10-02-2010, 05:04 AM
First and foremost: Tell us about yourself, as a player.:
Introductions...jeez, I feel like I'm going through a job interview. Which I've been doing a lot lately. So, I guess I should start there.
I'm a professional strawman.
...Okay, hold on, that's not true. I just get beat up a lot. I work in construction, and I'm going to leave it at that. It's crappy work, and I'm looking for a better job.
Ugh, let's see. I like to joke around OOC...I tend to be pretty serious with my characters, though, as I'm not funny enough IC to do it all the time. I'm one of the few people in my area who Role-play, as I'm out in the middle of some county called Stafford. Much like the name implies, it was originally nothing but farmland owned by an English earl; unfortunately for me, once we kicked the English out, the farmers decided to stay. Almost no developments were made until about 15 years ago, so there are tons of rednecks everywhere.
Yeah, everything else, you can find out on your own.
Oh, I guess I should mention that I like to joke around about mature topics? I'm not sure if it's because I'm stuck at 17, or what, but I just love Mitch Fatel jokes. So, yeah. Laughs.
What country do you come from? What is your primary language?
The good ol' Ewe Ess Off Ayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.
English.
How did you get into Warcraft?:
I needed a game to play on a Mac, and the choices in MMOs are, even now, very limited.
I have since gotten rid of that piece of crap computer and picked up a much better machine with a horrible operating system.
What made you seek our server over others? (or How did you find us?):
What made you seek our server? - I don't want to pay a monthly fee to Activision. Blizzard, maybe, but not Activision.
How did you find us? - Google is an amazing site.
What kinds of roleplay do you enjoy?:
Is it RP?
Does it have actual people involved?
Are they not talking in "l33tspeak" or with constant errors in spelling and grammar?
Then I'm good. I'll engage in just about any form of RP.
What is your favorite race/class? Why?:
Forsaken Paladin. For self-explanatory reasons.
Shut up, I can dream.
What are your expectations of this server?:
I dunno, if I can get even ten minutes worth of fun out of something, then I figure it was a good investment. Hopefully, I can kick back here and just join with some existing RP before I try anything on my own.
Out of all of our rules and regulations listed on our server, which appeals to you the most?:
I don't know why, but the "Tolerance" section really appeals to me. Probably because I know that I'm going to accidentally screw up and have a magic ten-story tall GM with the avatar of a Pit Lord show up and just glare at me.
And I will know then, that I have stepped over the bound'ries of my jokes.
Then I will get a swift one right between the legs.
Seriously, though, I pretty much can dig all the rules.
Lastly, tell us a story! It can be short, it can be long; but most importantly, we want to see your work in action. Go!:
Oh, man. A story? This...may have to wait. I'm currently bed-ridden with a severe bout of the flu (note - when you work out of doors, and it's cold, and you've been coughing like mad for a week, don't show up to work). I doubt I'll be able to form any coherent story structure other than a possible, "Look out! It's over there! Hit it with your axe, Strongman McLargehuge, seventeenth Orc Warchief of the planet BlaaaaaarghIjustthrewupagain!"
However, I do have a copy of my very old work. Thankfully, I've improved since then, both as a player and a writer. At any rate. I hope this will suffice. Note, it's, uh. Well, it's a very short part of a much lengthier story I started to write and got no feedback on, so it might suck.
Relentless and unforgiving is the best way to describe the cold winds of the frozen north. True enough, there are areas where the lush green canopy of trees does provide respite from the harshness of the cold, but to travel to Sholazar Basin was out of the question. Instead, the two veteran warriors made their way across the Tundra called Borean in hopes of finding some respite of their own, wounds and weariness taking their toll upon them both. Footprints left in the snow of the Tundra led directly back to the burning settlement they had left behind them, and Alliance were fresh on their scent and following their tracks. They smelled of the same burning wood and fresh blood that had fallen upon their settlement, which slowed the hunter pets that had been sent after them, but at their slow pace it was only delaying the inevitable.
"Remind me," says the tall Orc next to the smaller warrior, "why we are not standing and holding out for as long as we can against the Alliance, to our dying breaths? Running like this...is...not honorable. I feel like I'm a whipped dog, running back to a master he long abandoned because I got into a wastebasket fight."
"Since when have you cared about honor?" asks the venerable elf by the Orc's side. " You've always been the type of person to just cut someone in half for no real reason. Like the time when you attacked that warrant officer of the Alliance because you thought he was hitting on you. Or the time when you threw your drink at that little girl because you thought she poisoned it. And to answer your question, we don't have a choice. Ado Nodel, you should know, we have a better chance of extracting our vengeance upon the Alliance if we make it back to Warsong Hold. To continue to dredge forward, never looking back, even when forced in a different direction, is still more honorable than dying before your time because you were stupidly trying to calm your rage."
"You speak in tongues, Saigejo. Was it not your idea to never return to The Horde again? To aid the battle against the Lich King by forging weapons and armor, harvesting wheat, and raising pigs to slaughter?"
"That it was, yes. I never said you had to come with me, Ado."
Ado Nodel spat upon the grounds, his expression furrowing into a frown and a glare. Saigejo looked away from his partner in crime, knowing full well that he had pressed his luck with his words. The very thought of Ado and Saigejo not working together had long become a foreign idea, a phantasm of the past; the two of them had fought side-by-side ever since Saigejo had joined the active service of The Horde. Through battles of great valor, through perilous and overwhelming odds, against vastly overpowering forces that would have destroyed most armies in an instant, they have stood with their backs to each other, trusting in each other, for years now.
The sun was beginning to rise over the Borean Wall, putting light upon the fields of the Tundra. While normally this would be a welcome sight, a sign that the weather would get warmer soon in the light of the sun, both of the warriors turned their averted heads to look to each other. Light meant that they would be that much easier to spot, their blood-stained and breaking armor none the less very easy to spot in the snow. Immediately, both of the veterans began to work out a plan to somehow evade Alliance detection, to somehow make it across the Tundra to Warsong Hold without being caught by making too much noise or moving so quickly that Alliance scouts in the air would be able to pick them out.
"...Magnataurs."
"What was that, Saigejo?"
"Magnataurs. The northern Kobolds and Magnataurs have an outcropping just over that ridge. If we can make it there, then we'll be that much harder to detect without the snow, and we can hide in some nook or small cavern if the Alliance fly overhead."
"And what of the Kobolds? If they alert their Magnataur overlords of our presence, we'll have another fight on our hands. I thought you wanted to avoid fighting for the moment?"
"Well, we'll just have to be careful, now, won't we? Come on, let's hurry. The sun has already risen higher since we started talking."
Ado Nodel nodded once in agreement before the both of them halted their march to turn towards the Magnataur caves. Before they did so, however, they both looked around the area to find foliage. They gathered small branches with leaves and berries from whatever plants were pushing out through the snow, looking for the widest assortment they could find. Before they made their way further to the West, they used the branches as brushes and covered up their tracks by pushing around the snow as they went forward. A cheap tactic, and one that highly skilled trackers would see through, but a plan that would throw the Alliance off their trail long enough for the both of them to make it to the Kobolds.
They had to slow their pace to cover up their tracks, but once they had reached the edge of the ridge, they immediately threw their now leaf-less branches down onto the ground, and they couldn't help but smile. The Kobolds were still asleep, surrounding various cave and sinkhole openings that were visible from above, and their Magnataur leaders were deep within their caverns, probably still lost in a deep slumber as well. The two retired soldiers looked back, just to check and see if their plan had failed, but felt themselves become elated at the lack of Alliance behind them. They both leapt from the top of the ridge, landing on small crevices and cliff-faces on their way down that helped lessen the fall from the height of the ridge. Nothing major, but jumping from that height straight down just wasn't a sound idea when they were both already injured.
Upon landing at the base of the Kobold lands, they realized that their armor blended in quite well with their surroundings. Brown, hardened clay and silt was accompanied by blood-red plants and flowers called Bloodpetals that the Kobolds harvested for the Magnataur masters. The two of them would still be noticeable if someone was searching hard enough for them, however, which the Alliance probably were still doing, so they pressed forward. Remaining as silent as two soldiers clad from head-to-foot in plate armor possibly could along the way. It wasn't long until they had reached the nearest group of Kobolds huddled against each other, sleeping closely to a large boulder in the ground.
The only problem was, both Ado Nodel and Saigejo did not notice the Kobolds from above, since they couldn't see the other side. Saigejo threw up his hand, warning Ado of nearby foes. The Orc halted suddenly, the shuffling of his feet making a noise similar to kicking gravel around. Both of the warriors turned their faces to Kobolds after Ado made that noise, watching to see if there was any stirring motions. Moments passed, as both of them stood completely still, eyeing the passed out Kobolds the entire time. Finally, they could breathe a sigh of relief, and they made their way forward once again. Saigejo made sure to slow his pace until Ado was standing next to him once again, and lowered his voice to a whisper.
"The hell was that back there?"
"What the Fel are you talking about?"
"I signaled saying that there were foes nearby, and your idea of subtly stopping in your tracks is to kick up a bunch of dirt and make noise?"
"Listen, if you hadn't suddenly stopped us with that little girl look on your face..."
"Little girl?!"
"Yes, like a frightened little girl that was scared the big bad Kobold was going to get them if they didn't go to sleep before nine every night."
Unbeknownst to the both of them, as they continued to sarcastically bicker back and forth to pass the time, their voices were steadily getting louder. They were making good time against the rising of the sun, easily a good quarter of the way across the Bloodplains at the moment. However, they were both getting slightly more rushed and arrogant at their success, walking right past groups of Kobolds that they would have otherwise stopped and avoided earlier. The two of them, smiles on their faces, pressed forward across the Bloodplains, never looking upwards to the skies or back to check for more Alliance.
An err on their part. With a roar from above, they both looked to the skies suddenly, and felt their spirits crushed for a moment at the blue flare that was thrown into the sky. An Alliance gryphon rider was heading back to the East, his job already done with the signal flare being cast. Ado and Saigejo turned their heads over their shoulders, and saw behind them upon the ridge a contingent of Alliance riders, their own weapons drawn and at the ready. One of the riders shouted something in Common, loud enough that the two warriors could hear them from bellow. At his command, three Alliance horns sounded across the Bloodplains, probably heard for miles around the Tundra. Saigejo and Ado Nodel didn't need to discuss the Alliance plan, they both realized what they were trying to do instantly.
They sprinted towards Warsong Hold at full speed. Around them, the Kobolds shot to their feet, wide awake after hearing the Alliance horns. That was their plan, to get the Kobolds to do the dirty work for them. The dumb creatures saw the two Horde running back across the Plains, and assumed that they were the cause of the commotion. They drew their own weapons, mainly sticks and wooden spears, and began to give chase to their trespassers, cursing and shouting in their own tongue as they gave pursuit. Saigejo and Ado leapt over small boulders and Kobolds that were still straggling to get to their feet in the process of running, both of their eyes wide. No longer worried about whether or not they would run into a Magnataur, they hurled themselves as fast as they could to get to the Horde base.
The Kobolds, of course, did not relent in their chase of the two. As Saigejo and Ado weaved in and out of small tents and campsites along the rocky plains, the monsters gathered in number. Before long, the call to arms had woken every Kobold on the plains, and like a wave that followed in their wake, the two former soldiers were being chased down. Every time they passed another small encampment where the Kobolds dwelled, every small hole in the ground or rock that provided decent defense where the Kobolds decided to loiter around, they would leave behind more creatures that would add to the mass of bodies in the wave. It was quite a sight, two Horde soldiers diving around while they fled for their very lives, a stampede of small tribal warriors right behind them.
"Funny...creatures!"
"What?!"
Saigejo was chuckling lightly to himself as he ran, taking only every few moments to take in large breaths of air. He suddenly halted, and threw an arm to the right. Both he and Ado dove to the right hitting the ground harshly, just in time to dodge a volley of Fireballs that had been cast by some Snobold Geomancers ahead of them. The heat was intense enough to burn through unprotected flesh nearly instantly, but was well away from the warriors, so they hardly even felt a thing as they had dove out of the way in time. They rose to their feet without hesitating and continued to bolt, weaving in and out of various groups of Kobolds and rocks. From time to time, they'd lose their way, and they had to stop and look for the tallest mountain in the Bloodplains in order to figure out where they were.
It took them a while, but they had reached the half-way mark, an incredibly large Bloodpetal stalk they had seen from earlier. Ado pointed towards a larger Kobold encampment near the base of the stalk. Saigejo turned to face the direction of the finger, and cracked a nervous smirk as he witnessed a large contingent of mis-matched Kobold fighters gearing up for battle. The small monsters ran around collecting various weapons and armor, donning fur and leather clothing overtop of their usual loincloths and torn garments. Shouting at each other in their own tongue, it was hard to tell exactly who was in command as no one seemed to listen to any one of their kind. Instead, it seemed that they just listened to whoever it was that was shouting the loudest.
"What's so funny about Snobolds already, Sai?"
"What? Oh, that. Ah, lightning wave..."
The Orc warrior lifted his gaze from his partner in time to see that a group of Snobold spellcasters had gotten ahead of them both. Their hands were alight with some sort of energy, most likely some form of elemental energy from the ways of their people. The two comrades both planted a single foot forward, and used the power of a forward dash to change direction. They both threw themselves aside, hitting the ground harshly, as the Kobold spellcasters released the energy. Lightning shot out from their hands and fingertips, a series of crackles and fizzes heard even over the din of noise from the stampede behind them. While most of the energy missed, the two soldiers couldn't dodge such a wide chain of attacks completely. Single branches of energy hit the both of them, their bodies flooded momentarily with powerful forces of nature. A fleeting moment, however. The rest of the energy flew past, and hit a group of Kobold warriors that had almost caught up with Saigejo and Ado Nodel. As their guards were down, they were taken by surprise completely, and fell to their faces with the sudden shock.
Even though the force of the waves of lightning was enough to knock down some of their unprepared allies, all that the spells did to Ado Nodel was trigger a kind of battle craze inside of him. The Orc warrior spun as he lay on the ground, using the force of his own spin to help remove the two large axes on his back with even greater ease. He planted a single foot forward and used the strength of one leg to lift himself forward, taking off into a full sprint at the Kobold Geomancers. He only slowed his charge as he got within a foot of the nearest foe, but he did not slow his movements in the slightest. Before the creature could blink, an axe had caught it in the side, leaving a wide gash that split the thing open. The force of the blow threw the Kobold back, flying right into another Kobold that was beside it. A storm of steel began, Ado Nodel cleaving wildly into one foe after another, taking multiple Kobolds out at once by using both his axes to attack a different enemy at the same time.
It wasn't long until Saigejo had gotten to his feet as well, though the energy from the previous spell had not left his body. Instead, you could vividly see the thunder cackling around his mace-wielding hands, his feet taken to an aggressive battle stance. He hurled his mace forward, the energy of the Kobold's own spells surrounding the hammer that was once in his grip. The Titansteel Guardian left a trail of energy in its wake, lines of blue forming as it traveled quickly threw the air. While one of the Kobolds was facing Ado Nodel, the hammer struck it in the back of the head. The weapon exploded with pent up power, a sphere of energy flowing outwards after impact. Several other Kobolds were caught up in this hammer of wrath, the sheer power of the blow knocking all of them forward right into one of Ado's furious swings. The axe cut through all three of the Kobolds at once, their heads sliced open as they fell face-first into the ground. The hammer flew backwards, right into Saigejo's outstretched hands.
They wasted no time; as soon as the unorganized group of spellcasters were dealt with, Saigejo and Ado took off into a sprint once again. They had both wasted a bit of time dealing with the Kobolds, allowing the others to fall in right behind them, but they had somehow made it just in time. Breaking out into full sprints again, the fight from earlier was the reprieve from simply running that they needed to regain their senses. Through heightened perceptiveness from suddenly engaging in battle, they had much greater ease in slipping around obstacles that appeared in their way, making great time. In comparison, the natives following suit were having a difficult time keeping up in the environment they were most familiar with. Both of the soldiers were still panting heavily, however; it wasn't like their fatigue had gone away, but rather, that the sudden burst of adrenaline had allowed them to push even harder than before. After running for a short while, getting a decent lead over the Kobold tribals, Saigejo finally spoke again.
"Just look at them. How could they not be amusing? They're running around like headless chickens, chasing after us and not knowing why. Their military is disorganized and ill-equipped, but they think they are highly advanced. Their own language has countless grammatical errors, they have no alphabet, they can't speak Common or Orcish, they go to the bathroom where-ever they want, they never bathe, and they don't even have a proper understanding of the shamanistic magic they use to grant themselves greater strength. And just look at their bodies! Half-fur, half-skin, these Snobolds of the north are even uglier than the ones that constantly attack the Alliance. Drooping ears that have odd tufts of hair poking out from festering pimples underneath, most of their teeth missing and replaced with sharp rocks that cause pain whenever they eat..."
"...you just think they're funny because they run around in circles whenever you throw firecrackers into a group of them."
"Yeah, that, too. But seriously, it's amusing. Give it an hour after we've gotten out of here, and they'll have forgotten who they were chasing after in the first place and start turning on each other in confusion."
Ado Nodel tilted his head towards the Bloodpetal stalk that was rapidly coming into sight. Saigejo rose his own head as a response to see what his partner was warning him about. The elf smirked uneasily, and began to chuckle to himself once again.
Awaiting them was a force of Kobolds, fully armed with their own style of weaponry and armor, preparing to intercept both members of the Horde. Their numbers were far greater than what was anticipated from earlier, with well over a hundred Kobold soldiers and spellcasters lined up. Towering behind them, wielding what appeared to be two large trees that had the leaves removed, were four Magnataur. These giant creatures had taken control over the Kobolds while Saigejo and Ado were dealing with the small band of Geomancers from earlier, and had the unintelligent critters form into mismatched ranks.
"You seem to think that we're going to make it out of this one, pink-skin. I beg to differ."
Is there anything else you would like to add, ask, or otherwise clarify?:
Uh, yeah.
Where all the white womyn at?
...In all seriousness, I would like the Tolerance rule clarified a bit, just to make sure I don't break any rules. However, my guess is that there's something on the forums about it, so I'll be diving into the tubes once I'm done re-experiencing my biscuits from breakfast.
Introductions...jeez, I feel like I'm going through a job interview. Which I've been doing a lot lately. So, I guess I should start there.
I'm a professional strawman.
...Okay, hold on, that's not true. I just get beat up a lot. I work in construction, and I'm going to leave it at that. It's crappy work, and I'm looking for a better job.
Ugh, let's see. I like to joke around OOC...I tend to be pretty serious with my characters, though, as I'm not funny enough IC to do it all the time. I'm one of the few people in my area who Role-play, as I'm out in the middle of some county called Stafford. Much like the name implies, it was originally nothing but farmland owned by an English earl; unfortunately for me, once we kicked the English out, the farmers decided to stay. Almost no developments were made until about 15 years ago, so there are tons of rednecks everywhere.
Yeah, everything else, you can find out on your own.
Oh, I guess I should mention that I like to joke around about mature topics? I'm not sure if it's because I'm stuck at 17, or what, but I just love Mitch Fatel jokes. So, yeah. Laughs.
What country do you come from? What is your primary language?
The good ol' Ewe Ess Off Ayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.
English.
How did you get into Warcraft?:
I needed a game to play on a Mac, and the choices in MMOs are, even now, very limited.
I have since gotten rid of that piece of crap computer and picked up a much better machine with a horrible operating system.
What made you seek our server over others? (or How did you find us?):
What made you seek our server? - I don't want to pay a monthly fee to Activision. Blizzard, maybe, but not Activision.
How did you find us? - Google is an amazing site.
What kinds of roleplay do you enjoy?:
Is it RP?
Does it have actual people involved?
Are they not talking in "l33tspeak" or with constant errors in spelling and grammar?
Then I'm good. I'll engage in just about any form of RP.
What is your favorite race/class? Why?:
Forsaken Paladin. For self-explanatory reasons.
Shut up, I can dream.
What are your expectations of this server?:
I dunno, if I can get even ten minutes worth of fun out of something, then I figure it was a good investment. Hopefully, I can kick back here and just join with some existing RP before I try anything on my own.
Out of all of our rules and regulations listed on our server, which appeals to you the most?:
I don't know why, but the "Tolerance" section really appeals to me. Probably because I know that I'm going to accidentally screw up and have a magic ten-story tall GM with the avatar of a Pit Lord show up and just glare at me.
And I will know then, that I have stepped over the bound'ries of my jokes.
Then I will get a swift one right between the legs.
Seriously, though, I pretty much can dig all the rules.
Lastly, tell us a story! It can be short, it can be long; but most importantly, we want to see your work in action. Go!:
Oh, man. A story? This...may have to wait. I'm currently bed-ridden with a severe bout of the flu (note - when you work out of doors, and it's cold, and you've been coughing like mad for a week, don't show up to work). I doubt I'll be able to form any coherent story structure other than a possible, "Look out! It's over there! Hit it with your axe, Strongman McLargehuge, seventeenth Orc Warchief of the planet BlaaaaaarghIjustthrewupagain!"
However, I do have a copy of my very old work. Thankfully, I've improved since then, both as a player and a writer. At any rate. I hope this will suffice. Note, it's, uh. Well, it's a very short part of a much lengthier story I started to write and got no feedback on, so it might suck.
Relentless and unforgiving is the best way to describe the cold winds of the frozen north. True enough, there are areas where the lush green canopy of trees does provide respite from the harshness of the cold, but to travel to Sholazar Basin was out of the question. Instead, the two veteran warriors made their way across the Tundra called Borean in hopes of finding some respite of their own, wounds and weariness taking their toll upon them both. Footprints left in the snow of the Tundra led directly back to the burning settlement they had left behind them, and Alliance were fresh on their scent and following their tracks. They smelled of the same burning wood and fresh blood that had fallen upon their settlement, which slowed the hunter pets that had been sent after them, but at their slow pace it was only delaying the inevitable.
"Remind me," says the tall Orc next to the smaller warrior, "why we are not standing and holding out for as long as we can against the Alliance, to our dying breaths? Running like this...is...not honorable. I feel like I'm a whipped dog, running back to a master he long abandoned because I got into a wastebasket fight."
"Since when have you cared about honor?" asks the venerable elf by the Orc's side. " You've always been the type of person to just cut someone in half for no real reason. Like the time when you attacked that warrant officer of the Alliance because you thought he was hitting on you. Or the time when you threw your drink at that little girl because you thought she poisoned it. And to answer your question, we don't have a choice. Ado Nodel, you should know, we have a better chance of extracting our vengeance upon the Alliance if we make it back to Warsong Hold. To continue to dredge forward, never looking back, even when forced in a different direction, is still more honorable than dying before your time because you were stupidly trying to calm your rage."
"You speak in tongues, Saigejo. Was it not your idea to never return to The Horde again? To aid the battle against the Lich King by forging weapons and armor, harvesting wheat, and raising pigs to slaughter?"
"That it was, yes. I never said you had to come with me, Ado."
Ado Nodel spat upon the grounds, his expression furrowing into a frown and a glare. Saigejo looked away from his partner in crime, knowing full well that he had pressed his luck with his words. The very thought of Ado and Saigejo not working together had long become a foreign idea, a phantasm of the past; the two of them had fought side-by-side ever since Saigejo had joined the active service of The Horde. Through battles of great valor, through perilous and overwhelming odds, against vastly overpowering forces that would have destroyed most armies in an instant, they have stood with their backs to each other, trusting in each other, for years now.
The sun was beginning to rise over the Borean Wall, putting light upon the fields of the Tundra. While normally this would be a welcome sight, a sign that the weather would get warmer soon in the light of the sun, both of the warriors turned their averted heads to look to each other. Light meant that they would be that much easier to spot, their blood-stained and breaking armor none the less very easy to spot in the snow. Immediately, both of the veterans began to work out a plan to somehow evade Alliance detection, to somehow make it across the Tundra to Warsong Hold without being caught by making too much noise or moving so quickly that Alliance scouts in the air would be able to pick them out.
"...Magnataurs."
"What was that, Saigejo?"
"Magnataurs. The northern Kobolds and Magnataurs have an outcropping just over that ridge. If we can make it there, then we'll be that much harder to detect without the snow, and we can hide in some nook or small cavern if the Alliance fly overhead."
"And what of the Kobolds? If they alert their Magnataur overlords of our presence, we'll have another fight on our hands. I thought you wanted to avoid fighting for the moment?"
"Well, we'll just have to be careful, now, won't we? Come on, let's hurry. The sun has already risen higher since we started talking."
Ado Nodel nodded once in agreement before the both of them halted their march to turn towards the Magnataur caves. Before they did so, however, they both looked around the area to find foliage. They gathered small branches with leaves and berries from whatever plants were pushing out through the snow, looking for the widest assortment they could find. Before they made their way further to the West, they used the branches as brushes and covered up their tracks by pushing around the snow as they went forward. A cheap tactic, and one that highly skilled trackers would see through, but a plan that would throw the Alliance off their trail long enough for the both of them to make it to the Kobolds.
They had to slow their pace to cover up their tracks, but once they had reached the edge of the ridge, they immediately threw their now leaf-less branches down onto the ground, and they couldn't help but smile. The Kobolds were still asleep, surrounding various cave and sinkhole openings that were visible from above, and their Magnataur leaders were deep within their caverns, probably still lost in a deep slumber as well. The two retired soldiers looked back, just to check and see if their plan had failed, but felt themselves become elated at the lack of Alliance behind them. They both leapt from the top of the ridge, landing on small crevices and cliff-faces on their way down that helped lessen the fall from the height of the ridge. Nothing major, but jumping from that height straight down just wasn't a sound idea when they were both already injured.
Upon landing at the base of the Kobold lands, they realized that their armor blended in quite well with their surroundings. Brown, hardened clay and silt was accompanied by blood-red plants and flowers called Bloodpetals that the Kobolds harvested for the Magnataur masters. The two of them would still be noticeable if someone was searching hard enough for them, however, which the Alliance probably were still doing, so they pressed forward. Remaining as silent as two soldiers clad from head-to-foot in plate armor possibly could along the way. It wasn't long until they had reached the nearest group of Kobolds huddled against each other, sleeping closely to a large boulder in the ground.
The only problem was, both Ado Nodel and Saigejo did not notice the Kobolds from above, since they couldn't see the other side. Saigejo threw up his hand, warning Ado of nearby foes. The Orc halted suddenly, the shuffling of his feet making a noise similar to kicking gravel around. Both of the warriors turned their faces to Kobolds after Ado made that noise, watching to see if there was any stirring motions. Moments passed, as both of them stood completely still, eyeing the passed out Kobolds the entire time. Finally, they could breathe a sigh of relief, and they made their way forward once again. Saigejo made sure to slow his pace until Ado was standing next to him once again, and lowered his voice to a whisper.
"The hell was that back there?"
"What the Fel are you talking about?"
"I signaled saying that there were foes nearby, and your idea of subtly stopping in your tracks is to kick up a bunch of dirt and make noise?"
"Listen, if you hadn't suddenly stopped us with that little girl look on your face..."
"Little girl?!"
"Yes, like a frightened little girl that was scared the big bad Kobold was going to get them if they didn't go to sleep before nine every night."
Unbeknownst to the both of them, as they continued to sarcastically bicker back and forth to pass the time, their voices were steadily getting louder. They were making good time against the rising of the sun, easily a good quarter of the way across the Bloodplains at the moment. However, they were both getting slightly more rushed and arrogant at their success, walking right past groups of Kobolds that they would have otherwise stopped and avoided earlier. The two of them, smiles on their faces, pressed forward across the Bloodplains, never looking upwards to the skies or back to check for more Alliance.
An err on their part. With a roar from above, they both looked to the skies suddenly, and felt their spirits crushed for a moment at the blue flare that was thrown into the sky. An Alliance gryphon rider was heading back to the East, his job already done with the signal flare being cast. Ado and Saigejo turned their heads over their shoulders, and saw behind them upon the ridge a contingent of Alliance riders, their own weapons drawn and at the ready. One of the riders shouted something in Common, loud enough that the two warriors could hear them from bellow. At his command, three Alliance horns sounded across the Bloodplains, probably heard for miles around the Tundra. Saigejo and Ado Nodel didn't need to discuss the Alliance plan, they both realized what they were trying to do instantly.
They sprinted towards Warsong Hold at full speed. Around them, the Kobolds shot to their feet, wide awake after hearing the Alliance horns. That was their plan, to get the Kobolds to do the dirty work for them. The dumb creatures saw the two Horde running back across the Plains, and assumed that they were the cause of the commotion. They drew their own weapons, mainly sticks and wooden spears, and began to give chase to their trespassers, cursing and shouting in their own tongue as they gave pursuit. Saigejo and Ado leapt over small boulders and Kobolds that were still straggling to get to their feet in the process of running, both of their eyes wide. No longer worried about whether or not they would run into a Magnataur, they hurled themselves as fast as they could to get to the Horde base.
The Kobolds, of course, did not relent in their chase of the two. As Saigejo and Ado weaved in and out of small tents and campsites along the rocky plains, the monsters gathered in number. Before long, the call to arms had woken every Kobold on the plains, and like a wave that followed in their wake, the two former soldiers were being chased down. Every time they passed another small encampment where the Kobolds dwelled, every small hole in the ground or rock that provided decent defense where the Kobolds decided to loiter around, they would leave behind more creatures that would add to the mass of bodies in the wave. It was quite a sight, two Horde soldiers diving around while they fled for their very lives, a stampede of small tribal warriors right behind them.
"Funny...creatures!"
"What?!"
Saigejo was chuckling lightly to himself as he ran, taking only every few moments to take in large breaths of air. He suddenly halted, and threw an arm to the right. Both he and Ado dove to the right hitting the ground harshly, just in time to dodge a volley of Fireballs that had been cast by some Snobold Geomancers ahead of them. The heat was intense enough to burn through unprotected flesh nearly instantly, but was well away from the warriors, so they hardly even felt a thing as they had dove out of the way in time. They rose to their feet without hesitating and continued to bolt, weaving in and out of various groups of Kobolds and rocks. From time to time, they'd lose their way, and they had to stop and look for the tallest mountain in the Bloodplains in order to figure out where they were.
It took them a while, but they had reached the half-way mark, an incredibly large Bloodpetal stalk they had seen from earlier. Ado pointed towards a larger Kobold encampment near the base of the stalk. Saigejo turned to face the direction of the finger, and cracked a nervous smirk as he witnessed a large contingent of mis-matched Kobold fighters gearing up for battle. The small monsters ran around collecting various weapons and armor, donning fur and leather clothing overtop of their usual loincloths and torn garments. Shouting at each other in their own tongue, it was hard to tell exactly who was in command as no one seemed to listen to any one of their kind. Instead, it seemed that they just listened to whoever it was that was shouting the loudest.
"What's so funny about Snobolds already, Sai?"
"What? Oh, that. Ah, lightning wave..."
The Orc warrior lifted his gaze from his partner in time to see that a group of Snobold spellcasters had gotten ahead of them both. Their hands were alight with some sort of energy, most likely some form of elemental energy from the ways of their people. The two comrades both planted a single foot forward, and used the power of a forward dash to change direction. They both threw themselves aside, hitting the ground harshly, as the Kobold spellcasters released the energy. Lightning shot out from their hands and fingertips, a series of crackles and fizzes heard even over the din of noise from the stampede behind them. While most of the energy missed, the two soldiers couldn't dodge such a wide chain of attacks completely. Single branches of energy hit the both of them, their bodies flooded momentarily with powerful forces of nature. A fleeting moment, however. The rest of the energy flew past, and hit a group of Kobold warriors that had almost caught up with Saigejo and Ado Nodel. As their guards were down, they were taken by surprise completely, and fell to their faces with the sudden shock.
Even though the force of the waves of lightning was enough to knock down some of their unprepared allies, all that the spells did to Ado Nodel was trigger a kind of battle craze inside of him. The Orc warrior spun as he lay on the ground, using the force of his own spin to help remove the two large axes on his back with even greater ease. He planted a single foot forward and used the strength of one leg to lift himself forward, taking off into a full sprint at the Kobold Geomancers. He only slowed his charge as he got within a foot of the nearest foe, but he did not slow his movements in the slightest. Before the creature could blink, an axe had caught it in the side, leaving a wide gash that split the thing open. The force of the blow threw the Kobold back, flying right into another Kobold that was beside it. A storm of steel began, Ado Nodel cleaving wildly into one foe after another, taking multiple Kobolds out at once by using both his axes to attack a different enemy at the same time.
It wasn't long until Saigejo had gotten to his feet as well, though the energy from the previous spell had not left his body. Instead, you could vividly see the thunder cackling around his mace-wielding hands, his feet taken to an aggressive battle stance. He hurled his mace forward, the energy of the Kobold's own spells surrounding the hammer that was once in his grip. The Titansteel Guardian left a trail of energy in its wake, lines of blue forming as it traveled quickly threw the air. While one of the Kobolds was facing Ado Nodel, the hammer struck it in the back of the head. The weapon exploded with pent up power, a sphere of energy flowing outwards after impact. Several other Kobolds were caught up in this hammer of wrath, the sheer power of the blow knocking all of them forward right into one of Ado's furious swings. The axe cut through all three of the Kobolds at once, their heads sliced open as they fell face-first into the ground. The hammer flew backwards, right into Saigejo's outstretched hands.
They wasted no time; as soon as the unorganized group of spellcasters were dealt with, Saigejo and Ado took off into a sprint once again. They had both wasted a bit of time dealing with the Kobolds, allowing the others to fall in right behind them, but they had somehow made it just in time. Breaking out into full sprints again, the fight from earlier was the reprieve from simply running that they needed to regain their senses. Through heightened perceptiveness from suddenly engaging in battle, they had much greater ease in slipping around obstacles that appeared in their way, making great time. In comparison, the natives following suit were having a difficult time keeping up in the environment they were most familiar with. Both of the soldiers were still panting heavily, however; it wasn't like their fatigue had gone away, but rather, that the sudden burst of adrenaline had allowed them to push even harder than before. After running for a short while, getting a decent lead over the Kobold tribals, Saigejo finally spoke again.
"Just look at them. How could they not be amusing? They're running around like headless chickens, chasing after us and not knowing why. Their military is disorganized and ill-equipped, but they think they are highly advanced. Their own language has countless grammatical errors, they have no alphabet, they can't speak Common or Orcish, they go to the bathroom where-ever they want, they never bathe, and they don't even have a proper understanding of the shamanistic magic they use to grant themselves greater strength. And just look at their bodies! Half-fur, half-skin, these Snobolds of the north are even uglier than the ones that constantly attack the Alliance. Drooping ears that have odd tufts of hair poking out from festering pimples underneath, most of their teeth missing and replaced with sharp rocks that cause pain whenever they eat..."
"...you just think they're funny because they run around in circles whenever you throw firecrackers into a group of them."
"Yeah, that, too. But seriously, it's amusing. Give it an hour after we've gotten out of here, and they'll have forgotten who they were chasing after in the first place and start turning on each other in confusion."
Ado Nodel tilted his head towards the Bloodpetal stalk that was rapidly coming into sight. Saigejo rose his own head as a response to see what his partner was warning him about. The elf smirked uneasily, and began to chuckle to himself once again.
Awaiting them was a force of Kobolds, fully armed with their own style of weaponry and armor, preparing to intercept both members of the Horde. Their numbers were far greater than what was anticipated from earlier, with well over a hundred Kobold soldiers and spellcasters lined up. Towering behind them, wielding what appeared to be two large trees that had the leaves removed, were four Magnataur. These giant creatures had taken control over the Kobolds while Saigejo and Ado were dealing with the small band of Geomancers from earlier, and had the unintelligent critters form into mismatched ranks.
"You seem to think that we're going to make it out of this one, pink-skin. I beg to differ."
Is there anything else you would like to add, ask, or otherwise clarify?:
Uh, yeah.
Where all the white womyn at?
...In all seriousness, I would like the Tolerance rule clarified a bit, just to make sure I don't break any rules. However, my guess is that there's something on the forums about it, so I'll be diving into the tubes once I'm done re-experiencing my biscuits from breakfast.