The Deck Master.

by ArkKane

Chapter 1: Circumstances Of The Present And Mistakes Of The Past.

“Uh, I’m sorry, what was that?”

“Ma-” *smack*

NO! Stop talking! You. idiot! Of all the quirks for a Displaced to get, why do I get the one where I can only say ‘Mawp Mawp!’? WHAT THE FUCK?!

With my massive upwelling of embarrassment, I blinked, and did the only thing that makes sense in that situation. I fucking bolted back into the forest.

It felt like I ran for hours until I finally began to slow, then stopped, finding myself back in the deepest parts of the forest… with no path in sight.

“Mawp Mawp!! (God Dammit!!)” I yelled in anger before punching one of the nearby trees over.

Woah… keep forgetting I have big rocks for arms. I shake my head and push the tree back up before sitting on a nearby log, looking at the green orb on my right arm. And I still need to figure out what you’re meant for.

As I contemplated the purpose of this nature orb, the box I had set about for investigating later appeared in my hand again, a glow coming from the orb and the pendant in response to it. With a shrug I opened the box to take a look at what could be inside… and found something I didn’t expect, it was a card, but one I was all too familiar with and didn’t expect to have.

Windweavers…? Why would I have Battleforge cards when- I stop as a moment of epiphany dawned on me; The slots for orbs, the white crystal pendant reminiscent of a Power Well crystal, I wasn’t just some stone/human hybrid, I was a Skylord turned walking Monument! Putting those pieces together, this meant this box most likely contained every card in the game. Grabbing the five-charge card, I noted my theory proven when I saw the Werebeasts Card (a card not in the starter collection) underneath it. I questioned if this was just a luck of the draw or if I could call on a card I wanted say like a Swiftclaw, no sooner had that thought passed, a quick flash swapped the Werebeasts for the card in question.

Well… that answers that… but let’s stick with the archers right now. I mused mentally before focusing on the card in my hand. Using reasonable deduction, I touched the card to my pendant, seeing if that would work.

Suddenly the card was engulfed in white from the point it touched the crystal then flew out of my hand into the sky a few feet in front of me, not a second later the card exploded, leaving behind six small green rifts that brought each a wood-elf archer that landed gracefully onto the forest floor.

“Windweavers on the hunt.” The leader of the squad spoke to me with a respectful bow as I regained the card in my hand, now down one charge.

Alright, so I got Windweavers… now what? I think, many factors impeded my future actions, I was in the middle of the forest, I can’t speak any other languages except for ‘Mawp-ese’ so I can’t communica-

“A good start would be to begin work on lodgings, Skylord.” The elf from before spoke. “If you will allow it, me and three of this squad will work to create a treehome, while the remaining take off to gather food and water.”

… what the? How did he know I was needing options?! Wait… am I communicating with my mind?! YES! ACTUAL CONVERSATION! I blink. Oh right, um… yes! Do that! And if you can, try and get some apples from the nearby farm, but either find gold to pay for it or make sure no-one sees you.

“Yes, Skylord.” the two ‘gatherers’ spoke before heading into the forest.

“... never seen a Skylord consider the opinions of mortals before.” one from the remaining group said as they climbed into the trees and began working their magic.

Finding myself more confident in my ‘speech’, I decided to spend the time explaining it, funnily enough I had the urge to have my deck-box open at this point, so I left it open next to me. This world is not the realm of Nyn, we are in a new world with new beings and new gods. These ‘ponies’ have never known war, nor slavery, nor even the Twilight Curse, the biggest trials they have suffered that would even be close to our own would be when one of their gods was overwhelmed by jealousy and attempted to bring eternal night, or how the bickering and hatred between the three tribes brought about a cruel winter formed of spirits. They overcame these trials not through war and conflict, but with friendship and understanding, yet unfortunately their experiences and backwards teachings for a long while have made them fear that which isn’t a pony. I took a breath and looked to the deck. Brannoc didn’t realize how much Skylords and gods are alike when he faced Jorne and it cost him, here I have no followers, no worship or love to empower me because this world has never known the Skylords or even the forge of creation, so…

“You wish to be greater than the Master Of The Forge, give these new mortals a reason to worship you as a kind and caring deity instead of something to fear.”

Former master of the forge, I think cursing the gods he once served and then causing several disasters in his rage and attempts to strongarm said gods into giving him more power would possibly get him fired.

“That is true, looking back I doubt even I would’ve allowed myself to keep the title of Skylord, let alone any sort of leader role.”

I blink as I finally caught why the hell that voice was familiar, turning to my side-

“MAWP!? (DAFUQ!?)” I was shocked to see my deck being a bit of a holo-projector as I saw the man I was talking about sta-well-floating as a transparent image, yet looked more like when he was human and not the rage-filled fire monster.

He seemed to wait for me to calm before continuing. “When I think to my life now, I feel like the gods making me one of their Skylords to begin with was a mistake, I had lost my beloved, my daughter hated me for creating weapons to fight the giants, and only shortly before all this I was a simple Art creator. Then I was given all that power and-”

It messed with your head, immediately you had lost so much and in moments they made you feel like you could do anything, who wouldn’t want to try and bring back what they cared for?

The image of Brannoc smiled for a time. “It seems that someone could understand my state of mind… although far too late I’m afraid.”

I looked at him in thought, this kind of therapy session seeming… natural… I blinked and looked at my arm, scrutinizing my green accessory. You got anything to do with this?? Despite getting a laugh out of the old forgesmith, there was no response to that question, though I was in this now so I wasn’t going to stop half-way.

Brannoc, despite your acts as Skylord, you were not entirely in the wrong back as a human, unfortunately Viridya’s own anger to you was blinding her to a way where you could’ve both been saved from your grief. When you sought the fires to bring freedom to humanity, Viridya had become lost in the voice of nature, she was not angry at your choice to fight the giants, but rather because you burned countless trees to do so, Nature and Fire do not get along well… your daughter followed anger that was not originally her own while you became cold and distant as your rage to those around you grew hotter.

“Funny how much that mirrors our ends as Skylords as well as our Beginnings.”

And if I ever speak of you to others, I want to tell of Brannoc the man, not of Brannoc the monster that grief and distance made you out to be… and I’ll be sure to give Viridya a talk too, she has just as many issues as her father.

“... I do not deserve this much kindness, thank you Skylord… what’s your name?”

I am… you know what? Fuck it! Call me Skylord Mawp Mawp!

“Praise be to Skylord Mawp Mawp!” the Windweavers said from the finished treehouse, leaving a laughing Brannoc to disappear back into the Deck-Box.

When I picked it up, a new card was inside, one I knew was not in the game.

[<Brannoc The Man> <oooo>]

1 Skylord Destroyer
<> Skylords United: Brannoc The Man is a Skylord and will bring his own armies to bear.
<> Forgesmith: Brannoc The Man has skills unparalleled in any forge, as well, while he’s active fire cards require 1 less orb.
<> New Chances: Brannoc The Man wishes to learn from his past and will not use a forge to create weapons, though he is not afraid to summon minions and fight himself.
<> Free Thinker: Brannoc The Man is an Individual, while you can communicate with him like a normal unit, he will not follow commands unless given sufficient reason.

[<✷> 5000 <S> 5000]

Huh… recap, I just made pals with Brannoc, helped him through his issues, then got him as a card… cool!

*crunch* ...wait, where did I get the apple from?

I look around to see the full squad of Windweavers, one holding a sack of gold coins.

Oh… they’re good.

Author's Note:

here in comes the Battleforge elements, and the neat little idea I thought would work in this setup.

and two things to say to any BF fans here:
1) I know what monuments are, gravesites of Amii, well even the game doesn't follow the lore or else each monument would only be able to use one elemental orb.

2) yes, I redeemed Brannoc! anyone got a problem with that?!

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

That cover art is awesome! Where'd you get it?

[ArkKane]

9444506
just search 'Battleforge' in google images.