Short stories based on the world of Storm wars

**Laertes The Beginning.** General Laertes stood upon the brow of a hill looking down upon the burning fires of the army placed under command by his Queen, thinking of the brave souls that will be facing a mass of orcs and their ravenous, pet beasts in the morning. He gripped his pilum close, the weapon he has kept and has kept him since he was a mere foot soldier and had carried him through hundreds of battles. He knelt and prayed to the gods of the storm for each individual soul within his care that they would destroy the enemy and survive to tell their proud story. Then at that moment a deafening ‘crack’ sounded followed by a flash of lightning that struck his beloved weapon. He opened his eyes to see he was surrounded by spirits of every race, human, orc, elf, beast, and many he did not even recognise. Laertes instincts kicked in at an instant and stood with his pilum ready for the fight. Silence lingered for what seemed like an eternity as Laertes and the ethereal masses stared at each other, then as one the spirits spoke. “Laertes of the Atlantean breed, you have been chosen by the gods to become a Hero of the Storm. We the Storm children dedicate our Souls to you to fight in their name and help them decide which breed of their creation is the better” Then after a moments silence the mass of spirits drifted towards him, Laertes swung with his pilum at the mass of white mist but it had no effect. As each spirit entered him in his mind he could see the creature it originally belonged too, the ritual seemed to go on for an eternity but with each spirit he his strength increase until the last ethereal being entered his body. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, then reopened them to find a small hooded creature stood in front of him. “General Laertes, Hero of the Storm, I am your watcher and guide and it is time for your first battle in the Storm Wars.” Laertes looked down at the burning campfires of the Atlantean army but he could not resist the call of this small shadowy figure. The figure led him to an airship and once aboard realised it was crewed by Avatars of the gods each one a clear image of the god they represented. Once aboard the ship took off and flew across to the enemy orc encampment, the orcs did not seem to notice this large contraption land, all except one which just stared. As they landed the watcher disembarked encouraging Laertes to follow. As they reached the bottom of the gangplank another watcher appeared followed by a huge orc with a large range of hand axes attached to its belt. Laertes stared the creature in the eyes seeing nothing but slaughter behind them, he could see all it wanted was blood. Laertes and the orc stared at each other as the watchers spoke. “Otuk Chieftain of the Bloodied Axe Clan and Laertes, General of the Atlantean army you have both been chosen to represent your species in the name of the Storm Gods. As Heroes of the Storm you must call upon the creatures of this land and fight to the death. As heroes you will be reborn and continue to fight until the benevolent Storm Gods have decided which species deserves the right of dominion over this land. Now in the name of the Gods…… BEGIN” At that moment his pilum glowed and he closed his eyes, he saw a large venomous spider come to mind and when he reopened them there, in front of him the creature materialized and charged at the massive orc. For Laertes the Storm Wars had begun.

nice

Not to highjack, but this story does point to something that has felt itchy for me. Between the Greek feel of the primary race and the D&D influence of the entire game, I would assume the characters to exist in a polytheistic setting. The author here has obviously done the same. However, Luther has some pretty blatant christian iconography, suggesting a monotheistic setting. Was this just the easiest way to transmit the idea of a paladin without delving too deep into the religion of the realm? Like the author, I think backstories add to the enjoyability of the game.

Wow awesome thread! :D I definitely take a view that mythologies can be mixed and still form a coherent game world. "Atlantean" as a faction has somewhat evolved into "humans" including a lot of different and new influences beyond "Ancient World" these days, some of which might seem high-imperial European and others which are Middle Eastern or even Oriental in terms of real-world source.

Thanks for the feedback, as you can tell I am not a professional writer, but I enjoy sharing ideas. I'll post some more later and looking forward to seeing other players ideas on the world.

**Malik the beginning.** Malik stood, fidgeting while looking over his latest creation, a huge dragon shaped mek and grinned to himself thinking of the revenge he will have over this wretched world. Cast out even by his own kind because his plans and ideas are ‘too extreme’, why they couldn’t conceive that merging elf and mek was genius was beyond him. Just because 72 fellow dark elves had not survived, what was that compared to the power and the progress of his work? Malik twirled his spanner as he wondered over to a large ornate box, he smiled once more to himself as he put down the spanner and opened the box to reveal the large spirit crystal inside. These precious crystals are uniquely found in the Soul Tomb Caves and only the dark elves have mastered their power, enabling their metallic golems to be powered and a semblance of sentience. Malik prepared himself and slid the Spirit Tamer onto his back, this was a device of his own design which helped him control the spirits within the crystals as they have been known to generate lightening and fry the handler. Malik had no intention of becoming a pile of ash from this monster gem, he grabbed the two cables from the ‘Tamer’ and drew them towards the crystal, as he got closer the air started to fill with static, the crystal glowed brighter with every inch he made towards it. He could feel the spirit within pushing him back resisting him, Malik gritted his teeth and focused on the devastation he will spread across the lands and with one mighty roar he slammed the cables onto the crystal. Pain shot through his spine, the smell of burning flesh filled the air, Malik had tamed many crystals this had never happened before. He forced his will onto the crystal, but instead of resisting it drew him in. He woke up to find himself in the center of a tornado of ethereal creatures, Malik not out of fear but out of anger believing his fellow Dark Elves had tricked him somehow, lashed out at the swirling faces. As he swung lightening arced from the cables from the device now fused to his back striking one of the ethereal creatures it fell out of the swirling chaos and landed in front of him in agony. Malik stared at the almost translucent Atlantean, “Who did this?” screamed Malik. The ghost looked at him and just said “You have been chosen”. Malik struck it again agony seemed to shoot through it. “What do you mean by that? TELL ME!” A voice that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere replied “Leave the spirit be, I will explain” A hooded creature stepped through the swirl, it looked at the tortured ghost and dismissed it with a wave of its cloak. “Malik, I am your Watcher, your guide from now on, you have been chosen by the gods to become a hero of the storm and participate in the Storm Wars to decide which species has dominion over these lands, you will constantly challenge and be challenged by other heroes until the gods have decided. You as your fellow heroes have the power to call the army of your choosing during each battle from the spirits of the creatures of these lands” Malik had not noticed that during the Watchers speech, the maelstrom had ceased and thousands of hollow eyes stared at him and with a nod from the Watcher they all rushed into his mind. Malik could feel the millions of beings now residing in his mind. In an instant it was over the Watcher turned and just said “Follow” and began walking towards the door of his massive workshop Malik was compelled to follow but as he reached the door he said “Wait! I have to do one thing before I leave” The Watcher turned to him and Malik felt the Watchers control release. Malik walked over to the box and reached for the crystal, once again it started resisting him and almost subconsciously the Tamer sparked to life and the spirit of the Atlantean was ripped from his mind. The Paladin materialized and in the next instant vaporized by the crystal but that gave him the edge he needed to grab the crystal. Malik walked over to the massive dragon shaped machine and placed it in a compartment in the machine and closed the lid. He stood back for a moment all was silent then from deep within the machine a creak was heard then a loud whirring as the beast came to life, the Dragon Mek was born. Malik felt its spirit enter his mind and join the other creatures residing there. Malik then turned towards the door to join the Watcher hitting a switch on his way out releasing the giant metal beast. Malik smiled to himself as he walked with his Watcher to the awaiting Airship as he thought about the devastation his new creation will cause upon the town of his birth.

Just noticed about this topic. Very nice read, adding lots of flavor to the heroes. Please keep the stories coming!

Will do, plan to do one for each hero and then work on a few stories.

**Luther the Beginning.** Luther was a warrior priest of The Order of the Golden Blade, he had dedicated all his life to his life to Mydia, his god and worked his way up to Chief Commander of Delos’s army and head of the order. Due to his honesty and his ability to be fair and logical in his judgment in all things he has been named Regent of Delos while his Queen is away, placing a young but smart politician by his side, Zuu Rabbanus. She was as beautiful as she was clever, always somehow out smarting her political rivals quickly working her way to the top of the political hierarchy, which brought her to the Queens attention. Then after nearly a decade of peace in the year steel moon war flared up, a portal to the Forbidden Realms appeared in the south releasing the Nameless Horde into Delos, this gave Luther a Dilemma, he was now the Regent of Delos but he was also a Warrior Priest and a commander of the religious armies, his calling decreed his place was on the battlefield defending the Mydia’s forces. After much deliberation he gave Zuu charge of managing the land, though for some reason this decision left an awful feeling in his stomach, he could not leave Delos’s armies without a commander especially with the reports of the size of the hordes pouring though the portal. Luther and the rest of his Warrior Priests dressed in their blessed armour mounted up and headed south at full speed, even at full pace it took them nine days to arrive at the army encampment. What Luther found he would never forget, over half the army was either dead or were wishing they were dead due to the mutilation they had received from flame, claw or tainted magic. The other half were so demoralized from what they had witnesses they seemed to just stand around in a daze, shock from the horrors they had witnessed. He and his fellow priests dismounted, their shining armour in stark contrast with their charred and blackened brothers and sisters, and with Luther at their head they all clasped the sacred symbol of the golden blade that hung around each of their necks and automatically started to chant a prayer in unison asking that each soul lost on the battlefield is guided to peace by Mydia and each living soul is touched by the true Atlantean god. As their voices repeated the prayer each of the warrior priests eyes began to glow brighter and brighter their voices in perfect harmony grew louder and louder until Luther heard a loud crack as if the land underneath him broke, then silence. He slowly opened his eyes he stood upon an ornamental pillar with nothing around him except a myriad of chromatic multicoloured clouds swirling far below him. Then he noticed a shape in the distance it got closer and closer and he could make out the shape of an armoured warrior carry a golden blade with a dark hooded creature by his side they seem to walk on nothing but air. By the time the figure arrived in front of him it stood a good three meters above him. The helmeted figure looked down at him as though to take the measure of the man before him, Luther tried to bow but found himself unable to move, then suddenly the small cloaked spoke. “Luther the gods have chosen you to be a champion for all Atlanteans, the god known to you as Mydia personally has chosen you to take part in the Storm Wars and decide which race will hold dominion over the lands in your plain of existence”. Luther struggled to move his eyes from the glowing giant before him to the small cloaked figure at his side. “I am humbled to be here but I must decline, protect my people and guide their soul’s home.” The cloaked figure seemed to almost do a silent laugh under its cloak, “Luther, you will soon find they are both one and the same, now I see with the glow in your eyes you already strike with the Zeal Mydia but you will need the tools to become a Hero of the Storm” The giant, all of a sudden appeared to be the height of Luther, then slid to one knee and unhitched a glowing white shield and held it out for Luther to take, Luther Shield had reached for it as though compelled by and invisible force. As soon as his hand touched it the armour from gauntlet to shoulder glowed as if white hot and seem to painlessly melt onto his arm the glow stablised. Small figure spoke once again “Mydia has blessed you with their shield to help you protect your people, now touch the blade and meet the Children of the Storm.” Again the glowing metal figure unhitched a golden blade and this time his sword arm reached for it. As soon as his hand touched it he closed his eyes and could see thousands of spirits entering his mind, he could hear the voice of the cloaked figure. “These will be your armies for the battles to come, call on them during the Storm Wars and they will fight for you, I am your Watcher and will guide” Luther opened his eyes to find himself on an airship crewed by strange beings and warriors of unknown origins, Luther grabbed the symbol around his neck with his now glowing arm and said a prayer thanking Mydia for this blessing. He looked to one side to see the flapping cloak of the watcher stood by the ships rail and strode over, the Watcher was looking at a crimson and black maelstrom surrounded by thousands of frozen creatures of evil, Luther, knew exactly where they were coming in to land. The cloaked figure just pointed and just said “Your first opponent”. Luther looked and there with a watcher by her side was Zuu. Luther led by his Watcher walked towards her with a confused look upon his face, “Zuu, what are you doing here you are supposed to be watching over Delos?” The attractive politician looked at him and smiled “But Luther, I am watching over Delos” She raised a strange looking lamp and in the center Luther could see flashes of what was happening in different areas of the land. “Oh, Luther and to why am I here, well as I see it power is everything and since I have opened the portal, I seem have unlimited access to it.” In that moment her skin turned purple, large horns spiraled out of her head and her Atlantean robes burned away. The shock soon dropped from his face and the Zeal within him began to burn bright with vengeance. In that moment both Watchers in tandem said “Battle”. Luther’s Storm Wars had begun.

Really cool stories. :) Very interesting to bring the concept of hero battles into the fantasy, in a way breaching the fourth wall.

**Gorm the Beginning.** Lishta was a young elf playing around the black cliffs with her friends as she usually did after her studies, the sun was shining and the ground was covered in lush green vegetation, pock marked by large black stones that had fell from the cliffs over the centuries, perfect for playing Hide and Hunt. It was Lishta’s turn to play the deer while her friends tracked and hunted her, she ran as swift as the wind while doing her best not to leave a trail for her friends to follow. She was constantly scanning the area for somewhere to hide, she noticed a crack halfway up the cliff wall, ‘Perfect’ she thought to herself. Lishta nimbly shot up the cliff wall to hide in the crevice. She squeezed her slim elven figure into the gap with ease but to her surprise after about 2 meters the crack widened up into a cave, which seemed to head downwards at a steady angle. Her young elven curiosity was sparked as her keen eyesight adjusted to the darkness, she thought to herself, ‘I could hide down here the others will never find me’. Which she knew in her mind was more of an excuse to investigate rather than playing the game. Lishta cast a small torch spell that Elder Isreth her tutor had taught her so she could see where she was going. She headed down and after about 5 minutes she noticed that the walls started to smooth out with strange markings that she did not recognize neatly carved into the wall. Something in her stomach turned as if her body was warning her to go back, but her curiosity was stronger. Lishta kept walking, she lost all track of time deeper and deeper she went until she came across a massive stone door which was covered in this strange text and sigils she had seen on the journey down. She stopped for a moment to take in the massive obstacle now in her way. A sense of disappointment crossed her mind as her journey had come to an end, she sat on a rock, she had forgotten all about the game with her friends and not only that she had completely lost all track of time. She put her head back on the wall and sighed, turned her head towards the massive door for one final look and ‘wait’. Lishta looked closer at the bottom corner of the door some of the stone had crumbled leaving a gap just big enough for a young lithe elf to crawl through. She got on her knees and wiggled and squirmed through the tiny, claustrophobic gap until she was through. The young elf stood up and looked around the room. In front of her were nine large pillars in a circle, each one topped with a dragon’s head, all except one which was shattered on the floor at the pillars feet. Each dragon had deep green sparkling gem eyes looking into the middle of the circle. Lishta followed their gaze to a black stone which seemed to absorb any light around it. She walked closer and looked around this strange stone, she had never seen or heard of anything like a stone like this. She brought her little magic torch nearer for a closer inspection. Suddenly the stone sucked in the magic flame. Lishta was suddenly surrounded by the darkness, the room suddenly became swelteringly hot and a pair of burning eyes appeared in front of her. “Ah Lishta, thank you for the flame it was all I needed to be released from the stone, I am Nek’T’eveth and I have been trapped here for so many millennia I have lost count. Now young elf that you have released me I am bound to you until death. Do not worry I cannot harm you, for now I am your slave”. The young elf looked at the burning eyes with both fear and curiosity. “What are you and what is this place and how do you know me?” The eyes seem to stare at the young elf intensely as if to burn her soul out with its stare “I am being not of this realm summoned to do the ancients bidding to be a slave for the whole of eternity, this place was built to store me when I was no longer of use to them and to how I know you, that small magic flame you gave me linked our souls so I now know everything about you”. She thought for a second “Well how come I know nothing about you?” The eyes then seemed to smile “Oh you will, in time, but don’t tell anyone about me as people will start to use you for their own means, shall we return to your friends now?” She thought “Why not?” The burning eyes faded then there was burst of flame she closed her eyes to find she was back with her friends. Over the next couple of weeks she tested ‘Nek’ as she called it and he did everything she asked, she used him to do all her chores, pass all the tests the tutor gave her and get her treats when she wanted it, she thought to herself this was amazing, Nek did everything she asked it could not refuse. One day she was sitting in tree relaxing enjoying the sound of the birds singing and the warmth of the sun on her face when she heard a “Bang, creek, snap” she hit the ground hard, she could hardly breathe with the impact. She could here laughing to her right, she turned her head slowly still panting to see Eldridi and his friends, and he was the villages lead mage apprentice, a spoiled and arrogant elf. He was from the village’s highest ranking family who enjoyed lording it about and looking down on all other elves not of their blood line. Lishta saw red, as the arrogant elf took pleasure in destroying the branch she was resting on, she looked at the young mage in the eye and cursed at the young mage” Eldridi you bastard, I hope you and your family day from flesh rot!” In the back of her mind she heard a laughter in the back of her mind. Then all of a sudden the young mage went grey and his robes started to soak in his blood, large chunks of flesh started dropping from his face. Both Lishta and Eldridi’s friends watched in horror as the mage rotted away before their eyes. His friends turned to look at the young female elf in sheer terror and bolted back towards the village. In a moment of realization she knew what she had done. She fell back against the tree still winded and bruised, she called on Nek, “Nek quick reverse the curse I have put on him and his family, the burning eyes looked at her and said with a hint of a smile in its voice “I am sorry dead is dead, the one thing I cannot do is bring the dead back to life”. Lishta started to panic, “Nek stop those elves from getting back to the village, make sure they don’t tell anyone about this!” Neks eyes burned brightly for a second “Done”. “Ok then, now take me home” in that moment there was a flash of flame and she was gone. That night she could not sleep due to the guilt that ran through her, vomiting several times at the images in her mind of the chunks of flesh falling from the young mages body. She knew she had to run away, she couldn’t be near this place, she would miss her family and her village, but she could not stand to look in the other elves eyes and know what she had done. She quickly packed her bags, and quietly began to sneak out in her mind say goodbye to her family as she went. She quietly opened the door and took two steps outside to find herself surrounded by mages. They raised their hands and their eyes glowed, she found herself frozen in a bubble of energy the energy repeatedly striking her body making her unable to think straight or call upon Nek. There in front of here stood Aladis the powerful head mage of all the surrounding villages and Derodi Lead Ranger and Chief of Justice. Derodi spoke “Lishta Ethynaris do not try to escape the spell that holds you can hold any elf no matter how powerful. Now young elf you are accused of murder of the whole Noble family of Illyars by cursing them all with flesh rot and Sidras Entyl, Malikious Seronis, friends of Eldridi by turning them to stone. We have traced the strands of magic to you and your pet demon and scryed through time to watch your actions. It was at that moment she realized what Nek was and that the demon had manipulated her to this situation. Yes he cannot harm her but that does not mean he cannot construct her death freeing himself. She started to cry as the demon at the back of her mind started to laugh. “Lishta it is with heavy heart that I Derodi sentence you to death.” At that moment he bowed his head and all the mages shot thousands of lightning bolts through her body burning her skin black her body wracked in spasms of burning agony. But as the mages changed to focus from holding her to executing her, she had a split second of clear thought and screamed “Nek, make me strong, give me the strength and means to escape and I give you your freedom” The demon laughed and said “Of course” all of a sudden time froze, and the burning eyes appeared before her then a figure of what would on first glance be a handsome man but on closer inspection, you noticed the set of sharp teeth and claws, what looked creatures moving around underneath its skin and of course those burning eyes. “First to escape you cannot be an elf anymore, as the man said’ no elf can escape the spell’” Lishta felt something change in her, her nails turned into claws, her burned skin turned hard and leathery and her mind was filled with rage and hate. Nek smiled “Welcome sister, now the means to escape I return to you the flame which freed me.” Lishta felt the fire rage within her dying to get out. She no longer had any conscience or feeling towards the elves or her even her family all she felt was hate burning hate for everything. She was no longer an elf she had become a powerful demon, Nek looked at her once more with his burning eyes, “I now give you the mantle of Gorm the Burning Rage” and with that he was gone” In that moment she returned to reality surrounded by the elf mages, she looked at them all with white hot eyes the shock at the sudden transformation the prison had gone through shook them to the core. Gorm turned and looked at the Ranger, with his head bowed, the hate fueled the fire within her, ‘who was he to judge who should live and who should die? That’s my choice!’ Her hands suddenly glow releasing streams of hot flames at the elves around her, instantly incinerating their flesh. When the smoke cleared nothing within a hundred meters was left, all had gone including Lishta’s home and family, all except a small hooded figure stood in front of her. She blasted it with flame and rage but the white hot flame went around it like a rock in a river. She was about to give it another blast when it spoke “Gorm you have been chosen by the gods to see which race will have dominion over these lands, you will battle all races to see who is worthy.” The hate for all races, Demon and elf alike and the thought of burning them all gave her some pleasure. It spoke again “I am your watcher and the spirits of these lands will be your army, suddenly what was once smoke from her burning surroundings turned into spirits of all the creatures of the land. She watched as suddenly they turned into a tornado around her, the walls of the tornado got closer and closer until she was at the tip of the funnel and they all entered her mind. When it stopped she looked at the watcher with a wry smile and summoned a range of elves, they were her slaves, they just stood there as just for pleasure as she burned away their flesh. The Watcher turned as though to look to the left Gorm followed its gaze to see an airship crewed by strange creatures appear through the smoke. Gorm raised her hands ready to burn it from the sky but the Watcher raised its arm to stop her. “Demon this will be our transport between battles, please come aboard”. Gorm looked over the side at the remains of what was Lishta’s home, she smiled at the destruction and death that she had caused. The flew over the forest to land in a field at the side of the forest, as they disembarked Gorm noticed another Watcher exit the forest followed by the best elf ranger of them all Eliana. Gorms hands flared with the pleasure she would get for burning that elven bitch. Gorm and Eliana looked at each other for a second before the watchers said in unison, “Battle”.