ANNOUNCEMENT: Updated Ambients

I've messed around a bit with the sound_music_def file, and we now have ambients in Istaria's forests again. Download v1_3 - I'm gonna fix ambients onto the new locational musics during the weekend...

http://community.istaria.com/Web/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=2184

Branyr gazed around the room. It was small, though the ceiling was quite high up. Bookshelves lined the three inner walls, by the east one a small, round table with a couple of simple chars stood, under a narrow window. Next to the chamber there was a large chest. He crossed the chamber and opened the shutters. Peering out. he saw the valley strething off into the distance to the south. To the north, the mountains lay in deep shadow, the sun having just set behind the peaks. Setting the lantern down onto the table, he turned his attention back to the room.
There was little dust about, but still the chamber looked long deserted, like the rest of the tower. He pulled out a book and browsed though it, but it was written in a language unknown to him. Another volume had a lot of drawings in it, but both their and the text's meaning eluded him.
He turned his attention to the chest on the floor by the window. It was huge, almost 2 yerds long. He tried the locking mechanism, and found it to be open. Inside there was a lot of cloth of various kinds, but little else it seemed. He was about to close the lid again when a brief flash of metal in the gloom caught his attention. He cleared away a layer of blankets and clothing, and found a sword. It was massive, almost 5 feet long. The furrowed, double edged blade had an almost unnatural gleam about it. The hand guard was wide, and looked to be wrought of some material other than metal. And at the end of the two-handed hilt, there was a large jewel set in a frame of that same material. He picked up the blade, and found it to be very light, and perfectly balanced. Holding the sword close to the lantern, he studied the handguard and pommel. The material looked like bone of some kind. He moved the blade away from the light again, and the large jewel caught his attention. It seemed alive somehow, like a pulsating glow that could not be seen directly, only spotted from the corner of one's eye. He put his hand on it, and it felt warm to the touch.
Just then he felt a cold draft, coming from the north wall. He looked up, but saw only books.

Branyr stood abreast his companions at the front of his troops, leaning on his sword. Far to the left and right he saw row after row of mounted Shularian knights tear into the enemy's ranks, opening them up to the footmen that followed. He gazed ahead at the wave of soldiers and mercenaries charging towards him, under a sky that seethed and boiled with clashing arcane forces. In the distance, somewhere over the unending sea of metal, there was a huge flash of yellow light, and then a deafening boom that shook the ground. Branyr could see bodies being tossed high up and away in the air. A roaring warcry came from the charging line of men. There was still a few seconds left before the onlslaught, and he tried to calm himself, relaxing his muscles. He could hear the men shifting in their armour behind him. The wave was almost upon them now. He felt the energy emenating from the jeweled pommel under his palms, its warmth spreading up his arms. He cast a quick glance at his friends flanking him. No word or command was neccessary, just a look of mutual purpose and understanding. Bjornsten smiled omniously in his helmet. Raising his blade, Branyr grinned back, and hurled himself into the coming storm.
The battle grew chaotic. Any attempt of tactic or strategy was futile. They managed to somewhat hold the line though, and thus avoided being flanked or surrounded. Branyr hacked away at limbs and joints, the enhanced blade cutting both armour and flesh. The ground was covered by men dead or dying, making it difficult to keep one's footing. Blood was everywhere. He heard the near clang of somone catching a blow that had been meant for his head, but had no time to see who had aided him. The slaughter continued. Neither side was gaining any ground. Branyr and his men was killing a lot more than they lost, but for every soldier they cut down, two seemed to take his place. How the battle was going elsewhere Branyr had no idea. And still he could feel the eyes of the raging beast on him. He could feel it attempting to wear him down, the force of that gaze combating the power of the sword. He allowed himself a quick gaze out over the sea of men along the left flank, and saw the towering figure pressing its way through the melee. Their eyes met breifly, and it let out a feroucious roar. Increasing its pace, it cut through friend and foe alike, using a flaming arm as well as the massive blade to sweep away anyone in it's path.
And Branyr knew it was coming for him.
'Branyr..!' Bjornsten shouted from somewhere close by.
'I know..!' Branyr shouted back.
'Whatever is going to happen, it better happen soon!'
'I KNOW!'