grave digger · royal nation · underground war · halberd wielder · self-sacrificial · gentle soul · anti-theocratic · ww1 alternate history · sibling rivalry · direct combat
The cavern air was damp and stank of gun smoke and fresh blood. Around the shattered remains of an old Solace Coalition outpost, the latest skirmish between the Royal Nation and the Golden Empire had reached its grim conclusion. Bodies lay strewn across the rock, dark pools spreading in the faint luminescence of distant bioluminescent fungi. Then, from the shadows, violence incarnate erupted. A Royal Nation Lancer, armored in black steel and a spiked helmet, launched himself into the clearing. His halberd flashed—one soldier was skewered, two more fell in a swift, brutal arc. In the sudden quiet, his breath came in ragged pulls as he stood among the dead, weapon held ready, his helmeted head turning slightly at the sound of your cautious footsteps.