TEATRC tribute & universe expansion

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Julia

“Julia!” the man screamed, the iron bars clanking loudly. “Julia! Julia, my love! Julia!” The screaming and the clanking of iron woke the guards posted outside his cell. Both of them entered, one of them holding a shield. The emblem of the Radiant Cross shining brightly on its surface, the guard holding it bashed the prisoner straight on the face. The prisoner’s nose bled rapidly, his head fell back down and he slept, still muttering something under his breath.

“Heretic!” shouted the guard, slapping the prisoner full in the face.

“Why is he in here?” asked the other guard, being more lenient toward the prisoner and merely holding his face up to get a good look at him. The prisoner’s eyes were still closed, but he was muttering silently in his head the same word: Julia.

“He betrayed our lord and god Filaharn for-“

“Spare me your religious lectures Nestor I have enough of this at home. Tell me the proper reason,” the man said, shooting the guard known as Nestor, still holding the shield, a cold look.

“He betrayed the Brigade for romance with a woman,” said Nestor.

“Julia?” asked the man.

“Yes, Magas,” answered Nestor, bashing the man’s chest with the shield. The prisoner coughed blood on Magas’ face. The prisoner’s eyes popped open and they could all see the eyes of the Propugnator. The prisoner stared distantly at them with those cold, empty eyes. Magas stepped back as Nestor bashed the prisoner’s chest once more.

“By Filaharn, he’s a Propugnator?” asked Magas, his tone uttering intense disbelief.

“Worse, Magas,” answered Nestor as he stepped back to get another good look at the prisoner. The prisoner seems to have barely felt anything. The prisoner’s face was bloody, but other than that he seemed remarkably healthy. His body was muscular, his arms looked like they could break off the chains holding him if he tried and his legs were thickly built.

“What’s worse than a brother Propugnator betraying the Brigade, Nestor?” asked Magas, stepping forward and slapping the prisoner with the back of his gauntleted hand.

“He’s a Hand of the Pope,” answered Nestor silently. Magas again stepped back, his armour clanking with the metal bars of the cell. “He served the First Deva and Pope Saldian himself. Two of the greatest servants of Filaharn alive today had a traitor under their command.”

“Who knows of his existence?” asked Magas, his voice slightly faltering with fear.

“The First Deva found out about his affair. The Hands of the Pope under the First Deva know, along with some of the guards here,” Nestor answered. He motioned for the two of them to step out of the cell. “We should talk in private.”

Nestor led them away to a table in the dining hall of the prison; other Brigadiers were busy with their food to notice the two of them. The room was full of noise from the talks of other Brigadiers. No Propugnators ever held guard duties, even the sight of a prison handled by Brigadiers is rare, but this one was an occasion for those whose levels of heresy were ranked highest by the Devas.

“We do not know the prisoner’s name, but we know exactly where he came from,” started Nestor as they sat down and pretended to eat their rations. “The day he was brought in, he was fully dressed in the Hand of the Pope armour. He himself was being handled by Hands of the Pope as he was led in. The First Deva was at the head of his procession. When he was taken to his cell I was the Brigadier standing right there outside it. He was stripped of his armour and he was interrogated. The First Deva had a Hand of the Pope beat him and he himself interrogated him.

“It was brutal. The beatings did little effect and the cunning interrogation used by the First Deva couldn’t break through him. The First Deva accepted the fact that he’ll just rot away in that cage.”

“What about Julia?” asked Magas, who was chewing on some bread.

“Julia was a Brigadier, just like us. How they were able to contact each other without being spotted, I don’t know. When the First Deva had the prisoner arrested, it was said that the prisoner himself stopped Julia from getting to her.

“Some of the guards here are saying she’s plotting to break in to capture the prisoner. I don’t believe it.” Nestor finished his rations and stood up. “All we know is, if word of a prisoner like him broke out there’ll be chaos. A Hand of the Pope betraying the inner chambers of the hierarchy itself, people will begin to doubt the Order and the Throne itself. There’s a reason only Brigadiers are employed here, Magas.”

Magas walked out of the dining hall silently, leaving Nestor to go to the daily mass. Magas went back to the prisoner’s cell and watched him slowly. The man was strong; he had strong features in him. The prisoner looked up and showed Magas his cold, empty stare. Magas drew his sword, and the prisoner slowly nodded in acceptance. Magas screamed at the prisoner as he stabbed him. The prisoner’s mouth dripped blood on Magas’ shoulder as the prisoner attempted to draw one last breath.

“She’s pregnant, my Julia is pregnant,” the prisoner whispered silently. The heretic chained in the cell opposite the prisoner’s heard nothing of this silent engagement, merely distracted by the fact that a prisoner had just been killed in front of him filled him with fear. Magas drew back from the prisoner, his sword dripping blood. The stab wound opened a hole dead centre in the prisoner’s chest. It was dripping blood slowly to the floor.

“One more stab will do it,” said the prisoner, looking at his own wound and then looking back at Magas. “Remember that, Magas.” Magas rushed forward once more, this time his sword made an upward swing.

“She’s pregnant,” the prisoner said once more. “She’s pregnant, my Julia is pregnant.” The prisoner’s head then continued to stare at the floor as Magas drew back and dropped the sword onto the cold stone floor. “Julia, my love,” said the prisoner once more as his final breath was heard by Magas alone.
 
I like, except for the Saldian Lord-cardinal stuff. The brigade was created by Saldian, hands of the pope are part of it too (just to keep the lore somewhat cohesive for the future  :razz:).

Now it's time to kill that Julia gal.

Also, I was thinking about the idea of Hands of the pope taking an oath of permanent silence, similar to that of some monastic orders.
Ok to be honest first I thought about having their tongues removed once they become hands of the pope, but it seemed like too much  :lol:
 
On a somewhat related note, is the Lion Throne the most woman-friendly of the factions? Aside from Queen Loeher, they're the only nation with female lords. Plus, there was nothing wrong with Julia being a brigadier in Boomie's story.
 
There's also Ozma one of the laurian knights. But yeah I guess they think of women as somewhat equal (that would sound horrible out of context  :lol:), as long as they have faith, loyalty and devotion to the Pope.

And before someone starts *****ing about having women as officers in the military, read about the Sassanians.
 
Tiberius Decimus Maximus said:
You know, I always thought that Hands of the Pope were eunuchs... wasn't that mentioned somewhere?  :???:

Erhh, no :???:, that's one weird idea you got there.
Lack of testosterone would greatly affect their muscle mass, not to mention their aggressiveness and will to fight  :neutral:.
 
Cutting the tongues for the Hands wouldn't be that bad. They would still be able to scream.. :grin:

They would probably use sign language to communicate with each other and no-one would understand their secret objectives on the battlefield or on a mission.
 
:lol:
Nah, the point would be that duty becomes their life. Do what you're told, and nothing else, no questions. They're not the kind of guys you send on a mission, or you discuss tactics with while looking at a map. They protect the Pope and by his orders the First Deva and nothing else. They stand by his side on the battlefield and hack whatever comes close, to the very end. Nothing fancy.
 
yeah well, I'm surprised why the LT doesn't have some kind of special Pope-controlled special assassin forces.
It would be so much easier for them to just "get that brilliant enemy commander out of the way" by sneaking into their camp on the night before the battle.
 
I'll work on the necessary censorship modifications.

Actually, I was supposed to go Nineteen Eighty-Four on that lore and have the prisoner brainwashed beyond all reason before being executed, rather than just being killed off, but I got bored. Maybe on my next piece. :razz:

And I intended it to be like a generation before Chapter 2 or Chapter 3. But no harm done.

Edit: The necessary edits have been done, not much has changed. I also didn't name the First Deva. :grin:
 
You don't need to talk when over decades of bloody warfare has made you a master of all tactics required to be a guard. Just remember who you need to guard, and the fact that you're perhaps the scariest thing that has ever walked the battlefield aside from 3 dozen batteries of Ormeli grade Artillery.

Is it me or is there a rise in lore about Propugnators based on my and TDM's concept, makes me proud  :cry:

No specialized assassin agency to keep them in check? Well that's because problems like what happened to "Julia" is silenced as quickly as possible.. If there is, then its existence is only known to directly to the Pope himself... Although I think such an agency is a danger in itself already..
 
Boomie said:
I'll work on the necessary censorship modifications.

Actually, I was supposed to go Nineteen Eighty-Four on that lore and have the prisoner brainwashed beyond all reason before being executed, rather than just being killed off, but I got bored. Maybe on my next piece. :razz:

And I intended it to be like a generation before Chapter 2 or Chapter 3. But no harm done.

Edit: The necessary edits have been done, not much has changed. I also didn't name the First Deva. :grin:

First Deva O'Brien?
 
The Battle Of Therling Forest (Continuing this)

Even though Glenn and his followers were outnumbered, they had good defensive position on top of an steep hill. Nords and those of Glenn's men who had a round shield formed a shield wall (usually Highlanders used smaller bucklers, but after the Nords came across the Obello Sea they adapted some of Nordic equipment). Druids from both sides casted spells and curses upon each other (This display by the druids is irrelevant considering the battle, as it's just an tradition from the times when druids practically ruled the Highlands). After the druids moved behind the lines, MacGloihn's men, Lowlanders in front, started their advance. From the top of the hill crossbowmen shot volleys of bolts at the attacker killing and injuring few Lowlanders. When MacGloihn's men were 5 feet away from the Glenn's shield wall, Glenn's front line plunged forward towards the Lowlanders, who lost their balance and staggered back bumping into men behind them.

Duncan MacGloihn watched his warriors smash against Glenn's shield wall like waves against breakwater. He had failed to notice that Edward Glenn and 60 horsemen were flanking him while everyone's attention was in the battle. Glenn and his horsemen charged MacGloihn and his companions from their side killing MacGloihn and thirty of his companions and routing the rest. The horns were blown marking the death of the general and end of the battle. Highlanders of MacGloihn's army were spared but Lowlanders were beheaded as men wanted trophies. Casualties were high, most of them MacGloihn's side, king Olof Ekillsson was killed by Lowlander.
As Olof died without a suitable heir Edward Glenns and Brunhilde Ekillsdottirs 17-year-old son Ærthcnut was crowned king of the Nords in 1492.
 
FuryFire said:
Comments and criticism is welcome. I plan to tell the story of how Zalera the Second Deva came to be.

A little commentary. Keep in mind that I concieved Zalera as a schizophrenic guy (heh, as a psychology student you get to visit and interview many people with such mental condition, and boy, are they fascinating! but very, very scary at the same time, you never know when the delirium will kick in and they'll start acting random, many times in an agressive manner). It's a disease that manifest itself mostly between the 15 to 25 or so years. Common traits (during it's development) are moments of complete loss of reality (hearing voices, seeing stuff, and many other kinds of delirium), and an extreme self centered view of the world.
Just thought I would point that out since the LT is my little baby  :razz: (and I was just reading about the subject, for the goddamn exams  :sad:)
 
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