"The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all." H. L. Mencken
"Liberty is meaningless where the right to utter one’s thoughts and opinions has ceased to exist. That, of all rights, is the dread of tyrants. It is the right which they first of all strike down." Frederick Douglass
'The Great Torment had ended, crops grew again and the life giving rains fell, life was returning to the lands of the Romuli. A wind howled across the domain of the Romuli, the smell of rain thick in its breath, within the wind another thing, a smell never forgotten by the empire of the Romuli, the smell of war. The wind howled throughout the land gusting this way and that and where ever it went it sang the same song, war is coming time to sharpen your sword, time to drink blood, war is coming. The Great Torment had ended and so had the time of peace.'
Last edited by Borissomeone; August 30, 2009 at 07:04 PM.
Hello, I'm please to present my Fan Fiction for this fine mod. Enjoy, feedback if you please.
Based upon the Romuli Empire.
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
...
Cast of Characters.
Maximus – Legionarii of the Fifth Legion Leontius - Legionarii of the Fifth Legion – Brother to Maximus and Gallus Gallus - Legionarii of the Fifth Legion – Brother to Leontius and Maximus
‘Beginnings’
The Great Torment had ended, crops grew again and the life giving rains fell, life was returning to the lands of the Romuli. A wind howled across the domain of the Romuli, the smell of rain thick in its breath, within the wind, another thing, a smell never forgotten by the empire of the Romuli, the smell of war. The wind howled throughout the land, gusting this way and that and wherever it went it sang the same song, war is coming time to sharpen your sword, time to drink blood, war is coming. The Great Torment had ended and so had the time of peace.
Maximus stood on the rough wooden platform that ringed the fort, towers dotted the perimeter, he looked across the deep moat studded with sharp wooden stakes and stared at the simple dirt road that lead down the hill and disappeared into the distant rolling hills and forest that enclosed the fort. A wind pulled at him, trying to play with his dark brown hair, was it his imagination or did it speak of sinister things? He shook his head, trying to clear it of such dark thoughts; he was becoming as bad as his brother Gallus who seemed to find the bad in everything. Fat drops of rain started to fall, soon becoming a downpour that obscured everything. Again, he wondered why he was here at Lonely Hill Fort, which squatted in the hills across from the Uruk Dominion’s eastern border. A chill ran down his spine as he thought about the strange and savage beasts that lived within that Dominion. Whatever lived there did not matter for he was a Legionarii of the fifth Legion and wasn’t worried about simple beast men.
Leontius wandered up to him, seeing the look on his face, smiled the easy smile that was always ready and said, ‘You look like you did that time you ate bad meat, remember, you spent so much time in the latrines, you thought you would die.’ He finished with a grin; it was always funnier when it happened to another. Maximus looked at the grinning face, dripping with water, and remembered why he was here, something to do with a merchant’s daughter and wife and her sister and this grinning fool and the sudden need to leave Arretium, it did not matter, where ever his brothers went he went.
‘You smile too much; your face will fall off one day,’ he muttered to Leontius, who grinned even more.
‘I came to tell you a scout has returned. An army of green skins has been spotted to the west of here, we march tomorrow at dawn. Battle brother, soon we will fight.’ He finished with a hard slap to Maximus’s back. Other Legionarii soon replaced the two Legionarii as the day ended, with the need for food and rest they retired to their barracks to ready for the following day.
The new day came, with the sun shining through broken clouds; a long line of Legionarii, Legionarii Auxilia, Athenian Archers and Equites Auxilia marched out of Lonely Hill Fort on its way to do battle with the green skins. The rain had washed the air clean and the dark thoughts Maximus had been having were brushed away by the brisk wind that blew. Each man was equipped for war with: gladius, scutum, two pilum each, and a heavy pack. The long line of men and horses slowly made its way into the hills, the dull roar of an army on its way to war echoed back from the nearby hills. Leontius came up next to Maximus as the army marched, dust snatched away by the wind, the usual grin on his face.
‘What is with that grin, you haven’t found another merchants family to disrupt? Have you? I don’t think we can move any further away from Arretium than we have,’ Maximus asked.
‘Alas no, remember how I had to run, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, no time to don my pants, my ass hanging out and the merchants guards firing arrows,’ his grin got bigger, ‘Ahhhh good times.’ His face looking happy as he remembered the fun he had.
‘Yes well they certainly had a good target to aim for; your ass was like a full moon. I’m surprised they didn’t hit it,’ Maximus replied, now smiling. Gallus joined the two men, his face sour.
‘You two shouldn’t be so happy, I heard the army of green skins numbers in the thousands, maybe at least ten thousand, from what I’ve heard.’ A worried look danced its way across his face.
‘Don’t worry Gallus, we are of the Romuli and are Legionarii, we fear nothing, or are you worried you might see some bastard child of yours among the green skins? You do seem to like animals,’ Leontius said, slapping the sour faced man on the back. Gallus just looked even more depressed. Maximus rolled his eyes, knowing once Leontius started on Gallus the day would drag. Suddenly horns blared in the distance, Equites Auxilia raced along, moving out to cover the flanks, as the legion quickly formed up. Ahead the hills gave way to thick forest and the scouts that ranged ahead had spotted dark shapes moving among the trees. Quick orders were passed; Legionarii would form the centre of the battle line with the cavalry and Legionarii Auxilia holding the flanks, the Athenian Archers would fire from behind the main battle line.
Out of the trees spewed forth a mass of Reptarii, armed with sword, spear and shield, until thousands stood before the Romuli, not making a sound just standing, waiting. A strange spicy smell was caught in the wind, which wafted across the Romuli. A blast from a horn, arrows rained down striking the waiting Reptarii, hundreds fell as more emerged from the forest. With some unspoken command they surged towards the Romuli, more arrows fell like steel tipped rain, cutting down more. With no regard to the fallen the Reptarii continued to charge. Maximus and his brothers were in the front ranks of waiting Romuli; each Legionarii gripped the heavy pila, waiting for the command to throw, again the blare of a horn rang out, pilum arched out and smashed into the front ranks of Reptarii. Maximus watched as one of his thrown pila struck a Reptarii on the shoulder, spinning and knocking it backwards. His next pila took one in the face, who collapsed, blood gushing out. Hundreds more fell to the devastating fire. With a crash, the two armies met.
The slaughter started, having trained from a young age the Legionarii knew to aim for the neck or groin areas that caused the greatest blood loss. Maximus soon found himself lost in the sequence of battle, he aimed to kill, delivering a vicious blow to a green skins neck, its thick blood pumping from the wound, his next blow left another Reptarii with an almost severed arm, the limb dangling useless, its sword dropping from its hand, its life blood quickly shooting out in bright bursts. Leontius finished it off with a quick blow to the neck, his grin wide, he staggered back, a heavy blow landing on his shield, Maximus, seeing this rammed his shield into the Reptarii, and followed with a slice to the leg opening up a large artery, with a guttural growl it collapsed, only to be trampled in the ongoing battle. Again, a horn wailed out across the battlefield. Legionarii rotated out of the front ranks as fresh troops moved forward.
The three brothers soon found themselves in the back ranks, waiting for the chance to rotate back to the front of the battle line.
‘Why so glum? Gallus, see one of your children? Worried he might have recognized you?’ Leontius asked, his usual grin a little tried. Before Gallus could answer Maximus spoke, ‘The green skins seem not to care about how many die, they continue to come at us with no regard to their lives,’ his face looking slightly worried. Just as he finished speaking the wind began to increase in power, dark clouds had gathered and now threatened to join the battle raging below. Again a horn rang out, almost lost in the howling wind, and again the three brothers found themselves locked in mortal combat with the Reptarii. Maximus continued the steady pace he had been trained to maintain, hack a neck, slice a leg, stab a groin; he could fight like this for hours.
The day suddenly dimmed as a bone-chilling chant filled the air, whispering of death and despair, the Reptarii went berserk, throwing their bodies at the Legionarii. Slowly the legion was forced back, the shear pressure of the wild attacks pushing them back step by step. Legionarii started to fall in greater numbers, dragged out of the battle line to be hacked to pieces. Leontius felt an impact on his shield, looking down he saw the severed head of a legionarii, his face locked in a look of terror. The line started to crumble.
Gallus heard the chanting, his soul suddenly on fire, it whispered in his ears, opening his mind to the darkest places within his soul, a voice spoke to him, he knew now what needed to be done. The battle raged on.
Last edited by Borissomeone; July 26, 2010 at 10:01 PM.
The story continues, enjoy. If you can please leave feedback or comments, cheers.
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
...
Cast of Characters.
Maximus – Legionarii of the Fifth Legion Leontius - Legionarii of the Fifth Legion – Brother to Maximus and Gallus Gallus - Legionarii of the Fifth Legion – Brother to Leontius and Maximus Brutus – Commander of the Fifth Legion
‘Gallus’
Maximus dived backwards, having lost his shield, just avoiding a wild swing from a Reptarii, Leontius, watching the green skin make its wild lunge at his brother, stabbed it in its back as it stumbled passed, it dropped to the ground its spine severed, gaining his feet Maximus spun, stabbing another in the groin, his gladius dripping blood. Rain started to fall, fat drops bouncing off amour, as the wind suddenly died, chanting thick in the air, the Reptarii’s strange spicy smell grew heavier in the rain. With Leontius watching his flank Maximus looked for Gallus, the last he’d seen of him was his brother clutching his head, mumbling to himself, staggering away from the battle, strangely unharmed by the Reptarii. Horns wailed across the battlefield, order started to return, Legionarii began to reform the battle line, rain thundered down making the battle a hazy mess. Maximus and Leontius were soon joined by others, hacking the Reptarii down, the small knots of soldiers soon formed larger groups as more and more men regained discipline.
Equites Auxilia hammered into the flanks of the green skins, pilum raining down, the flanks started to fold as Legionarii and Legionarii Auxilia fought back, the steady pace of slaughter returning as green skins died by the hundreds. The Chanting stopped, the battle seemed to pause, and all of a sudden, the green skins turned and ran back into the forest, quickly swallowed up by shadows. Horns announced the battles end, for now, orders were given; no pursuit was to begin as the forest was thick and ambushes could lay waiting behind every bush.
Maximus stood panting, his mail thick with blood and gore, seeing Leontius he asked, ‘Where is Gallus? I haven’t seen him since that damn chanting started. He was holding his head like it was causing him pain….’ he finished, his eyes darting this way and that trying to spot Gallus.
‘Sorry brother, not sure, I lost track during the fighting. Don’t worry he’s a sour bastard, but tough.’ After the desperate fighting of the day his grin was almost gone.
Gallus wandered by, a blank look on his face.Maximus called to him, Gallus kept walking, not heeding his brother’s calls. Thunder danced in his brain, the voices spoke of darkness and blood, each step bringing him closer to his goal.
Captain Brutus gave final orders to runners, as the legion dug in for the night, fortifications quickly took shape, the Legionarii working hard to build the walls of earth. The rain created a thick curtain, Brutus found himself alone, hazy shapes moving about as Legionarii went about the task of setting camp. Brutus hoped his command tent would go up soon, only to get out of the heavy rain, he felt tired after nearly losing an entire legion, lucky his men were able to regain control of the fight, what a damn mess this was, he thought to himself. Out of the haze Brutus noticed five Legionarii approaching him, walking slightly strange. ‘What gives? Are you here to erect my tent?’ No answer came, something was wrong, his hand drifted to his gladius.
Gallus saw Brutus standing there, his mouth moving, but no sound came to his ears, the voices increased, his heart thundered in his chest.Gallus could feel his mouth hanging open, rain dripping in, he moved forward.
Brutus saw each man held a gladius, faces hanging slack.
Maximus seeing Gallus head off, the odd look on his face, decided to follow.
Brutus recognized Gallus amongst the men moving towards him slowly, ‘Gallus what is happening here?’ just as he finished one man snapped a blow at his head. His own gladius blocked the blow, now thankful for the long hours of practice, his return parry slid neatly into the Legionarii’s throat, rich red blood quickly staining his arm. Two more stabbed at him, blocking one, his fist shot out breaking a nose. With a desperate lunge to the side he just managed to avoid being skewered, another blow came at him, catching the attack on his gladius he used the man’s momentum against him, as the Legionarii twisted passed him, Brutus slammed his hilt into the man’s head, knocking him to the ground. Three remained, one with his nose squashed across his face, they stood there, mouths hanging open, not making any noise. The sounds of fighting reached Brutus’ ears; screams rang out as the sound of battle increased. The three flowed forward.
A slack faced Legionarii stabbed at Maximus, blow barely blocked, he smashed him to the ground. ‘Romulus’s balls, what is happening?’ he cursed, now running to where he’d last seen Gallus.
Dropping down, the blow swung passed his head; Brutus opened a deep wound on the Legionarii’s leg, the Legionarii staggered back, blood flowing fast, his face never changing. Suddenly out of the rain another Legionarii appeared. He quickly stabbed one in the back as the last one came at him.
Lightning danced in his eyes, voices screamed in his mind. Gallus moved in.
Maximus, seeing his commander under attack acted without thinking, killing one, stabbing him in the back, and then realizing his brother was the other one. He hesitated.
Brutus was tiring, blocking blow after blow that came at him, he stumbled as his foot slipped in the thickening mud. Giving no chance to recover, Gallus planted his blade into Brutus’ throat, watching the light fade from his eyes.
‘Gallus….what have you done... what.’ Maximus barely blocked the blow Gallus had aimed at his head. The next came for his chest, a quick parry knocked it away, another darted in, again Maximus knocked it away. ‘Gallus, stop it’s me, Maximus,’ he shouted as another blow came.His brothers face hung slack, his chin wobbled with each blow, no light behind his eyes, just emptiness. Maximus knocked the gladius from his brother’s hand, sending it spinning into the wet gloom of dusk, Gallus dived at him hands reaching for his neck. Maximus raised his blade, dripping with rain and blood, only to see his brother impale himself.
The voices suddenly stopped.
Life briefly returned to Gallus eyes before fading for good.
Maximus watched sour face Gallus slide off his blade, falling down onto the muddy blood soaked ground; he’d just killed his own brother, tears ran freely down his face, he dropped to his knees as shapes moved towards the heart broken man. Screams echoed throughout the night.
Last edited by Borissomeone; July 26, 2010 at 10:06 PM.
Hello, next bit - Just a few notes, a Decurion was normally in charge of 8 -10 men but in my story they can command more and the same with Centurions, normally in command of 100 men but my story they command more. And last but not least there is tiny bit of
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
sex
in this story so not one for the kiddies. Anyway enjoy .
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
...
Cast of Characters.
Maximus – Legionarii of the Fifth Legion Leontius - Legionarii of the Fifth Legion – Brother to Maximus and Gallus Gallus - Legionarii of the Fifth Legion – Brother to Leontius and Maximus Brutus – Commander of the Fifth Legion – Deceased Muckus – Ranking officer of the Fifth Legion Aula – Whore Spurius – Ranking officer of the Fifth Legion
‘Fools and Whores’
Rain thundered down, shrouding Maximus as he knelt in the mud, Gallus lay in front of him, a pool of expanding blood mingled with the mud and rain, slowly the approaching shapes formed into legionarii, weapons at the ready, their faces intense as they watched the surrounding area. The sound of fighting drifted throughout the night air, screams and the clash of weapons could be heard by the group of Legionarii as one moved up to the kneeling man. ‘Brother what happened, Brutus…Gallus...What have you done?’ Leontius asked his brother. Maximus knelt, head hanging down, his heart thundered in his chest, his brother’s words coming to him in a mumble, all he could hear was his own heart smashing against the inside of his chest. Leontius grabbed his brother, dragging him to his feet; he started to shake Maximus back and forth. ‘Speak brother or I will strike you down where you stand,’ Leontius snarled. ‘He…went mad, I don’t know why... he killed Brutus and then turned on me. I had no choice.’ The last bit was delivered in a whisper. Just as he finished speaking a slack faced Legionarii stumbled out of the gloom and stabbed one of the waiting Legionarii.
As the man dropped to the ground, Leontius spun shocked, ‘By our founder’s balls, what the hell is going on?’ The slack faced man swung at Leontius, who barely blocked the blow. Another Legionarii smashed the slack faced man to the ground; he then delivered a kick to his head. ‘I think it’s time to go,’ the man said. Leontius looked to his brother, ‘Sorry brother, there seems to be some madness in the air tonight. I…’he paused looking down at Gallus, ‘I should not have doubted you. I think we should head for Lonely Hill fort and try to figure out what the is going on.’ Another Legionarii spoke, ‘My name is Spurius, I am…a Decurion, I agree we should head for the fort, are there any Centurions left?’Maximus spoke, ‘We will gather what men we can, and if we come across a Centurion or someone else willing to take charge of this mess, their more than welcome to.’ With that he gathered up his gladius and waited for the other men to move.
That night grim faced Legionarii battled against the slack faced, night dwindled into morning, as the sun burst through the clouds, beams lancing down painting the country side in contrasting shades of light and dark. One such beam highlighted a shambling line of tired Legionarii as they stumbled into Lonely Hill fort.
Of the two thousand men of the Fifth Legion only five hundred had survived the night of madness, the men left behind to guard the fort watched in disbelief as the dirty men made their way back into the fort, calling out to the tired men, ‘What has happened?’ ‘Where is the rest of the legion?’ ‘Why so few, are we doomed?’ The man received a hard slap to the head from a fellow Legionarii for the last question called; they were Romuli and did not panic. During the long march back no Centurion was found to take command, only Spurius was left as an officer of any rank, so he had taken charge. Now back within the relative safety of the stout wooden walls of Lonely Hill Fort, Spurius looked to Maximus asking, ‘Who was left to command here?’ Maximus continued to walk towards the barracks, wanting nothing more than the darkness of sleep, Leontius watched his heart broken brother walk on, understanding his pain, feeling it also. ‘It’s Muckus who was left in charge,’ he replied for his brother. ‘That useless son of a whore, he is not fit to be in command, but it is no surprise he is. It is rumoured his family is rich enough to get him out of seeing any real action, but not rich enough to get him out of the Legion.’ He finished with a look of disgust on his face, for it was the highest honour in his opinion to serve. 'Let’s find this worm and tell him what has happened…not that it will do much.’ The two men went to find the ranking officer.
Muckus watched the fleshy behind of Aula pound against him, the whore making the appropriate noises as he took her up from behind, he heard some sort of commotion from outside his office, who would dare interrupt him when he was with Aula, his men knew better. Pounding sounded from the outside, groaning he stopped, slapping Aula on the ass. ‘Time to go my dear, I fear someone is due for a beating or whipping or whatever, stopping my fun like this.’ Aula did not care either way, rolling her dark eyes and flicking her long dark hair, she quickly pulled on her robe and walked to open the door.
The door open, the two men cast their eyes across the generous figure of Aula; she walked out smiling at Leontius, her hips swaying as she walked away. Muckus watched as the two battered men walked into his office, trying to see passed them, wanting one last glance of Aula. Failing to achieve this he looked back to the two men ‘Well what is it?’ he asked in a bored tone. Spurius report all that had happened, by the end Muckus had an alarmed look to his eyes ‘Err…I think this matter should be reported to Arretium. I will leave at once,’ already shuffling papers on his desk. ‘You are the only ranking officer left, you can’t leave,’ Spurius said through clenched teeth. ‘I’ll write orders for you as second in command, you will hold here until word comes.’ Grabbing this and that from his desk he then pulled his cloak from the wall and left, shouting orders for his lackeys to ready his horse. Spurius and Leontius followed him out, without any written orders, as Muckus quickly gathered his men and rode off without a glance back.
Aula watched Muckus ride off, a confused look on her face, where is that bastard going without me, she thought to herself. Hatred glinted in her eyes, now she’ll have to find another to look after her, that Leontius would do for now. Aula knew he wouldn’t be hard to catch, having seen the looks he’d given her. She stalked off, nothing soft and inviting about her anymore.
Muckus thought to himself of he would report back to Arretium, something with him as the hero, a smile crept across his face as he rode down the simple dirt road away from Lonely Fort Hill.
With Muckus gone, Spurius, with the help of Leontius quickly organized things; scouts were sent out with orders to report as soon as the enemy was spotted. Tired Legionarii were told to rest, most just went to the barracks to sleep with no thought of food.
The wind howled across the land, clouds flew through the sky, seeming to flee the advancing army that boiled over the land, a mass of Reptarii with skull faced priests marched towards Lonely Hill fort with one thing to do, finish the Romuli, no matter the cost.
Last edited by Borissomeone; July 26, 2010 at 10:14 PM.
just a quick comment, in real life a centurion commanded 80 men not 100
Thank you sir, as always your feedback is appreciated. More is on the way, I'm doing two Fan Fiction's at the moment (this and another) glad people are enjoying my story. I would rep you but can't at the moment.
Thank you sir, as always your feedback is appreciated. More is on the way, I'm doing two Fan Fiction's at the moment (this and another) glad people are enjoying my story. I would rep you but can't at the moment.
whats your other fan fiction, because i would be interested to read it as well
It's for the Mod Third Age, It's based on two brothers (bit of a theme in my storys) in the mililta of Pinnath Gelin (town in Western Gondor). It can be found under the Fan Fiction section for Third Age, its called The Battle Begun. I would Love for you to read and see what you think. Cheers.
Last edited by Borissomeone; September 07, 2009 at 12:47 AM.
'Maximus woke from his restless sleep, only to hear shouting coming from the main yard, going outside he saw a newly arrived scout dismounting from his horse. He waited for Spurius to finish talking to the exhausted man. ‘What gives?’ Maximus asked his voice sounding hollow to Spurius. ‘The green skins come. They will be here by tonight, more than I thought possible, but it doesn’t matter we will do what we were trained to do. We will kill until we can kill no more. What more can our founder ask from us?’ A strange look rippled on his face, a light suddenly blazed to life in his eyes, a hardness generally not seen in the mild mannered Maximus.
He knew his newly appointed commander was right, the green skins needed to pay for what they had done, a slow fury started to burn, not a wild rage like Leontius was capable of but a cold hatred. His training had taught him not to let his emotions rule during a battle, this time it did not matter. ‘We should ready then for the coming fight.’ As he walked away a cold hard smile crept across Maximus face. Spurius watched the Legionarri stalk away and pitied the green skins who would meet Maximus in battle.'
Last edited by Borissomeone; September 15, 2009 at 11:06 PM.
Citizen
Borissomeone's Tales of Thera (Fan Fiction)
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Push the button Max!
Primicerius
Father of Thera
Originally Posted by Templar Knight
nice ffPlease post in this thread and I shall close the other, so people know where to come and find the latest installement
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