The Rise of True Rectitude

[Samson Option 9652]

On their first push west, the Sariants march in solemn order toward a citadel, awakening the lax atmosphere around the fortified keep. As the air tenses and the sleeping denizens stir, a piercing cry of prayer awakens those asleep and causes a rush of emotion rising through the Knights as battering rams are wheeled towards the gate. Dust shakes off the gate as the iron bends and pops out of place, the Sariants continue to chant as the gates rips apart and Sariants flood in. The Grosstrappier Tesawa strips himself of iron chestplate and leggings and climbs up a tree near a parapet and leaps onto the edge and balances himself as he grabs the masonry while unshealthing his sword and striking at a half-asleep soldier. As the Sariants rush through the pitifully designed town, OrdenMarschall Samuel takes out his bow and strums an arrow with the sound of a beautiful harp as the arrow meets it's mark in between the eyes of the Mayor of the Citadel...

[Samson Option 9652]

EXCERPT

His teeth slowly grinding together, his eyes furrow as thin as an arrow's fletching. Gaius steps with his hand caressing the bandages on his side, but nonetheless his eyes glow with the twinkling of rectitude and determination, this time is ripe as fresh fruit and as prime as his coming will ever be. His Sariants all stand in formation, knees as solid as stone as they brace and cry out in a sober hymn, with a few men breaking formation to get onto their knees and cry a sickening trill. Taking his hand away from his wound without a single grunt, Gaius slides his hands across the cold iron of his winged helmet and raises it slowly, the curvature of the helmet hiding a smirk of daring challenge. As his helmet fits into place, Gaius opens his mouth and sound a dirge so grave and forboding, his Sariants raise their voices to their highest pitch and clang their swords against their shields.

Gaius then walks, slowly and deliberately, raising each foot and letting it fall in place with an air of confidence. Splayed across the horizon are the many towers, homes, and the great wall of AlKhazaar, Gaius looks upon it and grunts and clucks his tongue in satisfaction. Turning to his men and the populace gathering to see the latest gossip unfold, Gaius turns around on one foot and faces his Sariants; quickly pulling out his sword from it's scabbard and addressing his men...

Oi! Sariants! Take heed of your Hochmeister's presence and the spirit of the endeavor we shall strive towards. The Nation of Oren deserves a capable leader and a proper military to see to every citizen's wellbeing! We must reveal to the common folk that our mighty Order is capable of assisting and ruling over Oren, not for arrogance, but for the very need that Oren has of an intelligent, capable ruler! Many of you Sariants were released from the womb in these very lands, shall we not repay with our lives the debt we owe to the men, women, and children who have formed their communities in this mighty land! Humankind, realize that we are truly capable, worry not about the silly politics of this realm that has driven nails in the coffins of many! Intelligence must reign, Reason must prevail, true capability must flow in the blood of this Nation! The Order will truly ensure the best of this Nation and ensure that we will truly grant every human being to live off the soil and toil the circumstances we will lift up to the highest station for you all!

[Samson Option 9652]

Sweat beads dropping upon his raising feet as he moves about on the docks, Gaius looks out into the large lake stretched from the origin he stands at at the edge of the dock. Just a couple hours before his citadel of Nuremburg felt the first tinge of the Undead, an invasion nonetheless successfully repelled. His OrdenMarschall Samuel informed him of all of their deaths and pyres set along the coastline that he can see from the corners of his eyes. Glancing once more at the steady ripplings, losing his mind for a second in the serenity of his surroundings, he quickly found that frame of mind shattered as an arm quickly reaches for his foot and grabs it and yanks. With a loud thud rickety reminiscent of the wood the docks were made from, Gaius feels his body in a terrific throe as frail figures climb onto the dock and surround him. Gaius's mouth twist and eyes furrow at the situation impending and looks in a moment of confusion at the sudden climax that brought him onto his back and fallen backwards, he addresses them with an insult and chastises them for disturbing him.

Finally getting himself on all two feet, Gaius glares at the numerous visages mixed of anger, wrath, and the few faces of mottled flesh of the Undead. With the tap of a golden staff from one of the fetid figures, another more armoured and lively figure whips out a chain made of stone and secures them around Gaius's wrists and catches him at surprise and Gaius responds with a curse, but quickly a smirk covers the mouth agape. As the armoured man growls demands for no resistance to Gaius, Gaius turns his head to the staffed figure and tells him that he wont cower and that they should be most disappointed that he is a man of strong fortitude and not able to bow to fools. The necromancer attempts to use the curve of his staff to unbuckle Gaius's breastplate to ask of his affiliation, but Gaius spins around dodges the staff. The necromancers spits a fluid resembling lymph at Gaius and demands his name.

Gaius states his name is Tulli and the necromancer demands Gaius's hand and grips it with sharpened nails anchoring his grip onto Gaius and with his other hand in an otherworldly spell of glowing white hot power sears a cross on the palm of his hand. With the grinding of teeth, Gaius manages to contain himself and wear the constant smirk, once more showing determination not to let up to the Undead's torture. The necromancer stoops to level height with Gaius's face and gives him an equally devious smirk and tells his group to follow him.

Being dragged through the landscape his men had marched upon in the past began to unreel a timeline of memories, especially after being taken within the yet unrestored ruins of Crimson Vale. Feeling a form of retribution due to the attack, Gaius stewed the necromancer's nerves with complete confusion as to what is the importance of bringing him here, denying his own name as he had in the beginning. Leaving the Vale, the Undead travel North and one of the armoured men trade barbs with Gaius in an attempt to warn him to be frightened of the leader of the pack and with a return of noncompliance, an uppercut to Gaius's jaw throws him into complete resistance. With Gaius pulling against the chains and dodging each attempted blow by the same armoured men, arrows strike one in the shoulder blade and his OrdenMarschall, Samuel rushes at the chain and is deflected from his attempt to sever them as a rush of smoke originates near the middle of the chain. From the soiled hole that appears, decrepit figures straggle towards Samuel and Gaius as the others attempt to fight back and are repelled by the massing of zombies.

Gaius grapples his sword and swings it into the flesh of the foul creatures, but then feels the gashing upon his back making him realize he does not have his breastplate on and gets into a crawling position and beckons Samuel to do the same as their wounds continue to bleed. Crawling in a crevice made of stone, they fall asleep and are woken up the morning after by Monks dressed of a lustrious white.

[VonEbs 1224]

OOc: I loved how you here using one of my skins a few of the pics. Made me fell all warm inside :)

[Samson Option 9652]

Flushed red, running with sweat instead of the usual bloodiness of war, Gaius steps back and sits on a mound of dirt. Lifting the shovel to lay by his side, Gaius removes his mail greaves and wipes his head till a clean sheen gleams atop his forehead as the sun pounds down upon him and he lays flat, stretching his weary body. The land before him, flattened and marked with stakes starts to shrink as the sun tortures him with its unforgiving rays of heat, Gaius's body limps and loosens as it spins in a slight circle and he falls back in a force to put him to sleep.

With a peculiar feeling, Gaius awakens to see stone and wood form entire buildings in front of his eyes, to see a civilization building itself from the air it would seem. Gaius walks down an entire bridge as each piece fits into place until he gazes with the moon climbing ever so solemnly on the horizon a forest draped with shadows and dark enclaves. From this forest, he sees the ghost images of his Sariants, marching accompanied with sharp trills and grim hymns and the taunts of a fearsome, brave soldier. Gaius falls onto his knees being on the receiving end of the march he started, realizing that through the world of Aegis, he has produced the most elite and promises himself till his death he will see the Teutonic Order to the greatest stations.

[Mirtok 2853]

Sir may I just say that your words have caused me to shat out a brick from the sheer inspiring wording and influence behind each and every sentence you uttered. The world will never be the same and our deeds will forever be sung throughout the ages of Aegis, for an eternity our actions will be felt and our spoils will be known of until the end of time.

With you at the helm, the very fabric of what these people have come to know as their home, will be transformed into a far better and a far superior existence with our own sarients as the driving force behind it all. I am honored to serve with you and will be honored forever more as I give my very existence to your words. We are strong, we are wise, we are the Teutonic Order.

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[Samson Option 9652]

Sir may I just say that your words have caused me to shat out a brick from the sheer inspiring wording and influence behind each and every sentence you uttered. The world will never be the same and our deeds will forever be sung throughout the ages of Aegis, for an eternity our actions will be felt and our spoils will be known of until the end of time.

With you at the helm, the very fabric of what these people have come to know as their home, will be transformed into a far better and a far superior existence with our own sarients as the driving force behind it all. I am honored to serve with you and will be honored forever more as I give my very existence to your words. We are strong, we are wise, we are the Teutonic Order.

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[simply Put, we are BAMF]

[Samson Option 9652]

Gaius walks auspiciously along King's Road, his mind and heart restful and biding the many thoughts expressed by his Sariants the day before as they build the Capital, expressions of the knowledge that they will succeed in this endeavor just as endeavors past. As he walked more straggled due to his daydreaming, Gaius snaps back to reality as he nears the sands of Krugmar; off in the distance. Not so much the mesmerizing gleam of a million sands, Gaius tilts his head in curiosity as he sees the movement of the Orcs gliding across the dunes like the wind of the baking sun. Picking up his pace, Gaius meets them along the stretch of King's Road and recognizes the Big Boss Aerog. Greeting the Orcish General in proper Orkish, Gaius is told of how the Lord Brett Perea attempted to invade Krugmar and issue warnings of arrogant chords and that the Krughai see nothing wiser than to strike back to advocate the Lord to watch his footsteps.

Heading northeast to rally his men, Gaius seeks his OrdenMarschall to gather the Sariants in gilded armour and to head towards the Whisper Isles. Marching towards the Isles chanting, the Teutonic Order gather in a separate column from the Orcs to differentiate the men that both Big Boss and Gaius lead and march nearer to the heart of the Whispering Isles. As dawn rises, the Sariants begin to chant louder, shouting curses and threats to the guards of the Isles. Seeking out the Whispering Order, Gaius catches the faint glimpses of armoured men retracting away from the marching column and commands his men to pick their feet up and begin investigating the mysterious figures. Nearing a structure with a tower looming overhead, Gaius hears the rustling of gate irons being dropped and curses in annoyance. Slowing to a brisk walk, he lets each foot be heard as he walks heavily and gracefully to the gate of the barrack and grasps the iron bars with his mail greaves and peers at the soldiers inside...

Clasping the edge of his winged helm and pulling it off his head, Gaius smirks at the soldiers as they back away slowly from the gate and peer back at the Hochmeister. Letting out a sharp laugh, Gaius demands armour and weaponry to be given to him or that he will unleash the inevitable fate. Opening and emptying chests, the men walk back begin handing over the supplies, much to Gaius's approval. While this occurred, Gaius addresses what seemed to be the leader of said Whispering Order and instructed him to tell Lord Brett not to flaunt what he does not have, to watch wearily his movements so as to not appear arrogant and out of line again. With the last of equipment handed over, Gaius thanks them and turns around and begins to walk away. Hearing the first sigh, Gaius rushes the gate again and instructs his men to begin hoisting ship anchors brought from the harbor and takes hold of the ropes and pulls. Both Orc and Man pulled to the tune of the grinding and torturous sound of beaten iron as the gates slowly give way until the entablature containing the gate iron when raised had burst into rubble, brushing off the materials from their mail and iron armour, the barracks were rushed. A day worth of the inevitable passed as the slain bodies of the Whispering Order laid strewn across the barrack flooring, Orcs gashed the bodies to ensure no life animated as the Order begin to stuff straw in the wooden cracks and crevices to feed their torches of growing flames...

[Samson Option 9652]

Walking along the King's Road, Gaius views some figures silhouetted by the dusk's cloak across the landscape. Noticing branches stretched forth between him and the two figure standing, facing away from him; Gaius shuffles backward and behind the tree from which the branches reach from. Placing his hands firmly upon the bark of the tree and leans out to allow his ear to hear more, he grasps strands of the conversation, learning they were talking about himself and that one of the figures dressed in crimson red was searching for him. Removing his winged helm and placing it easily upon a thick branch and walking forth with his arms outstretched. Walking softly without notice, as Gaius neared the red figure, he cheered with praises and began to hug the figure, unnerving and causing the red figure to withdraw in surprises.

Wrapping his arms around the figure in brotherly affection, Gaius leans in close to his cloaked ear and whispers that he knows of the man that he talks about and quickly withdraws so as to not cause suspicion in the figure being interrogated. Gaius smiles amicably and thinks of his success as he sees the lips within the cloak curl, charred streaks upon the lips become noticable. The red cloaked figure steps beside Gaius and quickly tilts his head in a direction and Gaius follows him as the other figure leaves feeling indifferent. Heading on a small road to a modest shop, doors open and glowing with candlelight bathing the walls in warm glow. The Red Figure addresses in immediate questioning, Gaius parries with a false identity, one he has moved throughout and accustomed to the story of his false identity. With the mention of how Marin seeked out Iblees, the red cloaked figure raised his hand with a slight raising of his hood at the mention of Iblees.

Alerted at the concern shown by the red cloaked figure, Gaius's eyes furrowed slightly and his mind interpreted his chances of facing what obviously was a necromancer after seeing the grueling facial conditions earlier. With a slight raise of his hood, the stranger shows a slight smirk, once again displaying the blackened lips and sticks out his hand slowly in mottled tones of skin color. Noticing the hand would need to be shook by the hand that was scarred by a cross when he was abducted, Gaius raises his hand in a call for a minute and Gaius recalls that he has a parchment marked with more information and lowers his hand into his pocket. As he fingers the pocket attached to his belt, he swiftly slides his hand upon the hilt of his sword and draws it forth from it's sheathe and immediately slashing the belly of the necromancer and spins around and guts the necromancer in the abdomen once more.

The necromancer, upon his last breathe throws off his hood and stares into Gaius's eyes, guffawing at the fact that he did truly find Gaius albeit too late. Barking at the necromancer with harsh curses and asserts to know his felled enemy's name, the necromancer coughs up blood as he calls himself Brevias. The Necromancer's knees buckle due to blood loss, stumbling upon one knee and growing unconscious and slipping closer to his last breathe, Gaius stares at him and smirks cleverly, telling him that none of his kind will ever find him. Placing a foot upon the chest of the necromancer, he shoves his foot against the limp body and slides his blade against rotten flesh to withdraw it from the body.

[Samson Option 9652]

Excerpt

Slowing to a studdering walk, Gaius slowly sheds off his winged helm to a torrent of sweat beads spraying forth. Calling out to his Sariants to assemble in front of the main gate of the fortress of Nuremburg, Gaius rests his hands roughly upon his knees to catch his breathe. Having ran through the forests to alert his men of the ambush by King Enor's Militia, he gathers his Grosstrappier and instructs him to gather the armour and gathers his OrdenMarschalls to inform them of the numbers had. The Sariants begin to chant furiously at the news of their own brethren being killed out of bloodlust and march out of the gate with the trill of mail skirts impacting one another. Gaius swings his sword in the direction of King's Road and his Sariants keep a steady march onward.

Nearing the King's Road, Gaius lays his hand at his thigh's height and motions them to hide in the forests nearby. Quickly skipping to an enclave hidden underneath the road, Gaius rolls into the enclave and pokes his head out in the direction of Krugmar. Spotting one of the Krughai striding along King's Road, Gaius grapples the masonry of the road when the Orc crosses him above and grips the Orc's foot and sends him sideways crashing into the sand and quickly cups his hand and silences the Orc. Whispering in the Orc's ear that he is the Hochmeister, the Orc immediately loosens up his recoil from the fall and listens as Gaius explains that he needs the Warlord Mogroka to issue the Krughai back to the location they lay and the Orc shakes his head and whispers to hold the Sariants strong within the forest until he comes back. They both depart and Gaius heads back into the forest and lays in wait with his men, analyzing the horizon and who makes their path through the King's Road.

As the moon curves along the tender surface of the night sky, Gaius peers out from the bushes and notices a large group summoning from the south and marching north. Grabbing his OrdenMarschall and pointing towards the large conglomeration and noticing Krughai and another unknown party, they order their Sariants to come out from the dark forests and march towards the road as Gaius speeds up ahead of them and holds out his hand in amnesty and greets in Orcish language, responded correctly giving Gaius relief. As he nears the marching, Ned LudGorkil approaches Gaius and gives word that the Orcs called upon their elven allies, the Wardens and informs that they will be fighting alongside the Teutonic Order. Gaius takes off his winged helm and stands on one foot to observe both of the armies assembling into two columns and instructs his Sariants to ready themselves for combat.

Meeting the Warden Highborn Quazar, Gaius and Ned Lud alongside their Generals discuss their plans and with most agreements being found between each other turn and address their men for battle. Gaius walks in front of his men and tell them that the day has come that Oren shall have due repercussions, if one wishes to act, then they shall be acted upon duly for their efforts in however way it must be returned. Kramaroe being invaded when the Orcs were on their tribal hunts was the most ignorant disrespect and not even the Ascended can stop what shall happen, it is time for AlKhazaar to be razed for such ignorant of actions and let the King answer to his own deeds. Gaius then looks at the other two men, Ned LudGorkil and Quazar and initiates the northern march towards the gates of AlKhazaar.

As the main gate of AlKhazaar emerges from the dawning of the sun, the Warden column marches behind trees and begin to take aim with their elven bows and draw down the number of guards atop the towers and hiding behind parapets, OrdenMarschall Samuel and Viadar point out a fallacy in the iron gates in one section of the walls and with rapid arrow fire, the Orcish and Teutonic column rush forth through the shallow river and swim underneath and into the city. Charging the first row of guards, nervous and teetering on their feet, the Sariants and Orcs swiftly cut them down before noticing a second row of gates had been shut during the quick skirmish and more guards rest behind the secondary walls. Urara'Gorkil and Apollan the Warden draw Ned Lud, Quazar, and Gaius towards a sewer entrance and they formulate a plan to spring two attacks at the same time on the inner city of AlKhazaar.

Rushing with a handful of Wardens and a few Orcs, Gaius presses some of his Sariants led by him into a foul smelling lake near the mountain that AlKhazaar is based around and find a rusted, mottled sewer pipe large enough for them to walk into. Approaching it, Urara'Gorkil, Apollan, Gaius, Draco, and Gralka grab hold on the grimy sewer grating and pull until the feeble wrought iron pops off and sends the people flying backwards into the murk. Entering into the sewers, the men keep quiet so as to not alert the guards above the sewage system and make their way up into a city street and quickly pull themselves up and over and enter a house and Gaius locks the door with a wooden plank. Pulling woolen curtains over the windows, Urara'Gorkil, Ned LudGorkil, Durzio, Gralka, Vardak, and Gaius lean against the walls to peer out of the windows at the passing guards and ensure themselves that they are safely hidden.

With the sound a blown horn, Gaius and the rest of the people inside rush downstairs and unsheathe their weapons and kick the door down and scatter into the streets and surprise the guards nearby and swiftly quell any guard defensives and move through the streets. Spotting the rest of the armies rushing through the main street along with his OrdenMarschalls, Gaius tilts his head towards the entrance of the Keep, grins, and rushes towards it. With news that the King fled, the armoured guards fortifying the Keep grew unsettled as a mass of rushing warriors threw themselves into the defending and after hours of constant battle they were whittled away and the cries of victorious virtue rang within the city of AlKhazaar. Gaius, wiping blood from his helm and the curdle of flesh from his blade walked towards the throne, to him now a symbol of arrogance. Accompanied by a Black Axe named Logan, the dwarf withdrew a pickaxe and struck at the diamond shards in the backrest and drew four chunks; gifted to the leaders of the victors. Gaius, Ned LudGorkil, Quazar, and Logan four received these shards in a symbol that his arrogance has been calmed, now he knows the prices paid for the actions grown from haughty ambition.

[Samson Option 9652]

Gaius wipes the grime of mortar onto his mail skirt, observing the greys melting into the colour of his mail armor and steps back a few paces upon the sand. The night sky lingers as the bits of sands sink from the weight of the bystander and Gaius sighs relief. Flurries of sand blow from the night breeze as Gaius looks up at the newly erected outpost and puts his arms on his waist and catching his breathe from the near endless working. Satisfied with his work, Gaius picks up his winged helm, slips it on and gathers his tools and attach them to his belt and begins to walk into the dark horizon.

Before heading away, Gaius enters once more and plucks a thorn from the cacti within. Taking it within his teeth, he walks away with his winged helm strung across his back and with the cacti needle rolling from crease to crease within his lip.

[Samson Option 9652]

Walking in strides, Gaius discusses the coming growth of the Kingdom of Oren whilst glancing at the wayfarer inn's and modest farms in full bloom of wildflowers, wheat, and the occasional melon plant. Gaius waves his hand in agitation as a armor clad man walking towards them gives Gaius an ugly glance and the OrdenMarschall Samuel places his hand on the hilt of his sword, Gaius beckons Samuel to retrieve his aggressive intent and to simply keep walking with him. As the situation quickly calms, Gaius catches a glance of a fortress between the thick timber west of the King's Road near Galahad and places his hand on Samuel's shoulder and beckons him to follow; the swiftly sidestep into the forest and hide themselves in the woods. Stepping over the decay of logs and withering leaves, Gaius and Samuel near the quaint castle and move their heads around to get views of any men standing around and notice a group accumulated by the gates.

Noticing the group in calm discussion, Gaius peels himself from the tree he was hidden behind and walks toward the group with arms outstretched so as to mean himself a peaceful addition to the conglomeration. Samuel quickly follows, observing the crowd of men closely and speaking in a different tongue accompanied by clicks of Gaius's tongue to show that he is listening. Greeted, Gaius places his hand to his heart and replies with equal kindness and acquires on the group. After a long discussion as to the history of the Knights of the North, Gaius makes an offer to the leader, Casamir; to join the Black Crosses. With a response of which Casamir expressed the need to think it through, some of the Knights step forward and request that they leave with the Hochmeister immediately. Casamir looks toward the Hochmeister and instructs that he take great care of the men in which Gaius promises to do so.

[Samson Option 9652]

Gaius lifts his mail boot upwards, a limp arm draped over it. Tilting his winged helm and the crisp exhaling streams out of the nostril indents as he stretches his back. His Sariants solemnly chant as they gather weaponry out of the nearby barrack as OrdenMarschall Samuel guides a few other men to throw torches intoxicated in fuel. Shouting to the straggling soldiers thwarted by the Black Crosses, Gaius warns the Nical Empire to return to Oren's bosom and to never return to claim land outside Oren's stretch...

[Samson Option 9652]

Gaius climbs upon the vast rock shelves in the Northern Reaches, ever so often dropping into small crevices as he makes his way through the wintery landscape. Seeing the distant silhouette drawn by the blizzard, Gaius quickens his step as he nears a sandstone wall. To his surprise, the gate swiftly unhinges and drops atop a tuft of snow. Gaius, peering through the arrow slits for signs of life, walks slowly across weighing each of his footsteps heavily. Seeing the luminous lanterns seemingly floating due to the blinding snow, Gaius tilts his winged helm attempting to find the one who opened the gate. Finally, a man with an aura of goodwill approaches Gaius, acquiring of who he was and why he came.

Looking at the ground in front of him, Gaius informs the man as others gather around him that he will be surprised what he had brought and who he truly is. As the other men show curiosity, the man who first addressed him looks to him with furrowed brows as Gaius reaches within his cloak to withdraw a lustrous staff of golden engraves. Handing it to the man who revealed himself as Commander of the FoA, Safen. Safen takes it within his hand and looked up towards Gaius and asked who he was. Gaius slowly removes his winged helm and runs his hand through his beard and strokes it gently as he observes Safen gasp and step back.

Suddenly, a woman approaches, long white hair blending with the snowflakes and a face pure and unblemished addresses Safen and asks about what is going on. Gaius places his mail mitten upon his heart and with a smile bends slightly towards the woman. With a few words traded, the woman takes the staff into her own hands and trace the engraving with a tear beckoning her to thank Gaius. Gaius asks that the woman let the Ascended know that the compassion they have committed throughout with certainly be returned and to let such news reach their own so that their morale is raised.

[Samson Option 9652]

Taking a hold on his collar, Gaius drags the man till his body laid relatively horizontal with the ground. The man, wretchedly cursing at the Sariants slowly surrounding him whilst chiming a piercing trill into the air, stumbles as he is laid out. The entirety of his body exposed, Gaius orders his men to cleave his chest, to knock wind and word out from his body. Gaius looks towards the other men within the castle, staring in horror and points his sword and orders them to hide within or that his men will make their way inside. After the body limps after multiple strikes, Gaius looks toward one of the men in the tower and loosens his grip on the dead man's collar slowly as the head bobs from impact after falling against the ground. Smirking, Gaius instructs Silverblade, Ventraux, Segari, and Samuel to follow him as they exit.