Board Thread:Roleplaying/@comment-5824038-20150203191459/@comment-5583506-20150210155812

Victorius was in shock. Claire? That shy little Breton who looked like nothing more than some lowly beggar girl, was actually a highborn? And he had acted like such a fool as always. He truly belonged in the slums, she didn't. But for a better part, Wraith had summoned her to the mansion. Back to her home...

"Wraith!" shouted one of the men all of a sudden and came rushing in through the mansion rather clumsily. "WRAITH!"

The rebel leader quickly emerged from the second floor, still adjusting the helmet. Clearly he had been resting without it again.

A bad habit if he wants to stay alive to finish his quest...

"What is it?!" responded Wraith.

"Maximilian DeRaque's fleet have been spotted! They can't be more than half a day away from us! They will be here by nightfall!"

Wraith sighed. "And so shall we. Ready the men and the ships. I want two of those ships well hidden behind the walls of the slum quarters. I want a third and a fourth to surprise them from behind the mountains. My own ship shall approach them head on and the last of our fleet will circulate them from the east, cutting off their path in case they are trying to retreat. We cannot let them leave! We will blast them from the skies if they so much as try to harm the populace!"

"Yes, commander!"

''Commander? ''reflected Victorius. ''He is just a rebel. Perhaps not just a rebel, but a rebel all the same.''

The Imperial approached the rebel. Wraith seemed more tired than usual.

"This is not good", he said. "I had anticipated Maximilian's army a lot more later than now. The plan is not thourougly finished. Even though I am sure that we will win, he may yet have an ace up his sleeve. I know this man from when I was little. His undying hatred for people not of noble blood is almost terrifying. But that hatred ends this night."

Victorius nodded. "What shall I do?"

The rebel was halfway down the stairs before he stopped. "I cannot ask you to join me into battle, my dear Victorius. You are one of the common people, those I have sworn to protect. I cannot ensure your safety if you come with me now. Please, stay."

"No!" objected Victorius sternly. "If you say that I am one of the common people, then this is my fight too! Maximilian is going to harm my people, not yours! I will fight if I must!"

Wraith chuckled. "You have more spirit than I had expected from that first moment I met you, my dear Victorius. So be it. You will join me on my ship and then you will watch as Maximilian DeRaque falls off his high horse."

He continued to walk down the stairs until he stopped once more. "Oh, and Claire sends her regards. She will be waiting for you once you return."

Victorius' heart skipped a beat. This night he would refuse Death to accept him. This was not his time...

-

"Behold the City of Brightness!" declared Maximilian as he stood on the prow of his ship and gazed out over the mountains.

In the distance shone the uncountable lights of the street lamps and dwellings of Brightwall. Behind the lord stood an army of heavy armoured troopers with swords and muskets, ready at his disposal.

"Such a disgusting sight", he grumbled. "Filled with all kinds of low-life vermin. It's time they felt the rigtheous hand of purity strike them down from their heathen ways! This crusade of ours shall purge this city and reform it into the way it was once created!"

The soldiers cheered him as he spoke, but when he raised a hand to continue his speech they fell silent.

"The Council of Nobles have granted me the rights to cleanse the streets of these low-born scum in the way I see fit. Therefore, I will not risk any of your pure blood to be spilled on the ground for the sake of their deaths. Before we launch our full attack on this settlement of sin, we will rain fire upon them! Like the Daedric Princes of old, we shall raze the slums! We shall torch their infested dwellings! We shall smite the cockroaches! We shall drown their very wretched world in a sea of fire and purity! Fire cleanses all!"

Once again they cheered until Maximilian raised a hand and called for their obedience. The all knelt before him.

"Gentlemen", he said and put his arms behind his back. "This is merely the beginning. Right now as we are speaking the Council of Nobles are already laying out new plans to not only purge Brightwall, but all other major cities of Tamriel as well! Mournhold! Daggerfall! Senchal! Solitude! They will all be judged by our cause! And we..."

He gave them a wide smile. "We are honoured to heed this order. Let's give them hell on Nirn..."

-

Valkyrie stood at the windows of her manor and stared out above the city. The skies were beginning to darken and the sun had begun to settle in the horizon. Among the clouds loomed the threatening silhouettes of three gigantic skyships. She didn't like this sight at all.

She still couldn't find out why Wraith had sent her home, when she had finally found out that he had used whatever ability he possessed in order to make her forget the rebel's face. But she knew what Wraith's cause was, and from what she could make out of the silhouettes of the ships that were slowly approaching, they weren't any cheap copies that the rebel could very well have built. These were genuine ships, presumably owned by some grand warlord or noble.

Had Wraith known anything about this? Was that why he had sent her back home? She hadn't given up hope of finding the rebel, but yet she couldn't help but feel that he wasn't all that bad as the nobility had painted him as. And he had sent her back for a purpose...

Whatever those skyships were going to do in Brightwall, she immediately knew that this was her purpose...