- Pronouns
- He/Him
Slimy_Froggy
Patron
This book will soon be available in the Royal Library in multiple Vanilla books. They will be found in 'Recorded Events' under the name: "Salts Ridge I" "Salts Ridge II" etc.
Introduction
A curse, too terrible to have a name, has struck Altera…
A curse caused by the evil God of chaos himself. Jishrim...
The curse turns perfectly normal meat into rotten flesh with just a single touch. Nobody dare touch or handle meat anymore, as long as the curse is not lifted. People are beginning to starve and are desperate to find a way to lift the curse. So desperate, that a small town, called Salts Ridge, made a shrine to honor Jishrim. In the hope they would get released from this curse. They were. They were cured, but this peace did not take long...
The town mayor, Peter Wise, went mad. He claimed Jishrim spoke directly through him. The inhabitants of Salts Ridge dared not refuse to believe him, so they did everything he said. But soon they began to disappear, whispers of Jishrim in the streets, death...
To avoid this calamity to get out of hand, a small group of brave warriors plan an attack on Salts Ridge and rid us of the curse. Forever...
Chapter One: Archaeus Fronte.
In the enormous hall of the church of the gods, a host of armored man stands proud. A few are dressed in decoration gold battle-armor, the rest in iron suits. As I approach the group, a noble man checks everyone's name. Then he raises his voice and speaks.
"Many of you will die today. Many of you will give your lives for this battle to be won. And you will never be forgotten. Every one of you deserves a place in history. Today we fight for our honor! Today, we fight for our gods!" I've been told this man is Archaeus Fronte. He is a time-tested warrior, he is aligned with the Hospitaller Order. He now unsheathes his sword and twirls it backwards. "Today a great victory will be won!" Then he punches his sword into the air... "Now who is prepared to fight?!"
The cathedral echoes by the cheers of this small group of men. Surely 20 of them are cheering to the men in golden armor. They make their battle plans. Each of the men suggesting and adding to the strategy until it is close to perfect. The group will have some men who will carry explosives with them, to blow up any blockades on our path. We are warned, for the town of Salts Ridge is filled with traps of many kinds. The main focus of the assault will be to destroy the shrine dedicated to their god. The noble men think that this will break the bond of the worshipers with Jishrim and thus giving our party the upper hand.
We move from the cathedral towards port silver and await the ship that leads to Salts Ridge. As we embark, a soft thin rain falls silently, not causing a single ripple in the sea’s waves. The sails are hoisted by a selected party of sailors, for no ordinary ship goes to Salts Ridge anymore. Not after the rumors of Jishrim and the mad Mayor. The soft rain makes us wet and with the sea-wind we get cold. The moment Port Silver is out of sight, the rain stops and the sun shines ever so warm. The warriors put their armor off to get dry. After a quick meal they put their armor back on, dry and warm, with land in sight. Salts Ridge… The boat is but a few meters away from shore and the men stand in position, ready for what is to come.
Chapter two: The attack on Salts Ridge.
We hit the shore and everyone jumps off of the ship, running towards the gates. Immediately the explosives are set, the small army of men run like an oiled piston. We keep our distance and they break through. The tunnels behind the gate are dark and soon we find out they are filled with fire traps, many get their armor stained with black smoke as they try to pass by the traps...
Unseen, in the darkness of the tunnel, the Jishrim worshippers await. Arrows fly whistling passed our heads. "Enemy Archers! Take cover! Grab your shields!" The commander Archaeus shouts. Immediately after his warning someone gets shot. Chaos started, as we might have expected when fighting the evil god Jishrim... We move up slowly, placing torches to light the way of the warriors behind us. Very slowly we progress up the steep tunnel. Arrows raining down, sticking into the wooden shields, falling when they hit the tunnel’s wall. Yet, we finally reach the light at the end. Hope at last in this damned dark place. But no, not where Jishrim is worshipped…
As the daylight from the sky lights our terrified faces, we see lava slowly dripping through a small hole, then the hole breaks open. Bigger and bigger the cracks become and the lava spills out. "LAVAAAA! Retreat! Backwaaaards!" They shout. We run back, yet some are cut off by lava streams and their death cries do murder to my ears. Horror and anger comes to the men that witness the bravest of warriors fall for cowardly traps.
Order, again. We know what we are doing. The lava passes by slowly and becomes stone again. We move up and see the foul worshippers blocked the gate. With covering fire one of the men places several bombs. Arrows hit the walls and fall down to the floor. I'm ordered to hold a shield before one of the archers as he shoots the arrows back at the enemy. Suddenly there is a loud blast and the blockade is shattered to a million pieces. Our ears still ring as we press forward...
The explosion put a blast in not only the gate, but also the ground. The hole is so big we cannot push through that easily. With great skill, another bomb is set and charged. It blows another hole, again, we cannot push through. One of the warriors digs in the ground to set another explosive and finds they blast a hole in one of the basements. We go in and find our way up. Through this way we sneak around the town. Lord Sinclair shouts "FOR HARATETH" as he lunges down upon one of the warriors. No more cowardly traps, the fight has begun. So has the chaos...
Chapter three: The Duel.
Within this chaos, within a house, Magnus the Old faces Kharn Sicarus, the master assassin. A skilled fighter who is told to be the most fearsome experienced assassin Altera has ever known. "I give you one last chance for the easy way out." Kharn tells Magnus as I walk in slowly. A crowd stands around the two. "I used to be a great warrior, in the past." says Magnus in reply. "I'm sure you were." Grins Kharn... "Although I am now an old, disease-ridden mongrel, I will fight you. A cultist against an old man, eh. It is sad I don’t have Nalos'han. Mmm, shall we duel, Kharn?" "If we must..." Is his only reply. Kharn walks outside, turning his back on the old man. Both Magnus and Kharn walk outside and the others follow. They stand around them in a great circle, all desperate to see what will happen, the chaos has stopped. It seems all has come down to this final moment. This particular moment in destiny, where these two heroes face each other. Magnus bows to Kharn, Kharn bows back, twirling his sword...
Magnus the Old, he walks side wards, his leg struggling. Kharn strikes first, with a few quick steps he goes to perform a quick overhead swing to Magnus' right shoulder. Magnus blocks horizontally, then kicks kharn's knee. Kharn brings his kicked leg back and uses his other to go swipe Magnus’ non-kicking leg. Magnus jumps a little back, wary of more counterattacks. Kharn follows forward quickly and swings horizontally towards Magnus' sword arm. Magnus barely blocks the hit, falling on his left knee... It seems Magnus stands no chance, not for long at least. Though he was a man that has fought for many years, he looks weary and old now… A sad sight to see a man once so great to become retained by age. He attempts to cleave Kharns over-extended arm. Kharn retracts his sword back to block Magnus' swing. The blade of Magnus goes down and hits the grass. Kharn swings his sword downwards towards the sword hand of Magnus. Magnus retracts his hand, doing a roll towards the left side, leaving his sword in the ground. Magnus is without his sword, he stands little chance. Kharn swiftly steps up to Magnus and goes to kick at his head with his right foot. Magnus drops on the ground in order to dodge the incoming kick. He attempts to grab Kharns leg. Kharn then swings his sword downwards in an arc towards Magnus' grabbing hand. As Magnus retracts his hand, one of his fingers is cut. Blood spills out over the grass. Tainting it with red dots. Magnus grabs Kharn’s hand and tries to head-butt him. Kharn brings his head back from the head-butt, but using Magnus' pull on him, he too pulls himself towards Magnus, he then hits Magnus hard on the head with his sword hilt. Magnus is temporarily incapacitated and makes three stumbling steps backwards. Kharn steps forwards and goes to sweep out Magnus' legs with his own to bring him to his knees. He falls.. Magnus kneels on the ground. His sword behind Kharn in the ground. Magnus lunges towards the blade and attempts to grab it with his non-occupied arm a last time. In this brief moment a lot happens. The trained assassin master Kharn sees Magnus intentions and he punches Magnus' head, knocking him out. Chaos now starts again as others join the fight, trying to protect Magnus. In return, the men on Kharn’s side run in as well. In a rush of blades, shields, daggers, fists and feet, Magnus lies incapacitated. While everyone is distracted by the chaos, a man drags Magnus away and in a room, hidden underneath.
Chapter four: The Truth.
The man sits in a dimly lit room with Magnus incapacitated. He takes off his fake hair and beard as Magnus slowly regains consciousness. "It's you…" Magnus whispers. "Too much of a saint for the Gods to discard me." The mysterious man says. "It was a plan, yet in the plan you were supposed to die. I decided to go against that... I don't want you dead Lord Magnus. You'll be valuable to the High Church." "This duel has weakened me, Albareth" Says Magnus. "Oh, that matters not, all I want is a signature and for you to understand before you sign it." The mysterious man who turns out to be Albareth says to Magnus... "a signature..?" Magnus replies…
Days later in Port Silver, grey letters with red writing hang on each house. They say the Battle of Salts Ridge has ended. An agreement has been made between the two sides. This agreement brings hope at last for Alteran Religion to meet its peace. Too long have we worshipped the wrong way, to the wrong Gods. The High Church of Altera is back, facing a reform. From now on, the until-now Church of Might is known as the Temple of Order, a good branch of the High Church. All of the ex-Templars are free to join the Temple Guard, a newly formed group which will report to the Office of the Inquisition and serve alongside the Silvercloaks in peace keeping, but will strive closer to the Religious side.
The three branches are now: The Temple of Order, the Temple of Balance and the Temple of Chaos. These three will provide spiritual aid and will protect the business of respective Gods. The Leader of the High Church is now known as the Guardian. From now on the Vanguard, a new branch of the Inquisition, will provide direct protection to him. All of those until now sought by the Church receive an amnesia. But if found of heresy once again, they will face the Inquisition…
Riots on the streets… again. Chalkan Engem, leader of the Engem tries reads the letter. He looks incredibly annoyed. Knowing too much about current events, he spits on the ground of the notice he has seen; adding to the Highland Law that the High Church’s influence is banned in Hound-ru. He moves off, woeful for the people who are involved and what is to come. What is to come… What IS to come?
- Rahm Kennys, scribe and librarian.
Introduction
A curse, too terrible to have a name, has struck Altera…
A curse caused by the evil God of chaos himself. Jishrim...
The curse turns perfectly normal meat into rotten flesh with just a single touch. Nobody dare touch or handle meat anymore, as long as the curse is not lifted. People are beginning to starve and are desperate to find a way to lift the curse. So desperate, that a small town, called Salts Ridge, made a shrine to honor Jishrim. In the hope they would get released from this curse. They were. They were cured, but this peace did not take long...
The town mayor, Peter Wise, went mad. He claimed Jishrim spoke directly through him. The inhabitants of Salts Ridge dared not refuse to believe him, so they did everything he said. But soon they began to disappear, whispers of Jishrim in the streets, death...
To avoid this calamity to get out of hand, a small group of brave warriors plan an attack on Salts Ridge and rid us of the curse. Forever...
Chapter One: Archaeus Fronte.
In the enormous hall of the church of the gods, a host of armored man stands proud. A few are dressed in decoration gold battle-armor, the rest in iron suits. As I approach the group, a noble man checks everyone's name. Then he raises his voice and speaks.
"Many of you will die today. Many of you will give your lives for this battle to be won. And you will never be forgotten. Every one of you deserves a place in history. Today we fight for our honor! Today, we fight for our gods!" I've been told this man is Archaeus Fronte. He is a time-tested warrior, he is aligned with the Hospitaller Order. He now unsheathes his sword and twirls it backwards. "Today a great victory will be won!" Then he punches his sword into the air... "Now who is prepared to fight?!"
The cathedral echoes by the cheers of this small group of men. Surely 20 of them are cheering to the men in golden armor. They make their battle plans. Each of the men suggesting and adding to the strategy until it is close to perfect. The group will have some men who will carry explosives with them, to blow up any blockades on our path. We are warned, for the town of Salts Ridge is filled with traps of many kinds. The main focus of the assault will be to destroy the shrine dedicated to their god. The noble men think that this will break the bond of the worshipers with Jishrim and thus giving our party the upper hand.
We move from the cathedral towards port silver and await the ship that leads to Salts Ridge. As we embark, a soft thin rain falls silently, not causing a single ripple in the sea’s waves. The sails are hoisted by a selected party of sailors, for no ordinary ship goes to Salts Ridge anymore. Not after the rumors of Jishrim and the mad Mayor. The soft rain makes us wet and with the sea-wind we get cold. The moment Port Silver is out of sight, the rain stops and the sun shines ever so warm. The warriors put their armor off to get dry. After a quick meal they put their armor back on, dry and warm, with land in sight. Salts Ridge… The boat is but a few meters away from shore and the men stand in position, ready for what is to come.
Chapter two: The attack on Salts Ridge.
We hit the shore and everyone jumps off of the ship, running towards the gates. Immediately the explosives are set, the small army of men run like an oiled piston. We keep our distance and they break through. The tunnels behind the gate are dark and soon we find out they are filled with fire traps, many get their armor stained with black smoke as they try to pass by the traps...
Unseen, in the darkness of the tunnel, the Jishrim worshippers await. Arrows fly whistling passed our heads. "Enemy Archers! Take cover! Grab your shields!" The commander Archaeus shouts. Immediately after his warning someone gets shot. Chaos started, as we might have expected when fighting the evil god Jishrim... We move up slowly, placing torches to light the way of the warriors behind us. Very slowly we progress up the steep tunnel. Arrows raining down, sticking into the wooden shields, falling when they hit the tunnel’s wall. Yet, we finally reach the light at the end. Hope at last in this damned dark place. But no, not where Jishrim is worshipped…
As the daylight from the sky lights our terrified faces, we see lava slowly dripping through a small hole, then the hole breaks open. Bigger and bigger the cracks become and the lava spills out. "LAVAAAA! Retreat! Backwaaaards!" They shout. We run back, yet some are cut off by lava streams and their death cries do murder to my ears. Horror and anger comes to the men that witness the bravest of warriors fall for cowardly traps.
Order, again. We know what we are doing. The lava passes by slowly and becomes stone again. We move up and see the foul worshippers blocked the gate. With covering fire one of the men places several bombs. Arrows hit the walls and fall down to the floor. I'm ordered to hold a shield before one of the archers as he shoots the arrows back at the enemy. Suddenly there is a loud blast and the blockade is shattered to a million pieces. Our ears still ring as we press forward...
The explosion put a blast in not only the gate, but also the ground. The hole is so big we cannot push through that easily. With great skill, another bomb is set and charged. It blows another hole, again, we cannot push through. One of the warriors digs in the ground to set another explosive and finds they blast a hole in one of the basements. We go in and find our way up. Through this way we sneak around the town. Lord Sinclair shouts "FOR HARATETH" as he lunges down upon one of the warriors. No more cowardly traps, the fight has begun. So has the chaos...
Chapter three: The Duel.
Within this chaos, within a house, Magnus the Old faces Kharn Sicarus, the master assassin. A skilled fighter who is told to be the most fearsome experienced assassin Altera has ever known. "I give you one last chance for the easy way out." Kharn tells Magnus as I walk in slowly. A crowd stands around the two. "I used to be a great warrior, in the past." says Magnus in reply. "I'm sure you were." Grins Kharn... "Although I am now an old, disease-ridden mongrel, I will fight you. A cultist against an old man, eh. It is sad I don’t have Nalos'han. Mmm, shall we duel, Kharn?" "If we must..." Is his only reply. Kharn walks outside, turning his back on the old man. Both Magnus and Kharn walk outside and the others follow. They stand around them in a great circle, all desperate to see what will happen, the chaos has stopped. It seems all has come down to this final moment. This particular moment in destiny, where these two heroes face each other. Magnus bows to Kharn, Kharn bows back, twirling his sword...
Magnus the Old, he walks side wards, his leg struggling. Kharn strikes first, with a few quick steps he goes to perform a quick overhead swing to Magnus' right shoulder. Magnus blocks horizontally, then kicks kharn's knee. Kharn brings his kicked leg back and uses his other to go swipe Magnus’ non-kicking leg. Magnus jumps a little back, wary of more counterattacks. Kharn follows forward quickly and swings horizontally towards Magnus' sword arm. Magnus barely blocks the hit, falling on his left knee... It seems Magnus stands no chance, not for long at least. Though he was a man that has fought for many years, he looks weary and old now… A sad sight to see a man once so great to become retained by age. He attempts to cleave Kharns over-extended arm. Kharn retracts his sword back to block Magnus' swing. The blade of Magnus goes down and hits the grass. Kharn swings his sword downwards towards the sword hand of Magnus. Magnus retracts his hand, doing a roll towards the left side, leaving his sword in the ground. Magnus is without his sword, he stands little chance. Kharn swiftly steps up to Magnus and goes to kick at his head with his right foot. Magnus drops on the ground in order to dodge the incoming kick. He attempts to grab Kharns leg. Kharn then swings his sword downwards in an arc towards Magnus' grabbing hand. As Magnus retracts his hand, one of his fingers is cut. Blood spills out over the grass. Tainting it with red dots. Magnus grabs Kharn’s hand and tries to head-butt him. Kharn brings his head back from the head-butt, but using Magnus' pull on him, he too pulls himself towards Magnus, he then hits Magnus hard on the head with his sword hilt. Magnus is temporarily incapacitated and makes three stumbling steps backwards. Kharn steps forwards and goes to sweep out Magnus' legs with his own to bring him to his knees. He falls.. Magnus kneels on the ground. His sword behind Kharn in the ground. Magnus lunges towards the blade and attempts to grab it with his non-occupied arm a last time. In this brief moment a lot happens. The trained assassin master Kharn sees Magnus intentions and he punches Magnus' head, knocking him out. Chaos now starts again as others join the fight, trying to protect Magnus. In return, the men on Kharn’s side run in as well. In a rush of blades, shields, daggers, fists and feet, Magnus lies incapacitated. While everyone is distracted by the chaos, a man drags Magnus away and in a room, hidden underneath.
Chapter four: The Truth.
The man sits in a dimly lit room with Magnus incapacitated. He takes off his fake hair and beard as Magnus slowly regains consciousness. "It's you…" Magnus whispers. "Too much of a saint for the Gods to discard me." The mysterious man says. "It was a plan, yet in the plan you were supposed to die. I decided to go against that... I don't want you dead Lord Magnus. You'll be valuable to the High Church." "This duel has weakened me, Albareth" Says Magnus. "Oh, that matters not, all I want is a signature and for you to understand before you sign it." The mysterious man who turns out to be Albareth says to Magnus... "a signature..?" Magnus replies…
Days later in Port Silver, grey letters with red writing hang on each house. They say the Battle of Salts Ridge has ended. An agreement has been made between the two sides. This agreement brings hope at last for Alteran Religion to meet its peace. Too long have we worshipped the wrong way, to the wrong Gods. The High Church of Altera is back, facing a reform. From now on, the until-now Church of Might is known as the Temple of Order, a good branch of the High Church. All of the ex-Templars are free to join the Temple Guard, a newly formed group which will report to the Office of the Inquisition and serve alongside the Silvercloaks in peace keeping, but will strive closer to the Religious side.
The three branches are now: The Temple of Order, the Temple of Balance and the Temple of Chaos. These three will provide spiritual aid and will protect the business of respective Gods. The Leader of the High Church is now known as the Guardian. From now on the Vanguard, a new branch of the Inquisition, will provide direct protection to him. All of those until now sought by the Church receive an amnesia. But if found of heresy once again, they will face the Inquisition…
Riots on the streets… again. Chalkan Engem, leader of the Engem tries reads the letter. He looks incredibly annoyed. Knowing too much about current events, he spits on the ground of the notice he has seen; adding to the Highland Law that the High Church’s influence is banned in Hound-ru. He moves off, woeful for the people who are involved and what is to come. What is to come… What IS to come?
- Rahm Kennys, scribe and librarian.
