Knight's Fall: Episode I The Rebellion

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Blythe
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Knight's Fall: Episode I The Rebellion

Postby Blythe » Sat Jul 29, 2017 6:08 am

OOC Preface:

The following story is a historical tale. It is written as a story, but the events are true and accurate.
I only ask that the players understand that knowledge of these happenings is completely OOC unless they hear the tale directly from one of those involved - currently, the list of people who might have heard a detailed recount would be extremely short. I only mention this for new players - so that they may enjoy the stories as players and realize that characters will not automatically gain that knowledge. This, unlike other stories, is not 'posted in public' for characters enjoyment. It is not written by Raffe, but by me- the player- to share our role playing experiences through an important point in our characters lives.

Thanks for reading!
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Knight’s Fall: The Rebellion



The three junior knights sat at their assigned desks within the War Room of the Iron Knight fortress of Strifegorge. They sat, heads bowed and hands busily fidgeting or clasped tightly together, as the stern senior knight and recruiter for the Iron Knights paced between them with evenly distributed glares of disapproval and disdain.

“You are all fools!” The elder knight shouted, bringing the juniors to the position of strict attention when his fist slammed into the central, larger table. The once perfectly placed maps suffered an earthquake that sent strategic markers tumbling. It was nothing compared to the brief, but obvious, unsettling of the three other knights.

“Macleon… sir, we…” The blond junior knight that sat at the center of the three attempted some semblance of an explanation, “She…” the junior knight was reacting and not able to formulate his words quick enough.

“No excuses!” Macleon shouted and turned his heated gaze directly on the junior knight that dared to speak, “No excuses for this failure!”

The junior knight clamped his mouth shut, and quickly returned to contrite silence.

“She ordered…” The dark haired junior knight seated to the right of the first, with a more military-style hair cut spoke up only to be cut off by another of Macleon’s roars.

“You don’t take orders from her, Hojo! Not when it comes to her safety!” Macleon shot back, “Weakness.” Macleon then turned his attention to the third junior knight, “There is nothing any of you can say or do to prove you are worthy of that armor.”

“You can’t blame, Cody,” the blond, center-set junior knight spoke up again at the seeing the youngest of them shrink away from the venom of Macleon’s stare.

“Can’t I, Raffe?” Macleon’s glare returned to the speaker, and while he was no longer shouting his tone was just as dangerous, “He took the oath. You all did. You all failed. Utterly and completely failed in the one task that this Order has upheld for generations upon generations. You protect the royal line, nothing more complicated than that.” Macleon crossed his arms over his chest and looked down upon all of the juniors in turn. They all winced in unison at the knowledge they already shared.

Macleon wore the same armor as the others. His armor bore the crest of the Iron Knights on his chest: three gauntleted fists forming a triangle. The Iron Knight symbol was that of unity formed at the rise of the Golden Age. The Iron Knights were sworn to protect the High Kings and Queens of Valorn that brought the peace of the Golden Age and have done so to this point, ensuring the royal line continued through the ages. Aside from his rank as a senior knight, the most notable difference was that Macleon’s armor lacked the recent scars of battle that the others bore. No matter the effort put into repairing and polishing their armor, the marks of countless battles with the Darkness and demons of Balthazar, the Demon Lord, which threatened their home of Valorn, remained.

Raffe, the center- seated junior knight was tall, clean shaved, naturally handsome with collar length blond hair and gray eyes and well known for his usually pristinely polished armor. Hojo, who sat to Raffe’s right, was dark of hair and features; military style haircut, neatly close cropped beard and took pride in keeping his equipment in prime condition. Cody, to Raffe’s left, who was obviously younger but comparable in size and strength, sported short brown hair that stood in spikes of red and orange tips, and appeared to have taken the worst of the recent beatings. The three of them were no longer polished and prideful in this moment.

Macleon, weathered and stern, with unforgiving features stood in high judgment upon the three battle-worn junior knights.

Cody broke the silence first, looking to Raffe and Hojo, “He’s right. I failed. It is my fault that Cordelia was kidnapped by Balthazar,” He then addressed Macleon directly; “I shouldn’t have left her alone in the Throne Room.”

"You two should take a lesson," Macleon huffed with self-satisfaction at the defeat in Cody’s eyes, “I would strip you all right now if I thought there were suitable replacements," he continued with the thought that he had suitably brought the three junior knights to heel.

“What is your plan to rescue her?” Hojo interjected in his straight-to-business-like manner.

“Rescue?” Macleon seemed oddly amused at the notion, “There will be no rescue until I say. Junior Knights are to obey my orders and wait for me to give you directions. There will be no more of your childish foolishness. And if you even think…” the elder knight did not get to finish his threat before the safety of their mountain fortress was invaded by the sounds of terror and pain carried on a super-natural wind.

The Darkness and Demon Lord they battled so frequently were not resting in their own fortress, however. One of their favorite tricks was reaching the ears of those far away from attacks and tortures they inflicted. When the attacks began in the middle of Macleon’s tirade, every bit of torture was heard throughout the lands and especially within Strifegorge. The people of Valorn suffered. The High Queen of Valorn suffered. It was not long before the World Crier joined in sounding the alarm that massive demon attacks were happening across Valorn. They called for help and the Darkness ensured that all of Valorn was an audience to their suffering.

The junior knights reacted on instinct. Each of them simultaneously reached for pack and shield, already mid-stride before clearing their desks that half-dragged behind them.

“SIT!” Macleon commanded, seemingly unmoved by the din of tortured cries. The three froze, “Sit.” Macleon pointed downward as he commended again, “Down.”

Back in their seats, they only half heard what Macleon continued to say about duty and their oaths as Iron Knights. The World Crier seemed to interrupt almost every one of his sentences. Dundee was under attack, Branishor was under attack, the guildhalls surrounding the towns were under attack.

Raffe anxiously fidgeted in his seat, jerking at every Criers calls, “Sir! The guilds… our friends… they need us!”

“The guilds can fend for themselves. There will be no more running to the defense of others. You will learn your place as an Iron Knight. You are children and obviously require discipline. You will all obey only my orders from here on…”

Raffe moved first, but only by a blink, “To N’rolav with your orders!”

The echoes of Macleon’s anger followed them, but had little effect above the pleading cries of their friends, the people they fought and struggled with continuously against the Demon Lord that took their Queen and the Darkness that now aided his attempts to conquer Valorn.

Raffe, Hojo, and then Cody arrived through the portal from Strifegorge to the Throne Room of Caer Laledan. The battle orders were unspoken, drilled into them out of repetition to the point of instinct. Hojo coordinated defenses from the Throne Room of the Caer, Cody cleared the way toward Milltown and south to Dundee, while Raffe broke off toward Branishor and the ferry crossings.

The battle raged on for what could have been forever. Macleon appeared briefly in the Throne Room, attempting to resume his verbal lashing of Hojo until the minions of the Darkness broke in another massive wave of attacks that spilled over into the defended position. Then he was gone again long before the battle ended. When the last of the foes were defeated, the lands safe for the moment, and the wounded seen to, the three junior knights returned to Strifegorge Fortress. Still bearing the blood and gore from the battle, and barely stopping to see a cleric for themselves, they headed directly back to the War Room only to find the doors firmly shut. A note posted on the double doors in Macleon’s own hand greeted them:

“NO JUNIOR KNIGHTS ALLOWED.”

Hojo immediately growled and ripped the note from the door. He dropped the meaningless piece of refuse, and then extended his gauntleted fist toward Raffe and Cody. The three met eyes, in turn, in an unspoken vow stronger than any oath that came before. Raffe clasped his fist over Hojo’s forearm, and then Cody over Raffe’s and Hojo took hold of Cody’s. Three interlinked gauntlets in an unbroken triangle forged in battle to save their lands from utter destruction.

“We stand alone, now. Together.” Raffe said, resigned.
“For Valorn,” Cody’s steady voice reflected Raffe’s.
“For the Queen,” Hojo added with a direct, short nod.

The triangle was broken for the last time with a simultaneous movement of bringing their closed fists to their hearts. With a single unified effort, they broke through the doors of the War Room and into the beginning of the end of the Iron Knights.


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Viviyana
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Re: Knight's Fall: Episode I The Rebellion

Postby Viviyana » Sat Jul 29, 2017 11:31 am

Very cool and well written! Must have been really tough as players going against what Macleon was telling you to do. I'm sure glad you guys did though!!
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Re: Knight's Fall: Episode I The Rebellion

Postby Lavender » Sat Jul 29, 2017 12:46 pm

Very cool Raffe! I remember what was going on around that time, and I remember being told pieces of it in game, but completely awesome to have a recounting of it!!! Thank you!
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Re: Knight's Fall: Episode I The Rebellion

Postby Turcko » Sat Jul 29, 2017 2:04 pm

As a player that was around before this, gone before it all happened, and now back again, it was awesome to know some of the story behind the transition from the iron knights to the iron order.
Thank you for this Raffe, it's also quite well written, which is a good bonus :)
I take it more episodes will follow? :D
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Blythe
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Re: Knight's Fall: Episode I The Rebellion

Postby Blythe » Sat Jul 29, 2017 9:14 pm

Thank you.

Yes, there is a short series being written... or rather retold.
Of course none of this would have been possible without Admins creative interaction, the world in which we play and my role playing partners - Cody and Hojo's players - for this specific story-part.

:oops: I was pretty nervous about posting it to be honest.

And another thanks to Korba for taking my commission of never ending gratitude for the portrait. At the point he made it, he hadn't been told the entire story to this point.
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