So… Sigmund is colourblind, is he?
Rifted Riders, shopping
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Monthly Archives: December 2012
About Ephraim Chapter 12
Okay, so I wrote another chapter. That’s all you’re getting for tonight… But that should be plenty? XD Anyway, if you like Ephraim, that snarky little badass prince (as opposed to Innes, the snarky big badass prince…? I think both of them are going to kill me for that XD), stay tuned, because we only have FIVE chapters left. Whoohoo. And most of the plot is done, so it will be slightly more combat in the combat-to-talking ratio.
…I’m gonna have to actually beat Scorched Sands in order to write good battles, aren’t I? XD Well, I can steal a bit from the new Frelia’s Finest, and a bit from Eirika’s Story, but not much because I wasn’t good at battles back then. I probably still am not, but I’m slightly better than I was then.
Okay. I better get some rest. Between the insomnia and the busy day tomorrow, I’m going to be completely wiped on Monday. G’night, folks.
Ephraim’s Story: Chapter 12: Ruled by Madness
Chapter 11: Scorched Sand Chapter 13: River of Regrets
Chapter 12: Ruled by Madness
We had a three-day journey of hell, next. Our entire multi-national army packed up from Jehanna and trekked back to Renais. It had been so long since I’d seen my home. Not since the very beginning of the way, so long ago.
The change was horrifying. I had left green fields and orchards, neat clean villages, smooth roads, an air of contentment. I returned to desolate, bare, and burned wastelands, villages fallen into disrepair, and the roads half-washed out in some places.
Strange how only a few months could wreak such havoc in a place used to being well-kept.
And that made me value all the more how peace was a good thing. I hadn’t thought about it much before. War was death, but it was also glory and the thrill of skilled combat, the chess-game of tactics, the raw adrenaline of battle. And I kept a tight hold on my armies, never allowing them to loot, pillage, or burn.
But the world wasn’t as honourable as I was. Or maybe just insane-Lyon.
His words haunted my mind. This was what he had planned since before he met us? Surely Grado had no need to be jealous of little Renais, peaceful and prosperous though it had been.
But now, my resolve was hardened, and my priorities straight. I wish it hadn’t taken the destruction of the home I loved to teach me the point, but Renais had been, with all its minor, niggling problems, the best place to live and grow up. Sure, there were bandits, and greedy merchants and corrupt councilmen, but the people had been mostly decent and happy. And it’s so hard to make a country happy, or so I vaguely understand from the histories Father MacGregor had tried to pound into me.
I would return her to that state again. Glancing at Eirika, I could tell that she felt the same. Continue reading
About Ephraim Chapter 11
Okay… I’ve been sitting on this chapter for a while. It was almost done, but I wanted to check the dialogue with the game just to be sure.
And then Valter killed Neimi, and I was like “ehhhhhhhYOUTUBE”, so that’s what I’ll do until I feel like beating the crap out of Valter. Just gonna watch the dialogue on YouTube. I found a playthrough that seems to feature a British voice actress or something. At least, she sounds British, and she does good voices. Also snarky side comments. And apparently her brother is helping? Anyway, it’s entertaining and is research!
Next chapter shouldn’t take too long. Can’t promise you anything, though.
I should draw Ephraim. He’s kinda cool.
This chapter, and subsequent chapters, may suffer from “previously-written terrible dialogue syndrome”, because now it has to fit in with Eirika’s story that I wrote when I was a teenager or whatever. Still, I have decided I’m going to finish this story this December, so here you are. 😛
Ephraim’s Story: Chapter 11: Scorched Sand (the other side)
Chapter 10: Father and Son Chapter 12: Ruled by Madness
Chapter 11: Scorched Sand
We rode a bare half-hour later. Syrene had dispatched Julia all the long way back to Frelia to bring news to King Hayden of Grado Keep’s capture.
Despite our haste, it was a long way from Grado to Jehanna. By the end of the first day, we were right in the middle of the high hills a short way north-east from Grado’s capital, hills large enough to cast a rain-shadow from the humid southern breezes. The ground was already dryer, and as we hurried on the next day, we saw more and more cacti and less grass. We turned north around midday, seeing few other than scattered nomads and herders.
Partway through the afternoon, we received another message, informing us that Rausten had indeed joined to Eirika’s group, but that it wouldn’t be enough to save her against both Grado generals. A Frelian army was en route, but they were even further away than we were. If we did not save Eirika, no one would.
The third day I rose early and, taking all who were not already exhausted by the march, came at last near to Jehanna Hall, an ancient stone structure set in a flaxen sea of sand, with an oasis and a few villages clustered nearby.
Jehanna Hall was burning. Continue reading