(Sorry I'm late)

Chapter 9 – The First Few (Flashback Chapter)

2 years ago...

   A Raven soars through the mountain air. It starts to soar downwards. It dodges a pine tree branch. It flies reaches an old battlefield. Filled with soldiers. Soldiers from a war fought long ago. It glides past bodies that still lay there. The Raven has a black letter tied to its back. The letter has an emblem with an anvil and a flame. The Raven finally reaches a cabin. The cabin is small. It’s made of pine wood and the roof is covered with snow. It’s situated on a mountain near lots of pine trees. The Raven lands in the open window of the cabin. It shakes and the letter falls off. It screams and flies away. A man, Geneva, goes into the room where the Raven left the letter. He walks over to it.

    “Chaos? Don’t make me fight again. You know how that went.” Says Geneva. He opens the letter. It reads,

    “Geneva. I know you don’t like being talked to. Especially after the last time you helped someone. But I don’t need you to join a war. I would like to know if you would be interested in joining a group. A clan. The Forge. It’s a blacksmith clan. It will be important. Trust me. The Emblem on the letter is our emblem. I’d like to invite you to be a part of The Forge... One of The First Few.”

Chapter 8 – Joy

“I feel something I haven’t felt in a while. I feel something inside of me. It feels good.” Says Geneva. He looks at the quest board. Filled with quests to be completed after being empty for so long. He looks at his friends. He looks at all the smiths hammering. He looks at the door and sees new people asking to join.

“It’s not over yet, but it’s working. I haven’t felt this way since... The old days. Our progress is so rapid. Since I first came back and there was no one. To now and there is many. There is still work to be done. But I’m doing pretty good.” He says. He looks once again at his friends. All having fun. Forging together. Geneva smiles. Something that until yesterday he had not done for a long time.

“I can’t believe all this. People have come back. Even the great Forge Council has come back. They all came back... As unbelievable as it may seem I’ve learned a lot in the past few days. And most of that was as a person. First I learned that it doesn’t matter how little you may seem or be or think yourself to be.
You can still do amazing things. Second I learned that you can’t jump to conclusions. Because they might have a reason you don’t know about. Or were too blind to see. Third I learned that even the scariest looking man can be the kindest. And finally Fourth... I relearned true joy.”

A board is hammered into the ground, and four tiny slips of paper are nailed on it.
The quest board is (finally) back!
Every few days, it will be restocked with new and different quests that can be done for prestige.

please leave suggestions!

Chapter 7 – Who Rules Me

“They all come. What I’ve started. It’s working. I did what you did. And they come. Your legacy is no longer a myth. They stare at the flame. They smash their hammers. They befriend each other. We’ve gained more followers. New and old.” Says Geneva. He walks into his bedroom and stares at his sword.

“It’s all working. IGEBM has called upon the council to get their say on the tournament. Entity is working on making weapons. Silas is... Silas is here I guess.” Says Geneva. He grabs his sword. He runs his finger down the blade.

“So, now all I wonder is what’s next? What do I do now. I can’t just sit here and wait. I must do something. What shall I do?” he says. He walks to the door of The Council Room. It’s locked. He nods and then it unlocks. That’s what it would seem like to one person at least, but to Geneva a flaming ghost figure reached his hand out and unlocked the door.

“They think you left all this. But you didn’t. They believe you left them with nothing. But you left all of us with your spark. You were always talking about that fire. How important it was. I never knew what you meant. Until you appeared from it.” Says Geneva as he looks at their old leader’s throne. He walks out of the council room and to their leader’s anvil.

“You left us with something that we had to wait for. You waited for the right moment. You waited for the moment when someone who wanted to revive this clan walked through the door. You left us with your Flame. You are who rules me... Leader.”

Chapter 6 – Rumors



“He’s coming... Right when I began. I should’ve known. He wasn’t ignoring me, but rather waiting for the right moment. He lurks behind trees and bushes. Just waiting for the right time to strike. They say he has no soul, so he feeds off that of others to live. There’s been rumors he might come. More and more people come every day and now he shows. All I wonder is who he may take. And if anyone will survive.” Says Geneva. He walks into what looks like Geneva’s bedroom. He grabs a pistol that has a signature on it. It reads “The Crypteral”.

“You know this is for you.” He says looking at the pistol. He takes the pistol and waits outside.

“I have three shots... If I miss. We all die. They stare at that fire for days. They don’t speak. And the ones who do only share what or who is coming. But they don’t fight against it.

“Are you sure about that?” says a voice from behind. It’s IGEBM with his Automatic gun; also signed with The Crypteral’s signature.

“Thank you, Gael. This means a lot.” Replied Geneva. They prepare their guns.

“Who is he? Who are we so afraid of? He... Is the gravedigger.” Says Geneva. They see a shadow coming towards them. They ready their guns and hope to hit him. As they’re about to fire their weapons the man appears in the middle of the patch of snow in front of The Forge. He wears his bandana and a hooded cloak. He covers his eyes with a visor.

“Not all rumors are true you know. Ever thought this one might be wrong?” shouts the man standing where he is. IGEBM and Geneva don’t flinch.

“Good.” Continues the man, “Because you’re right. I am the gravedigger. But I’m not here to kill you. In fact that’s just a rumor.” The man chuckles and continues speaking, “I’m here to help you.” He finishes.

“But you ignored me!” shouts Geneva, “I asked for your help, and you ignored me!” he shouts again. The man, The Gravedigger, shouts in reply with,

“I do live in the mountains. What was I supposed to do? Reply and not arrive? I can’t mail a letter back to you if I’m in the wilderness.” Geneva has a moment of realization. He realizes through all his whining and complaining the man only wanted to help Geneva. He just couldn’t do it immediately.

“Yeah- Ok, but what’s with the scythe?” shouts IGEBM. The Gravedigger looks at his scythe and makes a face that seems as if he’s thinking to himself, “Huh... That didn’t make me look very harmless”.

“You know I didn’t think about that!” he shouts back. There is an awkward pause of silence. They all sit there saying nothing. Just breathing. All for 2 minutes until Geneva asks,

“Do... Do you want to come in?”

“Yeah... Yeah... Yeah...” says The Gravedigger. He starts heading towards The Forge. They all walk inside.

“By the way. What’s your name?” IGEBM asks The Gravedigger. He takes off his bandana and says,

“The name’s Silas... The-“ and before he can finish his sentence Geneva does it for him.

“-The Legendary.” Geneva says, as he smiles.

Chapter 5 – Ignorance

“He thinks he can ignore me. He thinks he can ignore the past. He gives replies to all of them. But ignores me. He doesn’t want your legacy. He doesn’t want this. He doesn’t want to remember what he lost. He’s too afraid.” Says Geneva. He looks into the fire. He stares menacingly into it.

“But I guess that’s fine if he wants to ignore rebirth. He can do so. Because when all is done. When we are great again. When we rule. He won’t be here with us.” Continues Geneva. He grabs a book of the man he speaks of. The title reads, “Legend”.

“If you want to play the ignorance game. I’ll play too. You won’t make it far in the real world. Your kind cannot face the fact you might be irrelevant someday. You won’t talk to people who have less than you. Who ask questions. You ignore us.” Geneva continues. He stares at the book and as he throws it in the fire he says, “Heh... Myth.” Geneva walks outside and stares back at the night sky.

“The best he can do is mountains. He loves them.” Geneva chuckles and then continues, “He is so ignorant of the past’s rebirth he won’t know he’s being forgotten. He won’t know we’re taking away from him what he could have had if he had only listened.” He finishes. He draws a face in the snow. It has a mask. Or a bandana. He wipes the face away and stomps on it.
“You’re the past now. And now we will ignore the past.”

Chapter 4 – Tournament

“I went out to the
people and sent messages, but nobody listened. Some did, but only the
ones already staring at the fire. They have stopped staring into the
endless flames and grabbed their hammers and are preparing to work and
yet it feels like I’ve accomplished nothing. The news of this clan’s
rebirth has spread across the planet, but they still stay far away.”
Says Geneva. He walks outside and looks at the rising sun. The sun looks
as gold as a king’s jewelry. He stares up at the sky and speaks again.


   
“It’s my fault though. Nobody from the distant regions would ever
listen to me. I am not a Noble or a King. I have no place in the
council. If I were in their place and they were in mine I don’t know
what I would do. How do I get their attention? They listen to what I
say, and my hammer and they watch the flame. But as someone with little
influence on the earth what can I do? What can I do to gain their
influence?” he says. He walks back into The Forge. Into the great
Council Room.


    “Unless... I do what this
clan used to do to. I’ll host a tournament. A rebirth tournament. This
clan started the first tournament. This clan will make another.” He
proclaims. He walks into his bedroom. The bedroom is a very small area.
It has a bed. And a little desk. He opens the drawer to grab a rustic
looking paper. One that would have a treasure map. He grabs paint
supplies and starts writing posters. These are posters for the
tournament.


   “If they won’t come to me now. And I can’t come to them. They’ll have to come here.” He says. He finishes the poster and says, “They should come. And while I wait for their arrival. I have more work to do.

Just so you guys understand I am genuinely trying to revive The Forge. The whole lore thing is basically just a story-ified version of what's really happening. Sort of anyways. For instance the people not talking and watching the fire are the people liking these posts but not commenting on them or interacting with the group. Don't feel the need to have to, although that is my goal. Anyhow I'd love if you could share these posts. Bc even if you don't feel like interacting with The Forge other people might want to. And those people might not know about it. Anyways cya ty

Chapter 3 - To The People

"I brag to myself on how intelligent I am and yet I doubt my own choice. I have started to ask myself, 'How do you work without hands?'. It seems confusing at first I know; however I can explain it well. My goal is to bring this clan back to its former power and glory, but without anybody to do that with is impossible.” Geneva says. He gets up and adds more wood to the fire. The fire makes the ever so satisfying crackling noise of being added to. He walks into The Council Room where the great Forgemen and women once sat. The only one remaining being, IGEBM, the only one who speaks.

“I must go to the people and find them. Not wait for them to find me. One man cannot draw hundreds back to The Forge. Not a man of my sort anyways.” He continues. He still speaks as if there is someone in the room with him. Somebody he must tell his struggles and thoughts to.

“The problem with calling in people is that I am a man with little stature and fame. Just yesterday I wasn’t even in the Iron rankings. That’s why I plan to change that. If I can gain more prestige than all the rest of the people will come. And as I send messages, hammer, and climb the rankings they are sure to come. And someday I hope that it will not only be IGEBM and Entity (entitymoon) that are speaking, but rather everyone here. And again I’m praying that one day the word ‘everyone’ implies hundreds of us and not just the few 10 or 12 that have gathered back here. And to think all they came to do was watch the fire burn.” He stops and looks around.

He places his hand upon the great big seat where their leader once resided. He walks back to the fire and stares right at it.

“I begin spreading the word now. The plan is in motion. We earn higher rankings and popularity. We keep smithing. Keep the fire burning. Now... Off to the people.

"I've claimed their attention. They're starting to realize what they left behind. They all come as the fire grows. The crackle of the flames is too tempting to resist. They must come back."

*grabs hammer*


  "But only a small few have come back to watch the flame. And although they have come to watch the flames grow and hear the fire crackle they are still not doing what they joined this clan to do. They came into this clan asking to be a Whitesmith or a Blacksmith. And yet when their leader sets off they ignore the legacy he left."


*sets hammer on his anvil and starts walking over to the forge medallion on the wall*

  "How do I get them all to come back. To come and use their hammers again. And not only bring back everyone that left... But also everyone that never came."


*grips medallion and pulls it off with all his strength*

  "It's old. The medallion that once showed our strength only lies as a reminder of what left. Not a reminder of what can still live. I look at the people just watching the flame grow. I got them this far back here but they won't speak. The only one that will say a word is IGEBM. And the others speak but only to themselves in the darkness of night. And if they spoke anytime other than night it would not be here."


*places medallion on anvil*

  "However, even though things may seem lost. All is not lost. You ask me how I plan to regain everyone's attention. And I tell you... The same way it was caught by our leader."


*grabs hammer and starts to crank arm back for a swing at the anvil*

  "It's time that we start work again."


*smashes hammer on medallion*

*forge flame stops burning* "This really is a dump..."

*grabs some flint and some steel* "Let's change that."

*lights fire and flames begin to grow* "It may be small now... But I'll bring it back to it's former glory... I will be this clan's heartbeat. I will be it's revival. I will be it's flame. I will be The Forge..."

*coughs twice* "What on earth? What happened to this place? "

*walks into an empty and abandoned room* "This used to be so full. Lots of people..."

*takes a couple steps to an anvil that looks more important than the others* "This was his anvil... This was The Crypteral's..."

*looks around and feels some stuff such as other anvils and workspaces* "The fire is still burning... And the hammers seem fairly new. Maybe a couple months ago they were used."

*walks into the council room* "I can't believe it's all gone... This used to be so prosperous. Even The King, Cyprezz, visited."

"This used to be a place for people to create, to socialize, to smith. This... this used to be The Forge."