The fortress city of Kenabres has been abuzz with excitement for weeks now. The festival of Armasse is ready to kick off, and with it has come a surge in morale among the weary troops who long for home. The festival, once a time of learning and education concerning wars as they relate to history, has become a celebration of all things warfare. Jousting matches, duels, and re-enactments of famous battles are the main attractions, though common festival games, food, and drink abound as well. While Armasse itself isn’t set to truly begin until noon, the festivities have already begun among the people. Soldiers on leave have taken to their spirits early, common citizens of the city have put on their best and begun occupying themselves with side attractions, and even the city guard has taken care to look as clean and proper as possible. As the time draws closer for the opening ceremonies to begin, people of all stripes make their way to Clydwell Plaza, for it is there that Lord Hulrune, High Inquisitor of Kenabres, himself will make the speech that formally begins this long-awaited celebration. You find yourself among this early crowd, hoping to get a good view of the ceremony.
The crowd at Clydwell Plaza is alive with chatter and growing by the minute. You've arrived early, and yet you're still quite a ways back from the main stage in front of the cathedral. A line of city guards delineates the edge of the crowd and individual soldiers are being used as ushers, fitting newcomers in wherever they can. You've been placed on the very fringes of the crowd, and find yourself standing in a mix of peoples from all walks of life. Crusaders, nobles, and peasants all brush elbows today, their inequities having almost been forgotten for the moment.
The knight idly allows himself to be drawn deeper into the crowd pushing forward to the great cathedral while lost in his own thoughts. His features hidden under the helm he wears, the only face to be seen is the mask of the smiling woman hanging from its back. A long cloak, the color of cobalt just as the sky right after sunset, hangs from his shoulders. The flat gray scales of his mail gleam with the fresh polish of sand, wire and vinegar. A dagger hangs from the belt as his waist, a vicious morningstar made from a black pitted metal opposite. The leather strap across his chest wraps around to a great wooden shield. It's face a solid field of gray, a smiling mask centre ord.
I do hope that this turns out to be a proper festival with a tournament. I will find where they are holding the mêlée. I could use the coin that such a mix would bring.
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Deia softly stroked the head of the owl perched on her arm and spoke in a soft voice, "Don't worry, Astra. The crowd won't hurt you. Soon you will be able to fly across the night sky."
The crowd was perhaps as many people as Deia had seen in once place and it continued to grow. She tried to stay near the edge of the crowd and keep a view of the area where Lord Hulrune would appear. She had never seen the Lord Inquisitor but had heard he was quite an impressive sight.
She thought to herself, "Well, Father was certainly right. The festival is much bigger than anything we could have put on at home. I'm glad I got to stay for a few extra days. I do hope to get a souvenir to take home with me.
Deia turned back to Astra, the owl. "I hope there is a feast with some lamb. I bet I could get you a piece too." She put the owl on her shoulder and moved to her left, trying to keep some space open in front of her.
Max had woken up before dawn to prepare for Armasse. The church of Aroden was rarely busy, but Armasse was a respectable exception, as Armasse had its roots as a holy day dedicated to Aroden. Max spent the morning making sure that the decor and the rituals were done properly, in the same manner as was done a century ago.
Now it was time for the modern Armasse celebration. Dressed in his finest attire, his holy symbol polished and in prominent display, Max was eager to hear from Lord Hulrune. But first, he wanted a shady spot to rest his weary feet. Only, it was impossible to see anything, with half the people around him wearing hats.
"Meadow," he says, talking to the bird on his shoulder. "Go find us a nice spot under a tree to sit."
"Tree!" replies the bird. Meadow flutters off happily.
"And come back quickly!" shouts Max. Meadow had a habit of being distracted by bits of food that would fall by the wayside, especially when Max couldn't see.
Tina stretched her legs and arms as she woke, the sounds of the festival coming through the window. Bounding out of bed, she quickly dressed and had a small bowl of porridge, not wanting to fill herself up when then food stalls opened.
I guess I will go hear the speech before checking out anything else. After all, things won't really get started until it is done.
With practiced movements, Tina got her numerous vials, powders, kits and other knick-knacks squirreled away on her person before skipping out towards the plaza.
Dressed in his shabby and worn leather armor, throwing axe and a stout club made from an oak branch hanging at his belt. Rex stands nervously in the crowd around the plaza.
I hope Lord Hulrune gets this speech over quick. I want to enter into some of the Armasse competitions. I'm going to show those crusaders what I can do!
He then nervously reaches into his cloak to make sure his arcane wonder device is still securely fastened to his belt.
Kel had walked into town with the slow measured pace of someone who'd been on the road for a long time. He'd long since tossed off the burned and bloodied tabbard of his former employer, but his economical armor and simple weaponry gave him away as a fairly normal rank and file soldier. His sword and shield were slung on his back for ease of carry.
He was a handsome, if tired and serious looking man who seemed at first glance to be a normal human, or perhaps a half-elf, but a closer inspection revealed that the whites of his eyes were instead an inky black making his reddish irises look like they were floating in space. A strange and intricate scale pattern crawled out of his collar and a short ways up his neck.
He wandered through the excited town, surprised that he'd arrived during such a festival.
All sorts of people here today. Maybe one of them can point me towards a scholar or priest that might be able to help us.
The armored man next to him seemed somehow familiar, though Kel was sure they'd never met. Something about the other man made him curious and instinctually uncomfortable at the same time.
I don't want your help! How many times do I have to say that!
Don't know. Keep it up. I'll tell you when it sinks in.
As Kosz pushes his way deeper into the crowd he gets backed into by a man with a peculiar haircut. When he tries to continue past, the man grabs his arm and begins yelling at him.
"You impatient idiot! You spilled my drink! What, did you think the festival would start sooner if you'd made it to the front of the crowd?"
Tina wiggles her way through the crowd, a big advantage in being short is that she can get into tighter spaces. She hears some yelling and wonders if they are selling ale and wine so early.
Wouldn't be surprising, but how can anyone drink ale? Yech.
Rex looks over to his left at the lout causing a commotion with a man dressed in chain armor something about spilling his drink.
Ah look here the first drunken brawl of the festival.
Rex grips his stout oak club still secured to his belt, I may have to be ready for trouble.
Kosz immediately checks that his belt pouch is still in place. He then regards the man for a few seconds before replying, "Peace. We are all in time for the start of the festival. Let us enjoy the fine day together."
The man keeps his grip on Kosz's arm and pulls him in closer, pressing himself right into the knight's face. He lowers his voice and growls his words.
"Oh, we'll be enjoying the day together all right, bub. This is the one time of year that I can brawl without the guards interfering, so as soon as this thing starts we're hitting the arenas and you're gonna pay for that drink with your hide. Unless, of course, you're a disrespectful coward. You aren't gonna go disrespecting me, are ya?"
Tina hears nothing over the crowds and continues meandering around the edges, waiting for the festivities to start.
An exuberant fanfare plays from the front of the cathedral. Most of the crowd quiets, and the people focus their gaze upon the stage that's been set up at the base of the cathedral's stairs. A herald can just barely be seen standing center stage, but as he speaks his rich voice flows clearly throughout the area.
"Ladies. Gentlemen. Crusaders and distinguished guests. I welcome you to the opening ceremony of Armasse. While Lord Hulrun will be out shortly to officially commence the celebration, I'm tasked with reminding you of certain major rules regarding the festival. As with last year, at no time should there be any fighting outside of the designated arenas. Any disputes may be settled in them free of charge, and fighting in the streets will result in jailing, no matter the reason. All crusaders not granted special leave for the festivities are reminded that their indulgences should be kept to a reasonable level. At no time during any of the officially sanctioned matches or exhibitions are you to interfere or be on the field. And lastly, the program for each day's games may be found posted on boards here in Clydwell Plaza."
"Now, to begin the games, I give you Lord Hulrun, High Inquisitor of Kenabres!"
The herald bows and makes a gesture to his right as he steps backwards out of center stage. From the left side of the stage enters a well-kept man in his late 50's, dressed for battle in half-plate and leathers, with a shield strapped to his back and a sword hanging from his side. It's obvious that he has been magically enlarged in order to make himself visible to as many in the crowd as possible. When he speaks his voice booms out over the crowd.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I welcome you to the first day of Armasse..."
As Lord Hulrun begins to make his speech, the sky darkens as clouds eclipse the sun. A sharp crack is heard, followed by the low, rumbling bass of a thunderclap.
All the commotion reminds Max why he would much rather find an out-of-the-way spot to sit down. The rabble that the Crusades drew to Kenabres could be so uncivilized. Where is that bird? he thinks to himself.
Max contents himself with listening in on the speech, peering around the various hats in his way.
Tina jolts as the crack of thunder is heard. Is that part of the festivities?
Rex relaxes as the brute seems to stop harassing the man in chain armor fr the moment.
I guess they are going to brawl it out in the arena, my money is the chain wearing guy. He seems like he knows what he is doing. When is this thing going to start?
Hurry up and get your speech over Lord Windbag-Inquisitor, nobody cares anyway...wait what the hells was that thunder sound? Great we are going to get to do a sharpshooting competition in the rain. Just my luck.
The fine scales on the back of Kel's neck rippled in anxiety.
"Um..." he said absently as he looked to the sky.
Got a bad feeling about this...
Something is coming. Hopefully you'll die.
If I die, won't you die?
Hopefully
The sky grows blacker as Lord Hulrun continues his speech. The crowd begins to murmur about the rapidly changing weather and how it's ruining the festival.
"...and to learn from the past, using it to improve ourselves. Using it to usher in a bright new future free from the blight that is the Worldwound..."
As if following a cue, the sun peers out from the clouds to brighten the day once more. Though something seems off about it.
Tina is getting weirded out. Umm...This is strange. Why are our shadows stretching out like it was sundown but it is still early in the day?
Meadow flitters back at last and lands on Max's shoulder. "Sun!" it squeaks.
"Yes, I know, the sun is back," replies Max. "Thank Gozreh. I was starting to think it might rain. I take it you didn't find anywhere to sit."
Heh. Something comes? Everything looks fine now.
Of course. You're right. What could I possibly know about these things?
Idiot.
Kosz frowns to himself as he notices the discrepancy. Pointing down, he remarks to rude drunk pawing at him, "I am more concerned with why our shadows are suddenly moving in the wrong direction."
Rex begins to look nervous again...Wait those shadows don't look right, what the hells is going on?
The man with the odd haircut looks down at his shadow and then turns to look westward. As he does, his eyes grow wide and his mouth drops open. He tries to speak, but stammers his words before yelling, "Th... Th... The Kite!"
You can hear screaming from elsewhere in the crowd. As more people are made aware that something is wrong they turn westward themselves, causing word to spread quickly.
Lord Hulrun stop his speech mid-sentence and his voice turns to angered shouts as he yells at his advisers who sit off stage. "Whose idea was this? I demand to know what's going on! No one is to do anything to The Kite without my permission!"
With Hulrun's admission that he knows nothing of what's going on, a slight panic starts to spread.
The Wardstone? Just what is going on?! Tina is getting kinda scared and turns around...
Wha?! What is happening? What is that second sun? Tina's bravado creeps away to a little corner of her mind and she is quite scared now, her palms sweaty as alchemy formula skitter away from her mind.
"What the hell?" the black-eye's man in the crowd says in surprise and concern.
Precisely.
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Deia turns to the west, looking with most of the people in the crowd. She squints for a second as her eyes adjust to the bright light behind The Kite.
"Well, Astra, this isn't good, " she says to the owl as it fidgets on her shoulder. "If the Lord Inquisitor doesn't know what is going on, who is in control here?" she says to the bird.
Kosz follows the drunkard's gaze to see the light pouring from beyond the "Kite". Nonplussed, he asks, "Is it an actual kite? That would be quite an engineering feat. I feel coarse even saying it, but I am less impressed by the light."
The man, not removing his stunned gaze from the fortress, replies to Kosz with an incredulous tone. "It's a fortress, you idiot! The wardstone is kept there! Don't you know anything about Kenabres?"
Max remains quite oblivious to the growing concern - until Lord Hulrune himself speaks. Max turns around, then shades his eyes from the glare of the light. What's this all about? Max thinks about whether he's seen - or read about - such an odd phenomenon before. .
What is going on? I don't think this is part of the festival, Lord Windbag seems confused and people seem to be getting panicky.
Kosz slowly nods in understanding. "I am afraid I do not know much about Kenabres. I only arrived this morning. Still, your high inquisitor seems surprised by this display, so I must assume that it is an ill omen. You will excuse me as I must needs attend my duty. Should I survive, I will return to the steps of the cathedral so you may find me to press your claim to monomacy."
Tina keeps watching with a tightened stomach, wondering what is going to happen.
Maybe I should just go home? Tina starts edging away.
"Mono-what?" the man replies, before catching up to Kosz. "I know what you're trying to do, and it's not gonna work. I'm sticking to you like glue until we get our fight. I'm not gonna let you trick me out of it with fancy words."
A flash of lightning streaks down into the radiance surrounding The Kite, accompanied by another sharp crack and the peal of thunder. The ball of light rapidly expands outwards before collapsing in on itself, causing only the keep to glow. Another bolt of lighting hits and the sounds of an explosion rips through the plaza. Fragments of The Kite fly in every direction as the ground rumbles beneath your feet, the keep having been replaced by a pillar of fire and lightning that stretches to the heavens. Emerging from within this pillar is a massive winged form, bathed in smoke and lightning of its own and wielding a flaming whip and sword. Shrieks and gasps work their way through the crowd; Khorramzadeh, the balor lord known to crusaders as the Storm King, has arrived to lay siege to the city once more.
A loud roar comes from the front of the crowd and a single figure leaps skyward. Wings scaled in silver emerge from its back as it sheds its disguise mid-flight and reveals itself for all its reptilian glory. Terendelev, the oldest and greatest protector of Kenabres, surges into the sky and engages the demon. The sound of combat echoes in from the streets. Runners begin flooding into the plaza, screaming of attackers surging over the walls. Demons of all kinds burst into being in the midst of the crowd, and fighting erupts all around you.
The Storm King has brought his legion, and the city has risen to fight back.
Lord Hulrun's magically amplified voice booms as he yells to the entire city. "Those who can fight, FIGHT! Those who can't, LEARN! There are no civilians anymore! Push for The Kite! Protect the Wardstone! This day is for celebrating battle, and now the battle is joined! Push these fiends back to the pits that spawned them!" With that he runs from the stage, sword and shield in hand.
Storm King?! Storm King?! Oh, oh. I.. Tina is wracked by fear and clenches her fist into her mouth and whimpers.
Oh I can't fight that. helphelphelphelp.
Terendelev is an ancient silver dragon who has pledged itself to the protection of Kenabres since the installation of the wardstone at the end of the second crusade. However, it has been fighting in the crusades since the very beginning and has been heralded as one of the crusaders' greatest champions for various exploits over the years.