Adair Posted April 5, 2015 Posted April 5, 2015 The sun cast thick blankets of heat down toward the shimmering surface of the swamps at the southern-most tips of the Delta near Ras-El-Akhen. Only occasional breaths of wind came from the sea, and those didn't help much as far as the temperature was concerned. But the heat didn't bother Agel. Agel stared out over the expanse of swamp-land, his eye-lids drooping to the point of where they would appear shut to any casual observer. But they were not shut. Even in this state of restfulness Agel was as alert as if he were in a private audience with the First Centurion himself. Not that he would ever get near the First Centurion, or want to. He was a Leander from mainland Ulandus. He had grown up using the name of the First Centurion synonymously with the words Tyrant, and Oppressor. Everyone in his little village knew that those of their kind who “Visited the First Centurion” never returned, not that they could do much about it. Yet the rural Leanders never spoke his name without including the traditional spit. “They come.” Agel turned to see his mentor and main companion, Dijhar, standing a short ways off, his small recurve bow and one arrow in hand. Agel nodded and returned to surveying the landscape. They still had a few minutes, Dijhar always gave several minutes warning. It was Dijhar who had originally recruited Agel to join the High Council Guerrillas, all that time ago. When Agel's father was “hired” by a rich Ulandan Merchant, his mother feared the same would happen to him, so everyone was relieved when a distant uncle of his mother's stopped by and volunteered to take care of the lad. This “taking care of”, as Agel soon found out, involved a large amount of Guerrilla warfare, something the Leanders were expert at. Not that he minded much. A familiar squishing sound reached Agel's ears, from somewhere behind. Humans. Agel turned to see the bottom half of a Ulandan soldier passing on the other half of the stone pillar he was leaning against, their boots making the squelching sound made by humans unaccustomed to the to the mosses of the swamp-lands. One of them began to speak. “Darinthus, why is it that whenever I ask you a direct question you act as if you didn't hear? Is acting spiteful the best thing you can do with your time?” There were two of them. The one with a goatee was the one who spoke. Agel watched with interest as they continued. “Hmm?” The other, Darinthus, glanced up from whatever it was he was studying on the ground. “See!” The goatee man said, clearly annoyed. “You are illustrating my point exactly!” “What point?” Darinthus looked quite confused, as befitted the strangely shaped head that each of his kind seemed to like. “IN THE NAME OF ALL THE GODS!!!!!!” There was a splash as Darinthus stumbling in surprise, tripped over a vine, and fell into a small pool, barely as wide as him, yet deep enough for him to sink up to his waste. The goatee man threw up his hands in exasperation. “Of all clumsy fools in the word, you are the worst Darinthus!” Darinthus climbed up out of the sinkhole, his face showing his anger. “Well if ye hadn't hollered at me like ye did I wouldn't have felled in!” “Excuses, excuses. I'm tired of your constant excuses!” The goatee man waved off his companion's replies as if they were flies. A signal from Dijhar caught Agel's attention. The time had come. Sneaking forward, Agel readied his thick, short blade. He paused behind a small chunk of stone, the last cover between him and Ulandans, glancing back at Dijhar. The old cat nodded. Agel turned back and took a deep breath. With a single bound Agel leaped over the stone, uttering an earsplitting yowl, the trademark call of the Leander Guerrillas. The two Ulanders spun around, surprise written all over their faces, and brought their spears up to bear. Behind him Agel could hear Dijhar making enough racket to be mistaken for at least a dozen Guerrillas. The first Ulandan, Darinthus, made a clumsy thrust at Agel's neck. Agel easily sidestepped the spear and sliced at the man's torso, his well-sharpened blade sliding into a crack between two parts of the Ulandan's armor, and sinking into his side. The man doubled over in pain, whether real or imaginary, only to be pierced through the neck by one of Dijhar's arrows. Agel spun, just in time to dodge a thrust from the other Ulandan, bringing his blade down on the Ulandan's neck. The man crumpled, proof that Agel had hit his spine, just as Dijhar emerged from behind the stone block to dispatch of the Ulandan he had already taken down with his arrow. Agel delivered the death-blow and stood, panting, over his kill. Turning toward Dijhar, Agel prepared himself for the regular lecture that always accompanied their exploits, whether they be the killing of Ulandans, or the starting of a fire. Dijhar stared thoughtfully at the slain man lying next to Agel, his kill. “That one almost made a corpse of you. If you hadn't turned you back to him, you could have kept an eye on him, anticipate him. That yell also alerted them a second or two earlier then necessary. A few seconds can often mean the distance between life and death.” Agel nodded mutely, letting the words pass over his head. Dijhar abruptly turned and started back toward their campsite. Agel had to hurry to catch up with the older cat's fast lope. They remained silent as they traversed the swamplands, their current home. Agel allowed his mind to wander, let it bring his mind to memories of the past, and thoughts of the future. 'I wonder when we'll leave this God-forsaken marshland? Probably not until every single Ulander is annihilated, then we'll do the same somewhere else until we both make some fatal mistake... Yep. That's our life.' The build. So I'll just say it now, just in case your wondering, this build did eat up pretty much every single olive piece I own. All of my Olive. (Sorry, had to pull that one). Anywho, I hope you enjoyed the story, despite it's apparent complete lack of characterization. Just another character to use for different warzones. If I win, then I would like to have square D3 as the next warzone. Soli Deo Gloria & Sola Gracia! I would like to claim UoP credit for: Trees: my third technique. Geography: swamps. Quote
Adair Posted April 5, 2015 Author Posted April 5, 2015 This is a very nice build, Adair! Thank you! Quote
LordDan Posted April 5, 2015 Posted April 5, 2015 Fantastic build! The angled ruins and the olive green landscape look very nice! Quote
Robin Creations Posted April 5, 2015 Posted April 5, 2015 Great build! The sacrifice of olive was well worth it Quote
LittleJohn Posted April 5, 2015 Posted April 5, 2015 Excellent entry! I really like the base, as well as the tree things Quote
Lord Vladivus Posted April 5, 2015 Posted April 5, 2015 Damn, great build, and fantastic story! Quote
Adair Posted April 5, 2015 Author Posted April 5, 2015 Fantastic build! The angled ruins and the olive green landscape look very nice! UoP DoH +1 op both claims. Great build! The sacrifice of olive was well worth it Excellent entry! I really like the base, as well as the tree things Nice build again ^^ Damn, great build, and fantastic story! Thanks everyone! Quote
Kai NRG Posted April 6, 2015 Posted April 6, 2015 Some great landscaping here! Your irregular borders are very nice too! +1 UoP! Quote
Adair Posted April 6, 2015 Author Posted April 6, 2015 Some great landscaping here! Your irregular borders are very nice too! +1 UoP! Thank you! I'm quite taken up with that style right now... Quote
soccerkid6 Posted April 7, 2015 Posted April 7, 2015 You really nailed the swampy look here Great use of color and texture Quote
Jacob Nion Posted April 7, 2015 Posted April 7, 2015 Wonderful scene! The colour combination is great, also the figs. And the swqmps work perfect. Not to forget the base. Quote
Adair Posted April 8, 2015 Author Posted April 8, 2015 You really nailed the swampy look here Great use of color and texture Thanks! Wonderful scene! The colour combination is great, also the figs. And the swqmps work perfect. Not to forget the base. Thank you! I actually got the second Elrond body as part of my MELO Prize so... Quote
Yzalirk Posted April 8, 2015 Posted April 8, 2015 Nice build and I like the SNOT water! The posing is also very nice to and the story compliments is well. Quote
Adair Posted April 8, 2015 Author Posted April 8, 2015 Nice build and I like the SNOT water! The posing is also very nice to and the story compliments is well. Thank you! I used up every single sand green piece I own on that water, so thank you! Quote
Gunman Posted April 8, 2015 Posted April 8, 2015 Beautiful colors and sjot water mate... looks great! Quote
Adair Posted April 8, 2015 Author Posted April 8, 2015 Beautiful colors and sjot water mate... looks great! Thanks! Quote
Gideon Posted April 8, 2015 Posted April 8, 2015 Lovely build, nice figs and great photography! UoP +1. Quote
Adair Posted April 8, 2015 Author Posted April 8, 2015 Lovely build, nice figs and great photography! UoP +1. Thank you! The photography is mostly do to expensive camera I borrowed... I'm going to use that one from now on. Quote
MassEditor Posted April 9, 2015 Posted April 9, 2015 Fantastic swamp-scaping, the trees and smaller vegetation look great, as does the SNOT water. The ruined stone pillars are a wonderful touch as well. Great job on the photography as well! Quote
Adair Posted April 9, 2015 Author Posted April 9, 2015 Fantastic swamp-scaping, the trees and smaller vegetation look great, as does the SNOT water. The ruined stone pillars are a wonderful touch as well. Great job on the photography as well! Thank you! The sacrifice of size is quite worthwhile at times. Quote
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