PDA

View Full Version : On Behalf of My Lady-Dame, Baroness Kenina: Her Story


Alistare
01-17-2007, 10:16 AM
Close your eyes with me and let your mind open to my words. As you stare at the shifting blackness behind your eyelids, a world shall present itself to you. You lift upward from your body and soar into the heights by my side as I tell a tale of bandits, nobles, fire and the birth of a leader. Its the past we seek and enter into now.

We can see all of Dock Town from here. It is a grungy place up close but from this distance it appears clean and free of vagabonds or beggars or whores. We continue our ascent until all of Triskellian is but blur below us. There to the north is the elite New Town and on the west we can barely spot the relics of traditional Old Town. Let us move away from the city we know and into the deep northwestern forests.

As we skim the skies at a speed faster than a destrier at full gallop, we come across the deep, dark forests of Bisclavret lands. There, if you squint just right, you can see our first destination. The original watchtower of Harrowgate Castle. Allow me to introduce you to this wooden wonder of royal residence. We fly lower and lower as the castle comes closer and closer. Being a figment of our own imaginations, we ghost right through the walls, deeper into the home of noble Bisclavret lineage. Far in the corner is thick pine door from which can be heard the hustle and bustle of chattering women. Beyond the door, we enter to see a young female wolf laying in a large overstuffed bed. She is obviously pregnant and near due. Around her scuttle servants and friends caring for her every need. We rise upward through the high ceiling and several unnamed floors until we are again above the city. Let us seek a group among the trees and wilderness.

We skim to the northwest, we drop low to the ground to see beyond the trees. The light barely meets the ground in this dense forest. Ahead we find a group of lumberjacks laboring at the dry trees. Sweat trickles from every brow as the drought reigns supreme over this region. Sitting tall in his saddle is handsome young noble of the Bisclavret line. A few troops remain stolidly by his side. They watch over these commoners as protection from outside forces. The young man leans over his saddle to pat his noble steed in a gesture of camaraderie during this dreary duty. Just as his head dips downward, an arrow slices through the air and barely scrapes the side of his
right cheek. A narrow escape from death but now is not the time to ponder on it for the battle has begun! A large group of pirates have teamed up with a rogue bunch of Phelans to make this attack on a noble of the Bisclavret line. Arrows pour through the sky from the surrounding forest. They tear into unexpecting laborers and soldiers alike. The young man is thrown from his mount to land on his back. The attackers take this chance to stream from the trees and pounce on the unarmed victims. A fierce battle ensues, blood stains the ground, the
arid air is filled with the sounds of agony and destruction. As the young wolf catches his breath, he realizes that all is lost. The pirates and wild wolves shall win this day. His eyes suddenly gleam, an idea has sparked into life. A woman's scream comes from the south and tears us from the forest.

We suddenly find ourselves back in the small room of Harrowgate. The female wolf on the bed begins another bloodcurdling scream as her back arches in pain. The labor of birth has begun but all is not well. The servants frantically run to and fro to find a way to heal or help her labor. A large matronly wolf steps forward and shoos them from the room until it is just her and the mother-to-be. As the midwife bends
over her charge, she starts a slow massage of the stomach and offers low prayers to the Gods and Goddesses of her pagan religion. Our mind is frantic to see both events and begins to flicker from forest to Harrowgate and back again.

The noble wolf slowly rise and shakes his head to clear the fog in his mind. The attackers have closed around him and only a few soldiers are left in his defense. They yell to him, "Go! Run! Get away!." but he is too proud to merely leave his friends to die alone. He reaches upward to his steed's saddlebags and starts to remove burlap sacks of explosive gunpowder. The lumberjacks use it to remove old tree stumps
and clear the way for new roads. The nearby soldiers begin to fall one by one until only he is left alive with the band of killers. In a last ditch effort, he sparks a light from his flint that scorches the drawstring of one of the bags. Tied together, they are thrown upward just before they... EXPLODE!! A flash of light is all he sees before...

Alistare
01-17-2007, 10:17 AM
She is in utter agony now, the pain has grown to great to bear. The midwife urges her to not give up, to keep pushing. She bears down with all her strength and feels some of the pain disperse as a small baby is forcefully withdrawn from her womb. The midwife hurries to wrap it in a soft blanket, murmuring under her breath and smacking it slightly to hear a cry. None is forthcoming, she tries again and again but to no avail. She sets it down on s small bed near the wall just as the young woman screams out again.

...His mighty steed falls upon him and crushes him under its weight, he cries out in pain over the snap in his leg just as the world turns black. After a moment where he lost all track of time, he feels arms lifting him upward. It is one of the lumberjacks. He must have run off at first sign of the enemy. Having watched from behind cover, he was witness to all that occurred. When the young noble sacrificed himself to kill the intruders, he observed the luck of the Gods when the steed
fell upon him and protected him from the inferno. He lifted the noble wolf to his shoulders and began dragging him toward the city. The man in his arms blinked twice before returning to consciousness. Pain permeated his body, his mangled leg dragging behind, his burned skin growing fiercely hot. He attempted to escape his savior and walk on his own but stumbled... once... twice... three times before he submitted to the commoner's help and was aided on his trek home.

The midwife scrambled back to the bedside of her patient. All was not well, she looked defeated and barely able to emit the powerful screams emanating from her mouth. The young woman's body was draining of life and blood seeped between her legs. Hoping to discover the problem and change the outcome this was bound to have, the midwife moved to peek between this young wolf's legs and covered her mouth in surprise. Another child was trying to be born. It could not reach the world of light, its mother had not the energy to release it from her womb. The
midwife glanced upward into the young girl's eyes, telling her, "There is another. Do not give in to the shadow. Bring this light into the world. Your baby deserves a chance." The young woman beared down...

As he looked over his shoulder, the limping man saw a tragedy looming. The forest was alive with fire. It was advancing rapidly upon his position and soon into the city itself. He was barely keeping ahead of its burning tendrils. The commoner at his side grunts with urgency, trying to lift him bodily off his feet and move him faster toward home. He steps gingerly on his injured leg to find the pain of it is almost unbearable. Gritting his teeth, he walks anyway, relieving the lumberjack of some of the burden. They begin to make better progress
but the fire is moving just as quickly. Shouts from ahead are signs that the city dwellers have noticed the disaster looming in their future.

She bears down yet again but the baby is stubborn. It will not succumb to the life offered. The midwife is fiercely urging her young master to try harder, to try again but this may be a lost cause.

The two men stagger into town just as a group of people run into the forest to quell the fire, pails of water dripping at their sides.

Sweat has completely drenched her clothing, the midwife wipes her brow, she pushes harder but feels the baby is unwilling.

He lets the lumberjack go help the city in this crisis he caused and staggers painfully into Harrowgate. His wife's screams reach his ears and he stumbles forward at a faster pace.

Pain is all she sees and feels now. Death is closing in around her just as the door bursts open and her husband's worried face meets her eyes. Feeling empowered by his obvious love and concern for her wellbeing, she bears down one more time. The midwife extends her hands between her legs just as her husband reaches her side. The baby has come, the mother looks with hope at the midwife. A smile crosses the old matron's face as the baby releases a small cry of life. "It's a girl.", she announces with gladness. The wife slumps toward her husband's arms as he falls to his knees at her bedside. "What shall be
her name?", asks the midwife. The mother looks to the father and he nods slowly. "She shall be called Kenina for she was Born of Fire.", the father states proudly. The midwife moves to wrap the new child in a warm blanket when she hears a small cry escape the nobleman's lips. His hands enclosed around his wife's hands, willing his life into her for she has passed into shadow and death. The birthing was too much for her body to take. Another whimper escapes the new father before he too slumps into the abyss. His death shall be the mark of a broken
heart.

Days pass. We find ourselves in a small room. A young newborn babe is snuggled neatly in bed. An old woman, whom we recognize as the midwife, hovers over the child. She smiles down upon her charge and reverently avers, "You shall be a blessing on this House. All of the Bisclavret will be proud to have you bear their name and carry their bloodline into the future. Great things will happen to you and because of you. During times of trials and conflict, you shall shine brightly."

And so Kenina entered the world. The child "Born of Fire". We all await her deeds as she grows into a young woman.

Exit
01-17-2007, 03:42 PM
ooc: Lucius would not bother to read all that, or if he did, the comment would likely be rude. So I'd like to post a little OOC thing saying that was really well done.

Zemis2
01-18-2007, 04:29 AM
good backstory. i was on the edge of my set reading it :)