Fable: Tale of a Hero

[NinjaX]

Fable: Tale of a Hero

I would copy and paste all this onto here, but that seems a little silly.

Well, I hope you enjoy it...

Fable: Tale of a Hero | Fanfiction from the world of Albion

And heres a snippit of it....

Chapter I: Old Friends

Orpheus sat down against the stone wall. His armour creaked as he hit the ground, he could feel his numerous wounds stabbing at his side. He looked down; blood was seeping from the large gash in his armour. He would shrug it off, but first he’d need to deal with the bandits heading his way. He looked to where he had just been, the corpses of the bandits lying motionless on the floor. He took no delight in killing them, but it had to be done. He’d much rather have tried to calm the situation with talk, but once they had fired upon him he had little choice but to react.

He had taken the job of defending the nearby farm only hours ago. He remembered the look of worry on the Guildmasters face when he had told him. His teachers didn’t believe he was ready for something like this, but he knew different. Ever since he had left his home town of Oakvale all those years ago he knew what his true calling had to be, and nothing was going to stop him becoming stronger and more powerful. He knew he’d end it some day, but for the moment all he had to concentrate on was the bandits charging towards him, and the yells of the Bowerstone Guards that had come with him, calling for aid.

Sighing at the poor quality of their training he stood quickly and gazed at the scene before him. Two of the bandits were making their way towards the barn located to his left; if he didn’t move quickly they would break in and take the boxes. He looked cautiously at the Guards trying to repel the other bandits, they would hold their own, and he had more important things to deal with. Orpheus dashed as quickly as he could across the open ground to where the barn door stood. He ducked as a bolt flew past his head and slammed into the wood behind him, that had been lucky. He gazed up to where it had come from and saw the bandit leering at him only a few metres away. That bandit must have been an awful shot Orpheus pondered. Without thinking he let a flash of Lightning arch from his left hand and saw it connect with the bandit, who promptly shuddered and collapsed, knocked unconscious from the electrical energy. ‘One down’ Orpheus thought.

He heard something splinter behind him, inside the barn. The bandits had smashed through the side of the building. He looked back to the combat for a second, making sure he was no longer under threat and slid inside quickly, his sword flashing in front of him. The two bandits immediately stopped and turned to face him. The one dropped one of the boxes which landed with a deep thud. Orpheus wondered what was inside, but knew better than to ask when he returned for his reward. He turned his attention back to the bandits in front of him. They both had cruel looking blades in their hands, black as the night and etched with blood red runes. Orpheus doubted that his creaky chain mail would take many of their blows; he had to make this end quickly.

The bandits charged, just as Orpheus had hoped. Quickly he let the energy build in his left hand and sent a shockwave towards the charging bandit on that side of him, the invisible wall of energy slammed into the bandit and he flew back towards the reverse of the barn, sprawling as he did so and collapsing in the hay. The second however reached him and brought his blade down towards Orpheus’ head. He skilfully slid his blade into position beneath the blow and the bandit slipped as his blade slid down Orpheus’s own. Orpheus took the opportunity and kicked the legs from underneath him as he tumbled, sending the bandit flat into the dirt. In one swift manoeuvre Orpheus twisted the blade in his grip and drove it hard into the bandits now exposed back. He felt the blade puncture organs and splinter bone, sending a jet of blood skywards. Resting for a second, his blade still in the bandit Orpheus looked ahead of him. The boxes were still intact, and the other bandit was out of the fight, he stirred but Orpheus knew he would be too injured to continue fighting.

Suddenly, as all seemed finished, he heard the slam of something against the wood outside. It sounded heavy, a body perhaps? Orpheus turned and raised his sword, he wasn’t accustomed to being caught unawares and it wasn’t going to happen now. He heard another thud and the limp form of a guard dropped in front of the open barn door, a small trickle of blood seeping from the corner of his mouth. He heard footsteps outside and a figure stepped into the doorway, looking down at the motionless form of the guardsman. Orpheus couldn’t quite see right, the sun cast the person into complete silhouette, but he could tell that it was a woman.

She stepped over the body of the guardsman and Orpheus got a better look at her face. Her face was covered by a tight scarf, the top of her head bearing a metal helmet. He couldn’t tell who she was, but she certainly wasn’t a bandit. He squinted, walking backwards slightly so he she wouldn’t be within reaches of him. She looked up and stared at him, and Orpheus detected the smallest hint of a smile as the fabric covering the lower half of her face twitched slightly.

“I would have thought you’d recognise an old friend farm boy?” She looked straight into Orpheus’ eyes and fixed him with a steely stare.

It took a moment for Orpheus to register what she had just said. He paused for a moment before lowering his blade slightly and standing straight “Whisper?”

 

[Darg]

Re: Fable: Tale of a Hero

Though it may be a bit of a copy of the events of Fable, I like it. It's good to hear the story of Fable from another's eyes. Keep it up! +rep

 

[NinjaX]

Re: Fable: Tale of a Hero

I was going to see if I could do the heroes story...but obviously how 'I' would have played it. The obvious different POV's is hopefully enough to break it from the original story.

The one thing that is hard with writing a hero story about Fable is that the game is meant to be 'your own story...make your own path'...but hopefully with my character Orpheus...I can show the differing attitudes around it.

I must say I prefer the off-story stuff I've done (so Maze/Jack/Briar etc)

 

[Ashta]

Re: Fable: Tale of a Hero

That fanfic is probably one of the reasons I came to this forum It's a pity you stopped writing your story. It's awesome.

 

[NinjaX]

Re: Fable: Tale of a Hero

Chapter XX: A Path Well Trolled…

The Cullis gate hummed and flared into life brilliantly, the ancient woodland around it shying away from this new mystical light, cringing back into the darkness of the high forests. The gate exploded in a flash of the light once more and with a sucking of air expelled its newest traveller onto the floor of the clearing, his heavy boots clinking onto the stone steps as he landed hard. As soon as it had started up, the gate shut with a snap, the plant life seeking the relief and flowing back onto the paths, overgrowing them and claiming back what had been theirs undisturbed for many years.

Orpheus was looking very different now. The happenings at the camp had changed him dramatically, and he wasn’t sure why. The most impressive change had been in his fortune, as now he was no longer hanging on when it came to monetary matters, having to mend all of his old equipment when it was broken. He now sported a fresh, finely fitted suit of plated steel. The heavy slabs of steel covered his body, interwoven with leathers ands straps to hold it all in place. Before his encounter with the bandits he would never have been able to carry such armour on his persons, but the wealth of power and energy his sister had gifted him had made him, in his eyes a new man.

He stepped down from the Cullis gate and pulled his sword from his back. The blade was deepest black, laced with crimson, a blade he had found not so long ago. He twisted it in his leather bound grip and felt the weight of his sword once more, it was good to get back into the world of Albion once more, and even if this was somewhere he had never been in his life. He remembered the words the Guildmaster had ushered too him just moments before as he stepped into the portal ‘Knothole is a dangerous place hero…’ he had tried to hear the rest, but the whirling of the portal had cut this from his range, but he distinctly heard something about Gods.

Orpheus gave little credence to Gods anymore. He had visited the Chapel of Skorm in Darkwood many months ago now, and he still remembered that horrible place. He had taken great pleasure in killing the priests, garbed in the robes of Guild teachers in some macabre jab at an insult and thrown their bodies to the wild. He had desecrated the statue of the devil God Skorm, and smashed his idol to pieces. He knew he had let his wrath get the better of him, but it was what was needed to rid Albion of such people. He guessed it all went back to Oakvale all those years ago, he hated Skorm for burning his village, and he hate Avo too for never coming to his aid and saving his family. As much as people protested that it was the will of the God’s, he gave them no second thought. It was just a trick to play on the weak, and he was having none of that.

His memory flashed back all of a sudden to just two days ago. As he walked slowly through the undergrowth he remembered Emily. He had left her all those weeks ago in Oakvale before he had gone to Twinblades camp. He had felt something he hadn’t wanted too when he met her before, all those years had brought nothing but sorrow when he thought of Oakvale, but now he could see her face and her smile when he dreamt of it. But, he thought to himself, forcing the images deeper into his mind, it was a dream he could never have. He could never force her into his life like that, and it would just be hard for her to see him go out on his quests all the time, leaving her alone. He wished he could have told her this in person now, but he knew it was too late. He would carry on, there was no use dwelling on the past, or things he could not have.

He rounded a corner, framed by wooden fences and looked out over an expansive cliff into the heart of Witchwood. The sea of pines extended for miles and miles, he couldn’t even see the sea on the other side of the island, or any towns for that matter. But, he thought, that was because it was dangerous to build so far away from the edges here, Balverines and worse things dwelt in the forests. It was still, a beautiful view, and even now as the blood red sun rose from behind the wall of sentinel like trees he thought how lucky he was to be able to see such a sight. He looked down, right below and felt his hair whip up on his head as the wind took him, he creaked slightly on the old fence and felt his heart jump into his mouth, he never liked heights, and it was one long drop down into the forest below. He sighed with relief as he rocked backwards and felt himself on solid ground once more, but now, something was wrong.

A dull thudding was reverberating through the ground beneath him, a timed booming that started to make the pebbles below his boots jump on the muddy ground. Orpheus turned slowly; he wasn’t sure if he wanted to see what was making these sounds, but he was more afraid of it attacking with his back turned. As he looked around, he saw his newest and possibly scariest quarry. Towering over the trees, a mass of rock, stone, and dirt was a gigantic Rock Troll, its beady red eyes gleaming in the dim morning light and searching around for something. Orpheus looked down and saw the broken bodies of two Blaverines, their bodies in a most awkward position, no doubt captured by the Troll and dealt a severe seeing too. It had surprised him to know that Trolls of this type were actually guardians of the forest, and it accounted for their fearsome attacks on traders and other travellers, stepping into their domains. They were normally docile creatures, but when aggravated they could be almost too devastating to deal with. He remembered back to someone telling him of this, Blain he seemed to remember had dealt with an entire group of these things, with Briar Rose many months ago now, he had not heard from him in a long time.

Still, here and now he had to make a very silent way around such a beast. He could not see himself fighting it in single combat. Slowly he made his way to the side of the glade and slipped into the mass of bushes and trees that lined the edges of the paths of Witchwood. He knelt down and crept through as well as he could, always never taking his eye from the troll lumbering around. Now, it was bent over, looking at something on the floor of the forest, sing its giant hands to nudge something down there. Orpheus was just glad it wasn’t him over there being broken by the stone hands of the massive beast. However, he was becoming complacent, and did not see the small woodland creature flitting in the bushes nearby. He only turned just in time to not barge directly into the small nymph, but it was enough to cause a scene.

He swore loudly as he felt what he had bumped into, but was immediately drowned out by the high pitched wail from the nymph, how shot off into the forest, leaving a trail of lights and dust in the damp air. The damn creature had deafened him, he held his hands over his ears, but the ringing was echoing in his skull now, he did not notice the trolls new found attention in him before it was too late. As the ringing subsided, and he turned to face the clearing once more, he looked up in shock as the lumbering giant roared and grabbed for him. Orpheus tried to push away, but the giant hands of the troll locked around his body quickly, pressing his arms against his side and pulling him from the forest floor, he yelled in pain as he felt the stony grip crunching his body together and looked down into the grinning face of the troll as he tried in vain to break the powerful clasp on his body.

He struggled, but knew that he could get out if he could just summon the power to do so. The troll was looking at him intently, writhing in its grip, but it wouldn’t be for too long. Orpheus centred himself, and forgot the world around him for a moment, feeding his willpower and deeper energy, before releasing it suddenly. It worked, his energetic blow from the force push within his palms on the trolls hand, forced the stone apart and smashed its rocky hand into hundreds of pieces, the troll roaring as he recoiled in the pain of losing part of his body so quickly. Orpheus dropped from the mass of stone and landed hard on the forest floor, and felt his armour looser around his body. He looked down and saw the straps broken and the plates snapped in two below his underarm. Damn, he thought. But, he couldn’t let himself dwell on this for long, as the troll was suddenly leering right back towards him.

Orpheus looked up as the troll slammed its broken hand into the earth, and saw it reform before his very eyes, the very ground welding the creatures fist back together and knitting the stone into one dark and menacing weapon once more. Orpheus realised he would only get a small window of opportunity to deal with the gigantic creature. He lunged forwards, keeping low and ducking under a huge swing from the troll, rolling in the dirt as he went, feeling the slight gush of air as the palm roared above his head. He leapt forwards again as he rolled towards the soles of his feet, forcing himself into a dive, stretching out his hand to touch the gigantic tree trunk like leg of the troll. He felt his hand touch as he slammed into the mud and whispering quickly sent a surge of energy through his palm and once again detonated the powerful spell on the earthen skin of the troll.

The spell worked like a charm once more, ripping through the stone and smashing its leg into pieces. Orpheus realised suddenly it wasn’t such a good plan, as he looked up and saw the form of the troll rocking forwards onto him. He powered himself forwards and leapt from under the falling troll and rolled in the mud again in a similar fashion to before turning to see the troll fall onto its side. He felt the ground shake as he sighed with relief. He had no intention of killing the thing, he wasn’t even sure how, but for now, he had beaten a new foe and found a new use for his magical abilities he had been honing for a while now. He stood, and felt his knee buckled underneath him, the fight had not come without a cost. From his position before he had not felt the tear of his muscles as he landed before, and now as he stood the pain shot through his leg.

He yelped, but felt himself stifle it for a second. He wasn’t in the mood or condition to let more creatures know where he was. For now, he would deal with the quest Maze had lain out for him, and find the person he was sent here to get. It would be hard, Maze had said, a personal quest for him and the good of the Guild, and so how could he refuse. He winced and slid the sword back into its scabbard. He looked up, the sky was lighter now, the sun not so blood red anymore, it had indeed been more than a Shepard warning…

Dont have any room on my site anymore, lol..so hope you enjoy the newest chapter. I know its been a while.

 

[Angel]

Re: Fable: Tale of a Hero

All good stuff - +rep

 

[Ashta]

Re: Fable: Tale of a Hero

a good piece, +rep

 

[NinjaX]

Re: Fable: Tale of a Hero

The next chapter...enjoy.

Chapter XXI – The Temple

The rain pounded down hard again on Orpheus’ armour as he wound his way through the tight and closed paths of the forest of Witchwood. His leg stung, he could feel his knee grating against the bone and piercing pain shooting through his legs as he walked. He wanted to stop, but he knew if he lingered here he would be set upon by foes much worse than that of trolls and nymphs. He rested for a moment, leaning against a nearby redwood tree and cracking the bark between his leather bound fingers, feeling the material of the wood crunch between them. He dropped them to the ground, and winced, wiping the sweat from his brow as it mixed with the rain water, dripping down into his eyes as he stopped.

His hair was soaking, his long hair now draped around his shoulders, dirty now with the torrential rain that poured down on him, and clinging to his skin as he stood there. He breathed hard and spat out the water from his mouth, groaning as he did. He did not like this place one bit, but it was only so far now to his destination. He pushed himself onwards and gripped his sheathed sword by his side, and remembered what Maze had told him.

The man he was searching was named the Archaeologist, a wise man who according to Maze had gotten into something he knew nothing about, and was in grave danger of being captured by someone, no doubt the Guilds enemies, and it had many. Maze had requested Orpheus to bring back this man so they could ensure his safety, and he accepted at once, if only to make his way to another land of his fair Albion. Maze had expressed a look of worry and for some reason guilt when he had left him in his own tower to speak to Briar Rose on a matter he could not disclose. Orpheus had puzzled this within himself for many nights now, but he had more important things to worry about.

He eventually reached the place he had been shown on a dirty and old map. The large Demon Door glared down at him with no movement or sign of elemental life behind its eyes. The stony glare pierced through him, as if accusing him. Orpheus did not know what to do. Usually these ancient doors were wide awake, waiting for visitor but this one now lay still and dormant. Was this indeed the right place?

“What do you want little hero” A deep resonating boom flooded his hearing.

Orpheus leapt in shock and looked up into the face of a now animated Demon Door. He paused for a second before opening his mouth, only to be drowned out once again by the door.

“If you come seeking entry, it is impossible” The door’s eyes opened slowly, the white pallid balls in the sockets, grating against the stone and looking down at him, a frown breaking over the doors face.

Orpheus spoke quickly this time, to interrupt the door before it could speak more. “I wish entry, and I beg you’re pardon but I need to speak to who ever dwell within you”

The door frowned again at being so rudely interrupted and growled. “You cannot enter unless you know my name, and no-one know my name, not even at the Temple of Avo” The door immediately shut itself off and shrank back into the stonework, melding once more with the intricate runes and solidifying once more.

Orpheus swore and was about to stick his finger up at the door, but thought better of it. The door wasn’t letting him in now, so insulting it would probably not help. He looked around at the scene before him, and took it in for the first time in a while. The ground was littered with broken trading goods, barrels spilled over onto the forest floor, and the bones of what was unmistakably a trader lay huddled in the remnants of what was probably his last mission into these woods. Orpheus looked over his shoulder and saw the sun behind the clouds for a second, it was dipping down once more beneath the treetops, he didn’t have much time before the sun would disappear and night would once again fill these lands with all sorts of unspeakable horrors. He swore again, brushing the hair from his eyes and looked up the path.

More than anything however, he was only interested in getting out of the rain and getting off this knee of his for a while. He felt so old limping along like an old adventurer, but decided in his mind to overcome the pain and powered on down the winding paths of the forest. Suddenly, he came upon a large grove, much like that which overlooked the wilderness below, but here something was very different. Four large stones, the size of small houses dominated the woodland glade and hummed gently as he neared. They towered over him, covered in swaths of luminous blue and white, shining at him from the wet stone that dominated the area. He ran his hand over one of the stones and felt the warmth seep out between his fingers and the heat through his gloves. He took a look around them; these were indeed like nothing he had ever seen in his life. He knew of stones like this in Darkwood and Greatwood, but nothing as monumental as this.

He stood fascinated for many minutes before realising that the rain was getting heavier still. He had lingered too long and the rain water had flowed down between the cracks in his armour and leathers and he felt the clothes beneath sticking to his body. He shrugged and felt uncomfortable. He needed to get out of the rain, and possibly find a way to get into this Demon Door; he couldn’t let someone like Maze down. He turned, and looked back at the stones once more, before shaking his head and getting the water from his hair and walking on once more, huddling low and pulling darting from tree to tree to avoid the brunt of the rain.
________________________

Eventually, after over two hours of walking through the mud and leaves he came to a distinctive looking gate imposing itself over the path before him. Two large griffons bore down on him, carved in mossy stone and glaring through the rain into his eyes. They seemed to follow him as he walked forwards, but did not move, still as the stone that made up their bodies. Orpheus reached out to touch one and felt the cold stone beneath his hands, nothing magical at least. He looked up, a line of huddled cloaked figures were rushing as quick as they could through the woods away from him, Orpheus took a chance and ran to catch up, feeling his knee straining each time he landed on his foot, making him wince and close his eyes every time.

As he neared he saw the men (or women for he could not tell) were garbed like the very priests he had seen before at the Chapel of Skorm, the accursed place deep within Darkwood. He clasped his hand around his sword and skidded in the mud, sliding into a fighting stance, and shouted through the drumming of the rain.

“Halt priests of Skorm, turn and show yourselves to me…I demand it!” He was hopelessly outnumbered and injured but he hoped that being the cowards they were they would either flee or turn and bow to his request.

In fact something completely unexpected happened. Something he did not warrant in any of his estimations as to the outcome of such a situation. A giant of a man lumbered through the flock of now scared priests, whom Orpheus still knew nothing of, and stood before him. He was gigantic, towering over Orpheus and holding a well carved sword and shield before him. His helmet was closed over his head and dripped with rain water, and a thick muscular neck separated his head from the rest of his body, dominated by a foreboding chin that looked grizzled and worn.

The man spoke in a deep voice, laced with a twinge of a foreign land. “What do you want Guild pup? Do you not know who I am?” The man bent slightly and Orpheus looked at the smirk of amusement on his face, he had seen that before, on his dear ‘friend’ Whisper.

“Thunder?” Orpheus said, puzzled by this. He had thought Thunder was in Hook Coast looking after a personal quest for the Guildmaster, but to find him here was most strange.

“Yes hero and I presume you are Orpheus?” He sheathed his sword and turned to the priests, urging them to carry on up the path to what Orpheus could now see was a small domed structure.

Orpheus nodded and sheathed his own blade, feeling only slightly insignificant to this giant. “I thought you were in Hook Coast?”

Thunder looked at him sideways and turned, beckoning him to follow. “I was on my way and found these priests of Avo beset upon by Balverines; I fought them off and offered my help.” He walked at a normal pace, but Orpheus had to jog slightly to keep up with the man.

They walked closer, the domed structure was becoming clearer now and finally Orpheus could see it all. A large temple erected amidst the pools of deep water that splashed in the rain, people were milling around under tents and a few other heroes, garbed in apprentice clothing talked together in the sheltered entrance to the temple itself, looking out at the rain, and suddenly pointing to him and Thunder as they walked closer.

“Welcome to the Temple of Avo Orpheus” Thunder said, and took his helmet from his head, smiling.

 

[Aldamir]

Re: Fable: Tale of a Hero

Nice work with fanfic Ninja, 'specially this new one, i like it. +rep

 

[NinjaX]

Re: Fable: Tale of a Hero

I think I've neglected to post in here for some reason...lol, but heres the sites so you can make up any gaps in the story...bearing in mind the notice on the Prt II website...

Fable: Tale of a Hero | Fanfiction from the world of Albion

Fable: Tale of a Hero Part II | Fanfiction from the world of Albion

 

[Arckon]

Re: Fable: Tale of a Hero

holy crap, it blew my fan fiction outta the water

 

[NinjaX]

Re: Fable: Tale of a Hero

lol...am I taking that as a good thing?