I hated this.The very idea of me leaving the fate of Lady Natalia up to that scoundrel irritated my soul, but I had no choice. She asked me to protect her city. And since the militia I had raised wasn’t quite ready to shoulder the burden without me, I must be present to ensure the full security of Pridwen.If anything, this was my fault. I’d been too soft on these recruits. If I wanted somebody like me to lead the militia in my absence, then it made perfect sense that I should train the militia like how I was trained- through hell and back. I swear to the Gods I’d crush their souls by lunchtime tom-“Skera, can you please not furiously scowl and radiate killing intent in front of my babies?” Emma asked with an exasperated tone.“How could I not? I’m stuck here while Lady Natalia is out there!”“That’s your fault for not trusting the soldiers you trained these past few years.” Emma singsonged as she gently rocked Braxton back and forth in her humbly decorated living room. “I’ve seen t
I grunted blissfully and gradually relaxed as Sapphy thoroughly cleaned me up. Her personal method of waking me up will never fail to wake me up with a smile on my face. Sadly, we couldn’t go further than morning BJs since that was all the time we had. A new day had dawned, and we were still quite far from Carwennan’s south gate. Since the gate closed at sundown, we were once again racing against the sun on the last leg of the journey. Fortunately for us, the wildlife had begun to learn that charging towards loud noises tended to result in death, so only the dumb ones would even bother charging at the caravan. Because of that, I was confident we’d make it in time.With pigeons cooing in the background, I casually drove my almost-empty wagon as Sapphy slept peacefully next to me with my seeds still in her mouth (whatever makes her happy, I guess). I gently stroked her brunette hair with black highlights as I schemed up a way to harvest iron and steel from the noble brats in this city.
Back when I was a naive little girl, I too dreamed of marrying an Imperial Prince, or some future Duke. In those innocent fantasies, the nobleman of my dreams would be my ideal partner in life- kind, thoughtful, and bold. Those fantasies didn’t last past my first bleed. I must've met hundreds of noblemen since then, and I had been disappointed by every single one of them. Every single one of them was lacking in some way- arrogant, abusive, indolent, dim-witted, weak, or some dreadful combination of vices. Perhaps the princelings and the dukelings would prove to be less disappointing, but I doubt any of them would travel to the edge of civilization just for an upstart daughter of a Count. When the topic of arranged marriage came up right around my 14th moon, I was naturally distraught. Given the odds, I would be matched with yet another disappointment. And Father’s lack of wisdom proved the odds to be right as he matched me with that arrogant toerag. Fortunately, my fate was overturne
Back when I was a naive little girl, I too dreamed of marrying an Imperial Prince, or some future Duke. In those innocent fantasies, the nobleman of my dreams would be my ideal partner in life- kind, thoughtful, and bold. Those fantasies didn’t last past my first bleed. I must've met hundreds of noblemen since then, and I had been disappointed by every single one of them. Every single one of them was lacking in some way- arrogant, abusive, indolent, dim-witted, weak, or some dreadful combination of vices. Perhaps the princelings and the dukelings would prove to be less disappointing, but I doubt any of them would travel to the edge of civilization just for an upstart daughter of a Count.When the topic of arranged marriage came up right around my 14th moon, I was naturally distraught. Given the odds, I would be matched with yet another disappointment. And Father’s lack of wi
Well shit. I was gonna torch the red light district on fire tonight in order to thin out the guards (I was a sucker for the classics), but that plan went to hell the moment Tali discovered her inner mass-shooter. The decimation of that no-name Baron Household this afternoon really riled up the metaphorical hornet’s nest. Guards at key installations, like the forge-smithies, had doubled or even tripled. Tension in the city turned up to 11, and the only saving grace was that the Rangers refused to step into this dumpster fire. Either way, subtlety was no longer a viable option. Which leaves dumb brute force or clever misdirection. Unlike last time, I couldn’t play the long game and hide my handiwork in the shadows of suspicions between rival factions. So clever misdirection wouldn’t have the time to develop. So I guess I had to go with brute force. According to Mike, none of the competing noble bottom-feeders had the brains to engineer a grand alliance. So all I could work with wer
I stood on the roof of an abandoned store (one of many abandoned buildings in the dying city) about roughly 300-400 meters away from the South Gate. As one would expect, a free-for-all battle broke out right in front of the gate as minor nobles hoped to take advantage of the sudden extermination of House Essex. Like vultures to a rotting carrion, the pitiful fools fought with ferocity and determination, each thinking that it was their destiny to rise above their stations. I had a feeling if we gave them a few more days, they’d do us all a favor and kill themselves. But we hadn’t the luxury of time. Aside from the troubles in the city, we simply didn’t have the supplies. Hell, I planned for 2 dozen children on this trip; not 70 kids crammed into 7 wagons with 6 adolescents and grannies walking besides the convoy. This was a rough trip back home. The convoy crawled to the gate, some 50 meters from the melee. I watched as Sapphy unleashed her Expert-level spell > on the rab
Authors’ note: This chapter is taken from the journal of Prince Avalon of House Artorius. Well, this Rummy character sure had made a proper mess in his wake. The city of Carnwennan was in shambles, dozens of noble Houses extinguished or ruined, and Gods know how many lives- highborn or otherwise- were reaped as a result of this madness. I would wager that it would take a generation or two for Carnwennan to recover, if it ever recovers.I am still piecing together what had happened based on what the scouts and knights had found, but this much is clear- he is no common commoner. It takes a certain arrogance and competence to plan and execute destruction of this scale.The decisive (and irreversible) nature of his action implies that he was never content living his lot and will never be content living his lot as the Gods intended. This man was prepared from the very beginning to defy the Pantheon and the natural order of this world, collateral damage be damned.In a way, both factions w
“Kneel, peasant! For you stand in the presence of Prince Avalon of House Artorius!” My shifty Scoutmaster announced.The prisoner, who is in chains and manacles, slowly and hesitantly kneels in front of me. He seems to be a portly fellow of 40 or so winters.His hair is disheveled, and the state of his dress suggests that he was in the middle of an afternoon nap when the intrepid Turt apprehended him. “You may stand.” I cordially invited my new prisoner. The man looks wary of my invitation until Turt nudges him from behind. He tentatively rises up and stands before me. His face is understandably tense, as if he’s deciding between betraying his longtime friend and saving his family from certain imprisonment. A difficult choice, I must admit and sympathize. But unfortunately for him, I intend on making this a really easy decision.“I am going to be honest with you, peasant. I will sentence you to hang as a spy no matter what you say to me today. The only difference you can make today is
The burly Paladin suddenly stopped struggling to get at me and guffawed. “HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! You hear that? The stupid boy wants to duel me” He pushed the restraining hands aside and pointed right at me. “Fine! I accept! I’ll gut you just like I did to your street rats! Maybe that will teach you to respect your superiors.” The Archmage frowned deeply. I guessed he wasn’t a fan of Palusi’s plan to kill me in order to get me to be more pliant. Well, nobody ever confused Paladins with PhD’s… The Prince, after a moment of deliberation, finally spoke. “Paladin Palusi. Bring Ser Rummy to me alive, or you shall never be a Paladin again for the rest of your life.” That took some of the excitement out of the Paladin’s eyes. “Your Grace. I… I hear and obey.” “Should I win, I want the remains of my scouts, along with the wolf.” I calmly declared the stakes. Archmage Schuma weakly smiled in response. “Ser Rummy, is that truly all you want in exchange for risking your life and limb against one of
“You ready buddy?” I gave Loki an affectionate nose pat (Loki is far too tall for me to do head pats by now).“AWOOOO~” An armored Loki replied as he sniffed my neck. He was wearing a leather cap on his head (with 2 holes cut out for his ears), a leather chest piece that covered the front of his neck and down his chest, and a leather armor around the stirrup protecting his spine. “Yeah, you are! You’re my good boy!” I gave his ears a good petting and hopped on. Tali was pulled up shortly after. We sallied out of the gate in a blur. Loki gracefully jumped across the various trenchlines that lined the field and arrived at a stone obelisk with a “700m” carving near the top.Tali and I got off Loki and waited for the other side to arrive. Within a few minutes, a diplomatic party of 4 rode their war horses towards our position. Based on the fancy gear, fancy flag, and fancy horse (those things are twice as large as the horses in Carnwennan), this is the guy I needed to meet. The diploma
Sigh… I supposed it was very on-brand that shit hit the fan on the one day that I was off. After all these months of pulling 12 hour workdays, I figured I deserved a little morning break with the kiddos and their wolf puppies. Loki just had another batch of puppies with members of his impressive harem, so I was letting them mingle and play together outside on a beautiful sunny day. I was able to enjoy the blissful tranquility of puppies and babies for precisely 13 minutes before the castle bells were rung.To our credit, we responded quickly to the impending crisis. Within half an hour after the signal flare was sighted, everyone outside the walls were drawn inside and all militia members were at the battlements manning their posts. The non-combatants were heading to the arms factory for shelter (and to be gang-pressed into emergency ammo workers). The annual drills I made all of us do really paid off in that regard. I arrived at the battlements roughly 10 minutes after I’d heard the
The day started out like any other in these past few months- me waking up buck naked with two beautiful women by my side (equally naked, I may add!). Sure, I was usually exhausted from a jam-packed 10+ hour workday by the time I got back home, but the sight of 2 alluringly half-naked women bent over on my bed invigorated me in ways that even a potent cocaine and methamphetamine cocktail could not. The women of my harem had decided that 2 of them would “service” me at any given night while the other one would rest up and watch the kids. Of course, some part of me wanted to take all 3 of them at once every night. But I think I would drive myself into an early grave if I overworked my poor heart like that, especially if I had to work 10+ hours the day after…Tali had fortunately integrated into the harem with no drama. Of course, since my 1st wife Emma was the one that encouraged her to jump into the degeneracy, she had no problem with handing over the nominal role of the “head wife” to
“Here is a new draft of the report on the iron shortage, Forge-master Rummy.” Nairi helpfully handed me the finalized draft of the report cobbled together from a series of disorganized notes and illegible calculations from yours truly. “Shall we go over the report together now so I could finalize it?” She asked in her typical angel-sweet voice. “Correction: I will go over and finalize the draft. You still need your rest.” I pointedly replied. Apparently, my overworked apprentice had a fainting episode while I was out in the Elven territory. She was teaching some of the newbies how to press the ammo cartridges at the forge-smithy around noon-time when she fainted for a moment. It was probably heat exhaustion or heat stroke from the ever-burning forge fires, but this is unacceptable. Considering his stance on work-life balance, Ronnie Lee would be rolling in his grave if he saw this. Nairi’s sunny enthusiasm for forge-smithy sometimes distracted from the fact that she was still a matur
*BOOM* The last Ranger fell upon his knees and slumped down, clutching his chest under the mid-day sun. Soon he would join his comrades (and my former comrades) and depart the mortal plane. After I slinged the Garand over my shoulder, I cautiously approached the 4 fallen Rangers. As messed up as it is to loot them, my growing militia has equipment needs and military-grade body armor doesn’t grow on trees.As I turned one of the bodies over to strip it of the leather armor, the not-dead-yet Ranger grabbed my hand with what little strength he had left. Unlike the movies and books, people usually don’t immediately die after getting shot. The blood loss takes time. “It’ll be your day soon, traitor!” He croaked with all the malice and bitterness he could still muster. “Until then, mind if I borrow your stuff?.” I nonchalantly brushed aside his arm and continued looting. My former comrade gradually lost his consciousness as he bled out. By the time I was done looting him, he had expired.
In an austere meeting room of the City Hall with ornate furnishing, I begin my speech in front of all the relevant factions- my Legion’s general staff, the nobles of Carnwennan, and the general staff of the 626th Legion. Every one of them are in full military or noble dress, sparing no expenses. “Gentlemen, it has been a challenging moon and a half, but we have finally saved Carnwennan from the brink.” After waiting for the polite applause to die down, I continue. “Now, I will announce the reason why I came to Carnwennan. I was called here to accomplish the Quest that the Pantheon had bestowed upon me- the capture of Adept Rummy and his associates.” A wave of confused murmurs and “who?” erupts at my announcement. Fully understandable, I admit. But it is not the duty of mortals to publicly question the will of the Gods. Nor is it the duty of subjects to publicly question the will of their prince. That is the natural order of the world we live in. In response to this chatter, my Palad
“Kneel, peasant! For you stand in the presence of Prince Avalon of House Artorius!” My shifty Scoutmaster announced.The prisoner, who is in chains and manacles, slowly and hesitantly kneels in front of me. He seems to be a portly fellow of 40 or so winters.His hair is disheveled, and the state of his dress suggests that he was in the middle of an afternoon nap when the intrepid Turt apprehended him. “You may stand.” I cordially invited my new prisoner. The man looks wary of my invitation until Turt nudges him from behind. He tentatively rises up and stands before me. His face is understandably tense, as if he’s deciding between betraying his longtime friend and saving his family from certain imprisonment. A difficult choice, I must admit and sympathize. But unfortunately for him, I intend on making this a really easy decision.“I am going to be honest with you, peasant. I will sentence you to hang as a spy no matter what you say to me today. The only difference you can make today is
Authors’ note: This chapter is taken from the journal of Prince Avalon of House Artorius. Well, this Rummy character sure had made a proper mess in his wake. The city of Carnwennan was in shambles, dozens of noble Houses extinguished or ruined, and Gods know how many lives- highborn or otherwise- were reaped as a result of this madness. I would wager that it would take a generation or two for Carnwennan to recover, if it ever recovers.I am still piecing together what had happened based on what the scouts and knights had found, but this much is clear- he is no common commoner. It takes a certain arrogance and competence to plan and execute destruction of this scale.The decisive (and irreversible) nature of his action implies that he was never content living his lot and will never be content living his lot as the Gods intended. This man was prepared from the very beginning to defy the Pantheon and the natural order of this world, collateral damage be damned.In a way, both factions w