Redmane's return to the chapel was met with a warm welcome from Letha, her son Kale, and the Magister Helmold.
Not much from the other two, unless the crone’s inscrutable smile counted.
The crone in the corner still sat in the corner, as if she hadn't moved at all. She rocked in her seat, looking as though she were lost in pleasant thoughts.
Aric Morholt took one look at the greataxe Redmane carried against his shoulder, and his eyes widened in horror.
"You..."
Redmane flew at them like he’d been shot from a catapault, a claw held high, his frame propelled by an unseen force.
Lion's Lunge
Morholt and his knight were close enough to take the hit together. The Lord's eyes widened and he stepped back at the last second, but the knight wasn't so quick. Redmane's claw blew his breastplate and ribcage open like a cannonball, spraying blood and bits of steel and viscera all over the tapestry on the wall.
Lion's ...
2024-10-11 05:32:48 +0000 UTC View PostA single strike of Redmane's claw was enough to smash a knight's shield into scraps.
The knight slashed toward Redmane's face and he raised his forearm to block, felt the blade bite through skin but thunk against the hardened bones in his forearm as if it had encountered a steel bracer.
His grin widened.
Redmane grabbed the knight with both hands, one on the left shoulder, the other on the inside of his right arm. Then he headbutted him, hard enough to bloody his own nose an...
2024-10-11 05:27:27 +0000 UTC View PostRedmane and Lugoj clashed, retreated, circled each other and struck again.
He tried not to use Lion's Lunge, satisfying as it was to feel his claw strike with such force. There was no telling if Helmold the Magister would be willing to feed him more Gnosis. And if he couldn't, or refused to, he didn't know where else he could acquire any.
So he decided he'd use it in one of two situations. One, if he had no other option because he was desperately losing the fight.
Two, if a...
2024-10-11 05:23:50 +0000 UTC View PostRedmane took note of the reactions of the strange old woman and the Lord's nephew. He half expected Aric to raise some kind of objection, but the young nobleman was too craven to even stand up from the pews. When Redmane looked him in the eye, Aric Morholt looked away.
All well and good. He'd settle up with that one later on.
Redmane returned his attention to Helmold, and a question came into his mind that the Magister might be able to answer.
"Do you understand what's happe...
2024-10-11 05:22:10 +0000 UTC View PostLion's Lunge made short work of the three knights left in the gatehouse, even with a hail of arrows and stones coming at him from every direction.
The Skill lent speed and momentum to Redmane's leap attack, making it feel like the charge of an auroch, only airborne, and when it landed the force of his strike sent shockwaves through the stone hall. Almost as hard as the blows of Castellan Caslav's hammer, but significantly faster.
Arrowheads stuck into his back and shoulders, and r...
2024-10-11 05:19:34 +0000 UTC View PostHäerz Castle's barracks were built to accommodate its normal garrison of no more than fifty men. Knights quartered in the keep in their own private apartments, this squat stone building was for unwed common soldiers only.
Rodimir's hounds were no longer hostile, but they weren't especially keen to follow Redmane around either. A consequence of not choosing the Beastmaster Archetype, he supposed. But he wasn't dissatisfied with the choice he'd made. On the contrary, he found fighting wi...
2024-10-11 05:17:42 +0000 UTC View PostRodimir the kennel master spluttered and took a few steps back. His war hounds lowered their heads, growling, ears flattened and teeth bared.
"What in the..."
"Evening, Rodimir. I haven't seen you in a while," said Redmane.
Rodimir's brows drew together. His trip tightened on the handle of his axe. "Do I know you?"
"You should."
The kennel master's eyebrow arched way up. The expression on his face made Redmane smile slightly. It was amusing, watching Rodim...
2024-10-11 05:15:42 +0000 UTC View PostMecia Porsena of Numantia, Colonial Governess of Taracon, walked out onto the balcony of her bedchamber to have a look at her domain.
She had been awoken by a System alert, and awaited a prompt report from her chief subordinates. In truth she could let the System inform her on its own, but she preferred to keep her lessers sharp. Remind them of their places.
She admired the view while she waited.
Slate gray mountaintops pierced the bed of clouds beneath them, which stretched...
2024-10-11 05:10:47 +0000 UTC View PostThe Morholt soldier drew a knife from his belt and lunged at Redmane.
He was fast. Faster than he ought to be. Redmane tried to grab his wrist, missed the timing, and the dagger slammed straight down to the hilt in his flesh.
Pain bloomed in his chest, but also it kindled the growing fire in his belly. A feeling greater than any pain. A stirring of the powerful hunger in his dream.
Redmane glanced at the dagger hilted in his body, at the drop of blood rolling down from it, i...
2024-10-11 04:55:09 +0000 UTC View Post
Of all the ways the Morholts tortured Redmane, he hated starvation the most.
They had been doing so for a week now. And his cell, not by coincidence but intentional malice, sat adjacent to the castle kitchen and larder.
Throughout the day he smelled vegetables and fruits and aromatic herbs,...
2024-10-11 04:49:19 +0000 UTC View Post