History of Richard 1

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History of Richard by Beowulf Thormear

"The prescient lay blind claims to possible futures unfettered by personal intervention, only individual choice may lead to certainty, never the other way around." - Richard Ebonrune

Chapter One - Shattered Lands

"Hold the lines!" the voice of a soldier boomed over the blackened skies of a moon lit battlefield.

Thousands upon thousands of bodies lay strewn across the bloodied fields of a forested area west of Minoc, soldiers clinging to life hobbled around in death trance, hoping to find eternity amongst their brethren. A lone soldier stood in the heat of the fray, black cloak and armor swirling behind him, fending off several enemies at once with inhuman vigor and fury. The lone soldier approached the front lines of the imperial army, eyeing the general of British's Minoc regiment.

"Fight to the death! We die today rather then bring this shame upon our king, stand...!" The general's voice cut off as a crimson blade implanted itself within his back.

The ebony soldier placed his foot upon the generals back and roughly thrust forward, releasing the general from the impaling blade.

"Then die you shall." The ebony soldier hissed as he once again brandished his blade, effortlessly slaying several more soldiers.

The tides of battle slowly began to shift towards the side of the blackened soldiers as more of the imperial legions broke off into frantic scattering formations, some following their general's final command, while others choosing the option of cowardice. In mere hours, five hundred darkly clad warriors had defeated the thousands strong Minoc regiment of Lord British's army.

"High Advocate, they shall set upon us a fury of troops, we have lost far too many of our brothers tonight, we cannot possibly& " A tired soldier's plea was cut short by a stiff glance from the high advocate.

"I have killed their general, the rest will be rounded up shortly, and the word of the defeat will not reach their ears for months. The peace which we have brought, the freedom from the king's tyranny is worth the price. We shall meld with the populace, their chores shall be ours, their women shall be ours, and we shall survive to strike back again in very few generations." The High Advocate grinned sadistically as his eyes wandered over the city of Minoc; the appointed governor's mansion loomed in the distance, ready for the taking.

"I believe it is time for me to become governor of Minoc, bring me three men, we will remove the nobility of this inbred little town." The High Advocate grinned and raised his sword to the blackened sky, slowly reaching for a cloth to remove the crimson stains from his blade. Stopping suddenly, the High Advocate dropped the cloth to the earth. "Let them see the blood of their saviors, who then will they cry out to for salvation."

"My lady, I suggest we flee to the docks immediately, the mage council will undoubtedly burn my flesh to cinders if they learn that you have been slain by some forest dwelling rabble." A finely dressed adjutant stood in the opulently decorated sitting room of the governor's mansion in Minoc.

A noblewoman wearing an outrageously expensive blue dress stood up sharply, a look of extreme disgust crossed her delicate features. "We will stay here, the rabble will not dare to enter the mansion, this is not a hostile holding. If they do, they know not only the soldiers of Lord British will have their skulls mounted upon the barricades, but their souls will be burned from their flesh by the mage council. We are safe here." The woman jarred suddenly, as sounds of commotion could be heard emanating from the lower levels of the mansion.

"Please& take me, leave my family, they have done you no harm& " The words of the governor were cut short as a crimson blade lunged through his chest, screams of servants, women, and children could be heard as a ruthless slaughter commenced.

The High Advocate worked his way up the stairs, leaving a bloody path in his wake, sparing neither child nor elderly in his dance of death. The High Advocate reached the final floor of the mansion, lifting his armored foot; he kicked through the poorly barred wooden door leading to the guest chambers. Staring with complete horror, a finely dressed noblewoman and her servant looked upon the bloodstained epitome of inhumanity that stepped through the splintered opening. "You sir! Leave this place immediately; I am a high noblewoman of Moonglow, daughter to one of the most powerful mages in the entire realm. If you so much as get a speck of blood on my servant or I, you will be ground into dust and used as reagents for the mage council!" The noblewoman spoke in harsh defiance of the intruder, staring the adrenaline driven High Advocate in his maddened eyes.

"Such a feisty one, and with beauty to match& Come my lady, let us bathe in the blood of my newly acquired mansion; being ground to ash seems like a worthy price for indulging with a noblewoman such as yourself. The High Advocate spat the words from his blood stained face and grinned with sick perversion. "My lady, you should have proclaimed yourself a servant, perhaps then you would have been granted a swift death."

The sounds of a woman's screams of agony could be heard throughout the night in the crimson stained mansion of the former governor of Minoc.

Chapter 2 - Baptism by Blood

"I want to die! The child is an abomination, a sick visage of its father once again defiling my body!" A woman screamed on a birthing bed as a gaggle of midwives attended to her every whim.

Time passed from minutes to hours as screams of agony and curses drifted through the room, finally ending in the sounds of a crying child. Midwives rushed from room to room gathering blankets and other necessities like frantic insects.

"My lady, it is a boy. The words struck the woman with sudden compassion as she looked upon her son. The child's piercing blue eyes looked back at her with young innocence; the unlocked depths of knowledge contained within them an exact replica of her fathers, without signs of the brutal lineage shared with the child's father.

"I shall name him Richard, after his grandfather." The woman smiled and held the child close, tears streaming from her eyes as she cradled the boy softly.