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Author Topic: Adventures on Monster Island  (Read 253399 times)

Earwig

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Adventures on Monster Island
« on: February 20, 2012, 05:19:42 pm »

Quote
CHAPTER 1: The vicious waterworld of Ötstuxmon
CHAPTER 2: Nganuz the Titan


CHAPTER 3: The Cyclopes of Titthalber
CHAPTER 4: Etha, the Hungry Head
CHAPTER 5: The Dread Bilbo
CHAPTER 6: Everything in Murderation

!! How to Make Your Own Monster Island !!

Teaser: Into Nutcertain

CHAPTER 7: The Lives of Giants
Little Deathbringer
Ancient Memories
The First Mistake
The Safe Land


The vicious waterworld of Ötstuxmon ("The Cyclopean Plane") boasts only one island. Brutally devoid of natural life, Elifa Adapi, "The Island of Trotting", is coated in rolling dead hills known as Bostu Usnar, "The Hill of Juices". Undead, rotty juices, maybe, because no plant life can grow here. Undead animals thrash mindlessly through the brown underbrush. Monsters make their homes here, unable to live in the depths of the ocean. As a result the Legends are incredible and bizarre, with hundreds of monsters living together in complete harmony. Ötstuxmon is the only world I've ever seen that has no history of violence whatsoever. Makes you think, doesn't it?

Not me. I don't think at all when I make my Human Outsider. Who's this random jackass? Who cares? Let's kill some shit, and more importantly, let's die in a horrible way!

[Vanod Openedfires, Human Outsider]
[Professional Spearman, Competent Ambusher, Skilled Swimmer, Novice Observer, Novice Fighter, Adequate Wrestler, Skilled Dodger]

{He is incredibly muscular. His greasy hair is extremely long. He has a low voice. His ears have large hanging lobes. His slightly hooked nose is quite long. His slightly large-irised pale blue eyes are sunken. His short head is narrow. He has a deeply recessed chin. His lips are very thin. His hair is golden yellow. His skin is cinnamon.}

Vanod comes into being on The Hill of Juices, beneath the massive volcanic spire that rises from the bitter oceans- the only piece of land that breaks the surface of water in this realm. It also happens to be a place of extreme evil.

But it's the only home he knows.

---

So I'm slightly terrified, I admit it. I don't think I've ever been in a situation so... grim before. It's completely metal and I love it. I'm a naked, tan, muscular man with long flowing golden hair, a spear in one hand and a dagger in another, the only one of my kind, on a volcanic mountain of evil which is the only land in the entire world. As a result, every single monster in the world lives on this tiny island, and anything that isn't a monster is an undead abomination. If that's not badass I don't know what is. Frank Frazetta should be drawing this, not me.

At first I kind of puttered around. A couple of undead harpies tried to come at me and I skewered them on my primitive weapon. Whatever, Easy peasy. I'm a naked rock god hanging out on a volcano. What are you? A couple of picked-over chickens?
(Little would I know that later on I'd run into a huge chicken. Such is life on THE ISLAND OF TROTTING)

Anyway, after kicking a weasel skeleton down a cliff, I decided to head to the ocean to hunt. I can't butcher the Undead, and I figure the ocean is the only place to find still-meaty creatures to eat.

On my way over there I notice something. More like, "somethings". Over 60 "somethings". And I notice they're in a very dense rectangle around me. At first they kind of look like dead trees too. But the text box says otherwise.

"TROLLS!"




Trolls. I've never ever seen something like this in all my years of playing the game. Maybe I just haven't been playing it right till now?


I run like hell for the least concentrated side I can find, though I definitely don't have high hopes. I'll be surrounded by at least ten trolls just on the one side. But I really don't have a choice.


Somehow, SOMEHOW, I manage to squirm awkwardly through their line. One troll swings at me, I counter attack with a stab in the arm.



Several begin to punch violently at me, I stab another in the gut, and then... I'm free from the line.

I run as fast as I can to the nearby murky pool, hoping I can jump in and sneak out again... when I notice I'm cut off by a troupe of zombie rhesus macaques.


And this just flings the trolls into a rage. They barrel towards the monkeys and completely forget about me. I slip off to the north and hide behind a tree.
Suckers.


I get down to the beach, butcher a beached shark due to a hilarious glitch where they fling themselves on land to try and eat me and then suffocate sadly, and I chow down. Unfortunately since I can't actually carry anything outside of what I can grasp, I have to carry the meat around in one clenched fist and my spear in the other. Oh well. No one ever said it'd be a clean existence. While my dagger is a valuable commodity, I'd rather have a fistful of meat to gnaw on as I traverse the island instead. I say goodbye to my knife and never look back.

Now that I'm well fed on greasy shark pizza, I head back inland towards a shrine. I'd never seen them before, so I was really curious about what I'd find inside.



Turns out this is the hangout for most, if not all, of the bronze colossi that ever spawned, hanging out on the basalt cliff faces (some tiles actually grew moss! Very evocative) and staring bleakly out at a vile, ugly world.

Actually, they probably really like their island. No war or loss, just lots of chillaxing, and a big badass volcano to keep them warm. Maybe Vanod will turn into a vampire or something awesome like that and he can live in harmony with them too.

I leave them to their blank staring, because I really don't want to have my head bowled down the side of the cliff. I have a dangerous feeling that there are far more than 5 bronze colossi here, so of course I just barrel in.

(I just found out that Vanod means "Stranger" in human. So fitting for this world.)

Unfortunately there is no "in". The colossi just hang out on a well-paved basalt cliffside doing nothing. A bit disappointing. Well, see you.

I head  off, this time to the northeast, to a different shrine.

Another basalt temple rises from the cliffside, coated with even more moss. In the center of it stands only one creature:



I don't think I've ever seen hill titans before in any game (just read about them in legends), so I guess I was expecting a giant or similar. Something kind of humanoid. Instead I get


...A giant purple bug-chicken. Okay.

I try to make it seem a little more imposing in this drawing:



As majestic as the sight is, Vanod is no artist. He lacks our more developed sense of beauty. To him, he sees a feral beast waiting to be tamed by his spear. Except less dirty sounding. Get your mind out of the refuse stockpile.

The question now is... do I have a chance? Fuck it, let's just dive in. What have we got to lose? Vanod lunges forward.


to be continued?
« Last Edit: February 10, 2022, 07:46:43 pm by Earwig »
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Kilroy the Grand

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Re: Adventures on Monster Island
« Reply #1 on: February 20, 2012, 05:34:13 pm »

You better fucking continue >:U!
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*pew* *blam* "Aughgghggurglegurgle..." *slither* *slither* *pit* *pat* *tap* *click-click* *BOOM* "Aiiieeegurgle gurgle..."
X-com meets Dwarf Fortress

Megaman_zx

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Re: Adventures on Monster Island
« Reply #2 on: February 20, 2012, 05:35:27 pm »

Definitely one of the most epic stories i've seen on the adv mode forums.... and that picture you drew of the titan was amazing!!!

can't wait to see what happens next!!!!
« Last Edit: February 20, 2012, 05:40:11 pm by Megaman_zx »
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Tales of the Third Age, 34.11 rp stories from Genesis Reborn

“Name none of the fallen, for they stood in our place. And stand there still in each moment of our lives. Let my death hold no glory, and let me die forgotten and unknown. Let it not be said that I was one among the dead to accuse the living.”

-Deadhouse Gates (Book 2 in the Malazan Book of the Fallen) by Steven Erikson

Neonivek

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Re: Adventures on Monster Island
« Reply #3 on: February 20, 2012, 05:39:32 pm »

Ohhh gawd if you know what is good for you do not attack that Titan!
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Comito

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Re: Adventures on Monster Island
« Reply #4 on: February 20, 2012, 05:40:33 pm »

MOAR!
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Andal

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Re: Adventures on Monster Island
« Reply #5 on: February 20, 2012, 05:45:59 pm »

This is epic, and the pic is great.

If I have one request... can you put up the world seed at some point? (If you want to wait until after the story is all told, that's chill!) This place seems like adventure mode hardmode. And I like it.
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When I was reorganizing my inventory to fit all by books on life and death into various bags and things, I looked at my inventory and saw that I was multigrasping a necromancer slab.  It was pretty hilarious.
I think that would be an excellent way to impart the critical lessons of life and death to the ignorant masses.

utilitarian

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Re: Adventures on Monster Island
« Reply #6 on: February 20, 2012, 05:55:18 pm »


On my way over there I notice something. More like, "somethings". Over 60 "somethings". And I notice they're in a very dense rectangle around me. At first they kind of look like dead trees too. But the text box says otherwise.





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsZYPv9QWX0&feature=related

 :D
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Earwig

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Re: Adventures on Monster Island
« Reply #7 on: February 20, 2012, 06:00:12 pm »

If I have one request... can you put up the world seed at some point? (If you want to wait until after the story is all told, that's chill!) This place seems like adventure mode hardmode. And I like it.

Absolutely. I'd like to do it after Vanod has met his demise though, ideally. I actually saved a game file of the world where I just had Vanod give in to starvation (in the middle of the trolls actually) for specifically that reason. Once all the trolls appeared I realized this might be a really fun adventure for other people to play with. I can also upload the world after Vanod bites it, but depending on how successful he is, it might not leave many monsters for other players, so I'll make sure to upload both versions.

Actually I have no idea how to upload just the seed. I can zip the whole world folder if people don't mind though. Unless someone can walk me through it, haha.
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And please enjoy my grumpy guest appearance (Enir Twigappears) in the awesome The Littlest Cheesemaker story by evictedSaint!

Batmantis

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Re: Adventures on Monster Island
« Reply #8 on: February 20, 2012, 07:00:54 pm »

I really look forward to playing with this seed, or the world folder sounds easier to me.

Epic tale and art, btw.
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See, I play as a highland lord, I light the torches its time for war, I'll ride through a rival town weilding a ball and chain made of spikes and thorns, or a longsword, with the hilt made out of a dinosaurs spinal chord, sharpened against a rhino's horn, when you swing it it sounds like a lions roar!

SirAaronIII

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Re: Adventures on Monster Island
« Reply #9 on: February 20, 2012, 07:24:30 pm »

This is beautiful.
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Kurtisk1

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Re: Adventures on Monster Island
« Reply #10 on: February 20, 2012, 07:31:45 pm »

This is amazing.  Also, anyway can you give us the world gen? 
« Last Edit: February 20, 2012, 07:36:46 pm by Kurtisk1 »
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Earwig

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Re: Adventures on Monster Island
« Reply #11 on: February 21, 2012, 03:58:27 am »

The fight is immediately going suspiciously well. Nganuz the Titan seems to only be capable of breathing... a cloud of frozen or boiling titan "extract" every move. It doesn't actually seem to do anything to my guy, but I try to stay out of it just in case. I manage to stab the scary critter in the leg and the wing, forcing it to stay earthbound. The fight becomes pages and pages of this:



With me scrambling around basalt pillars trying to dodge the dust. It hit me once and sent me flying. I can't figure out exactly what causes it, but I believe it's the boiling dust (there's boiling and freezing, or something). The freezing dust doesn't seem to do anything to me, but the boiling dust seems to be explosively forceful sometimes (or just so fast that it flings me off my feet). Either way, I've barely got a scratch on me- in fact I think it's just bruising from the earlier troll encounter- and I figure if I just keep dodging around pillars I should be okay.



Thanks random eldritch temple-builders!

The fight is going on for so long that I almost wonder if the dumb thing is unkillable. I glance at its injury list and the first thing makes me almost feel bad for poor ol' Nganuz.



All it wanted was Vanod's love. Well TOO BAD NGANUZ, Vanod only has a love for ADVENTURE.

Hilariously, it seems like the titan is hurting himself more than me, at first.

I've also been able to get a lot of really good shots in on it. I think that Vanod might be the most hardcore of any of my adventurers. Remember, he's doing all of this butt naked. No gear. No fancy steel weaponry. I bet if I got rid of the spear he'd just bite everyone to death.

After a few more tense moments, the worst happens:



The explosively powerful dust, with properties I'm still trying to figure out, smashed into Vanod full force, bruising his rippling manly abs, his lung, and his stomach. The Mortal Wound indicator flashes morosely from the bottom of the screen.

But this is Vanod. Vanod cannot die from a bruised lung! I will not allow it.

I crawl a few squares away, behind the same pillar that made my insides jelly, and then manage to sneak.
---

The crawl south is agonizing. I'm not sure if this will be the end of the adventure already. It'd be depressing if it was. The Mortal Wound, Winded, and Stunned indicators are glaring at me from the bottom of the screen. What a sad way to go.

Once I'm far enough away from the temple, I sleep as necessary for 8 hours.

...And wake up, perfectly healthy, a few undead harpies clattering towards me.

BUT WAIT! Not everything is okay. VANOD HUNGERS!



That's better.

I kind of just roll over the harpies, then sneak again and start to head back to find Nganuz. ("Nganuz" means "Heather" in Goblin.)

Though the Titan is not where I left it, it's very easy to follow the blood trail up the cliff.



Heather definitely didn't heal as well as I did.




I'm still bewildered and a little grossed out by the substance of "hill titan extract". And now it's coated in it, which is just nasty. I should give it a bath........ MADE OF SPEARS

Amazingly, I sneak up behind it, and manage to stick my spear in the left lung without it spotting me. It's not till the next jab to the titan's head that it spots me, and thus begins the dust spam again.
I get another stab in to its lung and then retreat from the dust cloud before it sends me flying.

Vanod gives a !!☼SHARK MEAT PUNCH☼!! for good measure.


While it's probably totally cool looking it's not especially effective. BUT NOW THEY KNOW THE FURY OF THE SHARK FIST

Vanod just keeps biting, punching, and kicking it after this point. Up till now he was using his spear like normal.
The fight is tense. I have to actively dodge behind pillars or risk being hurled by the waves of deadly dust. But in all of the confusion, finally...

[img to be added]

Yes

[img to be added]

YESSSSS!

[img to be added]
Consider yourself adventurer'd, Nganuz.

With this victory, I only have one thing left to do.

[img to be added]

I don't even want to think of what 480 meat must look like. Let's just pretend this makes sense. Or maybe Hill Titan is the lembas bread of meats. Maybe my guy will drag the entire carcass behind him and take big bites of it whenever he gets hungry.

Nganuz used to be associated with rivers, plants, nature, lies, and animals. Now it's just associated with nuggets.

With Nganuz slain, Vanod looks to the horizon. Where will his travels take him next? Wherever he goes, one thing's for certain;

he'll be doing it butt naked.
« Last Edit: February 10, 2022, 08:05:39 pm by Earwig »
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Please vote for it to be included in the Hall of Legends!

And please enjoy my grumpy guest appearance (Enir Twigappears) in the awesome The Littlest Cheesemaker story by evictedSaint!

kissa3

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Re: Adventures on Monster Island
« Reply #12 on: February 21, 2012, 04:24:18 am »

This is AWESOME!!!!!!!!!! Save scum him if you must. The Show must go on!
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saltmummy626

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Re: Adventures on Monster Island
« Reply #13 on: February 21, 2012, 04:36:28 am »

sweet jegus, thats like a conan epic except more with more nakedness and spears.
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Earwig

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Re: Adventures on Monster Island
« Reply #14 on: February 21, 2012, 04:48:03 am »

This is AWESOME!!!!!!!!!! Save scum him if you must. The Show must go on!

Nooo, save scumming takes out all of the tension! Though if it'd be a lame way to go, I'll definitely do so. Like... tripping over a stick and his head flies off.

Actually no I'd totally keep that.

sweet jegus, thats like a conan epic except more with more nakedness and spears.

Only VERY slightly more nakedness. And Zula, one of my fave characters, was totally rockin' the spear. I wish Vanod had her intense 80s hair though.  :'(

Thank you for the compliment! I love me some Conan.
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Like my story of Vanod wandering through Monster Island?

Please vote for it to be included in the Hall of Legends!

And please enjoy my grumpy guest appearance (Enir Twigappears) in the awesome The Littlest Cheesemaker story by evictedSaint!
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