Events proceeded quickly out of the sleepy border village between Tirgunn and Gorzas following the battle and subsequent rescue of a minor baron by the Knightly Orders. Following the climactic battle within the castle manor, most of the aberrant Knights quickly found themselves back to the Guide, who seemed ready to go before the small group even showed up. Indeed, the previous battle sent many of the Vampires fleeing into the nearby woods, only to be intercepted by several squads of Darkwald Knights picking off a few with timed crossbow volleys. Once Hunted and Hunter rushed further into the Osteiermark wilderness, the Guide had prepared the wagon in anticipation of the band of smuggled knights. And almost three hours after arriving, the aberrant knights made their way back to Mariasburke, before sailing back to the Vultarin Hegemony, happy to no longer need the comforts of a few oversized barrels and crates. Back in the village, the remaining Knights succeeded in tying up loose ends. The infected Baron of Gorzas alongside some of his Bloodcast retainers were bound with ropes, awaiting the Darkwald Order to pick up their target. Soon enough, a few horses stopped by the village, with the Darkwald Liason from before escorting the infected victims to a nearby wagon, remarking that they would be cured by the coming dawn before heading east into the forests once more. With little else to do, and injuries to attend to, the Knights headed back to the village, which saw other Darkwald Knights bringing back the townspeople who had fled prior to the Knightly Order mission, while others of their ranks began to burn the Vampiric bodies of the Court of Crimson Blades on the outskirts, cleaning up the remains of the fallen in battle. Overall, the villagers were relieved that the nightmare over their town had ended, but it would take a few months before things returned to normal. Roughly a week later, news traveled to the Regalian Capital that the baron and his retinue had been cured, and that they were now working to help the local villagers, sending their regards to the Knightly Orders that returned them to their senses. With another mission completed, the Elder Councils sent out communiques to be heard by Knights in the city: The Viridian Order was pleased with the results of the mission, happy to see that all the Knightly Orders were assisting the helpless when called upon. However, they still maintained their cold-war with the Bloodcast Knights over the desecration of one of the crypt tombs. While the lid of Sir Carloman has been repaired, and the upper level of the crypt has been restored, the Elder Council maintained that the Bloodcasts still needed to atone through the Unionist Church and the Viridians themselves. A small note directed Viridian Knights to write the Council (via a prog order) to send a Liason officer to the city whenever they believed it was time to reconcile with the Hedge Knights. The Villiers-Eclaire Order was pleased with the Knights going to protect the needy from further Vampiric Assault. The Great Oak Order was pleased to see the Knights were able to overcome this obstacle placed in front of them. The Lion Pelt Order was pleased to see the Knights help out their fellow Osteiermark Order. The Darkwald Order overall was pleased to see more vampiric demons purged from the earth. While the mission was to take the baron and all of his retinues alive, they didn't seem to care that a few of the retainers were slain in battle. The enemy was in retreat once more, the noble hostage was extracted, and that was all that mattered. The Bloodcast Order as always was indifferent. Some bands mourned the loss of a few fallen brothers, while others praised the Bloodcasts that went on the mission for doing good to their personal honor. The Wards of Fae were somewhat mixed. They were pleased with the Knights aiding in the curing of the baron and his retainers, but were a bit upset that a Nenya Stake was secured by a Parthas Knight and not a Fae Knight. Still, they commended the Knights for their work, but urged their own membership to not stray from securing holy relics as the Angels instructed them to do. The Oranjen Order was pleased to see a few Aberrants cured of their aberrancy. The Monzon Order gave minor approval, but it was evident from their communication that they held back some of the details. A few aberrant knights in New Crookback might've seen one or two golden knights give them approving nods before they went about their business, but that was about all. The Blackguard Order was pleased to see the Knights show a bit of backbone to cowardly Vampires. The Parthas Order was happy to see a few targets captured to be cured. With another quest completed, it was only a matter of time before the next mission passed along the ears of the Knights in the capital city. This time around, it appeared that aid came far beyond the border of the Regalian Archipelago, in an area of Aloria many had been frequenting the past few months. For in the Hadarian Archipelago, a request from the Soor-Rassa-Allar had been received. During the war effort, Mai-Allar scouts had uncovered a secret underwater ruin which seemed to have been built centuries ago. Consulting with historians, it was determined that this was the underwater Ruin of Mantziraqq, a temple only remarked in a few scattered records from the early Allar refugees from the Sendrassian Civil War. Very little else was known about the ruin, save for one small note: whatever was in the ruins was taken from Sendras during the flight of the Allar from their Void Worshipping cousins. With a desire to see the mystery uncovered, the Soor-Rassa-Allar dispatched a Liason Officer to the city of Regalia to provide further information. However, with Hadar currently a warzone, only time would tell when this Liason Officer would show, or how easy this mission would be with the Marshal Cabinet controlling movements into the region... OOC Notes: This is mostly a tl;dr post for those folks who couldn't attend the event, or the follow-up ceremony last weekend. It wasn't as important to be a world progression post, but too narrated to be in Regalian Roleplay. This will probably be the last mission of Season 1 that follows the current format as I look for new ways to make everyone feel included. If any players currently feel shut off from these missions, either due to timezones, personal knight interests not being catered to, or the like, I invite you to send a forum conversation my way. The Knight System is off to a decent start, but like with anything on Massivecraft, keeping things as is is always a sin, and we must always find ways to improve the player experience. The Ruin of Mantziraqq is starting, but things may be tweaked as we go along. Liason event is tentatively this week or early next week.
