LordOfTheNight

The Plague Knight Chronicles: Chapter 1

Give Rosenrot and I a moment to confer and make a decision

The Plague Knight Chronicles: Chapter 1

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Lucian stopped in his tracks at the sound of a woman's voice. A voice that had a slight accent he wasn't entirely familiar with. He turned slowly and looked at the woman, resting the shovel against his shoulder as she started towards them. The older man felt a twinge of annoyance as she told him that it was bad luck to disturb the dead. He then took notice of the interloper as well, a woman hanging at the edge but seemingly within earshot. He recognized the two women however. They'd been part of the group that came from Dornwich. He hadn't said anything as he had thought nothing of them, merely people looking for a place to go or travelers who saw the benefit of travelling with a group. Regardless, they had both followed them to the graveyard and that didn't seem like coincidence. No, they had come here for a reason.

"Who are these people?" Lua asked. Lucian stabbed the shovel into the earth and moved his cloak to show the loaded crossbow. "An excellent question, apprentice. Judging from this one's garb, I suspect she's a foreigner. Perhaps a mystic of some sort. The other seems to be a warrior. Perhaps a mercenary. In either case, they have been following us since Dornwich" Lucian said. When they seemed a bit surprised he'd noticed them, he continued.

"In regards to the dead, I do not fear corpses. I do however fear what the corpse we are looking for may have become and I suggest if you don't want a city infested with them, you stay out of our way and allow us to do our business. I don't have time to worry about you two getting hurt or worse, killed" he said as he grabbed the shovel and motioned for his apprentice to follow. He moved for the grave site and nodded. This was certainly it. Dirt was still freshly packed. That was a good sign but not a sure indicator that nothing had happened. Time for step 2.

Lucian stabbed the shovel into the wet dirt but rather then begin digging, he put his ear against the wood and closed his eyes. To an average peasant, this would probably raise an eyebrow. To someone who was clever or knew him like Lua, they'd see he was checking for vibrations in the ground. Lucian scowled and shook his head. "Nothing. Either the man was indeed fine or he hasn't turned yet. We need to exhume the corpse and be sure" he said as he sighed in annoyance. He was gonna have to get dirty now. He wasn't looking forward to digging up a dead man's grave anymore than Lua but they had a job to do, luck be damned...

The Plague Knight Chronicles: Chapter 1

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Lucian nodded as she mentioned going to the man's grave to ensure he hadn't risen yet. "Wise idea. There's a chance the man wasn't cursed but merely dealing with his turned family members. In either case, we need to be cautious" he commented as he urged Daredevil to move along the street. Lucian was vaguely familiar with Kenfort. He knew that from the gate they had entered, they would need to cross through both the Marketplace but the Craftsmen District. As he rode, the older man continued his thought. "We should perhaps investigate the man's home as well; assuming it is still standing of course. Perhaps we can find out how the curse managed to find it's way here and track it back to it's origin" he finished. Lucian was thankful for the hood as the rain continued to come down, though thankfully in more a light drizzle than an outright downpour. He glanced at the occasional passerby as they eyed them and watched them avert their eyes. He'd heard the rumors concerning both him and his fellow brothers and sisters.

'Plague Knights...' was the name he often heard from the lips of the weary. Rumor was they were the ones spreading the actual plague given that black knights with ravens as their coat of arms often appeared at the scene of infected areas. The truth was that they were merely hot on the heals of the plague itself, merely one step behind. Lucian had also heard the rumors that they had been slaughtering unarmed innocents in cold blood. That had some truth to it but those they slayed were most definitely not innocent. Their souls had been tainted by the curse and their lust for violence unslakable. They could drown in oceans of blood and still lust for more. Filthy monsters. Lucian rode silently as he rubbed the silver bottle that hung from his neck and found himself wondering what had occurred to create such wide spread outbreaks. In the past, it occurred rarely and erratically. Now it was spreading as though someone had thrown pitch on the people and lit a match. Hopefully one of their brothers would find an answer whilst they dealt with Kenfort. Lucian did hope to return to Rabenest soon.

The church itself was massive in size and older than most of the buildings surrounding it. As memory served, the church had been the first stone building erected when Kenfort had been merely a small fishing village. It had been built strong though, the doors thick enough to stop most assaults and still protect those inside. The cemetery itself was massive in size. If the old raven had to guess, there was perhaps 200 graves; perhaps even more. Lucian sighed as he dismounted his horse before the church and removed his hood as he approached the door, knocking on the heavy door. A bishop opened the door and nodded slightly with a smile.

"May I help you, my son?" he asked.

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30 Minutes Later...

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The bishop stared at Lucian as the old raven stood straight straight, arms behind his back. "You can't be serious. What you suggest is....it's lunacy" he said finally. The old raven wasn't just suggesting they dig up the grave of a murderer, he was out right telling the bishop that they needed to open the grave of the murderer.

"Do I seem to be a man who is not serious. We need to see the corpse. Immediately" he said. The bishop seemed downright dumbfounded. The older man breathed a heavy breath through his nose. "Father, I know what it sounds like. You are a man of God, your job is to lead your flock and given them strength. If I am wrong, than all we have done is disturbed the remains of a sinner and there will be a penance I must endure willingly. If I am right though father, then the Devil has very well come to your home and your people are in danger. I am begging you to allow my apprentice and I the opportunity to exhume the remains and be sure" the older man said. The bishop gave it some thought. He eventually sighed and rung a small bell to get the attention of one of his priests.

"Yes father?" the young priest asked. "Give these two each a shovel and show them to the grave of the man they hung recently" he said. The priest nodded and moved promptly as the bishop sighed wearily. "I pray you are wrong my son for the sake of your soul" he said.

"For the sake of your flock and this city, I pray I am wrong as well" he said before turning and motioning for Lua to follow. The priest met them at the door with the shovels in hand and handed them to the black knights as he instructed them where to look. Lucian nodded and walked silently through the graveyard, looking much like a reaper tending to the souls of the dead to any on lookers

The Plague Knight Chronicles: Chapter 1

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Lua
Played By: Rosenrot

The Plague Knight Chronicles: Chapter 1

Shiara Cazarin
Played By: shylarah

The Plague Knight Chronicles: Chapter 1

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Pap pap pap pap pap pap....

Shlock shlock shlock shlock....

These were the sounds that Lord Barret heard as he rode alongside the refugees of what was once the small village of Dornwich, his breath fogging as the cool air nipped at his skin and as the rain came down on this, a cold and dreary Saturday morning. The old raven and his apprentice, the young Lua; had manage to track the plague to the small village of Dornwich were they found that their enemy had already begun overtaking the village, slaughtering what innocents came across their tainted path. They had killed all those who had become afflicted with the curse and made damned sure that they wouldn't rise again to take revenge. Even though the old raven knew that they were truly dead, he still had nightmares that they would return from the Earth to rend the flesh of the living.

A young girl, perhaps 7 or 8, looked up at the older man as she walked beside her father. The man rode a massive black steed he'd called "Daredevil". He wore a set of black armor that appeared to be a combination of chain mail and leather, light but strong. Across his right shoulder was a black wool cloak that bore an insignia she didn't recognize; 3 crows with their wings spread forming a circle on a red field. Across his back was a longsword that her father could have forged, on his left hip a mean looking hatchet still stained with blood. Beneath the cloak, the older man had a strange looking crossbow with a quiver of bolts strapped to his thigh in a leather pouch. The man had a strange silver bottle that hung around his neck and looked no longer than her hand. The woman had a similar bottle that hung from her neck as well. What was in the bottle she wondered. Wine? No. Water? Unlikely. Perhaps it was a magic potion. When the man glanced at her, she looked away towards the city of Kenfort.

Barret glanced back up to the road and could see Kenfort was less than 15 minutes away. He breathed a heavy sigh as his breath fogged up once more. He felt weary and troubled as he glanced to the pair of ravens that followed them above. Something was eating at the old raven as the walls were beginning to grow in size as they approached. The man had been alive for a long time and had come to learn that trusting his gut was always a wise decision. However, his intuition told him now that Kenfort was perhaps not such a wise idea. There was a heaviness to the air, like the air was constipated but would ease up once it had a good storm. He couldn't quite understand why he felt uneasy but these people were now homeless and at the mercy of the elements and the plague itself. As they approached, a dog barked and howled in the distance. Not normal barking, angry barking. As though it smelled a predator nearby. His attention however was brought to the gates ahead and a set of guardsmen armed with spears.

Lucian glanced to Lua and motioned for her to follow him to the front of the refugees. He gave Daredevil a light kick to pick up the pace as he rode ahead of the group to meet with the guards. The leader raised his hand and approached.

"Oy! That's far enough. What business you have coming to Kenfort?" he asked. Lucian eyed the guards with their spears but spoke plainly.

"We're escorting these refugees from Dornwich. The village was attacked and they need asylum. Open the gates and let them in" the old raven said. The man raised an eyebrow as he was ordered by the older man.

"Oh really? On whose authority?" he asked. Lucian scowled.

"Mine. Open the gate. Now" he said with a growl. His mood was not to be tested and he didn't have any wish of killing guardsmen that were simply doing their job. The man glanced at the refugees, noticing the little girl and feeling his expression lighten a bit. He had a little girl of his own back home and they looked harmless. He glanced back to his men and nodded as the gates raised. Lucian breathed a sigh of relief and motioned to the refugees to go ahead. "Go to the church, the priests will find you all a place to stay" he said in a raised tone. There were scattered nods among the refugees as they crossed the wall's threshold. Lucian watched as they all went through and glanced to the soldier.

"Has there been any violent acts of note committed recently?" he asked. The soldier scowled slightly and nodded, explaining that a man was recently hung and buried for dismembering his wife and daughters with a wood ax. Lucian frowned and nodded. "Thank you" he said as he rode through the gate himself. He looked to Lua and sighed. "I think the Cursed have made a presence in the city. The animals seem to be on edge and agitated. The story about that man doesn't make me feel any less suspicious either. I propose we investigate lest we have to deal with a city of Cursed" he commented.

The Plague Knight Chronicles: Chapter 1

Mergoux
Played By: Overlord Thraka

The Plague Knight Chronicles: Chapter 1

Lord Lucian Barret
Played By: LordOfTheNight

The Plague Knight Chronicles: Chapter 1

Map of Kenfort

The Plague Knight Chronicles: Tales of a Medieval Apocalypse

Alright, everyone who is interested in joining please PM me with your idea for your character and we will go from there