BLOOD BEFORE THE ALTAR [PK]

[Mattiii 1663]

 

 

[!] Within the quiet town of Andregrad, Stran, a Duke stood silently within the Church of Saint Theodosius, head bowed in prayer.

 

A bandit blocks the doors out of the Church while on horseback and quickly draws his daemondsteel longsword “Halt!”

 

“Yam unmoving, Zhenya.” Janos Matyas says with a roll of his eyes, 

 

“Brother.” spoke a familiar curt voice, the voice becoming louder as the speaker walked up behind Janos.

 

Three more bandits entered the Church of St. Theodosius then. . .

 

“Eja, Agnieszka.” Janos remained unmoving, his attention fixed on the altar before him. "What have vy done now. . ."

 

“Y? Vy serve under Johannian's, serving alongside the Haenseti.” Agnieszka drew her blade, stepping closer to him “A shame it had to come to this, but you take after papej, none of you deserve the right to our Grandfathers' Heritage, not Papej, not Andrejz, and not you.”

 

Izabela Anna Ivanovich, the Duchess-Dowager and mother to Janos and Agnieszka, then entered, lofting a brow, her gaze set upon the gathering before her before focusing then on one of the bandits, “What's the occasion. . . ?”

 

“Y will niet have w right for long, Y believe w Tsar jest revoking w Ksizadom of Stran.” Janos admittedly said with a lowly shake of his head.

 

Agnieszka Marie scoffed, stepping closer to him once more “Vy are not even going to attempt to scream for help.” she smiled, walking around to face him.

 

“Yam niet fit to rule this sved Ksizadom, one Y did niet even want to rule.” He stepped forth placing a finger directly at the center of Agnieszka's chestplate. “Blame vyrself for having it come to this.”

 

“For bringing y to this jebany place.” He added.

 

“Perhaps use the blade you hold on yourself” He thought. . .

 

Agnieszka Marie moved forward, attempting to stab her brother in the torso “Very well then, problem solved” she smiled, pulling it out again afterwards.

 

Izabela Anna Ivanovich swiftly moved to push past the bandits, her concern of the situation only growing evermore as she moved to behold the situation herself.

 

A bandit moved to block Izabela's path, fervently pointing towards his blade.

 

“Vy suka blya-.” The Duke hadn't even been allowed to finish his sentence, as soon as the sword impaled him he fell to the ground before the altar, his gaze still fixed on Agnieszka, even after death.

 

The Duchess-Dowager stood unblinking, seeing the body of her son suddenly drop to the ground. Her expression nearly blank as she tried to comprehend what had just happened.

 

Agnieszka Marie looked down at her brother's corpse, she smiled, lifting up her boot as she moved to crushed his skull in, bringing her foot down with full force “Long live the Duke” she smiled, moving to walk out the church “Burn it down.” The New Duchess walked over  to take a torch from the wall, dropping it onto the body.

 

A bandit kicked the corpse over, quick to inspect if the man had anything of worth to loot.

 

“Dorat, you heard the Duchess, we burn the place down!” Called another bandit to his friend.

 

And with that, the Duke of Stran met his swift demise at the hands of his own sister. His dreams to rekindle the Duchy had been taken far too literally, the wooden town of Andregrad burned, the billowing smoke produced could be seen from the Capital.

 

REST IN PEACE

János Mátyás Ivanovich

1932-1957

 

[Franczhiz 4437]

"The thing that the Stassionites and Veletzians feared most; the destruction of their people and their little peasant settlements, and their legacy of those ghastly cursed "Holy Orenian Emperors and Empresses", will become true in time. So help me GOD." Reynaud Philippe stated.

[TheNunnery 1853]

"Well, time to burn my legacy. If a vile woman is to use my work, if she dared or any of her vile spawn. Then none shall use it!"

The extremely elderly and dying wisewoman of the fallen Duchy of Stran spoke to herself while she burnt the marriage rites and traditions. Being surrounded by the ashes of herbs and bones of dead wildlfie. The traditions passed down from mother to daughter being burnt, just like lost dream of the last good Duke of Stran. The murder of Crows surrounding the wisewoman as survivors, those who were loyal to the last Duke of Stran, began settling within the wilderness. Placing down ancient banners of the first generation of Stran around their camp.
 

"As told to the bloodthirsty Jan, the Dragon would burn the murder of Crows. Thus my prophecy is told and completed! The people who fought for freedom is now under a new tyrant who murdered a boy and blamed his father! With this I pray, that all that cause death for the sake of power be dammed!"

 

With that, the last of the revivers died at last with the dreams of the Raevir people. Her breath running low, the locals within the small village. Survivors of the burning of Andregrad surrounding the dead wisewoman. Her eyes being closed while the crows flew away, marking the end of a generation.

 

[psychra_notte 618]

In the distance, as the fires had settled and the bandits had fled, an old Hound returned. The sound of his boots crunching, and his eagle-headed cane sinking into the charred dirt were the only things audible in the empty city. His eyes scanned the destroyed remains of his old home, a mix of rage and sorrow filling within him.

"What in the name of GODANI happened?"

He continued his walk, eventually making it to the remains of the Church. Once, a sacred place of worship was now the site of a massacre. Miklós came upon the remains of János Mátyás Ivanovich. The Hound signed the Hussarian Cross across his body at the horrid sight. Decades had gone by and this was had become of his home? What of the people who were here, did any survive?

"Moy must do something- For w Stretlsy, if any survived."

The Hound had returned, only wishing to help his fellow surviving Raev.

[Enlightenment 2300]

"How the House of Yakov falls farther and farther each year, it's a shame," Emilio said of his distant cousins.

[Zemzy_Oakheart 347]

After traveling for a little while for herbs on the same routes she'd gone out of town for every so often, it seemed like a breath of fresh air to be out of such a lonesome town for so long. However, the moment returning from her travels made Blume Herrlichkeit's heart sink as the flames flickered across the glasses; the smoke rising over the treetops from the roadside for her to sense something was majorly wrong within Stran. She rushed through the opened front gates, her gaze witnessing the streets flooded with fire as far as her eyes could see. She knew calling out would likely be futile at this point, but she couldn't help but rush home first to make sure her greatest fears of finding her fiance & grown-up child's remains in the remains of the crumbling building.

 

No humanoid bodies, thank goodness, though it only reminded her of the kingdom she once lost similar to this & the pang of sorrow her heart sank for the creatures within the stables, her loyal subjects unable to escape the carnage wrought upon their innocence. The thatch roof had begun to collapse already as she glanced through the few rooms to make sure no one was left behind at least. Then came checking the family's storage as Blume hadn't seen the two she loved for so long; perhaps they'd taken their belongings & fled somewhere? But no- most of what they had was left behind, except for some of the more valuable items being rummaged out by looters.

 

As Blume was rushing through the building they once called home, a thought flashed across her mind in a panic that sent a chill down her spine through the heat of the moment; the public library. Her duty as the head librarian to tend to the collection of books had been left to fare against the flames while she was gone & she only Now thought of checking on them after searching her home! Without a second to hesitate any further, Blume would book it down the street to the large building in town she knew of every nook & cranny of its interior with her blue cloak donned, her adventurer's garments a blessing in disguise for such a dangerous situation if she'd been stuck in her normal atire!

 

Rushing past the leveled schoolhouse in front of the library was heartbreaking enough to witness firsthand, but even more so was seeing the massive holes in the walls of the library for Blume to discover; bookshelves engulfed in flames on the second floor & a gaping hole in the wall beside the front door to hop through would send her in a near black-out episode in itself of hysteria for the dedicated librarian. Who would do such a thing to the city?? She thought to herself as she wasted no time in gathering a couple of carpets from the decrepit building to drown in the street-side wells. She knew there was a cart left right outside the side of the library with a straw bedding in it that she instantly thought of & tossed the fabric in without hesitation to create a safer bedding for the burning building to handle. It would take a few trips of full arm loads, but Blume would waste no time in tossing the cinged books she could rescue before the walls had a chance to fully collapse in itself to lose everything.

 

Some books were too far gone in ashen piles to be saved, tapestries torn down or framed artifacts stolen before she'd arrived, but at least her life's work would continue on like her own life. Though the blue cloak became scorched & ashened by the wooden shelves billowing with smoke, her loyal steed she had called from outside the side gate would be a great help to harnessing onto the wagon to pull & keep what remained of the city alive.... somewhere in the world.

 

Spoiler

Edit: Apologies for responding so late; between work shifts piled on me & health concerns, this was the soonest I could leave a comment  <:3