The War for the Rose: Book One Complete

[mellifluousMastermind]

What do you know about the Mudmen? Any interesting gossip?

[alexthewhite]

What do you know about the Mudmen? Any interesting gossip?

"Biting Mud...whelp." Ten Knives spat. "The Granite Lord made him the leader of his guard, presumably to combat Malamara and his mrecenaries. He tried to use a dragon to eat a snake, and now the dragon's trying to eat him."

"As for gossip, the only thing I've heard worth repeating is that the docks on the far side of the city have threeway fighting at almost all times. I'd stay away if I were you, unless you're looking for a particular fight. We're here."

You look at where you are. "Here" appears to be a slightly discolored part of the wall.

Ten Knives grasps the ground and pulls it up. It seems the dirt was a tarp, covering a pitch-black passageway. "This'll take you into the city...where, I can't say. You may end up in a warzone, or in someone's house. It depends on which of the entrances are currently open." Ten Knives paused. "We will meet again, provided you do not die. If you are ready, go."

[intangibleInsight]

> Proceed through the passageway, trying to make as little noise as possible. Contemplate how you're going to pull this mission off.

[Neopie]

Brah! Someone ELSE Had to revive it for me this time! I feel ashamed

>Gogogo!

[Neopie]

...Beep?

[alexthewhite]

Hmm, I think the Rose is going to go on hiatus for a while.

See, I started this adventure because I really wanted to overcome my urge to write a long piece of fantasy without writing a novel or something like that. It was a month ago when I decided to start a new project. That project is called Thronestuck.

It hasn't started yet, but it will soon, in a week or so. I encourage the small group of you who actually bothered with this story to check it out here.

You were all fantastic, and the Rose was a great time. But I really don't have the time or the motivation to run three projects at once (the third being a novel I am currently writing,) in addition to school and a myriad of other responsibilities. I've got to prioritize, and unfortunately for Hiding Spire, she's near the bottom of that list.

But I'm not declaring this dead. I might come back to it one day.

Thanks to everyone who read or gave suggestions,
Alex

Never mind.

[alexthewhite]

> Proceed through the passageway, trying to make as little noise as possible. Contemplate how you're going to pull this mission off.

CHAPTER TWO

It's dark.

You've long since given up on relying on your eyes. Your hand brushes against the wall, and on occasion, you hear a "bump". At first, you think it's someone behind you. After a while, you realize it's just the sound of your heart beating.

This mission hasn't started very well, has it? You've been separated from your comrades, you've lost your knife, and you're going to be entering a warzone completely unprotected, save for the knife Ten Knives gave you and the bag of chains.

You find yourself cursing the deal you made with that bitch Ten Knives. She's the reason you're in this predicament.

The tunnel feels endless, and you lose track of time. It feels like you've been down here for months. Occasionally, you come to a branching path and choose one randomly. You've got no idea where you'll turn up.

Finally, you spy a crack of natural light. Airwalker alive, you've made it. You break your monotonous trudge (why is boiled leather so heavy?) and charge up to the crack.

It's a square cut in the ceiling, with a ladder leading upwards barely visible. You've finally made it to the end of the passageway. Grasping the steel rungs, you surmount the ladder and push the trapdoor open.

It was night time when you entered the tunnels, and now the sun has begun to rise. The entire city has been bathed in red light. You peek your head up, making sure no one is going to chop your head off.

Empty. There isn't a soul in sight. No one living, anyways. There's a faint smell of rotting flesh, and when you peek at the doorway of a nearby tavern, you spy a puddle of blood filling the threshold.

This looks to be a market district, though you can't tell where you are in the city. Numerous abandoned carts and stands boasting fresh fruit or cheap bread dot the sides of the road. There are also four larger stores in your immediate vicinity: an armor store (with the windows boarded up,) a furniture store (with the door blown from its hinges,) a brothel (strangely untouched by the carnage around it,) and the inn with the bloody door frame.

Everything in the square surrounds a fountain, which is only a few feet from the trap door. You climb out and give it a closer look. It's the statue of a great big fat man shaking hands with a tall, skinny man. Neither looks at all familiar to you.

[Neopie]

((YEEEESS. Why did this restart?))

>Observe the fat and skinny men.

[alexthewhite]

((YEEEESS. Why did this restart?))

>Observe the fat and skinny men.

((Because Thronestuck, unfortunately, did not pan out. So Hiding Spire will be getting some further adventures!))

Not much to observe. At first glance, it looks to be the signing of a treaty of some kind. You peek at their backs to see if the symbol of their houses are visible, but unfortunately, the symbols have been weathered down until they are no longer recognizable.

Their faces are worn down too, and the fat man is missing his nose. There is no plaque or anything of the sort commemorating the fountain. The water is placid and surprisingly clean, though. There's scum on the edges, touching the stone, but only the fringes are infected with grime and algae.

You hear, in the distance, the sound of an opening window. You realize exactly how exposed you are out here.

[DS Piron]

> Hide, and observe.

[alexthewhite]

> Hide, and observe.

You duck. The fountain is several feet off the ground, enough to hide your body. This should now hide you from...from...

What are you hiding from, again? You've got no idea who's where and what they want. Worse, after a couple minutes of kneeling, your legs begin to cramp up.

Your ears perk up as you hear the sound of footsteps coming from an alley facing your back. Heavy footsteps. Armored footsteps. At least two men.

This plan may have been somewhat flawed. You may want to seek a more permanent source of cover, one that doesn't leave you exposed to half the city.

[intangibleInsight]

>Hide in one of the abandoned buildings.

[alexthewhite]

>Hide in one of the abandoned buildings.

You swing your eyes around the surrounding area. Most of the buildings don't look terribly inviting, with boarded up doors and unpleasant smells wafting from within.

Only the four stores from earlier catch your eye: the armor store, the furniture store, the brothel, and the tavern.

The sounds of footsteps are beginning to intensify. Quickly, either choose one or get ready for a confrontation with whomever is approaching!

[DS Piron]

> Armor.

[mellifluousMastermind]

>Get thee to the nunnery! (Brothel.)

[intangibleInsight]

> Armor.

[alexthewhite]

> Armor.

You whirl around and bound across the street, doing your best to silence your footsteps as you run. You were training to be a silent walker, after all, so even in your heavy leather boots, you can still run fairly silently.

You grab the iron handle of the slightly ajar door and push it open. Carefully, you step inside and shut the door behind you.

You quickly scan the room. There are no corpses, at least none visible or smellable. The store has a few ragged leather outfits on the wall, but not only do they look lower quality than what you're wearing, they all appear to be for men much larger than yourself. The counter's been buffeted by someone or something, and so the knick-knacks that once lined it now litter the floor. These items all appear to be...useless.

The windows have all been boarded up, so if the heavy pairs of boots are now in front of the fountain, you can't see them. After several minutes of you standing by the door, your knife up, your breathing ragged, you become, if not convinced, a bit more certain in the notion no brute is going to smash into the shop and rip you limb from limb.

You have a few choices here. You can explore the upper floor of the armor store or the back room, both of which are immediately visible to you. This may help you see if you can find out what happened to the owners. You also have the (risky) option of peeking back outside to see what sort of men you're dealing with.

Those are just the options immediately visible to you, though. The armor store is a pretty spacious place, and you get the feeling what you can see isn't all there is to the building.

[intangibleInsight]

>Go upstairs, see if you can find a safer place for spying outside.

[DS Piron]

> Give the area a good, but brief, look around

[mellifluousMastermind]

>You have to make sure that the upstairs is clear first.

[alexthewhite]

>You have to make sure that the upstairs is clear first.

>Go upstairs, see if you can find a safer place for spying outside.

You walk up the stairs, holding your knife out in front of you. It seems that this shop was also a live-in house, which explains why it's so large. The upper floor contains a ladder and two bedrooms, one presumably for the owner and his wife, the other for his apprentice. You take a brief look in both, and neither looks to have had anyone in there for quite some time. The beds are neatly made, and the drawers have been emptied, save for some scraps of clothing.

You're starting to get a picture of what happened to the owners of this establishment. After checking both bedrooms, you head over to the ladder at the far end of the hallway. It seems to lead up to the roof. Without hesitation, you climb it.

The buildings here have flat roofs, presumably because they were all built to work as emergency landing points for a damaged airship. Dropping to your belly, you crawl forward and take a look at the fountain you just fled from.

Sure enough, two men have taken up residence at the fountain. At this distance, the specifics are somewhat difficult to see. Each is armed with a short sword that hangs loosely at their sides. One is sitting, while his companion is pacing back and forth. They are wearing sky blue uniforms over their chainmail, but there's something a bit off about their armor.

Ah. Now you see it. They've splashed a handful of mud over the Granite symbol on their chests.

[DS Piron]

> Evaluate options.
> ...Wasn't there someplace you were to meet up with your Brother and Setting Sun?

[alexthewhite]

> Evaluate options.

Well, the Mudmen below are heavily armed and a lot more experienced than you are. If there was only one, and you had the drop on him, maybe you'd stand a chance. But two, where you can't possibly use stealth? No chance of beating them.

From this rooftop, you can see a lot of the city. This market district is quite far from both the walls and Granite Keep, which is the most likely place for you to meet up with Setting Sun and Falling Spire. You probably want to work your way to the Keep, unless the idea of navigating a battlefield where you know nothing of the terrain appeals to you. The way to the Keep seems to be the alley that the two men emerged from. In order to go through itt, you'll have to work your way past them.

You can either wait in this armor shop for them to leave, though that may be a while. Or you can search for a way out that isn't the front door.

If stealth doesn't sound like your tactic of choice, there's always your tongue. You may be able to talk past these two men, if you are careful. It sounds doable, but you can't help but remember what Ten Knives told you.

"I've seen what they do to pretty girls in that city. My advice, my dear? Find a second dagger and strap it to your thigh. It will prove a sound idea, I assure you."

[mellifluousMastermind]

>Keep investigating the building, and look for something that will aid you in getting past the brutes.

[alexthewhite]

>Keep investigating the building, and look for something that will aid you in getting past the brutes.

You climb off the room and down the staircase. You are now back at the entrance of the armor store. Without hesitation, you head to the back room, the only room you haven't been to yet.

The room seems to be the forge, where metal pieces were made. There's a large anvil in the center of the room, a long unused hearth, and a big barrel that, upon closer inspection, is half full of coal. There's also a stack of lumber next to the hearth, and a pile of dried leaves to use as tinder.

There is a table that seemed to be for storing tools, but most of those tools are gone. All that's left is a small hammer the length of your arm, a two inch long iron stake, and a pointy pair of tongs.

Most of the tools had been taken, which is too bad, because some could have made decent weapons.

There's a ton of stuff in here, but how can you use it?