Post by Tony on Jul 12, 2006 16:48:53 GMT -5
Notes - This is really my first try at a story that isn't going to suck (much). Names are purposely left out for the mystery of the whole thing. Other details are also left vague all for later in the story. Hopefully I will edit this some more before I put it on Fictionpress. I also need a name for it, which I have yet to think of. I'd just like your opinion on it and any supportive criticism you can provide.
A small balding man stood in front of the two great green doors that led into the throne room. He was always nervous when he had to make his reports to the Prince. He took a deep breath to steady his nerves and fussed with his shabby brown robe that he always wore. The Prince did not pay him enough to buy decent clothing. He stopped messing with his robe and took another breath. He was just stalling for time before he had to go inside. Pushing on one of the doors it gently swung opened without a sound. The carpenters did a fine job on these doors. They were decimated with swirls and lines that confused the mind if you stared at it for too long. He turned around and closed the door and made his way down the row of green marble pillars streaked with black. As he neared the throne he noticed that it was empty. A sudden thump came from behind and before he could turn around a blade was pressed up against this throat. "Did I improve?" a voice asked, barely above a whisper.
The small man recognized the voice of that of the Prince's. He replied, trying not to move this throat too much, "Yes, sire. I heard and saw nothing."
"Good," the Prince replied and sheathed his knife. The small man rubbed his throat where the blade had been and felt a small line of blood. "I have been practicing my stealth skills with the trainers. They say I have improved greatly since I started only a few years ago. It is too bad that no one sends an assassin at me for me to kill. I greatly wish to test my skills out in real combat." The Prince walked up the few stairs that led up to his throne. The throne was a monstrous thing, made of the same marble as the pillars. It was big and blocky, and the Prince loved it. He sat down on an emerald colored silk cushion that was on the throne. He gazed at the small man with his green emerald eyes waiting for him to start.
The small man cleared his throat and with a nervous stutter began his reports. He talked of taxes on the people, how much food there were for the city-state and the castle, the amount of soldiers they had garrisoned to protect the city-state. Not many soldiers were needed to protect such a small area that they occupied. The city-state that they resided in lay up in the Old Mountains where a vast empire once ruled. They were situated near a cliff overlooking a valley which gave them defense on two sides. The other sides had huge stone walls a fifty feet thick with battlements every few hundred yards. This city-state, once the capital of the empire, was all that was left after the invasion. It's people and culture were reduced to inside these walls and the near-by fields.
The Prince had learned his history of the empire. He knew all the great kings and what made them great and all the horrible kings and what made them horrible. He knew all the major wars fought with neighboring nations and how his empire grew peaceful after a millennium of no warring. With anger, he also knew how his great empire shrank when a tribe of barbarians came and slaughtered his people and took over their lands. His people had grown soft and weak and were not prepared to fight against anyone at that time. Their great empire shrank to a mere eighth it's size within the first decade and slowly shrank down to it's current state within the centuries that followed. Every king had been trying to find a way to defeat these barbarians since the invasion, but they had neither the people nor the weaponry to do so. But now, they were at peace with one another. The barbarians settled down, moved into the empire's former cities and started their own country leaving his people abandoned high in the mountains.
When the Prince's father became ill, the Prince took over for him. He managed the city-state as best he could while still learning how to run it. During the early years of when he took over, a group of Mages had arrived in the city seeking a place to do their work. They were driven off in their former country and every other country refused to harbor them. This place was their last hope. To try and persuade the Prince, they offered him a weapon that could reclaim his once great empire. The Prince was intrigued and set them up in a section of the castle's big basement. He would check up on them once in awhile and see what they were doing and have them explain aspects of their magic. They said they had an ability to infuse magic and machinery, which they had helped their former country with. They spoke of amazing objects like flying machines that looked like boats and a horseless carriages. The Prince was amazed by all this and wanted to know why he hadn't heard of their country before. They said that it was on another continent and that they arrived here by one of these airships. The Prince wanted to know where it was for he would like to use it, but they replied they were merely dropped off here. What they promised was a weapon that could shoot tiny metal pieces at an enemy and then use magic to harm them further. The Mages promised it would take a few years to make because they needed to gather the right materials and create the tools they needed to construct this weapon.
As the years passed the Prince grew and learned how to better run his city-state. He had made them very rich by opening several mines that were in near by mountains. And as the years passed the Mages worked on their weapon until it was perfect.
". . . the Merchant's Guild have been complaining of brigands on the roads to the near by towns and cities. They request for more guards to and from their locations. Their petition is right here which I shall put with the others for your later convenience. There has also been some news of some strange objects in the sky. This only happens at night and people report they see lights that look like they come from torches. They also report they could hear air moving and a rumbling sound. You may want to ask the Mages about this. If I may say so, sire, it sounds like the people are describing the airship that is in development. Some other news. There seems to be - " the small man was cut off from a knock at the big green doors.
"Come!" the Prince shouted from his throne. He was lounging with one leg over one of the arm rests. From the doors stepped in a tall gaunt man in a black robe. He was the Grand Mage who headed all the other Mages in the castle's basement. The Grand Mage walked up to the throne and gave a slight bow out of respect.
"Your Majesty," the Grand Mage began, "I have important news for you. I am glad to announce that the weapon we promised you so long ago is now ready. We have made five hundred of them for you to use at your desire. We've continued production with them and should have another five hundred at the end of the month. I must thank you again for harboring us in your castle. There have been much difficulties with acquiring materials to continue our work, but we have prevailed. If you will following me, Your Majesty, I shall escort you to where we will demonstrate this weapon to you."
Eagerly the Prince hopped from his throne and followed the Grand Mage at his side. The small man sighed, straightened his papers, and followed them. As he exited the throne room he nodded to the two guards outside to follow them. They made their way down the main hall and into the east wing of the castle. From there, they climbed down two flights of stone stairs until they reached another hall. After going halfway down the hall, they went out the right door to a courtyard outside. In the courtyard there were three archer's targets a handful of prisoners from the dungeon. On a table was the weapon the Mages had promised the Prince years earlier. It looked like a metal tube with the firing trigger and stalk of a crossbow.
The Grand Mage picked up the weapon and small piece of metal and inserted it into a slot in the gun. He pulled back a piece of metal and the weapon made a click. "Your Majesty, what I carry in my hands is called a rifle. This rifle will shoot bullets, which are the small pieces of metal that you fire. The bullet I just inserted into the rifle is a normal bullet made with normal black powder. The black powder acts as an explosive which propels the bullet down the rifle barrel and into the target. If you will, Your Majesty, observe." The Grand Mage brought the rifle to his shoulder and looked down the barrel at one of the targets. He pulled the trigger and there was a loud clap of thunder and smoke. When the smoke blew away there was a hole in the target.
"That single bullet can pierce through mail and plate far easier then an arrow could. Rifle are easy to teach and easy to load as opposed to a bow and crossbow. And with these rifles you can use the magic bullets which we have created. This red one is marked for Fire. We've infused Fire magic with the black powder to create a faster and more powerful bullet. The magic will also activate when the bullet stops moving." The Grand Mage gestured to a guard to bring forth a prisoner as he loaded the rifle. With a swift motion the Grand Mage brought the rifle up and shot the bullet at the prisoner. There was a sudden redness on the man's thigh and a scream erupted from his mouth from the pain. Before the man could make an annoyance from the screaming there was a roar of fire and the man was consumed in flames. In seconds there was nothing left but ash and melted metal that were once his shackles. "Well, Your Majesty? Is it what you expected?" the Grand Mage asked the Prince.
With a mighty grin, the Prince replied, "No, it is much better." With a laugh the Prince took the rifle from the Grand Mage and tested the various bullets the Mages had created. Today was a day that would be marked in history, the day that he reclaimed his empire.
A small balding man stood in front of the two great green doors that led into the throne room. He was always nervous when he had to make his reports to the Prince. He took a deep breath to steady his nerves and fussed with his shabby brown robe that he always wore. The Prince did not pay him enough to buy decent clothing. He stopped messing with his robe and took another breath. He was just stalling for time before he had to go inside. Pushing on one of the doors it gently swung opened without a sound. The carpenters did a fine job on these doors. They were decimated with swirls and lines that confused the mind if you stared at it for too long. He turned around and closed the door and made his way down the row of green marble pillars streaked with black. As he neared the throne he noticed that it was empty. A sudden thump came from behind and before he could turn around a blade was pressed up against this throat. "Did I improve?" a voice asked, barely above a whisper.
The small man recognized the voice of that of the Prince's. He replied, trying not to move this throat too much, "Yes, sire. I heard and saw nothing."
"Good," the Prince replied and sheathed his knife. The small man rubbed his throat where the blade had been and felt a small line of blood. "I have been practicing my stealth skills with the trainers. They say I have improved greatly since I started only a few years ago. It is too bad that no one sends an assassin at me for me to kill. I greatly wish to test my skills out in real combat." The Prince walked up the few stairs that led up to his throne. The throne was a monstrous thing, made of the same marble as the pillars. It was big and blocky, and the Prince loved it. He sat down on an emerald colored silk cushion that was on the throne. He gazed at the small man with his green emerald eyes waiting for him to start.
The small man cleared his throat and with a nervous stutter began his reports. He talked of taxes on the people, how much food there were for the city-state and the castle, the amount of soldiers they had garrisoned to protect the city-state. Not many soldiers were needed to protect such a small area that they occupied. The city-state that they resided in lay up in the Old Mountains where a vast empire once ruled. They were situated near a cliff overlooking a valley which gave them defense on two sides. The other sides had huge stone walls a fifty feet thick with battlements every few hundred yards. This city-state, once the capital of the empire, was all that was left after the invasion. It's people and culture were reduced to inside these walls and the near-by fields.
The Prince had learned his history of the empire. He knew all the great kings and what made them great and all the horrible kings and what made them horrible. He knew all the major wars fought with neighboring nations and how his empire grew peaceful after a millennium of no warring. With anger, he also knew how his great empire shrank when a tribe of barbarians came and slaughtered his people and took over their lands. His people had grown soft and weak and were not prepared to fight against anyone at that time. Their great empire shrank to a mere eighth it's size within the first decade and slowly shrank down to it's current state within the centuries that followed. Every king had been trying to find a way to defeat these barbarians since the invasion, but they had neither the people nor the weaponry to do so. But now, they were at peace with one another. The barbarians settled down, moved into the empire's former cities and started their own country leaving his people abandoned high in the mountains.
When the Prince's father became ill, the Prince took over for him. He managed the city-state as best he could while still learning how to run it. During the early years of when he took over, a group of Mages had arrived in the city seeking a place to do their work. They were driven off in their former country and every other country refused to harbor them. This place was their last hope. To try and persuade the Prince, they offered him a weapon that could reclaim his once great empire. The Prince was intrigued and set them up in a section of the castle's big basement. He would check up on them once in awhile and see what they were doing and have them explain aspects of their magic. They said they had an ability to infuse magic and machinery, which they had helped their former country with. They spoke of amazing objects like flying machines that looked like boats and a horseless carriages. The Prince was amazed by all this and wanted to know why he hadn't heard of their country before. They said that it was on another continent and that they arrived here by one of these airships. The Prince wanted to know where it was for he would like to use it, but they replied they were merely dropped off here. What they promised was a weapon that could shoot tiny metal pieces at an enemy and then use magic to harm them further. The Mages promised it would take a few years to make because they needed to gather the right materials and create the tools they needed to construct this weapon.
As the years passed the Prince grew and learned how to better run his city-state. He had made them very rich by opening several mines that were in near by mountains. And as the years passed the Mages worked on their weapon until it was perfect.
". . . the Merchant's Guild have been complaining of brigands on the roads to the near by towns and cities. They request for more guards to and from their locations. Their petition is right here which I shall put with the others for your later convenience. There has also been some news of some strange objects in the sky. This only happens at night and people report they see lights that look like they come from torches. They also report they could hear air moving and a rumbling sound. You may want to ask the Mages about this. If I may say so, sire, it sounds like the people are describing the airship that is in development. Some other news. There seems to be - " the small man was cut off from a knock at the big green doors.
"Come!" the Prince shouted from his throne. He was lounging with one leg over one of the arm rests. From the doors stepped in a tall gaunt man in a black robe. He was the Grand Mage who headed all the other Mages in the castle's basement. The Grand Mage walked up to the throne and gave a slight bow out of respect.
"Your Majesty," the Grand Mage began, "I have important news for you. I am glad to announce that the weapon we promised you so long ago is now ready. We have made five hundred of them for you to use at your desire. We've continued production with them and should have another five hundred at the end of the month. I must thank you again for harboring us in your castle. There have been much difficulties with acquiring materials to continue our work, but we have prevailed. If you will following me, Your Majesty, I shall escort you to where we will demonstrate this weapon to you."
Eagerly the Prince hopped from his throne and followed the Grand Mage at his side. The small man sighed, straightened his papers, and followed them. As he exited the throne room he nodded to the two guards outside to follow them. They made their way down the main hall and into the east wing of the castle. From there, they climbed down two flights of stone stairs until they reached another hall. After going halfway down the hall, they went out the right door to a courtyard outside. In the courtyard there were three archer's targets a handful of prisoners from the dungeon. On a table was the weapon the Mages had promised the Prince years earlier. It looked like a metal tube with the firing trigger and stalk of a crossbow.
The Grand Mage picked up the weapon and small piece of metal and inserted it into a slot in the gun. He pulled back a piece of metal and the weapon made a click. "Your Majesty, what I carry in my hands is called a rifle. This rifle will shoot bullets, which are the small pieces of metal that you fire. The bullet I just inserted into the rifle is a normal bullet made with normal black powder. The black powder acts as an explosive which propels the bullet down the rifle barrel and into the target. If you will, Your Majesty, observe." The Grand Mage brought the rifle to his shoulder and looked down the barrel at one of the targets. He pulled the trigger and there was a loud clap of thunder and smoke. When the smoke blew away there was a hole in the target.
"That single bullet can pierce through mail and plate far easier then an arrow could. Rifle are easy to teach and easy to load as opposed to a bow and crossbow. And with these rifles you can use the magic bullets which we have created. This red one is marked for Fire. We've infused Fire magic with the black powder to create a faster and more powerful bullet. The magic will also activate when the bullet stops moving." The Grand Mage gestured to a guard to bring forth a prisoner as he loaded the rifle. With a swift motion the Grand Mage brought the rifle up and shot the bullet at the prisoner. There was a sudden redness on the man's thigh and a scream erupted from his mouth from the pain. Before the man could make an annoyance from the screaming there was a roar of fire and the man was consumed in flames. In seconds there was nothing left but ash and melted metal that were once his shackles. "Well, Your Majesty? Is it what you expected?" the Grand Mage asked the Prince.
With a mighty grin, the Prince replied, "No, it is much better." With a laugh the Prince took the rifle from the Grand Mage and tested the various bullets the Mages had created. Today was a day that would be marked in history, the day that he reclaimed his empire.
