The War Against the Machines

The elusive Kitanians of the fields and their feline mounts.

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Lord Corridon
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Joined: Wed Nov 27, 2013 2:48 pm

The War Against the Machines

Post by Lord Corridon »

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Corridon squinted through the fog, leaning hard on the thick granite walls that topped the parapet. The rock was slick from the mist, and his nails dug into the mossy stone to hold fast as he leaned out over the edge, peering deep into the shrouded forest. Although the sun was up, the fog had blinded them, and the forest remained a menagerie of dancing shadows. Yet the blackish green of the pines stood out against the grey mists, and despite the lack of visibility they could still hear. Thunderous crashing noises rumbled back to them through the wood, the sounds of swords on steel, men screaming, and far worse things. Suddenly Corridon spied a tall pine bend like a blade of grass and snap with a sickening crunch. “What the hell was that?” he asked, turning to Thorpe, who stood nearby, also leaning precariously over the wall.

“I wish I knew,” he replied. “We’ve had mixed reports since we lost the eastern outposts.”

“Did you send the Fifth Riders?” asked Corridon sternly.

“I did,” the commander replied with dismay. “I think that’s them we’re hearing now.”

“Godammit, what the hell is going on here? We’ve lost communication with Kildare and now we’re under attack from someone. Who are they? The Kildari?”

“I don’t think so,” said Thorpe, shaking his head and stepping back from the wall. “We’d have known if they’d broken the truce. This is someone… or something… else.”

“Great, but who?” Corridon demanded furiously.

“I think we’re about the find out,” he replied, pointing to the forest.

Corridon followed Thorpe’s the line of sight along Thorpe’s finger. The snapping pine became a cluster of falling trees and something made a whirring noise unlike anything he’d ever heard before. As he squinted to see the fog parted enough for him to make out several knights on horseback charging headlong back towards the castle. One jumped a fallen tree, another landed in a stream but didn’t seem to notice, another tripped on a boulder and sent its rider headlong into the ground. One knight, lagging behind the others, was suddenly wrenched free of his horse. Corridon caught a glimpse of a metallic hand the size of the knight’s torso violently gripping the rider by the head and throwing the body to the ground. He peered harder, but then it broke through the trees, and he wished to hell he hadn’t seen it.

It was a machine. But a machine unlike anything he’d seen before. He’d seen cogs on grist mills, and the bellows of a furnace, and the strange contraptions the smithy would sometimes make. But this was beyond anything he could even comprehend. It sat on six long legs, like a giant spider, but had two forearms like a human. But it was exceptionally larger, the size of at least a dozen horses. As he watched the machine grabbed the knight on the ground again, and this time flung it squarely over its shoulders. Another machine appeared behind the first and grabbed the knight mid-air. It slid it into a compartment on its body with a loud sucking sound and disappeared back into the fog. The second machine was much different from the first, and looked more like a pack animal than anything else, big and bloated as it was. The first machine continued its attack on the other knights, who stood no chance against it. Several more identical machines appeared, and the fog parted as the forest came alive with fire and fighting. The pines burned hotly, men screamed death agonies, and still the machines moved silently onward.

“This is madness,” said Corridon. “We don’t stand a chance against those things.”

Thorpe didn’t reply. He simply stood there, his face a shade of grey, a pool of yellow accumulating at his feet. Corridon slapped him squarely across the face.

“Get your shit together, man!” he said hotly. “I want a full scale retreat ordered. Get as many people back to Allium as possible. Order the Fourth and Third Riders to cover our retreat. Have the First Guard provide them with infantry support.”

Thorpe sobered up. “And what will we do there? Aye, the city has bigger walls, but those things will cut through them like butter.”

“We’ll fight them, that’s what we’ll do. We’ll throw everything we’ve got at them.”

“And what about when that’s gone? What then?” said Thorpe, visibly shaking.

Corridon gritted his teeth as he spat the words out. “Then we die.”
Aegir Corridon
Lord of Allium
Prince of the Garllicians

Sophia Myksos
Posts: 190
Joined: Sun Dec 01, 2013 11:41 am

Re: The War Against the Machines

Post by Sophia Myksos »

The nobleman Herbert Vlak had almost lost his mind when he had heard the news: large machines running amok on Kildarian territory. Typical, he thought with some sadness. When he had been appointed as representative of the Ruler of the Eastern Court, he had hoped for a position in a Dalmacijan city near the coast, where he could fish in peace. However, that position seemed to have been very popular, so the more corrupt nobles had gotten those jobs for themselves.
Herbert had grown used to it: ever since he was born, he was overshadowed by others. He had thought of seeking peace in the Church hierarchy, but he imagined the 'struggle for survival' as even worse than that between the new nobility.
Now he started to reconsider this... large machines which could easily destroy walls weren't really part of the job description of the clergy. On the other hand, nobody had told him that a nobleman could end up confronted by something like that, either.

He took a deep breath. Perhaps the situation wasn't that worse yet: he was still safe and could escape. Perhaps he could even try to warn the Ducal authorities and receive a reward for his 'courage'. He cursed by himself that he hadn't acted immediately when he had heard the news in the inn. Now probably half the city was empty and fleeing to the south, to places where boats would bring them to safer parts of the Dutchy.

He even wondered: would it make much difference? What could he say that the Kildarian officials wouldn't have known yet already? Perhaps they all silently hoped that the tribe of Corridon would be defeated, after which the army could walk in and give the machines a devastating blow with help of the imperial forces. After that, all Counties would once more be under direct control of Counts that where appointed by the Dutchess Herself.
Herbert wondered if the people here even knew that that was one of the possible scenarios.
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Dutchess of the Dutchy of Kildare.
Ruler of the Eastern Empire by the Grace of Cato and the Kaiser.

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