulbound. Another hour would be required to actually reach the massive ancient, but all in all it was not a particularly long flight.

06-Jan-2016 20:44:32

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Draconic Interactions (3)