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druidx · 8 months

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Heads Up, Seven Up (7 lines), Nine Lines, & Last Line tag games

As might be obvious, I’m really bad at getting around to doing things. I’ve been saving up all my Seven Lines, Nine lines and Last Line tag games because “I’ll get to it someday. Honest!”

I’ve now got so many, I figured out I could just mash them together to help me finish editing Alexis Dalliance vs the Evil of Titan, and call it good.

I took 5 random pages from the work and used a nice online tool to work out that I write an average of 9.8 words per line, which means I need to complete 2,166 words of editing.

Thank you to everyone who’s tagged me in one of these games (it's been so long, probably some of you don't even remember, and some of you no longer seem to exist any more):

@aetherwrites, @alexsidereus x2, @alias-levi, @aquadestinyswriting x4, @artdecosupernova-writing x2, @autumnalwalker x3, @blind-the-winds X3, @chauceryfairytales, @corkythewriteblr, @eli-writes-sometimes x3, @faelanvance x2, @lake-arrius-caverns, @laurabwrites, @mariahwritesstuff, @odysseywritings x2, @oh-no-another-idea x2, @rewrit, @ryns-rambling, @shadowlight-inkedthoughts, @sleepyowlwrites, @spacetimewraithwrites-archive, @strosmkai-rum, @toribookworm22, @tracle0 x2, @viawrites-andacts x2, @whimsyqueen, @winglesswriter, @writingamongther0ses x6, @writingmaidenwarrior, @writingonesdreams, @zmwrites x2, @iparisaltanwing

I ended up writing a little over the target; this is 2500 words.

CW war crimes, slaughter of innocents, a falling Paladin, unusual dialogue marks, swearing

"What do you mean?" Alexis asked after she’d overcome her surprise at seeing the gnome, "How is it sick?" "It’s the lizardfolk who live in the center of the swamp," the gnome said. "They used to live in harmony with the swamp, but recently…" He sighed. "I don’t know what’s wrong. Something’s gotten into them, something evil. They’re destroying vast swathes of the swamp, cutting down trees, burning the brush, befowling the waters." Alexis glanced over at the others. "We might know the reason for this change. The lizardfolk have been drawn into a cult which worships a Demon Prince from the Pit. They must be working on the Demon’s orders." The gnome paled. "Yes. I understand now. I have seen great holes carved in the ground, blocks of stone being dragged to a central site." "They must be constructing a new temple to base their portal on," Richard said. "My friend, we aim to stop these bloodthirsty monsters from bringing the Demon Prince through to this world and destroy the cult." "Stopping the cult will mean the swamp is safe again," Alexis added. The gnome lit up. "Then you have my thanks, Paladin!" "Call me Richard," he said. The gnome shook his hand. "And I am Wurzle Moslicker." "We aim to stop the lizardfolk," Alexis continued after introductions had been made, "but we’ve run into a small snag. The boat we were told was here isn’t, and we cannot cross into the swamp." "Oh!" Wurzle said. "Dear tree-child, you should know there are other ways to cross a watery path." Alexis frowned as Wurzle gave a peculiar call. A cluster of cypress nearby began to shake and shift. Bastet and Richard both reached for their weapons. Alexis gasped as she realised what was happening. "It’s alright!" she cried. "Don’t hurt it!" From the thicket, strode a tree. «You called, Wurzle?» it said, its voice a long and creaking thing. Richard leaned down to Alexis, hissing, "What is that?" "It’s a treent!" she squealed, face filled with wonder. "I’ve heard about them, but never met one before! Galana’s blessed hair, this is amazing!" "Mudwood," Wurzle was saying, "These fine folks need to get across the swamp to the lizardfolk settlement. They’re going to stop them from destroying the swamp." The treent grumbled and harrumphed as it gazed over the group, lingering on Alexis. «This I will do,» it said eventually, «For the presence of the tree-child tells me their intent is true.» "What did it say?" Richard asked. Alexis cocked her head. "You don’t speak sylvan?" "I barely speak elvish," he retorted. "It said it’d take us, but only cuz I’m here." Bastet rolled her eyes. "Of course it did." Alexis bounced on the balls of her feet, wide, pleading eyes focused on Richard. Richard sighed fondly. "Go on, then." Alexis gave a squeal of excitement, racing away. Richard watched her scamper off, springing into the branches of the treent, and scurry up the trunk like a squirrel. "My good sir, is there an easy way up for those of us not inclined to tree-climbing?" Victor asked. Wurzle chuckled. "Yes, of course." He gave another of those strange cries, and Mudwood stooped, holding out a limb for the others to climb on.

For the others, the treent crossing was dull or sickness-inducing, but for Alexis it was heaven. In between scurrying through the branches, relishing the feel of the breeze through her hair and bark under her hands, she pestered Wurzle and Mudwood with questions, some asked by Richard, pressing for more details about the lizardfolk, their numbers and armaments. The morning was wearing on by the time Mudwood dropped them off as close to the lizardfolk settlement as Wurzle would let him. Alexis was the last to dismount, dropping from the lowest branches with a happy sigh. «For you, little one,» Mudwood said, handing Alexis a small wooden pipe, a notch taken from just below a craved mouthpiece. «Blow this when your work is done, I shall return for you. The trees name you ‘friend’. We will pass this by root and leaf. Wherever you are, this whistle will call the nearest treent to your aid.» Alexis stared at the whistle, then hugged the treent. «Thank you for this gift.» "Lex, c’mon." With a final bow to the treent, Alexis took off after her friends.

They trekked through the dense undergrowth of the swamp, hacking at long vines and lush brush, the humidity mingling with sweat making everything uncomfortably damp. As the sun reached its zenith, the lizardfolk’s newly built ziggurat came into view over the tops of the trees. "We’re nearly there," Bastet said, relieved.

They pushed on and soon found their way blocked by a great wall. "Piss and blood," Bastet cursed. Alexis tilted her head back. "I don’t think even I can climb that." "Maybe we can tunnel under it?" Gorgut said, stepping over and using a dagger to dig at the dirt. "We don’t have the equipment," Richard said. "Victor, what about that muddy spell?" "Rock to Mud?" Victor scratched at his chin. "Could work. It depends on how they’ve structured the wall, and if I can get deep enough to find the unworked foundations." "Right. Alexis, you scale that tree to scout the lay of the land. The rest of us will investigate the foundations of the wall. Then we can make a plan of attack for once we’re inside."

Once at the top of the tree, Alexis surveyed the area. Some ways from the base of the ziggurat was the lizardfolk settlement. It looked like a normal village from this high up – low cottages of local foliage gathered around a central open space, one grander than the rest. Drying linens hung from lines on tall poles. Pens of animals and crops surrounded the village. People came and went, carrying pots or pushing hand carts. It could have been any village on the Pagan Plains. It could have been Toreguard. In the time it had taken them to travel down here, the ziggurat had been completed. Despite its apparent completion, people still worked on it, looking like ants scurrying over stone steps, adding carvings and other refinements to the bare faces of the stone. Under an open-sided pagoda at the top, Alexis could just about make out the workings of magic. A structure of bones stood over arcane markings, fires set at junctures of the markings. A priest, delineated by his golden, feathered headband, threw something into the fires occasionally, making them spark and flare unusual colours.

She slid down, relaying this reconnaissance to the others and Richard laid out the plan.

As Victor chanted out his spell, Richard and the others stood back, readying the weapons. Benevelor was summoned from the celestial realm. As the spell took effect, the wall wobbled and crumbled, the mortar loosening. "It’s now or never!" Victor cried, hurrying back to join the others. "Benevelor," Richard commanded, "kick it down." The holy oxen took up position and lashed out with its hind legs. The crumbling blocks shook and with a thundering crash toppled inwards, landing into the mire below. Richard raced forward, leaping onto his mount’s back. "Charge!" he yelled, as the pair of them vanished over the rubble, Gorgut and Victor following close behind. Alexis looked at Bastet. "Ready?" "Give them a few moments more to really grab the attention," Bastet replied. Alexis grunted in reply, finding the bush at her feet of vast interest. Bastet sniffed, looking up at the broken corner of the wall. After a moment, she said, "We’re both professionals." "That we are." "So are we-?" "Absolutely fucking not." "Right." Distantly the sounds of battle reached them. "Sounds like our cue." "Yep." With that, Alexis led the way over the rubble and toward their objective: the temple.

While the menfolk battled with the temple masons and the warriors who protected them, Alexis and Bastet crept behind enemy lines and up the ziggurat. As they approached, the scent of burning spices grew thicker as perfumed smoke wafted out of the pagoda, followed by an undulating chant. As Alexis and Bastet peeked into the pagoda, they saw the head priest, his headband glinting in the firelight, had been joined by two lesser priests wearing wide golden neckbands embossed with the Eye of Muyrr symbol.

With a signal to Bastet, Alexis fired through the smoke and the portal ring, her bolt driving through the head priest's neck. Bastet leapt from cover, her daggers flashing as she took out one of the lesser priests. As Alexis reloaded, Bastet turned towards the last priest, only to find he had armed himself. He slashed out at Bastet, catching her arm. She cried out, falling back against a pillar. The bolt from Alexis' bow took him between the shoulder blades, and he fell, hitting the steps with a wet crunch. "Thanks," Bastet said as Alexis moved up into the pagoda. "Don't mention it." Alexis glanced around. "You wanna deal with the fires while I deal with the lines? Then we can deal with that," her face scrunched as she waved at the bone structure, "together." With an affirmative grunt, Bastet turned her attention to extinguishing the fires, while Alexis scattered the red and grey powders forming the lines of the summoning circle. On a ceremonial table to one side, she found more of the dust and blocks of perfume on tarnished golden dishes. Collecting the plates together, she took them to the edge of the pagoda. The cloud of powder spread like blood in the air as she tossed the dishes away, down the ziggurat. "Lex," Bastet called, urgency in her voice. Alexis turned back to see Bastet was next to the table she’d found the powders on. "Yes?" Bastet held up parchment scrolls. "Can you read these?" Alexis took one, scanning the strange writing. She shook her head. "This is like no script I’ve ever seen. But these diagrams… they’re the same as the floor markings I destroyed. And this looks like the portal edifice." She held them up for comparison. "This one looks like a map," Bast said, spreading it on the table. It was indeed a map of Titan. Parts of the continents were crosshatched with different patterns, and arrows moved from the south of Allansia up and outward. "I might not know what it says, but this looks alarmingly like troop movements, like the ones Captain Hengar has in his office." She glanced at Bastet. "Whatever it is, it can’t be anything good." "Maybe Vic can read them," Bastet said. She tucked the scrolls away and looked at the mound of bound bones. "Let’s destroy this thing so we can get out of this place." Together they turned to the portal ring, a series of long bones lashed together with twine which stood on a small dais of skulls and pelvises, and began to hack at the binding ropes. When the ring was nothing but a pile, they used the table as a shunt, shoving the bones away to clatter down the sides of the ziggurat. Bastet raised a hand, shielding her eyes. "It looks like the fighting's stopped. They're all clustered near the houses." Alexis listened. A few screams and raised voices carried on the wind, echoing the calling of birds and rush of wind in the trees. "I don't hear any fighting. We should get down there and find out what's happening."

The sun was dipping lower in the sky, the tall trees casting shadows as they drew lower. There was indeed a group of people gathered close to the village. Alexis frowned. No, there were no sounds of fighting. But there was wailing. Sobbing. The high cry of a child. The sounds of terror. Fear gripped Alexis’ heart. She picked up the pace. The people were kneeling. Their hands raised, supplicant. Richard stood before them, sword unsheathed. Victor stood at his side, leaning close. Her feet pounded at the leaf-strewn path. Metal glinted. Pleas became screams. Alexis’ voice joined them. "No!"

By the time she arrived, there was nothing but corpses and blood.

Alexis dropped to her knees, voice rasping. "Richard… What did you do?" His eyes were hard as he turned to her. "What I had to." "But they- They were harmless. " The scene wavered in her gaze. "They were innocents!" "Ah, but there’s no such thing as an innocent lizardman, is there?" Victor said, grinning wickedly. "No. Alexis, you’ve seen for yourself what they’re capable of," Richard said. "They had to die." "There were children!" "Better to stop them now then," Victor said. "Richard… This is wrong. You must see that?" "All I see," Bastet said, coming to a panting halt, "is a hero doing what’s needed to keep our world safe." She waved the scrolls found in the temple. "We found evidence they were going to bring the whole world under their heel." Alexis gaped. "That’s not- We don’t know-!" Richard spat on the corpses. "That sounds like something these filthy rotten snake cultists would do." "Where’s Goregut? He’ll make you see-" "Goregut’s dead." Richard’s voice was hard with the faintest of tremors, his face turned to the jungle. "Stabbed through the back by one of these putrid cunts." He turned to Alexis and swallowed. "I’m sorry. I know you liked him. But now, do you see? They had to pay. They all have to pay!" Alexis’s mouth moved. She clutched a fist over her heart. Bastet crowded in onto Richard’s other side, her eyes alight. "Yes! Yes, you are so brave taking on this burden." "Such a true paladin!" "What can we do to help?" Richard kicked at one of the bodies. "We should move deeper. Take them all out. Stop them for good! Yes," he looked back at the others, "we must keep our people safe. We’ll keep all of Allansia safe forever from this evil!" Alexis pulled herself to her feet. "We can’t!" Richard turned back. The hate in his gaze took her breath away. She swallowed. "We, um, we need more provisions. We don’t have enough. To carry on. We should go back to Toreguard-" "To Port Blacksands!" Bastet crowed. "An excellent idea! We can find men and supplies!" "No… That’s not-" But Bastet and Victor were already guiding Richard back the way they’d come, already discussing what they’d need for such an excursion. Alexis watched them stride past, mouth agape, hands clenched and tears in her eyes. "Alexis. Come on," Richard called back over his shoulder. Mute and staggering, Alexis followed behind.

#writing #oc alexis dalliance #fighting fantasy #titan fighting fantasy #tag game #7 lines #last line game #nine lines nine people #wandering words #richard tetherson #bastet #victor with a monocle #original character #I was rather hoping I wouldn't have to write the war crimes. Fully open to concrit - LMK if this is handled badly #FYI - this is why we have a session 0 in TTRPGs now #this has been in my drafts so long #series ADvEoT #wip 'Young Dagger False Dream'

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