02-23-2018, 01:14 AM
IGN Baramuf
Word Count: 997
Genre Fantasy
Brightness
He looked up at the sky and marveled at how it was such a clear and cloudless day. He had been planning this raid for quite sometime now and was glad that the weather was finally agreeing with his plans. Ammit turned back to his query and realized he must focus on the task at hand again. Ammit dug his teeth deep into the earth and continued work on his tunnel.
As Ghul sat by the window seat of the smokey tavern he couldn’t help but be distracted by Jotunn’s uproarious laughter. Probably making another ridiculous joke about the dwarf’s stature. Ghul took delight in seeing how Huli Jing reacted to the joke. Although she was pretending to laugh along with all the other distinguished imperial leaders, he could see in her face the aversion she had to him. Of all the noble leaders Huli Jing was one of the only ones who ever acknowledged his presence. As a member of the Golden Squad, he was seen as nothing more than an unnecessary expense to most of the nobility, today more than ever. The city was celebrating 150 years of respite from the Allburning Brightness. The Allburning Brightness was an ailment of their distant ancestors and no one alive today had ever witnessed one. It was documented in the history books of course, a sudden overwhelming change in the weather where the sun burned so bright people were blinded and it got so hot entire cities were burnt to a crisp. How historians knew people could be blinded by such a tragedy Ghul never quite understood. Either way the documentation on the instances was limited as almost everyone used to die from the natural disaster. It was the legendary historian Incubus who was the first to survive that changed the ancient ways. Incubus was a wealthy trader who had an enormous mansion, which most importantly incorporated a basement 3 floors deep. When the everburning brightness struck he retreated to the lowest level of his house to escape the heat and survived off nothing for 3 days while the brightness lasted. When he emerged the entire house was gone and his skin and turned a deep shade of red, but he survived and went on to tell his tale of survival. It was because of him that the Golden Squad existed now. Every city had an elite trained group of citizens who knew all the protocols of what to do during an everburning brightness. Where all of the safe houses with deep basements resided within the city and how many people could stay in each safehouse. It seemed an enviable position to end up in when they were kids learning of the terrifying events in school. But now that Ghul had been a member for 3 years he realized how little it was the golden squad actually did now. There may have been a time when the position was glorified but today it was on par with being a latrine digger in society’s eyes. Ghul was startled out of his reverie when he began to realize people had crowded around him and were jostling him for a spot next to the window. Ghul began to feel warm and just wanted to escape the people surrounding him but they kept pushing in closer. It was Jotunn that started the panic. “ALLBURNING BRIGHTNESS!” the monstrous man bellowed at the top of his lungs, “RUN FOR CITY HALL”. And just like that the tavern descended into madness. Ghul was pushed up against the window and could feel the heat start to penetrate into his back. He watched as the citizens pushed and shoved their way to the door. He also noticed the tavernmaster slip into the central door behind the bar and quietly close the door. As a member of the Golden Squad Ghul knew this tavern had a safe house that could sustain about 10 people for 3 days. He also knew almost all of the regular citizens would be unaware of such a fact as they were all shoving their way out the door to get to city hall. Every city was required to have a large bunker that could house the entire city beneath its city hall. Ghul was well aware that the city of IOU had not upgraded their bunker for almost a century know considering it an unnecessary expense and that their city hall would only hold about ⅓ of the ever growing population. As the madness began to ebb Ghul was able to break free from the window, his back burned and his eyes stung as it was getting so bright in the tavern he could barely see a few feet in front of him. He got on his hands and knees and began crawling towards the secret door he saw the tavern master go into. As he fumbled and crashed into and then over the bar, a hand suddenly grabbed him and pulled him through a door. As Huli Jing slammed the door behind him he realized how quickly the Allburning Brightness had struck. Even behind the closed door in the center of the tavern the room was still as bright as it would be outdoors under the midday sun. He realized with horror that most of the people running towards city hall would likely have not made it as the brightness and heat swept over the city in a matter of a minute or two. Huli Jing told him to shut his eyes and hold on as they descended the stairs grasping onto the walls and the rails. Down, down they went for what seemed like forever. Eventually they reached the ground floor to find the tavern master and his family 10 floors beneath the tavern. Exhausted Ghul lay down against the wall. “Crunch, Crunch” “can you guys hear that?” Ghul asked. He put his ear to the wall again and the sound got louder. “CRUNCH, CRUNCH” “Oh shit… they’re back” he whimpered...
Word Count: 997
Genre Fantasy
Brightness
He looked up at the sky and marveled at how it was such a clear and cloudless day. He had been planning this raid for quite sometime now and was glad that the weather was finally agreeing with his plans. Ammit turned back to his query and realized he must focus on the task at hand again. Ammit dug his teeth deep into the earth and continued work on his tunnel.
As Ghul sat by the window seat of the smokey tavern he couldn’t help but be distracted by Jotunn’s uproarious laughter. Probably making another ridiculous joke about the dwarf’s stature. Ghul took delight in seeing how Huli Jing reacted to the joke. Although she was pretending to laugh along with all the other distinguished imperial leaders, he could see in her face the aversion she had to him. Of all the noble leaders Huli Jing was one of the only ones who ever acknowledged his presence. As a member of the Golden Squad, he was seen as nothing more than an unnecessary expense to most of the nobility, today more than ever. The city was celebrating 150 years of respite from the Allburning Brightness. The Allburning Brightness was an ailment of their distant ancestors and no one alive today had ever witnessed one. It was documented in the history books of course, a sudden overwhelming change in the weather where the sun burned so bright people were blinded and it got so hot entire cities were burnt to a crisp. How historians knew people could be blinded by such a tragedy Ghul never quite understood. Either way the documentation on the instances was limited as almost everyone used to die from the natural disaster. It was the legendary historian Incubus who was the first to survive that changed the ancient ways. Incubus was a wealthy trader who had an enormous mansion, which most importantly incorporated a basement 3 floors deep. When the everburning brightness struck he retreated to the lowest level of his house to escape the heat and survived off nothing for 3 days while the brightness lasted. When he emerged the entire house was gone and his skin and turned a deep shade of red, but he survived and went on to tell his tale of survival. It was because of him that the Golden Squad existed now. Every city had an elite trained group of citizens who knew all the protocols of what to do during an everburning brightness. Where all of the safe houses with deep basements resided within the city and how many people could stay in each safehouse. It seemed an enviable position to end up in when they were kids learning of the terrifying events in school. But now that Ghul had been a member for 3 years he realized how little it was the golden squad actually did now. There may have been a time when the position was glorified but today it was on par with being a latrine digger in society’s eyes. Ghul was startled out of his reverie when he began to realize people had crowded around him and were jostling him for a spot next to the window. Ghul began to feel warm and just wanted to escape the people surrounding him but they kept pushing in closer. It was Jotunn that started the panic. “ALLBURNING BRIGHTNESS!” the monstrous man bellowed at the top of his lungs, “RUN FOR CITY HALL”. And just like that the tavern descended into madness. Ghul was pushed up against the window and could feel the heat start to penetrate into his back. He watched as the citizens pushed and shoved their way to the door. He also noticed the tavernmaster slip into the central door behind the bar and quietly close the door. As a member of the Golden Squad Ghul knew this tavern had a safe house that could sustain about 10 people for 3 days. He also knew almost all of the regular citizens would be unaware of such a fact as they were all shoving their way out the door to get to city hall. Every city was required to have a large bunker that could house the entire city beneath its city hall. Ghul was well aware that the city of IOU had not upgraded their bunker for almost a century know considering it an unnecessary expense and that their city hall would only hold about ⅓ of the ever growing population. As the madness began to ebb Ghul was able to break free from the window, his back burned and his eyes stung as it was getting so bright in the tavern he could barely see a few feet in front of him. He got on his hands and knees and began crawling towards the secret door he saw the tavern master go into. As he fumbled and crashed into and then over the bar, a hand suddenly grabbed him and pulled him through a door. As Huli Jing slammed the door behind him he realized how quickly the Allburning Brightness had struck. Even behind the closed door in the center of the tavern the room was still as bright as it would be outdoors under the midday sun. He realized with horror that most of the people running towards city hall would likely have not made it as the brightness and heat swept over the city in a matter of a minute or two. Huli Jing told him to shut his eyes and hold on as they descended the stairs grasping onto the walls and the rails. Down, down they went for what seemed like forever. Eventually they reached the ground floor to find the tavern master and his family 10 floors beneath the tavern. Exhausted Ghul lay down against the wall. “Crunch, Crunch” “can you guys hear that?” Ghul asked. He put his ear to the wall again and the sound got louder. “CRUNCH, CRUNCH” “Oh shit… they’re back” he whimpered...