Picture into story

[Gargantua]

Well, if I am correct it wasn’t this kind of challenge in this forum yet. I wonder if it will work out. Those who saw my gallery know that i usually do not keep attention to description of images, for most of time i am to lazy to give it a proper name and even when i did they tend to be well, generic. And here is your objective in this challenge. I wont you to create a strory to my picture. Those may be a bio of character or characterization of fraction it represent or note like in rpg bestiary book or any kind of lore in association with image. After two weeks (yes two weeks challenge, part because my lack of time, part because it my take some time to create story) I will choose most interesting idea and also tell what was my orginal idea behind image (probably pretty lame for most of it). Story doesn’t have to be very long, just some line of text, ingenuity matters.

So with no more delay, lets start with my very first creation.

[Weilyn]

“You want to learn about Kiina S’Garr, do you? Well, pull up a chair, because this is a bit of a long story. Oh, and could you call the barmaid for some more wine? If you want me to talk, then I need to moisten my throat first.
Allright. Kiina S’Garr was born some thirty years ago as the daughter of a Tokian hunter. She received her first axe at the age of ten, as is customary to those folks. They hunt murvelbeasts, you see, and they need axes to crack through their thick skulls. I hear she killed her first one at the tender age of twelve using nothing but a rock, but you can’t really be sure if such stories are true, now can you? There are many rumors circulating about this girl, and I’m only telling you what others have told me.
Anyway, the Tokians were conquered, or civilized as you might put it, when Kiina was fifteen years old. Her parents, Lono and Stregi S’Garr I believe they were called, were both killed in an uprising against their new masters the following year. Her village, Gillier Saban, became subject of a punitive expedition. The hovels were burned, and the barbarians living in them were taken as slaves. But Kiina took offence to that, so she ripped the axe from the hands of one of the phalangists, and split his head in two, helmet and all. One of the prefects, by the name of Görax Arsaces, was so amused by this that he took her and put her in his personal guard.
Yes, it’s not uncommon for officers of the northern front to use barbarians as bodyguards. They don’t trust their countrymen, and who can blame them, really?
Kiina probably realized that being the servant of a prefect was better than being sold off and ending up in an imperial brothel somewhere in the Western Fringe, so she stuck by the prefect’s side for ten years, warding off assassins and murvelbeasts alike. Shortly after the subjugation of the Tokians the Northern Army, along with Kiina and her master, was sent on the campaign through the Histic Empire in the west. Kiina learned quite a lot there. She studied the tactics and the stratagems of the imperial army intensely, and sort of ended up as a mitlitary advisor to Arsaces.
It’s not hard to imagine that he took a fancy to her, seeing as she was made head of the guard, and was given a fancy suit of armour, paid out of the prefect’s own pocket.
Anyway, Arsaces took a Histic arrow to the throat at the siege of Galta. His bodyguard was, naturally, disbanded, and Kiina traveled back to Tokia. But not to take the profession of a hunter again, no, she had other plans. Somehow she managed to form a decently sized uprising in the Tokian capitol of Brishnak, with the help of some influential friends of her father. Murvelbeasthunters are pretty well respected up there, you know.
With the tactical know-how she had gathered in the campaigns she managed to lead her band of rebels to victory, and threw the Imperial governor out of the city, along with his city guard. Since then she’s been the head of the Tokian rebellion, or the S’Garr rebellion, as some people call it. Many Tokian tribes have rallied to her support over the years, and I hear she’s not far from being elected First Protector of Tokia by their nobles.

…

I saw her myself, you know. At the battle of Sollangen Bridge, just before my hand was sliced off by a Tokian swordsman. She certainly looked majestic, with the colours of her village around her legs, the Imperial armour protecting her head and breast, and the hide of a murvelbeast around her shoulders.

Oh, I’m begging your pardon, good sir! It seems I’ve gone on for hours, and I’ve drunk most of your wine, too. Let me buy you another drink, what did you say your name was?”

The last words of Arnos Vecepoax, retired soldier of the Fourteenth Imperial Phalanx, before his immediate execution by sergeant Vilex Sabrin of the Fitelian Urban Cohort. The crime was cited by sergeant Sabrin as insubordination and the spreading of subversive propaganda. No further investigation of the matter was conducted.

[prswirve]

Wow Weilyn i hope i had even half of your writing skills! That’s my problem with my characters too… No decent backstories. How ’bout we continue and build up Kiina S’Garr’s world? I’d definitely would be willing to take part creating an epic fantasy graphic novel.

[The Atomic Punk]

Gargantua beat me to it! I am also burned out on designing characters but I want so much to write. I will do the same in a different format.

Weilyn.very intense!

[Weilyn]

@ The Atomic Punk
Thank you!

@ prswirve
Thanks, I appreciate that. I would most definitely be interested in cooperating with you to create a fantasy world. I just suffer from a huge lack of brevity. I mean, Gargantua asked for a few lines, and I wrote 800 words. I even made freaking illustrations.

An Imperial phalangist

A Tokian murvelbeast

[prswirve]

CooL! My mind was wondering what a murvelbeast would look like. And you nailed it. Awesome!

[Herr D]

The Advisors’ Failure

King Yhgi’s forehead was dusk-pink, and his forehead vein was throbbing fast. The guards brought in his three advisors.
“Yes, sire?” they said as one.
“You three told me it would be fine to go to that ceremony last night. The chief saw me this morning. He said that MY WIFE WAS IN THAT TENT AND IS FURIOUS. Go look for yourselves.”
They went inside, and saw two boyish but beautiful identical women–one dressed as a Gintu scout, one dressed as a Gintu huntswoman–standing beside the king’s sleeping pallet.
“We’re dead,” said Benna.
Demma started talking to them in his best Gintu, but couldn’t get them to respond. “Silence or celibacy,” he muttered, “By their chief’s decree.” Higgu fainted. The guards came and took them directly to the king.
“This is not a problem!” blurted out Benna, “Tell the queen it’s a misunderstanding! None of them speak our language. Everything is fine! No one will know what you did, and we can kill them quietly–“
King Yhgi said, “Torture him to death.”
As Benna’s screams faded with distance, Demma said, “Sire! The ceremony isn’t binding!” King Yhgi looked at him, shocked. “No, sire–you are NOT married to–“
At a gesture from King Yhgi, a guard stabbed Demma in the liver, cut out his tongue, and led him away to die. Another guard doused Higgu with water. Higgu sputtered awake and staggered to his feet, seeing the king present and blood on the ground.
“I am VERY SORRY. I don’t know what happened. I saw them. I imagined the queen trying to kill you in your sleep, and the Gintu chief declaring war–not to mention stopping all trade forever. We can pretend that I slept there instead of you. A misunderstanding NOW is death.”
King Yhgi said, “You are sure?”
“Yes, sire.”
King Yhgi nodded and said, “Painless, then.” The guard closest to Higgu spun his axe, removing the upper two-thirds of Higgu’s skull almost silently. The king made a rapid set of orders, and was at the queen’s tent in a moment.
“My darling,” he said, “You were right. My advisors HAD been smoking the rock poppies. They sounded quite mad. None of them had ANY idea what was going on! My guards are looking for three SOBER sages now. Thirty servants are mixing thirty different shades of paint. With your guidance, if you will give it, one of those will be close enough. If we hurry, you can watch the samples dry. Then I can watch you work again, and they will be dry as dust by this evening. Don’t be angry, dear. I think you made both statues VERY lifelike!”

[Gargantua]

but… WOW just few line… WOW, just WOW
I am absolutely stunned. I didn’t expect so fantastic response.

Weilyn you have very nice language, vocabulary and method of telling story. You basically created plot for whole book no mention that You just make preaty interesting character based on some simple picture. I realy love world and realities you use, i see parallel to Rome conquer of Britain. It’s quite similar to what i had in mind but i will tell more after contest. Prswirve is right, it could become very interesting fantasy/pseudohistory world. I salute to your writing skills. Ow and freaking illustrations are freaking good.

Herr D, you in the other hand take quite suprising twist in your story. My reactions during reading was like: interesting, wait what, ow my its brutal, wait what, ow that was unexpect. Quite an amount of quite dark humor what i realy appreciate.

[Weilyn]

Thank you! I had a great time writing it!
And, yes, I stole elements from both Boudica and Arminius.

[Herr D]

Thank you, Gargantua. I occasionally love saying that something is “an ancient fairy tale that I just wrote.” Unfortunately, I based the three advisors and the royals on ‘recent management exploits.’ Luckily, I’m able to keep my head down.

[Gargantua]

Ok, two weeks past and i have a real problem because both entries take different approach and both are fantastic. If I have to choose (and i have to) i choose Weilyn story. Sorry Herr D it just my love to those kind of stories.

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So, what has happened in my head? Not much. I just wanted to make female warrior, barbarian but not primitive, looking strongly, independently and rebelliously.
But i actually have a story i created after. Not for character but for people she represent. So, she is a member of Clansmens. They live at the foot of the mountains near borders of great imperium. They create many small clans which compete and fight with each other (it is not a war but more like bar fight). Only unite against a common enemy. Idea is that they are earthbenders of some kind. They dont control earth but draw strength from it (this is why so often are barefoot). This allow they to use giant swords or axes, throwing stones and make small earthquake by pat. Thanks to this imperium dont attack them but rather seek cooperation. Real enemy of them are moutain giants.

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And here goes next challenge, my second character i think.

[Weilyn]

Thanks, Gargantua! Glad you liked it

[Gargantua]

So, time is rut running out and i see that topic is, sadly, dead Ah well I need advice what to do with dead body. I can extend deadline or put another picture or, what i think could be most interesting, change a rules that everyone can take any picture from my galery and make a story to it. What do you think?

[Weilyn]

I like the idea as it is, I just wasn’t as inspired by the current pictures as I was by the first ones.

[Herr D]

@Weilyn said:

I like the idea as it is, I just wasn’t as inspired by the current pictures as I was by the first ones.

Same here. Different pic?

[Author]

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