R4 entry for the MOC-Olympics
About this creation
Category: ‘Spastle Adventures’ Short story
Link to my competition’s page My opponent!
Know this, seeker of knowledge. Contained within these digi-crystals are the chronicles of Darksun, the Starbarian!
I, Lorebot the recorder, am charged with collecting the tales of the mighty Darksun, son of Wulfhurn, chief of the tribes of Gorania, Warlord protector of Slaantech, High priest of the machine cult 7.2 and King of all Proschema!
But how did the lowly wanderer, a thief, a mercenary, an outlaw, become one of the 5 glorious monarchs of the Cascade system? Select a crystal, and look inside, for the tales of his life are many and rich.
Ah, a good first choice. The Five tasks of Darksun! Observe……..
It was the year of the iron moon, when Darksun arrived in the land of Bosinh on foot. He had spent the previous months in a mercenary company under Duke Kraal of the steel city, but as usual he grew tired of routine and resigned his commission to once again seek his fortune.
With him were his companions Zinnji the green-skinned, and Gurtle the thief. Each is well known within Darksun’s history. Quiet Zinnji, owing a life debt to the starbarian, followed him willingly
Gurtle the mean, begrudging every second of Darksun’s company since trying to swindle him many moons past, and being forced to carry his baggage as penance ever since.
The companions soon came to the attentions of the authorities.
Fearing hostility, they were surprised when a technomage called Weldisan with the guardsmen proclaimed that they were expected
Indeed, he told them that “It was written in the prophecy that three would come, hungry and dusty from the road. They, it would be, who would deliver the land from sadness”. He bade them accompany him back to the palace.
Weldisan brought them before the Princess Seraph who bade them welcome. Darksun was instantly taken with her exotic beauty and readily volunteered to help her in any way he could, to the groans of his companions and the cheers of the court.
She explained that a witch called Circuitia had come to her father for aid in dark deeds, which the frail old king would not give. Furious, she unleashed a viral techno-curse which infected the palace, affecting all technology used for good – including the medical equipment keeping the king alive.
As the elderly King died, his guards attacked the witch and slew her. With her last breath, she told that the curse could only be lifted once five tasks had been successfully completed by the prophesied Dark one and his companions.
Thus informed of the curse’s demands, Darksun and his companions set off for the first task, with a promise of great rewards for success ringing in their ears. Darksun, as usual, thought of little other than treasure and the exotic Princess.
The first task called for the companions to retrieve an egg from a nest of Cyber-Harpies. These vicious creatures made their homes amongst the floating cloud-rocks high above the mountains and preyed on passing craft for the metals they coveted. They laid a clutch of eggs once a year which were said to have techno-magical properties
The companions took a Pegasi-class sled and soared into the sky. While Gurtle piloted the sled, brave Zinnji and Darksun distracted the Harpies and slipped an egg away from the nest.
The second task took them to the fetid swamps of Dunmore. Here long ago, a crazed druid-droid had summoned up an Earth Elemechtal and charged it to protect the swamp from intruders. Now the Elemechtal wandered the swamp destroying any beings it found. Local tribes had taken to offering a sacrifice to the bio-mech to placate it, and Darksun arrived to find a slave girl chained to a pillar and the mech advancing
Never one to leave a pretty damsel in distress, Darksun called for his flame-whip and battled the mech. The flame weapon burned the organic elements to cinders as it blasted away at our heroes, and Darksun was able to rescue the very grateful girl, Trinia. After a restful night for Darksun, he left the girl at her village, informing them that the Elemechtal was vanquished and that if any harm came to her he would raze their homes to the ground.
Next, the curse demanded that blood be collected from the sacred pool of the Haemogoblin. This mad beast led a cult of Orks in worshipping a great tentacled beast that lived beneath the surface of a pool in the wastelands of Formoria. The pool was fed from a spring of red that the Goblin believed was the blood of the planet, and was constantly refreshed with prisoner sacrifices from the Ork’s raids. Too many to fight with just three, Darksun relied on stealth to get to the pool with the potion bottle to be filled, until disaster struck. Greedy Gurtle, trying to steal away crystals from the poolside, fell into the pool and was snared by the beast! Darksun leapt to his aid, drawing his favoured sword ‘Steel-tooth’ and attacking the beast while Zinnji held back the Ork guards. Striking powerful blows on the creature, Darksun freed the greedy albino thief and they made good their escape while the Haemogoblin swore vengeance for desecrating his pool.
The fourth task for our heroes was to brave the necro gate and retrieve the stolen statuettes of power from the necromancer, Krow. The dark sorcerer had taken the golden artefacts many years before to power his necrotech spells and wouldn’t hand them over easily. Never one to shun an opportunity for mayhem, Darksun charged into the fray, striking down the tech-animated corpses and skeletons, only to find himself surrounded when they got back up again! Darksun, Zinnji and Gurtle employed their mightiest blows to clear themselves a path to Krow’s altar and grab the magical statuettes. Using these powerful items to fend off the undead creatures, they took to their heels with the necromancer and his horde in hot pursuit.
Thus, having angered and slain creatures across the land, Darksun and his companions faced their final and greatest challenge, to travel to the keep of darkness and defeat the Imperial Darth Knight. Looming over them in his bionic plate armour, the mighty warrior laughed his disdain at the heroes and snatched up his gigantic ripsword.
Darksun, Zinnji and Gurtle fought hard, knowing they could not withstand a single strike from the massive weapon, while the Darth knight shrugged off many of their blows. Weary from the battle, Darksun called on the spirit of his father Wulfhurn and to the war god of his people, Blut, for strength. Empowered thus, he swung Steel-tooth with all his might and hacked through the Knight’s knee. As the knight stumbled, He leapt to the shoulders of the battle suit and took his head to end the battle.
Weary yet alive, the heroes returned to the palace of Bosinh. Approaching the throne, they told of their adventures and presented the princess with the artefacts of power and the head of the Darth Knight. The Technomage Weldisan took the items and employed them in a ritual to finally lift the viral curse. To great rejoicing, the palace systems came back on line and functioned normally once more.
Amidst the celebration, The Princess Seraph approached the Starbarian and told him with a smile he could name his prize for saving the kingdom.
And Darksun did return the Princess several days later.
So, did you enjoy the tale? It is one of my favourites, but there are many, many more. This is just one step on his journey to greatness
What? Well no, it does not explain how Darksun came to be King. That is another story…………
Notes/ 4th Wall
I’ve wanted an excuse to build Spastle for a while so yippee! For the story inspiration I have drawn heavily on the Conan books (Robert E. Howard, Lin Carter and L. Sprague De Camp mainly but there are many others) which I love, and years of playing AD&D. For a visual reference, I couldn’t stop thinking of He-man cartoons and Flash Gordon (the 80’s movie version), which explains Darksun’s hair and bare chest.
My real trouble was editing back my ideas to a short story length, which is why the ‘chronicles’ format. I realise it may be a bit wordy for some, but by my standards it’s brief! Win or lose this round, I intend to come back to Darksun and look into some of the chronicles in greater depth. I imagined that a colourful character like him has had many, many adventures on the planets of the cascade system.
Thanks for looking.
Comments
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I like it |
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October 21, 2011 |
This is awesome. I love the minifigures and the techniques you used for some of the weapons. The gate is pretty cool too. |
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I like it |
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July 6, 2011 |
Nicely done. |
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I like it |
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June 1, 2011 |
Excellent work, Dude! I've always had a thing for green chicks, too, ever since the old Trek... |
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I made it |
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May 31, 2011 |
Quoting Mr. Xenomurphy
I remember that I've had a quick glance at this MOC last year, but I had been at work and therefore not enough time to enjoy it. To my shame I have to admid that I forgot to take another look at it later. This story is a cornucopia of amazing details and creative parts usages. I really hope to see more of Darksun in the near future. Btw, we used to play the Darksun RPG (a few adventures), isn't it part of the AD&D world?
Thanks man, yeah, lots of the names in here come from my former AD&D days. And i've written another adventure, I need to find the time to build it.....
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I like it |
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May 31, 2011 |
I remember that I've had a quick glance at this MOC last year, but I had been at work and therefore not enough time to enjoy it. To my shame I have to admid that I forgot to take another look at it later. This story is a cornucopia of amazing details and creative parts usages. I really hope to see more of Darksun in the near future. Btw, we used to play the Darksun RPG (a few adventures), isn't it part of the AD&D world? |
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I like it |
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January 17, 2011 |
This is some of the best spastle I've seen. Brilliant work. I like those pom-pom plants, nice use of parts there. |
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I like it |
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October 25, 2010 |
This was extraordinary :) |
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I like it |
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Cade Goertzen October 20, 2010 |
nice :> |
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I like it |
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October 12, 2010 |
Awesome :) |
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I like it |
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October 6, 2010 |
Awesome match - Your entry and Uspez's one are stunning ! Too much cool things to comment on here, so let's just it a fantastic entry :-)
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I like it |
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October 6, 2010 |
very nice, a little long but great multi-Vig, Mid, and Bignettes used for the story. |
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I made it |
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October 6, 2010 |
Quoting Matt David
How that bypassed moderation, I will never know...
Yet I am glad it did. |
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I like it |
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October 6, 2010 |
How that bypassed moderation, I will never know... |
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I like it |
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October 6, 2010 |
Hey, remember me? I'm that one guy from that one place, when we had a drink with those two girls and then...well it all gets a bit fuzzy after that. Anyway, I figure it's about time I stop neglecting my buds and start posting some durn comments. I feel like that friend that everyone has - you know, the one that when you try to call him he never picks up his phone, and then eventually a few days later he calls you back and he's like "Oh, hey man - yeah, sorry, I....I was in the shower..." but you know perfectly well he wasn't in the shower nor was he likely disposed at all and was merely blowing off your call...Yeah I feel like that guy. Where were we? Oh yeah. It was funny, when I read the category as "Short Story" I thought to myself, "Ehhh, something tells me Stu's won't be THAT short..." In terms of "nailing" the category, I think Lee already used the best metaphor (sword to hilt? Fantastic!), so I'll go with the slightly more risque one: You nailed it like two sorority pledges after one-dollar-domestics night at the local bar. HIYO! Good to be back! |
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I like it |
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October 5, 2010 |
time to beak out the D 20's, this is D&Dtastic! Great figs mate, congrats... |
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You didn't nail this category - you buried a 12" spike with a 5-pound sledge right to the hilt. Smoking job, and you have my vote. Lee. |
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I like it |
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October 4, 2010 |
Wow! The figs are great, as are the awsome sets. |
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I like it |
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October 4, 2010 |
very epic and awesome story. |
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I like it |
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October 4, 2010 |
You got my vote! ~ Chris. |
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I like it |
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October 4, 2010 |
nice story, the figs and various techno/castle stuff is great. |
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I like it |
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October 4, 2010 |
Amazing. I had He Man in my head, all of the time. The throne and tentacles part are my favourit, no, I mean the Darth knight, no, I mean...well, all of it! This is a strong entry to compete with Morbo's. Good luck with your judges. |
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I like it |
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October 4, 2010 |
Wow, great figs, great sets, great little story. Most excellent entry! |
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I like it |
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October 4, 2010 |
Read the whole thing! Excellently done, and all the figs and creatures are amazing. Good job! |
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I like it |
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October 4, 2010 |
The pictures are amazing, the MechaVader is awesome, the figs looks great; I'll read the story later, for sure. |
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I made it |
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October 4, 2010 |
Quoting otis williams
awesome if i had to chose between u and ur conntender i think it mite be your cause yours is more awesome also where did u get darksun's armor sholder-pads
Thank you, that's kind of you to say so.
The Shoulder pads were from the Prince of Persia set 'Desert Attack' (£10 here in the UK) which is just figs and a horse, but the figs have nice parts like the armour, turban wraps, silver katana, etc. |
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I like it |
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October 4, 2010 |
awesome if i had to chose between u and ur conntender i think it mite be your cause yours is more awesome also where did u get darksun's armor sholder-pads |
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I like it |
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October 4, 2010 |
Those hover horses are Awesome ! I wanted to make one for my entry but I couldn't come up with an efficient design, great job on mechs and story too, good luck |
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I like it |
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October 4, 2010 |
Very much in the spirit of 80's fantasy adventure movies, there can never be enough quests! The Conan inspiration was awesomely obvious from the start. Great vehicles! You definitely brought a lot of competition with this, good luck to you too! |
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I like it |
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October 4, 2010 |
Hmmm... That ship at the end gives me an idea... |
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I like it |
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October 4, 2010 |
Oh wow! Some great builds, not to mention the usual killer story telling skills. The throne room was a highlight for me... I wonder who recently bought a certain Lego Games set... also 3:08am?! Crikey! XD |
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I like it |
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October 4, 2010 |
Quite the enjoyable read. The dioramas aided the storytelling marvelously. |
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I like it |
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October 4, 2010 |
Oh yes, this is absolutely amazing! Every build uses pieces and minifigs in imaginative ways to create really striking scenes. And the quality of the writing is top-notch too. Good luck with the judges! |
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I like it |
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October 4, 2010 |
Best use of pom-poms to date. As Heath pointed out, your minifigs are inspired, with Hemogoblin being my favorite name. From beginning to end, this is a top-notch build. Good luck~H |
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I like it |
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October 4, 2010 |
Wow that's extreme! You have a real knack for storytelling and an impressive array of builds! I don't know which part I liked best, it was all amazing. So much work, well done! |
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I like it |
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October 3, 2010 |
Fan-freaking-tastic Stu! You've got a great story, some amazing builds, and all the fun of the classic Conan the Barbarian stories. Great job, and best of luck! |
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I like it |
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October 3, 2010 |
This was fantastic! I usually don't read long MOCs, but this one was really entertaining. I hope you continue the series, and I hope you get far in the competition. You definitely deserve a favorite :) |
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I like it |
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October 3, 2010 |
Earth Elemechtal, nuff said. I seriously do not envy the judges on this one. One of your best, and that's saying quite a bit. |
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I like it |
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October 3, 2010 |
Ahhhh L. Sprague....a favorite of mine as well. This is absolutely stunning Stu!!! What a way to go to bed man! I think we will be seeing you in the next round my friend. The amazing amounts of creativity put into the minifigs makes me incredibly jealous!! I can't seem to do much more than what they give me in the normal sense. I'm seriously floored at this entry. Bravo sir....BRAVO!!!! |
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I like it |
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October 3, 2010 |
The third one is my favorite, but all the sets are amazing! Great work, I think we'll be seeing you in Round 5! |
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I like it |
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October 3, 2010 |
I give you 5 (*) (*) (*) (*) (*) and a (_!_) !!! Holy awesome entry! |
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I like it |
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October 3, 2010 |
Stu, this is amazing! I love the princess' throne; great use of those game elements! Good luck! |
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