The next morning, Lucius and his fellow players were taken back out onto the courtyard, where Sir Roland stood begrudgingly near a carefree Ganelon. The dandy fellow was all smiles and waved toward the players with a hearty laugh and the occasional wink. If it weren’t for what Lucius saw the ni...
2025-05-16 01:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostAs the players returned to their rooms, they noticed something odd. The atmosphere in the castle was different from before - more heavy. The servants looked at them with blatant distaste whereas before their prejudices were more carefully concealed; and they hurried by, as if to avoid being among...
2025-05-14 17:06:10 +0000 UTC View Post“What is the meaning of this, Ganelon?” an elder said, their face red with anger. Out of all currently present, they were the ones perhaps the most confused by the situation. Ganelon was by their side leading them but a short moment ago; yet here he was now, sticking close to Ruggiero and tre...
2025-05-13 16:33:27 +0000 UTC View PostThe mood onboard the train was rather down, unsurprisingly. But the players were thankful that they could finally leave the withering land that was Roncevaux Fortress. Goodbye, vomit green skies, and hello beautiful countryside! The farther they traveled, the more life returned to the soil. The b...
2025-05-12 16:05:07 +0000 UTC View PostThe funeral rites for the fallen paladins were taken care of quickly. They did not wait until nightfall to conduct it, for the people had gone through much, and they didn’t wish to linger over woeful memories any more than they already had.
Ruggiero led the ceremony in Ogier’s place. He...
2025-05-10 15:43:12 +0000 UTC View PostLucius waited for Ogier to reply, but he appeared to be preoccupied at the moment. The man twitched and shuddered, his eyes rolled back into his head, and he let out an odd, almost bestial, growl.
“Are you alright, my good fellow?” Lucius asked, his hands neatly laid in his lap. “You ...
2025-05-09 15:06:48 +0000 UTC View Post———
Ogier
I cannot remember much of my homeland, for it was at the tender age of ten years that the paladins of Francia came upon my village; and it was also then that they wrenched us away. Away from our homes. Away from what we knew.
The Danes were an isolated people. Th...
2025-05-08 17:03:46 +0000 UTC View Post“The fashion scene in Caelum has never been particularly developed: not as much as the other nations, at least. For a land as frigid and barren as this, the people valued utility over appearance. This proved especially evident as the wealth gap between the rich and poor gradually deepened over ...
2025-05-07 22:30:34 +0000 UTC View PostThe moment after the Demon of Eye’s death, the souls caught in its bewitchment snapped back to reality and dropped to the ground, dazed and confused. Mangled bodies surrounded them all across the land. Some had disfigured faces, clawed apart until there was naught but exposed flesh, and others ...
2025-05-07 16:59:34 +0000 UTC View PostMarco’s feet came to a sudden halt. His skin paled; his body shook; and his eyes grew wide as this thing, a demon whose kind had never once shown a hint of consciousness, now confronted him with a voice eerily clear.
“Am I a dirty Saracen? Am I a savage from the Moors?”
A feelin...
2025-05-06 16:28:24 +0000 UTC View PostCome morning, the fortress’s defenders gathered at the foot of the wall, as they had always done the past few invasions. Their confidence was high, drunk off the prior victories. One would have never assumed them to be the solemn fellows of but a month before. Now, they grabbed their weapons wi...
2025-05-05 17:21:27 +0000 UTC View PostThe rites were completed quickly. The paladins and players who had fallen to the demons flew away into the sky, fluttering as beautiful petals of gold and white. The audience bowed their heads like before, but there was no longer a darkness in their eyes; no, rather than grieve over but another w...
2025-05-04 15:08:14 +0000 UTC View PostThe paladins gathered in front of the fortress by the masses, and so too did the players. Sir Ogier had brought them the occasional demon to practice on; however, this was far different. They could hear the rumbling, pounding, stampede of their foes far out in the mountains. Their bodies felt tig...
2025-05-03 16:26:59 +0000 UTC View PostLater that morning, the players gradually began to wake up and made their way out of the barracks. The somber memorial of before still hung fresh in their mind, but there was very little a good night’s sleep couldn’t fix. It was the dawn of a new day; their life in the fortress had begun.
... 2025-05-02 16:51:55 +0000 UTC View PostOgier twisted his face and stepped back, his weapon drawn. The dusk hung high above them. Here, in the dead of night, not a soul was around to interfere.
“I do not take kindly to those who prowl in the dark,” he said, sweat dripping down his brow. Ogier was uneasy.
Lucius di...
2025-05-01 16:36:41 +0000 UTC View PostPaladins, priests, and players alike flocked to an open courtyard at the heart of the fortress. They stood in silence as a cold breeze brushed past them, swirling in the midst of a faint mist. Not a stone was seen untouched by their boots. Everyone bowed their heads and waited as the grim Ogier s...
2025-04-30 19:59:00 +0000 UTC View Post“You know, I was kinda overwhelmed at first, but it aint really all that bad here. You get eight hours of sleep, twelve to work, and then another four to do whatever you want. At least before curfew starts. I make enough to buy myself a nice drink every now and then. What more could you want?...
2025-04-29 23:30:01 +0000 UTC View PostLucius’s companions stared awestruck at the dramatic scene. The mild-mannered Ruggiero they had come to know was much more powerful, more bold, than initially thought. He raced across the skies on his steed of metal, and brought deliverance to the gargantuan demon with a single strike of his gr...
2025-04-29 18:29:39 +0000 UTC View PostLucius had seen all sorts of souls before, from the cowardly to the bold, the big and small alike, but none of them exuded a presence quite like this man: Ogier. The giant. A bearded raider of short sword and fury.
He wore not the bulky armors of metal like the other paladins, but instead b...
2025-04-28 21:47:34 +0000 UTC View PostThe fortress descended into a methodical storm of crunching boots and clanging steel. Lucius’s party had no room to interfere; this was no place for stragglers.
The group had no choice but to retreat back to the barracks lest they be trampled underneath all the chaos. The inside, however,...
2025-04-27 17:29:51 +0000 UTC View Post“Caelum and Polus are unmatched in terms of their military and territorial size, but that does not mean they are the only ones to exist in the western lands. There are also smaller groups: nomadic tribes, minor provinces, and various hubs where those who identify not with the two nations choose...
2025-04-26 13:18:59 +0000 UTC View Post“Jesus… take a gander outside, everyone. It looks like we’re gettin’ close.”
Marco frowned, standing near the window. It was mid-afternoon the day after Lucius’s tea party with Sir Ruggiero. The Hippogriff Express had sailed smoothly through the empire’s lands, but at a certai...
2025-04-26 12:27:18 +0000 UTC View PostA couple of hours after their departure into the sky, Lucius and his fellows were having a very intriguing conversation with the good Miss Brooks. Apparently, not all groups underwent the same Tutorial.
“You folks had to go through some kinda flesh dungeon?” The firefighter said, her fa...
2025-04-25 18:02:18 +0000 UTC View PostFinally, the fateful morning had arrived. Lucius made sure to pack the essentials: extra suits (in case he felt like changing his style), a toothbrush, bath towels, combs, handkerchiefs, shampoo, snacks, and of course a pleasant-smelling cologne. The holy empire surprisingly had a large variety o...
2025-04-24 15:15:11 +0000 UTC View PostBefore Lucius knew it, a month had already come and gone. It was during the evening of their thirtieth day that Lady Bradamante gathered the players back to the stadium and addressed them with a voice filled with dry indifference.
“You’ve toiled well these past few weeks,” she began. ...
2025-04-23 20:56:16 +0000 UTC View Post“I’m just sayin’... you mighta went a bit overboard.”
Lucius and his fellows were once again enjoying a lovely meal of flowers in the dining hall. A few days had passed since Mili’s, rather memorable, demonstration. It took an entire group of paladins to subdue her, and even then ...
2025-04-22 20:14:19 +0000 UTC View PostMarco raised his fist up high in celebration, before promptly falling onto his knees - very much drained from the lady’s ordeal. Sir Ruggiero ran over to lend him aid. To his surprise, though, the old mobster was in much better health than he seemed. The bruises and cuts on his skin had already...
2025-04-22 01:43:23 +0000 UTC View Post