Tiram's Journey

[KCU Master 2007]

So, I've noticed that the fanfic section of this site is rarely used. With that in mind, and the fact that I am now into my summer vacation, I decided that I wanted to write my first fanfic. I also already have a solid base and storyline to follow thanks to CoRT: The First Encounter.

This is the story of Sir Tiram, from childhood until his capture in the First Encounter. There will be an update hopefully twice a week (or more, depending on time) for anyone who is interested in the story. I will try to link each new installment in this post.

Index:
Section 1 - Post 2
Section 2 - Post 5
Section 3 - Post 6
Section 4 - Post 24 and 25
Section 5 - Post 34
Section 6 - Post 41
Section 7 - Post 44
Section 8 - Post 54
Section 9 - Post 59
Section 10 - Post 104

[KCU Master 2007]

Heap had always been a strange city, filled with strange and wondrous people and things. In the Shambles one could find the strangest of creatures and outcasts, creatures ranging from the filthy Dugalla to fallen Elves. If one would journey to the spires of Heap, here you would find the city’s “nobility” of sorts. These were mostly large merchants, many of which cheated their way to their wealth, but there was nothing to be done about that. Occasionally, one would find a generous merchant who would send food and money to the Shambles to help out they lucky few who were kind enough to greet his envoy. Then, of course, there was the Citadel of the Fist; while never part of the city, this was the ultimate goal for many of the citizens of fist was to earn the honor of living in one of the estates on the citadel of fist itself, to be a member of the Vanguard Nobility, and to be forever protected from Ret-Talus. However, it is in the middle layers of heap which we find the young boy, soon to be hero of the Vanguards.

Tiram Linesus was a young boy, but as is typical of the citizens of heap, his father was teaching him to be a man as one never knew when it would be time for a young boy to become the man of the house. Especially now, Ret-Talus had be more aggressive in his raiding farms in the country surrounding Heap. There were little the Vanguards could to do to react to these ever more aggressive raiding parties, typically made up of Reapers that would appear from no where and kill anyone they could find; after the Reapers had cleared the way, the Cultists of Ret-Talus would move in and gather what resources they could find. Any survivors were given a choice: be killed at the hand of a Cultist, or undergo the dark ritual required to become a Reaver. Sadly, many chose this course of action, slowly allowing Ret-Talus to build a very powerful army.

Regardless, the Linesus family was fortunate. They were not rich by any means, however they were better off than many of the farming families. This was evidenced by the home that they owned in the middle layer of Heap and by the fact they would hire many Grounders to come and tend to the farm. As was his custom, Tiram would accompany his father Mytalen to the farm to tend to any business matters and gather the crop to see at the market. Once at the farm, Tiram and Mytalen would typically end up spending much of the afternoon exercising by wrestling, racing, helping on the farm. Once the afternoon meal was finished, they would gather what crops they needed for themselves and that which they were to sell.

That particular day had come and gone quickly due to the storms that appeared to be coming in from the East. Desperate to make it back to the city of heap before night, Mytalen took Tiram and the wagon along a different route than normal. They were going to take the road that cut past the woods to try and return to Heap much more quickly. However, out of the woods, a group of thieves emerged and raided the wagon for any goods that they had on them. While there wasn’t much, it was the food for the family for the remainder of the week. Mytalen told Tiram to cooperate and do what the thieves wanted. When they finally left, Mytalen was cleaning up the damage done to the cart and goods when Tiram heard the sound of a bowshot. His father cried out in pain and Tiram looked to the trees. To his horror, two Skeletal archers, and a Reaper all stood by, guarding Ret-Talus.

His first instinct was to run and find the first Vanguard patrol he could, let them track down the dark lord, but he was paralyzed by fear. This fear was heightened as Ret-Talus and his escort moved forward toward the dying Mytalen. The dark lord gave Mytalen a twisted grin as he finished the job, “You’ll make a fine Zombie Warrior for me…” Tiram finally snapped back to his sense and ran. The skeletal archers each knocked and arrow and drew their bows. “No, let him run. There’s nothing he can do now. Come, we have lingered long enough.” With that, the reaper, skeletons, Ret-Talus, and his newest zombie all withdrew into the wilderness.

By the time Tiram returned with the Vanguard patrol there was no trace of the bandits or of Ret-Talus. They helped Tiram return to his home and told him that they should consider selling their farm, as the Vanguards could not protect any except the largest farms.

[Killer Lawnmower]

Very cool KCU. I can't wait for more. Tiram was awesome in both CoRT's and I'm glad to see your expanding his character.

[Sera Eldwyn's boyfriend]

Cool KCU, very cool, I like this a lot. Very creative, I look forward to reading more when it's posted.

[KCU Master 2007]

Selling the farm was difficult, he had spent most of his life on that farm helping his father. Tasks as trivial as pulling weeds to jobs as dangerous as hunting down the animals that would steal the crops. While he had never gone with his father after anything large, Tiram accompanied him to go after smaller animals, foxes and such. One such day, mere months before Ret-Talus appeared, Tiram showed his fearlessness. When tracking a small fox, they stumbled across a lone wolf. According to tradition, Tiram was carrying his own hunting gear, this included a short sword, in case the primary hunter, his father in this case, needed help. The wolf lunged at Mytalen and latched on to his arm and knocked him to the ground. Without hesitation, Tiram, rather large for his age, drew his short sword and ran to help his father. Tiram grabbed the wolf by the back of his neck and stabbed it through its side. When the wolf let go of Mytalen, Tiram pulled with all his weight and managed to dislodge the wounded creature. In the end, Mytalen lanced the wolf before it could struggle back to its feet, but he gave Tiram credit for the kill; his first, but certainly not his last.

After the run in with Ret-Talus, Tiram informed his mother that he would take his father’s place working the farm until Landon, his uncle, arrived from Heap to discuss how best to care for the family Mytalen left behind in his death. While working on the farm, Landon arrived. “Tiram,” Landon called out as he approached the boy. “Looks like you’ve grown quite a bit since I last saw you.” Tiram chuckled but kept working the ground where he was. “I’ve been told by your mother that you are the one I’m supposed to talk to about further arrangements. You seem to have most everything under control around here.”

“You bet.” Tiram replied dropping his tools and shedding his gloves. He motioned to the house and began walking. “What did you have in mind?”

“Well, I think there are two ways we can do this. You can either sell the farm and move to my estate, or you can refuse my aid. However, let me explain what this means. You would be subject to all the laws of Heap, and there are many Ups who would have no problem taking the farm of a grounder and selling it for an extreme price just to further their wealth.

My advice would be to sell the farm while it still has value and you and your mother move to my estate. If keeping busy is your concern there will be plenty of work for you and if independence for your family is your concern we can work that out when we get there. What say you?” Landon asked pointedly.

Tiram considered his proposal and agreed that the Ups would probably take the farm and leave Tiram and his mother to die. “It seems that the best course of action is too sell this farm and come live with you. How soon will you be ready for us?”

“As soon as you can find a buyer, I already have a full guest house waiting for you.” The two shook hands and stood to leave the house. “Tiram, I must say that you are quite mature for your age. Most children I know would not have so quickly stepped into their father’s role.” With that, Landon left the farm and returned home.

With the farm sold and Tiram and his mother on Landon’s estate Tiram began an intense physical workout. He had decided to enjoy the luxury that Landon’s estate offered and instead begin training to fight against the undead in hopes of helping defeat Ret-Talus. He continued training under his uncle until he turned fifteen, during which time he had competed in multiple sporting events. One the eve of his fifteenth birthday, a messenger arrived at Landon’s estate. It was the squire of one of the Vanguard Knights, Sir Callon. Sir Callon had seen Tiram in one of these events and decided he had the showing of a promising young knight and invited him to come train under him and, one day, serve the Vanguards as Knight.

[KCU Master 2007]

Tiram had jumped at the offer to begin formally training to be a knight and serve the Vanguards. This wasn’t typical of a grounder from Heap either. Most knights came the Ups or from the family of knights, it was rare for a grounder to be noticed and accepted as a knight. Most grounders, should they choose to fight, would join a band of the Spear Grounder mercenaries, another formidable fighting force with Heap, but the these mercenary bands typically didn’t meet the strongest portions of Ret-Talus’ armies and that would not satisfy Tiram’s thirst of vengeance.

It had only been three weeks and already Tiram was second guessing himself. He was used to hard work and training, but Sir Callon was even more intense than Tiram could imagine. There was more than physical training involved, and Callon’s squires repaid the knight by caring for his estate. As such, Tiram was up before sunrise each morning caring for animals. It was required that he learn new skills rather than work in an area that he was already comfortable, the fields; Callon wanted each of his squires to have to be rely on him for direction and that required them to be broken down. This was only the first step.

When the sun finally rose, the young squires -- Callon kept four on his estate -- would return to the hall for a breakfast, it was never a very large breakfast, except for special occasions, After breakfast, the squires would receive their only break for the day, the Knight, or his second should Callon be indisposed for the day, would give them lessons in reading, writing, speaking, and even in history and logic. It was clear that Callon not only desired all of his knights to be strong physically, he desired them to be mentally strong to handle any problem that arose. After breakfast and these lessons, the squires would be back to work and would not get another respite until they were granted leave twilight when supper would be served in the hall.

During the day, the training of the squires would be overseen and directed by the knights that lived on Callon’s estate. There would be various physical exercises alongside extensive training. The training consisted of sparing without weapons and armor, fighting with the sword, running and maneuvering in full armor, full combat sparing, and, for recreation, sporting events.

Through all this training, and exhaustion, there was only one thing that kept him going, the chance that someday soon, he would meet Ret-Talus in battle and be fully prepared to defeat him, avenging his father and ending the biggest threat to Itharia.

[Sera Eldwyn's boyfriend]

I love reading these, it really adds an awesome back story to a character that you made popular. I can't wait to read more.

[Killer Lawnmower]

Wow. This is great. You should publish it.

[KCU Master 2007]

I love reading these, it really adds an awesome back story to a character that you made popular. I can't wait to read more.

Thanks, I couldn't get away from Tiram after that first CoRT, so I tried to finish his story in Tiram's Charge. Well, that didn't end the way it was supposed to (stupid Zombies for winning) so I'm going to try and tell more of his story before he was actually trapped in the cave. I'm also going to include the alternate ending (the one I wanted) to Tiram's Charge and (if Tiram lets me...) wrap his story up.

Wow. This is great. You should publish it.

Odds are, this is as close to published as it will ever get. (Read: Maybe Truth will see this and release an awesome VG Champion named Sir Tiram...which I would so give total permission for.)

[prometheuslkr]

What would Tiram be but a GK with enlarged stats? I guess I could see him as 2 melee/7life with Cover.