This Is How A Dwarven Queen Dies, Part I


Silver Crusade


Hey all, this is something that I'm experimenting with at the moment. It's an interactive story, posted in pieces, with the community dictating what happens next. We have an end goal, we have a start, and now the rest is up to you. See the end of the post for directions.

The next part of the thread will be posted in a new thread on Saturday the 22nd of February.

Part I: “This Is How A Dwarven Queen Dies”

Highhelm

Telaki Duerguin, only daughter of High King Borogrim the Hale and 13th in line for the throne, fell bloodied and scorched to the ground, her song cut short. The Crown of Borogrim the Hale, King of Highhelm, fell in front of her broken body, her blade Vajra clanging to the ground beside it. Dwarven blood ran freely onto the stones of Highhelm.

This would have been the end of her but dwarves were stubborn and tougher than stone. Her hand found Vajra. Groaning in pain, Telaki pushed off the cobblework, climbing back to her feet. She pulled her shield Ironwall close to her side.

Ash rained inside the sky citadel and the wind whipped around her, pulling her blonde hair in all directions. The incubus Sanglamore, he who had bought such ruin to her people, strode amongst the blood and the bodies, indifferent to the dead dwarves around him.

The city guard would soon arrive, but they would be too late to save the king. Telaki gripped Vajra and stepped forward.

“Sanglamore!”

The fiend stopped, looking over his shoulder. “You should stay on the ground,” he warned, his voice a deep purr. “You are not my goal.”

Telaki would not permit Borogrim to die. The soldiers who lay broken around her had given their lives for the king; she could do no less herself. “You have spilled enough dwarven blood today, fiend. It is time to put you down.”

That seemed to amuse him. Sanglamore fully faced the lone dwarf, bloodied scimitar held comfortably in his pale hand. “You, your songs, and your tiny sword are no match for me.”

Telaki cleared her throat, the lingering magic of her war chant floating around her, the air whipped into a swirl by her power. “Then come,” she spat, leveling her blade at the Incubus, the adamantine edge stained red by the fires that burned all around her.

“This is how a dwarven queen dies.”
***
Six months earlier

“You've grown up so fast.” Her father smiled as he touched her cheek. “I'm proud of you.”

Telaki couldn't help but smile back. “Thank you, father, but I don't feel I've earned your praise just yet.”

“Spoken like a true queen; one who realizes that respect is not automatic and must be earned.”

“I am no queen, nor will I ever be.” Telaki's smile faded. “Unless every one of my twelve brothers succumbs to some fatal accident.”

“Do not speak of such things,” Borogrim said. “For too much of our recent history dwarves have stood apart. We must unite again, for the good of all, under the banner of our true leader.”

“That is to be Agrym's path. My brother will serve well as king; I want to do something else with my life.” Telaki put her hands on her hips. “I have applied for membership with the Pathfinder Society. The Silver Crusade needs soldiers, and too long have I languished in our mountain halls.”

Her father was disappointed, she could tell, but he concealed it well. “Your life is your own, Telaki Duerguin. If you leave, you do so with my blessing.”

She kissed his cheek. “Thank you, father.”

“What more could I give my only daughter?”

Telaki hesitated, the words floating to her lips. “Well...”

Post “1” to talk more about the Pathfinder Society.
Post “2” to talk about life outside Highhelm.
Post “3” to visit Telaki's mother.
Voting ends on Thursday the 20th of February.

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