Setting Sun 0

>>1185729
>Rescue him with the army. I will not be threatened by peasants

You stand up from your throne, looking down at the man standing before you. "Fools, do you have any idea with whom you are dealing with? I am the most powerful man on this side of the empire and you thought it would be a good idea to capture MY darling son?" The darling part almost made you gag, but you made your point. "Guards, seize this man and send riders out to find the boy!" The man is quickly apprehended and is dragged out of the throne room. Before he leaves, however, he shouts, "Wait! You don't know where our camp is. He could be anywhere in the desert, hell, we could be moving right now and you wouldn't have an iota of an idea where to even start looking for him. Why don't we all just calm down and discuss this like rational men?" Your response?

>That is a chance I am willing to take

>Very well, I will hold my search (until I get more information that is...)

>Write in

>>1185967
>Very well, I will hold my search (until I get more information that is...)

Rolling your eyes, you halt your guards and have them throw the man at the base of the steps to the throne. "So" you say, mock contempt in your voice. "You have taken my son and ask for a ransom for his return? Well I'm not so sure I can meet your demands." The man gets up, steadies himself, and begins to speak. "You must be joking, you are one of the richest men in the empire! Surely you can spare the coin for your son's safe return?" You think for a moment of your son. A horrific reminder of your tainted bloodline. The boy was born with scales and other strange deformations as a result of your great grandfather's disgusting affair with a dragon. No, you do not want your son back... but alas, it would do no good if the king did not at least make an attempt to get his sole heir back... What will you do?

>Cave to his demands, I'm sure the peasants won't mind a bit more taxation to make up for the lost gold.

>Stick with the first plan, execute this miscreant and pray that those soldiers never find that boy

>Try to press for more information. Maybe I can cut some sort of deal with this man in order to get the whereabouts of my son... I won't have to send out the military or pay as much gold, but the boy will be back...

>>1186093
>Try to press for more information. Maybe I can cut some sort of deal with this man in order to get the whereabouts of my son... I won't have to send out the military or pay as much gold, but the boy will be back...

>>1186093
>I don't think you fully understand the situation, my son, as you would call him has no real value to me. You've seen him did you not? You know what he is, you know that he'll never sit the throne or hold anything of importance in the kingdom.

I could pay you this sum, yes I could, but it'd be for you to keep him.

Tell me, what do you think your life is worth if I think 2,000,000 gold pieces is a fair price to pay to keep him out of my sights?

>Kinda want to play an hardass character.

You look down at the man, a stern look on your face. "Look, I understand how difficult it must be out their for the little guys like you and your gang, but there is no reason for this foolishness." The man glares at you. "How about this, I will give you, say, 100,000 pieces of gold, a much greater sum of money I'm sure than the cut your people promised you. And, in return, tell us where to find my son. What do you say?" You give your most convincing forced smile as you imagine all the ways you would have liked to see this man executed. The courier, on the other hand, is visibly taken aback. "One- One hundred thousand gold?" he stammers "And I can just walk away from all this as if nothing ever happened?" "That is correct, all you have to do is tell me where the boy is." He stops for a moment, thinking. "Get me a map, we have a deal." You call for the map and he marks down a small ridge a day's ride from Umbertesk. "We have a camp in this area here" he says, pointing at the mark he's made. "There's a force of 72 men there." Your military adviser, Raja, speaks up, "How well equipped are they?" The courier thinks for a moment, "The bulk of our men have simple weapons, we're slavers, not knights after all, so a majority have nothing better than scimitars and hide armor, such as my own. There is, however, a few of us who are much better suited for combat. Strange ones they are. Showed up one day, bought all our slaves and hired our caravan to do this job." Raja taps his foot impatiently. "Hurry it up, I don't care for a detailed recount of some strange soldiers, what weapons are they carrying?" "Right, well there are 6 of them, all wearing variations of plate armor and long swords, cept' for one who fancies a rapier, she's the leader I think... anyway, they also all ride horses" "Sir" Raja starts, "I can have as many men as you require ready for battle, just say the word and I will send them out for your son." The standard troop of Umbertesk wears chain mail armor and wields a scimitar or long sword. What will you do?

>Send out a small force, I don't want to waste too much time getting a big force together. These slavers sound unprepared for combat and the armored ones can be dealt with easily enough

>Lets spend some extra time getting together a larger force. Sure the slavers might have time to move, but I'm sure we can track them easily enough and some reinforcements wouldn't hurt. Though the larger army might attract more attention

>I want as many people as I can on this. It will be expensive, overkill, and will take long, but a force of this size will not fall to such a petty opposing force. Besides, it will send a message to any others who dare defy me!

>Write in

>>1186439
What's the number of soldiers we have on hand currently? A hundred man should be enough and wouldn't leave the city/country undermanned.

Also, goddamn format.

To the other guy just joining us, sorry for not taking your post into consideration in the last response, I didn't see the post until after the next part. Also, what's wrong with the format? As I said before, I'm trying to figure this out before the main quest (Also, how do I reply to one specific person? I'm retarded at 4chan). Anyway>> The great city of Umbertesk currently has 200 men in the city. about 100 are needed to guard the massive walls of the city and patrol the streets, so you're looking at a force of ~100 men (unless you want to get EVERYBODY involved and leave the city unguarded). The options given are scaled as such: Small force=50 men; Medium force=75 men; Large force=100 men

>>1186561
>sorry for not taking your post into consideration
That happens there's no need to appologize for, and no need for me to be angry over it.

>what's wrong with the format?
There's none, it's just one gigantic bloc of text. Space it.

(Also, how do I reply to one specific person? I'm retarded at 4chan)
see the post numbers on my post? click on it and the reply window will open with it. You can do that to many posts in the same window. That's one of the first thing a newfag/lurker learn to do.
This could spark a lengthy debate whether one should run a quest when being a greenhorn at chanposting.

>>1186676
Sure it COULD be a problem, but hey, I'll deal with it. And with spacing, yeah, I will take that into consideration for future posts, but for now, there was mention of an army we have to assemble...

>>1186707
Footsoldiers I assume? 100 if they are, less if there's a strong core of cavalry.

>>1186739
Sadly, because this is a desert, a cavalry is difficult to sustain. Camels were traditionally used, however they became to expensive to keep over generations due to the relative peace of this part of the empire.

However, the only people on the apposing side who are mounted appear to be the individuals in plate armor.

You turn to Raja, fire in your eyes. "I want every availible man in the force to rescue my son. We shall show these bastards I will not be threatend like some commoner!" Raja nods, hurrying out of the palace to the barracks. Though you shudder at the thought of your son returning, you are excited to see these traitors die. Surely their destruction will prove to any other would be terrorists that you are not a man to be taken lightly. Now to deal with the double crosser... What will you do?

>Go back on my word, he's a criminal and must die like the rest

>Give him his money and have him sent on his way, a deal is a deal

>Write in

>>1186949
>You suddenly feel a bowel movement coming. You will further contemplate during your dump

>>1187237
Indeed

Gonna sleep on this and come back tomorrow. Thanks to everyone for participating. I'm looking forward to doing the rest of this ASAP

Back to write for a while if anyone wants to respond

>>1186949
>>Give him his money and have him sent on his way, a deal is a deal

"I thank you for your cooperation in this matter" you say to the messenger. He nods, smiling, but seems slightly distressed at his betrayal of his comrades.

"Do not worry" you say with a forced smile. "You are doing the right thing for the province and you can rest easy tonight knowing you've done right by your sultan." You motion for the man's reward to be brought forth and a steward promptly runs off to fetch it.

Upon his return, you note he strains to lift the large bag of gold as he hands it to the man standing before you. Opening the bag, the courier runs his hand through the gold, likely never having seen this much in his life.

"You see, you do right by me, and you are rewarded greatly, but cross me again and you will suffer my wrath. Now begone, my advisors and I have important matters to discuss in private." With that, the man gives a curt bow and runs off with his money. It's physically painful to watch him leave with such a large amount of your gold, but a deal is a deal, and it would not look good for royalty to go back on a promise. Even if it is only to a lowlife like him...

It's been a day and a half since the messenger left the palace and all the troops are assembled. You give the order for them to move out and they swiftly move themselves through the gate and out into the desert. It should take them another day to get to their destination.

As time progresses, you begin to become worried. The troops haven't sent back any word of their progress and it's already the morning after they were sent out. You aren't worried about your son necessarily. In fact, you almost hope that he will be executed by those slavery before the soldiers arrive. It's more a fear of loosing all of those expensive soldiers. Perhaps you were too hasty in organizing such a large rescue party...

It isn't until the next day that you hear word of your soldiers. Things had... not gone well. Despite the superior numbers of your troops and their better armaments, they were killed down to the single man who escaped on a stolen camel with news of their defeat.

The slavers fought with inhuman strength, shrugging off wounds that would kill any other man and dealing twice as much damage as was given to them. They tore through armor like paper and butchered all who were in their way. To make matters worse, the strange riders in their black armor cut through your army like a knife through butter. The escaped soldier insisted that at least 2 of the riders were killed in the battle, but the damage was already done. In the end, only 20 slavers were left standing as well as the four riders as opposed to the single survivor of the Umberteskian army.

Shocked at what you are hearing, you sit back into your chair to process the information. How could so few, untrained slavers be so strong against his men?

Another knock at your door interrupts your train of thought. Opening the door, you find a servant, sweating and short of breath.

"Sir" he pants, "You need to see this."

"How?" It is the only thought that comes to your mind as you look out over the high walls of Umbertesk. "How could they have assembled such a force without the empire taking notice?" At the edge of the horizon, the setting sun perfectly silhouettes the approaching army.

As they get closer, you make out the finer details of this group. They fly a banner of a red sun on a black background that is unknown to you.

"They just started coming, sir." a watchman says looking over the walls. "It's almost like they've come out of thin air..." he adds. You didn't notice him at first, but the sole survivor of the assault to rescue his son has approached, but let's out a gasp as he looks over the battlements. "Th- that's them!" He cries. "May the gods have mercy on us, thone are the banners of the riders we faced at the ridge! They will kill us all!" He almost collapses, but another soldier steadies him.

"How many men do we have?" You ask. "I'm not sure exactly sure, buthe it's around 100." There's at least 4 times that many troops in the approaching army, and if what that man said was true, this will not be an easy fight... At least, one way or another, you will probably not be seing your son again. What will you do?

> Run, to he'll with this place, we are doomed no matter what.

> Stand and fight, I've worked too hard for this province to let it fall into the hands of these bastards.

> Write in

>>1194734
>Stand and fight, I've worked too hard for this province to let it fall into the hands of these bastards.

"Sir, we need to get you out of here, theyou will be at our gates soon." The soldier attempts to lead you off to safety, but you pull away. You have spent years carefully constructing this city to be the glorious paradise it is now. If Umbertesk falls, you resolve, you will go down with it.

Before you head back to the palace to prepare for the incoming enemies, you take one last look at this army. Every man in it is clad head to toe is black plate, but there aren't just men amongst them. All manner of other creatures, from gnolls to goblins and even the thought to be extinct orc species move as one, marching towards your city. With a grimace, you turn and move back to the palace

After a mere hour of tense waiting, the approaching army is now in range for archers to loose volley after volley of deadly steel into their ranks. Soon, some of the closest soldiers appeared more like porcupines than people, but with very few casualties, this did very little to slow them down. Sooner still, they were at the gates, laying into them with snarling teeth and blades. Though hard iron and steel, the sheer number of attacks made on the gates caused them to tremble, bending more and more with each hit. Your men watch in horror as the massive gates buckle under all the attacks. The guards try to stave away the hostile soldiers by jabbing spears through the bars, but, despite their vicious attacks, there were just too many attackers.

From your palace you can see 3 of the gates to the city collapse, one after the other. Looking over to the southern gates, the only ones standing, you see a steady stream of civilians pouring out into the desert and scattering. "All of this because of that damn boy" you think, clenching your fists.

Dust rises from the streets and you wat church in horror as these interlopers march closer and closer to the palace, killing all they meet on the way. As quickly as you can, you don your armor, a beautifully ornate set of plate armor with various inscriptions and runes etched into it in gold.

You and the remaining guardsmen stand at the ready in the throne room. All uneasily watch the door and attempt to block out the sounds of conflict coming from below the palace and outside the door. Finally, all weapons are drawn as a fierce crash is heard against the door. A second hits and the wood begins to splinter. Some of the men begin silent prayers to the gods. A third crash rings out against the door and a long gash appears across the door. With a hand on your sword you steady yourself and prepare to leap into the fray.

Finally, the door gives way. Wood showers over all present as the intact portions of the door come crashing down. The men standing closest to it barely manage to avoid being crushed under the large doors. Then, with lightning fast speed, four gnolls rush through the breach and sink their teeth into the nearest soldiers, ripping and tearing through their skin as they drag the poor souls to the floor.

Some of the other men attempt to beat the gnolls off other their fast fading comrades, but are stopped by four orcs charging into the room welding a makeshift battering ram made of a support beam. They smash into two of the defenders, sending them flying across the room into a wall, and then, dropping the beam, cut down the other soldiers. One of the orbs let's out a laugh as he shatters one man's skull against the hard floor.

Looking past this carnage you see that the hallway is filled with even more enemies marching towards the throne room. You are down to 10 men who, to their credit, stand firm in the face of these depressing odds. What will you do?

> Stand and fight to the last man and die an honorable death. We will die here, but I want to take as many of them with me as I can.

> Surrender. There is no need to continue this hopeless slaughter when the outcome is clear. No one else needs to die here.

> Write in

>Pick up two shields like the hero of legend, The Twin Shield Knight. And fight to the end.

You turn to one of the men before you. "You there, assist me." He looks back up at you, "What is it sir?" The gnolls have finished goring your other men and are slowly making their way towards your group. "Here, take this." You hand the man your sword and he looks back, confused. "Sir, what are you-" "Hand me your shield." He hands you his shield and weirds the second schimitar, flipping them both in his hands. You raise the two shields in the air, shouting, "FOR THE EMPEROR, LONG MAY HE REIGN!!"

You charge forward at a surprised gnoll. They did not expect this sudden attack. With a leaping strike, you smash one shield into the gnoll, forcing it to the ground. With the second shield you bash down with its edge on the neck of the beast and feel it shatter instantly.

Both sides, shaking the surprise of your sudden attack, charge at each other, you in the middle. An orc approaches wielding a greatsword. He brings it down in a savage arc upon your head, but you quickly roll out of the way, narrowly dodging the blade, but sending you in reach of another orc who plunges his blade down on you. With a solid chime, the blade strikes one of the shields and is deflected. Using the second shield you bash the wrist of the orc, causing him to drop his sword. This does not stop him, however, as he grabs one of the shields. The second orc, seizing this opportunity charges at you once more, leaving you blocking with one arm, and trying to keep your shield with the other. Another soldier, striking down a gnoll he was engaged with, sees your predicament and runs over to assist. With a yellow, he pierces the side of the orc gripping your shield and sends him to the floor. Using your now freed arm, you parry another blow from the greatsword and deliver a quick bash to the orc's head, dating him. You use his distraction to deliver a few more blows with your shield, likely knocking him unconscious.

The battle raged for almost an hour. Very few of the opposing troops could fit through the door, allowing for your remaining men to take them down little by little as they came through. More than once your shields were useful in blocking a would be killing blow or defending an ally. You knew you would die, it was only a matter of time, but that didn't stop you from holding off the attackers.

You are down to 6 now, and it's begining to look like another might fall soon as well. You just finished stomping a goblin into the ground when suddenly, the untinkable happens. You feel a cold feeling run across your body, like cold chains wraping round your body. And then, as you were about to make the killing blow on a gnoll, it sinks into you. You feel your muscles lock up, your bones freeze in place, and then you are dragged into the floor, forced to your knees. You aren't able to move much, but you see your remaining soldiers are in a similar position. Suddenly, a hush runs over the attacking soldiers and they begin to part. A lone girl dressed in black armor steps forward.

She steps closer and you can make out the magic dancing between her fingers. She wears a black mask with that same red sun as on their banner. She steps towards the closest of your men and looks down at him. She draws her sword, a thin rapier, and pierces the man through his chest up to the hilt of the blade. She slowly drags it out and the man, now dead, collapses to the floor. She deals with the other remaining soldiers the same way before stepping in front of you. She crouches down so she is looking you in the eyes. She simply stares at your incapacitated form. What do you do?

> Write in

>>1196188
>Spit in her face

You muster what little control you have of your body and attempt to spit in her face. The shot hits home and it splatters on her mask. The croud of creatures look on in a mixture of shock, anger and horror as the woman stands, turning away from you. You can see her wipe away the spit with a glove, and the people around her take a step back. The silence, however, is cut short by her laugh. "I should have suspected that in all honesty" she chuckles. "I figured the bonds on you were preventing you from controling your muscles, but it seems some movement is possible, I will make note of this..." Her calm demeanor perfectly juxtaposes the chaos going on outside the walls of the palace.

She turns to face her people. "Allies, you have done me a great service here today. A step forward for both freedom and our glorious god." She raises her hands to the heavens as she says this and cries of joy echo around her. She begins again, "No longer will the people of this nation be forced under a corrupt and unjust government. With this first step we are ushering in an age of peace!" More fervent cries echo around her.

"To the orcs, I promise revenge against those who slaughtered your people, to you gnolls I promise a cure for your hunger, and to all other races joined here today, I promise an end" at this point, the woman grips your collar and pulls you up to face the croud. "An end to scum such as this who treat you better than the ground they walk on. This I promise you!" A last round of cheers fills the halls of the palace.

"Now then," the woman forces you back down to your knees. "Consider this your retirement." She draws her sword and levels it with your throat. "Any final requests or last words?" She asks. "And dont be stupid with it, like asking me to kill myself, thats just a waste of both of our time, and yours is very limited." Your response?

> Write in

>>1196586
>Ask what happen to my son

You feel the bonds around your head weaken enough to properly move your mouth. "What did you do with the abomination?" you growl out. "I'm sorry the what?" She asks. "The boy, Ignatius, my son, dammit, where the hell is he?" She thinks for a moment before responding. "Oh him? Well to be honest, i have no idea." "WHAT?!" you shout, "All i did to get him back and you dont know!?" She laughs and gets down on your level once more. "We sold the little bastard to another group of slavers. I believe they were going to bring him to some circus or something. Quite an odd one you had there, had some affair with a dragonborn did you?" She laughs again. Her mockery fills you with rage and, using all your strength you break free of her magic and lunge forward.

With a yell, you pull out a dagger, but as you swing with the knife she disappears. "What, but-" your words are cut short as you feel a cold blade slide into your back. The laughter stops and blood beggins filling your lungs. You involuntarily cough up blood and your vision fades in and out. You look down at yourself and see blood pouring from your armor.

"Quite the display of willpower there, sir." She whispers to you as she twists the blade and forces it a bit deeper. "You are very strong, and if you were not so blinded by greed and power, maybe a would consider letting you join our cause." You groan as the pain in your chest begins to peak. "I am Vulnere of the Order of the Scarlet Sun and you are henceforth relieved of your duty as Sultan, Khalil. You die here so one more part of our divine quest may come to a close, and so the people of this world can be freed from tyrants like you. Goodbye." You cough one more time, blood covering every part of your body. You feel yourself hit the floor, and all around you cheer in tryumph. That is the last thing you hear before everything fades to blackness...

So that's it for this prequel type deal. If anyone is intersted I could start the next one, or, if anyone else thinks I, a newfag, should get some more practice before writing more, that's fine too.

Also, the full quest I have planned is much longer than this, I just wanted to test the waters before I went into the full thing.

Anyway, thanks for participating and any feedback is welcome.

>>1196716
I would mind a next one last story was good

>>1196945
Just for you Annon. Just need a bit to start it, so be on the lookout for Setting Sun 1.

>>1196716
im interested.

Alright, so I'm not going to be able to start tonight, but I'll be back tomorrow morning to write. Also, should I start a new thread for the next part, or just keep this one going?

>>1198190
I think you should start a new thread. Overall I enjoyed reading and I can't wait to join in later today. But I have some criticism,
1 your posts tend to be on the long side, because of this I feel like players have less choice on what's going on.
2 pictures or a better discription of the world would be welcome. Is magic common? Other races?

While it's not necessarily a trip code to call you by would be nice

>>1198802
Sadly, I'm a miserable drawfag. I did do a pretty good piece on Vulnere before, but it's not digital and without a scanner, I couldn't get it up here. I'll try to figure something out for you guys, be that, like you said, a better description of the world itself or just pictures. As for my longer posts, I just really like writing and sometimes get a bit caught up in it. To be honest though, I don't think it will be as much of a problem in the next one.

To answer your questions, no, magic is not common at all. Only the top members in this society can use it, and even then they can't fully utilize it. And on other races, while there are the standard cast of fantasy races like elves, gnomes, dwarves, and the like that are fully integrated into human society, the more monsterous races have either been purged or driven into hiding for their violent tendencies.

And this is for anyone else reading this: If you want to know something about the specifics of the world, just ask and I'll answer.

Anybody still hanging around here, the next part is up on a different thread.