[PK] Selected Letters from the Grand Knight

[sam33497 7356]

Spoiler

 

. . .

 

The life of Sir Sirius Mareno was known in full to few, but the wealth of its contents are for telling by word-of-mouth, by those he had shared it with.

 

He was best known once he had already been ruined, working tirelessly upon the construction and maintenance of the Empire of Man.

 

His death was abrupt and shattered many ties, but the old and broken man knew that he would die sooner or later. As such, in the days following his death, numerous letters were sent from the Mareno estate, across the Empire of Man. Here are some of these letters.

 

. . .

 

To His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Tiberias: @Tide1

Spoiler

I hope I have dignified my role in the time which I was able to serve you. I hope that my successors and those that I nurtured do you proud. Know that you have the faith of Man, and that you have our trust to bring about a righteous and kind world, free from the atrocities which molded you and I.

 

Sir Arn, Sir Carolus, and Sir Hodrick all have my faith to lead the Order of the Red Dragon. The Empire could not be in the hands of mightier or braver men. To the next Knight-Commander of the Order, I relinquish my thanhium greatshield, and my wyvernhide cuirass.

 

To His Imperial Highness, Prince Hadrian: @Werew0lf

Spoiler

Nephew, I regret that my role as your warden did not allow me to guide you further. Do not neglect the sword, and seek the wisdom of the sages of this world. You are bright and have the favor and hope of mankind behind you. I know you will be a great Emperor of Man.

 

I leave to you the carbarum blade of your mother-house Mareno, the River-Crosser.

 

To the Patron Dragon Sordran: @squakhawk

Spoiler

Do not sacrifice your freedom for anything. I do not know if you will witness my death, but if you do, I hope you are inspired that I met it of my own volition, my fate in my own hands, spent and burnt out for a cause I righteously raise my blade for.

 

Please keep faith in Emperor Tiberias and his son Hadrian, our Empire needs your guidance.

 

To Roger and Rosceline of Drusco: @Vikenz@amyselia

Spoiler

Please treat the Lady Siena well, I entrust her care to you.

 

To Sir Arn Honeywine: @wolfdwg

Spoiler

These years of fighting alongside you have been a treasure. My comrade, do not let the will of the Black Dragon die.

 

To Vanya: @Nen

Spoiler

I know you are destined to be a great knight. Please do not let my death and teachings be in vain. You must protect our Empire from the infringing dark.

 

To Siegfried: @AurelianCraft

Spoiler

You are a dutiful lad, and I believe one day you will make a fine Imperial Knight. Take this letter to Sir Honeywine, it is my wish your tasks continue.

To Judas: @Ninjay

Spoiler

Well, good mage, this is awkward. In the coming days, you might need to convince certain people that I placed confidence in you. Use this letter as evidence.

 

To Gedeon: @blesseuropa

Spoiler

You have a good heart, but try not to be a fool. The Emperor requires duty above even glory. I am proud of you.

 

To Ghetsis: @xMuted

Spoiler

You've done fairly well until now, but It's time to stop fooling around. You are the greatest talent of the new generation, the Empire requires your duty and defense.

 

I'm sorry that I did not live to see you be knighted. Protect Prince Hadrian, I sense there will come a day you are foremost among his knights.

 

I leave to you my warhammer. The glory of House Mareno is squarely within your hands to uphold. Ensure the world never forgets our name.

 

To my father Calias, and to King Haakon: @Orlof@Milenkhov

Spoiler

The moments I spent alongside you on the battlefield were the finest I ever experienced, a memory treasured deeply amidst a life of suffering.

 

I am not sure we are destined to reach the Seven Skies, but I hope that we can do the sword-dance together once more in hell, one day. Heh.

 

To the denizens of the Empire of Man, and too those men who flee from its purview:

Spoiler

The Empire is a place where we can work for the betterment of all mankind. Please put your faith into it and use it as an instrument to better the world. Should Man spurn its wardens once more, we will devolve back into the war and horror that spawned such cruelty as we saw upon Aevos.

 

To Lady Siena: @hopey

Spoiler

I was always going to die. My soul will not rest if you are reduced to misery, so please live a good life for my sake. I love you.

 

To you, I leave the wealth and assets I accrued throughout my life, barring the weapons reserved for my knight compatriots. See to it that your life is filled with things you can leisurely and simply enjoy. Please populate my grave with the foods we often shared.

 

 

signed,

Sir Sirius Mareno

and all the letters bore the same message, below the signature...

 

'A price is always exacted for what fate bestows.'

[hopey 364]

꧁✺꧂

✺

 

The news struck her before dawn through a sealed letter carrying the writing of her fiancé. Years had she been enamored, cradled by his affections; endearments Siena had never known before the Knight-Commander. Promises were made amid dusk, murmurs of matrimony and a life in the luxury of his presence. Death had been an assured thing; Siena was no fool. Too many years stood between them, and the widowed maiden of Drusco could only weep at meeting him too late.

 

Blessed dawn rolled around the horizon, a sunrise so prettied that the morning dewdrops bathed in orange bliss. Her eyes sought hopelessly for consolation, a warmth from the sun, relief she knew not even dreaded time could mend. The tendrils of love’s consequences squeezed her like a surly noose, holding air refuge in her throat. That very note slipped between her fingertips with ease, and with it, their entwined future. Among her did he belong, not as a shadow in her mind or a memory of grief. Unjust had she felt, robbed of her happiness.

 

Days would only blur in his absence, and when nightfall looms, no sleep would find the low-born. Her bed would be emptied and cold, and the joys of tomorrow permanently tethered. 

 

[Irishmanmichael 504]

The Empire Reiksmarshal sat at his his desk late into the night, as he always did but today was different no ink smudged just hands no paper cuts marked his fingers his simply stared blankly at the wall in front of him. How? How has this been the result of such a great victory? How had he lost in such short order one whom he put so much stock and faith in? Manfred would get no sleep that night the many candles in his offices burning away until, Manfred decided to spend the rest of the knight by the small chapel in the garrison doing the only thing of worth he could thinking of. He prayed and prayed for the soul of Sirius, they had not been friends in the traditional sense but the loss hurt Manfred more than he had expected. 

Edited July 13, 2025 by Irishmanmichael

[amongus 816]

"🥀," thought Antonius 'Tiberius Nero' Montalt, who knew loss well.

[Nectorist 12869]

Although he was not close to his far-older uncle, the Prince of Myrine, undestined for such heights of worthiness, orders a golden sarcophagus be made in his image and placed within the tombs of Trident's Peak. 

[wowj 9747]

Edward Brae, a recruit hired by the Grand Knight, started to weep upon hearing the word of his Commanders death, just a few days after he was hired into the Guard-force.

[MonteGiant 891]

Leomonte would remain unconscious from his wounds from both the battle of Veletz and that of Petra. Victory and Loss would swarm the man as he feels a disturbance within his being, an ally in combat has been lost. Despite his injuries, despite it all, the man would wake, and sit up on his medical bed. "Que los demas no Importa nada."

[The Tough Guy 4319]

Ghetsis Mareno had watched his mentor and kinsman, Sir Sirius Mareno die from his injuries.

 

Ghetsis' trademark arrogant smirk had faded to a grim visage.

 

"I shall."

[Rig 17580]

 

The Inquisitor received the news at the gallows as he watched men hanging. The skinless visage of his mask remaining forever obscured, the man's emotions were as uncertain as his identity. 

 

"To think I had just seen him days before his death," Sol said to his informant. In the distance, a woman was hanging with her eyes gouged out. A visceral sight. However, that was the price of being caught with a grimoire.

 

"I am charged to keep this Empire safe from foes, foreign and domestic. It shall be harder without an agreeable Knight Commander."

[wolfdwg 2677]

 

It was within those halls of the Imperial Palace, that he had learnt the news. The Chaptermaster of the Black Dragon would nod to the messenger before folding the missive he received, and placing it into his satchel. Footfalls echoed throughout the hall as lodenland plate met the masonry. With each step, Arn had begun to feel the weight of it all. First Calias, then Vangelis, and now Sirius. The three Mareno Dragon Knights, whom he had seen battle alongside with, were now gone. Under the trees at the Cordelie Winewoods, to the many walls and fortifications of Balian they had sacked together. Arn Honeywine now stood alone. He had seen the foundation of the Empire, and now a fallen Daemon sought to ruin not only all the plans his former compatriots set on, but sought to bring ruin and death in the name of authoritarian madness.

 

They had been routed at Valdev, and again at Cerulia. However at the ruins of Winburgh and on the fields of Westmark, the forces of the Mountain had been thrown back. Be they of the True Faith or that of the Red Faith, it mattered not, for in unity the defiant cries of those sons and daughters of Horen rang out in victory. Sir Arn Honeywine continued to walk down the hall before looking out into the main garden plaza. 

A sense of renewed determination washed over him, for even in the face of loss and grief, duty remained. 

The Mountain will fall.

 

[Nen 347]

The squire of Sir Sirius Mareno stared at the swordfish sigil on the seal of the letter addressed to him. He had seen the Knight-Commander's grim injuries, and his covered body carried out from the Alban clinic to be returned to its rightful resting place in Myrine. To Vanya, those sights seemed less final than this letter. Until the moment he took it from the courier's hands he had been half-convinced Sirius would return with naught but a slight limp and a handful of new scars that would go easily camouflaged on that man's already ruinously scarred face. 

 

In his mind, Sirius Mareno was as much a mythical figure as he was a teacher. A legendary knight, one pried from the stories told to each boy growing up in the realms of Man. An old man with one-eye, out of his prime, that could still run circles around any hotheaded young soldier in the dueling pits. A man that lead the fray against countless daemons, devils and darkspawn driven by nothing but duty. Duty to the Empire. Duty to Mankind. A man that was too stubborn to be killed.

 

The young Carrion finally swallowed his apprehension and pried open the letter. He had hidden his tears in public, maintained a strong and sturdy face. But now as he read the words under candlelight they flowed. Soon after that deep sadness was replaced with a fiery, vengeful conviction. "I will not fail you, Sir." 

 

The squire put down the letter and picked up his blade, heading out from his chambers and into the cold darkness of night. It was time to train.

 

 

 

 

[kuerbis 3802]

Madelief wept upon hearing the news. Not because she had been close to Cassius' much older uncle, rather because she knew how much her friend Siena had loved the man.