A meeting in the Moors [Plot/NoM]

It had been many years since the knight know as Atlas had escaped the threshold of Furcas. Time had broadened his body and missed his face with a fresh beard. The years had not been kind, but his resolution stayed iron-clad. He fought to find his way home but could never stay close, so he found himself in the mountains near southwest Sasan.


He escaped that day with a silver rapier by his side and a drive for change. The knights of Sasan had been used, brainwashed to give their lives for a selfish king, a self-serving cause. While they licked their wounds he salvaged the wounded. He was helping those that had been left behind by the Knights of Sasan, mostly those in the Ibania region of Reim. Across rocky hills and green plains, he had traveled. On the edge of a plateau a small settlement, El Santuario Esmeralda was founded by him and those he rescued. It was named after what the local cities under Reim's law referred to this land as. It was encroachment though, along with this there were only about 100 wayward knights, most of who weren't the best trained, a few were good enough to attempt to be Minor knights but they could all be counted on a hand. Diplomacy was his next best step, the people of Ibania, not the rulers, but those on the ground.

Now, with the help of a handful of Sasanids, he would stand at the doors of an Ibanian king, once a proud people but even his great grandfather only knew rule under Reim. The decline had begun to grip the low rocky lands and the subtle plains, statues and temples beginning to decline.

In marble houses with winding vines, statues of Reiman heroes, and some Ibanian, this was the city of Spada. The Spadan king dressed in a violet toga with a white head wrap and golden circlet. With black hair as wild and gangly as the plants gripping his hall, sharp teeth, and olive eyes the young ruler would sip his wine before addressing this wayward knight. With a hyena's cackle, he would ask "So, what brings a well-dressed vagrant to my door."

"Well, I've come to make a deal, so that we can both offer true stability for our people" he would say, a righteous voice making ill plans.

"And why would I want to give up comfort, and peace to help your people, mine seem well enough fed." The deep wine in his glass would cyclone from his excitement as he'd twirl his goblet. Maybe he had fun playing games or toying with people, but this knight had learned plenty in exile from Sasan.

A glimmer of a smile would appear, Atlas would say "I know you want more, that you want to be free of their thumb. My people have better training than yours, you've seen our raids and our ability to survive, I know you have scouts. Our people know nothing but strategy, your people have experience. I think together we can take more land. Sasan is planning to expand, and Reim is busy trying to claim more land or manage their government. We just want land, places to farm, and peace. We'll fight till we no longer have to, but our ways and our weaponry can work together."

There was truth to these words, but it caused a pause in the king. He had known these things through his own network, but how did he know that? The throne would creak, leaning forward he would say "I am Pedo, what is your name O knight? " a grimace following.

He would bow, looking up to say "I'm Atlas, allow me to expand my people's settlements, and I will do whatever in my power to expand your kingdom." He carried confidence in his voice, in his pose. Honesty exuded from his pose, he had become a man in his exile, the boy he once was had stayed behind in the lonely, crumbled walls of Furcas.

It was a tantalizing offer, if they died he could blame it on them as rogues if they won they could stand up enough to Reim to have a better bargain. He was a king, but still a servant to a higher authority, and now it was one without a crown, a bloody council. With a cracked and sickening golden grin, he would say "Well, then get your men here and I'll get mine ready for the first day of class."

His voice, winded, a slick song bonding their promise for bigger plans. White birds would flutter around, the time of kings was rising once again.

Dm Notes: Special Jobs and Sasan revolt passive plot to be posted soon.