Raid Phase 1
AvalonThe armory in Avalon is a place of beauty. Each wall is decorated with vivid tapestries of valorous knights and their tales - Chaddick’s Last Stand at the Lake, Arthur Pulling the Sword, and King Artri’s Coronation - all rendered in fine thread and illuminated with shimmering strands of crystal. The light in the room comes from a finely cast silver chandelier hanging from glistening glass chain links, and the warm, comforting light emanates softly from the iridescent crystals from Gillikin. Each weapon has its own well-finished and oiled wooden stand, and the room is complete with immaculate maintenance benches.
Sir Adelaide was walking through the hall, lost in thought. He had always been a loyal servant to the king, and while he was troubled sometimes by Rafal’s radical policies, he himself had risen from a lowly peasant into the knights, and he wondered sometimes if things should be more… equitable. A quiet meow broke him from his thoughts. Unusual, given the castle's strong aura of magic, remaining from when it housed the lady of the lake. They didn't keep pets, did they?
Following the noise down the hall, Adelaide opened the door and found himself in the armory, the gleaming white halls opening up into the wondrous hall of war that was the heart of the knights. What was a cat doing here? There were no vermin in the Lady’s castle, perhaps it was a rebel spy? He furrowed his finely groomed brows and set to searching. He was a quarter of the way through the room, his soft tunic brushing against the marble floor, when he heard a bell to his right. Drawing his dagger, he reached for the sword stand, yanked it to the side, and shouted "found you!"
But nothing was there.
A moment later, after a cacophony of alarm bells and wires had rung, Sir Adelaide found himself under a weighted net, with a kobold pick in his face. "What's going on!?" He shouted, as guards began to rush into the room. The kobold just stared back at him, eyes gleaming. "Found the thief."
Adelaide scoffed in return, and sternly replied "My good soldier, I am a loyal servant of king Arthos. I would never betray him or his generals in such a manner."
The kobold shrugged, and stepped back as the Avalon guard swarmed into the room. "He's right here, we caught him red-handed," he shouted, intermingling with shouts of alarm and demands for identification.
Borna CoricThe squad of bookbinders marched down the road, insignia shining bright in the evening mountain sun. They seemed unaware of their surroundings, as if walking through a dream, unaware of the danger at hand. All of a sudden, a commotion arose from the next street over, and the squad fluidly moved to intercept. When they arrived, they saw a crowd of people surrounding a merchant. The portly man was on the ground next to an overturned cart, shaking in fear and relief. “What’s going on here?” asked the lead guard, a kobold by the name of Gavin.
A bystander piped up, “That cart there nearly killed this man! It’s a good thing the knight saved him.”
The squad looked around briefly, but there was no sign of anyone knightly in status on the cloud road. “And where would this knight be, citizen?” asked Gavin.
“Why, he left that way.” the bystander replied, pointing up the street before helping the merchant up. “You should be able to find him easily, though, he’s a bear.”
An unnamed bear who was also a knight? Unusual, and just the kind of person to barrel through several tripwires in a cramped tunnel in defiance of Rafal. Gavin issued orders quickly, setting his squad to a wide sweep of the city, and whistled twice. They would find this knight, and put him to questioning before the night had risen.
Hours later, the squad had come up empty handed. Countless leads and recountings of sightings by helpful citizens, but no sign of a bear, let alone a knightly bear. They had plenty of information, but none of it made sense. His name was “Sir Bearington”, he wore a light green tunic, he had saved no fewer than two people from cart accidents today, and he had apparently rescued a lost child from a dragon last year, floor-side. Someone even said that he had ventured into the Caves of Contempo and emerged with a lost relic of Merlin. But one piece of information stuck out to Gavin: his watchers in the shadows had seen some movement along the vines, unusual movement. Maybe there was yet a string to tug on.
That evening, the bookbinder search party walked quietly through the fluffy cumulonimbus walls of an alley, on their way back to the rendezvous point. They had seen little on their walk other than a few petty thieves, and they were tired of the patrol, the dark earth above them weighing on their minds. The rendezvous point was near a beanstalk up from the surface, with glowing firefly lanterns illuminating the wide square. As they entered the square, a large shadow moved on the other side, a massive outline in fine clothes and leather.
“It’s him!” Cried the lead soldier, and the chase was on, the adrenaline of the Bookbinder patrol pumping as they ran after the bear knight. The chase led them through several narrow alleys, past several stacks of toppled-over crates, and even past All-Night Pies, some of the soldiers hesitating at the delightful scent of baked goods. But before long, they had lost the trail, the bear seemingly having disappeared off the face of the night sky.
Elsewhere, a man with long dirty blonde hair sat in a dim bar, looking out the window over the world below, eyes catching on the dark spire of the castle reaching up to touch the upper/lower clouds. He slid another coin to the bartender, and the gnome hopped off the stool to pour him another beer. The bar was crowded, and the chatter made for a gentle hum to drown out any individual words. The patrons around him were natives, and while he himself was dressing the part, he was nowhere near acclimated to Borna Coric’s unique arrangement of earth and sea. His compatriots kept saying “you look down too much” but he couldn’t for the life of him tell whether they meant he was looking at the skysea or the earth. Regardless, he had a job to do. Leaving the bar and walking into the cool night sky, he walked along the fluffy cumulus-floored alley and crossed a thick beanstalk towards the sidestreet where he was needed next. He was just stepping off the vine when three men, dressed in plain clothes and wielding iron cudgels, stepped out and surrounded him. Everything went black.
Jaunt JolieThe Sea Ferret’s Rag
BOOKBINDERS RAID POPULAR TEA BAR
Bookbinders were spotted entering the popular tea bar “Teatime” in search of rebels against the crown. Our reporter attempted to question the leader of the Bookbinders, a large Troll named Grenda, but was simply put to the side and ignored. More to follow next issue.
Kingdom KyrgiosThe Royal Rot
CORRUPT CAMELOT EXTORTS HONEST MERCHANTS
Shazabah Scrolls and Fancies owner Amr was arrested by Rafal’s Bookbinders on
fraudulent charges of tax evasion today, and his assets seized to “Repay debts to the Kingdom.” Meanwhile, extensive renovations are underway in Kyrgios and Camelot alike. Where’s the money
really going? To Rafal’s hand-picked “Charities”, of course...
Author
Topic: Fight for the Woods - a Fairy Tale Arms Race (Read 1722 times)