ReveredOwl

THE COST OF FAILURE Andrik was alone for much of his youth, being born to parents who he would barely see and who would never show love. Unloved and unwanted, he clung to his cousins' sides for comfort and friendship. His aunt, Analiesa Josefina, took pity upon the poor, unwanted Ruthern and made the decision to raise him amongst her own brood. He was raised in a strict household, if it wasn’t the slap to the rear of the head from his aunt, it was a blistering insult from his uncle; but in a world as dangerous as ours, mollycoddling serves nobody any good. Raised by the Princess Royal, he and his cousins would quickly know what it means to fiercely defend one's family name and not to take insult without rebuttal. He would eventually follow Viktor into the Brotherhood of Saint Karl where he would quickly rise through the ranks and find himself becoming friends with the Queen. Despite his family's dramatics and public disputes, he would fiercely defend those who had accepted and raised him as one of their own. His loyalty to both the Crown and his family did not go unnoticed, the Ruthern runt would draw the King's own gaze. For a man whose beginnings were so gloomy and without purpose, he would never have seen himself kneeling before the throne of his monarch and receiving a sword to either shoulder. A Marian Knight, a most prestigious and elite position in the Kingdom, the Crown’s own retinue, trusted to lay down one's life to ensure that the Crown’s may live. So as the Inferi threat began to encroach on the Haeseni countryside and fort after fort would be lost to the soulless, he took charge of Karosgrad’s defences. Andrik worked for days without sleep, verging on weeks, as he fortified the city so that, at best: they would repel the threat or should the worst come: they had time to flee. The city bells echoed through the silent city as ashy rain descended onto worn platemail, soldiers lined the walls and citizens cowered in the depths of the palace. Andrik was assigned to the Crown Prince at the dock gates, the fighting was fierce and lasted for many days but runners had alerted the dock forces that other parts of the city were falling. The Crown Prince took a bolt and was quickly relocated to the palace for treatment, Andrik returned to the dock to see pale-faced soldiers shaking with fear; the rumblings of the earth beneath their very feet was something they all recognised. With each cannon and ballista prepared, the Devourer had come, erupting forth from the earth and towering over the gatehouse. Cannon fire and ballista bolt was of no match to the gargantuan beast, a full retreat was called and Karosgrad would be lost forever. A fresh start for the Kingdom, it settled upon an island by a river that forked off and spread out across much of the continent. A city was quickly constructed on the island and Andrik was eager to assist in its efforts. Despite his some misgivings and disagreements with members of the royal family, those he was sworn to, he would never forsake his vows and would serve them until his demise. Loyalty was a core value that Andrik held closely to his heart, his mothers death, driven to suicide by the cruelty of her husband and her peers, should he remain loyal to the father figure that had helped raise him? When his cousin, Viktor, who he had known all of his life, slew his father, should he remain loyal to the man who grew up alongside him? When his cousin, Viktor, was challenged to a duel by Andriks very own absent father, who should he support? Despite this troublesome period, Andrik remained loyal to the patriarch of his house and served the crown loyaly. The tension between the remnants of the Canonist League and the League of Veletz were beginning to boil over, but there was hope yet. Andrik accompanied the Haeseni retinue to a peace conference held in the United Kingdom of Aaun, but any notion of peace quickly faded away. As the Haeseni retinue arrived, they had discovered that members of house Stassion, and their retinue, had murdered their liege lord, the King of Aaun. Former members of the Canonist League quickly rallied their troops and joined the gathering in Aaun, it was then that the League of Veletz, a band of orcs and the Ferrymen ruffians appeared at the front gates, jaws snapping like starved mutts and hands rattling the portcullis. They forced their way inside the city and battle quickly spread out into streets of Whitespire, but the former Canonist League members had emerged victorious. Andrik knew then that war was inevitable. Andrik had only been able to attend two of the ensuing battles, instead, having been left in charge of palace defense during many of the battles. But as the victors returned home after every battle but one, he knew the war was slowly coming closer to an end. The bells tolled in the barracks, calling any soldiers around to gather and saddle up. The Lord Marshall had called for a routine patrol due to the increase in darkspawn activities and ferrymen ruffians on the roads. The patrol, for the most part, went without incident; there were no ruffians or darkspawn lingering in Haeseni land and so the patrol began to drift further and further away from Valdev. The Haeseni patrol would eventually find itself at the gates of Petra, an ally and coalition member. It was as soon as they had arrived they heard screams and shouts of the inhabitants within. The patrol quickly circled the walls and found the hastily positioned ladder placed against the walls of the Petran palace. A few faces appeared out of the windows of the palace above before the Haeseni soldiers dismounted from their horses. Andrik was the first one up the ladder and through the shattered window, not knowing what would await inside but eager to assist and defend those mercilessly cut down inside. At first it was one soldier, an official from the League of Veletz, this would quickly change. The sound of horses galloping around the walls could be heard outside, followed by the creaking of wood as heavy boots began to ascend the ladder they had just used. The small band of Haeseni soldiers quickly found themselves surrounded by blood stained ravishers. There was nothing to do but fight, the exchange was quick and brief. The Haeseni soldiers landed a good few blows on their enemies, but they would be overwhelmed by the enemy forces. Bar three captured Haeseni soldiers, the rest would perish in the exchange. Andrik would find himself awakening on the floor of the Petran palace, his wrists bound with shackles and his Marian platemail dented and scraped. It was a silent trip back into the heart of enemy lands, atop the horse of an armoured foe. Andrik stood in the courtyard of the fortress and watched two of his comrades each lose an arm, he averted his gaze away from their maiming and towards Sir Gaspard. Sir Gaspard, a man he had only encountered once before. Some years prior, the Marian Knight had rode to the League of Veletz to warn them of a roaming beast. The Marian Knight had met with Sir Gaspard and exchanged a brief conversation and warned him of the roaming ratmen that had recently plagued Valdev. This was before war had broken out across the continent, there were tensions between their two nations, but not to the degree it was at now. It was soon Andrik’s turn at the chopping block. A Marian Knight can not dutifully serve without both of his arms and Andrik refused to be altered by unnatural prosthetics. Andrik was a Marian Knight who failed in his duties and so he should pay the price for his failure, he exchanged brief words and prayers with Sir Gaspard before the Knight raised his axe skywards and swung it downwards on his foe. SER ANDRIK VAR RUTHERN KNIGHT OF THE MARIAN RETINUE 460 E.S - 513 E.S. | 1907 A.H. - 1960 A.H.

if ghouls, necromancers and dark magic users can capture people at 3 am, why can't these also be destroyed at these times?

tries to coup their liege lord and fails, shocked at the results

"What an odd signature." remarked Ser Andrik var Ruthern.

i don't recall which mod who ruled it, but when myself and other haense people were hunting the rat and bat humonculi, we just so happened to pass the ss pillar as they were walking away from it, the mod who came over ruled that we were not allowed to get them as it was technically camping the ss pillar

"I don't recall the Rex being there, not sure why hes trying to claim credit for something he didn't lead." remarked Ser Andrik.

"Perhaps it would have been better if Veletz did not lie to the Pontiffs predecessor in claiming that no ferrymen resided in their lands, if they had simply heeded the pontiffs request to evict them, they not be losing all of their land." remarked Ser Andrik.

yeah you can't camp ss pillars but any conflict that begins away and passes by them is fine to continue

"His soldiers all followed him in his treason and are all as guilty of it as him, the fact he didn't tell his son means very little." said Ser Andrik.

"Its a shame the boy king of Aaun placed his trust in Veletz and Stassion, everybody knew this would happen at some point." said Ser Andrik.

"I suppose this can be taken as Veletz' response to the Pontiff's demand to evict the Ferrymen from their land." said Ser Andrik

"They broke the hand of a man dressed in commonly recognised bandit attire and the Stassions are up in arms about it. The Aaunic King ought reign in his vassals lest they force his hand into war, but its better that then to suffer a coup for going against them, I suppose. Stassion and Veletz are one in the same." remarked Ser Andrik

"It is well known that Stassion men have two sets of uniforms, the one they wear in their fort, and the one they go out raiding in. Strangely I saw quite a few of the latter when the Ferrymen raided Valdev a few days ago." remarked Ser Andrik.

"Numerous leaders of Veletz told the previous Pontiff and all of the leaders of the Canonist League, that the Ferrymen, categorically, did not reside within their land. It has been proven that they do, even further, they sent a man from Veletz to tell us they were holding the princess hostage there." replied Andrik.

"Perhaps if Veletz hadn't lied to the previous Pontiff when they claimed the Ferrymen did not reside in their land, it would not have come to this. The Ferrymen abducted the pregnant princess of Balian, to do GOD knows what with, to cause harm to an unborn child is one of the most ergregious sins - the Pontiff did not 'step into secular affairs', he rallied a force to rescue a pregnant woman being held hostage in the lands of Veletz. Veletz continously lied to leaders of the Canonist League and the previous Pontiff in claiming the Ferrymen did not reside within their land, they have been shown to be proven liars, who can trust their word now? Let us also not forget the Stassion and Veletz soldiers sneaking into Breakwater via a rear bridge to join in the nefarious activities with the pregnant woman.

"Tis a shame he neglects to mention the Stassion and Veletz soldiers which bolstered their numbers and the fact they the Ferrymen themselves proclaimed that: should the soldiers of Haense leave, they would then release the Princess unharmed." remarked Ser Andrik.

"Would rather die then sign any document produced by the Ferrymen, what a sellout 'heir'." remarked Ser Andrik!

"It is well documented that Lurin is a safe haven for frost witches and a plethora of other unnatural and unholy creatures. I suppose what Aaun lacks in soldiers, it must make up for with unholy beasts that dwell within Lurin." remarked Ser Andrik

"It is scandalous that Petra allows their vassals to purport such heresies, salvation and greatness can only be achieved through GOD!" remarked Ser Andrik.

"Truly, the missive from Louis' brother came up within seconds after he vanished in a puff of smoke after running from the court, the missive was obviously pre-written, only the blind can not see this for what it is." remarked Ser Andrik.

"I'm confused, he refers to Louis as both a child and a teenager in the same missive, and the one published by his supposed brother calls him a man, what is it? Was he a child, teenager or a man? Do the Orenians not know the difference?" asked Andrik.

"Oh my goodness, it is Vasili Vanir reincarnate, but instead of falling down a flight of Staunton stairs, he fell on the Kings blade." remarked Ser Andrik.

"Your magical powers can phase vy through my windows too, it would seem. There is no point dueling a necromancer when its death will mean nothing as it will simply return, it is a pointless endeavour." replied Andrik, shooing the intrusive bishop from his home.

"I don't think anybody expected the Bishop to fight... besides, he's busy making deals to fruitlessly duel necromancers for GOD knows why." remarked Ser Andrik