The Defence (or offence) Of Arakoram

Once

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In the land of Aldegund, there were many cities, but the greatest of these was Arakoram. Arakoram's city walls towered above the heads of even the Apotosaurs.

Dinosaurs???

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So, after many years of greatness, King Ginkovere died, passing the kingship down to his eldest son, Algador. Algador had a younger brother, Wethrother, who was evil. Algador was noble and brave and good, but somewhat foolish.

In case you were wondering, the queen had died many years ago.

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Wethrother stole money from the kingdom for a long time. Then Algador banished him, when he was caught red-handed. Wethrother left and went straight to the city of Dulio, planning revenge on his brother.

Now Dulio was a fairly prosperous city, with a strong military. It was ruled by Debrinim.

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Wethrother came to the city and waited until two specific guards were on duty. He called up at the guards, "It's me, Wethrother!" The guards let him in. "Friends," whispered Wethrother, "It's time." The guards replied, "It's time."

Now for the scheme to be put in action...

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King Debrinim wasn't married and had no heir, which was why Wethrother targeted that city. Anyway...

Kinbg Debrinim was sitting in his throne room when one of the wallguards came in, dragging Wethrother behind him. He said, "Your majesty, this stranger came upon our city gates and ordered us to open them and let him in. He respnded by slaying the other guard on duty with an arrow. I had his weapons confiscated..." "Hush. So, stranger, what do you have to say for yourself?" Wethrother replied, "I have only one thing to say...

upon

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beware of rebels, because one will kill you, NOW!" As he spoke, an arrow flew in through the window and killed Debrinim. Wethrother walked calmly up to the dead Debrinim, and took Debrinim's sword. He turned to the other guard. He said, "Good work, my servant. You are not useful to me any more. Goodbye!" And he neatly beheaded the guard.

gasp...

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Wethrother had two more things to take care of, the other guard, and the city's loyalty. He decided to take both on at once, confident of his success. He sent some servants around the castle (in the center of the city) to say to all the soldiers that their king summons then to the courtyard. As the army gathered in the courtyard, they murmered among themselves as to when the king would step out.

What a surprise they had when...

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Wethrother stepped out, dressed in royal clothes. After a moment of stunned silence, a general called out, "You're not our king!" And a clamour arose. Wethrother silenced them by pricking a T-rex's (that was the most popular dino in that city) tail with his sword. The T-rex roared, and a hush fell on all the people.

Wethrother began to speak.

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He said, "Your dear king Debrinim called for this assembly just a quarter of an hour ago. You see, I am his cousin, and he wished to have me be his heir. he summoned me to this great city, and was about to go to this assembly to announce me as his heir when he was slain! He was killed by a rebellious guard! One who is RIGHT IN YOUR MIDST! HIM!!!" He pointed at the other guard. The guard had time for a despairing scream before he was pierced by numerous weapons, ranging from javelins and lances to arrows and slingstones.

"And now, as Debrinim wished, I am king. I AM KING WETHROTHER!" "LONG LIVE KING WETHROTHER! LONG LIVE KING WETHROTHER!"

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Wethrother called out, "There will be no more sitting around trading for your money! There will be no more toiling and living off the land! For we will march to war, and conquer! WE WILL SUCCEED!!!" "LONG LIVE KING WETHROTHER! LONG LIVE KING WETHROTHER! WE MARCH TO WAR! WE MARCH TO WAR!"

So Wethrother became king, and started a military campaign against the entire land of Aldegund. Soon he controled 3 cities.

medeval-imaginary-prehistoric

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When Algador got news of Wethrother, he considered his options. He could wait until Wethrother owned all the other cities and then waged war on him, or he could start a war right now before Wethrother got too powerful, or he could... his contemplating was interrupted by a walltop sentry knocking on the door and saying, "Majesty! Wethrother's army is coming our way! What is to be done?" Algador sighed. "At least this has spared me the decision" he muttered, "And what now? I guess the immediate thing is to defend our walls. Sentry!" "Yes, majesty!" "Go and call my generals to me, and the Keepers of Dinosaurs." "Yes, sir!" "I'm MAJESTY to you, remember?" "Sorry, majesty!"

Now things start to get intersting (not like they haven't been interesting already)...

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Algador's generals, Yamo, Exao, and Floro, and the Keepers of the Dinosaurs (too many to name) all entered the throne room. Algador says, "So what is the strength of the enemy's forces, compared to ours?" "Well," said Yamo, "We command 50,000 soldiers, and they command 150,000 soldiers." "Not good, my general." "I know so, my king." "How about the dinos?" The Cheif Keeper of Dinosaurs replied, "We have about 100 apotosaurs, and they have 127.2 T-rexes, 12 microceratopses..." Algador blurted out, "What use are THOSE, for goodness' sake! Dinos the size of a CHICKEN? And what about 127.2 T-rexes. POINT TWO???" "I do not know, Majesty, why they have microceatopses. The point two stands for the remains of the last dino they killed and ate." "HOW DO YOU KNOW ALL THIS? I NEVER ORDERED ANY SPIES TO BE SENT OUT!!!"

"Your majesty," said Floro, "it was a young woman by the name of Karwyn, who created a thing called a telescope. She is a genius, mark my words, majesty! Also very beautiful." Alagor splutters, "And you didn't think of asking my permission?!?" "Majesty, we are generals..." "I KNOW THAT! Where is this Karwyn? I must speak with her!" "Majesty, she is in the observatory" "OBSERVATORY?" "Yes, she invented it..." "ARGH!!!" and he stormed out of the room.

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The generals and Keepers of Dinosaurs looked at each other. "In MY opinion," said Exao, "King Algador is not very good at managing wars." "True." Yamo added, "so it looks like we're in charge." "Ok, let's go!" said Floro. The Cheif Keeper of Dinos bowed and said, "Your wish is my command. As stated, the King is excellent in peacetime, but tends to slacken in wartime. Let's go!" So the generals began disscussing with the Cheif K.O.D. (abbreviation from now on) dissmissing all other people.

Meanwhile, Algador was racing through the castle to reach the observatory. He found it. From Karwyn's point of view...

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WHAM! The observatory door flew open. In storms an argry-looking man in fine clothes wearing a crown and he yells, "KARWYN!!!" Karwyn jumps. She says, "What... who... how do you..." King Algador interrupts and starts tirading at her. "You have built things without MY permission in MY kingdom, and are reputed to be a GENIUS and how in ALDEGUND did you get into my city and WHAT are you DOING and..." on and on and on. Karwyn bears it for about 300 seconds. Then she loses her temper.

She walks slowly and deliberatly over to the king. She looks him straight in the eye and says, "Shut... your... TRAP!" King Algador is stunned. He stares at her blankly for a moment, and then says, "I'll have you locked up for this!" Karwyn says, "Oh no you won't, because I'm a girl. And I THINK you should leave plenty of room in your dungeons for the prisoners from this WAR that is being planned while you are standing here yelling at me. I say get on with your buissness and I'll get on with mine." Algador's face turns an unhealthy shade of purple.

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He lunges at Karwyn, roaring like mad. Karwyn neatly sidesteps him and whacks him in the back of the head. She glances out the window and cheerily says, "I do belive, sir, that your brother's army has arrived." Algador, startled, looks up and out the window. Promptly forgetting Karwyn, he dashes out the door. Karwyn smiles and resumes watching Wethrother's army.

After an hour or two, Floro came in. "Any news?" "Nope, but they seem to be building catapaults" "Oh NO! That Wethrother! He knows this city cannot stand against catapaults. There's nothing for it. We will all die!" Karwyn stops him on his way to the door. "Unless..." Floro stares at her, his mouth wide open. "Woaaaaahhhh..."

times

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Floro brings Karwyn down to where the other generals are. Exao, Yamo, and Cheif K.O.D. all look up. Exao says, "So our little princess came up with another plan, did she now?" Karwyn starts, "I'm not..." Yamo interrupts. "Exao! Be nice to the lady! Now, Karwyn, what is this brilliant plan of yours? And how's your gerbil, er, er, whats-his-name?" Karwyn says, "His name is Steddy, and I call him Stedd. Now, as for my plan..." They disscuss it and add to it. So the war begins...

Wethrother was reaxing in his luxurious tent. His general comes in and says, "Someone is waving a white flag over in the city." Wethrother says, "Mwaha, those fools must have seen the catapaults. Time for them to surrender! Or else..." "My leige, the catapaults will take another day to build." "Try and hurry up with it ok? Now let's go talk to them. Megaphone, please!" So they walk (or rather, saunter) out of the tent. Wethrother puts the megaphone to his lips and says...

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"WHO AM I TALKING WITH?" "ALGOADOR, KING OF ARAKORAM!" "ARE YOU GOING TO SURRENDER?" silence, and then: "NO! WE WILL CRUSH YOU LIKE A ELEPHANT CRUSHES A GNAT?" "WHAT IF THE ELEPHANT MISSES AND THE GNAT BITES THE ELEPHANT?" "THE ELEPHANT WOULD CRUSH THE GNAT WHILE IT BITES!" "HOW WOULD IT DO THAT IF IT IS BEING BITTEN?" While the kings debated over elephants and gnats, Karwyn and the three generals had assembled the army. Karwyn, Floro, and Yamo all rode apotosaurs. Exao was riding a horse. "Are we ready?" "YES!"

Karwyn pats her apotosaur. "Ready, Thwyn? 1, 2, 3, POUND!!!" The apotosaur rears up or its hind legs, and slams both front paw/feet things onto the main gate. It bursts open and the army charges out, in perfect silence.

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It takes Wethrother and the general a moment or two to realize what was going on. Wethrother yells though the megaphone, "ATTACK!!! ATTACK!!! RISE UP AND FIGHT!!!" and keeps on doing so until he is swept off of his feet by an apotosaur. He screams as he is dangles in the air and dropped down onto his own soldiers. He crashes to the ground.

It took only half an hour to defeat Wethrother's army, thanks to the element of surprise and the mighty destructive powers of the dinosaurs.

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The remainder of the army re-entered the city. Everyone is happy. Exept Algador, who is still angry at Karwyn, and is infuriated by the generals, who did Karwyn's plan without asking. So Algador went up to his chamber and called for the generals and Karwyn. He has a few guards come too.

When the generals and Karwyn enter the room, they hear, "Lock them up!" They find themselves set upon by guards who knock them out.

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They regain conciousness inside of a prison cell. They groan and disscuss what happened. "That Algador!" says Yamo, "He had us locked up just because we didn't ask permission, and we SAVED THE CITY!" "I know! How DARE he!" said Floro. This let to a bout of insults hurled at Algador (not that he could hear).Then Exao said, "Wonder what he's going to do with us." Just then a guard came up to the cell, carrying food.

The guard said, "Here's your meal. Enjoy it, for you shall die in the morning!" He recieved stunned silence from the captives. When the guards had gone, Yamo forestalled any furious comments by saying, "So... how do we get out of here?!?"

...

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They all looked at each other. Karwyn blurted out, "Steddy!!!". Instantly a small, furry head pokes out of Karwyn's pocket. "Squeak?" Karwyn looked at Steddy and said, "Hey Steddy, could you get us out of here?" "Squeak." Steddy waved his tail and scurried out of the cell between the bars. Exao said to Karwyn, "Are you SURE this geril can help?" Karwyn answered, "Yes. He is a very intellegent gerbil."

Now Steddy, being a very intellegent gerbil, made his way over to the head guard. He climbed carefully up his leg and pickpocketed the keys. He carefully climbed down again. He snuck off with hardly a sound. Unfortunately, a guard noticed him. "HEY!!!" he roared. Steddy swiftly sprang into the air and latched onto the guard's leg. He scuttled up onto his back where the guard couldn't reach, and...

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bit. "YOW!!!!" roared the guard. As the guard spun around, Steddy sprung off at just the right moment and hurled into the cell where the generals and Karwyn were kept, landing on Floro's soft tunic. Steddy darted into Karwyn's pocket. The guard approached and said, "Have you seen a small, golden-furred rodent with a long tail?" Karwyn replied in sweetly, "Why would we have seen one? After all, we are only poor prisoners waiting to be executed by your foolish king for saving his city." The guard, baffled, said, "Er, yes. And don't you forget it!" He left.

While all of this was happening, Wethrother (who was not dead) had snuck into the city with two loyal soldiers through the underground canal. He waited for night. In the dead of night they crept into the castle.

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As Wethrother was creeping into the castle, Karwyn held Steddy up to the lock. Steddy opened it. Then Karwyn+generals stepped out. Yamo said, "Come on, let's leave this city and find a home somewhere else." The rest of them agreed. Then Exao said, "Wouldn't it be better to split up?" They all agreed on this too. Yamo and Karwyn would go to the southern gate while Floro and Exao would go to the North gate. They were still traveling together when...

They just happened to crash into Wethrother and his two soldiers!!! (i'm pretty sure you guessed that) Instantly Exao roared with shock while Floro and Yamo drew their swords. Karwyn darted behind Yamo and reached for her secret dagger. The two soldiers bolted. Exao and Floro tore after them. Wethrother dashed off in another direction. Yamo and Karwyn went after him. Wethrother was fast and got ahead. Karwyn was hampered by her dress so Yamo got ahead of her. Karwyn stopped and rested a moment, and then she ran on. The scene that met her eyes when she caught up was...

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King Algador lying murdered in bed, and Yamo and Wethrother slowly circling each other. Wethrother said, "So, general, you want to avenge your dead king, eh? The one who locked you up after you saved his city?" Yamo's voice grated harsh as steel as he said, "I am not fighting you to avenge the fool. I am fighting you because it is the right thing to do!" They clashed and the ringing of sword upon sword filled the room.

Slash! Thrust! Parry! Block! They whirled around and around. Yamo was cut on his arm. Wethrother was hust in his leg. They kept at it, whirling round in the Dance of the Blades. Eventually, Wethrother disarmed Yamo and raised his sword for a killing thrust. Karwyn groped wildly in her pockets for something to throw. She threw... Steddy! Steddy flew through the air and landed on Wethrother's ear, and...

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bit. Yamo grabbed his sword and watched in stupefied amazement as... "YOWOWOW ACHOO! OWACHOO! ACHOO! A..A.. CHOOO! GERROFFACHOO!" Wethrother leapt about on one foot because of his injured leg, trying to swat off the gerbil but was unable to because of his bouts of sneezeing. Wethrother was allergic to gerbils!!!As Wethrother jumped around, he made his way slowly to the window. He hurled himself out of the window, just as Floro and Exao were walking along below, after killing the soldiers. Karwyn dashed to the window and hurled herself out, screaming, "STEDDYYYYYY!!!" Exao looked up and Karwyn carshed down on Exao. Exao pushed her off him. He smiled and said, "Milady, would you mind not doing any more window-diving lessons while I'm below you? And don't worry about Steddy, Floro has him." Steddy poked his head out of Floro's pocket. Laughter rang out, both from the group on the ground and the window of the king's chamber.

And so the reigns of Wethrother and Algador ended. Each of the generals ruled one of the cities Wethrother ruled, while Karwyn ruled Arakoram. Eventually they extended Arakoram and all four cities became one. Yamo and Karwyn jointly ruled with Floro as Advisor and Royal Gerbil-caretaker, and Exao was the general. So everything was happy and peaceful. When the dinosaurs died out gerbils became the most popular creature and the Flag of Arakoram became a white gerbil holding a sword on a light blue backround with darker blue outlining a pocket around the gerbil. The End.