Honestly, I don't like it in this temple. The whole atmosphere is creepy, Saetrus is creepy, the entire faith of R'hllor is creepy as hell and it says a lot about how little I trust them that I honestly consider leaving the temple, but if there is one thing more unsettling than these priests and their talk about prophecies, then it is the thought of facing the greyscale zombies outside of the temple. Because creepy they might be, but I actually trust the Red Priests with giving at least some sort of protection to the ones inside the walls of their temple.
Eldric
Biting his lip, he took a step forward in the Red Priestess’ direction and quickly chased after her, shuddering at the screeching … morecalls of the infected that began the echo around them. The night is dark, and full of terrors, a voice repeated in his mind, but the source of the voice he could not pick, nor identify. Yet it was in itself oddly familiar, as if to comfort him in this grim setting he found himself in.
The transient priestess roamed down many dark alleys and aisles, guided only by the fire that jumped from her spread finger tips, being consumed only by the very walls of the shadow city. Eldric felt a sense of claustrophobia as it felt as if the smooth black oily walls would lose their solidity and cave in their path, drowning them in a pool of darkness where they may never be found. Yet that somehow seemed like a better fate to him than the turned creatures of the night.
Arriving in an empty open street, the priestes… [view original content]
Alright, it's about time I close this vote! Eldric will remain in the temple! Personally, I think this is definitely the more interesting alternative, and will definitely open for a very interesting new plot that will soon unravel for our mysterious blacksmith. However we will find out more on that later!
I do apologise for waiting to close the vote for quite some time, the next part has been ready for about a week now, I was just hoping that all could vote before I post it, and I guess I lost track of the time with everything happening at uni I've also removed the 'new' from the title of WN, as I've just noticed that this story has been running for a year! It feels like it's gone nowhere since then, but I hope to have this chapter done soon
So without further commentary, I do have the next part ready as I mentioned. It introduces a new character, and one that is a part of the faction I've longed waited to introduce: the Dawn Guard. The PoV goes to Cai Xiang, a young boy of eighteen who finds himself deployed in the Shadowlands with the task of finding a cure for the Grey Plague. His story begins in the dark temple city of Stygai, a new location in the story
Eldric
Biting his lip, he took a step forward in the Red Priestess’ direction and quickly chased after her, shuddering at the screeching … morecalls of the infected that began the echo around them. The night is dark, and full of terrors, a voice repeated in his mind, but the source of the voice he could not pick, nor identify. Yet it was in itself oddly familiar, as if to comfort him in this grim setting he found himself in.
The transient priestess roamed down many dark alleys and aisles, guided only by the fire that jumped from her spread finger tips, being consumed only by the very walls of the shadow city. Eldric felt a sense of claustrophobia as it felt as if the smooth black oily walls would lose their solidity and cave in their path, drowning them in a pool of darkness where they may never be found. Yet that somehow seemed like a better fate to him than the turned creatures of the night.
Arriving in an empty open street, the priestes… [view original content]
The light of day lasted only three quarters of an hour, passing over Eastern Ranges of the Morn and nigh immediately being consumed by the shadow that loomed over the Western Ranges of the Morn. Stygai was a cursed place, yet one which was greatly pious. The Way of the Rising resided in the temple-city of Stygai, and the grand temple, dwarfing the Temple of R’hllor in Asshai, became known as the Sanctuary by all the fleeing commoners of the City by the Shadow.
Cai Xiang had worked tirelessly day and night, just like all the other medical officers deployed to this region by the Forts, but being directly trained under a Fort doctor placed him as the head practitioner of the platoon. The Ash Fort had deployed five hundred sentinels and ministers to tackle the threat of the Grey Plague, a figure of which had dropped below half only in their first few months of placement.
The apprentice doctor dipped his hands in the washing basin, rubbing at the blood that had stained into his skin, leaving its mark. It had almost seemed pointless now to bathe from the operations of the infected, as for each time they washed, it seemed they spent twice as much time being drenched in blood from amputations and lesions.
During their five months of deployment in this black city, all they had discovered was a way to stop the plague from spreading to others, something of which Captain Shang had ordered the medical staff and sentinels to gain priority over the victims. Regardless, it felt hopeless. Day and night more than two dozen highly proficient ministers scoured the ancient libraries of the Rising Temple for a cure, and for a consistent five months they had found nothing. It had been Cai who had discovered a method of hindering the plague from infecting others, but it was only a temporary result. Better than nothing, I suppose.
Glaring at his reflection in the water, he wondered for how long he could drown out the screams of agony before his lungs demanded air, and then whether he would be craven enough to obey them. It was no secret that the men and women of the Dawn Guard saw this placement as a curse, but by their oath, it was their duty to help them. We are the Guardians of the Living, the Saviours of the People, Cai repeated to himself, and yet those words had seemed to have lost all meaning with his time here. They could save no one, and had only enacted their purpose as the bringers of death. Fewer come to seek our aid.
He barely recognised the man that stared back at him in his reflection. He had only truly entered manhood, but his role had appeared to rub some years from his young complexion. The dark bags were heavy under his almond shaped eyes, indicating his YiTish blood, but there was no denying his dark brown eyes were his mother’s. Similarly, his dark amber skin tone was a dead give-away of his mixed blood, with his mother having initially came from the Ghiscari Empire. However unlike his brother, Cai had been considered more of a YiTish than a Ghiscari, perhaps more in favour of his looks, but also in his attitude.
His once short hair had grown to almost reaching his shoulders, now greasy and wet, left with knots and clumps with were hardly presentable. Similarly, he had started to grow a light beard, which was untidy and neglected. While he was in shape, Cai felt was hardly the warrior that his brother had been fashioned as, and nor did he ever aspire to be. Yet this tiring work had left him weak and exhausted, if not physically then mentally.
As mandatory, the Time of Light was the only session where all Dawn Guard personnel, unless of guard duty or patrol, could rest for the duration of the sunlight. It was hardly a fair break given the hours they worked day and night, but it was a break in its own right, and none would complain at its arrival. With its departure, however, came another story.
Reluctantly, Cai grabbed his white robe from the wooden table and donned it. As fit of the Dawn Guard, ministers wore robes, and sentinels had their armour. The robe was a plain white, the colour of the Dawn Guard, with a silver sash around his waist that had white doves embroidered on the silk. The large drooped sleeves had always been an impracticality that Cai had highlighted to his betters, but none had waivered from ancient tradition. Knowing they’d only stain with blood, he would roll them up to his forearm.
Slipping on his sandals, Cai would then return to the medical tent, where the victims of the Grey Plague were hosted, all with varying degrees of greyscale. Cai had been assigned a client, a young Ghiscari refugee who had come to them when the Dawn Guard had arrived at the Sanctuary, and during this entire time Cai had felt unable to treat him. When the adolescent came, only his hand had been completely lost to the greyscale, and amputation was considered. Now, Cai hardly recognised the boy, who was more stone-flesh than skin, and in a few more weeks, he would become rabid.
The boy was tied down to his bed, partly self-decided, to ensure that he could not spread his disease. Knowing that he was on the border of losing himself, Cai had come to accept his defeat, and now looked to comfort the child in his final moments. Pulling a stool by his bed, Cai sat himself down and examined the spreading infection, which had taken the adolescent’s vision, and spread past his torso down his thighs. Cai swallowed the lump in his throat, wiping his brow as he cleared his throat.
“How are you feeling, Nokar?” Cai asked softly, to which the boy aimlessly glared at the ceiling of the tent in silence. A frown fell on the young doctor’s face, as he let out a sigh and ran his hands through his hair. “Is there any recovery in your sight?” Cai persisted, to which Nokar only grunted. “You must speak to me, Nok, I need to know if you’re still there,” Cai stated, to which the boy remained his blind glare at the tent ceiling.
“I should have just took my arm off when I had the chance,” he muttered, and Cai noticed the boy’s hands clenching into fists under their leather constraints. “I left Asshai because of the Red priests and their madness,” Nokar stated coldly, his milky grey eyes now falling in Cai’s general direction. “I would have taken the fire had I known the Dawn Guard would let me become… this,” Nokar mumbled, and Cai could see the pus infected tears seeping from his eyes.
“Nokar, I am so sorry,” Cai tried to apologised, but the adolescent’s mood immediately became hostile, and were it not for the restraints, Cai swore the boy would have leapt at him. “You did this to me!” he roared, chafing his scaled skin against the tight bounds around his ankles and wrists. This time Cai couldn’t swallow the lump in his throat, it choked him, leaving him gasping for air as he fell silent. “You did this! You did!” the boy screamed, grabbing the attention of other medical staff and some guards.
“Doctor Xiang…” a soft voice whispered, placing their soft hand on his shoulder. “It’s time,” she mumbled, to which Cai looked up to her with teary eyes. Even after acknowledging he had failed, he couldn’t accept that he had lost this boy. The months he had spent with him, learning of his past with the Ghiscari Empire, why he fled, how he came to find a new life in the East. Now the child was hardly a shadow of his former self, not even recognisable, and Cai knew it was his duty not to get attached… Yet with this boy being his first client, it broke his heart.
“I will have him taken outside,” Xina suggsted, but Cai immediately shook his head and grasped her hand on his shoulder. “No,” he mumbled, the word barely escaping his croaky voice. “He is my responsibility,” he added, to which the fellow medic glanced at him with saddened eyes before nodding. “As you say, Doctor,” she acknowledged, unsheathing a dagger and placing it on the desk beside Cai. As she took her leave, the guards hesitantly returned to their posts, and Cai glanced at the blade before reluctantly taking it into his hands.
“I’m so sorry,” he whispered, before plunging the blade into the boy’s chest, puncturing his heart and ceasing his movement almost instantly. His last breath was the hardest thing for Cai to watch, and the tears flowed freely down the doctor’s cheeks as he broke down in front of the boy’s lifeless body.
It took Cai a moment to regain his composure, the thoughts of his responsibilities and authority being an overweighing burden, but one which he had to find his strength from. He knew others looked to him, despite his young age, being practically the head of operations here.
“Doctor Xiang,” a voice called, to which Cai wiped away the tears from his eyes to meet the gaze of the friendly sentinel that shared his birth name. Kai Thonu, Cai recognised as he arose from the deathbed of his client and turned to meet the young sentinel. Kai was a friendly and honest man, in his early twenties, and had become a close friend of Cai’s shortly after his the training doctor had been transferred from the Marsh Fort to the Ash Fort.
While admittedly their namesake brought them together as friends, it was not solely this similarity which brought each other to their attention. Rather, it was a mess hall fight meant for Kai Thonu and his sentinels, but the newly appointed medical officer was unaware of another guardian that had his name, and ended up engaging in an unfair fight that brought him to meet the young sentinel.
“Kai Thonu,” Cai greeted with a relieved tone, embracing the armoured man as he approached. Kai was a short man, with short dark brown hair and azure blue eyes. As typical of the Dawn Guard sentinels, he was clad head-to-toe in pale steel, with chainmail guarding the joints. “How are you, brother?” Kai genuinely queried, to which Cai Xiang could not help but glance at Nokar’s body. A concerned frown fell upon Kai Thonu’s face, as he put an arm around the young doctor and led him out of the tent.
“It’s good to see you’re well,” Cai examined with a wavering tone, his attempts to take his mind off his client were difficult, it tormented his thoughts and bared heavy on his conscience. Kai Thonu nodded, however a stern expression coated his usual warm smile. “The situation out there grows grimmer by each day,” Kai stated hopelessly as they walked passed injured sentinels and the monks of the Rising that attended to them.
“When we first arrived here, many would come to us when they saw us on patrol, beg us to help them, and now…” Kai let out a heavy sigh, running a hand through his wet greasy hair. “Now they either avoid us or riot against us, like we’re as vile as those withdrawn fire priests in Asshai,” Kai Thonu mumbled with a tone that mirrored apathy and sorrow, to which Cai brought him to a halt a placed a hand on his friend’s cheek.
“I know it seems hopeless, but we have to remain strong, even if it’s only an act. The moment we look to have given up is the moment we lose everything, and all our progress here will have been for nothing,” Cai stated with some hope, he knew that courage was needed to spur the Guardians on, even if it was false courage. A small smirk formed on Kai’s lips, making him roll his eyes.
“Look at you, a bright little optimist, the embodiment of everything the Dawn Guard stands for,” Kai mocked, punching Cai Xiang lightly on the arm, still enough to sting with his armoured gauntlets. “The Dawn Guard is our life,” Cai reminded his friend, to which Kai Thonu chuckled lightly to himself. “Yes, and I have no regrets taking that oath. With all the great things we have done I know how important our role in the Empire is, I just feel like we struggle to meet the expectations that were written by our ancestors,” Kai Thonu admitted, to which Cai let out a sigh and wrapped his arm around Kai’s shoulder.
“I’m sure they felt the same way in their time,” Cai reflected, and the two began to walk again. They made their way atop the grand walls of the Temple, climbing the southern belltower where they would overlook the City of the Night, the raging current of the Ash, and the endless plains of Ghost Grass that dimly illuminated the haunted Shadowlands beyond. Many a night they had sought refuge from the moans of the ill and injured atop the belltower, and found a sense of tranquillity that they could meditate with.
Other times they had simply found time to talk without the interruptions of all the demands upon them, similarly to when they would walk atop the Ash Fort at the peak of the night. “I noticed Xina Ren leave the medical tent quite distraught when I approached,” Kai stated, to which Cai Xiang raised an eyebrow in response. “She is quite infatuated with you, brother, I don’t understand why you turn away such a beautiful young woman like yourself,” Kai Thonu teased with mockery, making Cai roll his eyes.
“You know I have too much on my hands right now to even consider a relationship,” Cai stated plainly, to which Thonu just let out a frustrated sigh. “You’re going to die alone if you keep using that line,” Kai claimed, to which Cai Xiang chuckled to himself. “You planning on abandoning me too?” the young doctor challenged, to which Kai Thonu shrugged his shoulders.
“The life of a sentinel is a dangerous one,” Kai suggested, earning him a kick in the side as he had always received for such remarks. “You always come back, don’t give me that shit,” Cai muttered with a smirk, evoking a laugh from the sentinel. “Mm, that I do,” he acknowledged with a cocky tone, which was followed with silence for a drowning moment, yet neither seemed to mind too much.
“Still, don’t shut Xina out, I’m serious,” Kai Thonu stated in an almost pleading tone, and when Cai glanced at his friend he noticed the solemn look in his blue eyes. Cai grinned awkwardly and lifted his hands in submission. “Fine, I won’t,” the young doctor stated, to which his friend only glared at him harder, “I swear!” Cai added in chuckle, to which Kai Thonu only rolled his eyes.
“I worry for you sometimes,” Kai stated aimlessly as he laid back and rested his head, shutting his eyes. Cai Xiang let his legs dangle off the side of the tower, still staring out into the night lands with awe of her mystique. “Leave the worrying for me,” Cai mumbled from his trance, only evoking a scoff and shake of the head of the tired friend.
“Cai?” a voice yelled, ascending the steps at a rapid pace, to which both Cai Xiang and Kai Thonu shot to their feet in response. The two men gathered their equipment as a familiar face reached the top of a tower, stopping momentarily as he noticed the two men donning their gear with haste. “Am I interrupting something, gentlemen?” The dutiful and concerned expression on the honourable sentinel made Cai furrow his eyebrows before his eyes widened in realisation to what the man was insinuating.
“Shut your mouth, Mamoru,” Kai chastised, to which the older sentinel let out a small chuckle before his solemn expression returned. “We have a situation, Captain Shang has called for you,” Mamoru stated, now looking at Cai Xiang. The young doctor raised an eyebrow as to what would have been so important for Shang to summon him, but he figured he would be better to ask that question to the man himself. “Lead the way,” Cai encouraged, to which Mamoru nodded, returning down the spiral staircase. Cai glanced momentarily at his friend, who only shrugged in response, then ushering the doctor to follow in suit.
-
A crowd of Guardians had mobbed in the courtyard, all their gazes focused on something in the centre of the yard. Mamoru Sozui pushed through the crowd, Cai Xiang and Kai Thonu following closely behind until they reached the front of the mob, where the objects of attention came into view.
Two bodies, both dressed in gowns of white, which Cai immediately recognised to be pupils of his, lay before them on the ground. However that was all he could recognise of them, of what was left of them. Their bodies were completely defiled, with their eyes gauged out, teeth missing, bones broken and bodies bled dry. It looked as if they had been festering for weeks, yet Cai recalled he had only convened with one of them a few days ago.
Above their bodies stood Captain Shang, the head of operations in Stygai, with a stern look pinned on the corpses at his feet. He lifted his glare to Cai Xiang as he spotted the young doctor emerge from the crowd, summoning him forward with a single wave of his hand. Shang had earned the obedience of those under him through his sheer tactics on the battlefield, and strict laws that had kept so many sentinels alive beyond the Forts.
Cai felt a lump lodge in his throat as he left the company of Kai Thonu and Mamoru Sozui, stepping into the light of the stage, gaining the attention of every Guardian who could see. “These men were under your charge, Xiang,” Shang stated plainly, to which Cai nodded in confirmation, glancing at their lifeless devoured bodies. “Yes Captain,” Cai mumbled, to which Shang let out a frustrated groan.
“Then why did my men find these two hanging by their ankles outside our gates?” Shang grumbled, demanding an answer, to which Cai could only shake his head with as much clue as his commanding officer. Shang let out a groan and dismissed him with a flick of a hand, turning his gaze to the surrounding Guardians.
“For those of you growing complacent, weary or distraught, look upon the fate of your brothers. We are not here for leisure, and we are not here with allies! Those who disobey my orders and leave this compound without a guard had best choose to fall on their sword, as you will receive a grimmer fate than our friends here,” the captain warned, then turning his glare on Cai. “Take these two into quarantine and examine them. I want answers, Xiang,” the captain grumbled, then exiting the crowd which quickly moved aside for him.
Cai Xiang gulped as he gaze lowered to the desecrated corpses by his side, only briefly relieved as Kai Thonu and Mamoru came to his side and assisted him with moving the bodies. Slowly the crowd dissipated, returning to their duties, while Cai was left alone in the middle of the courtyard.
Crumbling to his knees, the boy didn’t know whether to cry or scream, a kettle of emotions boiled up within him. Living in the shadow of the notorious Captain Shang was stressful enough, but having the role of the head forward doctor on site was another which burdened him, and seeing only chaos and death hinder their progress left him in dismay. Cai dug his hands into the ash-like soil, tensing his hands and glaring aimlessly ahead of him as his body went into lockdown.
It was only in the corner of his gaze that he spotted a figure approaching him, however he was too careless to avert his gaze from the nothingness ahead of him to inquire who it was. They were donned in a heavy grey gown, draping half a metre in their wake and with drooping sleeves that put Cai’s to shame.
“Time wastes as you dwell, Cai Xiang,” the voice spoke, a tone which was distant and obscure, an accent which was unfamiliar and daunting to the ears. “Leave me alone,” Cai muttered under his breath, hardly audible even to himself, but the hooded figure only shook its head. “You seek answers, and a post-mortem will only tell you so much,” the being stated, extending their milky white hand forward and lifting the boy’s chin up.
Cai found himself glancing upon one of the Monks of the Rising, and worse yet, talking to one. Shang had formed strict rules to not communicate with the monks of the temple, being folk of dark arts, toying with necromancy and shadow binding. It was forbidden to set foot in the Temple of the Rising, and any who dared approach it would face a deathly punishment, something which Shang assured was more of a blessing than the cursed matters that roamed within the dark temple.
“Come with me, we will set you on the right path,” the monk assured him, extending an open hand before him. Like the rest of his body, his dry skin was a pale white, resembling a milky tone. None of the Stygai’i had hair from what Cai had observed, and all had eyes as black as the night, like an enlarged pupil that consumed all light. “Who are you?” Cai mumbled, awkwardly looking around him from fear that a Guardian might be watching.
The monk shook his head, grasping his forearms under his sleeves. “We are nameless,” the monk explained, to which Cai furrowed his eyebrows. “What do you want?” Cai mumbled, to which again the monk shook his head. “We want for nothing. It is you which desires the secrets we hold within the Temple,” the monk stated, making Cai raise an eyebrow with curiosity.
“What secrets?” Cai queried, to which a small smile touched the monks painted gray lips. “The powers to give or take life, the knowledge to raise buildings that break through the clouds, the cure to eradicate all illnesses,” the monk claimed, to which Cai couldn’t help but roll his eyes in disbelief. “If you could cure all illnesses, why let your people become overwhelmed by the Grey Plague? Why let them become sick and rabid?” Cai challenged, to which the monk maintained an expressionless face.
“We do not meddle with the will of the Shadow, we seek only to maintain the cycle,” the monk elaborated, only leaving Cai further perplexed. “The Shadow? What cycle?” Cai queried with confusion, to which the monk again extended his hand out to the young doctor. “All things have a beginning and an end. Come, let us show you,” the monk stated, to which Cai found himself staring at the milky white hand of the Stygai’i again.
A great temptation resided within him to accept his offer, to enter the temple and learn these secrets, yet he knew that would be breaking a direct order, and that punishment was a permanent one. It was the duty of the Dawn Guard to repel the darkness, not work with it, yet now Cai found himself conflicted. How many more months would they spend searching for a cure if Cai did not accept? How many more would die? The thought terrified him, yet alternatively the prospect of breaking his oath was equally as damning.
Cai
The light of day lasted only three quarters of an hour, passing over Eastern Ranges of the Morn and nigh immediately being consumed b… morey the shadow that loomed over the Western Ranges of the Morn. Stygai was a cursed place, yet one which was greatly pious. The Way of the Rising resided in the temple-city of Stygai, and the grand temple, dwarfing the Temple of R’hllor in Asshai, became known as the Sanctuary by all the fleeing commoners of the City by the Shadow.
Cai Xiang had worked tirelessly day and night, just like all the other medical officers deployed to this region by the Forts, but being directly trained under a Fort doctor placed him as the head practitioner of the platoon. The Ash Fort had deployed five hundred sentinels and ministers to tackle the threat of the Grey Plague, a figure of which had dropped below half only in their first few months of placement.
The apprentice doctor dipped his hands in the washing basin, ru… [view original content]
[Deny the monk’s offer]
This seems very dangerous.
Anyways, I'm surprised Cai is a pov character! I did not expect this, but I'm glad he gets his own storyline. I'm excited to see how his story unfolds.
Cai
The light of day lasted only three quarters of an hour, passing over Eastern Ranges of the Morn and nigh immediately being consumed b… morey the shadow that loomed over the Western Ranges of the Morn. Stygai was a cursed place, yet one which was greatly pious. The Way of the Rising resided in the temple-city of Stygai, and the grand temple, dwarfing the Temple of R’hllor in Asshai, became known as the Sanctuary by all the fleeing commoners of the City by the Shadow.
Cai Xiang had worked tirelessly day and night, just like all the other medical officers deployed to this region by the Forts, but being directly trained under a Fort doctor placed him as the head practitioner of the platoon. The Ash Fort had deployed five hundred sentinels and ministers to tackle the threat of the Grey Plague, a figure of which had dropped below half only in their first few months of placement.
The apprentice doctor dipped his hands in the washing basin, ru… [view original content]
I guess no other votes are coming in for this one, which leaves this at a tie. @Tales-from-Telltale , as Cai is your character I will let you decide whether you would like to stick with your vote or change it.
I apologise for being relatively inactive these last couple of weeks, I've been head over heels with work and university, and I'm afraid it only gets worse for the next three to four weeks. Fortunately I have managed to get the next part ready, but it is only a small bit, and it goes to Dickon.
The last time we saw Dickon Stark he had decided to reveal his story to Prince Rhaedon, the Qaathi who had purchased him and Remmo, a Dothraki renegade. After this, Rhaedon revealed they would be travelling to Asshai by Dusk, and that Dickon should gear up. Donning his equipment, Dickon noticed a relatively easy way for escape, but you guys decided it'd be better for him to not risk it. This part takes place a few days after then, aboard a slaving vessel bound for Asshai.
Cai
The light of day lasted only three quarters of an hour, passing over Eastern Ranges of the Morn and nigh immediately being consumed b… morey the shadow that loomed over the Western Ranges of the Morn. Stygai was a cursed place, yet one which was greatly pious. The Way of the Rising resided in the temple-city of Stygai, and the grand temple, dwarfing the Temple of R’hllor in Asshai, became known as the Sanctuary by all the fleeing commoners of the City by the Shadow.
Cai Xiang had worked tirelessly day and night, just like all the other medical officers deployed to this region by the Forts, but being directly trained under a Fort doctor placed him as the head practitioner of the platoon. The Ash Fort had deployed five hundred sentinels and ministers to tackle the threat of the Grey Plague, a figure of which had dropped below half only in their first few months of placement.
The apprentice doctor dipped his hands in the washing basin, ru… [view original content]
Once again the Wolf of the West found himself victim to a slaver vessel, powered by the waning strength of a hundred rowers under the influence of a dozen lashes. Yet to Dickon’s relief he was not amongst them, but rather alone at the bow of the ship like a passenger, yet he would not let his false sense of freedom mislead his judgement. He was still a slave, just with a different purpose, and that he did not know sparked fear into him.
Dickon glared at the borderline of the Jade Sea and the opening to the proclaimed Saffron Straits, where the water lost all sign of life and mirrored the erupted darkness of the choking sky above. It was as if they sailed in to the jaws of the death, shrouded by a world of black that consumed all light and life. A raging war between the life of the Jade Sea and the corruption of the black waters left the lone vessel victim to the elements, but Dickon had no trouble holding his ground as he peered over the side.
Waves as tall as the giants that had been forced further North swamped the ship, and Dickon watched as the slave crew hold onto the barricades and lines for dear life, and as the cravens threw themselves overboard, meeting a swift end either from the overwhelming strength of the battle or the talented slave archers in their master’s service. The West Wolf’s hard glare met with the mystique Prince of the Thirteen, who stood surrounded by his personal Ghiscari guard at the main mast of the ship.
The Prince yelled to his guards in discussion, but their voices were drowned out by the clash of water and thunder that sprawled chains of lightning above the darkened sky. Only one voice boomed loud enough to be heard, one shuddering roar that had never ceased through the duration of this trip, a strength that Dickon even considered to be a near match for his own if he were without the blood of the First Men.
The West Wolf peered over the side again, looking to the prow where the disobedient Dothraki was tied to the prow of the ship, swamped by the clashing waves and immersed in the cool ocean waters. Where Dickon had considered the idea of escape before their departure, Remmo had taken that plan a step further and enacted it, massacring house servants and guards before being overwhelmed by a number of Prince Rhaedon’s personal slave army. It had surprised Dickon that the prince had not simply ended him just there, perhaps the fool truly believed he could break the Dothraki into submission, but still after a week of no food or water, other than the salt that flooded his lungs, he still roared with a mighty anger that echoed over the seas.
Dickon admittedly admired the beast’s persistence to live, it was this same will to survive which had kept Dickon alive for so long while in Essos, and even then he had wondered what that point was. He had been cursed with his random visions, and the promising riches of the Further East began to feel more like a nightmare than a prophecy. Yet Dickon was descendant from essentially First Men godhood, and if a mere savage could find the strength to survive the torments that were thrown at him, there was no excuse for this bastard to lose hope.
The Wolf of the West pushed himself away from the barrier and approached the Prince of the Thirteen, immediately gaining the attention of Captain Hanse and his guards, who struggled to keep their footing as they entered a defensive stance. Dickon was in his element, he had both the strength and capability to tackle Rhaedon’s personal guard with little resistance, and yet he still felt hesitance. His glare fell upon Prince Rhaedon, and he felt weak as their gazes locked, like an omniscient power loomed over him, like he was confronting his father again.
Rhaedon lifted his hand to stand down his weary soldiers, who reluctantly dropped their guard and retreated to the safety of the hull, leaving Dickon with Rhaedon and the obedient Captain Hanse. “We will arrive by nightfall, I hope my Stallion and Wolf are prepared,” Rhaedon stated, to which Dickon couldn’t help but scoff in remark. “Your horse drowns and your dog envies him,” the West Wolf spat, to which Rhaedon smirked, turning to Hanse and nodding, to which the three then retreated into the prince’s cabin.
A dim lantern swung from side to side as each wave crashed into the side of the ship, and Rhaedon found his seat in his bed, as his desk and chair had flipped and slid from one end of the cabin to another. “Do you know the situation in Asshai currently, Stark?” Rhaedon queried, to which Dickon snarled. “Don’t call me that,” he muttered, inflicted a backhand to his cheek from the unamused Captain Hanse. “My Prince shall call you what he likes slave, now answer the question!” he spat, causing Dickon to smirk with a malice look in his eyes.
“I’ve heard the rumours,” Dickon muttered in laconic response, to which Rhaedon sighed and nodded. “The Shadowlands are cursed with the Grey Plague, and as sorrowful as that is, it has left an opening for business,” Rhaedon explained, to which Dickon only rolled his eyes. “Why am I not surprised?” the Wolf in the West questioned mockingly, to which the Prince of the Thirteen flashed a small smile. “Asshai is the golden jewel of economy in all the Further East, one which many fear to venture to with this epidemic, and others fail to cease with their novice attempts. I am neither a coward nor an amateur, and so I will claim what no one else can,” Rhaedon stated, to which Dickon only raised an eyebrow.
“So where do I fit into this grand scheme of yours?” Dickon muttered, to which a smirk spread across the prince’s lips. “You, along with my Stallion, will be my enforcers. There are still powers in Asshai that would oppose me, despite the chaos that runs amuck there, and those figures either need to bend to my will or be put down,” Rhaedon stated, to which Dickon snorted and rolled his eyes. What did I expect? He thought to himself as if he expected this slaver to be any different to the last, yet he couldn’t help but feel there was something different about Rhaedon, and that he couldn’t pick it only left him less sure of himself.
“Soon we will dock at Asshai, and I will have my errands to run while you and my Stallion begin your work,” Rhaedon claimed nonchalantly, to which Dickon raised an eyebrow. “Work being?” Dickon hesitantly prompted in anticipation, to which Rhaedon smiled and clasped his hands. “Within Asshai there are a number of crime syndicates which have risen to power with the escalation of the Grey Plague; the largest being the Kings, a mob of infected thieves, rapists and murderers who mug and slaughter the few remaining royals and merchants of Asshai. Their efforts cannot be allowed to continue,” Rhaedon plainly stated, to which Dickon held his silence.
“Alternatively, there is a potential ally that my spies have informed me still resides in Asshai, yet he is a fickle and paranoid rat that I’m afraid I cannot get near,” Rhaedon mumbled in a tone which resembled some humility, lifting a smirk on Dickon’s lips. “That must irk you, great Prince,” Dickon mocked, to which his lapdog pushed the tip of his spear against Dickon’s throat in warning. “Naturally,” Rhaedon muttered in agreeance, arising from his bed.
“This merchant’s name is Lyser, and he is a councillor for the Howling Company, a rather revered loaning company in Essos. Their infamous leader, Raquest, has his quarrels with me, and refuses to open in deal with me. I doubt his lackey will be any more cooperative, but I believe his capture could make for a reasonable bargaining chip to beckon an audience,” Rhaedon stated in ploy, to which Dickon only sighed in a loss of interest.
“So where shall I be? Lopping the head off a king or shackling the wrists of a mouse?” Dickon queried, to which Rhaedon smiled, placing a hand on Dickon’s shoulder. “I leave that for you to decide, my Wolf. I’m sure the Stallion is weary, but he will prove his worth wherever you choose not to go,” Rhaedon stated, to which Dickon reluctantly nodded in understanding. “So tell me, West Wolf, where will I send you?”
Dickon
Once again the Wolf of the West found himself victim to a slaver vessel, powered by the waning strength of a hundred rowers under … morethe influence of a dozen lashes. Yet to Dickon’s relief he was not amongst them, but rather alone at the bow of the ship like a passenger, yet he would not let his false sense of freedom mislead his judgement. He was still a slave, just with a different purpose, and that he did not know sparked fear into him.
Dickon glared at the borderline of the Jade Sea and the opening to the proclaimed Saffron Straits, where the water lost all sign of life and mirrored the erupted darkness of the choking sky above. It was as if they sailed in to the jaws of the death, shrouded by a world of black that consumed all light and life. A raging war between the life of the Jade Sea and the corruption of the black waters left the lone vessel victim to the elements, but Dickon had no trouble holding his ground as he peered … [view original content]
Dickon
Once again the Wolf of the West found himself victim to a slaver vessel, powered by the waning strength of a hundred rowers under … morethe influence of a dozen lashes. Yet to Dickon’s relief he was not amongst them, but rather alone at the bow of the ship like a passenger, yet he would not let his false sense of freedom mislead his judgement. He was still a slave, just with a different purpose, and that he did not know sparked fear into him.
Dickon glared at the borderline of the Jade Sea and the opening to the proclaimed Saffron Straits, where the water lost all sign of life and mirrored the erupted darkness of the choking sky above. It was as if they sailed in to the jaws of the death, shrouded by a world of black that consumed all light and life. A raging war between the life of the Jade Sea and the corruption of the black waters left the lone vessel victim to the elements, but Dickon had no trouble holding his ground as he peered … [view original content]
This option is probably the better one. Also, if no one else votes on the last part than I guess I'll keep my vote the same. I don't necessarily trust those mysterious monks. However, I must admit that I am curious about them.
Dickon
Once again the Wolf of the West found himself victim to a slaver vessel, powered by the waning strength of a hundred rowers under … morethe influence of a dozen lashes. Yet to Dickon’s relief he was not amongst them, but rather alone at the bow of the ship like a passenger, yet he would not let his false sense of freedom mislead his judgement. He was still a slave, just with a different purpose, and that he did not know sparked fear into him.
Dickon glared at the borderline of the Jade Sea and the opening to the proclaimed Saffron Straits, where the water lost all sign of life and mirrored the erupted darkness of the choking sky above. It was as if they sailed in to the jaws of the death, shrouded by a world of black that consumed all light and life. A raging war between the life of the Jade Sea and the corruption of the black waters left the lone vessel victim to the elements, but Dickon had no trouble holding his ground as he peered … [view original content]
Dickon
Once again the Wolf of the West found himself victim to a slaver vessel, powered by the waning strength of a hundred rowers under … morethe influence of a dozen lashes. Yet to Dickon’s relief he was not amongst them, but rather alone at the bow of the ship like a passenger, yet he would not let his false sense of freedom mislead his judgement. He was still a slave, just with a different purpose, and that he did not know sparked fear into him.
Dickon glared at the borderline of the Jade Sea and the opening to the proclaimed Saffron Straits, where the water lost all sign of life and mirrored the erupted darkness of the choking sky above. It was as if they sailed in to the jaws of the death, shrouded by a world of black that consumed all light and life. A raging war between the life of the Jade Sea and the corruption of the black waters left the lone vessel victim to the elements, but Dickon had no trouble holding his ground as he peered … [view original content]
My apologies for not voting on the last part. It is shocking how often I think I voted already. I even left a like on it back when it first came out. It's just that there are currently times where I am limited to a rather terrible and slow laptop and I prefer procrastinating on that one. It can get hard to keep an overview what I have and haven't done there. So, I can assure you, it is not my intention to not vote. If you're missing my vote, please send a message my way and I shall get to it at once
That being said, can I still vote on the last part? I know Tales has more or less broken the tie already, but I feel bad for not voting yet. It was a nice part as well, albeit I would have chosen to accept the monk's offer. It might just be my liking for these monk types, though I can definitely get not trusting them as well. That being said, I got one particular vibe off that monk when he said they are all nameless. Could we be looking at a progenitor cult to the Faceless Men?
Now, with this choice, I will pick [Go after Lyser], because it sounds useful to first gain an ally before going after enemies. Once Dickon has secured the support of Lyser, he can still go after the kings, at least this is what I hope.
Dickon
Once again the Wolf of the West found himself victim to a slaver vessel, powered by the waning strength of a hundred rowers under … morethe influence of a dozen lashes. Yet to Dickon’s relief he was not amongst them, but rather alone at the bow of the ship like a passenger, yet he would not let his false sense of freedom mislead his judgement. He was still a slave, just with a different purpose, and that he did not know sparked fear into him.
Dickon glared at the borderline of the Jade Sea and the opening to the proclaimed Saffron Straits, where the water lost all sign of life and mirrored the erupted darkness of the choking sky above. It was as if they sailed in to the jaws of the death, shrouded by a world of black that consumed all light and life. A raging war between the life of the Jade Sea and the corruption of the black waters left the lone vessel victim to the elements, but Dickon had no trouble holding his ground as he peered … [view original content]
My apologies for not voting on the last part. It is shocking how often I think I voted already. I even left a like on it back when it first came out. It's just that there are currently times where I am limited to a rather terrible and slow laptop and I prefer procrastinating on that one. It can get hard to keep an overview what I have and haven't done there. So, I can assure you, it is not my intention to not vote. If you're missing my vote, please send a message my way and I shall get to it at once
Ah I see, my mistake. I allow my low self-esteem to get the better of me when I jump to conclusions that you might have lost interest the stories or myself with the absence of votes or PM's, however I'm more to blame for being such a slow writer and not partaking in any other stories here, so I reap what I sew I suppose.
That being said, can I still vote on the last part? I know Tales has more or less broken the tie already, but I feel bad for not voting yet. It was a nice part as well, albeit I would have chosen to accept the monk's offer. It might just be my liking for these monk types, though I can definitely get not trusting them as well. That being said, I got one particular vibe off that monk when he said they are all nameless. Could we be looking at a progenitor cult to the Faceless Men?
Naturally I'd be more than happy for those who missed a vote to vote late, but being that this was a pretty major story direction choice for Cai and I've began to plan ahead the next parts for his story ahead, it'd kinda be sucky to erase those now. Rest assured though, we will see the monks through another PoV later on in this chapter, so this missed opportunity is not the be all and end all. Haha, an oversight, no I do not plan to rip of GRRM's Faceless Men with my monks, but I suppose there are a couple of overlaps in their methods, as there are in many religions however. I am very excited to show them off though, they are a very sinister and yet distant/placid religion which have a very simple perception of the world. I suppose you could think of them as the GoT Ying and Yang religon.
My apologies for not voting on the last part. It is shocking how often I think I voted already. I even left a like on it back when it first … morecame out. It's just that there are currently times where I am limited to a rather terrible and slow laptop and I prefer procrastinating on that one. It can get hard to keep an overview what I have and haven't done there. So, I can assure you, it is not my intention to not vote. If you're missing my vote, please send a message my way and I shall get to it at once
That being said, can I still vote on the last part? I know Tales has more or less broken the tie already, but I feel bad for not voting yet. It was a nice part as well, albeit I would have chosen to accept the monk's offer. It might just be my liking for these monk types, though I can definitely get not trusting them as well. That being said, I got one particular vibe off that monk when he said they are all nameless. Could we be looking at a p… [view original content]
Ah I see, my mistake. I allow my low self-esteem to get the better of me when I jump to conclusions that you might have lost interest the stories or myself with the absence of votes or PM's, however I'm more to blame for being such a slow writer and not partaking in any other stories here, so I reap what I sew I suppose.
No, I can absolutely assure you, this is on me. I know how it might seem, especially given how active I used to be, but currently, things are so busy for me I barely manage to write PM's. And then, I have periods where I'm not at home, making me often lose track of which stories I voted on and not. So, it has nothing to do with your pace being slow, honestly. I can promise you, I won't ever lose interest in your writing and you don't have to be concerned
Naturally I'd be more than happy for those who missed a vote to vote late, but being that this was a pretty major story direction choice for Cai and I've began to plan ahead the next parts for his story ahead, it'd kinda be sucky to erase those now. Rest assured though, we will see the monks through another PoV later on in this chapter, so this missed opportunity is not the be all and end all. Haha, an oversight, no I do not plan to rip of GRRM's Faceless Men with my monks, but I suppose there are a couple of overlaps in their methods, as there are in many religions however. I am very excited to show them off though, they are a very sinister and yet distant/placid religion which have a very simple perception of the world. I suppose you could think of them as the GoT Ying and Yang religon.
Ah, my fault for being late, I say I would have liked to see Cai with the monks, but I understand you already planned ahead and I've simply been a bit too late. Though while I wonder which PoV will encounter the monks, I am more curious where Cai will end up at now.
My apologies for not voting on the last part. It is shocking how often I think I voted already. I even left a like on it back when it first … morecame out. It's just that there are currently times where I am limited to a rather terrible and slow laptop and I prefer procrastinating on that one. It can get hard to keep an overview what I have and haven't done there. So, I can assure you, it is not my intention to not vote. If you're missing my vote, please send a message my way and I shall get to it at once
Ah I see, my mistake. I allow my low self-esteem to get the better of me when I jump to conclusions that you might have lost interest the stories or myself with the absence of votes or PM's, however I'm more to blame for being such a slow writer and not partaking in any other stories here, so I reap what I sew I suppose.
That being said, can I still vote on the last part? I know Tales has more or less broken the tie already, but I f… [view original content]
Alright, the Voting is Closed! Dickon will go after Lyser! This was a very close vote to my surprise, and I think either choice winning would have been interesting, but certainly gaining an ally is a greater way of gaining control over a city than outright conquering it (as Dany quickly learnt with 'redeeming' the slave cities!)
So I have finally returned from my week away trekking, which was an absolute blast, and gave me a LOT of time to think about where I am going with particular storylines! One in specific introduces a new not-so-new character as a PoV, which is the brother of the soon to be Empress: Remi. In case you have forgotten, the last time we saw Remi was through Mulan's eyes, and she had chosen for her brother to take her place in travelling to the Five Forts to see what Xiang Wuhan wanted. This introduction part takes place a few days into their travel, and is probably the longest part I've written out so far for WN, peaking over 4000 words :P Hope you guys enjoy!
Dickon
Once again the Wolf of the West found himself victim to a slaver vessel, powered by the waning strength of a hundred rowers under … morethe influence of a dozen lashes. Yet to Dickon’s relief he was not amongst them, but rather alone at the bow of the ship like a passenger, yet he would not let his false sense of freedom mislead his judgement. He was still a slave, just with a different purpose, and that he did not know sparked fear into him.
Dickon glared at the borderline of the Jade Sea and the opening to the proclaimed Saffron Straits, where the water lost all sign of life and mirrored the erupted darkness of the choking sky above. It was as if they sailed in to the jaws of the death, shrouded by a world of black that consumed all light and life. A raging war between the life of the Jade Sea and the corruption of the black waters left the lone vessel victim to the elements, but Dickon had no trouble holding his ground as he peered … [view original content]
Night had fallen across the green plains of Yi Ti when the weary royals decided to set up camp. Remi had never been a lackey for his servants’ handiwork, having travelled across the world and experienced many different cultures and hardships, pitching a tent was no hardship the Bloodstone Prince. Yet unfortunately this trait was not held amongst some of his fellow companions, who waited impatiently for their porters to unpack and set up their homesteads.
Remi let out a sigh, flashing a short smile to his cousin Jingim, the sentinel sent from the Governess-General of the Five Forts, yet Jingim only held a frown since they had departed from Tiqui. It was not hard to assume his cousin had been disappointed with the result of the current circumstances, given Governess-General Wuhan had requested the soon-to-be Empress’ presence, and not her explorative brother. Yet circumstances as they were, Remi knew that his sister had a lot of stress on her shoulders with their father’s passing, and if he could alleviate that by taking her place as an envoy then that was what he would do; and in part he was happy to do so.
Travelling had always been a wonder and delight for the Bloodstone Prince, who had left Tiqui at a ripe age of sixteen to travel for a decade, much to the chagrin of his father. Yet that experience could not have moulded him better than any other, and with his experiences of so many other cultures, he came to find an understanding and fondness of his father’s empire, and even thought of ways to improve it, if his sister would permit it.
As Remi and his servants finished with the first tent, the Bloodstone Prince took a moment to rest his muscles from the long ride, glancing around the rest of the company. While Remi had volunteered for this task alone, he would have been a fool to believe that his sister would let him travel alone again, and had put a number of men by his side for the journey.
Mulan’s refusal to allow the Duke of Wu Chi to accompany Jingim to the Forts had resulted in his son, the Marquess Shao Wuhan, being tasked with this mission. Admittedly, Remi had never been fond of Shao, as his cocky arrogance and cunning intellect resulted in an unpleasant companion to say the least, yet Remi could not deny his usefulness. With him stood Chen Luyen, the second born to Matriarch Zhenya, and a persistent suitor for Mulan’s hand in marriage. The Luyen’s were always ambitious, Remi thought to himself, but he admittedly always preferred the company of Chen over those of his siblings.
“Do you see it? The five beacons in the horizon?” an old voice chirped, taking his seat beside Remi as he pointed out the Five Forts in the distance. Remi flashed a smile to the old man, who had been much of a father figure and mentor to the Bloodstone Prince in his younger life, as the Emperor had focused on raising Mulan to be his heir. “Ming Qiu, gods forbid you are a fool to accompany us on such a journey,” Remi spited at him in a protective nature, to which the old man only flashed a half toothless grin.
“If I am to kick the bucket, I will do so in an exotic place, not soiling my breaches in my chambers,” Ming jested, to which Remi allowed himself a small smile, trying not to take too much amusement in the assured future of his old friend. “What do you make of all this? The return of the Skrykers and so on?” Remi posed in question, to which Ming let out a heavy sigh, resting his back as he averted his gaze to the starry sky. “When I was a boy, only a page to the Topaz Emperor, the Shrykers mounted a full scale war against the Dawn Guard, seizing the Cinder Fort and causing chaos to the lands south. Back then the Dawn Guard had the strength and numbers to retaliate, yet now I fear the only defence between the land of the living and the damned are the Forts themselves,” Ming mumbled, to which Remi frowned.
“That was almost a hundred and fifty years ago, and it was claimed that the Dawn Guard culled the Shrykers into extinction,” Remi claimed, to which Ming only groaned. “Do you believe the Dawn Guard have any reason to lie?” Ming suggested, to which Remi plainly shook his head. “I only find their claims odd. They have been dormant for the last century, and the moment a threat emerges they are incapable of handling it?” Remi stated in a tone which resembled disbelief and annoyance. “Let us wait and see, before we judge too harshly,” Ming suggested, resting his eyes.
Remi let out a sigh, nodding before rising to his feet. Jingim had already retreated into his tent, and the porters began to cook their meals before doing the same. The only company remaining was Chen and Shao, of which Remi naturally found his feet leading him in that direction. His innate sociality would be his undoing, a saying from his father, yet one which had only impacted him as a child. To think of how much of an introvert he had been during his adolescent years, and that all slowly began to change as Remi met Ming.
“Chen, Shao, how fares we?” Remi queried in spark of conversation, to which the diligent Chen Luyen let out a bored sigh as he waved his hand over the small campfire. “I could think of better things to be doing,” he whined subtly, to which Remi smirked as he passed him. “Like sneaking into my sister’s chambers?” the Bloodstone Prince remarked, receiving a scowl from his travelling companion, “and you, Shao? Eager to be reunited with your sister?” Remi questioned as he stroked the mane of Shao’s horse, to which the young Wuhan was unsaddling.
“Naturally, my Prince,” he acknowledged with a small but seemingly nervous smile. Remi could understand his timid behaviour, but it was unnecessary; the Wuhan’s had been close friends of the royal Jidao family for almost five generations, and a colloquial chat wouldn’t change that as far as Remi was concerned. “I know I was eager to see Mulan again after my travels,” Remi related as he joined Chen by the fire, Shao following shortly after.
“Do remind us for the hundredth time of your spectacular adventures,” Chen remarked sarcastically, to which the Bloodstone Prince smirked in response, yet Shao seemed unimpressed with Chen’s unbounded behaviour. “I confess, this ride to discover if monsters and creatures of the night are real does remind me of a similar situation I found myself in on the farmlands of Valyria,” Remi admitted, to which Chen simply rolled his eyes as he jabbed at the coals of the fire with his poking stick, yet Shao maintained a look of interest.
“I had not been on the green plains of the Land of Shepherds long before I heard the rumours of a great beast that had disturbed the flocks,” Remi retold, thinking back on the beautiful grasslands and peaceful people that were continually oppressed by the slavers of the Ghiscari Empire. “A twenty-foot long reptile had swum from the cursed waters of Sothoryos and started feeding on the easy prey of Valyria, growing large and fat. It had scales as tough as granite, and teeth as sharp as steel.”
“How did you kill it?” Shao asked with peaked interest, to which Remi chuckled and shook his head. “I didn’t,” he answered anticlimactically, leaving the young Wuhan’s eyebrows furrowed and raising the gaze of Chen Luyen. “So who not the hero than the great Bloodstone Prince?” the noble queried with thick sarcasm in his tone, to which the name stuck in Remi’s head clearly.
“A young Valyrian knight, known as Nithral Raeltheon,” Remi answered plainly, to which Chen raised an eyebrow, and Shao still appeared thoroughly perplexed. “What’s a knight?” he questioned, as Remi had expected, to which he had already devised a semi-reasonable answer. “Knights are great and honourable warriors of a kingdom in the west known as Andalos, their code calls for them to defend the weak and uphold peace,” Remi stated with a somewhat confident tone, to which Shao nodded in understanding.
“So how did some shepherd’s boy become an anointed knight of Andalos?” Chen questioned in a tone which clearly sounded disbelief. Remi raised an eyebrow in surprise to Chen’s apparent knowledge of the western culture, to which the Luyen only answered Remi’s gaze laconically. “Father demanded I read all about the warriors and swordsmen of Essos before I pick up a sword,” he explained, to which Remi nodded in acknowledgement.
“How or why he became a knight of Andalos I do not know, I only ever had the pleasure of his acquaintance once, and even that was thorough,” Remi stated, to which Chen sighed and returned to his monotonous coals jabbing. “So how did he kill it? The beast?” Shao asked, his voice like a small child unwilling to sleep, but Remi had no issue with telling stories.
“He lured the reptile out of its swamp with his best lamb, then struck his sword through the inside of its mouth and outside its skull,” Remi answered laconically, to which Shao raised his eyebrows at the plainness of it. “Sounds like no grand feat,” he responded with a sound of disappointment, to which Remi only sighed and shook his head. “Two dozen of us trudged into that marshland to find that monster, and only four of us came out, it was hardly uneventful,” Remi stated, to which Shao looked interested to hear more, but Chen bluntly interrupted them by erupting a large flame from the fire.
“Save the stories for another night, we still have a fair ride to the Forts which we need our rest for,” Chen stated, tossing his stick in the fire and retreating to his leather pad, to which Remi nodded. “Another time,” Remi assured the young man, lifting himself up and finding his way to bed. The night was warm and open to the night sky, but despite the comfort the Bloodstone Prince’s mind wandered back to that dreadful night in the marsh. He had watched shepherds and farmers armed with mere tools of the land be ripped to shreds, their blood staining the green waters black. It had left him many a sleepless night.
-
A long yawn proceeded the Bloodstone Prince’s manners as they finally approached the First Fort at the reach of noon, a beautiful cloudless day. Shao had already ridden ahead with Jingim to meet with his sister, to which Remi had given no argument, in part being too tired to suggest the group should stick together. Chen Luyen sweet-talked one of the servant girls while Remi and Ming led the group through the small trading town that was dwarfed by the largest of the Five Forts.
The First Fort was a monstrous monument of ancient architecture that was lost to the ages. The fused black stone slabs were larger than a small house, and stacked a thousand feet high to reach the clouds. Yet it was not only one of the five largest constructions known to man, but arguably the most garrisoned series of fortress that stood in all of Essos. Mounted catapults lined the southern walls of the Fort, while ballista turrets were manned on the remaining sides of the Fort. A number of horizontal openings and small hatches left a number of surprises for any foolish enough to march against one of these forts, and there were enough arrow slits to be manned by ten thousand archers.
Along the thousands of levels Remi could spot the small white figures of the Dawn Guard attending to their monotonous duties; the sentinels watching from their posts, the constructors maintaining the ancient integrity of the forts, and the ministers ensuring that the functionality proceeded smoothly. There was a clear envy across most of Essos for the advanced technicality and obedience of the Dawn Guard and their Five Forts, but the Guardians in White could not be bought, nor could they be reasoned with. Thus why I am here, Remi thought hopelessly as he could imagine the sourness on Xiang Wuhan’s face.
Before long, Remi spotted a cavalry of riders in white come flooding out of the Fort, to which they soon surrounded Remi’s party and quickly escorted them to the entrance of the First Fort. Awaiting them at the gigantic entrance stood three familiar figures. Prince Jingim and Shao Wuhan were clearly recognisable faces, but it had been years since their eyes had met, and admittedly they had both been prettier faces back then, yet Remi could not argue that the young Governess-General still harnesses much of her beauty.
Xiang Wuhan stood slightly taller than six feet, her build lean and athletic, and her silky skin a pale white. While she had been just a girl when Remi knew her, she had now developed into a woman that made most men tremble before her, Chen included as Remi observantly noted. Her soft gentle facial features were matched with a hard glare on her deep purple eyes and a small scar that ran horizontally across her left cheek. Her attire was befitting of a governor-general, with steel chainmail that ran from her neck down to her waist, along with a milk steel hard shell that was reached into a tall collar with exquisite engravings.
Remi had always admired the unique armouring choice of the Dawn Guard, as they had mastered a light armouring that was as tough as thick plating, yet as agile as leather. ‘Shelling’ was in essence a manoeuvrable steel frame that coursed that major bones of the body, serving like a metal exoskeleton with a chainmail under layer. Remi had also always admired their unique armoury, to which he found himself gazing at the pair of crescent-shaped blades that rested on her hilt.
Feeling the gaze of dozens of Dawn Guardians on him, Remi awkwardly dismounted his steed and approached the Governess-General, bowing in greeting, to which she responded with a stern nod. “Prince Jidao, I assume you have come to inform me that your sister is uninterested in our dilemma,” Xiang stated laconically in a cold tone, to which Remi awkwardly smiled. “Lovely to see you again as well, Xiang. Mulan has an empire to run now, and that includes attending to more than just some rumours and fables outside the safety of the Five Forts. That is why I have come,” Remi elaborated cockily, receiving a scornful glare from Shao and a widened gaze from Chen.
“Have yourself cleaned up and then come to my office, we have much talking to do, Bloodstone Prince,” Xiang muttered, dismissing herself and beckoning for her personal guard to accompany her. Like an obedient pup, Shao quickly followed after his sister’s footsteps, along with Prince Jingim. “Welcome to the First Fort,” Ming grunted with a chuckle, being the first of their party to follow on, Remi sighing and following after him.
-
The bottom floor of the First Fort was undoubtedly the most widespread of the hundreds of rising levels, with a dozen sparring yards, open kitchens and dining areas that stretched a thousand tables long. The interior of the Fort was well lit with hearths and dangling iron chandeliers as large as black stone slabs that lifted the Forts into the clouds.
Woven baskets of fresh vegetables, rice and various assortments of silks and warm equipment were hoisted by a dozen men from the ground level to a number of levels above. Elaborately forged cages that held a hundred or more persons were lifted by large black stone counterweights to the majority of levels, and those out of reach were ascended to by stone bridges, shifting ladders and retractable staircases.
Remi stared down at this work of art with awe as he leaned over the edge of the lift, watching as all the Guardians in White attended to their mundane duties or spent their time off excelling themselves in whichever domain they chose. Archive collections stretched for miles, where many studying ministers retained day and night, while sentinels were found testing their metal, and constructors maintaining the upkeep of the Fort.
It was a real wonder that the Dawn Guard could consider anything a threat to even one of the Five Forts, but yet he still rode the elevator to the floor that he would be directed to her office. There was certainly an underlying interest, a mystery waiting to be unveiled for such a formidable dormant army to be shaking behind their greatest weapon.
As the cage came to a swift halt, the operator pulled the slider door across, and the escorting minister ushered Remi out. The Bloodstone Prince quickly came to observe that the Dawn Guard operated in a functional and efficient manner, leaving no time to waste, or at least in this case it appeared that way. Everywhere Remi looked he spotted a guardian hard at work, and regardless of their task, they put in the effort as if their very lives depended on it.
The young minister led Remi down a number of halls, and it did not take the Bloodstone Prince long before he found himself disorientated; it began to remind him of the mazes of Lorath. Before long the boy finally came to a stop, knocking his fist against a door before hearing a faint voice within. “Enter.” Obediently, the minister opened the door, ushering Remi into the room before shutting the door behind him and returning to his duties.
Remi quickly analysed his surroundings, finding the main difference of this room compared to the rest of the fort was natural light. A number of maps and scriptures hung from the black walls, along with a single family portrait of the Wuhan family, one which Remi’s gaze did not fall upon too long before turning onto Xiang. The Governess-General stood behind her desk in a plain white blouse, her sleeves rolled up to her elbows and before her a bloody corpse.
“Quite the place you have here,” Remi charmed with a touch of sarcasm, to which Xiang only sneered at him as she examined the body further. “Don’t try to flatter me, Remi, you know how it ended last time,” the Governess-General warned, to which Remi smirked in reminiscence. “We were young then,” Remi remarked, to which Xiang only held a stern glare at the corpse before her. “And some shall remain forever young,” she muttered in finale, stripping the gloves from her hands and throwing them aside.
“Who’s that?” the Bloodstone Prince now asked, to which the Governess-General only sighed. “The youngest son of one of my most experienced sentinels. He was with a search and rescue party looking for his father. This is all that came back of him,” Xiang stated with a sorrowed tone, falling into her chair with apparent exhaustion.
Remi hesitantly approached the corpse, finding himself gazing upon a gory mess. The child could not have been any older than twelve or thirteen, his eyes gauged from their sockets, an arm and both legs torn limb by limb, and the other arm broken severely. His torso had been mauled into, half of his intestines hanging of his opened belly, the rest of his soft pale skin scratched with claw marks. “Gods,” Remi mumbled as he covered his mouth, the sight of the boy reminding him of the incident in Valyria.
“I have lost hope that any of the initial scouting party still live, and after this, I’m certain the search team are gone as well,” Xiang muttered in a tone that almost mirrored hopelessness, yet there was still an audible strength in her voice. “What could have done this?” Remi mumbled in query, to which Xiang only gazed across her office to an adjacent cloaked table. “See for yourself,” Xiang stated, to which Remi gulped.
Reluctantly approaching the table, the Bloodstone Prince grasped the grey silk cloak and unveiled the shrivelled corpse of a vile reptilian creature. Beginning from the tail, the beast would have been at least ten metres in length, with a smooth scaled torso and a neck that that split out like a cobra, dividing into two tail-like ears. “Is this…” Remi mumbled in realisation, the snake-men from the scriptures of myths and legends.
“A Shryker,” Xiang confirmed, arising from her seat and gently touching the boy’s face. “This sentinel had managed to escape the ambush, riding close to one of our outposts, but this Shryker had tracked him before he could reach safety,” Xiang stated, covering the boy with a silk garment, “It took ten sentinels do strike down this beast, and earlier reports suggest that there is a grand army of them converging. I had hoped that they would be warring with the Skorpin’s of Kdath, but I cannot leave the safety of the Dawn Guard and all we stand to protect to hope,” Xiang explained, to which Remi turned his attention back to the wicked creature.
“Xiang, you know the armies of the Dawn are not what they were... A few thousand men cannot stop this,” Remi stated hopelessly, but Xiang shook her head with visible frustration. “Fifty thousand men and women guard the Five Forts. I did not call for the Empress’ charity, I called her to warn her of a threat larger than any of us. Since she sent you I can only hope you can see what she refuses to,” Xiang seethed, now approaching the drying corpse of the Shryker.
“Something big is coming, Remi. I don’t know what it is, but when it comes, we all need to be ready,” Xiang mumbled like some sort of prophecy, to which Remi shook his head clueless. “What is it you want from us, Xiang?” Remi questioned her plainly, to which the girl now glanced at him with a gaze that did not resemble ire or disgust, but forlorn and fear. It was the first time he had ever seen her so afraid.
“I need to know what is coming for us, I need to see it for myself, but that power is out of my reach. I need the blood of an emperor,” Xiang stated, to which Remi furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “The blood of an emperor?” he repeated, to which Xiang sighed and nodded. “The Five Forts was constructed long ago by the Pearl Emperor, and we all know that this did not come to be by hard labour. The direct bloodline of the royal Jidao family is ancient, pure. I tried with Jingim but his bloodline is muddled with distant blood,” Xiang explained, leaving Remi further perplexed.
“Tried what with Jingim?” he queried, beginning to feel quite concerned. “The Monks of the Rising, they fiddle with some sort of blood magic but have the ability to glance at visions of our future, present and past. With the royal bloodline, we could see what exactly it was that prompted the Pearl Emperor to rise the Five Forts, and what we can do to prepare for what he birthed us to do,” Xiang claimed, to which Remi shook his head unsure, to which the woman grasped his forearm.
“Please, Remi, consider this. You and Mulan are of direct ascendance to the Pearl Emperor, it’s either you or her that can do this. If you truly love your sister and do not want to burden her with this, then take the responsibility for not just her, but for all of us. I beg it of you,” Xiang pleaded, causing Remi to frown. As he looked into her desperate dark purple eyes he could see the genuine fear that ran rampant within her.
He did not fully understand the situation at hand here, but he knew from Xiang’s urgency that it was a dire matter, and from what he had seen before him he knew he could not leave this fate to fall onto the Empire. Yet he was no emperor, and such decisions could not fall onto him, but an overwhelming sense of duty screamed at him for neglecting his family for so long by running away. Mulan already had enough on her plate, he had put his name forward to help her with this, what kind of brother would he be to turn tail now?
I'm guessing this is the other pov that you were talking about seeing the monks. Anyways, so far Remi does not seem to be the evil man that murders his sister and usurps the throne. Apparently, this was not always his intentions and they eventually change. I wonder if these monks have anything to do with it. I am interested in them and what their abilities and intentions are. Plus, Remi's sense of adventure and guilt from his past would probably make him seek out these monks.
Also: It was nice to see Chen introduced. I can't wait for when the rest of his family is introduced.
Remi
Night had fallen across the green plains of Yi Ti when the weary royals decided to set up camp. Remi had never been a lackey for his… more servants’ handiwork, having travelled across the world and experienced many different cultures and hardships, pitching a tent was no hardship the Bloodstone Prince. Yet unfortunately this trait was not held amongst some of his fellow companions, who waited impatiently for their porters to unpack and set up their homesteads.
Remi let out a sigh, flashing a short smile to his cousin Jingim, the sentinel sent from the Governess-General of the Five Forts, yet Jingim only held a frown since they had departed from Tiqui. It was not hard to assume his cousin had been disappointed with the result of the current circumstances, given Governess-General Wuhan had requested the soon-to-be Empress’ presence, and not her explorative brother. Yet circumstances as they were, Remi knew that his sister had a lot of stre… [view original content]
Remi
Night had fallen across the green plains of Yi Ti when the weary royals decided to set up camp. Remi had never been a lackey for his… more servants’ handiwork, having travelled across the world and experienced many different cultures and hardships, pitching a tent was no hardship the Bloodstone Prince. Yet unfortunately this trait was not held amongst some of his fellow companions, who waited impatiently for their porters to unpack and set up their homesteads.
Remi let out a sigh, flashing a short smile to his cousin Jingim, the sentinel sent from the Governess-General of the Five Forts, yet Jingim only held a frown since they had departed from Tiqui. It was not hard to assume his cousin had been disappointed with the result of the current circumstances, given Governess-General Wuhan had requested the soon-to-be Empress’ presence, and not her explorative brother. Yet circumstances as they were, Remi knew that his sister had a lot of stre… [view original content]
Remi
Night had fallen across the green plains of Yi Ti when the weary royals decided to set up camp. Remi had never been a lackey for his… more servants’ handiwork, having travelled across the world and experienced many different cultures and hardships, pitching a tent was no hardship the Bloodstone Prince. Yet unfortunately this trait was not held amongst some of his fellow companions, who waited impatiently for their porters to unpack and set up their homesteads.
Remi let out a sigh, flashing a short smile to his cousin Jingim, the sentinel sent from the Governess-General of the Five Forts, yet Jingim only held a frown since they had departed from Tiqui. It was not hard to assume his cousin had been disappointed with the result of the current circumstances, given Governess-General Wuhan had requested the soon-to-be Empress’ presence, and not her explorative brother. Yet circumstances as they were, Remi knew that his sister had a lot of stre… [view original content]
[Go to see the monks] "There is power in the blood of kings". I do wonder what could have made such fearsome creatures like a Shryker converge into an army and try to attack the Forts. I wish we get to know more about this reptiles and how intelligent they truly are. And what are those Skorpins of K'dath?
Remi
Night had fallen across the green plains of Yi Ti when the weary royals decided to set up camp. Remi had never been a lackey for his… more servants’ handiwork, having travelled across the world and experienced many different cultures and hardships, pitching a tent was no hardship the Bloodstone Prince. Yet unfortunately this trait was not held amongst some of his fellow companions, who waited impatiently for their porters to unpack and set up their homesteads.
Remi let out a sigh, flashing a short smile to his cousin Jingim, the sentinel sent from the Governess-General of the Five Forts, yet Jingim only held a frown since they had departed from Tiqui. It was not hard to assume his cousin had been disappointed with the result of the current circumstances, given Governess-General Wuhan had requested the soon-to-be Empress’ presence, and not her explorative brother. Yet circumstances as they were, Remi knew that his sister had a lot of stre… [view original content]
We shall see them later on, but in basic they are an ancient arthropod-man race which delve in dark magic, and have warred with the Shrykers for thousands of years.
[Go to see the monks] "There is power in the blood of kings". I do wonder what could have made such fearsome creatures like a Shryker conver… morege into an army and try to attack the Forts. I wish we get to know more about this reptiles and how intelligent they truly are. And what are those Skorpins of K'dath?
Well the Voting is Closed! Remi will go to see the monks! I was hoping this choice would prevail, it definitely leads to a much more interesting storyline then the alternative, albeit perhaps more dooming. At any rate, I have the next part ready, and it goes to Nithral.
The last time we saw Nithral was in a brief part, but he had decided to align himself with Ugnak and the Jogos Nhai, seeing a future for himself and Vesemir. Unfortunately, Vesemir did not see eye to eye with his beloved friend when Nithral delivered the news, which developed into a heated argument that split them apart. This new part takes place almost a week later from that point.
Remi
Night had fallen across the green plains of Yi Ti when the weary royals decided to set up camp. Remi had never been a lackey for his… more servants’ handiwork, having travelled across the world and experienced many different cultures and hardships, pitching a tent was no hardship the Bloodstone Prince. Yet unfortunately this trait was not held amongst some of his fellow companions, who waited impatiently for their porters to unpack and set up their homesteads.
Remi let out a sigh, flashing a short smile to his cousin Jingim, the sentinel sent from the Governess-General of the Five Forts, yet Jingim only held a frown since they had departed from Tiqui. It was not hard to assume his cousin had been disappointed with the result of the current circumstances, given Governess-General Wuhan had requested the soon-to-be Empress’ presence, and not her explorative brother. Yet circumstances as they were, Remi knew that his sister had a lot of stre… [view original content]
The beating sun of the East unleashed its unbearable heat onto the great grass plains of Jogos Nhai. The great army of the conglomerate war tribes had rode for three days and only came to a halt at the edging forests of the Howling Hills. The Valyrian knight had never seen an army of such size in his life, with leather tents stretching for miles from the forests to the cliff coasts of the Leviathan Sound.
Nithral stood among them as a welcomed outsider, a rank better off than the few other outliers Nithral had learnt of when Ugnak’s tribe aligned itself with the great Overlord Zulu. In total, Nithral had counted the masses to be a hundred thousand strong and able, led by half a dozen jhats and overseen by Zulu, the greatest war chieftain of all the Jogos Nhai.
The Valyrian had isolated himself in the Wailing Woods to get away from the populace, but also to find some time to console with himself. He had always found peace when concealed in the forests, the whispers of the wind and calmness of the trees had always welcomed him. It was a welcomed change compared to the barren green lands of Valyria, Andalos and Jogos Nhai. It reminded him of all his travels, and in turn that troubled him, as it reminded him of Vesemir.
It had been nearing a week since he had parted with his most trusted and closest friend, and he had churned over the state of their farewell ever since. He understood the knighthood that still remained in Ves’ heart, even if they had been stripped of their titles and exiled from their motherland. Nithral had wished he could live by the morals that Ves still upheld, but good nature did not put food in their mouth or accommodate them from weary travels. Coin did, and the way they lived could only ensure a short life. At least Ugnak leaves some promise for a future, Nithral reconciled, but it still left no remedy for the remorse he felt.
At this moment, the six war chieftains would speak with the Overlord of their war plan for the Kingdom of Hyrkoon, but what bemused Nithral was the direction that they rode. Rather than ascending the gradual ridge adjacent to the Ice Mountains or march the Steel Road, they pushed into the open valley of the Howling Hills. Home to peaceful farmers and hunters, Nithral recalled at the time of their stay when they had been refused path along the Steel Road and had decided to traverse the ice peaks of the stone giants. And what a journey that was, Nithral thought with a shiver coursing down his spine.
“Sheep Lord,” a familiar foreign voice called, which Nithral recognised to be the infamous Damien Dardowl, two Jogosi and three chained bodies which were of no acquaintance to him. “I bring…” Damien stumbled on his words, “servants,” he mumbled awkwardly, to which Nithral recognised immediately that the shackled folk in his wake were anything but servants. Slaves, Nithral thought with melancholy, remembering the core of his oath was to uphold the liberty of the people, weak or rich. “I did not call for your slaves, Dardowl,” Nithral muttered, to which Damien frowned.
“Chief Ugnak demands it,” one of the Jogosi explained as best she could, pulling the three slaves into view. “This Sykara and Toro,” Damien introduced in his broken common tongue, pointing at the two Jogos Nhai, evident by their pointed skulls. Nithral gave the man and woman a nod, then turning his gaze to the shackled three beside them, all differing in ethnicity. “And these three?” Nithral queried, to which Sykara smirked.
“These slaves have no name of importance, Sheep Lord,” Sykara retorted, to which the Valyrian scowled at her. He grew tired of the continuous shepherd mockery he had experience wherever he went. “I name for you,” Damien quickly volunteered, standing behind the three slaves.
He first placed his hand on top of the first slave, a taller male with copper skin and wiry black hair that fell to his shoulders. A sullen glare fell upon the soil at Nithral’s feet, and a tension grew in his gaze as Damien laid his hand on him. “Flea Bite. Ghiscari,” Damien announced, then pushing onto the next slave, a pale skinned Alithian with short black hair and a light beard. “Black Goat,” Damien named, then moving onto the last, which he obnoxiously giggled as he cupped his hands over the breasts of the shackled YiTish woman. “Sharp Eyes,” he stated, licking her neck and evoking a chuckle from Sykara.
“They have proved themselves capable warriors, Ugnak gifts them to you,” Toro stated, to which Nithral smiled awkwardly but shook his head. “I can’t accept this,” Nithral tried to state politely, but everything he had ever stood for screamed at him in defiance to take on slaves. He knew he would have to adapt, but there were limits he wished to adhere. Sykara clearly grew impatient with the Valyrian knight. “It would be unwise to refuse Ugnak, you have few friends here, Sheep Lord,” Sykara warned, to which Nithral raised an eyebrow, rising to his feet with the spark of a challenge.
Toro smiled tensely as he restrained Sykara by the forearm. “What she means to say is that our chieftain would be disappointed if you were not to accept this welcoming gift into our tribe,” Toro elaborated peacefully, to which Nithral sighed, eying the slaves with a frown. “So be it,” he muttered, to which Damien let out a sigh of relief. “Good! Put Goat and Flea Bite to work while you fuck girl,” Damien grinned, tossing Nithral the keys to their chains which the Valyrian knight awkwardly caught.
“Ugnak will send one of his servants to retrieve you when the war council has concluded. Until then,” Toro farewelled, lifting his chin in to Nithral in sign of respect. Nithral reluctantly did the same, taking hold of the chains that Sykara forced into his hands before watching the three of them leave.
There was a look of unsureness on each pair of eyes that watched their new master. Nithral was not like the rest of the Jogos Nhai, for both clear reasons and less so. The Valyrian knight eyed his three slaves with a studious gaze, yet he knew no amount of examination would learn the stories of each of these three from first sight.
He felt agitation when he looked at the Ghiscari slave, for so much tension had risen in Valyria due to the scheming Ghiscari Empire. He felt unsettled when his gaze locked with the Alithian, whose glare held not only scorn, but something much darker and malicious. Finally, Nithral’s gaze wandered onto Sharp Eyes, of whom avoided his gaze altogether. She was oddly alluring to Nithral’s surprise, despite her greasy knotted hair and dirty face. We all are, Nithral acknowledge as he then looked to his own filthy hands.
“If you are going to do as that half-wit instructed, then get it over with,” the girl spat, lifting her leather skirt with a reluctant invitation. It was clear she had experienced a lot of harassment amongst the Jogos Nhai. Nithral only frowned, looking at the cuts and bruises that coursed up her thighs and abdominals, before shaking his head. “No,” he muttered, knowing full well all of this was wrong. “I do not hold the whip,” he reminded himself, letting the linked iron rings slip from his fingers.
“You sure you want to do that, Chief?” the Alithian warned, a malice look on his dark eyes lifting in sync with the corner of his lip. Nithal only glared at him, freeing the keys from his pocket and flinging them to the Black Goat. “Try me,” Nithral challenged weakly, returning to his seat against the tall pine. Sharp Eyes dropped her skirt in visual confusion, while Flea Bite’s gaze watched Nithral for trickery. Nithral knew there was none.
“We could kill you,” Flea Bite stated, his eyes scouting around him as if he expected to be surrounded by that threat. “We will kill you,” the Black Goat remarked, unshackling his wrists and neck. He dropped the key by his feet and took hold of his chains as a shield. Flea Bite tried to hold him back, but was restricted by his own irons, leaving the Alithian unchallenged against his Valyrian master.
“If you are going to kill me, you will need a better weapon than that,” Nithral stated, reluctantly rising from his comfort to unsheathe his two blades. A longsword of Andal steel rested in the palm of his right hand, a gift from Loren Nightstar, Vesemir’s father, and arguably a father to Nithral as well. Nithral had not parted with this sword in all the years it had been in his service, joining him in great feats and defending the honour and lives of those around him. In his left hand was the war blade of Jhat Ugnak, a brutish weapon but also a gift from a man that Nithral had come to respect. He was less familiar with the swords of the Jogos Nhai, but he was an excellent swordsman, and if he was truly going to be a part of this tribe then he would have to learn their ways.
[Throw Ugnak’s blade to the Black Goat] [Throw Loren’s blade to the Black Goat]
Fighting with an unfamiliar blade in a potential life or death situation would probably not be smart. He can learn how to wield Ugnak's blade when he trains with it later.
Nithral
The beating sun of the East unleashed its unbearable heat onto the great grass plains of Jogos Nhai. The great army of the conglo… moremerate war tribes had rode for three days and only came to a halt at the edging forests of the Howling Hills. The Valyrian knight had never seen an army of such size in his life, with leather tents stretching for miles from the forests to the cliff coasts of the Leviathan Sound.
Nithral stood among them as a welcomed outsider, a rank better off than the few other outliers Nithral had learnt of when Ugnak’s tribe aligned itself with the great Overlord Zulu. In total, Nithral had counted the masses to be a hundred thousand strong and able, led by half a dozen jhats and overseen by Zulu, the greatest war chieftain of all the Jogos Nhai.
The Valyrian had isolated himself in the Wailing Woods to get away from the populace, but also to find some time to console with himself. He had always found peace when… [view original content]
Nithral
The beating sun of the East unleashed its unbearable heat onto the great grass plains of Jogos Nhai. The great army of the conglo… moremerate war tribes had rode for three days and only came to a halt at the edging forests of the Howling Hills. The Valyrian knight had never seen an army of such size in his life, with leather tents stretching for miles from the forests to the cliff coasts of the Leviathan Sound.
Nithral stood among them as a welcomed outsider, a rank better off than the few other outliers Nithral had learnt of when Ugnak’s tribe aligned itself with the great Overlord Zulu. In total, Nithral had counted the masses to be a hundred thousand strong and able, led by half a dozen jhats and overseen by Zulu, the greatest war chieftain of all the Jogos Nhai.
The Valyrian had isolated himself in the Wailing Woods to get away from the populace, but also to find some time to console with himself. He had always found peace when… [view original content]
Hmmmm, I missed the last part, apologies. Though it was a really interesting one. The choice for Remi as the new PoV kinda surprises me, but I am certain he'll have one hell of an interesting storyline ahead. That being said, either he will change drastically (potentially through the influence of these mysterious monks?), or he is actually not whom we might think he is. Because he seems like a generally alright guy, I have considered the possibility that he is a red herring and not actually the bad guy here. It has been a while since he has last appeared, but if I am not mistaken, there is also a bastard brother to Mulan and Remi. What if he's actually going to end up killing her? That might be less likely, but with what you have shown of Remi so far, there is just enough stuff speaking in his favour to give him the benefit of the doubt.
[Throw Ugnak’s blade to the Black Goat]
Aye, I agree with what Tales has said. In this situation, it'll be for the best to not take any risks here. Better use the sword he is used to, that's what any good swordsman would do in his situation. Sure, he must learn the ways of the Jogos Nhai, but that is exactly the thing, he must learn them, not rush into advanced stuff without knowing the basics.
Nithral
The beating sun of the East unleashed its unbearable heat onto the great grass plains of Jogos Nhai. The great army of the conglo… moremerate war tribes had rode for three days and only came to a halt at the edging forests of the Howling Hills. The Valyrian knight had never seen an army of such size in his life, with leather tents stretching for miles from the forests to the cliff coasts of the Leviathan Sound.
Nithral stood among them as a welcomed outsider, a rank better off than the few other outliers Nithral had learnt of when Ugnak’s tribe aligned itself with the great Overlord Zulu. In total, Nithral had counted the masses to be a hundred thousand strong and able, led by half a dozen jhats and overseen by Zulu, the greatest war chieftain of all the Jogos Nhai.
The Valyrian had isolated himself in the Wailing Woods to get away from the populace, but also to find some time to console with himself. He had always found peace when… [view original content]
Nithral
The beating sun of the East unleashed its unbearable heat onto the great grass plains of Jogos Nhai. The great army of the conglo… moremerate war tribes had rode for three days and only came to a halt at the edging forests of the Howling Hills. The Valyrian knight had never seen an army of such size in his life, with leather tents stretching for miles from the forests to the cliff coasts of the Leviathan Sound.
Nithral stood among them as a welcomed outsider, a rank better off than the few other outliers Nithral had learnt of when Ugnak’s tribe aligned itself with the great Overlord Zulu. In total, Nithral had counted the masses to be a hundred thousand strong and able, led by half a dozen jhats and overseen by Zulu, the greatest war chieftain of all the Jogos Nhai.
The Valyrian had isolated himself in the Wailing Woods to get away from the populace, but also to find some time to console with himself. He had always found peace when… [view original content]
Nithral
The beating sun of the East unleashed its unbearable heat onto the great grass plains of Jogos Nhai. The great army of the conglo… moremerate war tribes had rode for three days and only came to a halt at the edging forests of the Howling Hills. The Valyrian knight had never seen an army of such size in his life, with leather tents stretching for miles from the forests to the cliff coasts of the Leviathan Sound.
Nithral stood among them as a welcomed outsider, a rank better off than the few other outliers Nithral had learnt of when Ugnak’s tribe aligned itself with the great Overlord Zulu. In total, Nithral had counted the masses to be a hundred thousand strong and able, led by half a dozen jhats and overseen by Zulu, the greatest war chieftain of all the Jogos Nhai.
The Valyrian had isolated himself in the Wailing Woods to get away from the populace, but also to find some time to console with himself. He had always found peace when… [view original content]
Comments
[Remain in the Temple]
Honestly, I don't like it in this temple. The whole atmosphere is creepy, Saetrus is creepy, the entire faith of R'hllor is creepy as hell and it says a lot about how little I trust them that I honestly consider leaving the temple, but if there is one thing more unsettling than these priests and their talk about prophecies, then it is the thought of facing the greyscale zombies outside of the temple. Because creepy they might be, but I actually trust the Red Priests with giving at least some sort of protection to the ones inside the walls of their temple.
Alright, it's about time I close this vote! Eldric will remain in the temple! Personally, I think this is definitely the more interesting alternative, and will definitely open for a very interesting new plot that will soon unravel for our mysterious blacksmith. However we will find out more on that later!
I do apologise for waiting to close the vote for quite some time, the next part has been ready for about a week now, I was just hoping that all could vote before I post it, and I guess I lost track of the time with everything happening at uni
I've also removed the 'new' from the title of WN, as I've just noticed that this story has been running for a year! It feels like it's gone nowhere since then, but I hope to have this chapter done soon 
So without further commentary, I do have the next part ready as I mentioned. It introduces a new character, and one that is a part of the faction I've longed waited to introduce: the Dawn Guard. The PoV goes to Cai Xiang, a young boy of eighteen who finds himself deployed in the Shadowlands with the task of finding a cure for the Grey Plague. His story begins in the dark temple city of Stygai, a new location in the story
Cai
The light of day lasted only three quarters of an hour, passing over Eastern Ranges of the Morn and nigh immediately being consumed by the shadow that loomed over the Western Ranges of the Morn. Stygai was a cursed place, yet one which was greatly pious. The Way of the Rising resided in the temple-city of Stygai, and the grand temple, dwarfing the Temple of R’hllor in Asshai, became known as the Sanctuary by all the fleeing commoners of the City by the Shadow.
Cai Xiang had worked tirelessly day and night, just like all the other medical officers deployed to this region by the Forts, but being directly trained under a Fort doctor placed him as the head practitioner of the platoon. The Ash Fort had deployed five hundred sentinels and ministers to tackle the threat of the Grey Plague, a figure of which had dropped below half only in their first few months of placement.
The apprentice doctor dipped his hands in the washing basin, rubbing at the blood that had stained into his skin, leaving its mark. It had almost seemed pointless now to bathe from the operations of the infected, as for each time they washed, it seemed they spent twice as much time being drenched in blood from amputations and lesions.
During their five months of deployment in this black city, all they had discovered was a way to stop the plague from spreading to others, something of which Captain Shang had ordered the medical staff and sentinels to gain priority over the victims. Regardless, it felt hopeless. Day and night more than two dozen highly proficient ministers scoured the ancient libraries of the Rising Temple for a cure, and for a consistent five months they had found nothing. It had been Cai who had discovered a method of hindering the plague from infecting others, but it was only a temporary result. Better than nothing, I suppose.
Glaring at his reflection in the water, he wondered for how long he could drown out the screams of agony before his lungs demanded air, and then whether he would be craven enough to obey them. It was no secret that the men and women of the Dawn Guard saw this placement as a curse, but by their oath, it was their duty to help them. We are the Guardians of the Living, the Saviours of the People, Cai repeated to himself, and yet those words had seemed to have lost all meaning with his time here. They could save no one, and had only enacted their purpose as the bringers of death. Fewer come to seek our aid.
He barely recognised the man that stared back at him in his reflection. He had only truly entered manhood, but his role had appeared to rub some years from his young complexion. The dark bags were heavy under his almond shaped eyes, indicating his YiTish blood, but there was no denying his dark brown eyes were his mother’s. Similarly, his dark amber skin tone was a dead give-away of his mixed blood, with his mother having initially came from the Ghiscari Empire. However unlike his brother, Cai had been considered more of a YiTish than a Ghiscari, perhaps more in favour of his looks, but also in his attitude.
His once short hair had grown to almost reaching his shoulders, now greasy and wet, left with knots and clumps with were hardly presentable. Similarly, he had started to grow a light beard, which was untidy and neglected. While he was in shape, Cai felt was hardly the warrior that his brother had been fashioned as, and nor did he ever aspire to be. Yet this tiring work had left him weak and exhausted, if not physically then mentally.
As mandatory, the Time of Light was the only session where all Dawn Guard personnel, unless of guard duty or patrol, could rest for the duration of the sunlight. It was hardly a fair break given the hours they worked day and night, but it was a break in its own right, and none would complain at its arrival. With its departure, however, came another story.
Reluctantly, Cai grabbed his white robe from the wooden table and donned it. As fit of the Dawn Guard, ministers wore robes, and sentinels had their armour. The robe was a plain white, the colour of the Dawn Guard, with a silver sash around his waist that had white doves embroidered on the silk. The large drooped sleeves had always been an impracticality that Cai had highlighted to his betters, but none had waivered from ancient tradition. Knowing they’d only stain with blood, he would roll them up to his forearm.
Slipping on his sandals, Cai would then return to the medical tent, where the victims of the Grey Plague were hosted, all with varying degrees of greyscale. Cai had been assigned a client, a young Ghiscari refugee who had come to them when the Dawn Guard had arrived at the Sanctuary, and during this entire time Cai had felt unable to treat him. When the adolescent came, only his hand had been completely lost to the greyscale, and amputation was considered. Now, Cai hardly recognised the boy, who was more stone-flesh than skin, and in a few more weeks, he would become rabid.
The boy was tied down to his bed, partly self-decided, to ensure that he could not spread his disease. Knowing that he was on the border of losing himself, Cai had come to accept his defeat, and now looked to comfort the child in his final moments. Pulling a stool by his bed, Cai sat himself down and examined the spreading infection, which had taken the adolescent’s vision, and spread past his torso down his thighs. Cai swallowed the lump in his throat, wiping his brow as he cleared his throat.
“How are you feeling, Nokar?” Cai asked softly, to which the boy aimlessly glared at the ceiling of the tent in silence. A frown fell on the young doctor’s face, as he let out a sigh and ran his hands through his hair. “Is there any recovery in your sight?” Cai persisted, to which Nokar only grunted. “You must speak to me, Nok, I need to know if you’re still there,” Cai stated, to which the boy remained his blind glare at the tent ceiling.
“I should have just took my arm off when I had the chance,” he muttered, and Cai noticed the boy’s hands clenching into fists under their leather constraints. “I left Asshai because of the Red priests and their madness,” Nokar stated coldly, his milky grey eyes now falling in Cai’s general direction. “I would have taken the fire had I known the Dawn Guard would let me become… this,” Nokar mumbled, and Cai could see the pus infected tears seeping from his eyes.
“Nokar, I am so sorry,” Cai tried to apologised, but the adolescent’s mood immediately became hostile, and were it not for the restraints, Cai swore the boy would have leapt at him. “You did this to me!” he roared, chafing his scaled skin against the tight bounds around his ankles and wrists. This time Cai couldn’t swallow the lump in his throat, it choked him, leaving him gasping for air as he fell silent. “You did this! You did!” the boy screamed, grabbing the attention of other medical staff and some guards.
“Doctor Xiang…” a soft voice whispered, placing their soft hand on his shoulder. “It’s time,” she mumbled, to which Cai looked up to her with teary eyes. Even after acknowledging he had failed, he couldn’t accept that he had lost this boy. The months he had spent with him, learning of his past with the Ghiscari Empire, why he fled, how he came to find a new life in the East. Now the child was hardly a shadow of his former self, not even recognisable, and Cai knew it was his duty not to get attached… Yet with this boy being his first client, it broke his heart.
“I will have him taken outside,” Xina suggsted, but Cai immediately shook his head and grasped her hand on his shoulder. “No,” he mumbled, the word barely escaping his croaky voice. “He is my responsibility,” he added, to which the fellow medic glanced at him with saddened eyes before nodding. “As you say, Doctor,” she acknowledged, unsheathing a dagger and placing it on the desk beside Cai. As she took her leave, the guards hesitantly returned to their posts, and Cai glanced at the blade before reluctantly taking it into his hands.
“I’m so sorry,” he whispered, before plunging the blade into the boy’s chest, puncturing his heart and ceasing his movement almost instantly. His last breath was the hardest thing for Cai to watch, and the tears flowed freely down the doctor’s cheeks as he broke down in front of the boy’s lifeless body.
It took Cai a moment to regain his composure, the thoughts of his responsibilities and authority being an overweighing burden, but one which he had to find his strength from. He knew others looked to him, despite his young age, being practically the head of operations here.
“Doctor Xiang,” a voice called, to which Cai wiped away the tears from his eyes to meet the gaze of the friendly sentinel that shared his birth name. Kai Thonu, Cai recognised as he arose from the deathbed of his client and turned to meet the young sentinel. Kai was a friendly and honest man, in his early twenties, and had become a close friend of Cai’s shortly after his the training doctor had been transferred from the Marsh Fort to the Ash Fort.
While admittedly their namesake brought them together as friends, it was not solely this similarity which brought each other to their attention. Rather, it was a mess hall fight meant for Kai Thonu and his sentinels, but the newly appointed medical officer was unaware of another guardian that had his name, and ended up engaging in an unfair fight that brought him to meet the young sentinel.
“Kai Thonu,” Cai greeted with a relieved tone, embracing the armoured man as he approached. Kai was a short man, with short dark brown hair and azure blue eyes. As typical of the Dawn Guard sentinels, he was clad head-to-toe in pale steel, with chainmail guarding the joints. “How are you, brother?” Kai genuinely queried, to which Cai Xiang could not help but glance at Nokar’s body. A concerned frown fell upon Kai Thonu’s face, as he put an arm around the young doctor and led him out of the tent.
“It’s good to see you’re well,” Cai examined with a wavering tone, his attempts to take his mind off his client were difficult, it tormented his thoughts and bared heavy on his conscience. Kai Thonu nodded, however a stern expression coated his usual warm smile. “The situation out there grows grimmer by each day,” Kai stated hopelessly as they walked passed injured sentinels and the monks of the Rising that attended to them.
“When we first arrived here, many would come to us when they saw us on patrol, beg us to help them, and now…” Kai let out a heavy sigh, running a hand through his wet greasy hair. “Now they either avoid us or riot against us, like we’re as vile as those withdrawn fire priests in Asshai,” Kai Thonu mumbled with a tone that mirrored apathy and sorrow, to which Cai brought him to a halt a placed a hand on his friend’s cheek.
“I know it seems hopeless, but we have to remain strong, even if it’s only an act. The moment we look to have given up is the moment we lose everything, and all our progress here will have been for nothing,” Cai stated with some hope, he knew that courage was needed to spur the Guardians on, even if it was false courage. A small smirk formed on Kai’s lips, making him roll his eyes.
“Look at you, a bright little optimist, the embodiment of everything the Dawn Guard stands for,” Kai mocked, punching Cai Xiang lightly on the arm, still enough to sting with his armoured gauntlets. “The Dawn Guard is our life,” Cai reminded his friend, to which Kai Thonu chuckled lightly to himself. “Yes, and I have no regrets taking that oath. With all the great things we have done I know how important our role in the Empire is, I just feel like we struggle to meet the expectations that were written by our ancestors,” Kai Thonu admitted, to which Cai let out a sigh and wrapped his arm around Kai’s shoulder.
“I’m sure they felt the same way in their time,” Cai reflected, and the two began to walk again. They made their way atop the grand walls of the Temple, climbing the southern belltower where they would overlook the City of the Night, the raging current of the Ash, and the endless plains of Ghost Grass that dimly illuminated the haunted Shadowlands beyond. Many a night they had sought refuge from the moans of the ill and injured atop the belltower, and found a sense of tranquillity that they could meditate with.
Other times they had simply found time to talk without the interruptions of all the demands upon them, similarly to when they would walk atop the Ash Fort at the peak of the night. “I noticed Xina Ren leave the medical tent quite distraught when I approached,” Kai stated, to which Cai Xiang raised an eyebrow in response. “She is quite infatuated with you, brother, I don’t understand why you turn away such a beautiful young woman like yourself,” Kai Thonu teased with mockery, making Cai roll his eyes.
“You know I have too much on my hands right now to even consider a relationship,” Cai stated plainly, to which Thonu just let out a frustrated sigh. “You’re going to die alone if you keep using that line,” Kai claimed, to which Cai Xiang chuckled to himself. “You planning on abandoning me too?” the young doctor challenged, to which Kai Thonu shrugged his shoulders.
“The life of a sentinel is a dangerous one,” Kai suggested, earning him a kick in the side as he had always received for such remarks. “You always come back, don’t give me that shit,” Cai muttered with a smirk, evoking a laugh from the sentinel. “Mm, that I do,” he acknowledged with a cocky tone, which was followed with silence for a drowning moment, yet neither seemed to mind too much.
“Still, don’t shut Xina out, I’m serious,” Kai Thonu stated in an almost pleading tone, and when Cai glanced at his friend he noticed the solemn look in his blue eyes. Cai grinned awkwardly and lifted his hands in submission. “Fine, I won’t,” the young doctor stated, to which his friend only glared at him harder, “I swear!” Cai added in chuckle, to which Kai Thonu only rolled his eyes.
“I worry for you sometimes,” Kai stated aimlessly as he laid back and rested his head, shutting his eyes. Cai Xiang let his legs dangle off the side of the tower, still staring out into the night lands with awe of her mystique. “Leave the worrying for me,” Cai mumbled from his trance, only evoking a scoff and shake of the head of the tired friend.
“Cai?” a voice yelled, ascending the steps at a rapid pace, to which both Cai Xiang and Kai Thonu shot to their feet in response. The two men gathered their equipment as a familiar face reached the top of a tower, stopping momentarily as he noticed the two men donning their gear with haste. “Am I interrupting something, gentlemen?” The dutiful and concerned expression on the honourable sentinel made Cai furrow his eyebrows before his eyes widened in realisation to what the man was insinuating.
“Shut your mouth, Mamoru,” Kai chastised, to which the older sentinel let out a small chuckle before his solemn expression returned. “We have a situation, Captain Shang has called for you,” Mamoru stated, now looking at Cai Xiang. The young doctor raised an eyebrow as to what would have been so important for Shang to summon him, but he figured he would be better to ask that question to the man himself. “Lead the way,” Cai encouraged, to which Mamoru nodded, returning down the spiral staircase. Cai glanced momentarily at his friend, who only shrugged in response, then ushering the doctor to follow in suit.
-
A crowd of Guardians had mobbed in the courtyard, all their gazes focused on something in the centre of the yard. Mamoru Sozui pushed through the crowd, Cai Xiang and Kai Thonu following closely behind until they reached the front of the mob, where the objects of attention came into view.
Two bodies, both dressed in gowns of white, which Cai immediately recognised to be pupils of his, lay before them on the ground. However that was all he could recognise of them, of what was left of them. Their bodies were completely defiled, with their eyes gauged out, teeth missing, bones broken and bodies bled dry. It looked as if they had been festering for weeks, yet Cai recalled he had only convened with one of them a few days ago.
Above their bodies stood Captain Shang, the head of operations in Stygai, with a stern look pinned on the corpses at his feet. He lifted his glare to Cai Xiang as he spotted the young doctor emerge from the crowd, summoning him forward with a single wave of his hand. Shang had earned the obedience of those under him through his sheer tactics on the battlefield, and strict laws that had kept so many sentinels alive beyond the Forts.
Cai felt a lump lodge in his throat as he left the company of Kai Thonu and Mamoru Sozui, stepping into the light of the stage, gaining the attention of every Guardian who could see. “These men were under your charge, Xiang,” Shang stated plainly, to which Cai nodded in confirmation, glancing at their lifeless devoured bodies. “Yes Captain,” Cai mumbled, to which Shang let out a frustrated groan.
“Then why did my men find these two hanging by their ankles outside our gates?” Shang grumbled, demanding an answer, to which Cai could only shake his head with as much clue as his commanding officer. Shang let out a groan and dismissed him with a flick of a hand, turning his gaze to the surrounding Guardians.
“For those of you growing complacent, weary or distraught, look upon the fate of your brothers. We are not here for leisure, and we are not here with allies! Those who disobey my orders and leave this compound without a guard had best choose to fall on their sword, as you will receive a grimmer fate than our friends here,” the captain warned, then turning his glare on Cai. “Take these two into quarantine and examine them. I want answers, Xiang,” the captain grumbled, then exiting the crowd which quickly moved aside for him.
Cai Xiang gulped as he gaze lowered to the desecrated corpses by his side, only briefly relieved as Kai Thonu and Mamoru came to his side and assisted him with moving the bodies. Slowly the crowd dissipated, returning to their duties, while Cai was left alone in the middle of the courtyard.
Crumbling to his knees, the boy didn’t know whether to cry or scream, a kettle of emotions boiled up within him. Living in the shadow of the notorious Captain Shang was stressful enough, but having the role of the head forward doctor on site was another which burdened him, and seeing only chaos and death hinder their progress left him in dismay. Cai dug his hands into the ash-like soil, tensing his hands and glaring aimlessly ahead of him as his body went into lockdown.
It was only in the corner of his gaze that he spotted a figure approaching him, however he was too careless to avert his gaze from the nothingness ahead of him to inquire who it was. They were donned in a heavy grey gown, draping half a metre in their wake and with drooping sleeves that put Cai’s to shame.
“Time wastes as you dwell, Cai Xiang,” the voice spoke, a tone which was distant and obscure, an accent which was unfamiliar and daunting to the ears. “Leave me alone,” Cai muttered under his breath, hardly audible even to himself, but the hooded figure only shook its head. “You seek answers, and a post-mortem will only tell you so much,” the being stated, extending their milky white hand forward and lifting the boy’s chin up.
Cai found himself glancing upon one of the Monks of the Rising, and worse yet, talking to one. Shang had formed strict rules to not communicate with the monks of the temple, being folk of dark arts, toying with necromancy and shadow binding. It was forbidden to set foot in the Temple of the Rising, and any who dared approach it would face a deathly punishment, something which Shang assured was more of a blessing than the cursed matters that roamed within the dark temple.
“Come with me, we will set you on the right path,” the monk assured him, extending an open hand before him. Like the rest of his body, his dry skin was a pale white, resembling a milky tone. None of the Stygai’i had hair from what Cai had observed, and all had eyes as black as the night, like an enlarged pupil that consumed all light. “Who are you?” Cai mumbled, awkwardly looking around him from fear that a Guardian might be watching.
The monk shook his head, grasping his forearms under his sleeves. “We are nameless,” the monk explained, to which Cai furrowed his eyebrows. “What do you want?” Cai mumbled, to which again the monk shook his head. “We want for nothing. It is you which desires the secrets we hold within the Temple,” the monk stated, making Cai raise an eyebrow with curiosity.
“What secrets?” Cai queried, to which a small smile touched the monks painted gray lips. “The powers to give or take life, the knowledge to raise buildings that break through the clouds, the cure to eradicate all illnesses,” the monk claimed, to which Cai couldn’t help but roll his eyes in disbelief. “If you could cure all illnesses, why let your people become overwhelmed by the Grey Plague? Why let them become sick and rabid?” Cai challenged, to which the monk maintained an expressionless face.
“We do not meddle with the will of the Shadow, we seek only to maintain the cycle,” the monk elaborated, only leaving Cai further perplexed. “The Shadow? What cycle?” Cai queried with confusion, to which the monk again extended his hand out to the young doctor. “All things have a beginning and an end. Come, let us show you,” the monk stated, to which Cai found himself staring at the milky white hand of the Stygai’i again.
A great temptation resided within him to accept his offer, to enter the temple and learn these secrets, yet he knew that would be breaking a direct order, and that punishment was a permanent one. It was the duty of the Dawn Guard to repel the darkness, not work with it, yet now Cai found himself conflicted. How many more months would they spend searching for a cure if Cai did not accept? How many more would die? The thought terrified him, yet alternatively the prospect of breaking his oath was equally as damning.
[Accept the monk’s offer] [Deny the monk’s offer]
[Accept the monk's offer]
[Deny the monk’s offer]
This seems very dangerous.
Anyways, I'm surprised Cai is a pov character! I did not expect this, but I'm glad he gets his own storyline. I'm excited to see how his story unfolds.
I guess no other votes are coming in for this one, which leaves this at a tie. @Tales-from-Telltale , as Cai is your character I will let you decide whether you would like to stick with your vote or change it.
I apologise for being relatively inactive these last couple of weeks, I've been head over heels with work and university, and I'm afraid it only gets worse for the next three to four weeks. Fortunately I have managed to get the next part ready, but it is only a small bit, and it goes to Dickon.
The last time we saw Dickon Stark he had decided to reveal his story to Prince Rhaedon, the Qaathi who had purchased him and Remmo, a Dothraki renegade. After this, Rhaedon revealed they would be travelling to Asshai by Dusk, and that Dickon should gear up. Donning his equipment, Dickon noticed a relatively easy way for escape, but you guys decided it'd be better for him to not risk it. This part takes place a few days after then, aboard a slaving vessel bound for Asshai.
Dickon
Once again the Wolf of the West found himself victim to a slaver vessel, powered by the waning strength of a hundred rowers under the influence of a dozen lashes. Yet to Dickon’s relief he was not amongst them, but rather alone at the bow of the ship like a passenger, yet he would not let his false sense of freedom mislead his judgement. He was still a slave, just with a different purpose, and that he did not know sparked fear into him.
Dickon glared at the borderline of the Jade Sea and the opening to the proclaimed Saffron Straits, where the water lost all sign of life and mirrored the erupted darkness of the choking sky above. It was as if they sailed in to the jaws of the death, shrouded by a world of black that consumed all light and life. A raging war between the life of the Jade Sea and the corruption of the black waters left the lone vessel victim to the elements, but Dickon had no trouble holding his ground as he peered over the side.
Waves as tall as the giants that had been forced further North swamped the ship, and Dickon watched as the slave crew hold onto the barricades and lines for dear life, and as the cravens threw themselves overboard, meeting a swift end either from the overwhelming strength of the battle or the talented slave archers in their master’s service. The West Wolf’s hard glare met with the mystique Prince of the Thirteen, who stood surrounded by his personal Ghiscari guard at the main mast of the ship.
The Prince yelled to his guards in discussion, but their voices were drowned out by the clash of water and thunder that sprawled chains of lightning above the darkened sky. Only one voice boomed loud enough to be heard, one shuddering roar that had never ceased through the duration of this trip, a strength that Dickon even considered to be a near match for his own if he were without the blood of the First Men.
The West Wolf peered over the side again, looking to the prow where the disobedient Dothraki was tied to the prow of the ship, swamped by the clashing waves and immersed in the cool ocean waters. Where Dickon had considered the idea of escape before their departure, Remmo had taken that plan a step further and enacted it, massacring house servants and guards before being overwhelmed by a number of Prince Rhaedon’s personal slave army. It had surprised Dickon that the prince had not simply ended him just there, perhaps the fool truly believed he could break the Dothraki into submission, but still after a week of no food or water, other than the salt that flooded his lungs, he still roared with a mighty anger that echoed over the seas.
Dickon admittedly admired the beast’s persistence to live, it was this same will to survive which had kept Dickon alive for so long while in Essos, and even then he had wondered what that point was. He had been cursed with his random visions, and the promising riches of the Further East began to feel more like a nightmare than a prophecy. Yet Dickon was descendant from essentially First Men godhood, and if a mere savage could find the strength to survive the torments that were thrown at him, there was no excuse for this bastard to lose hope.
The Wolf of the West pushed himself away from the barrier and approached the Prince of the Thirteen, immediately gaining the attention of Captain Hanse and his guards, who struggled to keep their footing as they entered a defensive stance. Dickon was in his element, he had both the strength and capability to tackle Rhaedon’s personal guard with little resistance, and yet he still felt hesitance. His glare fell upon Prince Rhaedon, and he felt weak as their gazes locked, like an omniscient power loomed over him, like he was confronting his father again.
Rhaedon lifted his hand to stand down his weary soldiers, who reluctantly dropped their guard and retreated to the safety of the hull, leaving Dickon with Rhaedon and the obedient Captain Hanse. “We will arrive by nightfall, I hope my Stallion and Wolf are prepared,” Rhaedon stated, to which Dickon couldn’t help but scoff in remark. “Your horse drowns and your dog envies him,” the West Wolf spat, to which Rhaedon smirked, turning to Hanse and nodding, to which the three then retreated into the prince’s cabin.
A dim lantern swung from side to side as each wave crashed into the side of the ship, and Rhaedon found his seat in his bed, as his desk and chair had flipped and slid from one end of the cabin to another. “Do you know the situation in Asshai currently, Stark?” Rhaedon queried, to which Dickon snarled. “Don’t call me that,” he muttered, inflicted a backhand to his cheek from the unamused Captain Hanse. “My Prince shall call you what he likes slave, now answer the question!” he spat, causing Dickon to smirk with a malice look in his eyes.
“I’ve heard the rumours,” Dickon muttered in laconic response, to which Rhaedon sighed and nodded. “The Shadowlands are cursed with the Grey Plague, and as sorrowful as that is, it has left an opening for business,” Rhaedon explained, to which Dickon only rolled his eyes. “Why am I not surprised?” the Wolf in the West questioned mockingly, to which the Prince of the Thirteen flashed a small smile. “Asshai is the golden jewel of economy in all the Further East, one which many fear to venture to with this epidemic, and others fail to cease with their novice attempts. I am neither a coward nor an amateur, and so I will claim what no one else can,” Rhaedon stated, to which Dickon only raised an eyebrow.
“So where do I fit into this grand scheme of yours?” Dickon muttered, to which a smirk spread across the prince’s lips. “You, along with my Stallion, will be my enforcers. There are still powers in Asshai that would oppose me, despite the chaos that runs amuck there, and those figures either need to bend to my will or be put down,” Rhaedon stated, to which Dickon snorted and rolled his eyes. What did I expect? He thought to himself as if he expected this slaver to be any different to the last, yet he couldn’t help but feel there was something different about Rhaedon, and that he couldn’t pick it only left him less sure of himself.
“Soon we will dock at Asshai, and I will have my errands to run while you and my Stallion begin your work,” Rhaedon claimed nonchalantly, to which Dickon raised an eyebrow. “Work being?” Dickon hesitantly prompted in anticipation, to which Rhaedon smiled and clasped his hands. “Within Asshai there are a number of crime syndicates which have risen to power with the escalation of the Grey Plague; the largest being the Kings, a mob of infected thieves, rapists and murderers who mug and slaughter the few remaining royals and merchants of Asshai. Their efforts cannot be allowed to continue,” Rhaedon plainly stated, to which Dickon held his silence.
“Alternatively, there is a potential ally that my spies have informed me still resides in Asshai, yet he is a fickle and paranoid rat that I’m afraid I cannot get near,” Rhaedon mumbled in a tone which resembled some humility, lifting a smirk on Dickon’s lips. “That must irk you, great Prince,” Dickon mocked, to which his lapdog pushed the tip of his spear against Dickon’s throat in warning. “Naturally,” Rhaedon muttered in agreeance, arising from his bed.
“This merchant’s name is Lyser, and he is a councillor for the Howling Company, a rather revered loaning company in Essos. Their infamous leader, Raquest, has his quarrels with me, and refuses to open in deal with me. I doubt his lackey will be any more cooperative, but I believe his capture could make for a reasonable bargaining chip to beckon an audience,” Rhaedon stated in ploy, to which Dickon only sighed in a loss of interest.
“So where shall I be? Lopping the head off a king or shackling the wrists of a mouse?” Dickon queried, to which Rhaedon smiled, placing a hand on Dickon’s shoulder. “I leave that for you to decide, my Wolf. I’m sure the Stallion is weary, but he will prove his worth wherever you choose not to go,” Rhaedon stated, to which Dickon reluctantly nodded in understanding. “So tell me, West Wolf, where will I send you?”
[Go after the Kings] [Go after Lyser]
[Go after the kings]
[Go after Lyser] I don't know why I didn't vote in the previous chapter, but here it is.
[Go after Lyser]
This option is probably the better one. Also, if no one else votes on the last part than I guess I'll keep my vote the same. I don't necessarily trust those mysterious monks. However, I must admit that I am curious about them.
[Go after the kings]
My apologies for not voting on the last part. It is shocking how often I think I voted already. I even left a like on it back when it first came out. It's just that there are currently times where I am limited to a rather terrible and slow laptop and I prefer procrastinating on that one. It can get hard to keep an overview what I have and haven't done there. So, I can assure you, it is not my intention to not vote. If you're missing my vote, please send a message my way and I shall get to it at once
That being said, can I still vote on the last part? I know Tales has more or less broken the tie already, but I feel bad for not voting yet. It was a nice part as well, albeit I would have chosen to accept the monk's offer. It might just be my liking for these monk types, though I can definitely get not trusting them as well. That being said, I got one particular vibe off that monk when he said they are all nameless. Could we be looking at a progenitor cult to the Faceless Men?
Now, with this choice, I will pick [Go after Lyser], because it sounds useful to first gain an ally before going after enemies. Once Dickon has secured the support of Lyser, he can still go after the kings, at least this is what I hope.
Ah I see, my mistake. I allow my low self-esteem to get the better of me when I jump to conclusions that you might have lost interest the stories or myself with the absence of votes or PM's, however I'm more to blame for being such a slow writer and not partaking in any other stories here, so I reap what I sew I suppose.
Naturally I'd be more than happy for those who missed a vote to vote late, but being that this was a pretty major story direction choice for Cai and I've began to plan ahead the next parts for his story ahead, it'd kinda be sucky to erase those now. Rest assured though, we will see the monks through another PoV later on in this chapter, so this missed opportunity is not the be all and end all. Haha, an oversight, no I do not plan to rip of GRRM's Faceless Men with my monks, but I suppose there are a couple of overlaps in their methods, as there are in many religions however. I am very excited to show them off though, they are a very sinister and yet distant/placid religion which have a very simple perception of the world. I suppose you could think of them as the GoT Ying and Yang religon.
No, I can absolutely assure you, this is on me. I know how it might seem, especially given how active I used to be, but currently, things are so busy for me I barely manage to write PM's. And then, I have periods where I'm not at home, making me often lose track of which stories I voted on and not. So, it has nothing to do with your pace being slow, honestly. I can promise you, I won't ever lose interest in your writing and you don't have to be concerned
Ah, my fault for being late, I say
I would have liked to see Cai with the monks, but I understand you already planned ahead and I've simply been a bit too late. Though while I wonder which PoV will encounter the monks, I am more curious where Cai will end up at now.
Alright, the Voting is Closed! Dickon will go after Lyser! This was a very close vote to my surprise, and I think either choice winning would have been interesting, but certainly gaining an ally is a greater way of gaining control over a city than outright conquering it (as Dany quickly learnt with 'redeeming' the slave cities!)
So I have finally returned from my week away trekking, which was an absolute blast, and gave me a LOT of time to think about where I am going with particular storylines! One in specific introduces a new not-so-new character as a PoV, which is the brother of the soon to be Empress: Remi. In case you have forgotten, the last time we saw Remi was through Mulan's eyes, and she had chosen for her brother to take her place in travelling to the Five Forts to see what Xiang Wuhan wanted. This introduction part takes place a few days into their travel, and is probably the longest part I've written out so far for WN, peaking over 4000 words :P Hope you guys enjoy!
Remi
Night had fallen across the green plains of Yi Ti when the weary royals decided to set up camp. Remi had never been a lackey for his servants’ handiwork, having travelled across the world and experienced many different cultures and hardships, pitching a tent was no hardship the Bloodstone Prince. Yet unfortunately this trait was not held amongst some of his fellow companions, who waited impatiently for their porters to unpack and set up their homesteads.
Remi let out a sigh, flashing a short smile to his cousin Jingim, the sentinel sent from the Governess-General of the Five Forts, yet Jingim only held a frown since they had departed from Tiqui. It was not hard to assume his cousin had been disappointed with the result of the current circumstances, given Governess-General Wuhan had requested the soon-to-be Empress’ presence, and not her explorative brother. Yet circumstances as they were, Remi knew that his sister had a lot of stress on her shoulders with their father’s passing, and if he could alleviate that by taking her place as an envoy then that was what he would do; and in part he was happy to do so.
Travelling had always been a wonder and delight for the Bloodstone Prince, who had left Tiqui at a ripe age of sixteen to travel for a decade, much to the chagrin of his father. Yet that experience could not have moulded him better than any other, and with his experiences of so many other cultures, he came to find an understanding and fondness of his father’s empire, and even thought of ways to improve it, if his sister would permit it.
As Remi and his servants finished with the first tent, the Bloodstone Prince took a moment to rest his muscles from the long ride, glancing around the rest of the company. While Remi had volunteered for this task alone, he would have been a fool to believe that his sister would let him travel alone again, and had put a number of men by his side for the journey.
Mulan’s refusal to allow the Duke of Wu Chi to accompany Jingim to the Forts had resulted in his son, the Marquess Shao Wuhan, being tasked with this mission. Admittedly, Remi had never been fond of Shao, as his cocky arrogance and cunning intellect resulted in an unpleasant companion to say the least, yet Remi could not deny his usefulness. With him stood Chen Luyen, the second born to Matriarch Zhenya, and a persistent suitor for Mulan’s hand in marriage. The Luyen’s were always ambitious, Remi thought to himself, but he admittedly always preferred the company of Chen over those of his siblings.
“Do you see it? The five beacons in the horizon?” an old voice chirped, taking his seat beside Remi as he pointed out the Five Forts in the distance. Remi flashed a smile to the old man, who had been much of a father figure and mentor to the Bloodstone Prince in his younger life, as the Emperor had focused on raising Mulan to be his heir. “Ming Qiu, gods forbid you are a fool to accompany us on such a journey,” Remi spited at him in a protective nature, to which the old man only flashed a half toothless grin.
“If I am to kick the bucket, I will do so in an exotic place, not soiling my breaches in my chambers,” Ming jested, to which Remi allowed himself a small smile, trying not to take too much amusement in the assured future of his old friend. “What do you make of all this? The return of the Skrykers and so on?” Remi posed in question, to which Ming let out a heavy sigh, resting his back as he averted his gaze to the starry sky. “When I was a boy, only a page to the Topaz Emperor, the Shrykers mounted a full scale war against the Dawn Guard, seizing the Cinder Fort and causing chaos to the lands south. Back then the Dawn Guard had the strength and numbers to retaliate, yet now I fear the only defence between the land of the living and the damned are the Forts themselves,” Ming mumbled, to which Remi frowned.
“That was almost a hundred and fifty years ago, and it was claimed that the Dawn Guard culled the Shrykers into extinction,” Remi claimed, to which Ming only groaned. “Do you believe the Dawn Guard have any reason to lie?” Ming suggested, to which Remi plainly shook his head. “I only find their claims odd. They have been dormant for the last century, and the moment a threat emerges they are incapable of handling it?” Remi stated in a tone which resembled disbelief and annoyance. “Let us wait and see, before we judge too harshly,” Ming suggested, resting his eyes.
Remi let out a sigh, nodding before rising to his feet. Jingim had already retreated into his tent, and the porters began to cook their meals before doing the same. The only company remaining was Chen and Shao, of which Remi naturally found his feet leading him in that direction. His innate sociality would be his undoing, a saying from his father, yet one which had only impacted him as a child. To think of how much of an introvert he had been during his adolescent years, and that all slowly began to change as Remi met Ming.
“Chen, Shao, how fares we?” Remi queried in spark of conversation, to which the diligent Chen Luyen let out a bored sigh as he waved his hand over the small campfire. “I could think of better things to be doing,” he whined subtly, to which Remi smirked as he passed him. “Like sneaking into my sister’s chambers?” the Bloodstone Prince remarked, receiving a scowl from his travelling companion, “and you, Shao? Eager to be reunited with your sister?” Remi questioned as he stroked the mane of Shao’s horse, to which the young Wuhan was unsaddling.
“Naturally, my Prince,” he acknowledged with a small but seemingly nervous smile. Remi could understand his timid behaviour, but it was unnecessary; the Wuhan’s had been close friends of the royal Jidao family for almost five generations, and a colloquial chat wouldn’t change that as far as Remi was concerned. “I know I was eager to see Mulan again after my travels,” Remi related as he joined Chen by the fire, Shao following shortly after.
“Do remind us for the hundredth time of your spectacular adventures,” Chen remarked sarcastically, to which the Bloodstone Prince smirked in response, yet Shao seemed unimpressed with Chen’s unbounded behaviour. “I confess, this ride to discover if monsters and creatures of the night are real does remind me of a similar situation I found myself in on the farmlands of Valyria,” Remi admitted, to which Chen simply rolled his eyes as he jabbed at the coals of the fire with his poking stick, yet Shao maintained a look of interest.
“I had not been on the green plains of the Land of Shepherds long before I heard the rumours of a great beast that had disturbed the flocks,” Remi retold, thinking back on the beautiful grasslands and peaceful people that were continually oppressed by the slavers of the Ghiscari Empire. “A twenty-foot long reptile had swum from the cursed waters of Sothoryos and started feeding on the easy prey of Valyria, growing large and fat. It had scales as tough as granite, and teeth as sharp as steel.”
“How did you kill it?” Shao asked with peaked interest, to which Remi chuckled and shook his head. “I didn’t,” he answered anticlimactically, leaving the young Wuhan’s eyebrows furrowed and raising the gaze of Chen Luyen. “So who not the hero than the great Bloodstone Prince?” the noble queried with thick sarcasm in his tone, to which the name stuck in Remi’s head clearly.
“A young Valyrian knight, known as Nithral Raeltheon,” Remi answered plainly, to which Chen raised an eyebrow, and Shao still appeared thoroughly perplexed. “What’s a knight?” he questioned, as Remi had expected, to which he had already devised a semi-reasonable answer. “Knights are great and honourable warriors of a kingdom in the west known as Andalos, their code calls for them to defend the weak and uphold peace,” Remi stated with a somewhat confident tone, to which Shao nodded in understanding.
“So how did some shepherd’s boy become an anointed knight of Andalos?” Chen questioned in a tone which clearly sounded disbelief. Remi raised an eyebrow in surprise to Chen’s apparent knowledge of the western culture, to which the Luyen only answered Remi’s gaze laconically. “Father demanded I read all about the warriors and swordsmen of Essos before I pick up a sword,” he explained, to which Remi nodded in acknowledgement.
“How or why he became a knight of Andalos I do not know, I only ever had the pleasure of his acquaintance once, and even that was thorough,” Remi stated, to which Chen sighed and returned to his monotonous coals jabbing. “So how did he kill it? The beast?” Shao asked, his voice like a small child unwilling to sleep, but Remi had no issue with telling stories.
“He lured the reptile out of its swamp with his best lamb, then struck his sword through the inside of its mouth and outside its skull,” Remi answered laconically, to which Shao raised his eyebrows at the plainness of it. “Sounds like no grand feat,” he responded with a sound of disappointment, to which Remi only sighed and shook his head. “Two dozen of us trudged into that marshland to find that monster, and only four of us came out, it was hardly uneventful,” Remi stated, to which Shao looked interested to hear more, but Chen bluntly interrupted them by erupting a large flame from the fire.
“Save the stories for another night, we still have a fair ride to the Forts which we need our rest for,” Chen stated, tossing his stick in the fire and retreating to his leather pad, to which Remi nodded. “Another time,” Remi assured the young man, lifting himself up and finding his way to bed. The night was warm and open to the night sky, but despite the comfort the Bloodstone Prince’s mind wandered back to that dreadful night in the marsh. He had watched shepherds and farmers armed with mere tools of the land be ripped to shreds, their blood staining the green waters black. It had left him many a sleepless night.
-
A long yawn proceeded the Bloodstone Prince’s manners as they finally approached the First Fort at the reach of noon, a beautiful cloudless day. Shao had already ridden ahead with Jingim to meet with his sister, to which Remi had given no argument, in part being too tired to suggest the group should stick together. Chen Luyen sweet-talked one of the servant girls while Remi and Ming led the group through the small trading town that was dwarfed by the largest of the Five Forts.
The First Fort was a monstrous monument of ancient architecture that was lost to the ages. The fused black stone slabs were larger than a small house, and stacked a thousand feet high to reach the clouds. Yet it was not only one of the five largest constructions known to man, but arguably the most garrisoned series of fortress that stood in all of Essos. Mounted catapults lined the southern walls of the Fort, while ballista turrets were manned on the remaining sides of the Fort. A number of horizontal openings and small hatches left a number of surprises for any foolish enough to march against one of these forts, and there were enough arrow slits to be manned by ten thousand archers.
Along the thousands of levels Remi could spot the small white figures of the Dawn Guard attending to their monotonous duties; the sentinels watching from their posts, the constructors maintaining the ancient integrity of the forts, and the ministers ensuring that the functionality proceeded smoothly. There was a clear envy across most of Essos for the advanced technicality and obedience of the Dawn Guard and their Five Forts, but the Guardians in White could not be bought, nor could they be reasoned with. Thus why I am here, Remi thought hopelessly as he could imagine the sourness on Xiang Wuhan’s face.
Before long, Remi spotted a cavalry of riders in white come flooding out of the Fort, to which they soon surrounded Remi’s party and quickly escorted them to the entrance of the First Fort. Awaiting them at the gigantic entrance stood three familiar figures. Prince Jingim and Shao Wuhan were clearly recognisable faces, but it had been years since their eyes had met, and admittedly they had both been prettier faces back then, yet Remi could not argue that the young Governess-General still harnesses much of her beauty.
Xiang Wuhan stood slightly taller than six feet, her build lean and athletic, and her silky skin a pale white. While she had been just a girl when Remi knew her, she had now developed into a woman that made most men tremble before her, Chen included as Remi observantly noted. Her soft gentle facial features were matched with a hard glare on her deep purple eyes and a small scar that ran horizontally across her left cheek. Her attire was befitting of a governor-general, with steel chainmail that ran from her neck down to her waist, along with a milk steel hard shell that was reached into a tall collar with exquisite engravings.
Remi had always admired the unique armouring choice of the Dawn Guard, as they had mastered a light armouring that was as tough as thick plating, yet as agile as leather. ‘Shelling’ was in essence a manoeuvrable steel frame that coursed that major bones of the body, serving like a metal exoskeleton with a chainmail under layer. Remi had also always admired their unique armoury, to which he found himself gazing at the pair of crescent-shaped blades that rested on her hilt.
Feeling the gaze of dozens of Dawn Guardians on him, Remi awkwardly dismounted his steed and approached the Governess-General, bowing in greeting, to which she responded with a stern nod. “Prince Jidao, I assume you have come to inform me that your sister is uninterested in our dilemma,” Xiang stated laconically in a cold tone, to which Remi awkwardly smiled. “Lovely to see you again as well, Xiang. Mulan has an empire to run now, and that includes attending to more than just some rumours and fables outside the safety of the Five Forts. That is why I have come,” Remi elaborated cockily, receiving a scornful glare from Shao and a widened gaze from Chen.
“Have yourself cleaned up and then come to my office, we have much talking to do, Bloodstone Prince,” Xiang muttered, dismissing herself and beckoning for her personal guard to accompany her. Like an obedient pup, Shao quickly followed after his sister’s footsteps, along with Prince Jingim. “Welcome to the First Fort,” Ming grunted with a chuckle, being the first of their party to follow on, Remi sighing and following after him.
-
The bottom floor of the First Fort was undoubtedly the most widespread of the hundreds of rising levels, with a dozen sparring yards, open kitchens and dining areas that stretched a thousand tables long. The interior of the Fort was well lit with hearths and dangling iron chandeliers as large as black stone slabs that lifted the Forts into the clouds.
Woven baskets of fresh vegetables, rice and various assortments of silks and warm equipment were hoisted by a dozen men from the ground level to a number of levels above. Elaborately forged cages that held a hundred or more persons were lifted by large black stone counterweights to the majority of levels, and those out of reach were ascended to by stone bridges, shifting ladders and retractable staircases.
Remi stared down at this work of art with awe as he leaned over the edge of the lift, watching as all the Guardians in White attended to their mundane duties or spent their time off excelling themselves in whichever domain they chose. Archive collections stretched for miles, where many studying ministers retained day and night, while sentinels were found testing their metal, and constructors maintaining the upkeep of the Fort.
It was a real wonder that the Dawn Guard could consider anything a threat to even one of the Five Forts, but yet he still rode the elevator to the floor that he would be directed to her office. There was certainly an underlying interest, a mystery waiting to be unveiled for such a formidable dormant army to be shaking behind their greatest weapon.
As the cage came to a swift halt, the operator pulled the slider door across, and the escorting minister ushered Remi out. The Bloodstone Prince quickly came to observe that the Dawn Guard operated in a functional and efficient manner, leaving no time to waste, or at least in this case it appeared that way. Everywhere Remi looked he spotted a guardian hard at work, and regardless of their task, they put in the effort as if their very lives depended on it.
The young minister led Remi down a number of halls, and it did not take the Bloodstone Prince long before he found himself disorientated; it began to remind him of the mazes of Lorath. Before long the boy finally came to a stop, knocking his fist against a door before hearing a faint voice within. “Enter.” Obediently, the minister opened the door, ushering Remi into the room before shutting the door behind him and returning to his duties.
Remi quickly analysed his surroundings, finding the main difference of this room compared to the rest of the fort was natural light. A number of maps and scriptures hung from the black walls, along with a single family portrait of the Wuhan family, one which Remi’s gaze did not fall upon too long before turning onto Xiang. The Governess-General stood behind her desk in a plain white blouse, her sleeves rolled up to her elbows and before her a bloody corpse.
“Quite the place you have here,” Remi charmed with a touch of sarcasm, to which Xiang only sneered at him as she examined the body further. “Don’t try to flatter me, Remi, you know how it ended last time,” the Governess-General warned, to which Remi smirked in reminiscence. “We were young then,” Remi remarked, to which Xiang only held a stern glare at the corpse before her. “And some shall remain forever young,” she muttered in finale, stripping the gloves from her hands and throwing them aside.
“Who’s that?” the Bloodstone Prince now asked, to which the Governess-General only sighed. “The youngest son of one of my most experienced sentinels. He was with a search and rescue party looking for his father. This is all that came back of him,” Xiang stated with a sorrowed tone, falling into her chair with apparent exhaustion.
Remi hesitantly approached the corpse, finding himself gazing upon a gory mess. The child could not have been any older than twelve or thirteen, his eyes gauged from their sockets, an arm and both legs torn limb by limb, and the other arm broken severely. His torso had been mauled into, half of his intestines hanging of his opened belly, the rest of his soft pale skin scratched with claw marks. “Gods,” Remi mumbled as he covered his mouth, the sight of the boy reminding him of the incident in Valyria.
“I have lost hope that any of the initial scouting party still live, and after this, I’m certain the search team are gone as well,” Xiang muttered in a tone that almost mirrored hopelessness, yet there was still an audible strength in her voice. “What could have done this?” Remi mumbled in query, to which Xiang only gazed across her office to an adjacent cloaked table. “See for yourself,” Xiang stated, to which Remi gulped.
Reluctantly approaching the table, the Bloodstone Prince grasped the grey silk cloak and unveiled the shrivelled corpse of a vile reptilian creature. Beginning from the tail, the beast would have been at least ten metres in length, with a smooth scaled torso and a neck that that split out like a cobra, dividing into two tail-like ears. “Is this…” Remi mumbled in realisation, the snake-men from the scriptures of myths and legends.
“A Shryker,” Xiang confirmed, arising from her seat and gently touching the boy’s face. “This sentinel had managed to escape the ambush, riding close to one of our outposts, but this Shryker had tracked him before he could reach safety,” Xiang stated, covering the boy with a silk garment, “It took ten sentinels do strike down this beast, and earlier reports suggest that there is a grand army of them converging. I had hoped that they would be warring with the Skorpin’s of Kdath, but I cannot leave the safety of the Dawn Guard and all we stand to protect to hope,” Xiang explained, to which Remi turned his attention back to the wicked creature.
“Xiang, you know the armies of the Dawn are not what they were... A few thousand men cannot stop this,” Remi stated hopelessly, but Xiang shook her head with visible frustration. “Fifty thousand men and women guard the Five Forts. I did not call for the Empress’ charity, I called her to warn her of a threat larger than any of us. Since she sent you I can only hope you can see what she refuses to,” Xiang seethed, now approaching the drying corpse of the Shryker.
“Something big is coming, Remi. I don’t know what it is, but when it comes, we all need to be ready,” Xiang mumbled like some sort of prophecy, to which Remi shook his head clueless. “What is it you want from us, Xiang?” Remi questioned her plainly, to which the girl now glanced at him with a gaze that did not resemble ire or disgust, but forlorn and fear. It was the first time he had ever seen her so afraid.
“I need to know what is coming for us, I need to see it for myself, but that power is out of my reach. I need the blood of an emperor,” Xiang stated, to which Remi furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “The blood of an emperor?” he repeated, to which Xiang sighed and nodded. “The Five Forts was constructed long ago by the Pearl Emperor, and we all know that this did not come to be by hard labour. The direct bloodline of the royal Jidao family is ancient, pure. I tried with Jingim but his bloodline is muddled with distant blood,” Xiang explained, leaving Remi further perplexed.
“Tried what with Jingim?” he queried, beginning to feel quite concerned. “The Monks of the Rising, they fiddle with some sort of blood magic but have the ability to glance at visions of our future, present and past. With the royal bloodline, we could see what exactly it was that prompted the Pearl Emperor to rise the Five Forts, and what we can do to prepare for what he birthed us to do,” Xiang claimed, to which Remi shook his head unsure, to which the woman grasped his forearm.
“Please, Remi, consider this. You and Mulan are of direct ascendance to the Pearl Emperor, it’s either you or her that can do this. If you truly love your sister and do not want to burden her with this, then take the responsibility for not just her, but for all of us. I beg it of you,” Xiang pleaded, causing Remi to frown. As he looked into her desperate dark purple eyes he could see the genuine fear that ran rampant within her.
He did not fully understand the situation at hand here, but he knew from Xiang’s urgency that it was a dire matter, and from what he had seen before him he knew he could not leave this fate to fall onto the Empire. Yet he was no emperor, and such decisions could not fall onto him, but an overwhelming sense of duty screamed at him for neglecting his family for so long by running away. Mulan already had enough on her plate, he had put his name forward to help her with this, what kind of brother would he be to turn tail now?
[Go to see the monks] [Refuse to see the monks]
[Go to see the monks]
I'm guessing this is the other pov that you were talking about seeing the monks. Anyways, so far Remi does not seem to be the evil man that murders his sister and usurps the throne. Apparently, this was not always his intentions and they eventually change. I wonder if these monks have anything to do with it. I am interested in them and what their abilities and intentions are. Plus, Remi's sense of adventure and guilt from his past would probably make him seek out these monks.
Also: It was nice to see Chen introduced. I can't wait for when the rest of his family is introduced.
[Go to see the monks]
[Go to see the monks]
[Go to see the monks] "There is power in the blood of kings". I do wonder what could have made such fearsome creatures like a Shryker converge into an army and try to attack the Forts. I wish we get to know more about this reptiles and how intelligent they truly are. And what are those Skorpins of K'dath?
We shall see them later on, but in basic they are an ancient arthropod-man race which delve in dark magic, and have warred with the Shrykers for thousands of years.
Well the Voting is Closed! Remi will go to see the monks! I was hoping this choice would prevail, it definitely leads to a much more interesting storyline then the alternative, albeit perhaps more dooming. At any rate, I have the next part ready, and it goes to Nithral.
The last time we saw Nithral was in a brief part, but he had decided to align himself with Ugnak and the Jogos Nhai, seeing a future for himself and Vesemir. Unfortunately, Vesemir did not see eye to eye with his beloved friend when Nithral delivered the news, which developed into a heated argument that split them apart. This new part takes place almost a week later from that point.
Nithral
The beating sun of the East unleashed its unbearable heat onto the great grass plains of Jogos Nhai. The great army of the conglomerate war tribes had rode for three days and only came to a halt at the edging forests of the Howling Hills. The Valyrian knight had never seen an army of such size in his life, with leather tents stretching for miles from the forests to the cliff coasts of the Leviathan Sound.
Nithral stood among them as a welcomed outsider, a rank better off than the few other outliers Nithral had learnt of when Ugnak’s tribe aligned itself with the great Overlord Zulu. In total, Nithral had counted the masses to be a hundred thousand strong and able, led by half a dozen jhats and overseen by Zulu, the greatest war chieftain of all the Jogos Nhai.
The Valyrian had isolated himself in the Wailing Woods to get away from the populace, but also to find some time to console with himself. He had always found peace when concealed in the forests, the whispers of the wind and calmness of the trees had always welcomed him. It was a welcomed change compared to the barren green lands of Valyria, Andalos and Jogos Nhai. It reminded him of all his travels, and in turn that troubled him, as it reminded him of Vesemir.
It had been nearing a week since he had parted with his most trusted and closest friend, and he had churned over the state of their farewell ever since. He understood the knighthood that still remained in Ves’ heart, even if they had been stripped of their titles and exiled from their motherland. Nithral had wished he could live by the morals that Ves still upheld, but good nature did not put food in their mouth or accommodate them from weary travels. Coin did, and the way they lived could only ensure a short life. At least Ugnak leaves some promise for a future, Nithral reconciled, but it still left no remedy for the remorse he felt.
At this moment, the six war chieftains would speak with the Overlord of their war plan for the Kingdom of Hyrkoon, but what bemused Nithral was the direction that they rode. Rather than ascending the gradual ridge adjacent to the Ice Mountains or march the Steel Road, they pushed into the open valley of the Howling Hills. Home to peaceful farmers and hunters, Nithral recalled at the time of their stay when they had been refused path along the Steel Road and had decided to traverse the ice peaks of the stone giants. And what a journey that was, Nithral thought with a shiver coursing down his spine.
“Sheep Lord,” a familiar foreign voice called, which Nithral recognised to be the infamous Damien Dardowl, two Jogosi and three chained bodies which were of no acquaintance to him. “I bring…” Damien stumbled on his words, “servants,” he mumbled awkwardly, to which Nithral recognised immediately that the shackled folk in his wake were anything but servants. Slaves, Nithral thought with melancholy, remembering the core of his oath was to uphold the liberty of the people, weak or rich. “I did not call for your slaves, Dardowl,” Nithral muttered, to which Damien frowned.
“Chief Ugnak demands it,” one of the Jogosi explained as best she could, pulling the three slaves into view. “This Sykara and Toro,” Damien introduced in his broken common tongue, pointing at the two Jogos Nhai, evident by their pointed skulls. Nithral gave the man and woman a nod, then turning his gaze to the shackled three beside them, all differing in ethnicity. “And these three?” Nithral queried, to which Sykara smirked.
“These slaves have no name of importance, Sheep Lord,” Sykara retorted, to which the Valyrian scowled at her. He grew tired of the continuous shepherd mockery he had experience wherever he went. “I name for you,” Damien quickly volunteered, standing behind the three slaves.
He first placed his hand on top of the first slave, a taller male with copper skin and wiry black hair that fell to his shoulders. A sullen glare fell upon the soil at Nithral’s feet, and a tension grew in his gaze as Damien laid his hand on him. “Flea Bite. Ghiscari,” Damien announced, then pushing onto the next slave, a pale skinned Alithian with short black hair and a light beard. “Black Goat,” Damien named, then moving onto the last, which he obnoxiously giggled as he cupped his hands over the breasts of the shackled YiTish woman. “Sharp Eyes,” he stated, licking her neck and evoking a chuckle from Sykara.
“They have proved themselves capable warriors, Ugnak gifts them to you,” Toro stated, to which Nithral smiled awkwardly but shook his head. “I can’t accept this,” Nithral tried to state politely, but everything he had ever stood for screamed at him in defiance to take on slaves. He knew he would have to adapt, but there were limits he wished to adhere. Sykara clearly grew impatient with the Valyrian knight. “It would be unwise to refuse Ugnak, you have few friends here, Sheep Lord,” Sykara warned, to which Nithral raised an eyebrow, rising to his feet with the spark of a challenge.
Toro smiled tensely as he restrained Sykara by the forearm. “What she means to say is that our chieftain would be disappointed if you were not to accept this welcoming gift into our tribe,” Toro elaborated peacefully, to which Nithral sighed, eying the slaves with a frown. “So be it,” he muttered, to which Damien let out a sigh of relief. “Good! Put Goat and Flea Bite to work while you fuck girl,” Damien grinned, tossing Nithral the keys to their chains which the Valyrian knight awkwardly caught.
“Ugnak will send one of his servants to retrieve you when the war council has concluded. Until then,” Toro farewelled, lifting his chin in to Nithral in sign of respect. Nithral reluctantly did the same, taking hold of the chains that Sykara forced into his hands before watching the three of them leave.
There was a look of unsureness on each pair of eyes that watched their new master. Nithral was not like the rest of the Jogos Nhai, for both clear reasons and less so. The Valyrian knight eyed his three slaves with a studious gaze, yet he knew no amount of examination would learn the stories of each of these three from first sight.
He felt agitation when he looked at the Ghiscari slave, for so much tension had risen in Valyria due to the scheming Ghiscari Empire. He felt unsettled when his gaze locked with the Alithian, whose glare held not only scorn, but something much darker and malicious. Finally, Nithral’s gaze wandered onto Sharp Eyes, of whom avoided his gaze altogether. She was oddly alluring to Nithral’s surprise, despite her greasy knotted hair and dirty face. We all are, Nithral acknowledge as he then looked to his own filthy hands.
“If you are going to do as that half-wit instructed, then get it over with,” the girl spat, lifting her leather skirt with a reluctant invitation. It was clear she had experienced a lot of harassment amongst the Jogos Nhai. Nithral only frowned, looking at the cuts and bruises that coursed up her thighs and abdominals, before shaking his head. “No,” he muttered, knowing full well all of this was wrong. “I do not hold the whip,” he reminded himself, letting the linked iron rings slip from his fingers.
“You sure you want to do that, Chief?” the Alithian warned, a malice look on his dark eyes lifting in sync with the corner of his lip. Nithal only glared at him, freeing the keys from his pocket and flinging them to the Black Goat. “Try me,” Nithral challenged weakly, returning to his seat against the tall pine. Sharp Eyes dropped her skirt in visual confusion, while Flea Bite’s gaze watched Nithral for trickery. Nithral knew there was none.
“We could kill you,” Flea Bite stated, his eyes scouting around him as if he expected to be surrounded by that threat. “We will kill you,” the Black Goat remarked, unshackling his wrists and neck. He dropped the key by his feet and took hold of his chains as a shield. Flea Bite tried to hold him back, but was restricted by his own irons, leaving the Alithian unchallenged against his Valyrian master.
“If you are going to kill me, you will need a better weapon than that,” Nithral stated, reluctantly rising from his comfort to unsheathe his two blades. A longsword of Andal steel rested in the palm of his right hand, a gift from Loren Nightstar, Vesemir’s father, and arguably a father to Nithral as well. Nithral had not parted with this sword in all the years it had been in his service, joining him in great feats and defending the honour and lives of those around him. In his left hand was the war blade of Jhat Ugnak, a brutish weapon but also a gift from a man that Nithral had come to respect. He was less familiar with the swords of the Jogos Nhai, but he was an excellent swordsman, and if he was truly going to be a part of this tribe then he would have to learn their ways.
[Throw Ugnak’s blade to the Black Goat] [Throw Loren’s blade to the Black Goat]
[Throw Ugnak’s blade to the Black Goat]
Fighting with an unfamiliar blade in a potential life or death situation would probably not be smart. He can learn how to wield Ugnak's blade when he trains with it later.
[Throw Loren’s blade to the Black Goat]
Hmmmm, I missed the last part, apologies. Though it was a really interesting one. The choice for Remi as the new PoV kinda surprises me, but I am certain he'll have one hell of an interesting storyline ahead. That being said, either he will change drastically (potentially through the influence of these mysterious monks?), or he is actually not whom we might think he is. Because he seems like a generally alright guy, I have considered the possibility that he is a red herring and not actually the bad guy here. It has been a while since he has last appeared, but if I am not mistaken, there is also a bastard brother to Mulan and Remi. What if he's actually going to end up killing her? That might be less likely, but with what you have shown of Remi so far, there is just enough stuff speaking in his favour to give him the benefit of the doubt.
[Throw Ugnak’s blade to the Black Goat]
Aye, I agree with what Tales has said. In this situation, it'll be for the best to not take any risks here. Better use the sword he is used to, that's what any good swordsman would do in his situation. Sure, he must learn the ways of the Jogos Nhai, but that is exactly the thing, he must learn them, not rush into advanced stuff without knowing the basics.
[Throw Loren’s blade to the Black Goat]
[Throw Loren’s blade to the Black Goat]