This is my story for the January-February 2024 Short story contest The theme was: 'Divine Intervention' My entry: Gain a new name “For the second time, no! We are not taking action yet.” chirped the Skink in the middle of the throne room. A small group of Lizards was gathered here at this hour of the day, just a moment after daybreak. Besides the Skink Oracle, Suqy-nakpa known as the Mouth of Xruzi’o-lla, there were four Skinks of last night’s patrol, six Saurus Temple Guards, stationed in pairs at the entrances and behind the oracle sat Slann Lord Xruzi’o-lla himself on his palanquin. His eyes closed, presumably in meditation. “We have to!” stated the biggest Skink, Quekkurk'atl, alpha of the patrol “The problem will grow if we do not act now.” He paused to see if his words did find ground. He noticed no change of mind at the Skink in front of him. In reach for a last straw he pointed at the lump of unhealthy fur and bleak skin in between them on the floor, three darts visibly sticking out of it. “Is this not enough evidence!?” Suqy-nakpa kept his face straight and his hands clenched. “It is as I have said before, by the…” “Quetzl demands us to keep restrain”, intervened a deep and slow voice, the Slann continued: “He will bless us with resilience and endurance to withstand all that will come over us. Like he has done before.” Two of the Temple Guards couldn’t help but nod in agreement. Quekkurk’atl however let his head down and his shoulders followed. The patrol’s morale visibly dropped. Their Alpha had tried to convince the council, but it fell on deaf ears. Council was actually too high of a praise, it consisted of no more than Lord Xruzi’o-lla and his trusted Oracle. In the olden days the council consisted of two Skink Oracles, two Starseers, two Starpriests and a Slann. Since the Great Departure the stars had not aligned right for new members to rise up. Although their Lord was still unable to use his magical abilities, he and his Mouth were of one mind, a stubborn one in his opinion. - o - o - o - o - o - The sun crested the mountain tops at the east, bathing the Temple City and the lush green jungle valley that surrounded it in morning light. Most of the vegetation was relatively young grown, stimulated by the energy emanating from the city’s stonework. Quekkurk'atl and his patrol exited the main ziggurat and halted after a couple of steps. Tetekcotiq turned to their spawn-leader: “What now brother? Are we simply going to wait?” After a brief silence Quekkurk'atl looked at his brothers around him and replied with a question: “Do you all trust me?” “With my life and all lifetimes to come!” was Tetekcotiq’s immediate reaction, the other Skinks chirped in conformation. “Will you follow me wherever I go? Do whatever I ask you to do?” Again the patrol gave their support to him. Quekkurk'atl nodded in a thankful response. “Iquarikuat and Tetekcotiq, you both go back and retrieve the dead rat we brought as evidence. Meet us at the deserted village by sunset.” - o - o - o - o - o - The jungle hugged the city at all sides. Mountains trapped the jungle at three sides, the north, south and east. In the west the jungle stretched out to the next valley and eventually meandered to the Scorched Plains in the south. The thick, dense jungle at the edge of the valley suddenly gave way, there the trees turned brown and began to fall in. A wide groove marked where the jungle had died away, plants had fallen and rotting vegetation was turned into a gray, dusty, rock filled emptiness. There once was a jungle here, or at least elements of it. A lot of the wooden parts looked sagged, partially sunken in and dried. Almost like they were frozen and left to gray. In the middle of this area were a number of small buildings , a very small village of some kind that was dilapidated. Structures that are mostly intact and some that are just the bare bones exterior, the corners and remnants of where they once stood. There stood a singular obelisk spire emerging from the center square. From top to bottom it showed glyphs in shapes of a language long past. In front of it stood a formidable table created from three big slabs of stone. Two blue scaled figures hid beside the spire in between the high growth. At the edge of the area two more figures broke from the vegetation. One of them carried the limp body of a rodent. As they arrived at the village they slowed down and moved around the first building. They halted at the edge of the central square, looking around carefully. The front Skink let out a range of chirps and clicks and then waited. From the side of the spire the opposite range of clicks and chirps sounded as a reaction. Both duo of Skinks moved to the stone slab table in front of the spire. “There you are.'' confirmed Quekkurk'atl, rather impatient. “We ran into some trouble on our way,” answered Iquarikuat the unasked question, “they are closer than last night. The problem worsens, just as we thought.” Quekkurk’atl acknowledged the information as correct: “The more reason to act fast.” Tetekcotiq hoisted the limp rat atop of the table, a soft squick sounded as its head smashed against the stone. The rat was unconscious but still alive. Quekkurk'atl climbed up on the table beside it. He unveiled a shiny dagger with a blade shaped like a crawling snake, a snake’s head at the cling and ending in a sharp point. It seemed like the surrounding jungle had waited for this moment to erupt in sound and motion as squeak upon squeak rose from between the trees. Even further away deep guttural roars were heard. “They caught up on us,” chirped Iquarikuat, “get your blowpipes at the ready!” As the three Skinks took out their blowpipes they positioned themselves in a half circle with their backs to the table. The first small rodents became visible at the vegetation edge, skittering across the fallen and rotten plants. Quekkurk’atl stood atop the table with his dagger at the ready. He lifted his head to the sky, closed his eyes and started to call out: “Great Snake of the ages past! Grant us your protection in our hour of need! Accept this sacrifice as a token of our subdication to you, Sotek the Deliverer! Show your strength and a thousand sacrifices will follow!” Quekkurk’atl opened his eyes, now glowing bright white. As he brought the dagger down he chanted and his patrol joined him: “Sotek deliver us! Sotek deliver us! Sotek deliver us!” With a clean cut the dagger separated the head from the body and its blood gushed freely on the table, over the edge and on the pavement. A couple of seconds nothing seemed to happen. Tetekcotiq shot a small rat down at the left side of the square and Iquarikuat aimed at a couple of rat monks peeking around the corner of a building to the right. Then suddenly a stroke of bright green light burst forth from the table, following the blood flow down to the floor and back to the spire. The light filled the glyphs, starting at the bottom and up to the top, when the top glyph was filled the light struck up into the sky. Meanwhile, for every rat the Skinks shot down two more appeared. More rat monks showed up around the square’s edges, behind them even bigger creatures emerged, parts of multiple rats vaguely recognizable about them. Thick clouds pulled together above the village, a breeze of air started to form around the spire. The breeze grew stronger and stronger. In a couple of seconds the air became very tense and heavy to breath. The sound of gusts of wind got paired with the cracking of thunder and in a flash of green light a giant winged snake broke through the clouds coiling down to the square. The Skink patrol retreated to the spire itself as the monstrous rat ogres and abominations reached the table. A fraction of a second later green light filled every nook and cranny of the square. The Winged Snake hit with a deafening impact. After the first impact the light circled the square a couple of times increasing the radius by every round before coming to a halt in front of the table. Quekkurk’atl kneeled in front of the Winged Snake and raised both of his hands presenting the dagger he used in the sacrifice. “O great deliverer, our thanks is great and my determination is eternal. I offer you my life in servitude.” The snake bowed its head and answered without its mouth moving: “Serve me and you’ll be free, follow my guidance and you will go wherever you like. You will speak my words and spread my prophecies. Because of your devotion I will give you a new name: Iqutakkorhuatzi, Devoted Skaven-Slayer of the Cursed Skybeam.” It looked around at the fallen rodents on all sides and said: “Find the ones still breathing, sacrifice them first.” With that the form shattered in thousand shards of green light, each disappearing even before they hit the ground. The Skinks stood up, looked at each other and started their gathering of rat bodies at the square. Grrr, !mrahil >Back to Index<
A word from the author: I felt like a story of internal struggle in the Lizardmen community. In time this story is a continuation (in some sort) of the last story that described the transition between The-World-That-Was and the Realm of Ghur in the AoS universe. The two sides in the community honoring Quetzl and Sotek have something of my internal struggles in real life to wait and do nothing, see how things will unravel (like the Quetzl followers) or to go and do something to make a change (like the Sotek followers). I feel like the story led to a somewhat predictable end. It could also have used some more polishing. Grrr, !mrahil
reviews of others: Thanks for the review. Among these three stories it really is a though crowd to stand out with this story certainly with just one vote to spent . Thanks man! The story line being perhaps a bit to clear cut from the beginning... Grrr, !mrahil
This is my story for the April-May 2024 Short story contest The theme was: 'Tactics and Strategy' My entry: Part of the Team Lush green vegetation and vast areas of treetops stretch at the feet of the mountains to the east. The highest of peaks covered in the eternal snow and yet the forest below is humid of the night air amongst the wild flora and fauna. As the sun rises at the horizon the damp night is fought back by the rays of light penetrating the canopies. The remainders of nightlife activity retreat together with the fleeing night. In the relative rest of the early morning a rush of footfalls is heard. A skink rushed forward, heading east, downhill. Once every few steps he looks over his shoulder, left and right, without slowing down. ‘I have to make it! I can make it! just a little longer, just a little further!’ he repeated to himself like a mantra. The vegetation to his left a couple of meters behind him is disturbed by a quick moving subject. To his right another shape caught up with him. In the trees above him a fellow skink chirped down at him: “Hurry, hurry!! They are catching up! Your lead has faded like the morning dew around you for the rising sun!” He jumped from tree to tree to keep in line with Maqoloktoa, keeping a good view at the scene below, constantly encouraging the skink on the run with increasingly vigorous wording: “you are slacking off now! Keep up your pace or you will not make it!” The path in front was relatively clear and the gate of the city came into sight. The last twenty meters to the gate the surface was just grass, without the roots and branches to dodge or jump over. Maqoloktoa took a last deep breath to then push for his maximum speed. He felt his legs cramp and knew he couldn’t hold this pace for a long stretch. The gate seemed further than he thought, too far. After five steps on the grass he saw them right and left of him. They swept past him and passed the gatehouse several seconds before him. As Maqoloktoa ran through the gate he was met with a group of skinks leaning against the wall and the nearest buildings catching their breaths and transpiring their body warmth via open mouths, curled in a smirk the moment he came into sight. “We beat you again!” stated the biggest and most athletically built skink, “even the head start did not give you enough time to make it to the gate first.” The others chuckle after his remark. Maqoloktoa looked down in embarrassment and would have blushed if he was able to. From the gatehouse behind a voice sounds: “I think I have heard and seen enough.” Oxolkekotl, trainer of skink spawnings, since ages past, walked through the gate to observe the current batch of pupils he had been training with the last couple of weeks. Although he had seen many years he still looked agile and athletically built. “Take a rest for now, we will resume training at midday.” The group took a collective sigh of relief and some of the skinks leaning against the stonework let their legs slip from underneath them and glided to the ground to sit in the morning shadows for a couple of minutes. Maqolokta backed off slowly to the gate looking for a quieter place. As he passed Oxolkekotl he called him over “Maqolokta, walk with me,” side by side they go through the gate, “Thank you for your work today.” The pupil looked ashamed at the trainer: “work with no result.” he summarized before Oxolkekotl could continue: “please let me transfer to a builders or beast handlers unit. I am not made for the quick response unit. Please sir.” “On the contrary” was his reply, “your efforts make the rest of the unit stronger. Without you they wouldn't be half as fast and half as strong. Your role in this unit is of most significance.” “As entertainment for the rest!?” “They may not see it yet but one day they will” Maqolokta could not see it happen, he also recognized that further conversation would not convince his trainer otherwise, thus he let it rest. During the afternoon another attempt at reaching the gate first, with a sizeable head start, led to the same outcome… Grrr, !mrahil >Back to Index<
A word from the author: I had two thoughts for a story with the theme. The first was to make the start of the story look like a chase after a battle or a skink scout fleeing for intruders, turning out to be a training exercise. That made it to the story. The second thought was to make the story full circle and fulfill the need of importance of the protagonist in a future battle of mission. The more I tried to find a situation that met the criteria the more I struggled and felt the protagonist's acceptance of his roll made for a fitting end. We do not always see our efforts rewarded in a way we envisioned it at forehand or don't see reward at all. It can be reassuring to know there is a part for all of us to play in a greater scheme of things. Grrr, !mrahil
Sadly only one review: Thanks for the kind words, I am glad you liked it and was able to sympathize with it Grrr, !mrahil
This is my story for the July-August 2024 Short story contest The theme was: 'Hope and/or Despair' My entry: He said he would come Underneath gray-green foliage a unit of Skinks slowly follows a narrow path through a desolate forestry swamp. Twisted trees to the left and corrupted branches to the right. Everything cascading in a sickening green hue. ‘Do we need to go much further?’ chirped the skink in the back, ‘I have seen and smelled enough to report back to Oytlakeqo.’ ‘No, this is not enough evidence.’ Spoke the leader, “Based on what we see and smell here we can make assumptions, but we all know: “assumptions are the spawning pool of all failures“. On top of that Oytlakeqo said he would follow us soon with the rest of the starhost.’ And with that the unit moved forward again. -0-0-0-0-0- Sunlight stroked the wide stretched canopies of the jungles north of Mekitopsar. The city located at the southern edge of a vast area of jungle trees and all sorts of vegetation, began its life many years ago as a rundown Temple ship. Since then the city grew and grew, crews of Skinks and Kroxigors bonded over construction sites, expanding the city to its current glory. Much of the growth could be attributed to the working class, but an equal contribution to it was the relative peace provided by the northbound jungle. At the gates of the city a wide and open plain reached from the east to the west crawling along the southern wall. Bare rock and dirt with a sparse plumage of dried grass. This side of the city was more troubled with occasional visitors. Once in a blue moon the city endured a ravaging horde of Orruks. Almost all of the time it was the Bloodtoofs clan that stirred the pot. The last rampage had been three or so years ago. Due to the wide and far view the attackers were seen far in advance of the actual attack and the city was prepared for them. To prevent foes from the north closing in unseen, a starhost is located in the jungle. The starhost consisted of three units of Skinks, a unit of Kroxigors and two Scar-Veterans on Carnosaur, under control of Skink Starseer Oytlakeqo -0-0-0-0-0- The patrol found its way through crumbled walls and broken stone. The forest growing more twisted and sickness spreading far around. The bright blue of and vibrant red of their scales and crests fading to a dull gray-green emanating from the boiling pools of thick syrupy liquid. Kektuotl led the patrol. Carefully scanning the surroundings. He halted the unit, lifted his nose in the air and sniffed for clues. To their right, between a pit of the green liquid and a once minor ziggurat, something attracted his attention. Shadows appeared on the wall. At first just one hunched shadow with a pointy nose, soon several more followed. Ru'akuil turned to his leader: “The rat-men! Just as I assumed!” accentuating the last word although whispered. Kektuotl looked annoyed back at him and answered firmly: ”We will stand our ground, Oytlakeqo said he would come!” -0-0-0-0-0- On a clearing in the jungle, just outside the walls of the city, there was a coming and going of lizards in different sizes. All around stood the remnants of what, not long ago, had been an encampment for a complete starhost. To the side of the clearing hovered a stone chair with a skink overseeing the activities. Beside him, on either side, stood a Scar-Veteran ready to mount their Carnosaurs when the order were to be given to march out. A skink approached the palanquin: "Starseer Oytlakeqo, in a couple of minutes the campsite will be cleared and everybody will be ready to go.” The Starseer answered with a nod of acknowledgement and the skink went back to work. Tzun-tlaoc, the Scar-Veteran to the right, turned to Starseer Oytlakeqo: “Is there any word from our scouting party yet?” “No word yet, I had hoped for more information, but we will march forward as planned.” -0-0-0-0-0- With a loud squeak one of the rat-men embraced a spiked club with its skull while the last one fell face down in the swamp pinned with three darts in its back. Kektuotl pried his club out of the rat “This was a scouting party of theirs, the main army will not be far behind.” “All the more reason to head back to the host and report” responded Ru’akuil firmly. The skink alpha looked at him and weighed the options. After a couple of seconds he nodded and looked around to the eight other members of the patrol. “Group together, we are heading …” Before he could end the order, two rays of hellish green light buzzed through the air. Two skinks got hit and were ripped apart in an instance, leaving just burning parts of skin and scales. The second ray hit a tree behind the unit and shattered it to thousands of splinters. “Warp lighting, take cover!" The remaining skinks scattered to nearby trees and rocks to hide behind. “What will we do now, Kektuotl?” “We have to stand our ground, Oytlakeqo said he would come.” -0-0-0-0-0- The clearing in the jungle had emptied. The starhost traveled northward under the cover of the thick jungle canopy. Slowly but carefully tracking the path that the scouting patrol had followed. -0-0-0-0-0- The sickening green hue still lighted everything around the pools and casted shadows of creatures on the treetops above. Five skinks jumped over the last remnants of a wall to take new cover again. They were followed by the sound of warp lighting, bullets and throwing daggers clanging against stone. Two at a time the skinks fire darts back at the enemy line. Now and then hearing a squeak or dropping of a limp body. Suddenly the sounds of attacks came to a halt. Pressing silence came over the area. Kektuotl turned around to look through the broken stones and caught a glimpse of a large horned figure approaching the wall. “They have a Vermin lord” he uttered under his breath The strike of a giant double-side scythe filled the air and stone broke apart taking three skinks with it. A second swing struck the stone behind Kektuotl and pierced his shoulder. He spoke to Ru’akuil as he awaited the final blow: “He said he would come…” Grrr, !mrahil >Back to Index<
A word from the author: The intent of the story came rather quickly to me, the mantra of "he said he would come" in a growing despair. A scouting patrol waiting for backup/the host to release them from their attackers. The thing that I had to work on, and in my opinion did not at all succeed in, was the reason why the host would not be there. Or the reason why a Starseer was not able to hold his word. With no conclusive reason I decided to leave it at that, inconclusive, just not in time to help them. Grrr, !mrahil
Reviews: Thank you for your review, I am glad you liked the story. Funny to see you side with the subordinate skink in the patrol If only he would have listened Thanks for the review. I must say that my lack in Skaven knowhow played me parts here. I had not enough time to research this accurately for a good representation in the story. My writing style seems to lack polishing most of the times, English grammar isn't my strong suit and a lot of the times Dutch grammar doesn't translate well into an English sentence. Thanks for the advice Thank you for your review. As said in the post above I wasn't sure what or how to make the Starseer break his word and left it inconclusive in the story. For the reader to wonder about I am glad you liked the word choices that particular sentence was one I liked a lot myself. Lizardmen's lack of sexuality would not led them have a sentence like: "Assumptions are the mother of all f*ck-ups" Grrr, !mrahil
This is my story for the January- February 2025 Short Story contest The theme was: 'A Long Journey' My entry: A Journey Beyond Freedom. Endless freedom, captured in blue. Blue above and blue below. The sky had been cloudless and friendly for two days straight now. It certainly eased the journey - both in travel speed by day and in navigating at night. Chayhui'huic stretched his aching back for a moment. Three days in the saddle was taking a toll on the Skink. The last stop on the Isles of Doom had been a welcome one, although short and necessary. The weather on the first part of the journey had been worse, a lot of rain and strong gusts of wind. Near the end of the second day they had reached the coastline of the isles in the middle of the World Pond. Low on food for him and his trusted Terradon, Tetdi-ek'hui. Although the Islands themselves - black and charred - didn't provide them with anything but a place to set their feet upon, the waters around it swirled with all sorts of life. Plenty to feed a hungry ninety five pound Terradon and its scrawny Skink rider. A guttural growl of Tetdi-ek'hui brought his thoughts back to the here and now. “I know, my friend, but we can’t afford to eat our complete ration.” The Terradon shook his head in a reaction, forcing Chayhui'huic to grab the knob of his saddle in front of him, preventing him from falling off. “Alright, alright, one more will not make that much of a difference.” He reached for his luggage and threw the fish he grabbed in front of the bird’s head, which in his turn gobbled it up in a matter of seconds. “Take it easy, we will not reach our next stop before late afternoon. We are out of food until then.” The giant bird let out a shriek seemingly understanding the skink’s message. Chayhui'huic patted her on her neck: “Good girl. We will make it, I know we will.” Sitting back in the saddle he reached to the bags hanging at the front, checking if all was still in place. Something he automatically did a couple of times a day. What good will it do if we reach our destination without the plaques? No good at all! His thoughts were unwillingly transported to the Temple city Zlatlan in the Southlands, not more than a week ago. It was the summer solstice, a day of great importance and joy within the Lizardmen society. A lot of preparations had been made for the plethora of celebrations, feasts and ritual sacrifices that would fill this day from start to end. All of Zlatlan was filled with a cacophony of roars and rhythmic drumming, celebratory strength challenges had made up the vast part of the day. The moment of sacrificing to Chotec was bound to begin soon, multiple fire pits had been lit and the smell of burning wood, fabric and foodrests filled the air. Many a Skink, Saurus and Kroxigor gathered around the main street leading to the highest Temple Ziggurat. Several Skink priests adorned with feathered cloaks and crowns walked down the street. Behind them a couple of Skink handlers dragged a cage filled with angry rodents along, captured in the last month and remained captives especially for today. Drums sounded all around mimicking the steps of the procession. The group stopped at the first plateau behind the sacrificial stone slabs. The drums silenced. One of the priests, this year's chosen one to awaken Slann Lord Kaxqakoathua, ascended further up the ziggurat to the top of the stairs. Standing in front of the door to the meditation chamber he turned to the crowd below and a unified roar arose from the gathered Lizards. He took a dagger from his belt, held it aloft and drumming commenced. The priest raised his other hand to the blade and slit it across the palm. He turned to the door and reached with his blooded hand to a stone beside it. The stone absorbed the blood and for a moment nothing seemed to happen. Suddenly a loud low rumble arose from the floor while the door lifted up high, opening up the meditation chamber for the first time since last summer solstice, a year before. Everybody heard the rumbling and it became quiet in the streets for just a moment. The next sound was a cry that pierced the sky. A short shrill cry brought Chayhui'huic back to the present. He laid a hand on the neck of Tetdi-ek'hui and searched the waters in front of them. “I see it as well, our temporary resting place.” A dot of greenish-brown grew large as they approached it, at first it looked like an island, but waters around islands transitions from deep blue to the shallower lighter tones, there was no lighter blue here. No beaches either. Tetdi-ek'hui started a slow descent to the vegetation covered spot in the vast blue waters below them. From the overgrown substance below a multitude of bonelike curved pillars protruded up high. After a flyby the waterline Tetdi-ek'hui gulped up a few fish from the water and perched upon a pillar closest to the water’s edge. Chayhui'huic dismounted and sat down next to the Terradon “Take your rest for as long as we can endure.” From atop the pillar the ‘island’ was clearly visible and smellable. The bonelike pillars were actually the carcass of a long ago deceased monstrous sea creature, now a floating pile of bones and rotting flesh. The stench was nearly unbearable, but the delight of a place to rest won it from the nasal discomfort. This place of decay made Chayhui'huic wonder if the Skink priest would have smelled the same that day, when everything changed. He remembered how the Skink priest had opened the door to the meditation chamber, had seen the inside of the chamber and bellowed a cry of disbelief. At the feet of the ziggurat the gathered Lizards, having heard the cry, grew impatient. Suddenly the Priest appeared at the top of the stairs, his face troubled with what he discovered inside. He proclaimed the pollution of the sacred chamber by a Nurgle infestation. And before he had spoken all of his words another sound of rumble filled the sky. Somewhere during the last year of meditation infected insects had entered the chambers and infected Lord Kaxqakoathua and his Guards, unable to call for aid in time. The chamber had become a sealed festering wound in the heart of the city, with the bodies of the Slann and Temple Guards as fertilizers. The rumble turned to heavy buzzing while a swarm of giant Nurgle insects ripped through the priest and made its way down upon the crowd. Chayhui'huic saw the entire scenario unfold from atop the city walls. He had been tasked with overseeing the city during what would have been a festive day, keeping watch together with his trusted Terradon. They were the first to see the insects burst forth from the ziggurat and instinctively dove from the wall to aid those in need of aerial protection. After a first pass over, taking down three insects, Chayhui'huic steered his winged mount back to pass over again. Just before they committed fully to it a Skink priest commanded him to stop: “Halt your foolish attempts!” The Priest stood at the gate of the minor ziggurat used as a library. At his feet lay multiple bags visibly fully filled with plaques. “There is no stopping the waves of insects. Each one you kill will be replaced by the next. Even killing thousands will not make a difference.” There was no sarcasm, nor pessimism in his voice, just a realization of fate, “Take these. Bring them to our tribes across the Great Pond! With Lord Kaxqakoathua fallen the Southlands are lost.” For a split second Chayhui'huic considered fighting the swarm anyway, but his trained mind overtook the primal urge. He loaded the bags onto Tetdi-ek'hui, looked at the city streets behind him one last time and took off. Chayhui'huic shook his head to clear his mind again. no need to ponder over things gone by. Focus on what is ahead. He stood up, checked the bags hanging from the saddle one more time and mounted his trusted Terradon. “Come on buddy, ready for our last stretch?” Tetdi-ek'hui shook his head as well and stretched his wings. Then they set off in an easterly direction. Grrr, Imrahil >>Back to Index<<
A word from the author: After the theme was announced I immediately thought of a journey across the ocean would fit nicely. The connection, or the lack thereof, between the Southland Lizards and the Lustria Lizards was a perfect subject for this story to build on. Looking at the Warhammer map it was hard to make something interesting of a continental transfer when the only thing along the way is the water from the World Pont. With some additional search and looking at several types of Warhammer World maps I spotted a small group of islands about a third of the way from the Southlands: Isles of Doom. More research didn't give much of what these islands contain. This is where some writers freedom was inserted. Along the research I did I found out about the rotting carcasa of a massive Kraken: Bone Island. Because it isn't a real island it moves around on the flow of the ocean and hard to navigate to. Grrr, !mrahil
Words of review from others: Thank you very much for your review. I like describing surroundings and I am glad they are well perceived. I love your takeaway from the story Your way and effort put in this review is amazing Thank you graetly Thanks for your review, this means a lot. I agree with you on the introduction to a larger story part. I might look in to that some time Grrr, !mrahil
This is my story for the April-May 2025 Short Story contest The theme was: 'Slann' My entry: On the Council The light of Hysh burned bright and warm on the road exiting Excelsis heading south. A group of skinks has left the city recently making their way past the Amberstone Watch towards the Carcass Donse mountain range. Starpriest Tehzal-tak'tak and his delegation just brought the yearly visit to the Lyceam of Excelsis located in the Noble Quarter of the city. Each year there is a single guest lecture given by the Seraphon of Mekitopsar. This year the lecture was about the knowledge of the World-that-was, it’s history, demise and the lessons there are to learn from it. It had been a perfect lecture, according to Tehzal-tak'tak himself, lots of scholars turned up to see and listen to him. At first, seven years ago, he had trouble pronouncing the words of the common language. Moving his mouth in a way unnatural to the lizards. Over the years it got better and this year he managed to stumble over only a handful of words. The delegation left the road and continued their way to the west. The route from Excelsis to Mekitopsar leads them around the western offshoots of the Carcass Donse. The first miles through the Morruk Hills, rolling hills with a vast forest and dense foliage. It always felt a bit like home to roam through this forest, thick and old trees surrounded by lots of vibrant vegetation. Tehzal-tak'tak led the delegation walking beside the Skink Alpha Oxzalno'huain, discussing the lecture and the response given by the scholars. Suddenly Tehzal-tak'tak stopped in his tracks pointing his snout in the air and slowly moving his head from left to right and back again. Oxzalno'huain quickly scanned the surroundings with his javelin and shield at the ready. The other skinks formed a semicircle with their backs towards their leaders, all on high alert. ‘What do your senses detect, Tehzal?’ chirped Oxzalno’huain without taking his eyes off the vegetation nearby. ‘A magical presence.’ replied the Starpriest. ‘Magical good or bad?’ ‘Hard to say. I am inclined to say neither.’ said Tehzal-tak’tak worryingly. ‘Does its magical scent give you a location?’ inquired the Skinks Alpha. ‘Just up ahead to the right of the path, where the vegetation seems to be at its thickest.’ The last words were spoken silently, and he added: ‘Be careful.’ Oxzalno'huain signalled the patrol to face the front and move towards the pointed out location with their weapons and shields at the ready. Slowly they made a semicircle facing inwards, as to box in the target. When approaching the vegetation Oxzalno'huain felt a sudden relieve of gravity as he was lifted in the air without a warning. Looking around he noticed the whole patrol losing connection with the ground beneath their feet. Only Tehzal-tak'tak was still grounded and quickly muttered an incantation and directed an Magic Arrow of flickering light from his hand at the hidden attacker. A low grunt followed and the floating Skinks were victims of gravity once again, hitting the ground with more body parts than their feet. Tehzal-tak'tak stepped forward: 'Show yourself!’ He ordered the aggressor. No reaction came from the vegetation. He waited a couple of seconds before replying again: ‘Come out and show yourself. No harm will befall you.’ ‘How do I know you're telling the truth?’ rang a voice in his head. It was a low croaking voice. Not a voice he remembered, but it had a recognisable feel to it. ‘I swear by Chotec in the sky that we will not actively harm you.’ replied Tehzal-tak'tak. To the Skinks around him he follows up with: ‘Hold back, stand down. Do not attack and do not threaten the Stranger.’ After a couple of tension filled and long lasting seconds the greenery started shifting and branches snapped. All of them held their breaths in anticipation of what was to appear. To everyone's surprise a Skink sized toad appeared from the vegetation, floating a few inches above the ground. Tehzal-tak'tak audibly gasped for air. This wasn’t just a toad, this had to be a Slann. But how was that possible? No new Slann had been spawned since the Old Ones had left the World-that-was to its fate. Let alone after its destruction. Baffled by this appearance the Starpriest was lost for words. Oxzalno'huain on the contrary was quick to respond: ‘Who are you? How did you get here? And what are you doing here?’ The toad turned effortlessly in midair facing the Skink Alpha but talking to all Skinks present: ‘My name is Xuaxamul. All I know is meditation and something pulled me out of it. And there I was near a small lake in these woods.’ Tehzal-tak'tak overcame his initial shock and set for action. ‘Come with us to the city of Mekitopsar, we are on our way back there at this moment. We will have to travel some distance, our own Slann, Lord A’oxatl, will be very interested to meet you.’ Xuaxamul contemplated the possibility in silence and searched the mind of the Skinks priest for his intentions. Pleased with his findings he accepted the request and joined the delegation on their way to Mekitopsar. Their path took them from the Morruk Hills over the Breakface Mawpath and across the Nautil Peaks. During their travels Xuaxamul and Tehzal-tak'tak had many conversations about Mekitopsar, the city itself, its history, the culture and the Seraphon inhabitants. They talked at length about the Slann, their origins and their conclave of Starmasters. ‘They are very powerful beings, calling upon the heavens for reinforcements or even meteor storms.’ Xauxamul’s interest was caught: ‘Is it possible to learn those powers?’ ‘Not from a Starpriest.’ replied Tehzal-tak’tak chuckling. The only inconvenience during their travels was a small clan of Orruks that tried to smash them when they traversed the Breakface Mawpath. Tehzal-tak'tak had cast a spell of protection around the delegation, but quickly felt a more powerful Arcane Shield on top of his spell. He looked at Xuaxamul and the Slann’s eyes pulsed with a green hue. The Orruks had tried to break through the barrier, but couldn’t and in realizing that had abandoned their attempts. The small delegation arrived at the Northeastern gate of Mekitopsar. At first it was a normal sight; a group of Skinks passing through the gate into the city proper. Most of the surrounding Skinks, Sauri and Kroxigors didn’t give them much attention, but the ones that did stopped what they were doing and gazed at them, turning their heads to see and following them until a wall, building or trees made them disappear from sight. Oxzalno'huain knew it wasn’t for the delegation in particular, but that one member they had picked up on their way home. He felt a bit uncomfortable with the attention that they drew and wasn't sure what to do with it. Luckily for him they quickly arrived at their destination: the main ziggurat. Normally they would return to one of the lesser ziggurats to debrief to one of the higher ranked Starpriests and rarely to one of the Starseers, but never before directly to the main ziggurat Tehzal-tak'tak led the delegation up the first set of stairs, across a platform and to a door. There they were met by a couple of Saurus Guards. ‘What brings you here to contact the Lord Starmaster A’oxatl?’ ‘Please Xenal-kekuil,’ said the Skinkpriest while bowing his head slightly, ‘ I know I do not have the permission to directly contact our Slann Lord, but in this instance this is the only way I see fit.’ With these last words he stepped aside, the other Skinks followed his example to reveal the new Slann to the Guards. Upon seeing Xuaxamul the Guards seemed to react even more stoïc than normal. No training or protocol had them prepare for this situation. Seeing no solution other than the one the Skinkpriest explained they looked at eachother and turned to the doors. With a rumble and the creaking of stone grinding over stone the doors moved open inwards. Xenal-kekuil motioned the delegation inside and led them through the dim lit hallway before them. The other Saurus Guard watched them move along in disbelief before retacking his post beside the door. Xuaxamul noticed the contrast of the inner walls to the outside. The outer doors consisted of plain sand colored stone in line with the ziggurat. The walls on the inside were of a darker stone and harboring a slight glow, obsidian like. Occasionally parts of the walls depicted scenes of lizardmen doing heroic deeds or floating entities with glowing hands making precise gestures. Xenal-kekuil brought them around a few corners through different hallways to a second set of doors. Again two Saurus Guards stood beside the doors. With just a few words and mostly head and hand signals they communicated. During it the two Guards occasionally looked at the Slann in the group and back to Xenal-kekuil. It looked like a wave of enthusiasm rolled over the Guards and they quickly, but carefully, opened the doors to the chamber. Xenal-kekuil gestured to the group to wait a moment as the Guards entered through the doors. A few seconds later he returned: ‘Come further, Lord A’oxatl is ready to see you.’ The chamber was just as low lit as the hallways, but there were no torches on the walls. The only light came from a square hole in the roof of the chamber. Redirected sunlight came through a shaft in the upper ziggurat and bounced off an angled piece of wall into the chamber. Xuaxamul noticed four of those square holes in every quarter of the chamber. In the middle of the back wall there floated a stone seat with on it a bulbous frog like himself, although definitely older. He felt his prying eyes fixated on him. ‘Welcome to Mekitopsar, Slannling!’ sounded a voice in his head. Xuaxamul stared back at the Slann upon his throne and replied: ‘Thank you for your hospitality.’ Without waiting for Xauxamul to finish the Slann Lord continued: ‘It is highly unusual to see a Slannling. This hasn’t happened in even multiple lifetimes of many Seraphon apart from some Slann.’ Xauxamul looked at Lord A’oxatl as it looked like he took a breath. ‘Your arrival has filled me with concern and uncertainty. I have called for the Council of Starmasters to gather and decide what to do. Take a seat!’ At the exact moment Xuaxamul heard the last words a stone plinth in the corner of the room shivered and started floating over to him. He accepted the gift by taking place on it. Until this moment the Skinks and Saurus Guards had been standing silent in the room looking back and forth between the Slann. Nobody dared to speak or move although none of them heard or saw them speaking with each other. Lord A’oxatl turned towards the group and spoke to them: ‘The Council will be in session, please leave the room and close the doors behind you.’ They, albeit with regret, did as they were told. As the doors closed Lord A’oxatl stretched his hand out above Xuaxamul as they both closed their eyes and transported their minds to Azyr, the Realm of Heavens. In one of the golden halls of Sigmar nine thrones stand firm in a circle. On each of them a ghostly image of a Slann has taken place. ‘We are gathered here to address the matter of the Slannling Xauxamul.’ Opened Starmaster Garqimatzli the Council: ‘A’oxatl, tell us more!’ ‘Let the Slannling speak for itself, he is here with us.’ Garqimatzli gestured Xauxamul to the middle of the circle. Once in the center of the attention he spun around slowly to look at all of the present Slann. ‘My name is Xauxamul, I originate from the pool on the Morruk Hills. I have been there for some time contemplating on my existence and the going on's in the surrounding area. I discovered the ignorant humans and the fearless Orruks whose stubbornness and recklessness seems to further stain the lands…’ Starmaster Xruzi’o-Ila interrupted agitated: ‘Slannling! You are to remember, you are on this Council, but we will not grant you the rank of Starmaster.’ ‘I will stop you right there!’ Sounded the voice of Garqimatzli so loud that the room itself rang for a couple of seconds afterwards. ‘We are to follow the Great Plan.’ he continued on a softer note, ‘No matter what happens around us. We will have to determine what your role is in furthering the completion of the Great Plan.’ Grrr, Imrahil >>Back to Index<<
Word from the author: From the moment that the Theme was picked I brainstormed about the Slann Starmasters and every time it came back to the MASTER part and the fact that they together form a council. The parallel to the jedi from Star Wars was made immediately. Then the plot had to come together. I really wanted the quote "you are on the Council, but we will not grant you the rank of master" incorporated in the story. To get a decent plot I had to start all the way from the moment the Slannling was found. This made the story pretty long and resulted in yet another epilog story in stead of a fully closed story. I do like how it turned out in the end and hope more people will read it in time. Grrr, !mrahil
words from others: Thanks for your review. I love your take of the story. I do agree that the background of the Slannling feels a little quick and dirty. Rereading my story after your comment made me realize that It is not right-out said, but the adventures are happening in the Realm of Ghur but Hysh is spreading it's light on the over there. I wonder if you noticed the reworked quotes of Star Wars? Thanks for you review. I might have stepped to easily over the fact what it would mean if a New Slann emerges. The introduction vs full story thing is something I really have to work on. Grrr, !mrahil
Off the top of my head, I definitely caught the "you are on the council but we do not grant you the rank" quote. I may have caught others, but my brain is a sieve and I cannot recall all my thoughts when reading it the first time. Likewise. Most of the time, I create a short story that is more of "an idea that can potentially be expanded at a later date" than a standalone. I struggle with confining a full story to 2000 words.