The Captain formerly known as Cob sets off for Hawkbluff. On the way he meets Alicov, perhaps the first female journalist on Krynn. She makes him happy, in a way that is a first for him.
(Alicov is based on a real-life roommate I had.)
More darkly, the Captain still shows a willingness to use brutal means for his ends. He meets with two people at Flex who knew him earlier. The priest tells him to live for himself and take responsibility for his actions - he does the former but whether he does the latter is open to debate. Also, he meets with Sardricor, the old employer who set him up for the headsman's axe.
The Captain clearly is changing as a person but he's still happy to beat a man to a bloody pulp over an old grudge...
The Bladeforge (comments)
Okay now that we have the usual blood and guts and pulp out of the way, I'm going back to the much more harmful and offensive topic of consensual adult-on-adult heterosexual relationships.
Oh! Oh! And also a highly inaccurate depiction of the publishing industry, with a nod to P. N. Elrod for her excellent work in I, Strahd 2.
In case it's not immediately obvious, this latest installment is mostly me arsing around and having juvenile hijinks with the written language. We will return to our usual service soon, but future fits will recur.
To best understand the humor it may help to be fairly literary and also have the maturity of a 12-year-old.
Edit: It's also worth pointing out that Alicov asks the Captain to tell her his story, and asks him to start by telling her about his first sword.
Sound familiar?
Oh! Oh! And also a highly inaccurate depiction of the publishing industry, with a nod to P. N. Elrod for her excellent work in I, Strahd 2.
In case it's not immediately obvious, this latest installment is mostly me arsing around and having juvenile hijinks with the written language. We will return to our usual service soon, but future fits will recur.
To best understand the humor it may help to be fairly literary and also have the maturity of a 12-year-old.
Edit: It's also worth pointing out that Alicov asks the Captain to tell her his story, and asks him to start by telling her about his first sword.
Sound familiar?
Last edited by HuManBing on Mon Sep 01, 2008 11:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
The Captain also makes his first open disavowal of his old name, Bela-jir Ah-Cob.
Spot the hidden message at the top of the post.
Also, for factual support to show that Alicov isn't completely batguano insane, I give you these pages.
On the nine-banded armadillo and its secret weapon. (Do a search for "two-thirds" on that page.)
On legends about the candiru fish.
Spot the hidden message at the top of the post.
Also, for factual support to show that Alicov isn't completely batguano insane, I give you these pages.
On the nine-banded armadillo and its secret weapon. (Do a search for "two-thirds" on that page.)
On legends about the candiru fish.
In this episode: sex and Archimedes.
Also, there's a bit of the conversation that's taken from the song "I've Been to a Marvellous Party" by Noel Coward, as covered by the Divine Comedy.
Alicov seduces the Captain and he loses his virginity*. Hilarity ensues.
* I'll spoil the plot somewhat and tell you he never finds it again.
Also, there's a bit of the conversation that's taken from the song "I've Been to a Marvellous Party" by Noel Coward, as covered by the Divine Comedy.
Alicov seduces the Captain and he loses his virginity*. Hilarity ensues.
* I'll spoil the plot somewhat and tell you he never finds it again.
Last edited by HuManBing on Thu Oct 30, 2008 11:53 am, edited 1 time in total.
Alicov continues seducing the Captain. Again and again, in fact.
The company gets to Hawkbluff and she goes back to her book selling business. They don't have phone numbers in those days, so she just gives the Captain her address.
Also, the rest of the Captain's men are relieved to see he's got a girlfriend because for a long time they thought he might be gay.
The company gets to Hawkbluff and she goes back to her book selling business. They don't have phone numbers in those days, so she just gives the Captain her address.
Also, the rest of the Captain's men are relieved to see he's got a girlfriend because for a long time they thought he might be gay.
Oh, a note about the grandmother rule.
I ran this past a grandmother* recently and asked her if it was okay. She read it through and gave a sigh of fond recollection.
I hope this is all right for Fraternity. In any case I do intend to write a lot more very quickly and thus hope to sneakily render this point moot by burying this rather playful description of lovemaking under loads more text about fighting, killing, slaying, and rolling critical hits.
...
Because, if there's anything I've learned from playing DnD, it's that decent people don't have sex or anything. They kill people instead.
* Not MY grandmother, both of whom are in no condition to read anything right now.
I ran this past a grandmother* recently and asked her if it was okay. She read it through and gave a sigh of fond recollection.
I hope this is all right for Fraternity. In any case I do intend to write a lot more very quickly and thus hope to sneakily render this point moot by burying this rather playful description of lovemaking under loads more text about fighting, killing, slaying, and rolling critical hits.
...
Because, if there's anything I've learned from playing DnD, it's that decent people don't have sex or anything. They kill people instead.
* Not MY grandmother, both of whom are in no condition to read anything right now.
They get to Hawkbluff and make it to the Temple. They see hawks, which entrance the Captain.
Sleeping with your eyes open is apparently impossible, but one character who does it in fiction is Vlad Tepes, the Dracula of Bram Stoker's novel.
I thought it made for an interesting comparison with the Captain, who later becomes Vlad Drakov. He apparently cannot sleep with his eyes open, as this latest episode proves.
I have tried the cold water treatment and I can attest that it really does work as described.
Sleeping with your eyes open is apparently impossible, but one character who does it in fiction is Vlad Tepes, the Dracula of Bram Stoker's novel.
I thought it made for an interesting comparison with the Captain, who later becomes Vlad Drakov. He apparently cannot sleep with his eyes open, as this latest episode proves.
I have tried the cold water treatment and I can attest that it really does work as described.
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Rotipher of the FoS
- Thieving Crow
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Just FYI, wild raptors don't tolerate each other this close for long except when they're migrating, so the birds he saw in such numbers would have to be trained. If you want to get him started at falconry, now's your chance.HuManBing wrote:They get to Hawkbluff and make it to the Temple. They see hawks, which entrance the Captain.
No problem with a bit of sex, so long as it's not too graphic and you keep the adult-content warning on the thread. The RL novel To Sleep With Evil pushed things about as far as is appropriate here.
FWIW, it's not the flowing of warm liquid that attracts candiru, but the chemistry of urine. Freshwater fish emit traces of similar chemicals from their gills, and candiru are parasites that lodge in bigger fishes' gills to make a living. So, the little fish thinks it's headed for a nice comfy set of gills to nestle amongst....
"Who [u]cares[/u] what the Dark Powers are? They're [i]bastards![/i] That's all I need to know of them." -- Crow
The Captain adopts the name "Hawk" and his men are now called the "Talons". They train their first engagement, and make a name for themselves doing so.
(This story is very strongly redolent of the legend of Chinese military tactician Sun Tzu. Except that Sun Tzu was even more ruthless than Hawk, if you can imagine that...)
(This story is very strongly redolent of the legend of Chinese military tactician Sun Tzu. Except that Sun Tzu was even more ruthless than Hawk, if you can imagine that...)
Hawk has a run-in with his subconscious, in a vastly weird passage of the story that breaks the fourth wall. This latest post is almost entirely about me experimenting with narrative tricks and illusions.
It's funny that Hawk's subconscious is the only thing that can really scare him. But it does have a very powerful threat that it can make against him.
The moral of this story is to never piss off your subconscious.
(This episode will also be one of the only times I use near-profanities. Here it's all right because Hawk is only shouting at himself.)
It's funny that Hawk's subconscious is the only thing that can really scare him. But it does have a very powerful threat that it can make against him.
The moral of this story is to never piss off your subconscious.
(This episode will also be one of the only times I use near-profanities. Here it's all right because Hawk is only shouting at himself.)
Hawk finds Alicov again, and they get around to talking of the past.
It turns out Alinestra Covelia also suffered when Malarchus' troops came out the first time. Hawk was five and lost his father. Alinestra Covelia was twelve and had just been married.
At this point there is also an indication as to exactly why she has chosen to seduce Hawk.
Alinestra Covelia also has a fairly proactive attitude towards firefighting in the household.
This marks the shift in focus away from sex and more to a relationship between war orphans type of focus.
But don't worry. They still have sex.
It turns out Alinestra Covelia also suffered when Malarchus' troops came out the first time. Hawk was five and lost his father. Alinestra Covelia was twelve and had just been married.
At this point there is also an indication as to exactly why she has chosen to seduce Hawk.
Alinestra Covelia also has a fairly proactive attitude towards firefighting in the household.
This marks the shift in focus away from sex and more to a relationship between war orphans type of focus.
But don't worry. They still have sex.
Probably worth pointing out that Alinestra Covelia is a name that has seen some use on other forums. Many of the jokes and humor concerning this character are adapted anecdotes from her forum-going days.
In this episode, Hawk sees Allie in one of her less than stellar moments, made all the worse by her liver problems. The fact that he sticks with her helps a lot.
I'm sort of hoping that the tender scenes aren't too sappy. I want to show him as somebody who does have the same capacity to love as the rest of us, but that it's a fragile, vulnerable emotion that can only flourish in times of relative peace and stability.
In this episode, Hawk sees Allie in one of her less than stellar moments, made all the worse by her liver problems. The fact that he sticks with her helps a lot.
I'm sort of hoping that the tender scenes aren't too sappy. I want to show him as somebody who does have the same capacity to love as the rest of us, but that it's a fragile, vulnerable emotion that can only flourish in times of relative peace and stability.
Alicov teaches Hawk the rudiments of reading. She also starts a game based on who wakes up on top of whom.
Trouble in paradise. Alicov and Hawk have an argument. Interestingly, it has a philosophical bent to it: "what can change the nature of a man?"
For Hawk, the nature is the violent tendencies and the inability to stop fighting his own personal wars.
For Alicov, the nature is the endless retreat from the horrors of war by way of the winebottle, bringing her temporary solace even as it kills her slowly.
Heavy stuff. And not just because it's a famous philosophical question from Planescape: Torment, an excellent game.
And then, of course, there's the usual make-up sex. They're normal in some ways at least...
Trouble in paradise. Alicov and Hawk have an argument. Interestingly, it has a philosophical bent to it: "what can change the nature of a man?"
For Hawk, the nature is the violent tendencies and the inability to stop fighting his own personal wars.
For Alicov, the nature is the endless retreat from the horrors of war by way of the winebottle, bringing her temporary solace even as it kills her slowly.
Heavy stuff. And not just because it's a famous philosophical question from Planescape: Torment, an excellent game.
And then, of course, there's the usual make-up sex. They're normal in some ways at least...
Yet more relationship development between Hawk and his lady friend.
Hawk's age - 19 - is not actually verified. I went back and tried to count the years since he got his sword (when he was 10) and failed to arrive at 19 as the correct age. It seems he should be closer to 17 when he meets Alicov. But that is problematic for several reasons, not least because in a post industrialized world he would be below the age of consent and Alicov would be guilty of seducing a minor. It's also a problem because he's already become something of a minor warlord, and he needs to have some age and experience to his name for that to be realistic.
But I missed a couple of years before he says goodbye to Prent at Himlak's. If you take it as given that he's 16 then, the years do actually follow through to 19 when he meets Alicov.
Hawk goes off in search of the Verdinesh in New Aurim to settle things once and for all, and to try to lift their threat over Alicov. In a sense, he's moved on from serving Bela and Sootri (who are family members and chaste angels-in-the-household types to him) to serving Alicov (who is a sexual partner and more of a peer rather than a family member).
I'm trying for a relationship with Alicov that shows they're both flawed people but they somehow get along well because their flaws and strengths compliment each other.
Hawk's vision of the two stunted trees growing around each other for support is something of a metaphor for the war and its effects on young people. But he's definitely striving to grow above it all.
-----------------------------
But, in real life...
My law school term has begun again, and I have a professional internship* on top of my studies. I was able to get a lot more of the story done over summer than I had expected. But I expect my posting frequency to drop as I get into my studies and work again.
I will try for a minimum of one update per week if I can. Obviously, this would be easier if there was more feedback to let me know somebody was actually reading it. (I think the views number iterates whenever I post a new one and edit an old one, so I don't give it much weight.) For a long while, this comments thread has been me in a monologue, occasionally broken by an FoS staffer as they clarify a point about acceptable adult material.
I want to finish this as I have written a long outline and, I think, a pretty good one. And I probably will finish it even without any feedback. But the difference is whether I finish it because I know people are reading it and they're giving me input and I want to make a damn good story... or whether I finish it because I've done so much work in it already that I'll just try to shovel it out as fast as I can and be done with it.
* Edit: I now have TWO professional internships on top of my studies.
This may be the last episode I write until I get some of this work off my plate. Either way, I hope somebody - anybody - enjoyed reading this story. I may be able to start again within a month, if luck is with me.
Hawk's age - 19 - is not actually verified. I went back and tried to count the years since he got his sword (when he was 10) and failed to arrive at 19 as the correct age. It seems he should be closer to 17 when he meets Alicov. But that is problematic for several reasons, not least because in a post industrialized world he would be below the age of consent and Alicov would be guilty of seducing a minor. It's also a problem because he's already become something of a minor warlord, and he needs to have some age and experience to his name for that to be realistic.
But I missed a couple of years before he says goodbye to Prent at Himlak's. If you take it as given that he's 16 then, the years do actually follow through to 19 when he meets Alicov.
Hawk goes off in search of the Verdinesh in New Aurim to settle things once and for all, and to try to lift their threat over Alicov. In a sense, he's moved on from serving Bela and Sootri (who are family members and chaste angels-in-the-household types to him) to serving Alicov (who is a sexual partner and more of a peer rather than a family member).
I'm trying for a relationship with Alicov that shows they're both flawed people but they somehow get along well because their flaws and strengths compliment each other.
Hawk's vision of the two stunted trees growing around each other for support is something of a metaphor for the war and its effects on young people. But he's definitely striving to grow above it all.
-----------------------------
But, in real life...
My law school term has begun again, and I have a professional internship* on top of my studies. I was able to get a lot more of the story done over summer than I had expected. But I expect my posting frequency to drop as I get into my studies and work again.
I will try for a minimum of one update per week if I can. Obviously, this would be easier if there was more feedback to let me know somebody was actually reading it. (I think the views number iterates whenever I post a new one and edit an old one, so I don't give it much weight.) For a long while, this comments thread has been me in a monologue, occasionally broken by an FoS staffer as they clarify a point about acceptable adult material.
I want to finish this as I have written a long outline and, I think, a pretty good one. And I probably will finish it even without any feedback. But the difference is whether I finish it because I know people are reading it and they're giving me input and I want to make a damn good story... or whether I finish it because I've done so much work in it already that I'll just try to shovel it out as fast as I can and be done with it.
* Edit: I now have TWO professional internships on top of my studies.
This may be the last episode I write until I get some of this work off my plate. Either way, I hope somebody - anybody - enjoyed reading this story. I may be able to start again within a month, if luck is with me.