Young Writers Society

Well, I'm into Old English heroic poetry at the moment (Beowulf) so I figured I'd start a Storybook RPG based loosely around that. You know - semi-Christian society, feuds, hellish monsters (Grendel), lords, treasure, dragons, sea monsters...Vikings! Think myth mixed with legend mixed with religion. A potent combination.

**EDIT: Beowulf, for those who dont know [attempts not to look superior. fails.] is an Old English poem. Pretty much the first English poem written down, or so they tell me. Its about a man named Beowulf and his heroic deeds, and tragic death. I recommend reading Michael Alexanders translation. Its awesome.**

Things You Should Know:

Time - no specific time; say early middle ages or so, at least in technology.
Place - more or less Old Europe
Magic & Creatures - Semi-realistic (i.e. not too many fantastic creatures), with magic being possible but runes the preferred method of spell-casting, etc.
Situation - A terrible monster has been raiding villages every night and stealing people off to eat them. He is not a dragon, for he cant fly - but nobody knows exactly what he is. It is our job (whoever we are) to trap, trick, or track this monster until we catch and destroy him. You may add whatever complications you wish (as long as they're, you know, not TOO outrageous...such as aliens landing, and so forth )

Have fun!

BEOWULF?!!?!

Oooh... I am so coming back to this thread tomorrow... You rock, Bubbles!

Who the h*** is BEOWULF?? I too shall return to post here and I'll put in this same post via editing.

*Don't cuss in the comments please. In context only.- Griffinkeeper*

EDIT: thats freaky. the way you just like hijacked my post. Anyway, can we make up our own characters or do we have to be this Beowulf character?

Beowulf stared blankly at the open sea as he sailed with his crew towards the island were the attacks had begun; it was said to be some strange monster that had the strength of ten men, and superhuman speed. No one had seen his face and lived; just a brown blur rushing from town to town killing and mauling unsuspecting peaseants.

(Made up this character.)
Yeng landed his small boat on the far side of the island. With his trusty katana by his waist, he ventured through the forest towards one of the island's villages. His long, silver hair and silver eyes shimmered in the moonlight. He came to this island to find and kill a monster that was recently terrorizing a village. His job, as a hired mercinary, was to track down and kill this creature. But, he wasn't in it for the money. Perhaps this 'thing' is what he'd been hunting for.

**How can anyone not know who Beowulf was?!**

Ayda tied her long hair into a plait and looked across to where Beowulf stood. All she knew of him was the stories she had heard, stories of Beowulf the hero.

With each sway the ship drew closer and closer to the island. If anyone was going to be a hero or a heroine it was going to be her, she didn't want Beowulf to take all the credit. She smiled and turned her face against the blowing wind.

Her bow and arrows were stored below deck with a bundle of extra clothing and food which she would not share with anyone.

Yeng arrived at the village at sunset. He was greated by the village elder, who was very releaved to see him.
"Thank god. We were afraid no one would send help. It is very good to see someone had been sent to aid us."
Yeng replied, in a deep intimidating voice, "Just tell me when the other people you've hired come. I want to get this mission over with."
"Uh, yes. Of course. We'll let you know when they arrive."
Yeng left the village elder and sat under a big tree. He waited in silence and watched the sun as it dissapeard under the horizon.

*no powers, you ass!*

Jemima shook her long dark tresses away from her sweating face, raised her sword again; determined to finally best the old man opposite her.
"I'll defeat you yet, old man" she said fiercely.

"That remains to be seen, young cub" came the enigmatic reply.

They met each other half way, there was a brief, lightning quick touch of swords; and the deadly dance began. He moved fluidly, despite his advancing years; trained by the desert clans of the Far East, he is a master of blade and unarmed combat...truly a force to be reckoned with. These initial thoughts, were all Jemima had time for, before the pace was upped, and her combat training took over. Thoughts, emotions, and pain all melted and she allowed her mind to revert to its most primal state, just as she'd been trained.

"In battle, there is no time for thought or feeling, only reaction."

Parry. Slash. Block. Cut. Counter Attack. Pivot and kick.

"Become the blade, anticipate your opponents move"

Overhead Downward Slash. Turn into Reverse Slash. Leaping Panther sequence.

"Battle; a melee of death, you cannot allow yourself to be distracted"

Here, Jimima made a mistake. She couldn't help it, it was such a shocking display of skill, that it tore her out of battle trance. Serase, her mentor, threw his blade from one hand to the next, twirled it in his left hand so that it bacame a shimmering blade of light; blinding her as it reflected the sun's ray right into her eyes.
Yelling, she dropped her blade, and threw her arms up trying to shield her eyes.
And felt her feet swept out from beneath her, the world tilted, then levelled. Hard.
She groaned, and opened sore eyes to look up into Serase' unimpressed face. She stiffened her resolve.

"You cheated" she said sulkily.
He swung, and brought the flat of his sword down, slapping her as hard as he could. The stinging rebuke twanged into the uncomfortable silence. She accepted it in silence; tears of shame mingling with sweat running down her face.

"In battle, you'd be dead by now."
He shook his head, in a disappointed fashion and walked away to meet the messenger who had arrived as they fought.
"And if you ever drop your blade again" he called over his shoulder "I'll cut off your hand".

Jemima picked herself up, swept down to grap her sword, straightened gingerly and was buckling it on as Serase returned. She surveyed him grimly. He looked as if he'd been enjoying a relaxing afternoon rather than having fought a battle. His topknot, which swung down to his back, sat forlorlny amidst a bald field. His face, although lined with wrinkles was free of sweat and he breathed easily. On the other hand, she knew she must look a mess; long dark hair, tangled and knotted. Sweat freely coursing down her face, heaving chest and huge gasps of air were testament to her fight.

"Your time has come"
"But-"
A glare cut her off.
"A foreign emissary has beseeched us, on behalf of his King, to travel to their lands and help rid them of a cursed creature that plagues their people." He said this blankly, as if it were of no matter.
"And we shall go" he said forstalling her next question "not for the money, but so you can experience for yourself, the competition.

"When do we leave?"
"With the rising sun" So saying he turned and walked away.

*Ive made some effort here, I'd appreciate it if the effort was returned; spell correctly, actually think about what your going to write, add a little depth to your characters and the plot.Mainly, think about how you can fit what you want to write in with what everyone else has, so the story flows*

Finaly the ship beached itself on the island, the sun slowly setting into the horizon; nimbly leaping off the side of the ship beowulf landed with a large splash in the ocean, walking slowly out towards the sand, Ayda jumping off into the sand to follow him.

Beowulf's tall muscular frame dwarfing her; his sword more than half his size strapped to his scarred back. he walked towards the village, his tall 6'8" muscular body making everything seem small; as beowulf began to enter the town a small man ran up towards him wringing his hands and looking nervous. He looked up at the giant man's (beowulf)bare chest, and at all the scars from many battles past, and said "ar...are you beowulf?"

"yes" he growled making the small man jump "were might I find this monster?"

"he lives in a burning swamp with deadly gasses, they say he lives in a cave deep under the surface; he usually come here every once and a while to take one of our people to feast upon," the leader of the town said. "Many warriors like yourself have come after the beast, and they have all been killed."

"I am not like other men" he said pushing out his chest, "I will succeed where others have failed, i will bring you the monster's head" beowulf roared making the chief jump even more, the man began to look around nervously.

"ooooh... its getting dark." he whined, "you best get you and your men inside to rest, quickly before the beast comes; this way." man ran off into the village towards the center building.

"Come on men, we have a monster to kill!!!" beowulf roared and they ran off into the night, torches lit, swords raised. the chief just stared at them thinking 'we'll they're dead'....



*ok people follow rules and stuff, if you don't I will sick rabid squirrels on your ass,. also try not to have your signature showing, it just makes things longer, so please disable it for story books and such.*

Arrogant fool! Ayda was the only female among the group. She was as fast as any other man and strong too but that Beowulf, the idiot, did not want her to take part in the attack if the monster was found.

This new land was muddy and smelt foul, she pinched up her nose as a puddle bubbled up and a yellow coloured gas was released.

"Yuck!"

Beowulf put a finger to his lips. "Silence!" he hissed.

Ayda wanted to bite him. Why could they not rest for the night? The old man had offered them shelter but Beowulf, the so-called leader, had called them to kill. 'Come on men' he had said already forgetting that she was no man.

"We should go back to the village," she suggested drawing closer to him. "We won't find anything now. Besides, how can we be sure the 'monster' lives in a cave or here in the swamp? We'll find its tracks and following them in the daylight."

The man looked at her uncertainly. He stopped and waited for the others. They had heard what she had said and stood beside her. "What do you say?" he asked them.

"We'll go where you go, Beowulf." Someone answered. Ayda rolled her eyes.

"Does everyone agree to continue on tonight?"

There was a chorus of 'ayes' and one 'nay' from Ayda.

"Let's get going." The group began to move again.

"Women. They can't handle a bit of dirt." One man whispered to his friend.

Ayda curled her lips and stamped her foot, a spray of mud was sent across to a puddle where it sizzled and vaporised. If he dares to say that again, I'll kill him, she thought darkly.

Yeng followed the group into the swamp. He was sure to stay out of sight. If this 'thing' was real, then he'd want it to find the others first. It's not because he was a coward, far from it. He was curious to see if this group actually had what it took to do the job.
He stopped when a strange scent wafted towards him. He sniffed the air. The smell of blood and decaying bodies could be smelled past all the swamp gunk.
He said to himself, "...It's close."

Another woman in the group waa offended by being called a man, but she could see how they were mistaken. At 6 and a half feet, and with her long black hair in a bun, she looked just like any man.

Her body was heavily muscled and tanned, but her swift and agile movements belied her bulk.

Ayda signed heavily. Beowulf frowned at her. Oh golly, our dear leader doesn't even want us to breathe!

She carefully had to step across the swamp or have her feet vaporised by the acidic puddles, she bumped into one of the men and looked up at his tall frame. "Sorry," she muttered.

"It's alright." It was a woman's voice, surprised her mouth hung open.

"You're… you're a female?"

The woman seemed to think that was funny. "People are often mistaken when they think I am a man. But I don't really care."

"I'd be insulted if anyone took me for a man," she said quietly. "I mean they're so dense and full of themselves. And they believe they're always right. Huh!"

"What's your name?"

"I'm Ayda."

"Well Ayda, I'm Karma and I'm pleased to have met you." The woman bent down to speak to her. "I think we're being followed by someone." She whispered.

Yeng carefully walked through the swamp. He noticed that one of the others was starting to notice he was following them. He had grown tired of following them unoticed, so he decided to let them know who he was.
Before he went over to the group, something at the corner of his eye caught his attention. He looked to the left and saw some bushes rustling. His instincts made him unsheath his sword. A black figure jumped out of the bushes and headed towards the group with inhuman speed. Yeng dashed towards the creature's path. Before it close enough to kill anyone, Yeng lunged at it and knocked it into the swamp water. It was only inches away from killing Beowulf before Yeng intervined.
Surprised, Beowulf turned and said, "Who are you?!"
Yeng didn't take his eyes off of the swamp where the creature fell in. "Now's not the time for introductions. Our job is not yet finished."
The creature emerged from acidic swamp water. Fear gripped Yeng's heart when he saw what it was.


(OOC: I'll leave it up to you guys how this creature will look like.)

The creature very closely resembled a dragon with no wing's, Yeng eyes were transfixed as they met blood red one's.
"If your going to fight than fight man." thundered Beowulf's voice and the monstor of a man charged the beast. Yeng watched as the man delivered a serious of brutal attacks that were gracefull and perfect, it seemed the man had no flaws that perhaps he wasnt a man at all.

Ayda who had been watching knew if she was going to prove herself she had better start to fight, she charged and with one swift movement her feet left the ground as she leaped onto the creatures back. She knew if she was going to kill the monstor she had better make it quick, she had one thought on how to do it. Now on the creature's back she began to slice though the thick scales on its back, trying to keep herself steady. She noticed Beowulf was beggining to tire, perhaps this battle would indeed end in her favor.
"Yes." she thought when a spurt of greenish red blood hit her in the face, she had broke though the scale's. She drove her sword with a lighting fast motion, in pain the creature roared and bucked Ayda off of him. She fell a couple feet away, pain shot throgh her ribs but she didnt care she was victorius.

Yeng in shock of what had just happend went to the girl who had slain the monstor, yet he was not the one who got to her first.
"Are you crazy woman?" Beowulf exploded.
Looking up at him from the ground Ayda smiled.
"Whats the matter, mad because a mere woman took your glory?"