IgnusDei
mmh-hmm good.
Xexhano started a speculation thread on miura's next chapter since it's two months away, speculators are having a bit of fun with it, and so am I.
The pacing here is alittle short, and you won't see any action until maybe part 3 or 4, but stay tuned! i'll try not to dissapoint.
oh, and excuse the typos
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The Battle of Vritannis
a berserk fanfic by Francois Cannels
All of the original characters presented here, as well as the the whole are the property of Kentarou Miura and Young Animals...i think...gonna have to get my facts straight for the the legal message here. Help? anyone? :s
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the little band arrives in vritannis, and There are signs of hecticness and activity at the port. things are calm in the town square, though, and at the Inn (which was rather crowded), the patrons inform Guts and the crew of the current situation:
Vritannis, as just about everyone knows, serves the staging point of the coallition's counterattack. While it is true that and untold amount of troops once set foot in the port town, half of them had been recalled to their ships for deployment at the western coast. The Coallition commanders had left a measly 2000 men and 10 partially crewed ships to defend the town, believing that no significant kushan attack could be mounted against a port city so far away from the nearest kushan presence ...even by sea.
Of course not a few weeks had passed after the coallition forces had left that the kushanis had taken over the coastline of vritannis through some rather mysterious means, adn that a fleet of 140 ships was fast approaching from the northeast.
------
The Inn was pretty much full of people and of the noises you'd find in a fine establishment like the White Mussel, although the usual crowd wasn't all good cheer: Many spoke of the coming invasion, or asked whether or not the horror stories about the kushan treatment of prisoners were true. Others *tried* to make light conversation, talking about the fishes or the weather.
Others just tried to enjoy their drink in (fleeting) peace.
The band was sitting at a large round table just across to from the bar...save for Ishidoro, who was at the bar,fruitlessly pestering the innkeeper a pint of ale. Amongst his colorful attempts at procuring one is trying to convince the barkeep that he was really in his forties, and that he was so short because he was a HALFLING.
After other tries at a mug, Ishidoro finally gave up and could not help himself to ask as to why the mood was somewhat foul. The Innkeeper then lauched himself into a lengthy explanation detailing the state of the kushan invasion, the foundation of the Coallition of Holy Kingdoms, the use of Vritannis as a staging point, and the recent devellopments which included the redeployment of the Great Fleet and the VAST majority of the Coallition troops, and then the sudden appearance of a kushan fleet less than a few hours away.
"They're just over the bloody horizon," said the innkeeper. "And it won't be long until we're under Kushan rule. The women and children will be more or less alright...but the things they do to men..." he shuddered.
"So why doesn't everyone just leave?" asked Ishidoro. "beats being thrown into a ditch full of lamp oil along with a lit match..."
"We WOULD. We'd be damned HAPPY to, in fact! But whatever it is that took out the coast's guard posts and watchtowers is still out there lurking in that unseasonably thick fog. Kushan witchcraft at work, i'll wager."
"Well bollocks!" exclaimed a man nearby, setting his pint down on the bar."I'll take Moira and the kids and we're gonna chance it! I don't care if we meet a thousand Kushan Regulars or the Devil himself!"
"And i would not recommend it." said Serpico, grimly.
"And who in blazes are they?" asked the man to the Innkeeper. "they don't look like they're from around here."
"They're not. They came in town just before the fog came along...looked like they had been to hell and back, too..."
"Did they?" He jokingly asked.
"Why don't you ask them?"
"Alright, i will! Oy there! you, in the green garb!"
"It's a cloak." Serpico answered "and, Yes?"
"Right." he said as he approached the table where the rather odd-looking group sat. Ishidoro abandonned his attempts at getting a pint of ale and rejoined his companions in the impending conversation. "Might if i sit here? the table's big enough..."
Serpico looked around to see if the blacksmith's presence would bother anyone. He looked to his mistress: She was so absorbed with her book that he doubted anyone could register to her sense at the moment...besides little miss Silke, who was constantly explaining something to farneze. Caska, surprisingly, was awfully calm and silent.
No doubt she misses the child, he thought.
The Elves were tucked away in Guts's sack, as to avoid causing a stir (or even a lynching, considering the situation)
Guts was the only one who met serpico's gaze, and he wordlessly told him with a wave of the hand "i don't care".
Serpico then looked at...himself. He had not been in a good mood since the attack at the seaside hut, especially since Guts would have nearly killed them all had Silke not been able to "rescue" him. He figured he could use a little light conversation. Though he wished it was with someone more cultured, everyone had been wary of the group since they had set foot in town, and serpico deduced that, besides Ishidoro, this was the only one he could freely talk to.
"Be my guest, Mr?..."
"Randver. other name's Smith...after the profession. And you are?"
"Serpico V... Valiente." He glanced at Farneze, who was still absorbed in her studies. He had never made a slip like that one, and he wondered of this trek was already taking its toll on his mind. Serpico Vendemion, when did he ever feel like he was ever part of that family, despite that it's head is his very own father?
"a pleasure then." The smithy sat down right next to the green clad swordsman. "Now you said something about how i shouldn't make a run for it? that i should just stay here and wait for that jolly thousand of kooshes to march in here plowing through the defenses and start raping me wife while i roast?"
"Well, um, I..." Serpico was obviously quite uncomfortable: the conversation had not turned out the way he had hoped.
Randver's countenance softened a bit, but remained strong and stern:
"Oh no no no i don't mean to start nothin' with ye, good sir! I do, however, wish to know WHY would you think it not a good idea for *any* of us to make a bid for salvation?"
Serpico's expression remained somewhat nervous...Of course, this was a practiced apologetic appearance of meekness he had picked up living in high society: After so many duels, Serpico quickly realized that people, not just nobles, were often quick to anger. defying them only infuriated them further. "Submitting" often got him out of trouble...except of course when farneze honor was injured.
Inside, Serpico was quite unimpressed by the harsh-looking blacksmith. Nice try, he thought, but i've just seen worse. Nevertheless, he saw no reason to deny the man some answers.
"Well, s-sir...i am afraid that our good innkeeper's hunch was, hum...correct. As you know, we WERE out there, and we did come across..."
He paused. Still no reaction to be had from the rest of the group, save maybe for Ishidoro, who was listening in. He then thought best not tobe too descriptive justyet.
"...Kushan witchcraft at work."
"Witchcraft, eh?" Randver took a sip from his pint, and set it down. "What kind of witchcraft? elves? gnomes? the bloody MIST? i don't put much stock in those things: i'm a church going man, see?" He produced a small bird-and-whirlwind necklace from his shirt, and held it up if front of him. Guts silently chuckled at this, but randver continued: "Elves, don't exist, and witches are jsut a bunch of dafty old crones looking for attention! So be straight with me, SIR, and answer me this without trying to sound bloody interesting with tall tales taken from bedtime stories : when you were out there, have you seen any Kushan soldiers marching about?"
"Well, no, but..."
"Then i that's all i need to hear." He got up, preparing to leave.
Serpico looked worried. And he WAS most honestly worried: here was a good man trying to save his family from the horrors of kushan occupation, and in doing so would put his kin through the terrors of being slaughtered by kushani Werecrocodiles. He had to be convinced that he was making a mistake. He had to be stopped.
"Sir, please, there may be-"
"To hell with your recommendations, you heathen, fabling girlie-man! By midday Me, Moira and the boys will have packed up and headed out for safety." Randver then raised his voice for all to hear. "And the rest fo you sods can patiently wait here hoping that the Coalliiton leftovers and the Volunteers will save your worthless hides!"
The smithy was just about ready to leave when he suddenly heard someone yell " MIRACLE BALL!" and something large, heavy and...leathery hit him squarely on the face. Randver fell on his backside, Once he had recovered from his daze, he took a good long look at what hit him: it was a cone-shaped piece of meat, wrapped in a dark green leather...it took him a bit to fully realize that it was piece of an animal...some big lizard, he could guess as much.
"Kooshie regulars?" said Ishidoro. "Nope. but Croc-men and giant sea-elephants? Old man, you'll find those aplenty out there!"
Ishidoro jumped on the bar, took a deep breath and...
"Listen up, you! You got nothing but witch-beasts hiding in the fog out there, so yeah, staying here IS a good idea!"
Serpico took another look around the table: Silke and Farneze were now paying full attention to their surroundings. The little witch stared at the brazen young boy as if ready to kill him, while her apprentice looked VERY worried that things would escalate into a brawl. Caska was no longer morose...Quite natural, since she always cheered up whenever Ishidoro... acts like himself. Guts just took another sip of his drink. The elves were still hidden in the sack, but were peeking through to see what was going on: hey were jsut waiting for them to make an entrance in this whole piece of theater.
Another deep breath:
"on the other hand, you got more than 6000 kushan troops on their way by sea, with only 2000 men and 10 moldy ships to defend against them...So you're all pretty much fucked!"
Ishidoro now had everyone's attention, and had a quite a few angry shouts and venomous stares aimed at him. But he carried on, with his fist held up high:
"But never fear, for the INVINCIBLE BAND OF..." he thought about it a moment. "...THE BLACK BEAST IS HERE! AND NO ONE CAN STAND IN OUR WAY!"
And then came the laughter. not so surprising: there the crowd had a short lad of some 13 years of age claiming that his band of six (not counting the elves) could take on a whole army of the most frighteningly efficient killers this continent had ever known, AND an army of ungodly creatures to boot. Serpico was relieved: once the laughter subsided, this mess would be over, and they could proceed to rest in their chambers.
The innkeeper, still laughing a bit, decided he wanted Ishidoro's feet off his bar, and tried to get him down.
"Now lad, come on down! I gotta thank you for the mirth, but you're dirtying me bar! Come down! i'll even give you a mug of ale, so..." he reached to grab the odd boy, but he suddenly saw a glow of orange and red sweep past his face. he then smelled smoke, and felt a slight burning sensation just about his upper lip: his mustache was on fire:
"Oh bloddy hell!" he screamed, tapping at his face to put the little flames out.
Ishidoro probably never looked so serious before, and Serpico, for a moment, was quite impressed: the boy had attained
a slightly better level of control over his enchanted weapon, and had just silenced the crowd around him. one thing you can say about Ishidoro, serpico thought, is that he never likes to be taken lightly.
Ishidoro spoke again:
"THIS IS LUCIOLE! MY FLAMING SWORD! AND WITH IT, I'M GONNA MAKE THE KUSHAN PAY FOR THEIR FLAMING PITS! I'M GONNA MAKE THEM PAY FOR MY...i'M GONNA MAKE THEM PAY!!!!"
Silence. moments lter, more silence, until someone cheered.
And then, they all cheered.
END OF PART 1
The pacing here is alittle short, and you won't see any action until maybe part 3 or 4, but stay tuned! i'll try not to dissapoint.
oh, and excuse the typos
---------------------------------------
The Battle of Vritannis
a berserk fanfic by Francois Cannels
All of the original characters presented here, as well as the the whole are the property of Kentarou Miura and Young Animals...i think...gonna have to get my facts straight for the the legal message here. Help? anyone? :s
---------------------------------------
the little band arrives in vritannis, and There are signs of hecticness and activity at the port. things are calm in the town square, though, and at the Inn (which was rather crowded), the patrons inform Guts and the crew of the current situation:
Vritannis, as just about everyone knows, serves the staging point of the coallition's counterattack. While it is true that and untold amount of troops once set foot in the port town, half of them had been recalled to their ships for deployment at the western coast. The Coallition commanders had left a measly 2000 men and 10 partially crewed ships to defend the town, believing that no significant kushan attack could be mounted against a port city so far away from the nearest kushan presence ...even by sea.
Of course not a few weeks had passed after the coallition forces had left that the kushanis had taken over the coastline of vritannis through some rather mysterious means, adn that a fleet of 140 ships was fast approaching from the northeast.
------
The Inn was pretty much full of people and of the noises you'd find in a fine establishment like the White Mussel, although the usual crowd wasn't all good cheer: Many spoke of the coming invasion, or asked whether or not the horror stories about the kushan treatment of prisoners were true. Others *tried* to make light conversation, talking about the fishes or the weather.
Others just tried to enjoy their drink in (fleeting) peace.
The band was sitting at a large round table just across to from the bar...save for Ishidoro, who was at the bar,fruitlessly pestering the innkeeper a pint of ale. Amongst his colorful attempts at procuring one is trying to convince the barkeep that he was really in his forties, and that he was so short because he was a HALFLING.
After other tries at a mug, Ishidoro finally gave up and could not help himself to ask as to why the mood was somewhat foul. The Innkeeper then lauched himself into a lengthy explanation detailing the state of the kushan invasion, the foundation of the Coallition of Holy Kingdoms, the use of Vritannis as a staging point, and the recent devellopments which included the redeployment of the Great Fleet and the VAST majority of the Coallition troops, and then the sudden appearance of a kushan fleet less than a few hours away.
"They're just over the bloody horizon," said the innkeeper. "And it won't be long until we're under Kushan rule. The women and children will be more or less alright...but the things they do to men..." he shuddered.
"So why doesn't everyone just leave?" asked Ishidoro. "beats being thrown into a ditch full of lamp oil along with a lit match..."
"We WOULD. We'd be damned HAPPY to, in fact! But whatever it is that took out the coast's guard posts and watchtowers is still out there lurking in that unseasonably thick fog. Kushan witchcraft at work, i'll wager."
"Well bollocks!" exclaimed a man nearby, setting his pint down on the bar."I'll take Moira and the kids and we're gonna chance it! I don't care if we meet a thousand Kushan Regulars or the Devil himself!"
"And i would not recommend it." said Serpico, grimly.
"And who in blazes are they?" asked the man to the Innkeeper. "they don't look like they're from around here."
"They're not. They came in town just before the fog came along...looked like they had been to hell and back, too..."
"Did they?" He jokingly asked.
"Why don't you ask them?"
"Alright, i will! Oy there! you, in the green garb!"
"It's a cloak." Serpico answered "and, Yes?"
"Right." he said as he approached the table where the rather odd-looking group sat. Ishidoro abandonned his attempts at getting a pint of ale and rejoined his companions in the impending conversation. "Might if i sit here? the table's big enough..."
Serpico looked around to see if the blacksmith's presence would bother anyone. He looked to his mistress: She was so absorbed with her book that he doubted anyone could register to her sense at the moment...besides little miss Silke, who was constantly explaining something to farneze. Caska, surprisingly, was awfully calm and silent.
No doubt she misses the child, he thought.
The Elves were tucked away in Guts's sack, as to avoid causing a stir (or even a lynching, considering the situation)
Guts was the only one who met serpico's gaze, and he wordlessly told him with a wave of the hand "i don't care".
Serpico then looked at...himself. He had not been in a good mood since the attack at the seaside hut, especially since Guts would have nearly killed them all had Silke not been able to "rescue" him. He figured he could use a little light conversation. Though he wished it was with someone more cultured, everyone had been wary of the group since they had set foot in town, and serpico deduced that, besides Ishidoro, this was the only one he could freely talk to.
"Be my guest, Mr?..."
"Randver. other name's Smith...after the profession. And you are?"
"Serpico V... Valiente." He glanced at Farneze, who was still absorbed in her studies. He had never made a slip like that one, and he wondered of this trek was already taking its toll on his mind. Serpico Vendemion, when did he ever feel like he was ever part of that family, despite that it's head is his very own father?
"a pleasure then." The smithy sat down right next to the green clad swordsman. "Now you said something about how i shouldn't make a run for it? that i should just stay here and wait for that jolly thousand of kooshes to march in here plowing through the defenses and start raping me wife while i roast?"
"Well, um, I..." Serpico was obviously quite uncomfortable: the conversation had not turned out the way he had hoped.
Randver's countenance softened a bit, but remained strong and stern:
"Oh no no no i don't mean to start nothin' with ye, good sir! I do, however, wish to know WHY would you think it not a good idea for *any* of us to make a bid for salvation?"
Serpico's expression remained somewhat nervous...Of course, this was a practiced apologetic appearance of meekness he had picked up living in high society: After so many duels, Serpico quickly realized that people, not just nobles, were often quick to anger. defying them only infuriated them further. "Submitting" often got him out of trouble...except of course when farneze honor was injured.
Inside, Serpico was quite unimpressed by the harsh-looking blacksmith. Nice try, he thought, but i've just seen worse. Nevertheless, he saw no reason to deny the man some answers.
"Well, s-sir...i am afraid that our good innkeeper's hunch was, hum...correct. As you know, we WERE out there, and we did come across..."
He paused. Still no reaction to be had from the rest of the group, save maybe for Ishidoro, who was listening in. He then thought best not tobe too descriptive justyet.
"...Kushan witchcraft at work."
"Witchcraft, eh?" Randver took a sip from his pint, and set it down. "What kind of witchcraft? elves? gnomes? the bloody MIST? i don't put much stock in those things: i'm a church going man, see?" He produced a small bird-and-whirlwind necklace from his shirt, and held it up if front of him. Guts silently chuckled at this, but randver continued: "Elves, don't exist, and witches are jsut a bunch of dafty old crones looking for attention! So be straight with me, SIR, and answer me this without trying to sound bloody interesting with tall tales taken from bedtime stories : when you were out there, have you seen any Kushan soldiers marching about?"
"Well, no, but..."
"Then i that's all i need to hear." He got up, preparing to leave.
Serpico looked worried. And he WAS most honestly worried: here was a good man trying to save his family from the horrors of kushan occupation, and in doing so would put his kin through the terrors of being slaughtered by kushani Werecrocodiles. He had to be convinced that he was making a mistake. He had to be stopped.
"Sir, please, there may be-"
"To hell with your recommendations, you heathen, fabling girlie-man! By midday Me, Moira and the boys will have packed up and headed out for safety." Randver then raised his voice for all to hear. "And the rest fo you sods can patiently wait here hoping that the Coalliiton leftovers and the Volunteers will save your worthless hides!"
The smithy was just about ready to leave when he suddenly heard someone yell " MIRACLE BALL!" and something large, heavy and...leathery hit him squarely on the face. Randver fell on his backside, Once he had recovered from his daze, he took a good long look at what hit him: it was a cone-shaped piece of meat, wrapped in a dark green leather...it took him a bit to fully realize that it was piece of an animal...some big lizard, he could guess as much.
"Kooshie regulars?" said Ishidoro. "Nope. but Croc-men and giant sea-elephants? Old man, you'll find those aplenty out there!"
Ishidoro jumped on the bar, took a deep breath and...
"Listen up, you! You got nothing but witch-beasts hiding in the fog out there, so yeah, staying here IS a good idea!"
Serpico took another look around the table: Silke and Farneze were now paying full attention to their surroundings. The little witch stared at the brazen young boy as if ready to kill him, while her apprentice looked VERY worried that things would escalate into a brawl. Caska was no longer morose...Quite natural, since she always cheered up whenever Ishidoro... acts like himself. Guts just took another sip of his drink. The elves were still hidden in the sack, but were peeking through to see what was going on: hey were jsut waiting for them to make an entrance in this whole piece of theater.
Another deep breath:
"on the other hand, you got more than 6000 kushan troops on their way by sea, with only 2000 men and 10 moldy ships to defend against them...So you're all pretty much fucked!"
Ishidoro now had everyone's attention, and had a quite a few angry shouts and venomous stares aimed at him. But he carried on, with his fist held up high:
"But never fear, for the INVINCIBLE BAND OF..." he thought about it a moment. "...THE BLACK BEAST IS HERE! AND NO ONE CAN STAND IN OUR WAY!"
And then came the laughter. not so surprising: there the crowd had a short lad of some 13 years of age claiming that his band of six (not counting the elves) could take on a whole army of the most frighteningly efficient killers this continent had ever known, AND an army of ungodly creatures to boot. Serpico was relieved: once the laughter subsided, this mess would be over, and they could proceed to rest in their chambers.
The innkeeper, still laughing a bit, decided he wanted Ishidoro's feet off his bar, and tried to get him down.
"Now lad, come on down! I gotta thank you for the mirth, but you're dirtying me bar! Come down! i'll even give you a mug of ale, so..." he reached to grab the odd boy, but he suddenly saw a glow of orange and red sweep past his face. he then smelled smoke, and felt a slight burning sensation just about his upper lip: his mustache was on fire:
"Oh bloddy hell!" he screamed, tapping at his face to put the little flames out.
Ishidoro probably never looked so serious before, and Serpico, for a moment, was quite impressed: the boy had attained
a slightly better level of control over his enchanted weapon, and had just silenced the crowd around him. one thing you can say about Ishidoro, serpico thought, is that he never likes to be taken lightly.
Ishidoro spoke again:
"THIS IS LUCIOLE! MY FLAMING SWORD! AND WITH IT, I'M GONNA MAKE THE KUSHAN PAY FOR THEIR FLAMING PITS! I'M GONNA MAKE THEM PAY FOR MY...i'M GONNA MAKE THEM PAY!!!!"
Silence. moments lter, more silence, until someone cheered.
And then, they all cheered.
END OF PART 1