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[h1][color=lightgoldenrodyellow][b][u]PROLOGUE[/u][/b][/color][/h1]
[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KS6aeTlkY60&ab_channel=PlayingEpic](Mood Music)[/url]
[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkFiIhDR_nc&ab_channel=Sounds4Sleeping](Ambient Sound)[/url]
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The sky was a dark grey. The clouds hung low over the mountains, obscuring the highest peaks of the tallest mountains. Thunder rumbled and rain fell. The dirt pathways through the lower districts of Cloudsreach quickly turned to mud. The mood was somber in the streets of Cloudsreach. Thousands of elders, women, and children lined the sides of the streets while others leaned out their windows or over the rooftop edges. There was no cheering. There didn't need to be. Every citizen of Cloudsreach- no, every citizen of Gryphonne was stoic and proud as they watched the remaining garrison of city march through the Holy Hieronymo Gate. The garrison was small, a poultry two-hundred and fifty. That was all that could be afforded now that the darkness was besieging the great border fortresses on all sides. They marched in perfect unison, the parade drill of the Gryphonnians always a spectacle to behold. Every footfall of one man was amplified by the footfalls of hundreds more. Even in the muddy road, their cadence was resounding enough to echo off of the sheer cliff faces surrounding the city. The rain could barely mute the effect. It was the wordless announcement that told the entire city that Epheria's second crusade had begun.

The order of march started with the rank and file arms men of the country, lead by a commander mounted on horseback and his standard bearer. Every hundred paces or so, a priest of the Sunlight Ecclesium walked slowly alongside the troops. He was waving a censor and chanting holy words quietly so that none would leave holy Gryphonne without the Sun God's blessing. [color=red][i]"Our Luminous Father... Watch over these few souls who depart from the Fatherland this day... Great Icarius, in death or life, when it is done, cast your light upon our solemn soldiers and guide them to salvation."[/i][/color]

Further down the road, a child cried and stepped out to reach for a soldier. A young mother stepped after her and scooped the child up into her arms. She looked up at one soldier, who held a hand out. The woman reached out as he passed, their fingers interlacing for a fleeting moment before he passed. The child cried louder and reached for the soldier as well, but the mother hugged onto the child tight. The child's sobbing pierced the silence, [color=white][i]"Papa! Don't go, papa! No... Papa..!"[/i][/color]

Somewhere else in the crowd, a grizzled old man sat in a wooden rocking chair. His leg was missing. A veteran from the Foreign War. He nodded up at the commander as he rode past. The commander nodded back. The old man spoke, [color=orange][b]"Nam Gryphonis, brother."[/b][/color]

The commander placed two fingers between his brow and dipped his head to the veteran, [color=yellow][i]"Sanctus vult."[/i][/color]

The veteran dipped his head, [color=orange][b]"Sanctus vult..."[/b][/color] The commander took a deep breath and turned his head forward as he rode on.

Passing through the Hieronymo Gate after the armsmen were the Knights of Gryphonne mounted atop their demigryphs. The regal creatures held their heads high as they let out restrained chirps and huffs. The rain rolled off of their down feathers, but it didn't stop a few of the demigryphs from ruffling their features and shaking their heads to try and dry themselves off futilely in the rain. The knights mounted on their backs wore their gleaming plate armor and tabardry. Every squadron had a bannerman leading at the front which displayed the heraldry of their respective squadrons. Some knights wore simple plate helmets with slits to see through, while others wore more ornate helmets adorned with feathers and wings and were trimmed with gold. They were a regal sight to see when mounted on their ferocious steeds. If only the country could commit more of their famous Knights of Gryphonne to the crusade.

A louder gryphon call above the marching knights drew attention away from the parade, some of the demigryphs tilting their heads to the side to track the sound above. A great gryphon flew overhead merely fifty feet above the rooftops. It's massive wingspan could connect a building on one side of the street to the one on the other side. Following behind and aside the first gryphon, in a flying-V formation, more great gryphons flew. Their riders with their brilliant red capes commanding their awe inspiring beasts with ease. Twenty great gryphons in total flew over the parade in their squadrons of five at varying altitudes. The sight of the great gryphons alone made everyone stand with straighter backs. The pride in the creature was infectious, and it was hard not to feel a profound sense of national pride whenever one could lay eyes upon such a magnificent beast.

Once again, the crowd's eyes were taken from the small marching army as a new grand figure appeared. The darkened, stormy sky was immediately illuminated as though the sun had pierced the gray veil. It had not. Standing atop Hieroynmo Gate, with her wings spread wide and her body emanating the most vibrant sunlight, the Holy Saint herself, Queen Epheria, alighted on the masonry and looked down at her forces. The troops never broke stride, even when they could feel the warmth of the light pouring over their backs. There was a small bit of distortion in the air above the cramped street as the heat of Epheria's light turned the tiny water droplets to steam. In one of Epheria's hand was a sword, the sword of the very hero that had held the gate, named in his honor, against a greater foe. The sword of the Saint's fallen husband. The Blade of Noblesser. In her other hand was the divine weapon, forged and once wielded by Icarius himself, the Sunspear. The long bladed tip writhed in solar energies while the entire weapon glowed brightly.

Epheria was wearing her battle armor, a suit of plate mail ornately decorated and etched with both cultural and religious iconography. She was wearing her full helm, gryphon feathers streaming out from either side of the helmet. Epheria's glowing eyes could be seen through the darkness of her helmet's visor. As she stood there, a great gryphon landed at her side. Knight-Commander Godwyn of the Knights of Gryphonne adjusted himself in his saddle as he looked down his mount at Saint Epheria. [color=white][b]"The dwarves of the Dun Aquileon have completed their work on schedule, your Holiness. The Underway is complete, and they have secured a safe exit beyond the reach of the darkness. By this time next week, we will have reached the coast."[/b][/color]

Epheria nodded once to Godwyn, [color=lightgoldenrodyellow][b]"Very good. Join your squadron, Commander Godwyn and proceed through the gates of Dun Aquileon. I must give blessings to the people we are leaving behind."[/b][/color]

Godwyn nodded his head, [color=white][b]"At once, my queen!"[/b][/color] Godwyn whipped his reins and the gryphon let out a screeching roar as it spread its wings and threw itself from the Hieronymo Gate.

Epheria looked down at all of the civilians that had gathered to watch the procession of Epheria's tiny army. They had all turned their gazes upward to her. She took a breath, and let it out with a thundering voice, [color=lightgoldenrodyellow][b]"People of Gryphonne! We stand on a knife's edge! As you all know, our country is beset on all sides. Once great nations that surrounded us have been all but consumed in the path of these ungodly locusts. There are no more friends or allies sharing our borders. There is only death and despair. Yet by the grace of Icarius and the bounty of the Fatherland, WE, the people of Gryphonne, still stand! We are unconcquered! Undevoured! We are pure and free! And we never will be anything but that!"[/b][/color]

The somber streets quickly shifted to a ruckus of cheers, claps, and whistles. The mountains echoed the defiant cry of a besieged nation. All around, people smiled confidently and raised their fists. Epheria continued, [color=lightgoldenrodyellow][b]"I must leave our Fatherland for a time... And I must take the last of our unallocated troops with me... It was not an easy decision to make. While Gryphonne may never fall to the darkness, the longer we sit and wait behind our stone walls, the worse it gets for the world. Know this! I am not leaving to abandon you! I am not leaving to fight for another country when the fight is right here! I am leaving to crusade! To crusade at the sides of any remaining kingdom that will risk everything for the greater good of our world! This is greater than Gryphonne's survival! This is for the survival of Icarius' creations! For us, his children! For Etheria, his paradise! This is the Final Crusade! Sanctus Vult! Deus Vult!"[/b][/color]

The people all cheered in unison, repeating Epheria's fianl words as she moved her massive wings and took flight. In that moment, an entire city roared loud enough to unsettle even the earth beneath the city's foundation. [color=white][b]"DEUS VULT! DEUS VULT! DEUS VULT!"[/b][/color]

The cheering boomed on and on while Epheria flew over the stone rooftops and made for the great granite gates of the dwarven undercity, Dun Aquileon. The light of Epheria continued to illuminate the mountainside as she flew through the gates, until the all consuming darkness of the underworld was too thick to be pierced even by the saint's light. The granite gates rumbled and shook the earth as they started to close. The lumbering motion of the great iron cogs and massive chains shook the loose stones on the ground and caused birds to lift from their perches in fear of the great noise. As Epheria flew deeper into the undercity, she could still hear the echoes of the city reverbing off of the cavern walls.

[color=white][b]"DEUS VULT! DEUS VULT! DEUS VULT! DEUS VULT! DEUS VULT!"[/b][/color]
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