Terminal

The Twelve Labours: General Discussion

The Tenth Labour will be beginning on Objective Midnight of the 29th (Wednesday Night).

Ardacia

The one detail of my sheet that I think is most important to mention immediately is the Mottem Expanse.

Caerulmoste is a massive drainage basin adjacent to a number of estuaries and salt marshes by the ocean - meaning lots of brackish water converging to the lowest point, called Lake Tunis. Tunis then empties out from Caerulmoste into a subterranean network of caverns winding all around throughout the mainland.

Meaning there is a network of underground saltwater rivers/streams that can potentially be used for trade and shipping. Use at your own convenience, or not (it is easy to say there are no caverns connected to the network within your nation).

A number of canals in Caerulmoste connect Lake Tunis and subsequently the Expanse to the ocean - leaving it (for the moment at least) the only way to get between the sea and the expanse by boat.

Ardacia

Going to be claiming this spot. Will add additional details shortly.

Ardacia

House Soneillon of the Island of Will, Rulers of Caerulmoste

Parity in all things.

House Motto

The Region of Calrumoste

Geography

The land of Caerulmoste is a vast drainage basin in the landscape, with most of the terrain residing below sea-level. A series of estuaries and tidal marshes separate the basin proper from the ocean and as such all rivers, streams, and lakes in Caerulmoste consist of brackish water. A number of large, prominent bogs dotting the land segregate channels of flowing water from the ocean and bordering lands, rimmed by sinkhole formations and the presence of carsus topography. Water collects in a large body of water, lake Tunis, near the border that then drains into a cavern system. The cavern system, referred to as the Mottem Expanse, features a subterranean saltwater river that runs for hundreds of kilometers beneath the mainland.

Due to the widespread presence of aquifers and unstable peat-laden terrain every village, town, and city is built wherever there happens to be naturally occurring layers of non-soluble rock. A large number of settlements are exclusively built onto the sides of shallow cliffs; others are built in long, jagged lines; others still are arranged in chaotic starburst formations. Due to the limited number of these solid rock formations, no new settlements have been made in hundreds years and nearly each existing settlement has been present since before the formation of the kingdom, and even the old empire itself.

The wildlife of Caerulmoste is heavily adapted to the high-salinity marine environment. There exists almost no woodland, with herbaceous plants dominating the landscapes and the sprawling interior bogs. Countless amphibian and reptile species thrive therein, with a smaller number of grazing mammals, and a tremendous number of bird species. The saltwater crocodile is Caerulmoste's apex predator, followed closely by the inexplicably malign dire turtle.

The gross abundance of peat makes Caerulmoste one of the most fertile regions on the continent, as well as one of the largest producers of fuel. The widespread presence of aquifers and and the high groundwater content makes mining ventures extremely hazardous, and so the region produces little in the way of ores and metals. Similarly, while the region has incredibly high biodiversity there is a dearth of woodland, limiting the sources of lumber.

Due how specifically adapted most of the wildlife in Caerulmoste is to the high-salinity marine environment, most species including plantlife cannot flourish outside of Caerulmoste - nor can many species from outside the region survive within. The foremost consequence of the fact is that the region acts as a quarantine zone for outbreaks of plague - that which ravages the rest of the continent tends not to make it past the boundaries of Caerulmoste, since vector wildlife usually cannot enter the region. Vice-versa, plagues that break out within Caerulmoste tend not to spread beyond its own boundaries (disregarding the human factor in both cases).

Caerulmoste is periodically afflicted with seasonal hurricanes as well as the occasional tsunami. Rather than viewing these as disasters, the local populace have been harnessing both natural forces to their own benefit. Most crops are specifically grown at specific elevations so as to benefit from silt deposited by rising tides while still remaining just high enough to survive being waterlogged. Similarly, every settlement is built upon rock formations that segregate the flow of running water within the drainage basin (as previously described) and so tend not to be affected by the surging water levels despite existing below sea-level, as all flowing water in channeled to the lowest point of the drainage basin at Lake Tunis.

Other than the settlements, Carulmoste is noteworthy for its sophisticated system of canals. Originally made to assist with irrigation prior the the unification of Ardacia by Ardall the Conqueror, many of these canals were retrofitted in order to host water locks that could be used to relocate ships from the sea and through the many rivers of Caerulmoste to eventually reach the Mottem Expanse, and vice-versa.

A land that has remained unchanged for millenia, Caerulmoste has been thoroughly mapped for centuries with no appreciable changes in topography. Its population has neither appreciably shrunk nor grown, and business and chaos both proceed apace at a regular schedule. While some would call the land and its inhabitants stagnant, others would prefer to call it stable.

Indigenous Populace & Culture

Demonyms: Caerulmostes (formal), Bogken (common slang), Halfwits (derogatory slur), Saldered (archaic derogatory slur now considered informal address).
Languages: Damptongue (native), Common, Halfwit (creole of Damptongue and Common).
Currency: No official currency or mint (Freely mixes and uses currencies from neighboring regions).

The People

The natives of Caerulmoste are a common people, not wholly different from those of the surrounding regions. The only peculiar trait common to them is the decreased sensitivity of their eyes and membranes to contact with saltwater, which allows them to see when diving in brackish waters without need for prolonged adjustment. This trait is recessive, only appearing infrequently in those with mixed parentage.

Languages

With Caerulmoste being both desolate and its settlements solitary, the primary language is a ancient one known as 'Damptongue,' spoken by the bog-nomads of old and having survived to the present-day within the general populace. For the purposes of communicating with foreigners, a crude creole derogatorily referred to as 'Halfwit' by other peoples exists, which is largely a heavily simplified version of Common with altered grammatical rules wherein nouns, verbs, adjectives, and pronouns are freely mixed into single words or phrases. True Common is spoken by few, most of them being attaches to the royal family in some fashion.

Structures and Architecture

Wholesale lumber is excruciatingly rare in Caerulmoste, and beyond trade and importation most of the natives are forced to make-do. Many homes are wrought from structures of reed and thatch covering and laced through dried clay and mud, all of which are plentiful. A smaller number of structures are wrought from piled stones held together by mortar, while even fewer still are made or else carved into cliff-sides and natural caverns. Subterranean homesteads are also common, though are often susceptible to leakage and flooding and so are widely treated as temporary environs. Most dwellings are made personally and by hand wherever there is available solid ground, or else preexisting available dwellings are renovated (more of the latter since the last scant centimeters of available bedrock ran out centuries ago).

Lifestyle

By and large, Caerulmoste culture is agricultural in nature. Peasants labor in fields, trap animals, fish, boil and purify water, and gather and process herbs. Most rendered goods consist of animal byproducts such as fur, leather, and tallow, followed by herbal remedies and pharmaceuticals. Raising livestock is generally unfeasible due to the large number of extremely aggressive predators including several species of massive birds of prey that either roam across or else dwell within the bogs that might otherwise be used for livestock. By and large, the populace is only a few steps ahead of basic subsistence living. People generally harvest and hunt enough food to live (most of the time), use barter and trade in most exchanges, with taxes largely being payed in foreign currencies or else by property, usual in the form of harvested foodstuffs.

The number of byproducts produced through agricultural pursuits is broad but ultimately limited, and as such a large number of trade guilds exist centered wholly around the commercial aspects of a single substance. Most individuals are members of multiple guilds - a hunter by way of example is typically a member of the Meat, Fur, Leather, and Tallow Guilds, usually headed by auditors under the authority of the Royal Family. These guilds serve to determine supply and demand, ascertain and predict shortages and gluts, and to organize shipment and material logistics so as to maximize profit and efficiency. Most individuals trade products relevant to their trade in exchange for a promised percentage or take of the eventual sale, usually made between dedicated Guild representatives with other Guilds or else with foreign agents.

Because of the organization of the Guild system, embezzlement is nearly universal and also the primary cause of popular revolts - which crop up every other year or so and usually end with public lynchings, burnings, hangings, stonings, and the occasional live burial or exposure of prominent Guild members. While the Royal Family is nominally complicit in all illegal seizures (it is hard to lie to royal auditors unless they are properly incentivized to be gullible), they keep tabs on most of their business partners and toss them to the proverbial wolves on a staggered bi-annual cycle across each major settlement - often involving Priests of Eirtu, Questors, and Auditors in as dramatic as fashion a possible. As such, the Soneillons are immensely popular with the common man, seen as keen and ever-watchful sentinels looking out for the welfare of their peoples.

The average working family structure in Caerulmoste consists of two to three adults, occasionally married and also occasionally with either two husbands and/or wives (nobody is perfect). Most families are expected to have between six to eight children, half of whom do not live past infancy. The biggest cause of infant mortality is exposure - every member of a family, including the women, typically works from sunrise to sunset, leaving little time to care for one squalling child - let alone two or three. The second greatest cause of infant mortality is stillbirth, of which there are an abnormally high amount of in Caerulmoste specifically - even in the case of pregnancies with no significant complications (a problem which extends even to the royal family). Foreigners widely rumor that this is due to various curses or disfavor with the gods, though there is no substantiation one way or another. The third greatest cause of infant mortality is plague. Medicine in Caerulmoste is both commonplace and cheap due to its widespread manufacture, but when Balefever and Shineback roll through there is little that can save even a giant, let alone a child. After infancy however, the greatest cause of mortality becomes tied between homicide and being eaten by indigenous wildlife - with frequencies much lower than the mortality rate for infants.

Most individuals with their own homes own multiple sets of clothing, including clothing made for specific seasons. Most clothes are either handmade or else exchanged through barter, and clothing in general - included furred and heavy leather clothing - is cheap relative to what is sold in neighboring provinces. It is not uncommon for an individual to have clothes for every other day of the week (though it is not necessarily commonplace). The common garb is made of thin linen, necessary for quicker drying in the wet environs of bogs and wetlands. Heavy leather and occasionally even boiled leather are worn in heavier garments used by hunters and people working within areas with more wildlife in order to provide additional protection from aggressive predators. Furs are generally worn as formalwear for special occasions or else during free time, viewed as somewhat unnecessary as it takes longer to dry once soaked and provides little in the way of defense - though it is admittedly soft and luxurious.

The use of animal bones as ornamentation is commonplace, as it is generally thought that rattling bones serve as a warning to predators - a theory taking inspiration from species of rattlesnakes native to the region. The posting and mounting of specific sets of bones is also used to denote profession and social status; Guild Representatives can be expected to decorate their doors with Owl skulls, hunters with Snake skulls, Physicians with Goat skulls, etcetera. Similar decoration via the use of personal items such as necklaces and rings are also used in order to indicate trade and status.

While more refined arts such as portraiture and music are rare in Caerulmoste, sculpting is commonplace and engaged in as a hobby by a significant portion of the populace taking advantage of the bountiful supply of clay present in the region. Few individuals make a full living from sculpting, though some gain patronage from foreigners while a fortunate few land a position in the small Sculptor's guild - which can only have so many members at a time due to decreased demand. However, ornamentation in the form of clay or mud statues seen on lawns or within dwellings is commonplace. Caerulmoste also used to be famous for its ornate and rich rugs and tapestries, but once it caught on how valuable they could be nearly everybody and their cousin began making their own to sell to foreigners. Nowadays, Caerulmoste carpets and rugs can be seen, sold on nearly every market street-corner throughout Ardacia - each one of questionable quality and even more questionable prices. The artform has become so omnipresent that no artisan in Caerulmoste regards it as a serious profession, and so no rugs or tapestries of any worthwhile merit are made anymore. Original pieces from the so-called Antiquary Period, numbering in the thousands but still relatively few and far between in addition to being masterfully crafted, can practically be bought and sold for a Prince's ransom.

Due to the frequency of Grand Storms and the occasional flood or tsunami, the populace at large is accustomed to dealing with fluctuating water levels, even taking advantage of it in multiple ways. In some areas, the terrain has been sculpted over the course of centuries into ordered tiers in order to take advantage of floods and the silt deposits they bring with them. The most troubling disaster the populace encounters are strong tornadoes that can plague the large, flat expanse of bogs.

As reflected in the habit of exposing superfluous newborn children, Caerulmoste actually suffers from a shortage of livable space - despite having some of the most open-space clearings in Ardacia. Settlements can only safely be built upon solid and firm foundations in the form of non-soluable rock formations, nearly all of which were fully occupied centuries ago. Occasional vertical renovations of preexisting structures only take the populace so far, and as the years go on there are more and more listless individuals who are homeless due to an absence of stable land or empty dwellings to acquire. These individuals often travel to foreign lands in search of fortune, though their tales are often sad ones.

Religion

Caerulmoste as a region, and the Soneillons as a family, have both had frequent if light spats of trouble with the Church of Eirtu - predominantly in the form of harboring heretics in the form of the Astronomers of Laevo Lighthouse, and being a staging ground for dangerous criminals in the form of rogue Questors and Mottem Madmen. The common people are generally distrustful of foreigners and missionaries in particular, as they have little in the way of property or material wealth to provide as tithes and tribute that they do not already pay in taxes - and Missionaries are very rarely satisfied with grains or other foodstuffs.

Despite this distrust, the natives of Caerulmoste readily accept church doctrine as fact, much in the manner one typically acknowledges that the sky is blue - obvious, but nonessential to daily life. On occasion native Caerulmostes have been known to mount manhunts for sorcerers and heretics at the behest of the Church, though an unusually high number of both also tend to be particular members of merchant guilds guilty of embezzlement. The various merchant guilds and by extension the royal family both pay a handsome if not exorbitant tithe to the Church of Eirtu, predominantly consisting of foreign currencies.

The greatest point of tension between Caerulmoste and the Church of Eirtu would be the former's harboring of the astronomers of Laevo Lighthouse, whose very studies and alleged scientific discoveries contradict church doctrine in addition to being inherently blasphemous. The royal family acknowledges the inherently heretical nature of the Astronomers' order, but insist that they be permitted to operate at a base degree if only because they are better at predicting the occurrence of ocean storms and floods than the Church is. The royal family permits the church of Eirtu to freely audit the Astronomer's Guild at-will, and also allows for the occasional purge - with the understanding that not all of the Astronomers will be murdered and that not all of their texts will be burnt, and that if a certain line is crossed that there is going to be a problem.

Questor Order Secular

Due to the absence of 'true' nobility, combined with a grave lack of of most metals including iron, there exists no orders or companies of Knights. Instead, the Royal Family maintains the Questor Order Secular. Based in common-houses, orphans are taken in - usually those exposed near birth - and are raised and trained in a the manner of a Knight, with several critical distinctions. Firstly, a Questor is neither trained with nor provided with any form of armor, typically only given a single armament and not provided with a squire nor any other servants. Secondly, Questors are not considered nobility nor directly attached to the royal family, despite being funded by them. Thirdly, Questors are educated more in practical affairs as opposed to etiquette and history. A Questor might train for their entire childhood, be assigned to the local garrison or militia to act as a guardsman for several years, and then graduate to a Questor proper - the whole time, accumulating knowledge and practical experience in regards to the lives of other people and the affairs of a busy town or city. Questors are typically some of the best sword, spear, and axemen in Ardacia, and are experts in the seedy and shady underworld and inner workings of most urban communities.

Questors, upon graduation, are usually sent out in trios to venture the land and vanquish evil and trouble wherever they may find it - often in the form of corrupt Guild Members, at the behest of the royal family. However, they also slay foul beasts, chase down and apprehend dangerous criminals and heretics, investigate peculiar events, and generally doing anything dangerous that needs doing. Moreover than simply doing this within the confines of Caerulmoste, Questor trios frequently leave the region to look for trouble elsewhere.

Questors' subsist on a regular stipend supplied by the royal family (who can afford to be generous when they do not pay for plate armor and squires), who maintain a number of small outposts in every region that will permit as much where Questors may gather and collect wages. Naturally, as Questors tend to be overly family with the criminal underworld, and since they are only taught to be virtuous with so much rigor in conjunction with their generally dangerous lifestyles, a small number of Questors turn to crime. Questors-turned-brigands and highwaymen are an unfortunately reality in some regions. Of course, one cannot lead a double-life for long, and the royal family maintains handsome bounties on rogue Questors - who are typically hunted by their own kind.

Depending on the region, Questors are either reviled or held in the highest esteem possible. While an unfortunate few descend to become criminal scum, there are others such as the Legendary Questors Forthright Mannet, Fatebreaker Poe, and Graceful An, who have ascended to become folk heroes for their many valorous deeds.

The Questor Order Secular has common-houses in nearly every settlement in Caerulmoste, but their largest barracks and assembly dwells in the city of Perierat. While most Questors typically attend the academy at Perierat for a year or two, most will identify themselves as hailing from the settlement where they worked their first live militia shift. Questors claiming to hail from Iugulum tend to be treated with great suspicion due to its status as a den for the Mottem Madmen, who have swayed many Questors before. Questors hailing from the village of Vae, by contrast, are usually received with some measure of awe - as they tend to be tough as nails, quick-witted, and in contention for some of the most skilled warriors in the world.

The Questors typically receive one of three traditional weapons upon induction into the order - the geyser sword, the flensing spear, and the carving axe. All cast of solid wrought iron, the weapons are cheaply made, significantly heavier than other armaments, and possessing of unusual shapes making them difficult to use without extensive training - and all renown for their effectiveness against large, armored opponents (the intention being their capability to slay dire turtles - with hostile armored brigands being a bonus). Though these are the only weapons Questors are given and formally trained with, they are free to obtain weapons of their own choosing and to train with them - which many notable Questors have done. Questors are also free to wear armor and acquire the trappings expected of conventional knights - though they are expected to pay their own way in all regards.

Due to their training and the difficulty Questors have in acquiring new and expensive equipment, most choose to rely solely upon their extensive training and skill to see them through their struggles. The martial ability of the Questors is known as An'Casra, or the Way of Scales - emphasizing deflection, evasion, and the exploitation of an opponent's mass and leverage. They wield their unusual weapons as though they were lighter than dining utensils, and even fully armored knights might give pause when facing one on foot, let alone a trio of them.

The greatest failing of the Questors is their lack of any ranged weaponry and training with them, beyond what a scant handful of them have privately acquired over the years. Nearly every experienced fighter and scofflaw in the land knows that the easiest way to deal with an annoying Questor is to use a crossbow - or even a normal shortbow in a pinch. Even the fastest Questor in Ardacia cannot dodge an arrow or bolt fired from close range.

Mottem Madmen

Mottem Madmen are not natives of Caerulmoste per-se, and many of them do not live in or have ever even been to Caerulmoste - but many of them are, do, and have. The Mottem Madmen are the brigands of the Mottem Expanse, gliding blindly across subterranean saltwater causeways in oreboats to harass mercantile and civilian traffic. They will also occasionally visit the surface via undiscovered cavern entrances, raiding and skirmishing whenever they feel they can get away with it. Traditionally opposed by the Questor Order Secular, though they by no means have a monopoly on hunting the scum down.

The Mottem Madmen have no true hierarchy or organization, but it is common knowledge that they own an undiscovered stronghold somewhere in the vicinity of Iugulum. Rumors speculate that the stronghold might just be a simple outpost to them, while the wilder ones state that it is as big as a city and is ruled by a Mad Pirate Lord. While dealing with them is never a pleasant affair, the strict customs and inspections at Iugulum and the Carulmoste Canals make dealing with them the only viable way of shipping and moving illicit cargo between the sea and the Mottem Expanse, as well as the surface.

Living and sailing in the darkness tends to leave them faintly unsettled - most of them will still accept 'protection' fees and can be bargained with, but suffer from chronic lapses in judgment - and loss of temper. Many who choose to sail through the expanse ensure that their affairs are in order before doing so.

While a dangerous lot, there are only so many of them - and their mortality rate is rather high, such that encountering them is rather rare even in the deepest reaches of the Mottem Expanse, making them more of a nuisance than a true threat.

Notable Settlements

The Island of Will

Situated in the center of a deep estuary directly bordering the sea, the Island of Will is an artificial island built up over the course of centuries, begun as a project by Ardall the Conquerer and continued even after they were overthrown. The island's dimensions are small, forcing extensive use of vertical architecture both above and below. The shores of the island are made up of millions of natural rocks as well as bricks, sealed over with multiple layers of caulk adhered to netting - the interior of the island is thus spongiform. Seawater still seeps underneath the foundations through sand, filling the lower portions of the interior during the rising tide and floods. For additional support, several anchoring foundry towers were built in a grid, which provided the basis for the city's subterranean network and towers.

The island proper consists of little more than walls surrounding a central citadel and barracks, with the royal palace itself occupying the upper floors of the keep. A vast subterranean complex and network of tunnels houses the various servants and laborers, who amongst their regular duties are forced to maintain the submerged chambers in order to ensure their own safety.

The waters of the estuary are deep relative to others of its kind but are still too shallow for proper ships to sail through, requiring smaller sailboats to reach from land. A series of docks, some of the longest in the continent, run a distance out from the island and into the ocean proper where a harbor for proper ships exists.

The island is considered conventionally unassailable - the waterlogged terrain of the nearest shore is both too unstable for siege catapults, and too distant from the Island's walls for reliable hits. A vast line of chains, linked between watchtowers built up from the surface of the estuary, surrounds most of the island and prevents unauthorized approach by oreboat. The docks have a system of drawbridges and chokepoints, and collapsible sections that can entirely deter an army landing by boat from approaching the island proper.

...All of which is considerably pointless given that the Island could be hypothetically sieged with ease and that it is not large enough to serve as a tactically significant settlement, being incapable of hosting a large number of soldiers. It is thought that Ardall the Conquerer intended to hide his heirs away on the Island in order to protect them under strict supervision, but with his fall and the rule of the Soneillons it is used primarily to safeguard financial records and documents. While the Soneillons do treat the Island as their personal family residence, not even the Kings or Queens have deigned to spend significant amounts of time there. The Island of Will is essentially a massive vault safeguarding Caerulmoste's economy and foreign trade.

Point Laevo

A cliffside city overlooking the sea, Point Laevo is home to the only true port in all of Caerulmoste. Boasting a number of mechanized lifts between the clifftop and the harbor, Point Laevo is easily one of the most crowded and busy settlements in the entire region.

During the reign of Ardall the Conquerer, he commissioned the rennovation of an ancient church to the forgotten and defuct god Khammek, adding a lighthouse atop it in order to help guide ships through the treacherous estuaries and into canals where they could eventually be guided to the Mottem Expanse, and vice-versa. Due to the frequent complication of ocean storms and floods, Ardall also had an observatory constructed atop the lighthouse in the hopes that learned scholars could study the tides and the sky in order to find a way to predict the frequencies and patterns of such disasters. Ardall's hopes were rewarded in this regard, and the city that would become known as Point Laevo sprung up around the converted temple. These days the Lighthouse's base, still appearing as a church, is host to a small university of the sciences where mathematics, medicine, history, and astronomy are taught.

The city as a whole was built over time in order to redirect light, as the Laevo Astronomers quickly discovered that light saturation from both the settlement and the lighthouse itself made it unduely difficult to observe the movements of the stars. The buildings are arranged in a series of overhangs, archways, porticos, and other sheltered structures - and where the ground cannot truly be covered by buldings, large drapes, hangings, and even tents are erected. The city is often described as being claustrophobic, due to just how little of it is actually exposed to the sky.

Although most commericial traffic makes uses of the mechanized lifts that go up and down the cliffside between the settlement and harbor, the city is famous for its giant spiral staircase, painstakingly carved within the cliff interior all the way down to a sea cavern at its base. The staircase has two smoothed causeways to the side, wide enough to roll heavy cargo up and down via the use of log rollers if necessary. At the bottom of the staircase is the harbor office, as well as an interior courtyard that hosts a shrine to the moon gods adjacent to a deep tidal pool. Many rumors and tales abound of a secret underwater passage within the tidal pool, though many children and fools alike have dived in only to return to the surface disappointed.

Laevo Lighthouse itself possesses a conical lantern-hood across its top, in order to reduce light from the lighthouse beacom from spilling upwards where it might hinder the Astronomers of the observatory built into the top of the tower. The Observatory and the upper sections of the tower are considered to belong wholly to the Guild of Astronomy, and so all scholars wishing to learn Astronomy are segregated therein specifically - a habit formed primarily to reduce the number of incidental casualties during raids by officials from the Church of Eirtu. The Observatory itself is host to all manner of curious mechanisms, and the worst kept secret in the city is the number of Heretical Tomes describing the 'true' nature of the moons present therein. The Lighthouse serves its original function of aiding ships sailing around the estuaries of Caerulmoste, assisting them in safely finding the entryways to coastal canals granting access to the winding river-ways eventually leading to Lake Tunis.

Point Laevo is a center of higher learning within Caerulmoste. Many young people flock here in order to study mathematics, medicine, and history - and it shows in that a significant number of Royal Auditors were trained at Laevo Lighthouse. Although not the largest or most impressive university in Ardacia, it is nonetheless a respected institution...or at least would be if a quarter of its faculty and students were not semi-regularly subjected to inquiries and accusations of heresy.

Iugulum

Iugulum is a city built on the shores of Lake Tunis, partially built above ground with a section built within the Mottem Expanse. Serving as the biggest hub port of trade for the subterranean network, all boats and land shipments have to go through Iugulum if they want to reach the sea or head into the dark. A thorough and meticulous staff of Auditors and Questors inhabits Iugulum, ever-watchful for Mottem Madmen and smugglers.

Most of the city is above-ground, built along the exterior shore of Lake Tunis with its back to the mountain range the drainage basin empties into. A series of watchtowers built up from the lake bottom with chains linked between them bar passage to those unwilling to submit to port inspections, while an impressive fortification blocks the only land route into the interior shores of the Expanse. Ringing Lake Tunis at every river-head is an artificial canal, each leading to winding river-ways eventually heading out to sea - and more Auditors keen to ply their trade. Via this single bottle-neck between the Expanse and the Ocean, Caerulmoste holds a partial monopoly on all trade dependent upon the Expanse.

The interior section of the city is significantly smaller and less-populated than the exterior, containing several shipping warehouses, its own port, a number of inns and a small market plus residential district. An air of unease pervades the place, and always are the militia and Questors stationed there on the lookout for the flickering wisp-lanterns of Expanse Madmen who might come by river or through the twisting caverns connecting to the shoreline.

Rumors tell of a stronghold occupied by the Mottem Madmen that is relatively near to Iugulum, perhaps down some twisting unexplored passage or another that has yet to be charted - though others whisper that the stronghold is a series of secret chambers below the city, while the most obsessed claim that the city itself harbors the fiends.

Whatever the truth, there are always shady figures with emptied eyes around the city and Lake Tunis, willing to arrange deals to cirvumvent the obscene inspections and audits - shifting illicit cargo overland to avoid the canals or else hauling it underwater, attached to the underside of oar-boats in order to fool inspectors. While dangerous and risky, their methods are some of the only reliable means of moving illegal goods through Iugulum.

The city itself is a cultural stew-pot relative to the rest of the region, containing a bit of culture and peoples from the surrounding regions and those connected to the city by the Expanse trade route.

Perierat

The city of Perierat is the oldest settlement in Caerulmoste, hosting the largest populace and serving as the home to the largest commom-house and barracks for Questors in the region. Three centuries ago, the region-wide issue of exposing children began to escalate out of control. With the Church of Eirtur breathing down their necks and half the native population starting to riot in protest against those who were abandoning their children in the streets, the Soneillons set out to fix the problem by establishing the equivalent of a foster-care system. Taking note that the chances of adoption even from outside of Caerulmoste were slim to none and that the region would not be able to properly sustain generational influxes of unskilled, untrained adolescents, the ever-practical royal family devised a plan to turn the surge of abandoned children to their use: They began a system to indoctrinate abandoned children into the ranks of a military order equivalent to that of Knights, something which the Soneillon family had been lacking since their ascendancy. Lacking the proper funds to truly train and equip such a large number of individuals with armor, weapons, and the trappings of nobility, the Soneillons opted to mold their child soldiers into low-maintenance warriors. While the original intention was to turn the young fighters into common cannon fodder, it was decided that the best had to be made out of their care given that each abandoned child would necessarily be spending the rest of their lives in service to Caerulmoste. Thus, the Questor Order Secular was born - the company of elite warriors, unarmored and unsophisticated - but perfect for policing urban and rural areas, tracking down common criminals and vicious wildlife alike with an efficiency unmatched by any knight. In only a few decades, every city began to swell with Questor Trios - and the city of Perierat served as their center of influence.

The Questor Order Secular boomed in Perierat more as a consequence of it being the largest city and having the highest rate of infant abandonment than any other reason, and the trend has continued to this day - only with children intentionally left on the doorsteps of the Order Common House rather than in the middle of the street. The city walls brim with Questor trainees serving time as guardsmen and militia in order to gain experience, and every day groups and caravans carrying Questor trios leave the city heading to other regions.

The Questor Order Secular's largest common-house and training ground is a massive keep, with multiple floors dedicated to barracks and living space alone. Its training yards and classrooms are spread out across more than three kilometers, and serves as the largest center of industry in Caerulmoste. The greatest forges in the region exist therein, with what precious little iron Caerulmoste trades for going there in order to forge the famous An'Casra weapons used by almost every Questor. By association, numerous workshops also work to develop modern mechanisms and craftwork for the peoples of Caerulmoste and its neighbors - being one of the only centers of proper industry in the whole of the land.

The city itself is otherwise remarkable for being the hub of trade in Caerulmoste - being relatively near the border of the region with two rivers running adjacent to its limits, it receives a steady stream of foot and boat traffic.

Vae

Unlike the vast majority of settlements in Caerulmoste, the small town of Vae has existed for only two-hundred years. While the bedrock the town is built upon was always known of, the area it resided in was considered to be cursed, with good reason. Situated in the middle of a bog with a spongiform network of sinkholes and caverns throughout and bordering a sea-borne estuary, the region crawls with every vicious predatory known to Caerulmoste - which teem and breed beyond counting in the darkness beneath the earth. Even today, one can hardly walk a scant kilometer without at least spotting the hump-backed shell of a dire turtle jutting from a pool of brackish water.

The town is entirely surrounded by two sets of stone walls, intended solely to deter the encroachment of aggressive bog predators, unafraid of humans and settlements. Even this is not enough, as giant birds of prey are known to frequently dive-bomb residents of the town if they do not travel in numbers. The militia maintains a policy of non-liability for anybody who sets foot outside the town gates. Some of the most talented amongst the Questors - or sometimes just the troublemakers or those with a deathwish - arrive at the town to form hunting parties, heading out into the bogs and caves to hone and steel themselves into proper warriors.

To make matters even more incredulous, Vae is the center of the rumored curse of Caerulmoste, and nearly even one in three infants in the town are stillborn. For centuries, nobody wanted or dared to venture into the region due to the danger and the foreboding sense of dread that hung in the air.

However, two centuries ago the Astronomers of Laevo Lighthouse made an interesting discovery while experimenting with the Pitchblende Staff - the use of Pitchblende in their devices and mechanisms could be used to increase the accuracy of their storm and flood predictions. Further use of the staff also confirmed that the largest deposit of Pitchblende in Caerulmoste that was within sufficient proximity to a solid rock formation - lae directly within the cursed bog.

Thus, the town was built, and a ways from it began one of the only mines in all of Caerulmoste - intended to mine all the Pitchblende the Astronomers needed. Unable to build proper fortifications out by the mine due to the unstable terrain, a constant rotating shift of militia and Questors was needed to safeguard the miners and the mine's supply train - as well as to patrol the interior of the mines, wherein all manner of great and terrible creatures reside. As if that were not enough, the mine is always in constant danger of flooding whenever the miners run across an aquifer or neighboring cavern system the surveyors had missed. All for the chance to mine and handle a mineral more toxic than mercury.

Unsurprisingly, Vae boasts the highest adult mortality rate in all of Caerulmoste - nearly all deaths being attributed to attacks by indigenous wildlife or else mining accidents.

The town itself contains several shipping warehouses and workshops where raw Pitchblende is cut down into smaller chunks before being shipped to Point Laevo, as well as where the vast amount of various animal byproducts from hunts and skirmishes are stored while a dedicated permanent workforce races to reduce and preserve as much of it as possible before rot sets in.

While many point to the large death tolls and the impractical nature of the mining venture as signs of wasted effort, the Royal Auditors have long since confirmed that the Astronomers - while supplied with sufficient Pitchblende - have increased the accuracy of their predictions by more than 40%, saving hundreds if not thousands of lives with every ocean storm and flood - while also increasing the degree of preparation time available, increasing crop yield significantly while reducing property damage. With more lives being saved and with increased overall profit, the Auditors have maintained that the end results are worth the relatively small losses from the mines and skirmishes with the wildlife.

Notable Figures

Chief Astronomy Rinias Gehn

Work in Progress.

Astronomer Iikka Guiomar

Work in Progress.

Auditor Lornal Rechas

Work in Progress.

Roden Husch, Questor Trainee

Work in Progress.

The Legendary Trio

Work in Progress.

Blackguard Kuro

Work in Progress.

Overseer Merrias Tonam

Work in Progress.

Headmaster Tiendiade Kerras

Work in Progress.

The Breathless Queen

Work in Progress.

Imports & Exports

Imports:
-Common Metals
-Precious Metals
-Gemstones
-Basic Currency
-Lumber
-Stone
-Weapons and Armor
-Dairy Products

Exports:
-Grains and Cereals
-Herbs and Spices
-Meats
-Seafood
-Leathers
-Bones
-Furs
-Tailored Clothing
-Really Shitty Rugs and Tapestries
-Medicinals
-Fuel

Anomalies

This is a list of highly specific and possibly arbitrary items that Caerulmoste would import/export, which would in all likelihood not be traded in bulk.

Imports:
-Original rugs and tapestries from the Antiquary Period. Any number of small-time tapestry and rug 'artisans' would kill to be able to study some of the famous works of the past.
-Educational texts. The Questor Order Secular has a large number of juveniles to educate and a perpetual shortage of reading material.
-Mathematical texts. The Royal Auditors are always keeping an eye out for these, both for their benefit and that of their students.
-Heretical Texts. The Astronomers of Laevo Lighthouse will pay handsomely for particularly esoteric manuscripts...and for discretion.
-High Quality Mirrors. One would think the Astronomers would want high quality lens instead, but their ways are curious to say the least.
-Slaves. Specifically, the Mottem Madmen are interested in procuring individuals born on any numbered day of the year that has twelve as a factor. Or so the rumors go...
-Foreign financial documents. The Royal Family and their armies of Auditors slaver over commercial and economic data of any kind, but they will likely be fairly stingy unless offered something with intriguing implications.
-Questor Weapons. They have to buy all the iron used to make them, and it is easier just to buy them back rather than forge new ones if they happen to be looted from somebody's corpse - no questions asked, though they will likely remember your face.

Exports:
-Pearls. Anybody else who lives near the coast probably has them too, but unlike those a lot of these are grown in rivers and streams - making for unique variants.
-Financial data. The Royal Family and their Auditors have been collecting and infering financial data and its implications in neighboring regions for some time now. Who knows what sort of dirt they might have found in the books?
-Risky Astronomers. They know things. Heretical things, but useful nonetheless. An offer of asylum alone might be a sufficient offer...
-Pitchblende. What possible use could anybody have with this worthless, toxic mineral?
-Questors. While nominally employed by the Royal Family, the Questors have no true obligations to Caerulmoste - and some of them can be rather talented.
-Mottem Madmen. The crazed blackguards who ride throughout the Mottem Expanse, terrorizing Ardacia from undiscovered cavern entrances. They tend to be unhinged more often than not, but may occasionally be bargained with.

The Ruling House

House Soneillon

During the revolt that led to Ardall the Conquerer's fall, the region of Caerulmoste played virtually no part in the skirmishes and battles that took place. The indigenous peasantry were more conservative in their ways, and the imperial knights and guardsmen stationed there - some of the most feeble and unimpressive individuals in the service to the emperor - remained at their posts rather than turning upon the regional governor, Duke Chorsen. The absence of any major fortresses or barracks, along with the region's faint strategic value and the hazardous terrain, garnered little in the way of interest by neighboring rebellion forces.

Upon learning the rest of the empire had dissolved and that Emperor Ardall had been slain, Duke Chorsen declared himself emperor and sent out orders to the settlements of the region to mobilize for war. His messengers never returned, and one by one his followers abandoned the Island of Will as supplies dwindled without relief shipments to sustain them. When men were sent to forage for supplies, they too never returned - and so Duke Chorsen, in his final days, became furtive and paranoid, convinced that enemy agents were waging an unseen siege upon the Island. Eventually, the whole of the island was emptied save for the Duke himself.

Throughout Caerulmoste, life carried on much as it had even in the absence of a governing lord. The settlements continued to trade with one another and neighboring regions. Taxes continued to be collected, stored in local strongholds, and spent. The only thing that truly changed was the assignment of new guards and militia within the settlements; who were informally appointed by the remaining guards.

Several times, neighboring regions attempted to annex smaller settlements near the border of the drainage basin, or else the Church of Eirtu would attempt to appoint a new regional governor - only to be met with the response that the region of Caerulmoste was still ruled by the venerable Duke Chorsen, and that all affairs of the region were in order.

Decades later, a committee was formed in order to regulate the activities of a merchant's guild that had gotten too greedy. In order to consolidate themselves, the financial committee moved its headquarters into the now abandoned Island of Will, from which they began to audit the finances of the entire region. A few more decades later, every position in the committee was occupied by the members of a single family - the Soneillons. Deciding to do away with the pretense that they did not de facto rule Caerulmoste, they announced that Duke Chorsen had finally passed away and declared their patriarch King of Caerulmoste. His most sensible eminence King Raros, first of his line, ascended the throne and continued to manage the region much as the committee had for the last several decades - and all in Caerulmoste agreed that this was a most acceptable arrangement.

Since those days, the Soneillons have maintained a loose practice of regal behavior. The royal chambers in the Keep of Will are infamous for being the worst royal residences in all of Ardacia. The members of the family regularly commingle - in every sense of the word - with the indigenous peasantry. Perhaps the most shocking of their behaviors though is the occasional, willing forfeiture of tenure by standing kings who view governing the region as an annoyance, usually passing the crown on to whomever seems best suited to the job within the family.

The Soneillons are generally well-regarded for their founding and support of the Questor Order Secular, the company of Questors who venture Ardacia to challenge adversity and the malicious. Likewise though, most of Ardacia's nobility have distanced themselves politically from the Soneillons due to their occasional clashes with the Church of Eirtu.

Prominent House Members

King Theris Soneillon

One of the youngest Kings in the history of Caerulmoste, Theris ascended to the throne when the ruling Queen Alchalchlea retired their tenure as ruler three years ago. King Theris is notable for his brief apprenticeship with the Astronomers of Laevo Lighthouse prior to their ascension, with many suspecting that he was sent to them with the intention of discovering the true nature of the irregularities with the Guild of Astronomer's fiances. Being so young at a mere twenty-one years of age, he is a largely unknown figure even within his own court - and was only chosen as king due to his adequate ability with mathematics and his meticulous record-keeping. He is credited with developing the proof for an equation (named Arkantos' congruence) used in the realm of statistics that acts as a time-saving 'shortcut' in highly specific circumstances - forgoing the need for more intensive and lengthy calculations that would otherwise be needed. This was the primary citation of his merit and is largely responsible for him being made King of Caerulmoste.

For the last three years, he has spent a particular amount of attention not only to the finances of settlements with Caerulmoste, but also within neighboring regions. His records in this regard have largely been assembled by inference, but in some specific cases a number of auditors have been dispatched to procure precise data - stirring up no small amount of commotion in the process. His relationship with the Church of Eirtu is somewhat strained simply due to his association with the Astronomers of Laevo in addition to the longstanding unease between the two bodies.

Chief Auditor Mountebank Soneillon, Adviser to the King

Mountebank Soneillon has been Chief Auditor of Caerulmoste for more than three decades, being the third oldest living member of House Soneillon. They were the first nominal choice for King to replace Queen Alchalchlea, but his candidacy was ultimately dismissed due to his acceptance of bribes from Guild Members in the past far beyond what was necessary and sensible. Famous for his immaculate visual memory, he can recite lists of incomes and expenditures for every Guild in every settlement of Caerulmoste.

Lady Alchalchlea Soneillon, former Queen

Work in Progress.

Alethea Soneillon, Calculator

Work in Progress.

Auditor Sarapis Soneillon

The Pitchblende Staff

Record of Phano Soneillon, adviser to King Raros Soneillon, first of his Line.

This document is intended to serve as a permanent record of detail concerning the Regalia of Office of the Ruler of the region of Calrumoste - for consideration and consultation of whomever it may concern.

It is known by many that for a time, the late Ardall the Conquerer kept within his service a sorcerer of some merit and skill, though the very reckoning of his ken be blasphemy. Ardall eventually figured this basic piece of common sense out and had the sorcerer executed - confiscating his many devices and personal effects, many of which were secured away upon the Island of Will.

Most of these foul items were seized and destroyed by flame; in particular a number of malign texts as well as a number of perturbing and profane icons, totems, and artifacts. However, a small, select number of these items were deemed harmless and indeed crafted with benign function if not intent. All but one of these items were remitted to the custody of the blessed Church of Eirtu, but as our newly ascended House lacked anything in the form of regalia - the good and proper King Raros Soneillon, first of his line, deemed it most fitting to secure the item in question as the regalia of his line.

The item is a staff, measuring nearly a meter and a half in length. It is rendered of cold iron, embossed with gold and with filigree of electrum, with many curious designs depicting the many phases of the moons above, rendered in pearl and ammolite. The head of the staff is encased in a solid sphere of lead, upon which is mounted a curious crystalline structure to which I was forced to consult another amongst my house to learn was a Dodecahedron in shape. The mineral is known by few as that of Pitchblende, carved and shaped by unnatural forces as the cut is known to not occur naturally amongst Pitchblende.

The staff functions much in the manner of a dowsing rod, though with perfect accuracy. Those who deign to wield the staff become immediately aware, as though struck by divine epiphany, of every deposit of the mineral Pitchblende within many kilometers (mayhaps surveyors speculate the range is twelve though there be no fine way to affirm this).

Though this discovery was initially frowned upon as unfavorable - as it is known that Pitchblende is a most ominous mineral, striking illness and fatigue amongst those who handle it worse than is seen even amongst those who work with mercury. However, this soon turned a fortunate finding when the very function was used to discover several new, uncharted cavern systems and sinkholes - as well as identify areas within the Mottem Expanse that were unsafe to excavate. Although admittedly of minor assistance, this same function proved iteself most useful again as the Astronomers of Laevo Lighthouse did affirm that the use of Pitchblende could be used to assay the frequency and occurrence of Grand Storms.

Having wielded the staff myself briefly, I will now describe the precise sensation of the heightened perception it does bestow.

Firstly, one becomes specifically aware of a number of small and large masses that exist without their vision, such as one might know a large building is around a corner or behind a wall though they cannot see it. Secondly, they become specifically aware of the exact orientation of direction by which these masses reside, much as one might assay in which direction a child's marble or perhaps an egg has rolled when fallen beneath a table. Thirdly, they become aware of their approximate spatial relationship with the aforementioned masses, capable of determining the rough distance between themselves and each mass much as a hunter might be able to guess the distance between themselves in the wilds and the nearest town or village.

The masses of Pitchblende thus perceived do appear to be few and far between, existing largely in small clumps but occasionally also found as large, flat beds beneath the earth - when wielding the staff, these are clearly discerned as distant points and sheets, much as one might discern the general shape of a distant and unclear object.

For the purposes of safety and security, the staff should never be wielded by any save a member of the royal family, preferably accompanied by another member - though it is understood that the staff should prove most useful in the hands of a foreman.

At the time of this writing, the number of true mines within Caerulmoste might possibly be counted on both hands - and there is little expectation that this situation might change in the near or distant future. Barring particular need for the staff, such as discovery of a bed or clump of pitchblende within the region, it has been determined that it is to be kept securely upon the Island of Will.

Game of Thrones Inspired NRP (Accepting one more!)

House Sheet is now 90% complete.

Struggling with the mandatory Coat of Arms program, and fleshing out the biographies of House Members. Going to try and get it submitted tomorrow anyway even if I cannot finish the details for everyone.

RPGC #10: The Moon!

Time for dancing in the moonlight.

Game of Thrones Inspired NRP (Accepting one more!)

House sheet should be done by tomorrow.

The Twelve Labours: Victory Archive

The Ninth Labour

Pawn Take King

"Pawn Take King"

Smoky. A wisp of twisting fumes, writhing up to the stagnant air. It escaped from the smoldering tip of a white tube being thrusted into the grey ashes. The mood was grunge, a heavy emotional drain upon the soul as the dim lighting above shone upon the onyx and marble squares inlaid in the table. Gold trimmed the edges of the board, gilded in the fine beaten luster over the dark mahogany wood. The drumming of fingers, tapping into the side of the eternal plane, waiting for the next move to come. There was no timer, no methodical passing of turns against the grains of sand or ticking gears. There was no hand which clicked the buzzer to signal the next move as the clinking ice slowly rolled around in the whiskey neat. Another puff of smoke, another sip of drink, look up at the television screen rolling in the evening news, relax at the table for time here has no end.

The battle was a deadlock, barely having begun and already grinding down to become to a standstill. Holding their positions upon the board the carved bones whittled away to resemble their roles. The skeletal pieces set in rows before beginning their danse macabre of burned bones upon bleached ones. Two pawns, insignificant henchmen, leapt forward for their king and queen, and in reply, a single pawn moved away for a sly queen’s bishop to swoop in to snatch away the pawn in the center cross by covering the awaiting knight. It was a game of grandmasters, as they titans towered over the broad deciding the fates of others. A White hand moved his king’s bishop moved behind the advanced pawns forming the rudimentary backbone of chess. Elementary as it was, this game had a particular twist, and so as a black hand offered the king’s pawn a victory over own another pawn which was prodded into the fray at center from the foot of the dark king’s bishop. Now deep in contemplation of the worth of this obvious trap, the real the battle begins. An inhale, and out comes the thick smoke.

How fragile was life? Like a withered leaf it clings desperately on the twigs to brace itself against the winter storm. Therein man finds the sad truth of our limited time, and wish to leave behind a legacy as proof of worth. Some find it in fame, to be renowned for one’s accomplishments, but mere utterances are echoes of the past, and portraits mere shadows of life. Thus how far would one go to challenge the inevitable? How can you outwit Death? Certainly not with a knight, for death had ridden at his side long ago…

The beer mug had shattered. Dropped from a limp hand, and papers knocked over to the floor. An unfinished burger, still warm on the plate of cheesy fries loaded with ketchup. Natural causes, they said, as paramedics came to roll over the large man. Or was it? For moments ago he was alive, devouring his last meal ravenously while reading the news. As an older man, possibly in his mid-sixties, who had still patronized a dying information industry it was only natural that he was selected. Bound to die within ten years give or take, had he not choked on a chunk of meat and bun far too large to swallow. Yet, he lived through this as some quick rescuer preformed the Heimlich in time, ejecting the meal and saving the old accountant from death by asphyxiation. And yet the excitement of it all, wore out his heart. A brush with death, which would lead to death itself. For with a thud, he collapsed, his heart failing as the glass dropped and spilled the cold beverage over the flutter of newsprint.

“So, who was he to you?” A voice from the shadows asked the smoking man. Like a heavy sigh through ancient catacombs, dry and whispered, tired even of the game as Death watched his own masterpiece. Taking the pawn was merely the bait to draw this fool closer into the game as the shadows swirled around their table. The pale lager had stained the sections of the papers save for one, one that death smiled at most as personal pride. The obituaries of course were left untouched as the player in black returned to the table for his turn with a newspaper tucked under his arm. Black suits Death, after all, and with this game where the pieces were lives, who would you sacrifice? A lover? A brother? A friend? A close associate? How much would you give so that you may attempt to escape me? Nothing escapes me. No one escapes me.

Silent as ever though the smoking man, dressed in his lounge suit burning his smokes away like between his fingers as he takes the pawn exchange and calmly allows Death’s bishop to sneak past his line and strike into the heart of his formation. His rook now exposed to the threat cut across the diagonal as center gave way. To lose another friend, perhaps a father or brother of all things now. But alas forgiveness comes at the price of guilt. And this mortal wraps his fingers around his darling queen without a word to answer my question. Who was he to deny Death? For this I shall take his queen next for now he has threatened me with her. To put me into check, was to offend me.
His pawn to banish my pawn which had blocked forth his marked queen. It mattered not for I had nothing to lose but his soul. Yes, and I would trade all my pieces for his death for having the nerve to challenge me in a game like this. This was no movie nor play, nor was it a book to be told like a fairy tale, no one challenges Death and lives to tell of it! I move my knight, an old friend who shall now threaten his white queen. Who will she be? Who did he risk to save his own worthless hide? Let him come and lose all his pieces and perhaps then it would be more merciful for me to watch him beg for death.

There she was, and I looked upon her with my pitiless eyes like an artist would a canvas. Her skin already white as the marble gravestones I fill, her veins clearly visible as she relaxed in her warm bathwater. Her wet hair a fiery red, scarlet like precious rubies woven in slickened locks. How my opponent had selected such a ravishing queen to for me to ravage as my icy hand grazed itself upon her shoulder. I had to witness her personally, this death I shall savour second to his own. Her eyes could not see me, though she shivered at my touch, quivering and shuddering as my fingertips walked down her collar bone as I wrung my hands around her neck. Oh yes, her sweet gasps music to my ears as I strangled the life out of her, the convulsions of her body writhing against my own as I took her. Darkness fell upon the room. They would see it as an accident, those to rush in to find her lifeless body submerged in the flooding bathtub. A faulty circuit, electrocution, a mystery of chance akin to being struck down by lightning. Yet they forgot that lightning once was seen as divine justice. Thus am I: Death.

Though as I returned, I found my opponent smiling, even as my knight executed his queen in trade for a mere pawn now ripe for reaping before my King’s rook. His smile mocked me as I looked into his heart, his failing heart which dared to laugh at me with each heartbeat. He had gone mad perhaps, as the liquor has gone to his brain, or perhaps the smoke which he had breathed in and out for the past few days. And yet, it seemed he knew something which had escaped me, something I had overseen. Why did he not flee before my knight? Did he care not for his queen? The women he loved so dearly?

Then I saw it. For I was just as blind as I had silently taunted him for letting me slip into his ranks with my bishop. He now does the same with his own. The game was his now as he proclaimed checkmate. For his bishop had ran over to threaten my king who I had unwittingly blockaded in. No room to breathe nor move, and certainly now nowhere to run. No such piece had I to stop the inevitable, and the pieces on the board remained untouched as I, Death itself, was cheated out of certain victory. Had I forgotten how vile and despicable these mortals may become? To offer up an innocent soul to me in order to save their own worthless lives? And as my opponent chuckled away and drank the last of his liquor, I had to ask: “Who was she?”

“Someone I loved, but she belongs to another. It was her husband that shot me, and left me here for you to clean up. This game was just my last way to get back at him, for all he had done to me. He stole her from me long ago, and told her lies of how I didn't love her. For if I couldn’t have her in life, I figured you’d be so kind as to reunite me with her in death. So go on Death, in the spirit of the game, let Pawn Take King.”

With that, he threw his head back, and closed his eyes, as I in fury swept my hand across the board. The bone pieces flew across before vanishing into the air, the board disappeared as I leapt at him in rage. With one last drag he extinguished his smoldering cigarette, he too evaporated into the smoky haze. And so He had cheated me twice. Once for his own life, and twice for another.

The Song

By @WiseDragonGirl.

The song

Evening fell over the city of Arnheim, as the light of the sun faded people ignited candles or oil lanterns in their homes. While most people headed towards home, tomorrow would be another day of work after all, those who had no obligations at home or at sunrise chose to spend the evening in one of the many taverns.

Two people walked alongside of each other. The taller, black-haired man wore the fine clothes of a nobleman. The other had chestnut-coloured hair, he wore simple and worn-out travelling clothes and he carried a lute on his back. Mikhal, the travelling bard, knew Lemitsa for a couple of years now and regarded him a friend. Even if the somewhat cold and distant nobleman didn’t show it, he too considered Mikhal as a friend, despite him being of lower class.

Like others they walked up to one of the taverns in town, laughter filled the street as Lemitsa pushed the door open. The bar-room was lit by oil lanterns, the smell of burning oil mixed with beer and sweat was a common one for places like these, even if it wasn’t the most the pleasant of smells. At least it was a smell they would adjust to easily, unlike the stench in the crypt just outside the city with the Liador, the carnivorous monkey-like creatures who lived there. That foul smell was impossible to get used to, no matter how long you would stay down there, with the proper precautions of course, those ferocious creatures had killed many people. He knew this, because he had been down there himself one day, with Mikhal.

“Do you think the father of lady Catheryn will be impressed with the amount of coins you collected so far?” Lemitsa asked as they walked through the bar-room.

“I can only hope, I did my best.” Mikhal walked up to the bar and ordered two beers. As the bartender put two mugs on the bar, he turned to face his friend again. “I will go there tomorrow and ask for her hand in marriage.”

The bartended pushed the two mugs with beer towards them. “I wish you the best of luck, Mikhal. If you manage to do that, you’ll achieve what hardly any commoner can: marry a noble.” He watched the young man smile to that. “When will you start?”

“Allow me to smooth my throat with your fine ale and then I will sing for your customers, as agreed.”

With a nod of his head the bartender gave his approval and the two friends walked towards one of the tables to sit, talk and drink a beer together. Lemitsa hardly drank anything as they talked, but Mikhal had little problems with finishing the mug, he was thirsty.

“You have hardly drunk at all,” Mikhal mentioned as he looked inside Lemitsa’s mug.

“I do not enjoy the taste of this cheap beer,” Lemitsa answered with a shrug. He turned around in his chair and tapped on an in green velvet covered shoulder. “Anthony, take this one. It is my treat.”

Anthony, another noble, turned around to face Lemitsa, his face showed the redness of someone who had a beer too many. “Thank you kindly,” he slurred as he took the mug. “Cheers!” He took a big gulp from the mug and turned back to his friends.

“That is friendly of you,” Mikhal said as he looked at Anthony’s back, “although I am not certain it was wise to give your beer to someone who obviously had his share of drinks already.” He noticed how Lemitsa shrugged to that. “Are you close with him?” He knew Anthony, but only from face and reputation. As far as he had heard, Anthony and his family had a good reputation and a decent amount of money, but status-wise they stood below Lemitsa and his family.

“Truthfully,” Lemitsa said as he leaned over to the table and lowered his voice. “I cannot stand him. But let that not be a concern to you.” He showed a smile. “When you sing, will you sing your ode to king Han again? I like that song.”

As Mikhal took his lute he nodded to Lemitsa. “Of course, let me start with it.”

Lemitsa watched Mikhal stand up and take a place between tables with a smirk. “Please do,” he muttered. He glanced towards the side where a few Royal Knights sat. Perfect. He turned his attention back to Mikhal who played the strings of the lute to produce a simple but happy melody.

“There once was a leader, a glorious man,
the wise and the fair and the noble king Han.
His reign had brought peace and prospe-”

Before he could even finish the first verse he had to duck to avoid a mug of beer that was thrown at his head. He looked at the man who rose to his feet and pointed a stubby finger at him.

“No king ever d-deserved to have their own sssong,” Anthony slurred. “Bringing p-peace and p-prosperity? Kings are g-good for nnnothing expect collecting taxes!”

“If that’s how you feel,” Lemitsa whispered to Anthony, “maybe we need to stand up against our king?”

“We hhhave to ssstand up against our king!” Anthony exclaimed. “Down with the king!”

As Lemitsa expected, the Royal Knights wouldn’t stand for that. They came up to Anthony, but he turned towards them and called them puppets and evil swordsman working for an evil king, suppressing his freedom to have an opinion. As one of them took his arm, he spat in the knight’s face. The knights were now adamant to take away and with force if they had to. He struggled and cursed, but he was no match for the knights and they took him with them. The common people all looked at each other, unsure what just happened. The people of nobility who had shared the table with Anthony looked worried, a noble being arrested for speaking about a king like that would have consequences for the nobleman himself, his family and his friends. A careless drunk statement could have a big impact on his and their status and it was uncertain how far this event would carry in their ranks.

“Mikhal!” the bartender said to the baffled bard. “Please finish your wonderful song.”

By that request Mikhal seemed to regain his composure and he started over.

"There once was a leader, a glorious man,
the wise and the fair and the noble king Han.
His reign had brought peace and prosperity for all,
from the oldest to the youngest, the tall and the small.

People were jealous and wanted his wealth,
they tried to get closer through force and through stealth.
No man was able to touch the good king
for he could take on what any foe could bring.

None was more cunning, more clever or smart,
the swing of his sword was a form of art.
And the mighty king Han had men on his side,
all loyal and strong and they stood there with pride.

His foes did he conquer, his foes found defeat,
the king could sit down on his ivory seat.
The glorious leader, a victor once more,
his men erupted in a praising galore.

Here comes the tale of king Han to an end,
for always remembered by foe and by friend."

As the customers clapped for the song, Mikhal bowed to them and he started another song. After five more songs he collected some coins from the people and he returned to the table where Lemitsa still sat.

“Let us go,” Lemitsa suggested. “You can stay at my place again.”

Mikhal nodded and followed his friend outside. The city was a lot more quiet at this time of the evening and he looked up at the star-lit sky. “It is a shame what happened to your friend.”

“I told you, Anthony is not a friend.”

“Indeed you told me,” Mikhal said as he frowned at Lemitsa. “Why exactly did you want to hear the Ode to king Han again?”

Letmitsa didn’t answer to that, but the pleased smile was all Mikhal needed to see.

“You gave him more beer so he would be properly drunk when he would hear that song and you know how he feels about our king. You knew how he would react.” He narrowed his eyes slightly. “You do not care how people think about our king, you just wanted him arrested and punished, because you do not like him.”

“You are a smart man, no wonder I can see you as a friend, but that is not all.” Lemitsa looked at Mikhal. “His upcoming wedding with lady Margareta would push his status closer to my own, I did not like that idea. And I wish to court his sister, but he does not approve. Now I can do as I please.”

“What about lady Trialca?”

“I got bored of her, we are not together anymore.”

Mikhal stared at Lemitsa. “This is the second time you used me to get what you want! Did you ever consider this could have a serious impact on me? What if he or his father will blame me and my song for this? Do you know much a noble can hurt a commoner? Did you even consider that if his family will come after me it could damage my chances with lady Catheryn?”

“Of course I considered all that.”

“And still you did this? You set this scheme up for your own personal gain and you used me for it? This is not how friends should behave! I should-“

“What? You should what? Go to the sheriff and tell him about this? Do you think the word of a common man weighs up to the word of a noble? I will tell the sheriff I had nothing to do with the unfortunate incident and he will believe me. And I will tell you this: before we went to the tavern I told my friends I do not like your simplistic ode to a fictional king and since it was the bartender who requested you to finish the song, people will assume that if the song had been requested and not chosen by you, he will be the one who requested it.” Lemtisa looked at Mikhal with a smirk. “You have no proof I set this up.”

“But you did! If you planned around my song so well, I know you planned to have Anthony in the same tavern as some Royal Knights when we were there, and you know about Anthony’s drinking habits! Nobles can overlook the drinking, even if they do not agree with it, but they cannot overlook this.” Mikhal let out a resigned sign. “But I have no proof,” he agreed unwillingly.

The smirk made way for a more serious look and he nodded. “You are correct when you say you have no proof,” Lemitsa stated.

It was bitter to admit it, but Lemitsa was right, there was no way he could go to the sheriff and explain what happened when things would go down-hill because of the event. Lemitsa would make his life even more miserable. Now he was just collateral damage, if he would be the target of Lemitsa’s scheme he would be crushed. If he wanted to avoid that, he had to remain silent about this. And not just that, Lemitsa was a friend and even though he pulled stunts like this, he couldn’t bring himself to hate him. Lemitsa had been a good friend to him in the past, a real friend and not materialistic, and he valued his friendship with him. He didn’t want to lose that too.

They stopped walking and looked at each other. “I used you,” Lemitsa finally said. “That is what I do, I use people around me for my own benefit. You know that. Maybe it is wise to reconsider your friendship with me.” He nodded a greeting. “I wish you a good night, Mikhal.” With that, Lemitsa walked away, leaving Mikhal behind to deal with the results of his action.

Just Take A Stroll

By @PlatinumSkink.

Just Take A Stroll

'You're cured,' the doctor told him, the middle-aged white-bearded face holding a light smile as he spoke the fateful words.

The individual who had been spoken to stared in confusion at the doctor. Aaron was a tall and scrawny black-haired young man who looked like he'd fall over from a gust of wind, and right now he sat unblinking like melded into the chair which he was sitting on. He was... cured?

'H-how?' he asked, stunned and unbelievably relieved. 'They all said it was terminal. How is it possible that I'm...?' Awe, confusion and bubbling joy all intermingled in the strangest of ways in his voice. Doctor Hogan, a slightly wide man in white clothing with a retreating white hairline and a decimetre of white fluffy beard, nodded understandingly at the young man.

'It's a new prototype treatment,' he told the boy, looking proud of him. 'It isn't licensed yet, and there may be unforeseen side-effects, but your condition was grave enough that we decided to try it. We'll need to call you in to monitor you then and there for a while to ensure you're scot-free, but there's no sign of the bacteria still in your body. You're effectively cured.' The doctor nodded at him. 'Congratulations. You're free to go.'

Aaron sank back in his chair, daring to smile. His life, which he had already given up on, had been given a new miraculous chance. A new treatment. He couldn't believe it. That was so...

'Th-thank you, thank you so much, doctor,' he said, looking forward at him still in disbelief. The doctor just raised his hand, palm forward, to inform him that it was alright.

'I really should apologize. We weren't really allowed to administer this treatment, but we couldn't just let you go without trying all we had,' the doctor told, smiling at him. Aaron breathed out in relief, his mind blank. He had assumed this was the end. What would he do, now? He'd given up all his plans for the future. It didn't really matter. First, he'd have to tell his whole family. Then, he'd find something. He was cured.

'That said, there is one thing that I'd like you to do for me,' the doctor said, still smiling at him. Aaron blinked a little at that statement. Did doctors usually ask things of their patients? But, he really wasn't in a position to deny, so...

'A-anything within my power, sir!' Aaron responded, feeling slightly uncertain about this, but this was the man who had saved his life, after all.

'Good!' the doctor exclaimed, standing up. 'Come with me!'

______________________________________________________

Aaron stared into the grey, square room. There was nothing in it. It was totally empty. Just a grey, cubical room, that didn't seem to contain anything. It was extremely flat. Just the way in, which was one of those filled with equipment made to ensure a scientist was extremely clean before entering with a sealing door by the end of it, but the doctor hadn't made him use any of it and just left the door completely open. He turned his head and looked questioningly at the doctor, who after having opened the door had gotten himself seated behind a row of computers which were facing away from Aaron in the room behind him.

'Just take a stroll,' Hogan instructed, nodding with a smile at his patient. This... had to be something for his treatment, Aaron figured. He had to assume the room was lined with sensory equipment on the outside, and he was to walk inside it to check for health-issues? If there had been something dangerous in here, the doctor wouldn't have left the door wide-open like that. Something felt weird about this, but if it was just a stroll, then he could do that. His over-active imagination imagined the door would close behind him and he'd be locked away forever for an evil scientist's devices, but what the heck. Aaron decided to trust his faith in humanity.

So, with that thought out, he lifted his foot, and took his first step into the grey, cubical room.

______________________________________________________

Many Ghinitian miles from there, there was a city. A city comprised of buildings made of bright transparent goo in all the colours of the rainbow. The city spread out as far as the eye could see, and way beyond that. The city was built on a landscape of white semi-translucent matter, which looked like some form of jelly that probably could be perfectly shaped by just picking it up and shaping it with the use of hands. And, if the buildings were of any indication, this was true. The perfectly ordered buildings were of many different colours compared to the stale, white landscape, but otherwise it looked like they were comprised of the same material that had just been shaped into more-or-less rectangular structures with odd spherical deformities here and there. Inside these buildings and everywhere around them, were Ghinites.

Ghinites were slime-like creatures, seemingly composed of green semi-solid liquid that was kept upright by their own cellular structure. To move, they simply slid along the surface below them, their fluids making a rolling motion under them like they were all on treads. They had organs, a brain that kept them operating, a nerve-system to send around their brain's commands and a centre that contained digestive fluids contained in their bodies. On their front of their bodies, there were two, huge circles right next to one another of paler green that were lit up by their sensory organs, which qualified for being their eyes.

The streets of the city were littered with them, Ghinites drawing themselves back and forth across it. Smaller blobs of green followed their mothers as they slid down crossroads. The streets in the middle were reserved for rolling, a seemingly faster way of travelling for those who dared make themselves into a ball and roll. Larger Ghinites mixed in on the roads, carrying wares in their middles which were to be moved to the population at large, mostly salvaged food or processed building-jelly for construction. All in all, it was a functional society, as far as the eye could see.

In a nearby tower, Akheria stood, as per that could be described. She stood in her own room in her own stable fluid tower in front of a desk made of the same substance. She was reading information from a tablet comprised of even more of the same glued-together organisms, the words on the tablet having been shaped by someone simply moving the organisms on it to form indents shaped like the letters of their alphabet. Herself, she didn't visually look any different from the rest of her species. They were all very similar pieces of translucent green sticky matter with two lit-up spherical spots for eyes that'd likely look creepy to a human, but any other Ghinite could easily recognize one another by the taste of the matter each was subconsciously giving off. And Akheria's in particular, was easily recognizable for being quite bitter.

'Akheria, you called for me?' Another Ghinite, somewhat larger yet slimmer, bubbled out in their unique language created by the sounds made by moving and splashing together their gelatinous bodies at ”mouths” which were recreated every time they were to speak, made possible by the absolute control they had of all the liquid in their bodies.

'Bohkon. I've called you to discuss the matter of leaving this place,' she informed, glaring forward at him. Ghinites don't sigh, but noticeably relaxing their structure to sink down in height and spread out along their edges meant pretty much the same thing.

'This, again, Akheria? You know we can't even if we wanted to,' he said. Akheria was not satisfied. She used her body's structure to form an outstretched limb, with which she shoved the tablet she had been reading towards Bohkon.

'Our population is swelling, but only because of food provided to us by the Adidas,' she told him. The Adidas, as the Ghinites called them, regularly supplied them all the nutrients they needed to survive and grow. But... 'We're a society completely based around food which we cannot procure ourselves. It's how it has always been, and nobody questions it. Bohkon, shouldn't we-'

'Akheria, don't suggest this to an audience,' Bohkon interupted her, a hint of warning in his ”voice”. 'Our population has grown into billions, everybody's happy, nobody even bothers to think of the outside world. Why would you?' he inquired, glaring right back. Akheria looked unhappily back at him, grabbing another tablet by her jelly desk and presented it to him.

'Because just a few mimillions ago, our population was threatened with extinction by the Zoroan invasion. We had our scientists working non-stop, until we FINALLY found the means to kill them,' she told him, her irritation coming through, and she saw Bohkon sink together once again. 'Those came from outside,' she continued. 'The same way our food comes in. I believe the Adidas sent them at us.'

'Akheria, the Adidas gave us things to help us research their demise along with the next shipment of food! They helped us!' Bohkon informed, pretending this was new information, just to state the obvious to this obviously delusional miss.

But if so, then why did they not just kill the Zoroans themselves? Why not give us the done weapons, and not the means to research a countermeasure? Was it a test?

Akheria grew silent. Then there was the fact their supply of the weapons had been extracted by what only she could assume were the Adidas after the war was only stranger. What did they have for use of that? She had a few theories, but with all likelihood, they could be attacked again.

'Regardless, such an attack could come again. And the next time, we might not be so lucky,' she argued. Bohkon just stared back at her, unconvinced.

'… ”Regardless”, we can't leave. I don't know if you've noticed, but there's a giant wall in the way. Even the noted ”Black Wall”, different from the rest of the wall, seals us out perfectly. But you know that. There's a reason you made your way to become mayor of the Black Wall District, isn't it? Because it's rumoured to ”disappear” at times...'

Bohkon was exactly right. Of course, Akheria hadn't mentioned this intention during her rise to power. It'd have severely hurt her chances. She had specifically moved here after the Zoroan war for the sake of getting to put scientists on experimenting on ways to get past the Black Wall, so far in vain. Now it was Akheria's turn to sink together a bit.

'… But, if we, as a species, make a unified effort, then we can-'

'Mayor Akheria!' a separate voice sounded out across the room from a tube sticking in from the wall, made from a similar gelatinous substance as the wall but in a shade of dark green. This tube transmitted vibrations especially well, and the tube reached down into the landscape and could therefore be used for communication on a long distance. Of course, just talking into it you had no idea if there was anyone on the other side, that was always a gamble. Bohkon and Akheria both looked over, noting the panic in the voice. Akheria quickly slid over, linking her own body to the tube so to transmit her own words.

'Report,' she demanded, as concisely as possible, the message sent along the tube to the other side.

'Th-the Black Wall, it's gone!' … That was quite the announcement. Elation filled Akheria, and she could pretty much feel Bohkon flinching in the background.

'Get the exploration team ready! Get them there immediately! I don't care what they're currently doing, I want them there!'

'Y-yes, ma'am! B-but, there's something odd,' the other side told, making Akheria listen attentively. 'It looks like something might be intending to-' The line suddenly grew silent. Akheria did wonder what had happened, but she wasn't given a lot of time to consider it.

At first, she just felt the sheer force of it. A loud boom, and the force of it grabbing onto her gelatinous form. She almost jumped, her fluids just barely sticking to the floor. The sound had come from behind her, in the middle of her district. An outcry of panic and despair from thousands of Ghinites sounded out, the warning alarm of their kind raised everywhere from different buildings. Agitated, Akheria launched herself from the wall where she had been talking over to the open window, desperate to see the cause of this.

Something had descended straight down onto their city. Something impossibly large. All she could see from here was the extremely large white wall curving around her city quarters. The... the wall was moving. It appeared to have a mostly flat underside, but it had descended on an angle to hit an edge, so now it was periodically crashing down the rest of its mass, crushing the panicked Ghinitian district. It had already squashed the houses and lives of thousands of unsuspecting Ghinites, and as it was rolling forward it squashed thousands more, their cries of panic cut short but to be replaced by the cries of so many others.

Akheria was stunned. This was... this was impossible. The way that thing moved... It was solid. It wasn't gelatinous. It was just like the walls that contained them to this world, entirely solid and impossibly large. Except... it was unmistakeably alive. She looked up. Above the white rim of what had smashed into their city, a blue colour replaced it and ascended beyond the height which she or any Ghinite could clearly see. But, at the very limit of what she could see, there was a comparatively small but still absolutely giant shiny object attached to it, and on it was a symbol that she could not read, but still she could discern two symbols of unknown kind.

”BK”.

______________________________________________________

Aaron had placed down his right foot inside the room. Yeah, it was solid. He hadn't fallen through the floor or anything. A normal, if empty, room. What's up? He gave a questioning look back at the doctor.

'Go on, go in!' Hogan smiled and encouraged brightly. Was it Aaron's imagination, or was he smiling wider than he had before? It felt a little creepy. Aaron wasn't sure what the occasion was for smiling so widely. Eh, suppose there was nothing else to it, then? Aaron shrugged and lifted his other foot and took his second step into the room, before shifting his weight over to his left foot so that he could lift his right, beginning a normal stroll through the room.

______________________________________________________

'A-AKHERIA!' Bohkon called her attention in a panic as she watched the giant unidentified object lift itself up, the object bending as the rear part of it lifted first before the whole thing lifted from the crushed district. She stared at the strangely patterned underside of it. Miraculously enough, that pattern had saved the lives of many Ghinites that had happened to be between the cracks, but many, many more had their fragile bodies and buildings squashed by the massive object's descent. And now... it was continuing further into their city-society. Ghinitians were fleeing in panic in the streets, not sure where to go. What... what was she to do? This wasn't like the Zoroans, they could hurt the Zoroans. This... this was...

'AKHERIA!' Bokhon called out again, this time lightly tackling her from the side to get her attention, which he immediately got as she winced at his impact. After having blankly stared at him for a few moments wondering what he was on about, it quickly occurred to her.

'Right. War map,' she confirmed, and both then immediately took off, sinking their organs into their bodies so their outer parts could swiftly roll through the building without trouble, down the slopes into the basement. The basement was placed inside the white mass that was their landscape, still above the grey absolute ground of the room they were forced to inhabit. Down here, was a map of their city divided into sectors.

Slated on a table, this was a map divided into dark-green squares. Their city was divided into 19 by 19 pieces, each column represented by a number and each row by a Ghinitian letter. A few of the tiles were lit up in yellow by light from underneath. They represented where the things were located right now. The operators were fast. This map had been used during the Zoroan wars to track the movements of the enemy, connected by tubes going under the white mass along the entire land, linked with all other similar maps. When something changed on one, it transmitted and did the same change to the other maps. And of course, there were tubes for vocal communication, too. Not hesitating, Akheria spun forward and linked herself to a tube to get access to the network.

'There's two of them!?' She heard the mayor of... some district exclaim. It was difficult to remember all of them, they were so similar. Indeed, there appeared to be two places where the giant objects were settling down. However, they were in a straight line. And... one vanished. Before appearing on the other side of the one remaining, brightening up two squares.

'E6, E7,' an operator announced as those squares lit up, making Akheria shiver a bit thinking of all those who lived in those grids. That was no small sum.

'City-line E is being evacuated,' someone said. Not good enough, Akheria thought. Even if it was moving along the E-line, it would soon reach a wall. What would it do, then?

'… KHAA-' one voice screamed out, before suddenly being silenced. 'E10, E11...,' a different voice informed, and it was quite clear what had just happened to one person who had been attending the map. Akheria did her best to just ignore it. Bohkon stood ready by her in case she needed something quick. Appreciated, but Akheria needed something else. Judging by this...

'It's bipedal,' she stated.

'What?' someone asked from the other side. Time to explain this concept, Akheria figured. As Ghinites that drag their whole body forward in a semi-liquid state, this was a bit tricky.

'It's a theory among scientists, about how larger solid life-forms would move,' she explained. Solid life-forms was a strange concept to a Ghinite, but. 'Essentially, they already have two or more solid limbs which they were born with, and they use these to move forward by-'

'E14, F15,' an operator warned, reminding that there wasn't time for a long explanation.

'I-it's a single life-form!' Akheria skipped the details. 'And we can assume it has no idea we're here! It's too big to see us! We just need to move out the way!' she called out. There were sounds of agreement and then questions of what to do next. Suddenly, Akheria had somehow been placed in charge of the operation. Yeah, it really seemed like it had no idea they were there.

But then, why is it here!?

______________________________________________________

But then, why am I here?

Aaron threw another look at the doctor sitting behind a monitor past the door while he could. He had now walked straight through the room to the other side, stopping a little by the wall. The doctor hadn't revealed any reason for why he was taking this stroll. If he was being exposed to something, then why was the door wide-open? If it was just a check-up if he could walk, then why inside this room? Given the cleaning-hallway, this was clearly a room intended for scientific purpose, and he was walking in here with his dirty shoes with the security-lock wide-open. Guess that meant this room wasn't in use?

Maybe he was thinking too much. It was just a stroll. The doctor surely knew what he was doing. Would be so horrible if the doctor didn't know what he was doing, so it was a lot more comfortable to simply act like he did. With that, Aaron shook off all other thoughts currently inhabiting his mind, plotted out a course for walking around the room via the wall, and took his next step.

______________________________________________________

The huge object with a strangely patterned underside fell down from the sky once again. The sheer shock-wave of force and escaping air underneath it levelled buildings on its own, but the underside of the object slammed straight into Ghinitian city, squashing an unfathomably large area of populated rural space, ending thousands of helpless Ghinitian lives. However, Akheria wouldn't see it. 'F17, G17.' Those words and two small panels that lit up was all she got to confirm the coordinates of the city-grids that had been destroyed. The whole experience... was so surreal...

'… And you wanted OUT THERE, where THOSE THINGS live...?' Bohkon inquired with angry victory. … His assumption about her thoughts was mistaken. She still wanted out, especially if this could happen in here on bad days! They could do nothing to stop it! At least, out there, maybe they could find a place to hide, depending on how the real world actually looks like!

'Not now,' Akheria told Bohkon, this was so not the right time for such an argument. … It was turning. It was approaching the wall on the other side, turning and starting to move alongside the wall...

'… Evacuate people the people to along the walls! Things that large cannot get too close to the walls!' she commanded, and the messages were transmitted throughout the city. Acknowledgements were heard, and shouting started on the other sides. She heard more coordinates from the operators. It was... moving alongside but with a set distance away from the wall. Ghinites were going to die regardless of what measures they took, but she could save as many as possible.

'… Get people away from city-lines 16-17, C-D, 3-4 and P-Q!' Akheria demanded, seeing that the steps were turning to walk along that particular line, that fixed distance away from the wall...

______________________________________________________

… Clever little bastards. Doctor Hogan sat, watching his monitors displaying the current numbers on the little creatures as Aaron walked around inside the room. Already, the tiny beings had started moving in huge masses to place themselves alongside the walls where he wouldn't walk, and they also seemed to somehow know where he was heading despite their short sensory-range. Like directed by a voice of reason, the Ghinites moved to avoid being stepped on, despite the seeming impossibility of that. Still, thousands of their numbers were being crushed with each step despite the best of their efforts. They were simply too many to get away scot-free.

Ghinites. Such ridiculous creatures. So tiny they cannot be seen with a naked eye, yet intelligent enough to rival humans at their best. With but the means at hand, a white semi-solid landscape created by what their own stomachs leave behind after eating, they created a whole complex society with absurd technology using said landscape. And with that, they had somehow cured the disease which Hogan had worked his entire life trying to cure. The same disease which would have killed Aaron if it wasn't for them.

Hogan's expression twitched a bit as the numbers of squashed Ghinites increased with the next step of Aaron's. It should have been his glory. Sure, that the disease was cured was nice and all, yay for health. But he had been so close. Hogan had been so close to curing it himself, give it two or three weeks more. Then these little creatures were introduced to the disease, and they invented a cure within a matter of days. DAYS. The disease did threaten their entire civilization, so they had a bit more incentive to research, yes. But they made Hogan appear like a complete fool, wasting so much valuable time and money on something that eventually turned out to have been a waste. His reputation and pride had taken a painful blow. There was a horrible annoyance that travelled through Hogan's veins from what had happened. An anger, a hatred...

Still, he was a mature adult and could act like one. So he was one-upped by tiny creatures that don't even remotely matter in the grand scale of things. Big deal. He could move on and focus on new things. But first, he saw it as his own personal privilege to have a little vengeance. To see them crushed by one of the very souls that they had helped save the life of. Of course, neither side knew that the Ghinites had helped save Aaron's life, but... Hm, a lot of them seemed to be gathering in that corner...

'Hey, Aaron!' Hogan grinned as he looked in at Aaron, who by now had walked a whole lap around the room. The young man stopped and looked questioningly at him. 'Could you do me a favour and step as deeply into the corner behind you as you can?'

Aaron looked behind him. There was a nondescript corner, the floor as grey as anywhere. Was he aiming for something? After having frowned a bit, Aaron turned and put a hand on the wall, balancing himself as he placed his foot down as close as he could to the corner in question, squeezing it into the square walls. Nothing happened. The young man looked questioningly at the doctor once again, who beamed back at him happily.

'Wonderful! That'll do. You can come back now,' doctor Hogan said, nodding with a satisfied smile. Aaron felt reasonably perplexed, but shrugged as he turned to walk back to the door.

______________________________________________________

'S... 19...' a broken voice announced, and all Ghinites connected by the system stared helplessly at their maps. Akheria couldn't say anything, staring down powerlessly at the glowing panel in the corner. She had been so sure. So sure she had read its pattern. But... this seemed too deliberate. It really felt like it had identified the closest concentration of Ghinites, and intentionally squashed down on it. There had been millions of lives in that square. Millions. Not even Bohkon could find the words to berate her, because she had clearly tried her best to save them, but... Reason did not help them now. Not if it was intentionally aiming for them. Then it didn't work. Nothing worked.

'R17, R18,' she heard someone say. … Huh. That was a comparatively small step, Akheria's dulled mind noted. That's new. It had always taken so large steps before.

'Q14, Q15,' was the next coordinates she heard. Akheria immediately realized. The small step was to turn. It's heading back.

'Evacuate the line between Q14 and E1! It's heading back to the Black Wall!' she shouted out, and immediately she heard scurrying on the other sides. However, another priority quickly occurred to her. There was no way in blotboil she could let this pass her by!

'I'm sorry, I'm taking this,' Akheria quickly stated as she reached with a green limb and stuck it into Bohkon's side. Bohkon, who had been completely focused on the map, was extremely unprepared for this sudden moment. He inevitable yelped in panic and threw himself backwards away from her. He did so way too late, though.

'Wh-whawat-!?' Bohkon stared at her in surprised panic where Akheria now took the bit of green slime she had taken from him and melded it into herself with a determined Ghinitian expression. His reaction was really natural, she had just dipped in and taken something directly from his genes. That is, what she needed from him in order to reproduce. Having taken what she needed, in a manner highly illegal by Ghinitian law, Akheria spun around. She had no intention of letting Bohkon recover in time.

'AKHERIA! WAIT!' Bohkon screamed after her, most likely realizing what she was about to do. She gave him nothing.

She pulled herself in tightly, letting her organs focus in the middle while lifting herself up to become sphere-like. Now... she needed speed. She began rolling, starting out rather slow due to having to roll up the slopes out of the basement, but eventually she came out on the streets. They were almost empty. Everybody had fled, leaving only those gathered in the map-room. A speaker connected to a tube way over there was shouting out guidelines for evacuation, the last citizens moving in panic to get out the way. However, Akheria had another goal in mind.

According to her calculations, judging by the length of its steps and the speed of their movement, he'd appear... THERE! Having judged a likely location, Akheria took off. Her body rolled around her, her eyes having been drawn in so to still be able to see outwards through the rest of her form. Being somewhat skilled at the arts of rolling, she quickly gained speed. Manoeuvring past remaining fleeing Ghinite citizens and demolished buildings, she quickly moved through the streets towards...

This was where it had once stepped before, on the way in. The white landscape they all lived on had been completely squashed, creating huge valleys down to the grey floor which the gelatinous landscape was slated on. Falling down there would be troublesome. There were huge inter-linked islands sticking up inside the valley, perfectly shaped like the underside of the object that had fallen from the sky. No matter. What she had use of here, was the white hill that had been cut in half over there, creating a ramp. Turning on her side to turn, Akheria slid into the perfect position to get onto the ramp, and-

This was the first time she had actually seen the item descend herself. It was monstrously fast. It was impossible for anyone to dodge. It mercilessly squashed anything that came in its way, be it landscape, building or Ghinite. She had barely realized she had seen it before the sheer impact of it stepping down caused her to make a little jump before the hill and lose some speed. However, at that moment, it was already too late. Akheria drove onto the hill, and flew off it.

While the noise she made with her semi-liquid body flinging in the air hanging on to her organs for dear life wouldn't sound like anything to a human, in Ghinitian it translated roughly to ”AAAAAAAAAAH”. A panicked Akheria whole-heartedly doubted if she didn't regret this. She flew straight at the blue wall of the item that had descended, her altitude rising above the huge white bottom rim. Coming closer to it, she could see that the blue wall was actually composed of many, many tubes bound together to form a complex pattern knitted together, but even these tubes were impossibly large to her. And... she was about to fly straight into one.

______________________________________________________

Aaron came out of the room, passing the open useless hallway filled with equipment for keeping things clean on the way. The doctor sat smiling happily at the monitors, looking proud.

'Well done, young man. That is all I needed from you,' Hogan stated with satisfaction. 'You may go home now.'

Aaron felt a bit unsure, biting his lower lips a bit, frowning just the tiniest. Something felt very off about how pleased the doctor seemed. He felt a bit nervous about questioning Hogan about it, but he could not deny how very much he wanted to know.

'So, um... Why did I take that stroll? Is there something in there?' Aaron asked. The young man flinched, because for the slightest moment, doctor Hogan's expression changed into extremely annoyed impatience masked under his smile. Then, the white-bearded man looked like he considered something, which seemed to brighten his mood considerably. After a while of thinking, he suddenly turned one of his monitors around. On it, was a square room, with lots upon lots of tiny green dots. Though... they were creating valleys that looked a lot like...

'See this?' the doctor asked, newfound excitement in his voice. 'There are tiny life-forms, invisible to the naked eye. The room over there is full of them. This was a little experiment to see how they adapt to sudden intrusion. And look!' Hogan announced, pressing a button and showing a recording. The recording showed Aaron's location as he stepped into the room, and how the little dots eventually dispersed in front of him with impressive pre-recognition of his patterns. 'The little geniuses saw that you just walked along the walls with impressive accuracy! They were moving out of the way WAY ahead of time!' the doctor said excitedly.

Aaron flinched a bit as the recording came to where he stepped into the corner. It had been impressive that they moved to get out of his way when he walked in straight lines, but... so many small dots didn't get out in time. Their movements in his footprints were thinned out, panicked and sporadic. In addition, the tight concentration in the corner had been completely unable to move out of the way or prepare themselves for Aaron's step outside the identified pattern. He knew they were just tiny lives that probably were not worth any time at all, but... There was a guilty feeling burrowing in his heart.

'They're wonderful little creatures, very good at adapting. When we introduce diseases to them that threaten their way of life, they automatically start working on cures. Little miracles, that's what they are. And they even respond to PHYSICAL threats, that's amazing,' the doctor grinned. G-guess that's pretty amazing, Aaron assumed? … Cure diseases? Does that mean that they were the ones that cured...? But, if that's the case... Then why EXACTLY did he need it to be Aaron that stepped in on them? Hogan could have done that himself... There was a heart-wrenching feeling in Aaron's heart. He had stepped on those that cured his terminal disease, huh.

'Y-yeah, it is...' Aaron said, quivering a bit. S-still, this was pretty amazing for science. Aaron's part was over now. While he felt bad about them, it wasn't as if he could do something about it. They were... tiny creatures. They didn't have human rights. And the doctor looked so excited and happy now, he felt bad thinking about such a negative subject. He must have imagined that momentary look he thought he had seen previously. Aaron had to assume that the doctor knew best. Yeah, the doctor knew best...

Drawing this conclusion, Aaron eventually got dismissed, and it was time to turn and leave.

______________________________________________________

Oh, my.

It had been on a complete whim that Hogan had shown the young man what he had stepped on. The look of complete anguish on Aaron's face as he realized what he had done... it was beautiful. A sense of downright sinister joy filled the doctor as he saw the boy leave. Had Aaron worked out that these were the creatures that had cured him? What a lovely expression of despair. Hogan mentally made a note not to make a habit out of this, he could get addicted, and as a doctor he knew the price of addiction. It'd inevitably lead to a downwards spiral that'd end in more illegal actions and his own eventual imprisonment. But, just this once, he'd enjoy it to the fullest.

The grin on the doctor's face didn't drop a single time as he wandered over to the door of the chamber. He didn't really need it, any of the Ghinites that got out of the door wouldn't have the means to survive on their own, the world out there was harsh for creatures as tiny as them. The fact they actually had organs made them extremely fragile compared to other creatures of that size. They likely wouldn't survive very well in a natural environment, seeing how their mutated origin was inside a lab to begin with. However, now there was numerous footprints in their lab left behind by Aaron's shoes that Hogan had to clean up. Worth it. This also meant that he could personally visit a disaster upon the Ghinites in addition to Aaron's stroll. Ooh, he could already imagine their unheard screams of panic and despair. Yupp. So worth it.

______________________________________________________

Aaron eventually ended up standing outside the hospital. He had a few new things to think about now. So, there was a distinct possibility there were some of those creatures stuck on his shoes. Aaron looked down momentarily, staring down at his British Knights shoes, blinking a little. So... these tiny creatures had saved his life, huh? Maybe if he tried to set up an environment at home, he could breed his own little pen of them, maybe? It wouldn't repay for what he had done, but maybe it would give him some comfort. Yeah, having a little aquarium with the creatures that saved him. That'd be nice. He thought he'd do that. He didn't know if they'd actually need some form of food, but he'd experiment. Satisfied with his choice of redemption, Aaron could once again smile as he started walking. Back home, for the first time in forever.

______________________________________________________

… SURVIVED!

Akheria stuck to the enormous strings of the shoes, clutching on for dear life as ”BK” kept moving. She didn't know where he was heading, or what would await her at their destination. She didn't DARE let go. At least, wherever this life-form went to sleep, there should be a relative amount of safety. … At least to it, couldn't say for sure about for herself. Regardless, this trip had already been really informative.

Because, just a few extremely huge steps outside the room where she had spent her entire life, the life-form she had stuck to had stopped beside another one of its kind. Another bottom of the bipedal giants composed of woven tubes and giant rims. On it, she had recognized a mark. It was the humongous mark of the Adidas. Ghinitian ancestors must have seen this very same mark at some point in the past when they were being fed, and remembered it. This with all likelihood meant that the Adidas, those who provide them with food, were also the ones who let BK in. That could mean they also were the ones who let the Zoroans in. That likely meant more disasters would happen in the future, too.

Akheria, a green tiny bit of living slime on the side of BK, clutched her grip tighter with determination. In there, their city was but something the big creatures were experimenting on. Providing foreign elements, like the Zoroans or BK. To see how they reacted to these threats. How many Ghinites had died to their experiments? … Granted, the Ghinites likely wouldn't have prospered as they had without the help of the nutrients that the Adidas had provided, but that still didn't give them the right to terrorize their city as they pleased!

Akheria didn't know where she was heading, but blotpot if she didn't have a plan. She'd use these genes she had taken from Bohkon to create her own colony! And she'd do her BLIMIEST to find a way to communicate with BK! She'd have her demands, and she'd have her preparations for anything he might answer her with! She'd find a way to set her people free, yet! This was but the beginning!

A Ghinitian confident laughter went unheard as Akheria stuck to the side of Aaron's shoe as he headed home...

Minor Note

I would like to apologize to everyone who knows more about micro-biology than I do. I just thought it'd make a cool story. Have a good day. Haha.

The Silver Bullet

By @Holmishire.

As the smell of gunpowder drifted back to him from his outstretched pistol, a wolf tumbled into the brush, dead. Abiorn recocked his gun, fired, missed. Recocked, fired, and another wolf fell, bleeding from its side.

The three surviving wolves ignored their fallen brethren, and rushed towards him.

Without the time to reload, the missionary turned tail and ran.

Tall, fit, and lanky, the man was fast—but nowhere near as fast as a pack of a forest's chief hunters. He'd barely made it five yards before one tackled him to the ground, raking his back with its claws. Though painful, Abiorn wasn't ready to give in just yet.

He swung his elbow behind him, catching his assailant in the chin and granting him enough momentum to move into a crouch. He had barely rghted himself, however, when the second wolf sunk its teeth into his forearm, dragging him off balance as the third lunged in for the kill.

As death approached with jaws open wide, he was too terrified to even close his eyes.

An immense form slammed the wolf aside, swatting another to the grond as it attempted to retaliate. With a yelp, the wolf scrambled back to its feet and tore off in fear—its two companions were not far behind.

The beast turned to face Abiorn as he lay prone and bleeding out, helpless in the face of its looming mass. As best he could tell, it was a dire wolf, almost the size of a bear and with dark brown fur to match.

As it considered him with intelligent eyes, he found himself drifting out of consciousness.

A gunshot sounded nearby, and the wolf listened momentarily as it echoed through the trees.

---

The wounded man was heavy, but Ulfarr was nothing if not strong. Woodsman by trade, it was not uncommon for him to hoist large quantities of lumber or the body of a great beast across the forest floor.

The man in his arms was far younger than he, and dressed in a fine mix of red cloth and polished steel bespeaking of one of the greater inland kingdoms. No doubt he was here to link the 'wildmen' back to civilization—or perhaps to prove himself to some grand royal cause.

Little time passed before he crossed paths with three men of the village: Huldr, chief of the guard; Hundi, his absentminded brother; and Fiak, the baker.

Huldr scowled. He was a large man by most standards, but more round than thick compared to Ulfarr's beastly trunk. "Where'd you find him?"

Ulfarr motioned vaguely behind him with his head. "The forest. Where the hell else?" Hundi and Fiak stepped forward to take the injured party from Ulfarr's arms, and he moved to comply. "He's bleeding pretty badly, better to take him to Felsi and Vitní quick." He looked back to Huldr, who had yet to move as he glared at Ulfarr, rifle gripped tightly in his hands.

"Wolves?"

"Aye," Ulfarr replied casually. "Found two shot dead—your rifle scared the last one off."

The guardsman nodded, and then turned his back on the man. "Let's go," he grumbled.

With the man's body supported between them, Fiak and Hundi followed, the latter giving a quick smile to the woodsman as he left. "Thank you," he said.

Ulfarr gave no response, merely watching them disappear back into the trees, moving towards the crags at the top of which their village had been built.

---

Abiorn awoke to silence.

Lying face-down on a soft woolen bed, he quickly pushed himself up on his arms and glanced around. The room was well-lit, an opening in the wall letting in a light breeze and the welcome rays of the afternoon sun. The walls were made of a light-grey stone, thick and worn down with age. No decorations adorned the room, and no furniture save the bed on which he lay and a small wooden chair in the corner, next to a wooden door.

A chair currently occupied by a napping man, clad in a long robe and heavy cowl.

Abiorn rose from the bed and glanced down at his body. With his armour removed and shirt folded neatly beside the bed, he was greeted with his own bare chest, a few white bandages tracing across its length. His left forearm was nearly entirely wrapped—and these bandages were a less welcome carmine. Feeling his back, he knew the multitude of bandages there were likely in a similar state.

The missionary quietly approached the door beside the sleeping man and creaked it open slowly so that he could glance outside.

Judging from the series of pews stretching out across the hall, he was in a side room of a small church. Seeing only one figure sitting near the front of the hall, he opened the door fully and walked down the aisle.

Wearing the same dark green robes and cowl as the man Abiorn had found when he awoke, she looked up to him as his footsteps reached her ears, and smiled. "Goodday, missionary of Nardja. I am glad to see you well."

"Your work?" he said, designating the bandages.

"Mostly Felsi's. I hope you did not wake him?"

"No."

"Kind of you. He's not been sleeping much, of late—always awake late at night, studying and translating bestiaries of old." She patted the wood of the pew to her left. "Would you care to sit?"

The man eased into the seat nervously. He was used to grand cathedrals, so long that even a hundred people could sit within and still feel as if alone with the Lord. The bishops and priests he'd become familiar with were distant and powerful, unquestionable authority figures. The young and demure woman—as well as the intimate confines of the church—was to him rather… unsettling. "How do you know that I'm from Nardja?"

"I recognized the emblem on your tunic. We wild folk are not as uneducated as is commonly believed."

He had no good response to that—he couldn't tell even if the remark was directed at him, or just his homeland. Instead, he held out his hand. "My name is Abiorn. You and your kith have my thanks."

She shook his hand firmly. "My kith?"

"The three men who brought me here." He paused, and glanced back at the open doorway. "And Felsi, of course. I caught glimpses of them in the haze of my unconsciousness."

"I see." She hesitated, looking to the altar ahead of them and kneading her hands quietly. Finally, her smile returned, though her cowl prevented him from seeing whether or not it extended also to her eyes. "Hundi, the man who brought you here… He's not one I would call my friend. A good man, but circumstance has driven us apart. I take it you met my father?" At his questioning gaze, she lifted the cowl from her head, revealing sombre grey eyes, thick eyebrows, and long curly locks of dark brown hair. "Ulfarr, a giant of a man if ever there was one. You must have been in too much shock at the time. I'm sure you'd have remembered him had you seen—"

The toll of a large bell rung out through the hall, silencing the priestess. As the fifth and final beat was struck, Felsi stumbled into the aisle, clumsy and bleary-eyed.

The woman clapped her hands and rose to her feet, pulling Abiorn to his. "Come, missionary. Tonight you shall dine with the village."

Felsi moved to the church door and the woodsman's daughter waited for him in the aisle as Abiorn quickly donned his tunic and armour—hoping to make a good first impression on the village. He then joined her in the aisle.

As he was led through the pews, Abiorn tugged her hand so that she would face him. "I never had the pleasure of learning your name."

"Vitní. Now come." She pulled him along with her right hand, and as she passed Felsi, she snatched his arm with her left.

As she threw open the church's doors, the missionary was greeted with warm red skies and a modest view.

Wood and stone buildings were scattered across the rock, of fine but simple make. Sheep, oxen, children, and a few hounds wandered loose between them, while a splattering of men and women made their way down the road towards the centre of the village. A short walk past the buildings, he could see a short stone wall encircling the higher level of the crag—and beyond it, a great expanse of forest, then distant mountains, from whence he'd come.

Following the other villagers and receiving curious looks and comments as they went, the three approached the largest building of the village. Standing at what appeared to be three storeys tall, a thick column of black smoke sprouted forth from a chimney at its top, while the wildsmen streamed in through a broad door. As they came closer to the great hall, Abiorn could tell from the stone that this building was far more ancient than even the aged stone of the church they'd just left.

Once inside, he saw that what he thought must be a multi-storey building was instead but one immense dome. For such a heavy building, such height was far beyond his expectations—perhaps even rivalling the architecture of his home.

A dozen or so tables were laid out across the hall, and food was just now being brought out to them from the bonfire-like stove raging at the centre.

He was pulled from his fascinated stare by Vitní, who led him and Felsi to a table near the back.

The table was already halfway filled by the time they arrived. A man stood up to greet them, grinning wide. "Vitní! I see you have brought the guest!" He stepped close and embraced Abiorn in a tight hug. "I am Geirr, hallkeeper of the village. On behalf of those gathered here, I welcome you!"

Introductions were passed around—besides the hallkeeper and the two from the church, he was also 'reacquainted' with Fiak, the baker, and Huldr, the guardsman. "What brings a man like you to these parts?" asked Huldr, his voice low but clear.

"I was sent from Nardja by the bishop of Giurdholme. There is said to be a castle, far from here, where the ocean loops back around the land. It is my hope to find this castle, and bring back the relics it holds."

"And you thought to take this journey alone?" he scoffed.

"Well, no, I did not set out alone." He smiled with a hint of melancholy. "We parted ways some time ago—I am the last willing to try."

Geirr laughed and smacked him on the back. "Good on you. If the world were filled with naught but cowards, never'd there be any legends to share."

Guldr grimaced. "Legends have a way of making fools of men. Better to be a coward and a alive then to be a legend leaving a child without a father."

The menfolk continued to chat merrily, drinking and eating as they shared stories both of Albiorn's homeland of the village itself. Vitní remained mostly silent, occasionally smiling at a joke or whispering something to Felsi.

Eventually, Albiorn asked of Hundi, the third man that had brought him back to the village.

"He's at the gates, keeping watch. Pity he couldn't be here," said Geirr.

Albiorn glanced at Vitní. "And Ulfarr?"

He was met with silence. Only after Huldr had taken a great swig of his drink did he speak, his words slurred with drunkenness. "That damned basterd ain't welcome here no more."

Vitní scowled. "No thanks to you."

"I ain't sinned like 'e did! I'm a man, like he ain't!"

She set down her knife and pushed herself up from the table. "Thank you Geirr, as always, for your hospitality. I'll be taking my leave now."

As she left, Huldr too rose from the table to follow her shouting angrily back at her.

"I'm so sorry, I had no idea—"

Albiorn was interrupted by Geirr. "Make no worries of it. Ulfarr is Huldr's problem, and Huldr's alone. If he's going to damn the man in front of his own daughter, he can take the fallout it brings." He glanced around. "Still, perhaps it is time for us all to retire. Felsi, could you walk the good man to his room for the night?" Though phrased like a question, his tone made it clear it was anything but.

Felsi nodded nervously, and drew Albiorn away from the table. Once they had left the hall, Albiorn stopped him.

"What is Huldr's problem with Ulfarr? Why is he not allowed within the village?"

Felsi muttered to himself for a few moments, scratching at his knuckles. "Paranoid… Vitní's mother, Huldr's sister—Huldr blames Ulfarr for why she leaved. Can't stand the sight of him."

"And the others allow this?"

"No, no, Huldr has sway, but not so much. Ulfarr respects the man's wishes, stays away on his own."

Albiorn thought this over momentarily. "And what of—"

A scream tore through the air. It took the two a moment to process it, but once they did, they quickly came to the same conclusion—it was a woman's scream, and with the other villagers still cleaning up the great hall, it could only be Vitní's.

Having loaded it as he dressed himself in the church, Albiorn drew his pistol and ran down the road in the direction of the scream, Felsi limping after him.

As he ran, he heard shouts from ahead, just past the front gate—now left wide open. He recognized the shouts as being from three men, one of which definitely Huldr's drunken snarl, but none of them decipherable.

Soon he was rushing through the trees, the shouts growing closer, then punctuated by a loud cry of pain. He breached the brush and skidded to a halt, quickly taking stock of the scene.

Closest to him, he saw what could only be Hundi, Huldr's brother, lying in the dirt and bloodied by a gash across his chest. Kneeling in the dirt at his side was Vitní, trying to stem the flow of blood. A few steps away stumbled Huldr, holding steady a bloody silver knife despite his inebriated state. Further on was a stout wooden building amidst the trees, coated in lichen and moss.

Most striking of all, however, was the immense wolf staring Huldr down.

Recognizing it as the dire wolf that he had last seen before succumbing to his wounds, Albiorn was quick to cock his gun. Nearly as tall as a man on even while standing on four legs, its fangs were bared and its thick brown fur on end.

Catching Albiorn out of the corner of his eye, Huldr dropped his knife and cried out to him. "Its struck Hundi! Help us!"

He didn't need to be told twice. He lifted his weapon, took quick aim, and fired, just as Vitní cried out "No!"

The bullet struck the wolf on the side of the chest, tearing through its lung. It crashed into the ground, and Vitní rushing over to it.

As she leaned into the body, it slowly shifted in form, shrinking to the size of a dark-haired man.

Ulfarr was dead.