|  Author | Topic: Darkswamp (Read 610 times) |
clumsyminkytink
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« Thread Started on Mar 10, 2007, 8:22pm » | |
There was a rhythmic, liquid splorching coming from a certain corner of the Darkswamp.
It was rather like the sound of the removal of a body's heart, wet and forceful, repeated over and over again and traveling through the thick mud of the moors.
The sun had set, and now the Darkswamp was coming alive. Lights were springing up everywhere, guttering torches and oil lamps hung from whatever was handy. They dangled from tree branches and marked the corners of random little wooden buildings on stilts, spidery poles that lifted them on insectlike legs above the swamp below. Lines of torches marked safe paths between buildings that were close enough together, and occasionally a pole-boat could be seen slithering through the murk.
It was rather beautiful to look at, but the people--who watched from the windows of the buildings or moved along the paths or stood hunched over in their pole-boats--were too filthy and bitter and suspicious, and the air smelled too strongly of sulfur and smoke. The trees overhead were clogged with grey dangling moss, blotting out the moon and stars entirely, and thin streams of smoke flowed from every torch. The little houses and buildings formed a community that closely resembled some kind of permanent gypsy camp, and occasional strains of staccato, stringed music reinforced the impression. Signs, sigils, and symbols were painted in dripping paint of various colors all over the buildings, codes that only the Darkswampers understood, and in more than one case there was a burned out or collapsed hulk in place of a building, now home only to the rats and wolves. This rotted but thriving warren was Darkswamp City.
The rhythmic squelching continued through the community, weaving its way between huts that sprouted more and more frequently. It left behind it a long, deep trail in the semi-solid murk of the swamp that gradually filled back in. It was caused by the knee-high boots of a young woman covered in filth and jewelry, which sank up to the ankle in mud and up to the knee in the filthy water that sat like a bad omen on top of the mud.
Her open trench coat trailed along the water behind her, and torchlight gleamed on the bright brass buttons of the coat, as well as the golden buckle of her wide leather belt and the miasma of pearls and gold at her throat and ears. She wore a pair of baggy trousers that had not been washed in months tucked into the cuffs of her boots, and a lacy linen shirt displayed her cleavage admirably before vanishing into the depths of her trenchcoat. Her hair was piled into loose waves and ringlets atop her head, and she had somehow contrived to paint her lips a bright and seductive red.
She swiftly reached the building she'd been headed for, larger than the others and sturdier, the marks of prosperity all around it: glass covers on the gas lamps, a real wooden door instead of a ragged curtain, glass in the windows, shutters, sturdy stilts, even a little dock with stairs for the pole-boats. Easily the brightest building in Darkswamp City, it was also the loudest, and smoke poured from a rusted tin pipe emerging from the sloped roof. This was, of course, the Tavern.
The young woman stamped up the stairs from the marsh to the porch of the Tavern, shedding water and mud as she went until she was nearly presentable by the time she reached the main level of the structure. The music here was loud and the laughter raucous; a good night, then. The woman grinned, then went in, her steps proud and confident, her path through the crowd sinuous, and her eventual seat on a stool at the bar seductive. A moment later, she had her drink, and sat slowly consuming it, a little smirk on her face illuminated by the light from a dozen flames.
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Caius Caligula
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« Reply #1 on Mar 18, 2007, 11:59pm » | |
Another woman, recognizable by the longsword she carried, as well as the revolver tucked into her belt (in case things got really rough) looked up at her in greeting, her blue-gray eyes showing a small amount of interest, and perhaps a little recognition. "Good night for a drink." she grinned, her voice somehow seductive and dangerous. "Might worry a bit about the jewelry, but I suppose you can hold your own, right?"
The woman looked like she spent a lot of time in the swamps, and her unwashed shirt, loose pants, lank black hair, and hip-length boots attested to that. Where the shirt ended, her arms were covered in complex and often interlocking tattoos, occasionally a sigil painted in red or green peeking out from the mass of symbols, swirls, and various creatures. She offered her hand. "Serena. I'm a guide around here, and one of the best hired hands in the business. Who might you be?"
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"Voles? Voles are a many-splendored thing, voles lift us up where we belong, all you need is voles!"
--original line in Moulin Rouge, before the producers went through the script. |
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clumsyminkytink
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« Reply #2 on Mar 19, 2007, 9:49am » | |
The newcomer smiled and shook the other woman's hand, her grip firm. "You're right about the jewelry, but what's life without risk? I'm Sii. Sii Tauren." She caught the bartender's eye, and a moment later a tankard of ale was sitting in front of her. "Hired hand, huh?" She glanced at the other woman, looking her over. "Must have some kind of spark around you," she said, using a slang word for magic. "Dangerous business. How long you been working the Swamp?"
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Caius Caligula
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« Reply #3 on Mar 19, 2007, 1:29pm » | |
"Is there any other type of hired hand in the Swamp?" Serena grinned. "Yeah, I have a spark to me, and I've been working the Swamp long enough to lose count of how long it's been." She still had the scars here and there, but overall, it had been a fairly successful run. "How about yourself? You been working it, or just a visitor?"
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"Voles? Voles are a many-splendored thing, voles lift us up where we belong, all you need is voles!"
--original line in Moulin Rouge, before the producers went through the script. |
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clumsyminkytink
Also an Uber-Goddess
Crusher Commander
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GENIUS.
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Karma: 5 | | Re: Darkswamp
« Reply #4 on Mar 20, 2007, 1:01am » | |
"Lived here all my life." Sii took a healthy pull from her tankard. "May whatever remains holy in this damned swamp keep the Tavern around," she said, lifting her eyes piously to the heavens and grinning. "Worth somebody's life to admit they're outsider, ain't it? 'Less they got the spark for it."
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Caius Caligula
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« Reply #5 on Mar 20, 2007, 1:42am » | |
"It's a religious fecking icon, yeh." Serena grinned in response. "As for it being worth someone's life to admit they're an outsider...pretty much. 'Less, as you said, they have the spark for it. Those who don't, I just take their money, take what they have in trade, and make myself a happier person for it." She got herself a pint and slugged a decent amount down. "Keeps my pipe filled, and sparked bullets in my gun, so's I can't complain much."
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"Voles? Voles are a many-splendored thing, voles lift us up where we belong, all you need is voles!"
--original line in Moulin Rouge, before the producers went through the script. |
|
clumsyminkytink
Also an Uber-Goddess
Crusher Commander
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GENIUS.
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Karma: 5 | | Re: Darkswamp
« Reply #6 on Mar 26, 2007, 2:49pm » | |
"Heh. All we can ever really ask for, s'pose." Sii finished off her tankard and almost instantly had another in front of her. She winked her thanks at the bartender. "Idiot comes into the Dark without the spark is just askin' for it," she grunted, taking an epic mouthful of ale. "We ain't the Lightroad, are we? Send 'em all north or underground. Fuckin' idiots. Think they're badass 'cause they killed people or stole a bracelet and look where it gets 'em?" She grinned maliciously into her ale.
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5/21/07: IT LIVES
http://moonwillow.comicgenesis.com
1/8/07: Gave the Geocities site a minor update.
http://www.geocities.com/aryn_of_kalivey/willowindex.html |
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Caius Caligula
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Pure unadulterated doom!
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« Reply #7 on Mar 27, 2007, 2:58am » | |
"With my pole going through their corpse, most times." Serena nodded, smirking. "no one survives here save the strongest." She laughed for a moment and took a swig of her own drink. "The swamp weeds out the idiots. In some places, perhaps, it does it all itself, with no help from any of the ne'er do wells." she sighed. "But, no matter what, in the end, you know when you belong here."
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"Voles? Voles are a many-splendored thing, voles lift us up where we belong, all you need is voles!"
--original line in Moulin Rouge, before the producers went through the script. |
|
clumsyminkytink
Also an Uber-Goddess
Crusher Commander
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GENIUS.
Joined: Sept 2004
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Karma: 5 | | Re: Darkswamp
« Reply #8 on Apr 4, 2007, 2:42pm » | |
"Usually it's when you've got the money or the spice to get your hands on a bit of flash, and the steel to hang on to it," Sii agreed, chuckling and stroking her frothy gold necklaces fondly. "You getting work lately? Been a bit slow for me."
The scent of smoke, moisture, and alcohol hung heavily in the air, and the talk continued a dance between furtive and raucous. Lanterns discharged streams of oily smoke into the air, and the thunk of tankards against wood was a pleasant counterpoint to the occasionally clash of cutlery and conversation. A good night for the Tavern, but of course everyone there knew how easily things could turn sour. This wasn't the Lightroad, after all.
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5/21/07: IT LIVES
http://moonwillow.comicgenesis.com
1/8/07: Gave the Geocities site a minor update.
http://www.geocities.com/aryn_of_kalivey/willowindex.html |
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