Long ago . . . .
Upon a great island in the middle of the sea, there was a great kingdom - the Kingdom of Atlantis. The peoples there were Immortals - never to succumb to old age or disease. Atlantis was the most prosperous realm across the world, and she established many colonies the globe over.
But it was not to last. For from the stars came the Dark Lord, whose name was never learned by the people of Atlantis. He came down upon the lands like a plague, and the colonies of Atlantis were overrun by savage natives - and all manner of strange and terrible creatures that the Dark Lord brought with him.
The armies of Atlantis, and her matchless navy, fought tirelessly, breaking every attempt to finally eradicate hope by the Dark Forces, but eventually the Dark Lord grew tired. He himself went to Atlantis and broke it, sinking the once great land beneath the sea forevermore.
But a small band escaped the Apocalypse and sailed the world for hundreds of years, trying to find a land where they could create a resistance against the Darkness . . . .
The surf boomed. Lighthearter looked back, finally only knee-deep in water, at the wrecked ship. They would have to build another. He shook his head and waded forward.
"That was exciting." He called out. He got a few strangled curses from his companions.
"Exciting?" Dem Taqat rolled his eyes. "Try
terrifying and
infuriating." The others all agreed in short order.
"It's all in how you look at things." Lighthearter said, sand crunching under his boots as he came out of the water. "I see an opportunity here. We've not journeyed to these shores before."
"Perhaps." Dem Taqat sounded unconvinced. Lighthearter laughed and clapped the fellow Immortal on the back. Sparthage and Ninjacow were climbing from the water as well, Magnive and Civ'ed only a few paces behind them. With a start Lighthearter realized that Celticfury was already standing on one of the rocks just beyond the beach.
"What do you see?" Lighthearter called. Celticfury was silent for a few seconds. Then he stiffened.
"Crebain!" He yelled. "Spies of the Enemy! They've seen us." He leaped down from the rock.
Instantly weapons were drawn all among the party. Lighthearter, Dem, Celt, and Sparthage with swords in hand, Magnive his axe, Ninjacow his hammer and Civ'ed raising his sickle.
"They will be coming any moment now." Sparthage whispered, sliding his shield onto his arm.
"Let them come!" SouthernKing yelled, gripping his sword in both hands. "There are a few Immortals left who still draw breath!"
A wolf howled nearby. Lighthearter flipped his bow out, notched an arrow and aimed, pulling back on the shaft. A human form appeared over one of the rocks. He fired and the figure tumbled from sight. Another appeared, but was taken by an arrow from Dem Taqat.
Suddenly a host of men surged over the rocks, screaming war cries. Lighthearter fired again and saw one tumble, another following seconds later from Dem's shot. Then he dropped his bow and drew his sword.
Sparthage blocked a crudely thrust spear on his shield, then stabbed and withdrew, a body collapsing at his feet. Mechaerik parried a wildly swung sword with his knife, then cut his opponent on the wrist. The man collapsed, the poison tearing through his system.
Celticfury parried one man, dodged another, then swung and decapitated one foe. This left him vulnerable for just a second to the second man, who swung his axe with a bloodcurdling yell. SouthernKing threw his sword, impaling the man. Celt didn't pause, merely ripping SouthernKing's sword back out and tossing it to him with a nod of thanks. SouthernKing caught it and dodged a thrust, then impaled his attacker.
Civ'ed sliced brutally with his sickle, laying a foe open. He ducked an arrow, then whipped out his hammer and threw it. The tool bashed in the head of the archer, who fell to the ground in a bloody heap. NinjaCow seized it from the ground and turned, wielding two hammers, to face the four men chasing him. With a yell he charged, smashing a head, an arm, a leg.
Magnive planted his axe in a man, ripped it out and repeated his chop against another. A spear was thrust at him - and he chopped the head of it neatly off before grabbing the remains and heaving the hapless man straight to his axe. Dem Taqat leapt in from above, landing on one of the soldiers surrounding Magnive and impaling another.
Lighthearter swung onto a stone pillar - a remnant perhaps of an ancient Atlantean seaport - and fired an arrow into the throng, slaying a man. He fired again, claiming another life. A spear flashed past him and he ducked, then turned as he noticed it had been aimed
behind him. A man was lying on the ground, an axe only inches away from his hand, the spear through his body. Lighthearter looked down to Sparthage and nodded in thanks. The other Immortal was already hacking away with his gladius again. Lighthearter shot a man creeping up on him with a sword.
There was a sudden rumble in the ground and the men all froze. Lighthearter did too. A roar sounded from behind him. He whirled and saw a massive almost-serpentine shape careening straight for him, great wings sprouting from its back and wicked fangs gleaming.
Lighthearter jumped from his perch, landing with catlike grace thirty feet below, before yelling "Dragon!"
The men that had attacked them were already fleeing, as though they too feared the massive beast. Lighthearter raised an arrow as the creature landed on the beach with a thud, then turned for a victim. Lighthearter fired and caught it in the head. It roared and turned to face him.
Magnive threw his axe, hitting the beast square in the eye. It roared again, in agony this time instead of rage, and whipped its tail at him. Magnive was thrown fifty feet, slamming into a rock and falling to the ground, groaning but alive.
Celt ran lightly overtop some rocks, to a perch above the creature, and then waited. After a moment, he leaped down onto the back of its head and rammed his claymore in to the hilt. The beast reared up on its hind legs, then dropped back down, flinging Celt off. It shook its head, as though suffering from a headache.
Dem Taqat fired an arrow, impaling its other eye. The beast screamed and turned, breathing a stream of flames out at him. Dem dove for cover. Sparthage tossed a spear he recovered from the field, then used his shield as protection when the monster spat fire at him too.
Suddenly the creature paused, as though it had forgotten something. Just like that the light went out and its legs gave, causing the black thing to collapse, dead.
Lighthearter looked on, impassive. Magnive and Dem reemerged, and Celt was reclaiming his sword. The battle was over.
"You!" A voice called. Lighthearter looked to see a man waving frantically. "You are great warriors, to slay barbarians so easily, and then kill the Demon." The man said.
"Who are you?" SouthernKing demanded. He was still gripping his bloodstained sword. "And who do you serve?"
"I am Washington. I serve no one. I have lead the American people, but I fear I cannot do so any longer. You are obviously Immortals of legend, returned to us as the shamans and priests have always insisted would happen someday. The Demon is dead and I believe that we should try to make a home here." Washington knelt. "I would have you as the rulers of my people, O mighty ones, so that we might grow as prosperous as the 'Atlantis' of myth and not live in fear of the Dark Lord."
And so did it all begin . . . .
I shall be on chat if you wish to discuss this . . . . 
-L
I was just doing a check about as it was beginning and noticed. 
....
![[party]](/images/smilies/partytime.gif "Party [party]")
'
