[RP] The Order

Galen chatted with Asleif as the two of them watched the next duel. The raider was remarkably intelligent, not like the stories they had always heard of the northmen and the two exchanged stories of their life, Galen sharing about his time travelling the world and Asleif of his time raiding much of it. When the tourney master called up the Boar and Harold, Galen watched them both enter the ring with one another.

"Two coppers on the Boar." Galen joked with Asleif, knowing well that neither of them had to coin to bet on the outcome. Asleif instead shook his head.

"That other one is a strange man. Talks to himself. Surprising." Asleif responded before the fight officially got underway. Seeing Harold dislocate his arm, Galen pulled a face however the man managed to best the Boar soundly, despite his misgivings. When the two were finally separated and hauled back to join the others, Galen smirked seeing the Boar's red, embarrassed face having lost in such a manner, sitting down in a group and shooting daggers into Harold's back. "Madness."

The rest of the matches went off without much of a hitch, mostly untrained peasants fighting with one another never having held a weapon in their lives while those bandits and soldiers who had put on much more of a show, the clang of weapons ringing out across the room. Eventually the tourney master called an end and approached Ashe with his chart, the two of them speaking privately with one another as the Grandmaster took his leave, returning to his chambers above. After their private word, Ashe took the chart and made his way up into the arena to speak to the group. His well-worn brown cloak matched his hair, and he looked like a man who had seen his lot in the world, wrinkles gathering around his veins of grey ran through his beard. The ringed armour he wore underneath however was well maintained, as was his weapon. Clearing his throat the man spoke up.

"Alright settle down, you all got to have your fun." He began, his voice hoarse yet carried easily through the room "Alright when I call your name, make your way to my left." One by one Ashe called out around 12 names, mostly those who lost who gathered together, leaving around 8 of them including himself, Asleif, the Boar and Harold. "You lot are under the command of Isolde, my faithful second. She'll be overseeing your training in order to catch up with these lot. Don't question the woman, she will break your arm." He gestured towards Isolde who immediately took command of the men and ushered them down through one of the corridors.

"You lot are with me. Gather round." Ashe commanded, beckoning them over. The 8 of them made their way closer to the arena, Ashe above them leaning against the rope while he awaited them all. "It seems that most of you know your way around a weapon, that's good, but it also doesn't mean you shouldn't be practising like the rest of them. Every sword dulls without use, so keep yours sharp and ready."

"I'm not one for making speeches or anything so let me give it to you straight. Your life is no longer your own. For whatever reason you're here, you now belong to the Order, you may not be initiated just yet but there's no going back now. As such, if you try to escape or if you try anything that brings dishonour to me or the Order, you best hope one of the other brothers or sisters guts you before I get my hand on you. Is that clear?"

Ashe was content to wait until they had all sounded off with a yes sir before continuing. "Good. Now follow me." Ashe led the back down where Isolde had went with the other group, leading them down into the many tunnels carved out under Karuzgard. After around 5 levels, the 9 of them made their way through stone carved halls until they came to a open door with a dragon carved above it. Entering was a small but pleasant hall, several tables strewn about while a fire roared in the fireplace, the smoke taken away through pipes embedded in the stone. Several bookcases were strewn about, as well as cards and other games. "Welcome to your home. As of today you are one of the Ashen Knights, my Knights. Rules are simple, we stand with our own here. That means no fighting each other or any of your brothers or sisters, from this moment on you will die for your comrades."

"Your skills set you above the rest, so you each get your own room. God knows we have enough of them..." Ashe trailed off, no doubt mentioning the excess amount of rooms and corridors that would have once held the dwarves. "Dont wander around much tonight, you'll get the tour tomorrow so stay in and around the common room and then get some rest. You've an early start tomorrow. Dismissed."

With that Blackwell took his leave, heading back up they came as the 8 of them looked at each other. "Come on." Asleif grunted, pushing past Galen "Let's get our pick of the rooms.". The two men made their way to the back of the room where they entered into the corridor. Most of the rooms lay empty and ready to be claimed, a door for privacy as well as a bed covered in furs , a dresser, chest and a table. As Asleif picked one Galen took up the one beside him, moving in and removing his own cloak, draping it over the edge of his chair, now in his strange new home.

Galen and Asleif shared a glance with one another, sharing a slight smirk after Harold introduced himself before taking a seat and enjoying a most unusual snack. Crossing the room until he reached the bookcase, Galen traced his fingers along the spines of the books there, some written in the common tongue while others written in dwarven runes. Lifting one for the shelf, Galen tenderly flicked through the brittle pages as Aslief made himself conformable at the table, spinning the chair around to sit backwards. "Aren't we lucky, to stand in the presence of nobility. And there I thought there was no kings amongst brothers." Aslief joked, resting his head on his arms.

"In all seriousness, eventually we will all be brothers and sisters." Galen responded as he returned the book to its spot on the shelf, the others walking past them to claim their own room. "We should try our best not to antagonise our new friends." He finished, shooting a glance towards both of them with Aslief raising his hands up as if to say 'As you wish'.

"Come on, let's check out our new home." Galen suggested, walking past the two of them and tapping Harold with his foot. Returning to the common room while the others began to get settled in, Galen took a seat in an armchair next to the fireplace while he waited for the others to join him, Asleif also joining him by resting his massive form against the fireplace, staring into the flames. "So Asleif, what's your story? What brings you to the Order?".

"Ahh, a mixture of bad luck and bad choices" Asleif admitted, taking his own seat to chat to them "I led my longship along the Sea of Marmis, raiding and reaving as was my want. Despite the longships being nearly full, I wanted to return home a legend, laden with gold and riches."

"Well I took my men to the Northern Kingdoms for one last raid against the port of Odvis. In hindsight I should have moved further south, prey upon some unsuspecting southern lands but glory is almost as intoxicating as gold." He continued, smiling as he thought back to his last raid before it slowly faded, him instead awkwardly rubbing his neck. "I'd no idea we'd been spotted. Before we even reached port, the local boyar ambushed us along the river and cut off our escape. Well...only way those left could escape was to break through the blockade. I bought my men enough time, took enough scars to show for it and was taken back to Elengrad to be executed before Blackwell found me."

Subconsciously rubbing his beard, Asleif let his sentence awkwardly end before Galen reached across and slapped his shoulder to shake him out of it. "If only all leaders took responsibility for their actions. Shame your reward was to be stuck here with all of us."

Asleif let our a solidarity chuckle before turning to Harold. "What about you your majesty? Regale us with your tale."