.: Broken Empires :.: STORY

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Wins and Losses

(STORY)

from: CHAPTER SEVENTEEN ~ THE TIDES OF VENGEANCE

characters: KIAN (pov), RIGOLO, VALKE

The Company takes a day to regroup on the eve of the Magoa raid, in a rare moment of high spirits.

Not long after, as Kian faces death yet again in the icy realm of the Moonchill Lord, his mind struggles to find the balance...

Spellbound and Unbound

(STORY)

from: CHAPTER SIXTEEN ~ HOMECOMING characters: KIAN (pov), ELKE, CARDENA DELA VARA

Kian has returned to find a Ladroa no less complicated than when he left it. It seems that all around him is suffering - the kind that cannot be solved with simple violence.

Rather than succumbing to self-pity, sometimes one must step out of the shadows and instead choose light. And so, Kian makes an appointment with a doctor...

Old Sins Have Long Shadows

VALKE'S TALE

from: CHAPTER SIXTEEN ~ HOMECOMING
characters: KIAN (pov), VALKE

When the Red Spite was carried back across the Winter Gate, it brought a potent arcane power into the world - one that corrupted the body and mind of all those with Fae blood, and turned them against humankind.

Valke of the Vaara folk was one of the first to suffer these effects. As the madness crept over her, she rebuked her human comrades, and in a fugue state, fled. Kian searched high and low for his friend, but in the end, he found her at the beginning again, in the port of Ladroa.

He did not expect to find her in such a state...

No Laughing Matter

(STORY)

from: CHAPTER ELEVEN ~ WINTER SOJOURN
characters: KORVUUS (pov), RAAF, and an unexpected visitor...

Managing the branch of an espionage network is hard work when you're traveling. This Korvuus learned when he agreed to keep an eye on some matters in Ladroa on behalf of the Baron Cordova, and then soon after embarked on a journey to Auspenheim that became an extended stay.

As the bird flies, Ladroa was not so far away, but it required Korvuus leave Auspendstadt for days at a time. Later, after he devoured an ailing earth spirit and learning of its secrets, he taught himself how to walk the green path of the Grovestrider, which made the commute that much easier.

Even so, it was truly his regular visits with his trusted partners in the city that truly made the balance possible. Discretion was important for all parties. On such occasions, he was always careful to wear a different face - was Ladroa not the city of masks, after all?

However, on this occasion, he discovered to his dismay that some in the city do not sleep. Instead they stand guard ever-watchfully, and prowl the shadows for any scent of their prey...

The World's Cruelty

( STORY )

from: CHAPTER SIXTEEN ~ HOMECOMING characters: KIAN (pov), MISERO

With the Tyrson Company's return to Ladroa, it is time for Kian to check in on the various pots he set simmering before his departure.

In addition to providing Kian with intelligence from the streets of the city, the hidalgo Misero was left with a very special portfolio - to provide special protection services to the urchin roofdancers known as The Cats.

As always, in the Port of Masks, there are always entanglements...

What is to be done with Kian Grey?

(STORY)

from: CHAPTER EIGHT ~ LADROA ELEGY

characters: JUDEX, RIGOLO

The assassination of the Imperial Legate remains unsolved. This event and the recent tumult in Ladroa has led to unwanted scrutiny on the city from external forces... attention that may pose an existential threat to Ladroa's autonomy.

After interrogating the imprisoned Kian in his cell in the Carcelario, Mariscal Rigolo makes his report to the Grand Magistrado Judex. It is clear that Kian Grey is somehow embroiled in the recent threats to Ladroa. His avowed crimes are more than enough to put his head on the block... but is he more useful to the Mariscales alive... ?

Visiting Hours

(STORY)

from: CHAPTER EIGHT ~ LADROA ELEGY

characters: Mariscal RIGOLO, KIAN

Tyrson's company makes a triumphant return to Ladroa after defeating Captain di Frezzi and saving the kingdom of Thessios. However, in their absence, the name of Jack Tyrson has become entangled in a string of violent crimes and intrigues. Jack and Kuan are arrested and brought before Grand Magistrado Judex.

Unwilling to let his comrades or the young Lady de Cinza become implicated in the clandestine activities he set in motion, Kian crashes the tribunal and claims responsibility for the crimes, while also defiantly challenging the court's authority. The mysterious Mariscal Rigolo appears as well, tugging at threads that Kian finds himself unprepared to answer for.

Judex adjourns and Kuan and Jack are detained. Kian is imprisoned separately in a tiny dungeon in great tower. Under cover of night, Cardena dela Vara visits his cell to counsel him, but Kian refuses her help. As Dela Vara departs, Kian learns that another visitor has also come calling...

Stargazing

( STORY )

from: CHAPTER TEN ~ The FALL of CASTLE DREIST

characters: SOFONISBA (pov), KORVUUS

After their long westward journey from Ladroa, the party arrives at the court of Prince Alberingen of Auspenheim, bearing both a letter of introduction from the Archbishop of Oranda and a shipment of telescopic equipment for the court astrologer Sofonisba Orlogio.

As guests of the Prince, they agree to make an expedition into the Nimmerendes mountains to investigate strange rumours. However, on the eve of their departure, Korvuus accepts Sofonisba's invitation to for a night viewing with her newly constructed telescope...

Communions & Confessions

( STORY )

from: CHAPTER ELEVEN ~ WINTER SOJOURN

characters: KIAN(pov), SAIOPLESIAN

After escaping the destruction of Castle Dreist, Kian and his companions return to Auspenstadt as heroes of the realm. Prince Alberingen throws a sumptuous banquet in their honour... but Kian remains troubled by his insecurities.

Feeling small and uncertain the face of a metaphysical world he doesn't fully understand, he asks the former cleric Saioplesian for guidance. But some of Kian's questions extend to Saioplesian himself...

The Beginning of an End

( STORY )

from: CHAPTER FOURTEEN ~ VOYAGE DANS la LUNE characters: KIAN (pov), Saint INGAHILD

After defeating the fallen Titan, Khors, the party dragged this miserable creature into the shrine-sepulcher of the sleeping goddess, Kuyuu, his successor as Warden of the Moon. Once his body crossed the threshold of her domain, ancient protective spells woven into the chamber activated.

A vision of Kuyuu pronounced her curse upon those who would desecrate her resting place. As the floor opened up vents to the molten gold core of the Moon, her protectors, the Golden Bees, swarmed about angrily.

Realizing the peril, the party beat a hasty retreat... all but Kian. In his defiance, he lingered a moment to snatch more of Kuyuu's golden treasures... which proved a moment too long.

The searing heat of the vents overwhelmed him, and the Golden Bees stung him viciously even as he fell. His body would have remained there, entombed in moongold for eternity, had not Korvuus intervened and pulled his limp form from the chamber.

The party narrowly escaped Kuyuu's halls, pursued to the very surface by the rising tide of molten gold... but for the unfortunate Kian, burned and envenomed, it was far too late.

Or was it... ?

Silindrin:

--listen, beloved. Do his steps grow near?

The Princess:

Nay, it is but the echoes of the Crowned as they go about their chores. My heart of hearts… must we deceive him so?

Silindrin:

It is the only way. You know what he is planning. But do not fear; he will not mourn your absence. Even weak as I am, this glamour we have worked is strong. So long as he holds what he believes to be my true Cauldron, he thinks he holds me here. And when we send him this mortal woman, he will see what he wishes to see. Out of his love for you, he will place a crown on her, and she will stay by his side for all eternity. Perhaps this fiction will placate him, and his sickness will finally know rest.

The Princess:

Do you truly believe it?

Silindrin:

I know not, but there is nothing more we can do. Madness now rules the king. His discontent will grow, and he will continue to seek foes where there are none. He is far too unpredictable now - his moods are too strong, his fugues too dangerous. He is of Elder Fae blood. His shape now changes with his emotions.

The Princess:

I carry that same old Sidhe blood in me, and it is this same royal blood that you ask me to betray. To leave the palace, to break this prison he has made - it circumvents his spells and goes against his sovereign decree…

Silindrin:

You have seen what he has become! You know what he has done. You are the only thing he still cherishes… all he has left. His paranoia knows no bounds, even among those he loves. Look what happened to the courtiers, and the hosts, and my fellow lords. And then, even your…

The Princess:

No! I pray thee, stop! I cannot hear you pronounce it. We do not know that this was truly his doing. Surely it was some other! Perhaps there truly is an interloper in the palace as he claims. Or it's the influence of the creeping Red Spite. Or an evil curse is upon him!

Silindrin:

It is no mere curse. It is simply in his eternal nature. He is formless. Mutable. His fear… his denial… his shame – it defines him... recreates him. He may be your father, and my liege, but he is beyond my counsel now. I will not raise a hand against him, but I also will not allow him to condemn you to such a sad, pointless fate.

The Princess:

You speak true, my love. We cannot continue hiding whenever he succumbs to his… distemper. I know that we must not remain here. But your wound… even after all this time, it has not healed.

Silindrin:

It matters not. Thanks to you, I am strong enough to make this journey. But are you certain you can open The Eye?

The Princess:

I have my token… the symbol of my lineage. By my royal birthright, I can open any door in this palace. And there are other apertures to the outside here, known only to my family. The Eye is one such. But what awaits us beyond are the Moonless Plains, with its many dangers. We will still need to cross the vastness of the Quiet Sea.

Silindrin:

We must and we shall. We will find the Manse of the Howling Khan. And if the tales are true, his Winter Gate will be our one chance to leave this haunted place.

The Princess:

I am sorrow, my love. This has been my home. And now, what world awaits us?

Silindrin:

The page must turn. All days eventually end. Twilight must fall even upon our kind… but what follows after need not be silence--

Nobody's Hero

( STORY )

from: CHAPTER TEN ~ The FALL of CASTLE DREIST

characters: KIAN, VALKE, KORVUS, SOFONISBA (pov)

Following their harrowing flight from the destruction of Castle Dreist, the victorious heroes emerge from a subterranean cavern many miles away, and must track back across the Wenden Highlands and through the Nimmerende Mountains on their return journey into Auspenheim.

After days of overland winter travel, the adventurers are cold, hungry, and exhausted. From their small camp on a high ridgeline, the towers of Auspenstadt beckoned distantly in the dusky light... but as dusk turned to night, Sofonisba Orlogio's unease in the strange circumstances grew stronger...

A Meeting of Killers

( STORY )

from: CHAPTER THREE~ THE DELIVERY JOB characters: DRAGON-TAIL (pov), RED RAIN

It is early Autumn in the highlands of Kronaca. Two members of the Hundred Curses assassin clan, Dragon-Tail and Iron-Wind, set a building on fire, baiting Kuan Yan and his companions into a trap so they can obtain the Third Scripture of the Three Blossom Society. The trap has failed. Defeated by Mad Jack Tyrsson, Dragon-Tail is forced to flee, while Iron-Wind is killed in combat with Korvuus and Lonzo. Escaping into the night, Dragon-Tail must lick his wounds, but his defeat was witnessed by another member of the Hundred Curses, who soon after pays him a visit...

A Night's Business...

( STORY )

from: CHAPTER EIGHT ~ LADROA ELEGY characters: KIAN, VALKE, TOM FLAGSTAFF

The winter rains arrived in Ladroa with a vengeance. A week previous, the sun had presided over the triumphant spectacle of the captured slave ship Tiburon making harbour and Jack Tyrsson’s splendid procession through the streets to the Courthouse. Since that day, the skies had hung heavy with cloud, and the docks were lashed with storms that drove many late-faring ships and their crews to the congested shelter of the Puerto district.

After a day of cold rain, a mist had descended over the city with nightfall, producing a damp chill that seeped through however many layers one piled on. Even so, this in no way dampened the nightlife of the Puerto - if anything people clustered closer together for warmth, packing the inns and alehouses with their bodies and consuming alcohol and other sundries in volume to chase the gloom away.

This was not why Kian had ventured out this night. His head was full of questions, and his heart full of suspicions. He had a job that he needed done, and a good idea of who might have the skills to pull it off...

Ghosts and Memories

( STORY )

from: CHAPTER NINE ~ INTO THE WEST
characters: VALKE, KIAN

After delivering the lost Armour of Saint Oran to the Archbishop of Oranda, the party travels northward through the Wenden Highlands, bound for the Torvarian province of Auspenheim. There, they hope to find the mysterious artisan named Amadeo Bronzanti.

Travelling a disused mountain path into Auspenheim, they encounter a farmstead ransacked by Spriggans. After rescuing the farmers from the Faerie bandits, they enjoy a cozy (if crowded) overnight repose at the farmstead. But not all of the companions sleep soundly...

The Informant

( STORY )

from CHAPTER EIGHT ~ LADROA ELEGY Characters: KIAN, MISERO

After his short time in Ladroa's Carcelario, Kian is released into the city again. Owing his freedom to arrangements made with the Mariscales, he needs information.

Both his life - and potentially that of the young Lady Belasca De Cinza - hang upon his ability to untangle the web of plots that draw closer around them in Ladroa: Di Magappi, the Mariscales, los Mendigos, the Hundred Curses, and now, the murder of a high official. As a relative newcomer in the city, Kian decides to enlist the services of a dangerous man... one who is not who he seems, and whose trust is measured only in gold coins...

The Meeting in the Bosque

( STORY )

from: CHAPTER FIVE ~ A TRAIL OF BLOOD characters: Jenyeva (POV), Belasca De Cinza, Salvador

It is the night of a secret meeting in Ladroa's Bosque between the Grey Stripes and the Los Mendigos beggar gang. In order to foil an assassination attempt against the young Lady De Cinza, Kian has asked Jenyeva to go disguised as De Cinza to draw out any would-be killers. Due to the threat of treachery from within the Grey Stripes, only Belasca's trusted Phinska maidservant knows the truth of who wears the lady's mask.

The ruse succeeds. A dozen bravos lurked in the wooded shadows next to a lonely Bosque backroad, but were violently intercepted by Jack, Kian, and the others. However, now Jenyeva finds herself impersonating Lady Belasca De Cinza - surrounded by unsuspecting Grey Stripes, and entering a delicate negotiation with the leader of Los Mendigos...

Life, Love, and Loss in Ladroa

(STORY)

from: CHAPTER FOUR: LADROA OVERTURE CHAPTER EIGHT: LADROA ELEGY

characters: Jenyeva (POV), Kian, Belasca, The Cats

This story begins shortly after the party first arrives in Ladroa and takes up residence in the Grey Lodge, and continues through to the events following the return to Ladroa from Aesos, the Tribunal of Judex, and Kian Grey's arrest...

The Plot and the Lady

(STORY)

from: CHAPTER FIVE ~ LADROA OVERTURE characters: Belasca De Cinza, Kian

When a mysterious note is found in the pockets of the Vaara swordsman known as Agila (specifying only a time, a place, and the name of Lady Belasca De Cinza), it is suspected that an assassination plot is afoot, and that the young noblewoman’s life may be in danger. Having already struck up a secret correspondence with the Grey Stripes’ youthful new mistress, Kian decides to warn her of this potential threat, and also to put forth a scheme to flush out the would-be killers while protecting the lady from harm…

The Midnight Caller

( STORY )

from: CHAPTER SEVEN ~ SHADOWS OVER THESSIOS characters: KIAN, MISERO

Autumn on the Helicosian coast is pleasant. Feted as saviours of Thessios, the party reposes at the court of King Taronymes after their triumph over the evil priestess Eudoxia. Spirits are high, but as night falls, Kian discovers that suspicious minds are everywhere, even in his own camp...