Where There's A Will There's A Way

[Rig 17580]

 

 

(Art by Archor Wright, for Epic Knight the video game)

 

Were he a younger man, Sir Cato might have survived the explosion from the vial of Blast Potion carried by Angelika of Vidaus into the fray of their duel in the palace courtyard. Instead, he perished with a smile on his lips, laying his Mace of Krajia at Andrezj of Reutov, his beloved grandson's feet. As he lay perishing, a beautiful face showed itself to him, the alien and bejeweled features of his erstwhile lover. He considered the godless life he had lived for nigh seventy-five years and considered the many killings he had committed for God and Country. Alas, he knew it in his heart that though he relished in violence and the honor of his ill-begotten gains, he remained a macabre highwayman at heart. Often, he was a polarizing figure, and his motives had the tendency to arouse suspicion from even the closest of his friends. Strange, wild, and violent much like his ancestors, Sir Cato hailed from a convergence of Northern blood, the line of the Saint Arpad Ivanovich, and the lineage of Vallberg – his own great, great-grandfather being the feared serial killer known as Cato the Giantslayer, a Black Reiter of Calais renowned for slaughtering all foes of the Empire of Man indiscriminately, before his death at the hands of an overwhelming force of Elven tribesmen that far outnumbered him. 

 

Sir Cato died as he lived. With a sick, twisted grin upon his lips, and his heart beset with vainglory and madness. Some men committed themselves to barbarity and savagery, yet that was not all his worth was tantamount to. He knew he was going to die in war and saw to it that his work persevered in all his children who he loved fiercely. He lay caked in mud, blood, with phlegm behind his lips as Willem van Aert helped him to his feet only to watch him struggle and fall once again onto his knees. Lesser men might be bent by the agonizing pain of such a wound, but instead he found himself relishing in the masochistic pleasure of knowing he would toil no longer. He only regretted in the end that he could not kill more. He desired only the absolute supremacy of his homeland at the cost of all others, and he remembered now the oath he took as a surgeon when he was younger, when his professor had told him that he would have to swear to never take part in ending a life. Little had that old man known.

 

And so Sir Dima Cato Ivanovich perspired, wilted, and expired one last time. His soul leaving his body as his waylaid flesh collapsed into the soft tresses of grass, his pale skin brimming with sunlight beneath the crest of his uplifted, twisted and shattered visor. He began laughing one last time, his chest rising and falling as he felt his shattered ribs puncture his lungs.

 

LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT

 

 

I HEREBY REVOKE all wills and testamentary dispositions of every nature and kind prior to the officiation of this Will. 

 

I NOMINATE, CONSTITUTE, AND APPOINT, my good friend & comrade Emperor Philip III, to be the sole Executor of this Will. Without his help, I would have never left the Metinan Company and returned to my homeland, and I may have very well died impoverished and in obscurity in the aftermath of the Fall of Luciensburg.

 

I NOMINATE, CONSTITUTE, AND APPOINT, my daughter, Lady Vladyslava Ivanovich, to be the sole recipient of the Barony Cherskavy. She has proven herself to be capable and I entrust her with the legacy of my work.

 

I NOMINATE, CONSTITUTE, AND APPOINT, my grandson, Andrezj Barrow the Bastard of Reutov, to be the sole recipient of the afamed Mace of Krajia. He may bear the Ivanovich surname if he deems it so, and I wish that Philip III, Holy Orenian Emperor, shall legitimize him if it pleases His Imperial Majesty.

 

I NOMINATE, CONSTITUTE, AND APPOINT, my son, Sir Stefan Ivanovich, to be the sole recipient of the afamed Eye of Sigismund; the relic of our first exalted ancestor, Yakov Carrion, The Fallen Prince. 

 

I NOMINATE, CONSTITUTE, AND APPOINT, my second daughter, Syuzanna Ivanovich, to be the sole recipient of all my weapons, armor, and wealth that is not in Cherskavy Keep so that she may pursue a higher education and become a Dame in service to the Holy Orenian Emperor Philip III, wielding her sword against all enemies of our great Empire.

 

I NOMINATE, CONSTITUTE, AND APPOINT, my steward, Cornelius Derfey, to be the sole recipient of my written works and journals, so that they may be published at his own discretion. 

 

Of good conscience and sound mind I make these decisions, and they ought not to be edited or reviewed at the discretion of anybody except for the aforementioned parties. Nor on the basis of race as all my children are Half-Elven, and the blood of both Ivan the Outlaw and Malin flow within their veins.

 

One God. One Empire. One Empress. One Emperor.

 

Written: 7th of Tobias' Bounty, 1864.

 

Sir Dima Cato Ivanovich, Baron of Cherskavy

 

[Vikenz 1162]

16 minutes ago, Lionhz said:

“Ah Andrezj isn’t going to like this one..” Remarked Prince Frederick of Furnestock.

 

 

Andrezj vomited in his mouth. 

[Taketheshot 3834]

Joseph d'Azor read the missive of death from his estate nudging his wife from across the sofa with his good arm. "I'm truly crushed that Sir Dima has died..." he mused sarcastically gesturing to his crushed arm. Joseph laughed at that with a long sigh, still silently thanking Sir Dima for his long service to Oren, even if he had gone insane at the end. 

@Azie

[North 995]

On 4/12/2022 at 9:00 AM, EX. DERFEY said:

Nor on the basis of race as all my children are Half-Elven, and the blood of both Ivan the Outlaw and Malin flow within their veins.

 

The screams of a troubled Stefan ring throughout Providence Square.

[SapphirePool 1360]

Catherine Marie wouldn’t know the contents of the will, but she somehow knew then that she did right in handing the Mina to Andrezj Barrow and not the man claiming to be the enactor of Sir Dima’s will.

 

She felt little remorse for the man’s death, though was sad it caused the accusations it had to the woman who was defending her honor. She paid the ordered fine in her stead to the family, and with that she rid herself of the entire event. 
 

Spoiler

Tbh didn’t expect that to be a pk, but i do salute you for creating a great RP duel along with peachy. May still dislike your RP comments, but mad respect for the way Dima died. 

 

[RoamingRonin 635]

Masuo of Yamatai would breathe a sigh of relief as the trial ended and those involved, particularly Angelika, would live to see another day. For the Ivanovich, however, he had no lasting remorse. The last thing he remembered of the man was his ghastly, toothless smile, before he expired upon the dirt. That, and those callous and vulgar comments that would make anyone's blood boil. 

[Eryane 3698]

12 hours ago, EX. DERFEY said:

Nor on the basis of race as all my children are Half-Elven, and the blood of both Ivan the Outlaw and Malin flow within their veins.

 

Vladyslava can also be heard screaming in horror throughout Providence square.

[chaotikal 2392]

An Ivanovich with the right of blood to the House, Vlado, grandson of Istvan, the first born of Arpad, first born of Ivan Barrow, reads the missive.

 

"If the blood of Malin runs through your children's veins, I will make sure it runs on the ground they stand on, too."

[Tide1 4535]

A young Ivanovich boy wondered why the trial was not held in public.