Lore Creation - Derifos (Faust request) - Finished

Part 1: Derifos' Agreement
“They are up ahead sir, it appears they are on the ground for now. I think this is a good time to strike!” said a figure in a hooded cloak.

“Gather three men, we will move into position.” said the leader of the dunewalkers, Derifos.

Derifos was a strategic leader and was always an intelligent one. He took time to attack, he never rushed a battle, and his attacks were always swift and stealthy. As he instructed the young Draksar to gather more men, he stared at the Voil camp. It angered him that the wretched flying creatures were creating a fire and sitting down to eat, in his desert! The soldier came back with three other men and Derifos nodded his head. Just then, they all seemed to blend in with the sand. Once they were invisible, they sprinted down the dune. All of them were very agile as they jumped and slid threw the sand. Derifos signalled a halt about 10 steps from the camp. All five of them drew their blades, walked slowly toward five of the seven Voils. Derifos reappeared beside the fire. The Voils drew back in surprise.

“Why are you scorching our sands with your primitive fire hole?” said Derifos, as he stepped on the fire to put it out.

“Get back Draksar scum, your outnumbered by quite a lot. You wouldn't want to die now would you?” taunted a Voil.

Suddenly, the other four dunewalkers appeared behind four other Voils and stabbed all of them in the heart. The other two Voils were fast enough to get up in the air and fly away before they got stabbed...

When Derifos got back to his base camp, he saw a Draksar Consulate waiting in this hut. She told Derifos that he had to come back to Valdac to speak to, Valdac. Derifos knew that not very many Dragonkin got to meet Valdac, let alone speak to him! This occasion must be extremely important. When Derifos arrived in Valdac, he was taken to Valdac's castle. It sat atop a small mountain, that overlooked the New Empire.

“Derifos, how glad I am that you have come! The Kingdom of New Valdac is in great danger! While travelling in The Dunes, my soldiers have come across bug like creatures that were found buried in the sand. Luckily they made it home safe, and the brought back one of these creatures. It is enclosed in an impervious cage to keep us all safe.” said Valdac, the Avatar of Creation.

“What are you asking me to do Valdac?” Derifos said.

“What I am asking of you Derifos, is that you exterminate these infernal creatures. We do not need bugs like these destroying our crops or making The Dunes a dangerous place to travel. The one we have is only a baby. You must find the source of these to actually destroy all possible chance of them repopulating.”

“And in return... I will get?”

“I will grant you powers that no mortal being has ever received. You will also be accepted into Valdac again, Derifos. The people of Valdac will thank you for your service. You could return, Derifos, if you just accomplish this one task. What do you say?”

Derifos thought long and hard about what Valdac was offering... To return to his home, his people,... his family...

“I will need to see this creature. I will also need to know exactly where you found it. If what you say is true Valdac, we must act quickly...”

Part 2: The Journey
Valdac led Derifos to a small room inside the castle. The room was dark and inside it sat a square box, no bigger than a fully grown Draksar. The box was full of sand, nothing else could be seen.

“Here it is, Derifos. There isn't much to see since it spends all of it's time under the sand.” said Valdac.

“May I touch the box?” asked Derifos.

“You may.” answered Valdac.

Derifos walked over to the box and placed his hand on the side of it. He closed his eyes... Inside his head he could 'see through' the sand. He found the creature buried in the sand, it appeared to be asleep. Derifos saw a few small tunnels that were made in the sand. Derifos stared at the creature for a few more seconds and stepped back beside Valdac.

“Okay, I know what the creature looks like. Now I have to speak with the soldiers who found it.” said Derifos.

“Follow me.” said Valdac.

Valdac led Derifos to a small camp outside the castle. Every Dragonkin Valdac walked past bowed. As their gaze fell on Derifos, they stood up but did not look away. No one has seen Derifos for quite a long time...

“The Dragonkin who brought back the creature are through those doors. I must return to my castle now to take care of some important business. The soldiers in that camp will help you on your quest, they are at your command. Good luck with your journey, and remember how much of an importance it is that you kill all of these creatures.” said Valdac.

“Thank you for this opportunity, Valdac.”

Derifos walked into the camp and was met with many stares. Some didn't even look at Derifos. He noticed this and walked toward the doors Valdac had pointed out. Derifos opened them and walked in. He saw a group of Draksar in the back corner talking and drinking. He also saw two Draksar soldiers sitting to his left. Derifos assumed these two Dragonkin were the ones who found the creature.

“Are you two the ones who found the creature buried in The Dunes?” asked Derifos.

“Yeah, that wretched thing stabbed me with it's horn! I almost didn't make it home!” replied a Draksar solider, his name was Jzarh.

“We found the bugger just south of the Sand Hills. The place was swarming with them!” said the other soldier, W'arx.

“I know the place, it has been deserted for thousands of years... You are sure that was where you found it?” questioned Derifos.

“Yes! Honest!” Jzarh said.

Derifos couldn't remember the last time he had been near Sand Hills. Nothing like that creature has ever been found before. He thought it could be the result of a Hyaenid ritual gone wrong, or maybe it had something to do with the Voils that Derifos and his students had killed. There were many ideas floating around in Derifos' head, but only one thing was clear...

“Gather up your men Jzarh, we are moving out. Now..."

Part 3: MYX
Jzarh went outside to gather 2 groups of Draksar warriors. They were considered the best in Valdac. As Jzarh prepared his fighters, Derifos followed W'arx to their form of transportation.

“You want me to ride in that!?” said Derifos.

“Yeah, the Sand Hills are a long way away from here. Without one of these it would take us months.” replied W'arx

Derifos just starred at the contraptions W'arx presented. They were some form of buggy that is pulled by two Destroyers.

“Trust me, they can go fast.”

“But not quietly. We can not let our presence be known.” argued Derifos.

“Well then walk! Taking these is the only choice we have. Either ride with us, or your on your own kiddo.”

Derifos sighed and got on...

~~1 day later~~

It was early morning when they got to Sand Hills. Derifos was fast asleep, dreaming about his past life. He dreamt of his wife and child... His job... The things that haunted Derifos the most about his previous work, was all the faces he sees and all the cries he hears.... He didn't want to go back to that.

“Wake up kiddo, were here.” said W'arx.

Derifos shot up from his slumber and looked for his spear. When he realized he was not in danger, he tried to regain his composure. W'arx chuckled at him and patted him on the shoulder.

“Come on, you gotta see this.”

When Derifos walked off the buggy, the first thing he noticed was the noise. There was a high pitched buzzing noise coming from every direction. He tried to walk a step farther, but Jzarh lay a hand on his arm.

“You wouldn't want to do that.” he said.

“And why not? I know the sands like the back of my hands! (I'm a poet )” said Derifos.

“Watch...” as Jzarh said this, he took out a piece of meat and threw it onto the sand. When the meat hit the ground, the sand around it seemed to sink and the meat vanished. After the meat was gone, the sand returned to its normal height.

“Oh.... Thanks...” said Derifos.

“Never go out alone kiddo, the chances of that happening is lower than when you go out with someone else.” instructed W'arx

It took an hour for the warriors to get ready, they just couldn't stop stuffing their faces. Finally, when the Draksar were done eating, Jzarh led them out into the open sand. Derifos followed behind them, studying the ground...

“Whats that up ahead!” shouted a Draksar solider.

Everyone looked ahead and saw a gigantic structure. It looked similar to the Hives that are found around the Sundered Lands boarders. The structure was surrounded by thousands and thousands of the same creatures Derifos saw in Valdac. There were symbols on the structure that seemed to form the shapes of Dragonkin writing. The shapes looked like the letters M, Y, and X. It seemed that Derifos wasn't the only one who noticed this...

“Is it just me, or do those shapes on that statue look like M, Y, and X?” asked W'arx.

“Hmmm, MYX... Yes, I do believe so...” replied Jzarh.

“Well, day 1 and we found out what to call them... I'm kinda hungry, I say we take a break and have some food!” suggested one of the soldiers.

All the Draksars agreed that it was a good idea to eat, expect Derifos. He wanted to explore the structure more...

“Well, I guess I will have to wait until tomorrow for that...”

Part 4: The Unexpected Expedition
The meal went on for quite some time, it seemed endless. There were no words spoken during the feast, everyone was too busy eating. Derifos did not have the hunger that normal Draksar's had, he rarely ate at all. He tried to start conversations, but all he got were grunts or snarls. Derifos was frustrated with this, so he wandered outside the camp. He started to recall his past life a little more...

He was a paid spy for the Sundered Lands empire. His missions usually consisted of 3 things. One, locate target. Two, take out the target. And three, return home without a trace. All of his missions were successful, except his last one... Derifos was ordered to kill a traitor to the Sundered Lands, and all of his family. When Derifos got to the location, he looked threw a window to the house to asses the situation. All he saw were a small Dragonkin and his father. The Dragonkin was holding a small sword with jagged edges, the father was teaching him how to hold it. Derifos was watching intently. It reminded him of his own father that had passed away just last month. Derifos' feelings got into the way of his mission, so he left the house and went underground. When he arose from hiding he was exiled from Valdac, and never to return...

Derifos turned to go back inside the camp, trying to put all those thoughts behind him. But accidentally, since he was so lost in thought, he stepped the wrong way! When his foot hit the sand, it caved in from underneath. Derifos struggled to regain his balance, trying to grab at a post in the sand. Once he reached it, he held on to it for dear life, but unfortunately the 'post' was in fact a sword! It couldn't hold Derifos' weight, so he pulled the sword from the sand and went falling into the crumbling ground beneath him...

When Derifos awoke from the fall, he was surrounded by Myx Drones. He couldn’t move for some reason. Derifos looked down to find that the sword was stuck in his left leg! The Myx were pushing Derifos along the ground by their horns. After a few minutes of being pushed along the ground, Derifos was somehow pushed all the way up onto one of the Drones backs. After a while of being carried, Derifos gained some strength to pull the sword from his leg. It wasn't long until his wound was fully regenerated. Just as he was back to normal, he was tossed off the Myx's back onto the ground. He hadn't even bother to look at the surroundings yet.

“Incredible....” he said.

Derifos was looking upward. He seemed to be on the first floor of the Hive structure he saw the other day. There were spherical pockets spiralling up, it looked like there were creatures inside of them. When his head moved down he came face to eye with a gigantic beast (otherwise known as a Myx Broodlord). It's whole eye was bigger than Derifos' head! The creature stood tall on six legs, it had a huge horn just above its eyes. Derifos was so startled he dropped his sword. There was a loud high-pitched scream coming from behind the Broodlord. It crawled out of the way, and what Derifos saw next was a creature the same height as the Broodlord. But his one... Was female, and it didn't look happy...

Part 5: The Memory of Derifos
The female creature (Myx Matriarch) crawled up to Derifos. He stood upright with his chest puffed out, trying not to show any fear. The Matriarch appeared to be studying Derifos like it was an inspection. After a few minutes of painful silence, the Matriarch screamed toward the Broodlord. It got up and started to push Derifos toward a tunnel.

The tunnel led to a small chamber with some sort of locked entrance. Derifos could see a whole party of Draksar's within the small cage. The Broodlord stuck it's horn into a small hole which opened the small circular door. Derifos was pushed inside, he heard the door seal behind him. The Draksar in the cage did not speak to Derifos, except one.

“Over here. Come. Now...” said one of the Draksar.

“What do you want?” replied Derifos as he walked slowly over towards the strange Dragonkin.

“You are. Derifos. Dunewalker. Yes?”

“Correct, and you are?”

“Clud. Forerunner.”

“Hmm, Clud. How did your party of Draksar get captured in this wretched place?”

“No time for talk. There is. Way to escape. We have been. Digging for quite some time. Come. Look.”

Clud led Derifos to the back of the dome. Derifos saw a small hole in the ground.

“We have been. Working on for long time. Leads up to surface. Alas, too small. For me.”

“Hey, I could solve that problem for you. We might actually have a shot of getting out of here.”

Derifos controlled the sand to move back, creating a big enough tunnel for Clud to get through. Clud smiled.

“I go. Tell others. They come and save us.”

Derifos laughed “Ha! Like they will safe us, they're probably too busy eating.”

“No. I tell Valdac. He save us.”

“You think you can get there in time, it took us 3 days! Besides, do you even know the way to get home?”

“Listen me, I find 'em.”

And after Clud said those final words, he leaped into the tunnel faster than Derifos could even blink. After a few seconds of just standing there, the sand tunnel collapsed. Derifos's powers were not as strong anymore. He though it was due to the Hive structure. Maybe it was surrounded in some sort of force field? Derifos sat down and started to fall asleep...

~~3 hours later~~

Derifos shot up straight, his hand went to his dagger holster. He began to realized where he was again. He then remembered about Clud. Derifos had doubts that Clud would come back before everyone in the cage was eaten. Travelling to Valdac and back from the Sand Hills would take even the best Forerunner a day. Derifos couldn't wait any longer, he felt his powers return slightly. He began to devise a plan on how to escape. First he would use his dagger to hack at the walls of the cage. This would arouse the guards, and so they would open the door to stop him. Then the other Draksars would charge at the guards killing them, then they would fight their way to freedom! Derifos though this was better than just waiting around for Clud, so he initiated phase 1.

Derifos drew his dagger and slashed the walls of the cage. Surprisingly, the guards unsealed the door and headbutted Derifos on the side of his chest. Other Draksars noticed the door open and began to fight through the Myx to get free. Obviously the Draksar killed the Drones quite easily. Before all the Draksar were out of the cage, there was a shrieking sound coming from the centre of the Hive. Derifos thought this would be an alarm because of what he had done, but there were no guards rushing in or anything. An explosion rocked the Hive structure. Derifos, along with the other Draksar fell over in the blast. Derifos had no idea what was happening on the outside, before he even had time to finish this thought, another explosion occurred. Derifos stumbled around for a second, then realized that the explosion caused a rock wall to black his path! Derifos tried to think quickly before another explosion hit. Since the only exit is blocked, he thought he would try shifting the sands like he did before for Clud.

“Everyone! I am Derifos, the Dunewalker and if you want to live, listen up! Follow me back to the cage, I shall create a tunnel leading to the surface! Come with me!”

Derifos was astonished when the Dragonkin did exactly what he instructed. They followed him to the cage, but just before Derifos started to work the sand, another explosion hit the Hive. Derifos got up again and quickly created a tunnel for the Draksars to get out. One by one they all went though and helped one another out. After everyone got out safe, Derifos jumped into the tunnel. He crawled up the hole and got 1 hand on the surface and then anoth- BOOM!! A fourth explosion rocked the whole Hive, and this time, the Hive toppled over crashing with a thud on the sand...

As the sand began to clear from the tremendous crash, the Draksar began to get up. There were over 50 soldiers scouring the area for any Myx, and helping other Dragonkin out of the rubble. Valdac himself was even there, helping where he could. There was also Clud, he was there too. Not helping kill the Myx, nor lifting Dragonkin out of the wreckage, no... He was in search for Derifos.

“Derifos! Derifos!” Clud called out.

“Derifos!?” Valdac shouted.

Soon, every Dragonkin in the Sand Hills was calling out in search of Derifos. Met with no reply...


“Some say Derifos didn't die. They say he vanished in the sand, returned back to the Dunes to live in peace. Others say he died in the explosion. Dragonkin ask me what I think happened, I tell them as long as the Sundered Lands remain strong, Derifos will continue to live on, whether it be in life, or death. His sacrifice will never be forgotten...” - quote from Valdac in the Tome of the Ancients

 

Kudos my friend good read

 

My mind read Doritos. I think I am hungry.

 

Burritos

 

Great, now I keep reading it like that.

Thank you! Happy that you like it so far, second part will be out tomorrow or Friday.

 

another good one! nice work.

Lol! same!

 

Part 2 is coming out today! Prepare yourself!

 

Part 2 is now ready to be read! Enjoy!

 

This story was fun to read so is Derifo's some exile draksar who screwed up? I would like to see more of reads like this in forums.

 

Was fun until 4 dunewalkers stabbed the voils in the heart. Then I decided I'd rather read something else.

 

Sorry bud, mature subject matter.

 

There is no actual lore behind Derifos (that I know of), it was just something I made up myself.

 

Subject is good, fantasy creatures killing each other isn't particularly mature or gross. The language was uninvolved, simplistic and repetitive.

 

I don't normally participate in fanfic threads (I question the point when the official source is still active), but I agree with this because a cursory glance reveals a number of grammatical/spelling errors that make reading this immediately less appealing. The individual speakers also share a tone (yours) that detracts from the unique personalities they are expected to have.

If you make an effort to polish up these short stories a bit, I'd imagine more would take the time to read and appreciate your work.

 

Maybe instead of just saying my writing is repetitive and simplistic and then leaving, you could post constructive feedback. I also don't have anyone to proof read these stories so their might (will) be some mistakes. I'm not really an English class pro, I just enjoy writing some lore about cool runes. I'm not studying to be a novel writer or English professor, these are just for fun! So if your more interested about the spelling/grammar than the actual story, then you can go elsewhere.

 

If one of my comments points to the lack of differing tones between speakers, that implies I do care about more than just spelling/grammar.

I'm not here to attack you rather I felt it worthwhile to clarify his post with more specific feedback. If you can't see that my post contains objectively constructive criticism, I'd suggest you're being overprotective of your work.

That said, I'll "go [elsewhere]."

 

The post wasn't directed towards you. More so, the guy above your post.

 

Bump. The third and final part of this story will be a little late. It will be posted on Thursday of this week. Sorry for the huge delay.

 

Good read, only thing that really irked me was it would make alot more sense if Valdac lived in a roost instead of a castle. That said I really like someone taking initiative to write some lore. I was always fan of the poxnora lore and were greatly saddened when SOE decided to remove it, now with new (old) leadership maybe its time to reconsider this aspect of the game.

 

Thanks for the comment! I wrote castle because I couldn't think of a different work for such a place at that time. While I was writing the second part I thought I would use the word palace instead? Anyway, 3rd part will be out tomorrow!