Gisk

Free Sorcery: An Alagaësian Roleplay

They were joined by the smith's son, who doubtless knew more about the weapon he carried than Alphonse did.

”Alphonse you crazy bard have you no respect for craftsmanship? That blade is long overdue for repairs yet you still won't bring it in!”

"Well sadly everyone in the empire is taking their coin to the local smith for their own swords, and leaving very little for a song. If ever I bring myself to one, I have to shoe my wretched old horse before I can have them look at this sorry blade. The sword keeps me safe, but the horse gets me home."

Of course, Gale invited Demund along.

"Why don't you come with us? We're going to try and get the jump on something furry munching on the still-dewy leaves."

"Does Gren have a sister?" he jested.

Scattered Shades: Arcadia Chronicles

"A logical next step," he said to Onweer at the suggestion that they needed to sort the battle out. He got up as she laid down, but his attention was immediately drawn back to the ATV where Kenny was storming off. He implored them to follow him, but Cecil quietly thought to himself that going back would be just as bad as staying. Possibly worse. It was the very subject they had just decided under the dead tree. Cecil watched him go and went about his task as methodically as he could manage.

"I could drive," he said to Yvette as his looting(there was no other word for it) took him close to the open door of the ATV.

Free Sorcery: An Alagaësian Roleplay

"Small" Alph was only just arriving in town for the first time in months. He hadn't been able to find a place to stop the night before, and was too far to travel the rest of the way in the rain, so he had slept under the cover of trees with his horse hobble nearby with a cloak draped over her. He had woken a few hours before dawn, the rain having stopped, and saddled up to make the rest of the trip. It was midmorning when he made it to town. His first stop was his grandfather's house, walking in like he owned the place after putting his mare up to rest.

"Granddad?" He called into the other rooms, before turning to the stairs that led into the basement where his family brewed their ale. "Auntie?"

It was the old man who came up the stairs, wiping something off his hands on a towel. He was toothless and hairless, but his arms were strong from lifting barrels and casks. "Eeeh, the smaller Alphonse. Though," he stood up straighter to try and get the measure of his grandson, "I'm not sure which of you is the taller after all."

~~~

After changing clothes, and learning that his aunt had married a merchant from a larger town and gone off to live with him, Alphonse stepped back out the door, to see who was still around. He had the same boots(they were his only ones) and they had only dried a little by the fire before he put them back on, but fresh stockings helped. He also still had the battered and chipped sword hung on his belt. He didn't expect to use it, but it made him feel dashing to wear it, whether he'd ever so much as knicked someone with the blade or not.

He found Galen Derricson and Gren the Forest Urchin among a group who were warming after the rains by a large fire. Alph got up behind him and threw his arms around both of their shoulders.

"Gren! Gale! I swear, every time I come back you're more the handsome strapping young man," he turned to Gale, "And you're, uh, more rugged," he turned to Gren, his smile flickering. "So what's going on? Anyone else's family gotten married off?"

Scattered Shades: Arcadia Chronicles

Cecil shook his head. "If he were working with them, he wouldn't have, that is, only if the goal were our deaths, he just stopped fighting. Peace came really easily, and he said from the first he didn't want to hurt us." He threw his hands up. "That doesn't add up from any angle. It was manipulation or coincidence.

Scattered Shades: Arcadia Chronicles

"Why does everyone have to want so much," Cecil lamented wearily. "All of this overreaching is killing people. Sulfrax has his mystery ambitions, CMAS sends us out to die for land, and the Divers come out to keep us from it." He didn't have the energy to bounce from idea to idea anymore, and his speech actually slowed down to that of a more normal person because of it.

"I feel used."

Free Sorcery: An Alagaësian Roleplay

Oh yeah, I read Brisingr years ago, and only recently finished off the series. But Inheritence I did in audiobook, so there's very likely things I just didn't catch when my attention lapsed.

It's also going to be the reason I may misspell some things.

Free Sorcery: An Alagaësian Roleplay

@Forsythe Wow, a lot of people seemed to have used it, kind of weird that it somehow escaped Galbatorix's knowledge, actually.

Free Sorcery: An Alagaësian Roleplay

No, magic controlled by the ancient language didn't work. We now have possibly a small unit of dragons that could still turn him into diamond if he pissed them off enough, and one could still attempt to use spirits, non-verbal manipulation etc. =P

@Forsythe

Yeah, but nonverbal isn't a known form of magic yet. IIRC Eragon discovers it throughout the course of his adventures(which is why Galby didn't know about it before). I suppose we could discover it first, and go about it that way buuuut I've always thought that was a bullshit kind of cop out anyway.

And even if there are ways around it(as there obviously were in the book for Eragon to win, oh, but he didn't even win the fight, he used the power of compassion and shit to make Galbatorix regret his actions), he can still use the name of names to disable our normal magic, and then use his own normal verbal magic to destroy us before we have a chance to use them. He's powerful enough without his god word, including it in forces us to deus ex machina our way to victory. Hell, that's what the author even had to do. He wrote himself into a corner with how unstoppable his villain was. A handful of green riders aren't going to be much more of a threat than a cadre of Elvish sorcerers. Probably less of one, to be honest.

I think the best thing to do is to say that his distraction with our new riders' presence keeps him from his research where he would otherwise eventually discover the name of names.

Free Sorcery: An Alagaësian Roleplay

Hider

Name: Alphonse "Alph" "Small Alph" Alphonson

Gender: Male

Age: 18

Species: Human

Appearance:


Personality: Reckless and restless, quick to action and quick to get back out of trouble. Known to be overly familiar with women(and sometimes men). Equally fast with a joke as with an explanation of why he's in your daughter's bedroom. A teller of stories, he's enamored with chivalry and honor that Riders and knights of old were once known for, as well as their feats of bravery. Though he's never been in a swordfight, he wears a cheap old sword and fancies himself a fighter. He's gotten out of many fights by drawing first and swirling his blade around in flourishes that look impressive to the layman.

History: Alphonse Grimmson was a traveling bard, with parents and a sister living in Mashal. Our hero(or one of them) begins his story when Alphonse the Elder returned with a babe, scarcely older than suckling, claiming him as his natural son. Rather than settling down, Alphonse gave his son his own name and left him with his family. And so it was that Small Alph was raised by his aunt. He spent his younger days in the woods with some of the other children, playing at swords or chasing small animals.

When he was twelve, and on one of the occasions that his father actually stopped by home, he managed to pester him into taking him on as an apprentice. He traveled with his father, learning how to play fiddle and lute and pipes, and how to read and write. On occasions when he'd return to Mashal, he'd find Gale bothering him in much the same way he'd bothered his father.
As he got older, Alph found that he and his father were a little too similar. They would both seek the attention of the girls of a town they visited, despite the difference in their ages. There was a particular girl in Gilead that Small Alph had a great liking for. When Alph the Elder took her to his bed for the night, he woke up to find his son had moved on without him.

Small Alph traveled alone for a time, finding it to be a different sort of challenge. But still, he honed his craft, did what he needed to be safe on the roads, and made what coin he could. Most recently, he's found that roads are more often than not unsafe, whether there are hoards of Urgals, or refugees turned bandits. He returned to Mashal, and tried to return to his life with his aunt and grandfather.

Free Sorcery: An Alagaësian Roleplay

Gallywix- I mean Galbatorix- is one badass OP SOB, but even he would be overwhelmed by so many new riders if they're allowed to grow.

@Ceta de Cloyes

Eeeeeeh, not really. Galbatorix was ludicrously OP. Like, actual omnipotent god-tier. With the "name of the ancient language" he could literally stop everyone from doing anything with a word. Magic just plain didn't work if he didn't want it to. I kind of think we should just quietly retcon that out. Make him uber powerful on a more normal level.