LUCERNE THE BEHEADER

This is the first piece of a 20-chapter series. The tales involve the aged exile knight, Lucerne of Balder, known by some as Lucerne the Beheader, who has travelled to the ruins of Lothric in search of absolution for his crimes. Our hero is a Multiweapons user, meaning he is skilled at using a variety of armaments, changing frequently to catch his enemies off-guard. Ultra greatswords, spiked morning stars, bows and pickaxes, hobnailed maul hammers, kukris, katanas, duel blades, great axes, cleavers, dark steel spears, halberds, and pitchforks are common in the Multiweapon ethos.

I'm separating the chapters based on each level of the game. Thank you for reading!

-Prologue-

Lucerne was the old headsman of the Balderian Kingdom before its downfall. A man of considerable strength and size, the executioner's ruthless nature earned him favor with King Rendal II, who would later become known as the Mercykilling King. Rendal's father, the well-loved Knight King Rendal, disappeared with his men long ago on their daring journey to Lordran, a land ruled by hollows - and in doing so, left his eldest son to rule. A fierce, paranoid monarch, fond of torture and public executions, King Rendal II - in an attempt to halt the spread of the undead curse threatening to overtake his kingdom - sentenced scores of innocent bearers of the curse to death without trial (decapitation was deemed necessary by the scholars of the time, as it was believed to be the most effective means of halting the spread of the undead plague). Writs of execution were signed daily, and thus the Balder Headsman earned a sinister reputation throughout the kingdom. In those days, peasants and lords alike would tell tales of 'Lucerne the Beheader,' and accounts of his savage, crown-ordered killings spread quickly throughout the realm.

One evening, a brawl erupted inside the headsman's favorite tavern, a fleapit shack named The Wolf and the Huntsman. Lucerne accidentally struck the innocent son of a well-known merchant, a nine-year-old boy named Errik Forray, killing the child in a single blow. Lucerne's favor to the crown served him well, and his life was spared. He was granted clemency as an Outrider Knight, a permanent exile. He left the kingdom of Balder and never returned.

Lucerne wandered the lands for many years, offering his axe to various armies and clerics. He spent many years in Carim, where he learned the art of Multiweapons. Inevitably he would become cursed himself, doomed to wander the earth as a witless hollow. In the end, it was an old woman's guidance that saved his sanity. That terrifying lady, the old witch in the faded red mantle, who would lead him on his final journey. "You must seek pilgrimage," she said. "To Lothric. The transitory lands where the souls of lords converge. Yes, indeed. It is called Lothric ...

It is there you will find your redemption.

And so it is, that ash seeketh embers."

Videos accompanying the stories can be watched here:

playlist?list=PLzW0gIULFufV9z9wKCeHY4s5oUTiZdCge

Thanks!
-WitcherA