In the upper part of the Noble's Quarter stood a beautiful state, home to an established family that dated back from the first retainers of the first King of Vermillion, their Knights were well-renowned for putting great, sometimes even overzealously so valor into honor, for the ideal of a proper Knight who was both Shield and Spear of the kingdom. They broke no quarter for those within their ranks who would fall for the evil ways of life and power.
Knight-Commander Muriel Morgoth sighed as she watched her younger sister conspire with that accused friend of hers, something was not right with that girl and she had been denied twice by their mother for a deeper investigation on Mava O'Xav, Muriel paced around the Yard, her most trusted Knights watching the usually cool and collected Commander tries her best to not to lose her patience with this whole affair
"Tis clear as day, blessed by Sun that the Matriarch favors thy younger sister O Commander" Spoke the Spider-Kin, a man barely 19 of age but fierce and strong as any of the others around Muriel, His name was Centre Fi and if one could forgive the quirks in his speech due to how the Spider-Kin had to translate common speech via no less than 5 spells, one would find much wisdom and a surprisingly amount of comedy from them.
"News from my men at the school have pretty much confirmed it, the Queen orchestrated these new "tournament" combat scenarios and something tells me Lady Lyndell will benefit from it, we have also intercepted disguised royal envoys in the estate bringing documents for her eyes only" Sicar Almendes spoke, second in command for the Knights and Muriel right-hand man "Which also means the Ashfall Scenario is likely happening Chief"
Sicar's face betrayed the hints of his Imperium ancestry as he tapped his fingers on his crossed arms, the man was huge and built like Brickhouse, and yet was the master of stealth and information gathering for the family, he sighed "We will have to fight those monstrosities from the north Muriel, no two ways about it" He cast his eyes across the other men and women who nodded, grimaces all around as the thought of having to fight Wulfgrem Knights, and whatever new Magi-Tech Device their mistress came up in the week. It had even become a joke among the many Knights in the capital, especially since many of them were in the Fields when that big mess happened.
"Engagements in a scale they are, our forces won't suffer and blessed by the finest forges our weapons are, believe in thyself my Lady, for we will win" Centre Fi smiled to ease the nerves of his fellows "Powerful the Lady of the North and her man are indeed, but we are also might in the ways of sword and spear, axe and wand, miracle and hex, against us not even the honor guard of Grannarius managed to hold"
Small cheers of agreement came from the others as Sicar smiled, Muriel steeled herself and spoke, putting power in her words "Listen to me Knights of Morgoth, when we are called to the ring of honor we will fight with honor, we will uphold the Oath and we will not tarnish the name of our family"
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Ursa Morgoth sighed, lately her entire life could only be described as one big sigh, issues, and more issues were popping up and she had burned through enough social capital to fell a small duchy, never mind the gold or human resources she had to throw at the many fires that threatened to burn down her family line, the estate and much more if the enemies had their way.
A small tingle in her right hand made her stop herself from sighing again, the woman closed her eyes and massaged her temples as stress came like a marching band and played infernal songs to annoy her, this was a signal meant to be fired only when a very select few diviners she trusted and paid too much for their time to say that everything was about to go south for her and her family.
"Gods smite me down, the girl did it" Ursa spoke and removed a broken arrow from a concealed compartment inside her table "Gods forgive me," the woman said as the room grew cold, the ultimate sin would potentially save her name, but would she be able to commit it?
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Mava O'Xav was a common woman of the Vermillion Kingdom once, born in a low noble family, to loving parents and loving cousins, taught the blade and spear, magick, and miracle both at a young age, by all metrics she would've been a poster child for the good the Kingdom's society could do for a single individual, Alas the system and its many defenses had its breaches, either by design or by malpractice and thus what should've been a boon became bane.
Mava found, deep within the forests in the south, a quaint shrine to a forgotten God of Wishes, A simple and honest depiction of his features and how his blessing worked, little did she know at the time that this was but a ruse and within a few days Mava was already in cahoots with a powerful entity from beyond the cosmos, not via trickery or dominion, but by base greed and lust for power and pleasure.
It was a masterstroke of luck when she found a powerful ally in the Morgoth heir, the woman was like her, with a thirst for power so strong nothing but the powers from beyond could quench it, but then what would both of them do with said power? Mava had the idea and shared it with her Eldritch patron and Lyndell, they would take over the royals, become leaders of the country, and then armed with the finest warriors of the land forge an empire that would conquer the entire new world, and later the entire world!
Then both fell in love with Prince Arthur and said grand plans were stashed away for later..., lust consumed the women like wildfire in the dry bush, and soon a raging inferno was fuelling the duo, committing to horrible gambits that earned them the Ire of the Archenemy, and her lapdog from the North, but the world was good and so was their patron, with the help of the Queen who had a personal score to settle with Lucrezia, and aid straight from the outer reaches of the stars, they had reforged Lyndell's Sacred Bow, and without the Sword to guard Hope against its arrows, they would get their prize, Arthur would be theirs and then the entire world.
The board was set, all the pieces in place and she knew she would win.