THE MARCH OF STASSION

[nunlover 579]

Spoiler

 

THE MARCH OF STASSION

16th of SUN’S SMILE, 656 AA

The hooves of the Stassionite Brigade shake the earth.

 

The march began beneath a hard, gray sky.

The ships remained visible behind them, anchored in the bay where they had landed. Sails furled, their hulls rocked gently upon the tide. For many of the men, they were the last visible connection to Aevos.  Two hundred Stassionites formed the column. Veterans, household retainers, sailors, laborers, and a scattering of younger men who had reached fighting age just as the world around them began to collapse. They marched in silence, boots pressing into soil none of them had walked before.

At the front rode Frederick. He was fourteen summers old, and yet the crossing had stripped what little remained of his youth. His face carried none of the easy curiosity that otherwise belonged to the average boy, and his eyes skimmed the countryside with the measured attention of a man who thought often of consequence.

Beside Frederick rode Horace. The brothers resembled one another, all the way from their auburn hair to those sharp, nearly-alien features and unmistakably solemn expressions. And though cut from the same cloth, there had once been differences between the pair. Frederick had been serious while Horace had laughed more easily. That distinction, however, had faded with Aevos. Now, both boys rode quietly at the head of a people in exile.

Ahead of them rode Sir Humphrey de Valognes. The old knight's back remained straight despite decades of steel and dirt. He had fought in the War of Crown and Crozier when state and church alike had torn each other apart like hounds snapping for scraps. Yet, Humphrey rarely spoke of them himself. Wars became stories for the victorious. For the survivors, they were usually memories best left undisturbed. 

The land of Azuras unfolded around them in long stretches of grass and woodland. Rivers bounded across their path. Distant hills rose blue against the horizon. It was a rich country, untouched by the scars that marked much of the Aevosi lands.Several hours into the march, Frederick guided his horse closer to Humphrey's. 

"We cannot afford to echo the sins of our kin, Richard, however Novellen that fickle bastard may have been.”

Humphrey offered a concurrent nod. 

Frederick considered that for a moment. Behind them, the column continued steadily onward. Many of the soldiers had served Frederick's father. Some had carried his banners into battle. Others had guarded his halls or worked his lands. They had followed his final command as faithfully as any order he had ever given. Take the boys. Cross the sea. Preserve what remains. No one spoke openly about whether there would ever be a return. By afternoon, the shoreline had disappeared entirely. The realization settled heavily over the company. As long as the sea had remained visible, Aevos had felt distant but reachable. Now forests and hills stood between them and the coast. For the first time, the old world felt truly behind them. 

Toward evening, scouts returned with news of smoke rising in the distance. A settlement. The report passed quietly through the column. Some men seemed relieved. Others grew more cautious. Humphrey listened, asked his questions, and gave his instructions. His expression never changed. That night they made camp beside a river. The fires burned low. Guards took their posts. Horses grazed beneath the fading light. Frederick and Horace stood together at the edge of the camp, looking westward where the last light of the sun faded across the hills of Azuras. Neither spoke for some time. They did not need to.

“Let the march begin.”

 

[MRCHENN 4741]

"Oh wow." Says Zgregs alstion

[terms 255]

Hugues de Valognes read over the missive, smiling as he read through.

"What a glorious announcement." He'd say, unable to put down the missive.

[Sixbyte 356]

 

The decrepit elder Sir Humphrey de Valognes smiled briefly, reading the young Prince of Stassion's missive under candlelight in his quarters, 

 

"My lord, you have truly outdone yourself. The time for our two houses to reclaim what is promised to us by GOD, it is a blessing I have lived long enough to be in attendance…”

 

Edited Monday at 07:55 PM by Sixbyte

[Boom_steel 538]

A young Horace contemplates upon the horizon of this new continent.

 

”Better the tail of the lion than the head of the mouse.”  He echoed the maxim to no one in particular.

[Xtessisold222 484]

"What the fu-" The Helane would say whilst enjoying blood sausage 

[Crevel 7557]

A former knightly elf, donning the name Pelleas, muses at the supposed return of Stassion blood on the Azuran continent, "The Stassies have proven themselves most treacherous in the past, and it was their ruin. Time will tell if being doomed to a cycle of treachery is their fate."