Hello there brave readers! I am a long time player of for honor and an aspiring writer, though it really should be noted that it's more 'aspiring' than 'writer'. In the wake of the latest Warriors Den, and the announcement of the Rite Of Champions Fan Fiction contest, I've decided to write a little story set before the events of For Honor's story mode, centered around the Heroes of my two favorite classes, Lawbringer and Shugoki. This first part here is an introduction to the scenario and the main characters. Constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated. I hope you all enjoy, and without further ado, I humbly present...
The Battle Of Rosa Collis, Part 1: The Approach
In a carriage riding along the coast, somewhere between Cinis and Castra Aurora- that is to say, just within the territory of the Myreite Samurai- three hardened soldiers rode along, cramped and uncomfortable as ever in the sweltering humidity of the eastern lands. A distinguished and 'somewhat' paranoid conscript of the Conquerors, a veteran sister of the ever-enigmatic order of the Peacekeepers, and a Warden, who was, perhaps, just slightly less 'hardened' than the other two.
"We're all gonna die, I tell ye! Send us into this damned swamp with a commander as green as that goose-steppin' suit a' platemail?! These mud-walkers'll have us running in circles and chokin' on death in less than a day's time!"
The Warden, nervously adjusting her cuirass, leans over to the Peacekeeper sitting at her side.
"Is... he ALWAYS like this?"
Without looking away from her shortsword, which she was busily sharpening, the Peacekeeper shrugs.
"Yes, mostly. You learn to ignore it. He's been through more campaigns in the Myre than most. He knows everything there is to know about their tactics, but he's grown a bit... well, fidgety."
"You'll see! You have to be quick, be AFRAID to survive them, you hear me?! Let your guard down and you'll be puttin' a smile on their face as they carve one inta yer neck! While yer sleepin', I tell ye!"
"You... said you learn to ignore him?"
"Oh yes. He does it more for his own comfort than our education. He's quite happy to prattle on with no one to hear him. Try asking me a question. We can hold a conversation all our own, and he'll still rave."
"Oh... well."
She tries to think of something to ask her knowledgeable companion.
"They nick ya, while you sleep, no smaller than ye cut yerself shavin', and rub their vile poison in! You'll awake, yellin' like ye were set aflame, eyes all blood and madness! You'll live just long enough to wake your companions and give yer killer time for his exit, and then you'll collapse, all jitters and shakes like the cold ice a' Valkenheim, and yer last breath'll be carried from yer flesh by a howling scream of agony!"
"I'm... finding it rather hard to think of anything."
The Peacekeeper leans back and sighs.
"A moment."
She peeks her head out the covered back of the wagon, and unconvincingly fakes a gasp of surprise.
"My word. It is a ninja."
"WHA'D YE SAY?! TE AFFLIGAM!"
The Conqueror all but dives out the back of the wagon, screaming bloody murder after the fictitious assassin.
"Oh my."
"We aren't going terribly fast, he can catch up."
"But, what if there ARE ninjas out there?"
"Then he'll kill them. Now, your question?"
"Hmm... Oh, I know! This place Captain Marius is having us travel to. Rosa Collis? That's 'Hill of Roses', in the words of the Holy Book. Why is it called that? Roses aren't native to the Myre."
"I'm surprised you know that. So few people care for learning, much less Ashfeldian women."
"Well, you're a woman, aren't you?"
"A peacekeeper. Forbidden knowledge is our specialty. The protection of it... the suppression of it. I prefer the former. Access to that knowledge unharassed is why I joined. Now, your question. First off, Rosa Collis is only our name for it, same as the territory we're going through, Castra Aurora. Back when the Iron Legion was first colonizing Ashfeld, relations with the Myreites were somewhat better than it is today."
"As in, they weren't sneaking into our tents and rubbing insanity poison into our wounds?"
"Yes, that. We weren't yet intruding on the territory, so they saw us as potential trading partners, rather than invaders. Anyway, the wife of a high ranking daimyō- that's a sort of vassal to their king, the mikado- grew to love Ashfeldian wildlife. Her garden was full of snowbells and daisies. And squirrels."
"Squirrels?"
"They don't have them in the Myre, apparently. But, most of all, she loved roses. The frail, delicate, almost ethereal beauty of their petals, contrasted sharply with the prick of their thorns, was, in her eye, an emblem of the human condition; terribly hard and often painful, but beautiful beyond compare. She wrote some haiku's about it, I believe. She had them planted everywhere. And I mean everywhere. Her husband once joked that no army would dare approach his castle, for the thorny stalks would get caught in their armor and dig into them as they fought. The castle is now abandoned, as the daimyō proved to be tragically wrong in his jest, but the roses flourish over the ruins of the compound to this day."
"What about the squirrels?"
"Th-the squirrels? Oh! Yes. Um, maybe they're still around, I don't know. Why?"
"Why? Because squirrels are cute, obviously."
"...Ah."
They sit for a while, in companionable silence.
"Should, uh, should he be back by now?"
"...Yes, actually. I do hope there weren't actually any ninjas out there."
"There are no ninjas out here, soldier."
And in comes a familiar Conqueror, beaten unconscious, tossed unceremoniously inside by none other than Captain Marius Gaius Flavius, their direct superior, star pupil of the Lawbringer's latest generation of recruits, and huge hardass.
"HAIL, SIR!"
The Warden stands straight up at the sight of his imposing platemail- black iron gilt with gold- and in the process drives her helmet into the wagon's low ceiling hard enough to knock a hole in it. Sitting back down abruptly from the force the head contained within was thusly subjected to, she attempts a weak salute.
"Form up, soldier!"
And back up she goes, head fitting neatly through the new hole. Worming her hand through, she salutes properly.
"SIR YES SIR!"
"At ease!"
And down she goes once more, slamming herself into the wooden beam she was sitting upon hard enough to snap it halfway, sending it sagging down several inches lower than it was previously.
"SIR YES SIR!"
"My. You are well and truly terrified of him, aren't you?"
Captain Marius inclines his head towards the peacekeeper coldly. She's moved on to her dagger now, honing the edge with slow, steady strokes of the whetstone. For the first time, she looks up, to meet his gaze.
"For a man of her age, you form up well, Captain. The discipline of your order is hardly exaggerated, after all."
"Huh? Of my age?"
"Sister..."
"He's been out in the field just as long as you, dear. This is his first position of command. He's never led soldiers before."
"What?! But-"
"-He barks out his orders like a drill sergeant? That's not what makes a grizzled leader."
"Silence, sister of the Order!"
"Oh? Struck a nerve, it seems."
Captain Marius climbs inside, leaning in close, face to face with the veteran assassin.
"I am your superior."
"Of course you are. What remains to be seen is if you fit that role. You underperform, and I'll see to it that that is no longer the case. Personally, if I have to."
"Is that a threat?"
"You can call it whatever you like. All I know is that I am twice your age, and I've spent every year I have on you bloodying these blades, against foreign armies and homeland threats alike. I've seen good leaders, and I've seen bad ones. And I truly don't know which one you will become. I do, honestly, hope that you shall become like as a father to these men, and issue your decrees with wisdom, tact, and most of all, compassion for those under you."
She puts her back up against the flimsy wooden wall of the carriage with a sigh.
"So, order me around all you like. Her, too. Just know that if those orders are foolish or cruel to us, I refuse to obey them, and that if she, or anyone else in this company does so in my stead, and suffers unnecessarily or worse for it, you will be found killed with a samurai blade. To all but your own soul and Christ, it will be as if an agent of the Myre came upon you in the night. A shame. "
This was the part, in the Warden's mind, where Captain Marius came down upon her like the fist of god, roaring in her face about threatening a superior and how he would drag her to the gallows kicking and screaming if he had too. But he didn't. Instead, he leaned back, away from the Peacekeeper's amused yet somehow still icy tone, and turned his gaze from the older woman's own.
"Do not question my authority in such an act. Peacekeepers, first and foremost, protect against domestic threats, those of our own people who would hurt our land, intentionally or not. A foolish commander, who orders hundreds of his own men to needless and bloody deaths for his own vainglorious pursuits, certainly applies."
She leans closer, recouping the distance the Captain made between himself and her.
"But I do not think that's the kind of man you are. Not enough bluster, nor gall. Just a stick in a certain place, and the misguided belief that a man must harden himself to his men's suffering to lead them into war."
Leaning back to her own seat, the Peacekeeper sighs.
"Both ailments are easily cured, I should think? Prove me right."
Looking back at the veteran peacekeeper, Marius sighs.
"I... will try, sister."
"Good. Then we can inject a bit more civility into this discussion. Come, sit. Our Conqueror seems happy enough on the floor for you to take his seat."
"Oh, yes, that does remin-! Wait, ah, may I speak freely, sir?"
Looking over at the Peacekeeper and thinking about what she said, the Lawbringer nods.
"...You needn't ask, soldier."
"Alright! Well, um, why has he been... well, beaten?"
"Oh. That. Seems he mistook my squire for a ninja, on account of his dark clothing. Nothing a bit of, well, spontaneous corporal punishment couldn't fix."
"...O-oh."
"That's, um..."
Marius swallows thickly, eyeing the peacekeeper from behind his visor.
"...NOT bad leadership, right?"
"That one needs a good knock on the head every once in a while."
"Thank you, god."
The Warden inclined her head upwards, looking through the hole she herself created as if in thought.
"Sir?"
"Yes, soldier?"
"Why are we going to Rosa Collis?"
"...Oh, dammit, THAT'S what I was supposed to be doing before that lunatic barged in! Giving everyone their briefings!"
"Oh!"
"Oh, indeed. I admit that I'm curious as well. I'm a bit rusty on the state of affairs around here, I'm afraid."
"Well, not to worry, I've got the writ right here..."
He roots around in his suit of plate for a moment, before he remembers something.
"Oh, dammit, my squire has the writ! W-wait a second, I'll be right ba-!"
The Peacekeeper has her head in her hands.
"Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, just tell us, will you? You don't NEED to read it off the writ!"
"It says ON THE WRIT that I'm supposed to read the writ aloud to you during my briefing!"
"And what happens if you don't quote the writ verbatim, hm? We all die? You remember your orders, don't you?
"W-well, of course, but-"
"So simply tell us what you know the orders to be. It's that simple."
A heavy silence hangs in the air, for some time.
"...Gah, fine. Fine!"
"Oh, joy!"
"We... are to go to Rosa Collis and investigate rumors of a rebel legion attempting an alliance with a Myreite warlord."
"A Rebel Legion?"
"...Yes?"
"I-I thought all the lesser legions were loyal to the Iron Legion?"
"Oh, yes, of course! You're from the heartland, aren't you, dear?"
"Well... yes. What do you mean?"
"Oh, they are loyal, they are! On paper. Off it, Ashfeld is a chaotic jumble of warring, independent city-states. But nominally, yes, they all swear fealty to the Iron, like us. If we send them enough strongly worded letters, they might even pay some 'taxes' for us to leave them alone. They saw the people of Valkenheim, living free and wild without a king or any higher powers, and they grew to crave that freedom. But if I'm correct, these 'Rebels' are a whole different beast than the petty, puerile lords that want to fence off piles of dust and call themselves king. I'm right, aren't I, Marius?"
"CAPTAIN Marius, thank you. But yes. As you said, most lords in Ashfeld will simply send our messengers back with a pittance and some empty words, but these mongrels sent their own messengers back. ...With our messenger. ...On a pike."
"Oh."
"And their name? I think I already know, but I do hope I'm wrong."
"...Yes. These rebels have been giving us trouble for a long time; trying to unite the warlords and force us out of Ashfeld and back west once and for all. They're called the Blackstone Legion. There haven't been many reports on their inner structure, but near as we can tell, their leader seems to be a woman, maybe an ex-warden, by her fighting style. We don't know anything about her, not even her name. But the bloodthirsty dogs that follow her... call her Apollyon."
"Th...th-that's the name of a demon. From the Holy Book."
"You'll be hearing a lot of both of those names, girl, and neither one ever brings good tidings. Especially the latter."
"What do you mean?"
"I..."
The peacekeeper looks to the ground, the first sign of distress, or anything other than vaguely amused disinterest, to pass over her in the long, long while they've been riding together in this carriage.
"...I am one of few to see Apollyon on the battlefield and live. I still bare a scar across my back for it."
"Your back? She struck from ambush?"
"No. I was running from her. It is why I am here today."
She leans forward, a grim air about her.
"Listen. Both of you. If we are to face the Blackstones at Rosa Collis, you MUST know."
"...What is it, sister?"
"I speak no hyperbole when I say that she is death incarnate. Do not cross blades with her alone, ever. Preferably, don't do it at all. Do you understand me? I want to hear you both say it."
"Milady, you speak of her as if she IS the demon she took that name from."
"Fear is only useful in moderation in matters of war. But that fool on the floor there is right. Sometimes, you have to be afraid to survive. When you face the Blackstone legion, there is always the chance that their leader is among them. Fear serves you well, then. Now swear. If you see her, you get backup, and you rush her. All at once. It is the only way. You cannot win in a duel."
"I... I swear."
"I've only known you for a short while, milady, but you seem a wise and honest sort. If you fear her so, then I shall swear it."
"Good. The warriors of Valkenheim believe that an oathbreaker will be gnawed for all eternity in the rancid jaws of a great serpent after death. Keep that in mind going forward, will you?"
The two less experienced knights shudder.
"...Now. CAPTAIN Marius. Tell us about these Myreite allies of hers- er, theirs."
Captain Marius eyes her worriedly, then sighs.
"...Very well. The Dawn Empire is more unified than the rest of us, but even they have their separatists and bandit lords on the fringes of their territory, especially this close toAshfeld and Valkenheim's borders. This bandit clan is led by a former disgraced bodyguard of the emperor, infamous in the Myre for his merciless tactics and brutality. His name is Koga Makoto, though to us he'd be Makoto Koga."
"What?"
"Family names come first in Japanese, dear."
"Oh. ...You two know Japanese?"
"I do. Bet my front teeth he doesn't, though."
"CAN I CONTINUE?"
"Oh, feel free. Captain Marius."
"…ANYWAY, from what little we know of him, the more superstitious citizens of the Myre claim that his father was an Oni, or a breed of ferocious demon from Myreite myth, and his ferocity in combat and colossal size fits such a thing. He wields a great iron club that can crush through platemail, so if you encounter him, don't assume you can let yourself get grazed so the armor can take the blow, like you would a katana. We think he's trying to garner the Blackstone's favor because of their similar ideals and goals. He sees a like mind in Apollyon."
"Ideals? I had assumed, from how you described them, that the Blackstones just wanted power and independence."
"Oh, I'm sure most of them do, dear. But Apollyon herself is a... well, a bit of a philosopher in between senseless massacres. Let me guess? Makoto believes that you can do whatever you like if you're strong enough? That the only reason to do anything is to further yourself, and that anyone too weak to stop you from killing them deserves to die?"
"Wha-?"
"Apollyon believes that only one thing separates men from animals; that they can choose whether they are predators or prey. She would only respect someone with those same beliefs. So... am I right?"
"Well, Makoto's war banner bears a proverb, one he's quite fond of; 'The weak are meat, and the strong eat.'"
The Peacekeeper shakes her head, eyes glued darkly to the floor.
"Sheep. And Wolves. Damn it all."
