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Part One
The County of Arahn was not the most populous to begin with, headed by The Lord, Alexander, himself, and a few subjects, as well as an indigenous population that was found nearby. But those subjects that were involved in the Court of Arahn were quite interesting, especially the one named Sirio. A local priest, born from the indigenous population, he helped Lord Alexander build the road systems and even runs a well known religious service, honoring the traditional values of Laghiman Paganism. But this all would change, with a quick trip to the nearest settlement.
"Hello Mr. Sirio, good day isn't it? The gods must have heard our prayers!" said a young boy, cheerful at seeing a revered 'celebrity'.
"Indeed it is, young man! Indeed it is, come to my church later and we shall pray with the rest of the village for more of these lovely days." replied Sirio, with a small smile on his long face.
Continuing on his morning walk through the developing county, Sirio continued to greet and invite people to worship the gods later in the afternoon, the best time to worship according to Count Alexander, but he couldn't scratch a particular feeling that kept growing in his stomach when he greeted each person and invited them: fear. For, Sirio knew what he was preaching was not only illegal, but would have him in deep trouble if he was caught at the wrong time.
"I can only keep up this charade for a few more days before Lord Alexander notices what I have been doing. Converting the population to what he may see as a heresy.. Oh boy! That man would have me roasted alive and fed to the cows." Sirio intently thought to himself, considering the dangers of his work. "Damn! I must do it. Alexander's religion does not make sense, he has lost his way! He should've let the religion die with his family. I will continue to do my work, regardless of the consequences!" With that in his mind, Sirio began to recall how this whole ordeal started, in order to gain a better foothold on this situation.
Many days ago, Sirio had embarked on the fierce sea on a journey with Count Alexander himself, in order to gain knowledge of where an ancient ode to the sea gods was located. Sailing with nothing but the clothes on their backs, food, and of course books for recording the information, the trip was nothing but tedious. Alexander did not talk much, only occasionally mentioning something about sacrificing squid to make the journey back more safer. Sirio himself did not get to talk, as he was too busy bailing out his own vessel from waters that attempted to drown him. Sirio had learned how Alexander's own mother went mad and cast herself out into sea, and he was beginning to understand why: the waters were anything but calm, no one knew what truly lurked below, and it is the constant sight of the blue waves that will drive a person mad. If he hadn't been with his liege, Sirio would've definitely gone mad and cast himself overboard.
"Almost there, according to this map. Be wary though, Sirio, the waves are monstrous, I haven't seen something like this since I first sailed the Imperial Waters!" yelled Alexander, with a questionable hint of pride, and fear mixed in his voice.
"Aye, what do you think wil-" cut off by the enormous wave that engulfed his entire boat, Sirio was now gazing not at his liege's ship, but at the massive pod of squid, underwater. He attempted to swim upwards, but then it hit him, which way is up? Struggling, and thrashing about, Sirio could not find his way at all. Panic gushed through his veins, rivaling the blood in them. He was doing a good job of scaring off the squid, with his constant thrashing and gulps. As several squid swam away, he cursed in his head, attempting to decide what to do in such a dangerous predicament.
Part Two
Sirio, coming to his senses and realizing he had little time, picked a direction and started swimming, hoping it'd be the right one. Time pressed on and he was still swimming; how much time had passed, however, was a mystery, as time seemed to unfortunately move in a different way underwater. No more squid where in sight, not even the gravel-lined ocean bottoms, Sirio had indeed chosen the wrong direction. As he began to realize this he had noticed his vision was being obstructed by a fine beam of a purple hue, in a coiled fashion. Attempting to turn his back, he accidentally, but conveniently caught sight of the source of the beam; one of the fabled guardians of the seas.
"Oh great, this it!" thought Sirio, as he attempted to swim away. "Dear Lagaa, King of the Gods, great and wise lord, please rescue me, I am a faithful serva-" Sirio's prayers were cut off as the purple beam flashed orange, and his vision faded away with that.
"Sirio, wake up! I command thee!" a mysterious voice beckoned the shaggy old priest. "We have little time, I'm sure the search party will discover you soon, my good fellow."
"A-aye, who a-are you? Alexander, are you there my lord?" lazily responded Sirio, still not realizing he was knocked out, deep underwater, only moments ago.
"I am not the heretic Alexander. I am Agaroth B'Teclon, leader of the Cult of the Creeper, and I have saved you." revealed the burly man.
"Y-yeah, what do you want from me? Money, I have none. All my money is back in Arahn." weakly said Sirio, attempting to get to his feet, but quickly failing. "By any c-chance, can yer tell me why my vision is impaired?"
"Of course my child. We have drugged you with spider venom, naturally. If you want the cure, you will do what we say. Agreed?" With a wicked smile stretching across his face, said Agaroth, who was now sitting quite comfortably on a cobblestone lump.
"aye, a-anything. My 'ision and speech, they are 'ailing me." whispered Sirio, quite feebly.
"You see, our Cult is considered widely 'illegal' nowadays. We believe the Great Creeper walks among us and we choose to protect the Creepers, instead of killing them, so that we do not oppose our Great lord." said Agaroth, with a now serious face. "Our numbers have been dwindled since the Dark Age, and we have had great trouble creeping out of Valtoros." continued Agaroth, with a solemn voice.
"I won't convert to yer religion! I w-won't! I don't 'orship the Great Creeper, never will, nev-" attempting to argue, Sirio was cut off by Agaroth, who was now wielding a glowing bucket of milk; the antidote to his condition.
"Oh, but you will. Not only will you convert yourself, but you will be converting the heretic count Alexander to the same branch of Creeperism. You will also be converting his whole County, Arahn as he calls it. Once you are done, we will march our numbers into Arahn, and execute Alexander in the name of the Great Creeper, with a spectacular explosion." revealed a now grinning Agaroth.
"Aye! You c-can't do that to m-my master, eh! He is a great man, a great naval leader too! H-he will kill yer! I-I 'wear so!" now visibly angry, Sirio was attempting to swing at Agaroth. "Come 'ere you cheeky bastard! Eh! Get yer hands off of me, I'll have you chopped to b-" Cut off by two men, similarly sized to Agaroth, Sirio was now being dragged away.
"Wait. Just know, that I hail from the same lands that your master does. I know his weaknesses, as I know yours. You will be tortured until you willingly accept my offer. Alexander will be slowed down until you are ready." snarled Agaroth. "That is all, Gareth, Kagar, no mercy on this one, keep 'em barely alive if you have to. I want him preaching all lines of our holy book if we have to. Praise The Great Creeper, may we find his mortal body and raise him as Emperor!" With that, Sirio was being dragged into the jungle, to be forcefully tortured.
Part Three
"Giving in already? Amazing." Sirio could hear Agaroth's voice, clearly filled with pride. "You understand our teachings, you understand that you will slowly pass them onto the County of Arahn, you understand you are betraying your leader, Alexander. Correct, Sirio?"
"Y-yes, please the torture, make it s-stop.." Sirio feebly whispered in response to Agaroth, who had ordered his men to viciously torture him until he was ready to do his dirty work.
"Remove his bonds, see to it that he finds his way back to Alexander, in one piece, gentlemen. Remember, we will be coming to collect you and dispose of Alexander, Arahn will be led by a new master, Lord Agaroth.. Yes, yes, sounds nice doesn't it? Well, goodbye Sirio." Agaroth strolled out of the room, grooming his long, unkempt beard. Sirio on the other hand, was being rendered unconscious once more, he knew when he woke up he'd be back with Alexander, so he did not resist at all.
"Aye! Sirio! What happened! You surely could not have gained these bruises from the ocean?" The voice Sirio heard was no stranger, it was his liege, thankfully.
"O-oh, ouch, er, I mean, I ran into a creeper when I initially washed up on shore. It must've gotten the best of me, I suppose. Where are we?" Sirio responding carefully, making sure not to reveal where he really was.
"Well, we are on a small uncharted island it seems, no worries, I have prepared boats back to Arahn, we shall leave when you are up to your feet." said Alexander.
"O-okay. Let's not waste time, I don't want to run into another set of zombies or anything.."
"SIRIO!" A sudden yell from a local monk jolted Sirio back to reality. "The church is ready for you, it's the final meeting sir; after this the entire population of Arahn will follow the sect of Creeperism you discovered."
"Ay, keep your voice down, our work is not yet done. But have you heard from Lord Agaroth yet? Surely his band of mercenaries will be at the island north of Arahn by now.." responded Sirio, with a severe look of caution and stress on his face.
"Actually, yes. My wife, told me that the ships painted black and green were spotted by traders in the area. Alexander also issued the order to close all trade routes down and is keeping the volunteer navy on patrol. We will have to use our influence in the navy to clear the way, Sirio." revealed the monk, in a heavy voice.
"I want you to talk to the leader of the navy, convince him to direct the bulk of the fleet west, instead of north. Tell him you have received word of barbarian ships in the west, that will convince him instantly. His parents were murdered by barbarians, after all." said Sirio, after giving the idea some thought. "I must go now, good monk."
"Greetings all, greetings all!" said Sirio, as he entered the packed church. "Today, we will be discussing the teachings of Agaroth, a prophet to the Great Creeper."
"What about how we should handle creepers in public?" said a voice from the crowd.
"We will discuss that, Horus." responded Sirio. "Anyways, The Prophet Agaroth was chosen to defend the Great Creeper's mortal form, for he walks among us. Agaroth decreed that we, as loyal citizens, should swear to protect any and all creepers, for the Great Creeper has been reborn among them." preached Sirio, in a dreamy kind of voice.
"How do we take this vow? I want to be rewarded for protecting our lord and savior!" another voice called out from the crowd, with several of voices verbally agreeing.
"It seems you all do not yet understand. Unfortunately, our liege, Alexander, does not welcome this sect of Creeperism. It is not welcomed anywhere, in fact, for me to convert you without telling you this, would be a great sin in the eye of the Great Creeper." revealed Sirio, in another dreamy kind of voice. "But if you still want to realize your true duty, come and let me powder you in Sulfur, the remnants of holy creepers."
Unsurprisingly, everyone stood up and made their way to Sirio. One by one, they were all covered in the thick, powdery sulfur. At the end of the ceremony, they all cheered: "Long live the Great Creeper, we welcome him and his eternal prophet, Agaroth, true leader of Arahn and the world!"
Final Part Four
The next morning, Sirio was awoken by heavy cannon fire coming from Fort Atrius, a fort that happened to be barely functional.
"It's lord Agaroth! He has arrived with his band of priests, like you promised, Sirio!" Sirio did not recognize the voice, but he could tell it was from someone who was running by his home very fast. But what did catch his eye was someone's figure in the corner.
"Yes, Sirio, it seems you were right." The voice was no doubt Lord Alexander's. "Speaking a different religion in my court is entirely acceptable, but assisting my enemy, preaching about how I will be dethroned? Not acceptable my dear peasant." said Alexander coolly.
"M-my lord, surely, LIES! They were lies! I was just speaking what the people want, oh lord! Forg-" Sirio's attempts to persuade Alexander not to punish him were cut off by the sound of a sword being unsheathed.
"I am a very lenient count, Sirio. I ask of little and give plenty, but what you have done has threatened the entire empire. You will have no legal trial, instead you will have the form of Kalonian justice that you sided with, trial by combat." said Alexander, stepping into the light in full armor, and brandishing a heavy sword.
"My liege.. What do you mean? Kalonian justice?" Sirio whispered, on the verge of tears.
"Agaroth hails from my homeland, Kalon. The only known survivor besides me. How I know? He was an old friend. His parents died the day my parents and I fled, he sent us a messenger bat with a letter saying he was fleeing as well. Only if I knew he had survived, I could've prevented him from joining an illegal cult." revealed Alexander. "You see, Kalon was not a nice place, it was a place with little law and those laws were harsh. If you were found violating a law or insulting another person, you could be given a trial of combat. Only one victor, you both fight to the death." continued Alexander.
Now crying, Sirio drew his own sword from underneath his bed. He rose from his knees, and found himself blocking Alexander's first attack. He thrust his sword, that was still blocking Alexander's, towards his attacker which gave him some time to collect his thoughts. Sirio sidestepped, avoiding a stab from Alexander's blade. A quick thrust from the rear end of his sword kept Alexander at bay. But not for long, for Alexander had just climbed up the long cabinet and leapt off, holding his sword like a spear, he thrust it, right into Sirio's rib cage.
"It is done." Retracting the sword from Sirio's body in one pull, Alexander stepped back, admiring his work. "By the law of Kalon, I sentence you to death." With this, Alexander took his sword and attempted to thrust it into Sirio's neck, but was stopped by an arrow that burst through the glass window.
"Now now, Alexander. I think you should save your energy for me, and not petty peasants." said Agaroth, as he stepped through the window frame, brandishing his own sword.
"Agaroth, you have raised an army in the name of a god, you would have never done something like this in Kalon. What have you become?" shouted Alexander, who raised his sword, accepting Agaroth's duel.
"Doesn't matter. I have one purpose, and that is to erect the Great Creeper as emperor. We have little time, our armies are fighting in the streets as I speak, come, let us fight in a more public view." Waving his hand, Agaroth stepped out of the window frame, and into the courtyard.
The two men with sharp swords in their hands, charged at each other. Agaroth swung his sword low, causing Alexander to roll out of the way. Alexander back on his feet swung his own sword directly in front of him, making contact with his enemies' blade. The two attempted to overpower one another, but Alexander broke the engagement and attempted to stab at Agaroth's lower levels.
"Petty, tricks, eh Alexander?" grinned Agaroth as he rolled towards Alexander, leapt to his feet and slashed Alexander's breastplate open. Alexander dove to the side, dropped his sword and drew his bow, firing not one, but three arrows towards Agaroth, two of which, hit his knee, and his shoulder. Dropping the bow as well, Alexander retrieved his sword and ran toward Agaroth who was now clutching his chest out of pain.
"No, bested by my rival? How will I restore the Great Creeper?" whispered Agaroth, who dropped his sword with a loud clunk.
"You won't, Agaroth. You will di-" Alexander had yet again been interrupted, as an arrow had just pierced his own shoulder.
"Agh, but who?" Turning around Alexander saw Sirio, holding his bow in the same spot he had dropped it. "You vile fool! You will pay for this!" Attempting to get to his feet, Alexander was forced down by another arrow penetrating his armor.
"I have been betrayed by both of you, it will be I who kill you both now." said Sirio, coolly. Raising his bow once more, Sirio himself was shot, three times, three long arrows lining his already decrepit body.
"No, you won't be killing my father, peasant." said a voice, over Sirio's body hitting the ground. Revealing himself, Albus Dandelo Stark grabbed his father's sword and thrust it deep into Agaroth. "Father, good to see you." said Albus, helping his old man up.
"S-son, when did you arrive, oh my, I am ever so grateful my boy." overwhelmed with joy, Alexander wouldn't stop nagging his son with questions.
"I arrived when I heard that Fort Atrius had fired it's cannons earlier, and I was shocked to see mercenaries fighting your forces in the streets. By the time I arrived, however, the mercenaries were starting to retreat. Looks like the left their leader behind, huh." responded Albus.
"Nonetheless, thank you, my son. It is much appreciated, your mother and brother would have been very proud. Come, take me to the medic."
Months later, Alexander still remained hospitalized, his son effectively taking over as his regent. The heretics of Arahn, still lingered, but they all realized what they had been brainwashed into and let Sirio's successor, Shears, take over and attempt to take the sect of Creeperism in a new, more positive direction. But as time went on, Alexander's condition worsened.
"Son, I want you to know your mother, your grandparents, and your brother would be very proud." feebly said Alexander "But I want you to know, that I am the most proud out of all of them. Naturally, you know you are my heir apparent, but you have led the county of Arahn in such a good way. You shall take over when I die shortly, good boy. Here, take this letter, it will explain more later. Good bye, son."
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Hasan 'Darius V' Stark
Protector of the Vahnic Exploration Company
Ilkhan of Greater Karastan-Laghima
Last edited by Darius V on July 22nd, 2016, 9:08 am, edited 3 times in total.
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