RolePlay onLine RPoL Logo

, welcome to Fading Suns: A Futuristic Passion Play

04:51, 19th March 2024 (GMT+0)

A Lonely Penance: The Oral History of Warrior Shikaalgargund.

Posted by GamemasterFor group 0
Gamemaster
GM, 45 posts
Mon 9 Jul 2012
at 04:02
  • msg #1

A Lonely Penance: The Oral History of Warrior Shikaalgargund

(OOC: This thread is for Shikaalgargund's narratives.)
Sergeant Shikaalgargund
player, 25 posts
Fri 13 Jul 2012
at 12:15
  • msg #2

Re: A Lonely Penance: The Oral History of Warrior Shikaalgargund

The night before his kabajal, Shikaalgargund dreamed of what it would be like to run away into the jungles and join one of the feral tribes. His heart raced as his swaba crept through the tangled trees and underbrush, stalking and being stalked by the vicious beasts that shared Ungavorox with his people, fighting for his life with his deadly poisoned claws.

He woke up and his skin prickled with shame. Father Caliban's sermons on civilized behavior echoed in his skull as he looked down at his great paws, seeing the immature poison sacs at the base of each of the short but sharp claws. "What must the Pancreator think of me?" he asked himself. To run off and join the Ferals would be to give up his only chance at having a soul, and the Pancreator's light would be forever denied to him.

He scrambled up from his sleeping mat and brushed his fur out straight before heading out to take part in his special day.

The rite was attended by three witnesses: his father, his human tutor, and Father Caliban. It started with a grueling, hour long raking over the coals by his tutor as Shik was asked to recite various things that he had learned in his short life. Then, Father Caliban made him recite what felt like the entire Catechism. Shik stood proudly as the three witnesses conferred, while inside he quailed. What if he had made too many mistakes? The shame of presenting incorrect information would haunt him his whole life and his father would never speak to him again!

His father turned to him, his face looking like it had been carved from stone. "You have done well, my son. Are you prepared to set your feet forever on the path the Pancreator has decreed for us?"

Shik nodded silently. His father took up the ritual oath-knife, the shik-aal which he was named for, and began removing Shik's claws.




ooc:
kabajal - coming of age, the passage from childhood into adolesence
swaba - "wit" or spirit

This message was last edited by the GM at 01:22, Wed 18 July 2012.
Sergeant Shikaalgargund
player, 26 posts
Fri 13 Jul 2012
at 12:52
  • msg #3

Re: A Lonely Penance: The Oral History of Warrior Shikaalgargund

Another day in the jungles of Ungavorox. Shikaalgargund ran as hard as he could, hearing the pounding steps of his brother, Kagargarshek, catching up behind him. Shik grabbed onto a hanging vine and swung around a tree at full speed. Kagargarshek grunted in surprise as he disappeared from sight for a moment and then grunted again when Shik slammed into him from behind. The two brothers rolled apart and sprang to their feet, each holding a pair of practice glankesh in their top-hands. A stick with a neon yellow flag was clutched in Shik's left low-hand, matching the crimson flag in his brother's left low-hand.

"No point in running now, is there Kagar?"

"Nope, now I am going to take your honor and claim victory."

Howling, the brothers leapt at each other, blades clacking as they struck. Kagargarshek was always superior at Graa, the unarmed arts, but Shik's longer arms and greater skill with the glankesh quickly overwhelmed him. Shik circled his brother, parrying every attack until he saw his opening and executed a textbook-perfect skaz, slapping Kagar's wrist with the flat of one of his glankesh and then sweeping the other in to flip it up and catch it with his free low-hand. Grinning wildly, he began thrashing Kagar with all three blades. A quick leg-sweep brought the bewildered and battered vorox down on his back. Placing a foot on his brother's chest, Shik crossed his blades at Kagargarshek's neck and dropped the extra sword.

"Got you again, brother. Hand over your honor."

With a heaving sigh, Kagargarshek held up the crimson flag. "Tomorrow I have you, Shik. Tomorrow is Graa training."

This message was last edited by the GM at 00:16, Wed 18 July 2012.
Sergeant Shikaalgargund
player, 27 posts
Fri 13 Jul 2012
at 14:57
  • msg #4

Re: A Lonely Penance: The Oral History of Warrior Shikaalgargund

Years later, the brothers had grown into strong and skilled members of the Vorox Commandos. It was the height of the Emperor Wars, and they had been fighting for most of their adult lives. Their angerak was often deployed by the Li Halan as shock troops, striking into the enemy lines from unforeseen angles and sowing death and destruction before disappearing again.

On this day, the commandos had dropped behind enemy lines on Malignatius. The mission was to clear a Decados compound. The angerak split into 6 fire teams, each with a different entry point. Shikaalgargund was distressed that his brother was in a different team, but trusted in the light of the Pancreator that they would meet again after the battle.

He followed his Sergeant to the wall and waited while a satchel charge was set, combat shotgun cradled in his top-hands while his low-hands absently caressed the hilts of his glankesh. When the charge detonated, all hell broke loose and the night sky was lit with tracer rounds. Following the shouted orders of his Sergeant, Shik rushed from cover to cover inside the compound, peppering troops in Decados armor with shot to cover the movements of his team, confident that they would cover him as well. Already, he could feel the bloodlust rising inside him as his heart started thumping in time with the rounds from his automatic shotgun. Time blurred as he fought, mowing down Decados, and when he ran out of ammo, slicing them down like a human peasant harvested a wheat field.

He howled in fury when a bullet caught his leg. Turning to the source of the shot, he found a Decados officer with the telltale haze of an energy shield around him, wildly pumping shots out of a heavy pistol and backing away. Shik leapt down the corridor like a Graa Kaal, tackling the hapless officer and snapping his neck with a sudden wrench. The sounds of combat swelled to a crescendo as a Decados heavy trooper entered the corridor, clad in a suit of exceedingly rare ceramsteel and carrying a massive machine gun. Shik crouched on the body of the dead officer, staring down the barrels and waiting for the trooper to finish him.

Two huge vorox paws wrapped around the trooper's head from behind and jerked it around to face the rear. As the body fell, Shik saw his brother's grinning face and heard him say, "Got your honor, brother."




ooc:
angerak - family or pack

This message was last edited by the GM at 00:02, Wed 18 July 2012.
Sergeant Shikaalgargund
player, 28 posts
Fri 13 Jul 2012
at 15:12
  • msg #5

Re: A Lonely Penance: The Oral History of Warrior Shikaalgargund

As Shikaalgargund finished packing his dufflebag, the newer troops in the angerak wouldn't even look toward him. Shik was and old man to them. A doddering grey-muzzle, hardly worth considering and well in need of retirement. His brother sat on the vorox-sized bunk nearby, starting to go grey himself.

"It is really for the best, Shik," he said quietly. "You know you are starting to slow down, and it is only a matter of time before something kills you. None of us want to see that happen."

Shik nodded, saying nothing. He packed in the last of his clothing and possessions and yanked the pull-cord on the top of the dufflebag tight. Hefting the bag on his shoulder, he turned to his brother and clasped his outstretched hand tight.

"I am not ready to die either, Kagar. I think I will take Father Subai's advice and...tour the Cathedrals for a while."

Kagar nodded slowly, his eyes gleaming with unshed tears. "We will always be your angerak, Shik. Stay in touch."

Shik nodded and left the barracks and headed out into Bao, the capital city of Icon. Civilian clothes felt... odd...after so many years of service. The crowds on the street unconsciously parted around him like water around a rock, leaving a wide bubble of empty space. No one trying to kill him.

How boring.

Shik continued toward the Orthodox Cathedral at a measured pace, as if he was slow marching in a funeral. Once inside, he made his way to the overlarge confessional made for his kind and knelt inside.

"Forgive me father, for I have sinned. It has been two days since my last confession..."

This message was last edited by the GM at 23:55, Tue 17 July 2012.
Sergeant Shikaalgargund
player, 30 posts
Fri 13 Jul 2012
at 16:11
  • msg #6

Re: A Lonely Penance: The Oral History of Warrior Shikaalgargund

It took him a couple years, working off passage costs when he could and tapping into his retirement fund when he couldn't. Kish. Criticorum. Even the Cathedral of St. Maya on Byzantium Secundus. Confession and Penance. Reflection and Regret. No amount of penance and prayer filled the hole in his heart where his angerak lived, or could thrill his swaba like the heat of battle. Every day, he woke up and felt older, and more alone. To live without angerak was to die.

The Emperor Wars raged on. There was fighting to do, but the Commandos would not have him now. He marched slowly down the steps of the Cathedral, heading back to his hostel room. The crowds continued to part around him as they had on every other world; Some in fear, some in disgust. Humans. So civilized. He thought about returning to Ungavorox. He thought about what would have happened if he had run away instead of undertaking his ritual. Too long ago to change, and too old to even be ashamed. He chalked those thoughts up as something else to confess tomorrow, although he got the feeling the priest manning the confessional was getting tired of talking to him.

Turning the corner onto the street containing his hostel, he caught sight of something he had missed on every other trip. A poster, plastered to the wall across the street, nearly twice man-height (still shorter than Shik).

'THE MUSTER NEEDS YOU!' blazed across the top of the poster. Underneath, a valiant soldier of the Muster stood at attention in full combat uniform, holding his assault rifle in the inspection position.

Shik blinked, and slowly started to smile. A young woman saw his face and skittered away from him at a near run.

This message was last edited by the GM at 23:48, Tue 17 July 2012.
Sergeant Shikaalgargund
player, 41 posts
Tue 31 Jul 2012
at 00:45
  • msg #7

Re: A Lonely Penance: The Oral History of Warrior Shikaalgargund


A year passed, and the wars raged on, with Shik once again in the thick of things.  Promotion to Sergeant came almost at the same time as his first deployment with the Muster.

His company was dropped on Midian in support of the Li Halan forces there, battling an incursion by the Decados.  It was odd, fighting again for his old masters, against the same enemy.  Humans had a saying, "War never changes."

Shik snorted at the thought as the hopper shuddered around the company, re-entering the atmosphere.  Vorox had a saying too, "The warrior that always sleeps in the same place is liable to wake up dead."

The hopper "landed" (Shik considered it more of a barely controlled crash), and the door popped open into a raging firefight.  His company commander, fool that he was, stood near the door and exhorted them to charge at the enemy.  The enemy, with more luck than skill, promptly removed the shiny hat from the commander's head... along with the top of his skull.  Shik could smell blood and brains from the back of the pack of raw Muster troops, as well as the stench of fear and loosened bowels (One and the same, he thought.)  More shots peppered the doorway and Shikaalgargund growled deep in his throat.  None of the chidwits were moving!

"GET YOUR ARSES MOVING BEFORE I TEAR CHUNKS OUT OF THEM MYSELF!"  He roared suddenly, breaking the spell cast on the troopers by their commander's death.  As one, they broke for the doorway, more worried about the obviously ravening beast behind them than the Decados snipers out in the field.

Baring his teeth in a deadly grin, Shik jacked the slide on his shotgun and drew his glankesh swords with his low-hands.  Roaring like the Graa Kal he charged out of the hopper behind the rest of the troopers and began cutting a path through the enemy in like a hurricane of death.

By the end of the day, only 4 of the Muster survived, but they were hailed as heroes by the beleaguered Li Halan house soldiers.

Sign In