[center][i]King Erasmus' command. 
Fall of Castle Altranor. 
Riven takes the plunge.[/i][/center]
He had commanded her to go.

This thought managed to break through the haze of sorrow and anguish clouding Riven's mind as she watched King Erasmus VI, her liege lord and friend, plummet from the window of Castle Altranor's tallest tower. He fell, like a bizarre, pitiful one-winged bird attempting to fly, and crashed to the ground somewhere on the other side of the central keep. The Royal Protector had done her best to convince the king now wasn't a good time to send her away. The sudden decline in messengers, carrier pigeons, and mystical sendings from the holdfasts to the north didn't bode well, and several nobles from the Far South spoke of Soveni warships prowling the coastline like vultures circling a piece of carrion. While news traveled slowly in a kingdom of Altranor's size, ships flying the blue and white flag of Soven were rarely seen anywhere near the Land of a Thousand Roads. Unless they were raiding coastal settlements like Akaikos or Port Vessarian, sailing away with slaves and stolen goods to sell in Soven's bazaars. Lately, however, these ships seemed more interested in patrolling the sea lanes to the south of Altranor than anything else, going so far as to flee whenever an inquisitive Altranorian vessel approached. Of course, even the most courageous and daring captains knew better than to pursue a Soveni warship into the Sea of Fangs alone. There was a reason the Forest of Swords' inhabitants were also known as "sea wolves."

King Erasmus VI had dismissed these signs, claiming they were part of the reason why he needed Riven to visit the nearby island of Tyr. The Altranorian monarch had been exchanging missives with an influential Tyrish warlord, a hulk of a man named Lennart Virtanen, in hopes of forming an alliance against Soven. Since Tyr was located between Altranor and Soven it made perfect sense. The king wanted to know what Queen Evangeline's ships were doing so close to Altranor's southern coast, and Warlord Virtanen blamed the Soveni for the deaths of his three sons. Both men were incapable of dealing with the threat Soven represented by themselves, which meant uniting their forces was the only way to get the information and revenge they wanted. After spending a cold mid-winter's evening arguing in the king's chambers, Riven had forced her charge to formally command her to go speak with Warlord Virtanen on the crown's behalf. King Erasmus hadn't needed to command his Royal Protector to do anything in three years. That night, however, he did and Riven begrudgingly left the next morning on a ship bound for the verdant shores of Tyr. She'd returned less than three weeks later to find the capital city under attack by the massed armies of Soven, Ghant, and Thandonia, and, despite her best efforts, she reached Castle Altranor moments before her charge was tossed out the window. Now, King Erasmus the Indomitable was dead and Riven had become the second Koralia to fail in her appointed task as Royal Protector. The weight of this awful realization made Riven tighten her grip on her [i]gladiums[/i], the curved iron blades already dripping with the blood of countless men who'd tried to stop her from reaching Castle Altranor. Hot tears sprang into her eyes.

An arrow buzzed past Riven's face, ending her moment of misery and self-loathing immediately.

"Focus, pup! Your emotions will damn you in battle if you let them. You are a Koralia and you will behave like one!" Riven's mother, Galene, would always say some variation of this when she saw her daughter getting frustrated or angry during training. Gritting her teeth, the former Royal Protector glanced down briefly at the Ghantian soldier she'd slain moments before King Erasmus fell to his death. The man's leathery face now had a crossbow bolt sprouting from it like some malignant growth. A near miss. Looking up to see where her would-be attackers were hiding, Riven allowed a grim smile to spread across her pale features as she saw four men clad in the blue and white tabards of Soveni soldiers standing on the battlements across the courtyard. Each one was frantically trying to reload their clunky Thandonese crossbows so they could take more potshots at the blood-drenched woman standing in front of Castle Altranor's main keep. Riven's smirk faded, however, as she realized the only way those soldiers could've gotten up there without her noticing was if the opposing army had brought up their siege ladders. 

As if responding to some unheard command, several loud bangs joined the chorus of screams and howls echoing through the courtyard as more siege ladders were laid against the castle's walls. Dozens of Soveni soldiers, their pale faces dripping with sweat, began to scramble up the ladders like a horde of blue and white clad rodents. The bulk of the Ghantians and their ogre allies were ransacking the keep's interior so it made sense for Queen Evangeline's warriors to sweep the outer areas for any final pockets of resistance. The Thandonese were probably still rampaging through the capital city, looting and pillaging to their heart's content, while they waited for further orders from their leaders. Pushing these worrisome thoughts out of her mind, Riven dashed into the swirling mist and wood smoke wreathing the courtyard, her breath emerging as puffs of white as she ran. This cloud would provide decent cover while she tried to reach the base of the tower near the archers, and the structure itself might also harbor some Altranorian survivors. While the former Royal Protector knew her only option at this point was to try to escape Castle Altranor in one piece, the idea of leaving any of her close friends behind made her stomach churn angrily. These bastards had already killed Erasmus and she wasn't about to let the same fate befall Taula, Sir, Roderick or anyone else. The archers on the wall finally finished reloading their weapons and several more crossbow bolts whizzed towards Riven, each one humming like a hive of angry bees as she narrowly avoided them. Adjusting her course to avoid any more incoming projectiles, Riven was about halfway to the tower when she heard the sound of an animal yelping in pain coming from somewhere near the crossbowmen.

Glancing in the sound's general direction as she kept running, Riven almost skidded to a stop when she saw Sir, the king's loyal anan, attack one of the Soveni archers, biting his hands and causing the man to scream in pain. How in the name of the gods had he gotten up there? As Riven watched the beast toss one of his attackers into the courtyard, she decided it didn't matter all that much. At least the anan was alive and fighting against the invaders. Unfortunately, just as Riven reached the base of the tower, the final Soveni ran into the structure and slammed the door shut. Sir launched himself at the door, obviously angered by his prey's cowardice, and began to scratch at the wooden portal in an attempt to reach the coward.

"Good boy, Sir! I'm coming for you," Riven called out even as she was forced to back away from the door as several newly arrived Soveni scouts picked up where their kinsmen left off. Bolts were flying through the air like leaves in a windstorm, though not a single one found purchase in Riven Koralia's flesh. Abruptly, the tower door was thrown open and three massive ogres, each one wearing a blue and white Soveni tabard around their waists like a kilt, emerged from the structure clutching rusty, pitted broadswords. The grey skin of their right cheeks bore three slash-like burns, which almost looked like claw marks. 

"Well, well, well, what 'ave we got 'ere, lads?" the largest ogre in the group said, his voice sounding as if every word was being dredged up from the bottom of some muddy crevice. Tugging at his bushy black beard, the ogre smacked the side of the horned helmet he was wearing and said, "Oi, wasn't I jest sayin' we needed ter find us a bit of nosh? Da boss told us ter stay in the tower so we can kill anyone who tries ter 'ide in there. And jest when we decide ter go out an' find some food the gods bring us a nice, ripe little bird. Tell ye what, lads, the one who kills the hen gets ter choose how we cook 'er! For the Burnin' Claw clan!" With a chorus of throaty roars, the threesome charged at Riven, who'd already backed away to put some distance between her and the murderous beasts.

Ducking to avoid the lead ogre's initial swipe, Riven raked one of her [i]gladiums[/i] across the ogre's gut, which was hanging out from the bottom of his ill-fitting chainmail hauberk. The monster howled in pain and tried to bring his blade down in a brutal executioner's cut, though the former Royal Protector was already gone, her cloak whipping behind her as she scampered around her opponent. Trying to hold his innards in with one hand, the bearded ogre slowly turned, a defiant sneer on his face even as blood oozed out of his mouth.

Riven's swords punched through the back of the brute's open mouth and clanged against the back of his helmet. The ogre fell backwards with all the grace of a poleaxed ox.

The two remaining ogres, who'd been eagerly watching their leader's fight, gaped in stupefied astonishment for a few moments. One of them, the smallest of the trio and the least armored, suddenly screamed, "You killed Aghi, you bitch! Now yer facin' me, Alfric, son of Krom of the Burnin' Claws! Got any last words?" The third ogre chuckled nastily and hefted his blade as the duo began to walk slowly towards the formidable human, their piggy eyes gleaming with hunger and rage. Ironically, the Soveni assumed these monsters would finish off this woman in a few short moments so they'd turned their attention elsewhere. Many of them were pressing on deeper into the castle grounds while others decided to take the opportunity to rest after hurrying up the siege ladders. Every now and again Riven would have to spin out of the way to avoid an incoming arrow, though these moments were few and far between. One woman didn't warrant the attention of an entire army.

"A question, actually," Riven said as she pulled up the hood of her cloak. "What's more annoying than a babbling ogre?"

Snarling like a rabid dog, Alfric and his companion surged towards the Lady Protector, the muddy ground shuddering beneath the combined weight of their charge. Riven threw herself to the side, conveniently avoiding several more incoming crossbow bolts from the castle walls, and quickly scrambled back to her feet. Putting one of her blades in its place on her belt, Riven pulled a clay vial from one of her pouches and hurled it at the two ogres. The vial shattered as it struck the ground, releasing plumes of red, yellow, and blue smoke. The mist swirling around the courtyard had been largely dispersed by this point, though the battlefield was even harder to see now. Alfric staggered through the cloud of red smog and opened his mouth to call out when he felt a sword punch through the back of his neck. Gurgling and spitting up blood, the ogre heard a voice quietly say, "There's nothing more annoying than a babbling ogre."

As Alfric toppled to the ground, Riven narrowed her eyes as the final ogre lurched out of the yellow smoke cloud and she raced towards him. The titanic beast swung his sword in a series of short, chopping cuts that forced Riven to give ground. Her [i]gladiums[/i] were strong and well-forged but they couldn't hope to trade blows with a broadsword that large. Stepping back and ducking to avoid a clumsy stab, Riven got close enough to slash the ogre's belly from sternum to groin with one of her blades. While the monster squealed like a gutted hog, Riven drew her other sword and carved a red smile into the ogre's throat. Surrounded by swirling yellow smoke, the Royal Protector stood there, panting heavily and dripping with sweat. A splash of ogre blood had painted her pale face a ghastly shade of crimson.

At that moment, a voice cried out, “Blood of friend, blood of foe. Blood of mine, shed in woe. Brimstone ground, black frog’s toe. Bring mine enemies down low. May they reap what they have sown for our blood spilled, blood of their own!” Despite the admittedly terrible situation she was in, Riven smiled widely. Roderick was still alive somewhere! Once she got Sir she'd try to find him before the smoke dissipated and the enemy figured out their ogre clansmen had failed to kill her. Praying to whatever gods were listening to keep the warlock safe, the former Royal Protector ran out of the smoke, immediately diving into a roll to avoid a flurry of arrows from the wall, and looked to see how Sir was doing.

Instead, she saw Taula standing atop the wall, preparing to jump. Riven opened her mouth to call out when the drungr dove off the battlements.

“No!” Riven howled and she ran full out to the base of the tower, throwing open the lower door and taking the steps two or three at a time. Her legs and arms burned from her recent exertion, but she didn’t care. Taula had just jumped into the fucking moat! The Soveni man Sir was trying to reach was struggling with his crossbow when Riven got to him, and she barely stopped to cut his throat. A flicker of remorse sent a shudder coursing down Riven's spine, though she shoved it away. Throwing open the door and brushing past Sir, the Royal Protector looked over the moat. Several more ladders were being raised into place, the hooks at the ends of them catching the battlements, and Soveni soldiers were streaming up them. 

Riven didn’t see Taula emerge from the icy surface of the moat. 

An arrow caught Riven in the shoulder, spinning her around, and she cursed as pain radiated through her right shoulder. The sounds of booted feet were coming from the tower and she knew she didn’t have much time. Looking at Sir and ripping the arrow out of her shoulder, Riven said, “Sir…we cannot stay here. We need to…” She trailed off as more soldiers flooded up the ladders and the door she’d just opened began to fill with Soveni.

“Fucking gods, it’s the Royal Protector! Kill her!” one of the Soveni said and Riven didn’t hesitate. Glancing back at the castle briefly, hoping everyone else got out, she gestured for Sir to follow her.

And she jumped. Riven's final thought as she plunged through the layer of ice covering the moat was simple. [i]Gods help us...we are all fucked[/i], the former Royal Protector thought as the freezing cold water of the moat began to sap what little strength she had left. As she dropped beneath the ice, Riven realized if she didn't find a weak point and return to the surface soon then her own equipment was going to kill her as surely as the Ghantians had killed Erasmus.