wardenraime

1201 - Two Weeks Rest

There had been cheery mornings in Artorion over its hundred and fifty years, some of which were still talked about for the vigorousness of the celebrations carried out. It could never be said that Leon’s people didn’t know how to party, especially some of the more raucous Tribes like the Lions, Tigers, Jaguars, and Bears.

However, nothing in Artorion’s relatively short history had ever compared to the celebration that filled its streets as Leon’s fleet returned from the Demetrio...

1200 - Jiaxing

Boredom.  Anxiety.  The constant knowledge that death hung over his head from every corner and that there was little he could do about it.

Yun stared out across the lavish gardens of the Imperial Palace unable to sit still, waiting for his guest to arrive.

“How long will he make me wait?” he angrily growled to his ever-present shadow.

“Such men are proud,” Zhang replied.  “In times where they can, they will flex their strength, even against their sov...

1199 - The Sight of Peace

The sound of laughter filled Sakhmej’s great dining hall, and the aroma of all the finest delicacies the plane had to offer delighted the senses.  The room was lit by floating rings of glowing gold, the band of each one thinner than a hand but with a diameter of at least two grown men.  Carpets had been removed from the polished stone floor allowing people to dance to the tune of the finest bards that could be secured in preparation for this celebration.

The celebration itse...

1198 - Expected Arrival and Unexpected Return

The clash of steel on steel was a balm for the bored mind, even if it was only in training.

“Keep that weapon up!” Leon shouted as he pressed against Daryun.  His high strike was blocked as Daryun brought his sword to bear, Leon didn’t pull back, and the two fighters locked together as Leon stepped into Daryun’s personal space.  Being the stronger mage, he overpowered the ninth-tier without much effort and knocked him down.

Daryun lay there, breathing hard, a dar...

1197 - A Fan's Request

As four of the five fleets departed the newly-renamed plane of Demetrion, Leon felt no small amount of bitterness rising in his heart.  There went his fleets, off to conquer while he remained on the central plane of the cluster, waiting for word to come back.

‘This must have been how Elise always felt.’  The bitterness was momentarily tempered by shame, but as the fleets disappeared into the blueness of the afternoon sky, Leon simply sighed and headed back in...

1196 - Demetrion

The palace in Imak’s capital city was sumptuous, built with monumental architecture and featuring no less than twenty enormous, many-pillared halls.  The whole place was a tapestry of color, every room featuring a new visual theme, and the throne room itself decorated in bright, garish colors designed to ensnare the senses and impress upon everyone the wealth and power of the ruler of such a majestic palace.

Leon sat in the throne crafted for Imak’s line trying to stifle the he...

1195 - The Duel for Kesken

Imak’s Kingdom wasn’t one known for gladiator fights, but it had plenty of sports arenas.  The largest in the entire Kingdom was situated near the western coast, only a few minutes away from Imak’s palace by ark.  Horses would race there at least once per week and chariots at least once a month.

Now, however, the stands crowded not to watch horses race but to see a duel that would determine the fate of all of Kesken—at least, officially.  Those even tangentially a...

1194 - One Minor Warlord

As Daryun’s challenge echoed through the dead silent throne room, the air hung heavy with expectation—this was surely a joke many thought, and the punchline was sure to come.  Leon himself stared in disbelief at Daryun, who stood defiantly where his King had kneeled.

And then someone began laughing, and others joined in.  Throughout the throne room, laughter battered Daryun like a thousand hammers, but through it all, he stood unmoving, his eyes locked on Leon.  Witho...

1193 - Daryun's Determination

No small feeling of triumph bloomed in Leon’s heart as he stood before the great stone doors of the largest of Imak’s mountain fortresses.  Above him flew Storm Herald and the arks of five separate task forces, numbering more than fifty in total—and these were largely heavier task forces than Nicetas’ had been, including four dreadnaughts and two supercarriers.

Beside him, Imak and Daryun were kneeling in the dirt.  Scarlet Star had been taken away, thoug...

1192 - After the Storm

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“… we’ll be there in a few hours,” Marcus said, a wry grin on his face.  He glanced around him before lowering his voice.  “I have to admit, Leon… I was wondering w...

1191 - The Summoned Storm

The air was filled with bitter or defiant words, almost all shouted so loudly that were it not for the privacy enchantments around the forest clearing, the entire army might’ve been able to listen in.  The Lords of Imak’s Kingdom expressed every opinion under the sun when Daryun thought that the matter at hand was quite straightforward with a binary choice—they had won a battle at significant cost; do they now sue for peace while using the threat of their continued resistance to ga...

1190 - How to Summon a Storm

Agonized screaming, defiant war cries, crackling flames, raging magic, and whinnying horses, all these sounds filled the air and then some.  Daryun felt the rush of victory, the relief of having survived, of having defied the odds once again.  Given the sheer number of corpses around, he’d been lucky—though, his power likely played a great role in that.

Still, the battle was essentially over, and it had been won at great cost.  The mountains were alight with the burni...

1189 - Two Heroes

“… and they are a truly despicable people!  So pigeon-hearted, and with faces akin to dogs!  You’ll see, Your Majesty, when your valiant army conquers them, the Karlians are worthy of nothing but disdain!”

Leon nodded along, not quite listening.  He suppressed a shudder of impatience as he watched a destroyer firing its main cannon into the walls of a defiant stronghold in support of his ground forces, to great success.  His forces assaulted the...

1188 - Prachtorian Lords

Having something to do helped to assuage Leon’s frayed patience somewhat; unfortunately, the ‘something’ that Clear brought to him involved sitting and waiting for longer than he liked.

His fingers drummed into the armrest of his throne now instead of his thigh, though he’d at least managed to still his tapping foot.  He didn’t bother dressing up too fancily, choosing instead to wear a simple silver tunic with blue trousers, both made of silkgrass, and eschewing shoes.&nb...

1187 - Stresses of Delegation

Storm Herald ran swifter and quieter than any ark Leon had ever been on.  Despite the extensive reconstruction the ark had required, the jump from the Nexus to the Kesken Cluster was smooth as butter; Leon barely felt it even as attuned as he was to magic at his tier.

As the magic portal dissipated behind Storm Herald and the interference it created vanished with it, Leon projected his magic sense outside of the ark, scanning the ark’s surroundings clo...

1186 - Last Races

Sports had never been something that occupied much of Leon’s attention.  Even as King, he’d only ever attend a few races or spars in various arenas, and he paid even less mind to the smaller sports that the Tribes played.  As he contemplated the Belicenian Games, however, he found it stoking his spirit of competition.  Miuna confirmed for him that chariot racing and gladiator fights were events in the Belicenian Games, though there were far more competitions t...

1185 - Invitation to Games

Disappointment settled in Leon’s stomach like a rock.  After more than two centuries of marriage, and nearly as long spent trying for children, he could almost convince himself that he’d grown used to failure on that front, but every time it was confirmed, his hopes sank even further.

Elise and Cassandra each held a small enchantment about the size of their fingers, the purpose of which was simple: when activated, the paper would turn pink if the holder was pregnant.  If t...

1184 - Assembled Might

Ranks and ranks of plate-armored men and women were arrayed before Leon, their auras shining, their weapons gleaming, their kit immaculate.  MALLs hovered a few feet off the ground behind them, their weapons deadlier than ever, their engines more powerful, their armor thicker.  Thousands of giants had assembled, too, standing alongside fifteen-foot-tall Ulta suits.  Many ranks were cast in shadow from the hundreds of arks that floated above, representing the largest concentrati...

1183 - Awakenings

Thunder rolled across a rain-soaked Artorion, coming in the wake of blinding flashes of lightning.  An unnatural chill filled the air as the powerful storm wracked the whole valley.

Ever since planting Mir at the top of Westmount and raising it into the sky, the storms that had come to the Artor Valley had intensified greatly.  Whether that was because of the lance itself, the fell energies of the uncapped Aesii affecting the weather, Leon’s power, or a combination of all th...

1182 - Daryun

The wind whistled through the snowy peaks, while bells rang and drums beat in the valley below.  Light in the mountains allowed the watchers to track their enemy’s approach, slowly coming closer and closer to their walls.

The Sylphians would have a rough time getting to their fortress.  The path was strewn with the frozen bodies of their dead, some lying where they’d fallen years ago, no one able or willing to collect them and give them their proper rites.  By now, af...

1181 - Kesken

A chill filled the air as the room filled with people.  Dozens of the highest officers in Leon’s military, plus his high ministers were attending this strategy meeting in the Flash Fortress, the headquarters of the Kingdom’s military.

The fortress was located along the eastern edge of Artorion, purpose-built on the slopes of the eastern mountains to serve in its current role.  The Southern Talon had worked well for a time, but as Leon’s Kingdom built up over the years, i...

1180 - Nymph Ceremonies

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Much of Leon’s Kingdom in the Nexus was beautiful by his standards.  He took pleasure in the natural world, finding much less beauty in the world of man than he did out in the...

1179 - The Rise of Others

The ritual Xaphan used to contact his ‘friends’ in the Elemental Plane of Fire was quick to set up, with the most time-consuming part being the actual inscription of the enchantment itself.  In the course of its inscription, Leon even improved it by using a storm crystal filled with origin power as the enchantment’s power source.

Normally, storing origin power within something was incredibly difficult and wasteful.  Few materials could store such concentrated power witho...

1178 - Court Titles

Leon never considered himself much of a dancer.  He was skilled enough at it—Elise, Emilie, and Cassandra had made sure of that—and his experience in combat lent itself well to learning to dance, but he lacked the passion and drive to become truly good at it.

However, as the music of clashing steel reached his ears, his body moved with grace and strength.  His opponent’s blade slid over his shoulder, not quite touching him, and he body-checked her, throwing...

1177 - Foundations Laid

Bowing was no easy thing for monarchs, this much Leon was well familiar with.  A century of diplomacy and economic pressures had culminated in Farah’s visit to Artorion and her formal submission to him, but despite the length of this process, he had no intention of dragging it out.  He didn’t want to humiliate Farah, he just wanted her allegiance.

So, after he placed her crown back on her head and proclaimed her the Princess of Queenfall, he gestured for her to straighten ...

1176 - Queen's Submission

Her heart was a hammer in her chest, beating with deep anxiety and regret.  Others may claim that she had done all that she could and that she had no choice, but she knew better—in the face of losing sovereignty, there was always more that could be done, if one could stomach the cost.

She couldn’t.  She had oft berated herself for being weak for taking this course of action, but after a century of pressure, there simply weren’t any choices lef...

1175 - War Cry

Cheering.

Excitement.

The streets of Ishtorpor overflowed with both.  The wine flowed freely, decorative bolts of lightning lit up the night sky, and many businesses had closed despite Djoser’s refusal to name it a day of celebration.

The reason was simple: for a long time, they had lived on the edge of the buffer zone, always under the shadow of the Diluvians.  While everyone went about their day-to-day lives, there was always the undercurrent of anxiety at a lo...