RuneScape Forum Archive | Fall From Grace

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2020

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"It does," Elliott asserted with conviction and fury. "Far too many innocent lives are going to be unduly swept up in your careless arrangement!"

"You speak as though my opinion might be swayed by argument."

"...Telvern, listen to me," the nobleman then suddenly disarmed, attempting with great effort to get through this cold steel wall. "Please, at the very least, allow the citizens to evacuate the city... No one should—"

"—Have you already forgotten, Elliott?"

"...What?"

""Do not delude yourself into believing that I accept your presence, or that I concern myself at all with your life or your ideas. You're an advantage to us Elliott, someone who I will use and a tool that I will exploit."" Telvern began to recite his own words from their previous encounter, assembling them perfectly word-for-word. His eyes then finally sought Elliott, their lifeless, gelid appearance finding the rather distraught-looking nobleman. ""That's all you are.""

He reached the finality of his own past words, watching then as Elliott's face grew wider and wider. His mind unable to fathom the sheer callousness of Telvern's words, his heartless response to his simple plea. No doubt, Elliott was used like a puppet, like a tool with no feeling. Telvern's reply numbed him, paralyzed him.

But finally, after staring eye-to-eye with Telvern for half a minute, a thought sprung up in Elliott's head. It was a simple thought: 'run.' The dark horrors of reality appeared obvious upon his face, his body shaking. Elliott followed his thought, overcome by his terror. He dashed faster than he ever thought he could, running even if his body became breathless and in agony. He tossed caution to the wind, all for that which he loved.

Telvern's eyes didn't follow after the frantically dashing nobleman, simply closing shut at the interaction's end. He then pushed out a deep breath through his nostrils, turning to the road ahead of him. He then began his walk, attempting to catch up with the army.
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18-May-2017 19:50:10

Jul

2020

Serene End

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Elsewhere, beyond this scene of cruelty and heartlessness, a scene of confidence and activity. The Imperial Palace was alive with politicians and knights dashing and buzzing through its veins, a most hustling environment. Within this palace's heart, indeed, the entire Imperial Kingdom of Governanti's heart, there resided a king preparing for war.

Lord Balor Pallas Barn stood here, being briefed in his glorious bedroom suitable for a god of his status. Before him was Gallows and a multitude of Loyal Knights, their armour adored and decorated far more than a typical knight of loyalty. Both they and himself encircled a table at the heart of the room, a map of the city's entirety draped across its mahogany skin.

Much in the way of news had spread rapidly in regards to the attack upon his city, an all-out battle between upholding, dutiful Loyal Knights against uncivilized, blood-crazed savages. A collision of cultures to be sure, the dignified versus the barbaric. The numbers were quite large for a bunch of barbarians ordinarily assembled, a thought which paused and puzzled the king.

At the front of the Loyal Knights was a god of dark brown, slicked-back hair and eyes of a killer, this was Orderer Drakon Kórakas. Over a long, seamless cape of blue, the Orderer wore a leather capelet much like that captain's, its hide stamped with a braided sort of style. This capelet was the symbol of the Kórakas family, the famed bloodline of warriors so renowned for their skill that they ascended into nobility.
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18-May-2017 19:51:18

Jul

2020

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As the leader and representative of the Loyal Knights, Drakon did most of the talking, speaking in regards to their strategy. "This is the origin of their invasion," the Orderer stated, pointing at the western gate on the map. "The imbeciles decided to approach the western gate, exactly as our scouts reported. And without relent, they've charged headlong into our forces, an admirable, but hilariously futile effort. As we speak, their ranks are being cut down like fodder while our Loyal Knights remain unopposed. It's laughably lop-sided, in fact, I actually almost feel sympathy for these uneducated plebeians."

"Are we certain that this is their main strategy?" then spoke Gallows, the self-appointed pessimist of the group. "Their advance from the west and their numbers, it all seems too... simple."

"Well, you get simple tactics from the minds of simpletons. They may be our brethren, but they're mindless savages. They're primitive, belligerent. I doubt they could ever comprehend something as intricate as strategy even if it were a club bashing in their face."

"Do not forget Ormemel. Their numbers may be made of barbarians, but there are strategic minds among their fold."

"Ha! Ormemel was in disrepair, its numbers were few and overworked, and its Earl was a complete joke. A child could have sacked that city!"

"They did something to that city that no one else believed possible. After their defeat in Lumbridge, their numbers should have been no match for even Ormemel's!"

"Oh, look at you go! Again! Always so up in arms about the humans, aren't you?" Drakon playfully remarked, making a joke which only frustrated Gallows. "Oh, my apologies... That was rather tasteless of me. Should I say up in arm instead?"

" Enough, " Balor angrily asserted, crossing his arms. "I did not summon you both to have you waste my time with your incessive squabbling."
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18-May-2017 19:51:34

Jul

2020

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The both of them quickly and respectfully bowed to their king. "Forgive us, Lord Balor," they both pleaded, seeking forgiveness for their indiscretion.

The king then sighed, venting out his infuriation. "Regardless of whatever card they've up their sleeve, their sheer numbers cannot go unheeded," Balor believed. "Their ranks are thick, but they lack coordination and structure. We will advance without fret and tear into whatever strategy they deploy as a single, corresponding unit."

Balor's choice was certainly questionable, having decided to head out into the fray with the massive unknown. Gallows was concerned over the well being of his king, but regardless, he did not resist. Both Gallows and all of the Loyal Knights stood up straight, pressing their left hands firmly into the right side of their chests. "As you command, my lord," they all acknowledged with loyalty and respect.

"Leave me and send in my servant," the king ordered, turning away. "Await for my arrival in the throne room."

The Loyal Knights carried out their king's orders, departing from his presence. The black-armoured knights followed faithfully behind their Orderer Drakon, the first to the door. He pushed open those majestic, grandiose double doors, his glowing, teal blue eyes beholding a young woman standing there, dressed in an attire appropriate for the king's servant.

Drakon's face contorted with a smile most unsightly, his eyes scrupulously running up and down the servant known as Ulyssa. "Ah, so this is her, eh?" the Orderer realized, taking her by the chin. "You're most certainly appealing to the eyes, aren't you, little lady?"

Ulyssa was unfazed as Drakon continued to further examine her, having gotten comfortable with her masters inspecting her for quality. "With a pretty face like this, I'm genuinely surprised Lord Decimus didn't keep you around to breed you further... His pockets would be so lined with gold that even he'd have little idea what to do with it all."
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18-May-2017 19:52:27

Jul

2020

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"That's enough, Drakon," Balor then spoke out from inside of his room. "I ordered you to get to the throne room, not to fraternize with my servant."

Drakon sighed in disappointment, letting go of Ulyssa's face. He then proceeded forward, the pieces of his armour shaking and clanging against one another. The Loyal Knights followed swiftly behind their Orderer, yet General Gallows lagged behind. His sky blue eyes glanced upon the servant Ulyssa, not the first time he's seen her. She was once in service to the Ishvara family after all, 'employed' by his mother Medea Ishvara.

"My apologies for Drakon's conduct, Ulyssa," the scar-faced general expressed with remorse. "He's the unfortunate stereotype of our kind."

"You have no need to apologize, Lord Sergius," she dismissed, monotone. "I am a tool to service my masters. My image and manner must be subject to daily inspections to ensure that I am functioning to meet my master's level of expectation."

"...My family truly has robbed you and many more of your humanity," Gallows lamented in guilt, grievous of the practices of the Mundus-Ishvara slave trade. "Worry not, for very soon you'll not have to bend to another's whim any longer."

Ulyssa made no reaction to Gallows's comment, despite its unusual, foreboding nature. He regretted her listless expression, her ears deaf to the meaning of his words. Even as he had no part to play in its workings, Gallows burdened the blame of his family's inhumane business with a heavy heart. He sighed deeply as he stepped away from her, resolute and convinced to usher in change.

With that encounter concluded, Ulyssa headed on into the room of her lord as though nothing had transpired. She closed the door behind her, her rusty brown eyes finding her lord off to the right side of the room. His illustrious blue eyes peered with deepness upon his dear, precious servant Ulyssa, his heavy face illuminated with a bright smile as she came into his presence.
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18-May-2017 19:52:59

Jul

2020

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She stood there, enrobed in warmth as Balor's smile appeared upon his face. His happiness breathed life into her blank expression, creating a tender, loving smile upon her face. "Good morning, my lord," she kindly greeted, bowing to him.

"Good morning, Ulyssa," Balor returned, just as equally warmhearted. He watched then as Ulyssa stepped further, heading for a small table which bore the weight of the king's magnificent armour. Her eyes viewed over its entirety, its adamas so masterfully designed that it was almost a crime to take into battle.

Balor stood there as Ulyssa began assembling his armour upon him, securing each piece by way of several leather straps and ties. He was patient and poised, his glowing gaze kept sturdily forward, feeling at ease despite the circumstances. Piece-by-piece was his armour painstakingly assembled, her hand pulling on each piece to ensure its security before she attended the next piece. Ulyssa managed to secure to her lord's cuisses before heading back to the table.

She mindfully took hold of his cuirass, feeling its great weight. Despite its near weightlessness to a god, adamas was actually quite hefty for a human. Ulyssa returned to her lord's side, beginning to place the cuirass over Balor's chainmail-coated trunk. The cuirass bore striking imagery, the expertly detailed face of a fierce lion with wings.

As Ulyssa attended to it, Balor sensed a faint anxiety beneath her usual blank expression. She concealed it near perfectly, but Balor knew. She pulled around to his back, finalizing the security of his cuirass. Balor could further detect her anxiety, feeling a very subtle tremble in her hand.

"Are you well, Ulyssa?"

Ulyssa did not cease in her work, despite her disappointment in herself for not retaining her composure. "I am... fine, my lord," she informed him, ashamed of lying.

"You're not a very convincing liar," Balor lightly chuckled.
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18-May-2017 19:53:48

Jul

2020

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"O-oh," Ulyssa then respectfully lowered herself to her lord. "Forgive me, my lord."

"You've no reason to apologize. To be frank, I wish I had not the ability to lie myself. The world... would be much different if I could speak in a kind, considerate tongue like yours."

The concept of a person being worried over someone like him made Balor feel strangely... joyful. On his face appeared the flash-burn of a smile, reaching his right hand over his left shoulder. He placed his hand over hers as she worked, expressing a gentle affection. "You've no reason to fear, Ulyssa," Balor tenderly told her. "I'd cut down an entire army alone if it means returning to your side."

"I..." she quietly responded, lowering her forehead into his back. "...Even as you say this, I still cannot be rid of this feeling. Forgive me."

"...I can't die yet, you know. I still haven't fulfilled my promise to you."

His kind, light tone took Ulyssa by surprise, but even more startling as his remembrance of a promise he made to her. Upon that fateful, blissful midnight, he swore a vow to her, a warm, meaningful gesture against that she stole from her everything. As her face hid in his back, a bright smile shined, cracking her formerly doleful mask.

Suddenly, something abruptly broke through their shared elation, a swift, urgent pounding at the door. As it rapidly repeated, both Balor and Ulyssa returned to normalcy, concealing all evidence of any sort of relation between them. "Enter," Balor permitted in a strong, commanding voice.

The door bursted open, a slew of Loyal Knights came pouring in. A sense of alert invaded the air, each of them moving with great haste. They quickly stood in place, straight and proper as they placed their left hands firmly into the right side of their chests. "Lord Balor, the enemy has launched a surprise attack from the south," one knight reported in quickness, speaking for the rest of his fellow Loyal Knights. "They've breached the southern gate, sir!"
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18-May-2017 19:54:38

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2020

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"I see," Balor calmly replied, then smirking. "I suppose it only makes sense that their frontal assault was just to distract us. It would seem they're more than mere barbarians after all."

"Our scouts estimate their numbers in the thousands! What are your orders, my lord?"

Balor then withdrew into his head for a moment, strategizing just what his next move should be. His servant Ulyssa attending to his right pauldron, an exceptional piece shaped like an eagle's head. She carefully strapped it on, but despite her calm demeanor, she was gravely concerned as to her lord's answer.

Time trickled by the seconds as Balor contemplated with deepness, stooping through every detail in his mind. No ordinary person would know exactly how the Imperial Kingdom would proceed towards a threat, almost making Balor consider that Telvern Thaddeus had to be the mastermind behind it. A thought which put a smile on Balor's face, chuckling to himself. The last time that Balor saw that man, he was bleeding on the ground.

But above all, the most influential thought in Balor's mind was that which Gallows told him in a previous conversation. "Although some gave me unusual details, most managed to give me the exact same account of his appearance, right to the tee," Balor recalled Gallows's words. "They claimed him a young man with purple eyes and silver hair."

If it was in fact Raphael at the helm of this invasion, then there was no doubt that he was here for Balor's life. This was enough for Balor to answer, to know just what he wanted to do. "If what I believe holds true, then they've come seeking my head," said Balor. "Light the distress beacon and secure the throne room. I'll hole myself there, forcing their advance to us. We'll be better prepared that way."

"As you command, my lord!" the knights each understood, igniting their feet to move in a synchronized fashion. Balor's command chased them out of the room, leaving both Ulyssa and himself all alone once more.
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18-May-2017 19:55:47

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2020

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Balor lifted up his arm, assisting Ulyssa as she secured his pauldron to his shoulder. She pulled the strap through the buckle, but then her hand stopped, her facial expression darkened. Although she tried to hide it, her lord was like the wind blowing away the leaves, unveiling that which has so long been hidden away. He directed his gaze in earnest upon this woman which he held so preciously. "What troubles you?" Balor asked her with worry, catching her off guard.

"...Nothing, my lord," she answered back.

Balor laughed lightly. "You really are a poor liar," he mirthfully remarked, lowering his arm. "Come now, dispense of these lies. There is no law which prohibits you from feeling emotion. You're not a tool, you're not the possession of another. You are simply yours and yours alone."

To be permitted to feel, to be told that she wasn't a tool. He had told her these things once before, but the feeling never lessens every time Ulyssa heard it. The corners of Ulyssa's lips raised ever so slightly, a shy warmth to be told these things. "Yes, you are right, my lord," the servant concurred happily. "I... have something I must tell you."

"Hm?"

"I..." she nervously spoke up, low and angstful. Before her lord grew too concerned of her status, she lifted her chin up and glanced upon him with a warm, gentle smile. "...I'll tell you when you've returned to me."

"Oh? Is that how this is to work?" Balor playfully responded, then closing his eyes and letting out a content smile of his own. "Fair enough. I look forward to it, Ulyssa."

Ulyssa then returned to that table, retrieving his gauntlets. With Balor's assistance, Ulyssa fastened the gauntlets' several straps to secure them. She went back, finding a stand just at the table's side. Hung upon it was a long, seamless, royal blue cape, one of which she thoughtfully removed.
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18-May-2017 19:56:42

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2020

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She stepped to the back of her lord, attaching it to his armour. Once complete, Ulyssa returned to that table for one final piece, the most important of all. Sitting upon cloth most prestigious, the glorious crown which proclaimed the king. She took hold of that cloth which held the crown in a most delicate fashion, coming back to her lord's side.

She bowed to her lord as she presented his crown to him, a human unfit to lay their mitts upon its flawless, grandiose being. It was only he who was worthy to clench it, an act which Balor himself committed. He placed it upon his head, it, his armour, and the blade at his side the symbols, the regalia of his power, his position.

Ulyssa carefully overlooked her lord's attire, going down its every detail to ensure properness. She inspected each piece for its security and luster, polishing it to give it a most incandescent shine. A most appropriate appearance for him, the king who was ready to defend his people. Both he and his servant stood face-to-face now, but Balor had a solemn look about him.

"Ulyssa, listen to me," he implored her, instantly gaining her full attention. "No matter the reason, do not leave this room. I need to know that you're safe."

"As you wish, my lord," the servant acknowledged in a low tone, disquiet.

Balor's face flashed with a contented smile, lifting his hand to her chin. "Come now, such a somber display does not befit you."

Ulyssa closed her eyes and lowered her head, his fingers brushing across her skin. She felt his devotion to her, his hand caressing her cheek. She smiled gently, clasping his hand with hers. "Keep your head held high," Balor told her. "I will return to you... I promise."

Assured, Ulyssa lifted her head to her lord, peering foremost into his glowing eyes. Their faces leaned forward, engaging then in a passionate representation of their affection. A tender, meaningful kiss, not the marker of a farewell or of a goodbye, but of a simple, significant 'see you later.'
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18-May-2017 19:59:02 - Last edited on 18-May-2017 19:59:23 by Serene End

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