Previous Chapter Arena It was the hour when families gathered for dinner, the warmth of the hearth lingering from the day’s cooking. By the
Arena
It was the hour when families gathered for dinner, the warmth of the hearth lingering from the day’s cooking. By the light of simple rushlights, people studied, mended clothes, or talked as the day faded. It ...
2025-06-03 09:38:56 +0000 UTC View Post
Inside the Arena
Shouts rang out as thousands of men surged through the narrow corridor, desperation coloring their faces. Even when they reached the vast open space, there was no guarantee of safety. Amid the crush of bodies, a few stumbled, went down, and were never seen again. With bated breath and sweat-soaked bodies, each man tried to put as much distance as...
2025-05-30 12:48:38 +0000 UTC View Post
The Cleric's Column
With cries to tear the Black Demon’s head from his shoulders, the Saint’s followers drove the rioters’ charge against the Lord’s veterans. Voices and hatred rose in fury as the lines collided, blades swinging through the torchlit darkness, hissing past in silence, ringing against steel, or hammering shields with a muffled thump. The cla...
2025-05-27 03:53:37 +0000 UTC View Post
Northbound Road
A hulking creature, massive and wolfish, rushed down the northbound road in complete darkness, angling southwest toward Canardia. Balanced awkwardly across his broad, fur-matted shoulders covered in ringmail, a man of wide girth clung tightly, more baggage than rider. The night air whipped past, thick with the scent of wet earth and the heavy musk of ...
2025-05-23 09:09:39 +0000 UTC View Post
The Arena
Half an hour before the battle on the hill.
Sixteen men entered through the arena’s main gate, led by a broad-shouldered man in ringmail. Their boots struck the ground with a steady rhythm, armor clinking beneath worn cloaks. The way they moved as a group commanded attention. These weren’t zealots or fools with pitchforks. They wore thei...
2025-05-20 04:15:18 +0000 UTC View Post
Saint Candidate's Hideout
Oblivious to the latest developments and confident the Lord wouldn’t act on his one-hour threat, Sir Hohendorf chose to remain in his hideout. He was accompanying the Saint Candidate and checking on his second-in-command, Sir Bielstein, who had been injured in the arena. Even without them, he still wouldn't have gone out. He didn’t wa...
2025-05-16 13:12:34 +0000 UTC View Post
Canardia Outskirts
A large-built man, the leader of the local brigands, entered the woodsman’s cabin where a lone minstrel played his gittern. The brigand glanced left and right before ordering his men to wait outside. He strode forward and sat across from the musician. In a deep voice, he asked, “What do you want, and how do you know the words?”
Smiling ...
2025-05-13 03:52:20 +0000 UTC View Post
Canardia Outskirts
Despite the camp commander's urging for the rioters to return home, the crowd refused to listen and continued to wreak havoc on the city’s outskirts. Instead, they seemed to revel in their newfound power. A splintered mass of six thousand had marched north, searching for food in nearby villages. Meanwhile, around eight thousand remained scat...
2025-05-09 10:25:29 +0000 UTC View Post
Midday - Canardia Castle
Valerie and Audrey sat inside the castle’s private hall reserved for the lord’s family, chatting and gossiping about matters within the castle and beyond. They had just finished lunch, and soft murmurs and occasional giggles now filled the place. Audrey looked beautiful and elegant in her Centurian traditional dress, which resembled a kim...
2025-05-06 06:52:36 +0000 UTC View Post
Lansius
It was dim inside the structure beside the racetrack. Though it had plenty of ventilation to bring in fresh air from outside, the air within still smelled putrid. Heavy wooden fences, reinforced with iron nails at the joints, had been used, for there was no other way to contain the majestic creatures housed inside. There, Lansius stood staring at the beast...
2025-05-02 09:43:10 +0000 UTC View Post
Orange Skalds
As soon as the verdict was passed and announced, activity in the courthouse quickly wound down. The bailiff invited the petitioner to stay while they waited for the lord’s decision, also advising her against going home for now, as the crowd outside was too large. Meanwhile, the witness had already been sent back under escort. Only a handful of guards ...
2025-04-29 07:24:34 +0000 UTC View Post
Canardia West Gate
More than anyone, Lansius understood the importance of making a grand entrance. For today’s proceedings, it heightened the drama, raised the stakes, and applied pressure. While he acknowledged that governmental functions should run silently like a well-oiled machine, he knew that could lead people to mistake it for being asleep and lead to d...
2025-04-25 10:56:06 +0000 UTC View Post
Lansius
The events unfolding at the courthouse had swelled into something far larger than expected. Thousands had come, proof that the public craved justice. The building was surrounded. The crowd spilled into the adjoining streets, packed shoulder to shoulder, climbing onto wagons and rooftops to catch a glimpse of the proceedings. Not much had happened yet, an...
2025-04-22 09:04:38 +0000 UTC View Post
East Nicopola Mountain
It was the fifth day since the start of their ascent and the battle with the mountain people. The fighting had died down two days earlier, when Servius chose to rest his troops in the newly occupied village rather than stubbornly press against bulwark after bulwark. He had learned that the enemy had been reinforced with groups of crossbowmen. W...
2025-04-18 13:32:54 +0000 UTC View Post
The Black Bandits
The following day, Farkas and his men woke in a miserable state. The rain hadn't stopped but had turned into a lingering drizzle, coming and going through the night, soaking everything it touched. By morning, the jungle was damp and heavy with fog, a thick blanket that clung to the entire region. The ground, already challenging to traverse, was n...
2025-04-15 13:49:58 +0000 UTC View Post
Roderic
The sudden arrival of thousands of men had driven the animals deep into the jungle. A violent battle erupted beneath the tangled canopy, with sword clashes, shouts, and screams. Unlike the fleeing animals, insects were drawn to the sweat, blood, and guts, swarming the place as if summoned to a feast. The fighting turned brutal when one side unleashed the alch...
2025-04-11 10:16:37 +0000 UTC View Post
East Nicopola Mountain
Servius and his six hundred men made their slow climb. From Nicopola's side, the slope wasn’t steep, and a long line of carts and horses filled the route to the mountain villages. The scouts and advance guard had reported signs of activity, but it was expected. The Lord Shogun had ordered them to prepare for war, and no veteran in his army wo...
2025-04-08 08:17:38 +0000 UTC View Post
Lansius
The steady thump of an axe cleaving wood echoed against the stone walls of the castle's backyard. Several guards and servants stood watching as Lansius worked, channeling his frustration into each powerful swing. Unlike the Korelians, who were accustomed to such displays, the castle staff in Canardia witnessed this for the first time, and their curiosity was ...
2025-04-04 14:06:54 +0000 UTC View Post
Mountain Region, West of Three Hills
It was midday on the fourth day since they had arrived at the jungle at the foot of the mountain. Here, the weather was unpredictable. A drizzle could fall suddenly, even after a bright summer morning, leaving the air humid and heavy. This explained why their faces were tanned from the sun but glistened with sweat. Worse, insects ...
2025-04-01 13:48:32 +0000 UTC View Post
Mountain Region, West of Three Hills
The summer sun cast golden rays over the mountain region while the morning breeze swept through tall grass still heavy with dew. It was a serene and naturally beautiful place, untouched and quiet. Across the plateau, nine hundred men advanced in a wide, staggered line, all facing the looming mountain. Most were levies from Three H...
2025-03-28 02:28:42 +0000 UTC View Post
Strait of Three Hills, Hidden Cove
Lord Avery sat on a warm boulder, the heat easing the chill in his backside. It was nighttime, but he needed neither a lantern nor a gemstone, as the village before him was burning. Not a drop of volatile oil had been used since Avery had reserved it for a larger target: the mountain citadel hidden deep in the mountain range.
...
2025-03-25 11:11:22 +0000 UTC View Post
Strait of Three Hills, Hidden Cove
The night was thick with the scent of brine and charred meat, the smoky air clinging to sweat-slicked skin. Greasy fingers tore into roasted fish and game as waves lapped gently against the shore, their rhythm lost beneath drunken laughter and the occasional burst of raucous shouting.
The Mountain People's welcome-home fe...
2025-03-21 11:01:43 +0000 UTC View Post
Middle Sea, Strait of Three Hills
Along the rocky shore, a few small fishing boats bobbed in the gentle waves, their crews pausing to watch the approaching fleet. The salty breeze carried the scent of the open sea, mingling with the faint tang of drying fish and smoke from distant cooking fires. Further inland, small huts lay nestled among the cliffs, their roofs ...
2025-03-18 02:24:56 +0000 UTC View Post
Corinthia
It was sundown on the coast, and the sharp, salty breeze from the Middle Sea drifted in, reaching even within the tall walls. Supper had been served, and anyone not on guard duty could finally rest in earnest. But not all were at ease. A group of trusted men, skilled in carpentry, labored under Lord Avery's orders, preparing a special carriage for the ...
2025-03-14 02:12:33 +0000 UTC View Post
Canardia
Still seated, Lansius turned to his left, his gaze falling upon a newly delivered wooden box resting on his table. It was lacquered but not polished to a deep gloss, its surface smooth yet understated. His movement caught the ladies' attention. They recognized it as the type of box used to store medicine or an alchemist's delicate glass vials.
Wit...
2025-03-11 09:46:47 +0000 UTC View Post
Castle of Platamon from above. Wiki
Donjon: The main tower, or the main Keep, usually the strongest and safest part. It was the command center and housed the lord, his family, and knights. Basically, the main building in the castle complex. The Great Hall is part of the Donjon.
Ten days after Lansius proclaimed the start of Operation Iron Nails, three black objects moved silently through the night sky far to the south, over the Middle Sea. Clouds drifted lazily, revealing the three majestic airships as they glided among them, slipping through a sea of stars. Below, the Middle Sea stretched endlessly in every direction, its vast black ex...
2025-02-28 08:22:51 +0000 UTC View Post
Canardia
In front of Lansius and Audrey, the broad-shouldered man in a black doublet answered, seemingly on behalf of the other smiths, "My Lord, we pride ourselves on the latest hardening techniques. We use charcoal in the final heating process to strengthen the plates, making them impervious to sharp edges."
Lansius leaned to his left where Audrey sat, proppi...
2025-02-25 02:04:50 +0000 UTC View Post
Image: 1762 Netherlands, Zeeland Silver Ducat (48 Stuivers) source
Midlandia was a vast province with several mines that had operated since ancient times. Two of them contained si...
2025-02-21 06:38:13 +0000 UTC View Post