Exiles of the Old Kingdom
The Return of the Seraphim
After the Isle of Ghosts was rediscovered by the rest of the Realm and became a point of conflict between the windwyrms and the nation of Ironbrook, its longtime inhabitants, the surviving Seraphim, feared the worst… but thanks to the assistance of sympathetic outsiders, they were able to ease tensions on the Isle and make contact with the leaders of the various foreign factions.
Some open fighting between the windwyrms and Brookian soldiers occurred before this could happen, and although both sides took casualties, neither were able to claim victory over the other, and they reluctantly settled down after outcry from those within their own camp. Following much discussion between the Seraphim’s leader, Lady Three-Eyes, and those in charge in the Northern and Eastern Camps, an agreement was made that would decide the fate of the Isle of Ghosts and its inhabitants; the Seraphim would remain as the neutral wardens of the Isle, and small parties from Ironbrook and the windwyrm kingdom would be allowed on its shores, provided they promised not to cause trouble. A secondary agreement was reached with the scholars of the stormherald Societies, allowing for them to continue their research into Elder Drake and windwyrm history on the Isle, provided in exchange they provide teaching for the residents of the Inner City. Peace is established, and, gradually, the two camps disperse and go on their way. As they leave, for the first time in over a century, the heavy clouds of fog over the Isle of Ghosts disperse, and sunlight falls undimmed upon its rocky shores. Participants
The following characters took part officially in the Exiles of the Old Kingdom event. Please @ an admin if you believe anyone is missing!
Congratulations to everyone who participated in the event, you all created some amazing work. If you'd like to check out the amazing illustrations & short stories people created for Exiles of the Old Kingdom, they're all listed in this spreadsheet!
Only characters from submitted event entries and RPs are listed in the columns above. If your character is not included but should have been, @J-Haskell#7192 over in the discord server!
Through rolling fog on Lake Zela, an ancient island - the once thought-lost Isle of Ghosts - is glimpsed by Brookian sailors; weeks later, a group of ships cut through the mist to lay anchor not far from its shores, filled with scientists eager to study the untouched Elder Drake and pre-Tempest windwyrm ruins that can be seen breaking the canopy of the rocky island’s forest. With them are a handful of archaeologists and historians from the famed College of the Spire; Misstep, Cloud Barebranch and Luuzin. From Ironbrook’s esteemed universities are Professor Serafima Liouba Kovalchuk, Professor Aurora Sunscar, and a handful of Brookian soldiers under the command of Captain Andon Stanimir Ignatov. Together, the two nations establish the Eastern Camp on the eastern shore of the Isle. As the island was apparently uninhabited, not so far from their borders, and a Brookian vessel the one to rediscover it, Ironbrook attempted to lay claim to it.
When news reached the leadership of the windwyrm kingdom that outsiders were trespass and lay claim to an island they considered part of their territory, they were enraged and saw the foreign presence on their island as a direct challenge to the authority of the Tempest. It was quickly decided that they should send a group of soldiers and scholars themselves to the island to affirm the Tempest’s claim to the land, as well as investigate its history themselves, and set up camp on the northern shore of the Isle. The group was led by Baroness Thunder Blackpine, herself a relic of history, with Guard-Captain Shoebill and the First Black Guard under Captain Nighthawk Startower as security Despite this less than peaceful mission, Baroness Thunder had no interest in fighting the outsiders if she didn’t have to, and managed to negotiate a temporary truce with the leadership of the Eastern Camp to prevent violence. For the following few weeks, there would be an uneasy truce between the windwyrms and those from elsewhere in Cyr; one not helped by the sightings of strange, many-winged dragons with gleaming eyes in the fog at the edges of both camps, or the creature known only as the “Grey Ghost” reported attacking those who wandered too far into the Isle. With the scholars of Ironbrook came Sabien the Greenheart, a hired cartographer and artist; Adonis Rowan Keelan Deo, a travelling human come to work as a cartographer; Cleo the Inaurate, a wanderer come to work as a bodyguard for the scientists; Iskra Malyna Balabanov-Nikolaev, a Brookian scholar with an unusual amount of skill at arms; Kala, a wandering member of the Tähdet Perhe come to research Cyrian cultures; arriving together on a Brookian steamship were the two windwyrms, Mstislav Fireback Gildedbrook and “Grey Brightsprout”, come to investigate the Isle; and, lastly, Yaotl Zolin, who served as a bodyguard for those of the Eastern Camp. With the Societies, Altair and Havoc, both of the Society of War, arrived with the security forces from the Spire to help protect the scholars of the Eastern Camp; Artemis and Elysian, come from the faraway Land of Rivers; Brisk, a member of the Society of Runesmiths, arrived to conduct research and provide those of their camp with runic tools; Pitohui of the Society of History arrived to study, along with their adopted child, the young darkling Chitter; “Lucky” of the Society of Medicine and their hired bodyguard, Arwin Rho, arrived to investigate the ruins and provide helpful potions; a shipwrecker named Capricorn came to the Isle to continue working on their personal bestiary; a shipwrecker and springsinger hybrid named Ketch arrived on the Isle, curious about learning more about the Realm’s history prior to the Night of the Red Moons; lastly, from faraway Theavia, the Moon Child Psychopomp and his hired travelling partner and guard, Firemaw, arrived at the Isle of Ghosts for unknown reasons. Accompanying Baroness Thunder and her windwyrms was Asura, a hybrid with glowing eyes who approached the windwyrms and was eventually allowed to remain in camp by the Baroness, much to the surprise of everyone, provided he made himself useful; Caladrius, a Hawk in service to the Tempest; Cavalry, a former soldier; Morrigan Brittlepoint-Willowgrove-Fogpeak-Sunhallow-Frostpine, a Hawk with a name longer than most noble’s titles; Cemani Darkcrag, a soldier who only recently earned their place in the aristocracy; a young soldier named Esker; one of the Tempest’s own royal guards, Gyr Icepeak; an advisor to Baron of Roseglade, Peregrine Skycaller; Screech, a commoner caring for the Northern Camp’s messenger birds; Talvi, a windwyrm dragged along to help investigate the Isle; and lastly Whirlwind, a black-and-white windwyrm serving in the Hawks. A handful of others arrived on the Isle as well; the wandering windwyrm hybrid, Morse; chasing a vision, the wandering voidseer Harbinger travelled from faraway Theavia with her friend, Arion, to seek the meaning behind her dreams; Harper, a seafaring wanderer; the Xocrian warrior Ameria Blakewood, her familiar Spectre, and the Harvest Mage Oliver Hakron with a group of scholars from Chrysos; and, strangest of all, the necromancer Lupu Grim and a small garrison of soldiers from the Hovellian city-state of Idothea… come to the Isle of Ghosts, having taken the name literally, to seek paranormal encounters. The new arrivals to the Isle quickly began to settle into their camps, having a few encounters with their neighbours and the “Grey Ghost”, some of which are peaceful and others rather violent, as well as assisting with bringing in supplies from the mainland. As they grow more comfortable on the Isle, scholars and their bodyguards begin to explore, making sketches and taking notes on what they observe in their wanderings. Individuals from both camps have encounters with Harbinger, who travels the Isle attempting to spread a warning of… well. She’s not entirely sure what her vision is warning her about, but wants to share her dream with as many as possible, in hopes of influencing the threads of fate into a more positive outcome. One particularly nasty encounter, early on, with the Grey Ghost resulted in the death of a Brookian man, Andrik, and a close call for one of Ironbrook’s scholars; they were only saved through the quick actions of their bodyguard, Cleo the Inaurate. Only bits of Andrik’s clothing and his weapons can be recovered by a patrol sent out hours later - doubtlessly the thing ate the rest of him. Cleo isn’t the only one to have a run-in with the Grey Ghost around this time, however. Caladrius and Gyr in the Northern Camp each run into it while out on their own, though both emerge from the encounter unscathed. From the Eastern Camp, Psychopomp loses some rather precious herbs to it, a researcher named Capricorn encounters the Ghost while out after dark and is forced to take shelter to avoid notice, and, lastly, Sabien narrowly avoids getting mauled by hiding from the creature in a narrow cave. The next week comes with new challenges for both camps on the Isle. Luuzin of the Eastern Camp requests assistance with investigating the Elder Drake Castle and the ancient remains of its former inhabitants within, and multiple groups set out over the following days to do so. One of which, made up of the springsinger herself, Psychopomp, Rowan, Kala, Havoc, a fireworm-and-stormherald mercenary named Firemaw, as well as some others, encounter trouble on the way back when they stumble upon a confrontation between a group of windwyrm soldiers and some scholars. The disagreement, sparked by one of the scholars taking a windwyrm skull from the Eastern Islands, briefly turns violent, however both sides back down and go their separate ways quickly enough. The others - Sabien and Capricorn - have much less exciting expeditions to the Castle. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for Altair; he and his patrol of Society of War members get caught in a violent clash with windwyrm soldiers with casualties - and deaths - on both sides. With the timely assistance of Morse, he was able to drive off the windwyrms and live to see another day. Though the stirrings of violence make those in both camps on the Isle… uneasy, to say the least. The Northern Camp has troubles of its own, aside from violence with those of the Eastern Camp. The Baroness, having heard about windwyrm remains being present, sends a handful of dragons out to leave offerings for the dead; Esker, a common soldier, and Cavalry and Asura. Both have unexpected encounters along the way; Esker with two residents of the Eastern Camp, and Cavalry with a near-spectral figure with three eyes. Similarly, after having gotten lost trying to find a quiet place to get a break from all the noise back in camp and nearly getting corner by the Grey Ghost, Screech was guided back to camp by an odd stranger, one they failed to get a good look at. Finally, while out alone to get some air, one of the Hawks, Whirlwind, is attacked and nearly killed by the Grey Ghost. Only through the aid of a windwyrm from the Eastern Camp, Grey Brightsprout, do they make it back to the Northern Camp in time to receive medical treatment. Though they are badly injured, they are expected to make a full recovery. Tensions on the Isle come to a head when one of Ironbrook’s scholars, the escaped windwyrm professor Aurora Sunscar, returned to the Eastern Camp with bleeding injuries and red-stained claws. While out investigating some of the ruins, they were attacked by a group of Hawks (a group of secretive police that keeps order in the windwyrm kingdom), out to kill them for the crime of having left behind the Windwyrm kingdom in their youth, despite the official truce between the scholars and Baroness Thunder Blackpine, and only barely managed to escape. Rather than try to settle things by contacting the Baroness and simply hoping it won’t happen again, Aurora has a plan; set an ambush for the group of Hawks and give them a reason to keep far, far away. Aurora will go out “alone” with a group of smaller, less-noticeable soldiers hiding nearby. If the group of Hawks shows their faces again, then they’ll get a nasty surprise when the Professor turns out to not be alone this time. Aurora had no trouble finding volunteers from amongst the mercenaries and soldiers of the Eastern Camp - Arwin and his familiar, Morse, Psychopomp, and Oliver as well as many others - and led multiple ambushes against them throughout the following week. Unfortunately for the Hawks, they were all quite successful; the tales of the night that Maura walked the earth in the form of a blue-winged human, summoning a storm to punish those who stood against her, as well as the unfortunate windwyrm who exploded after getting shot would linger and be passed on to others, even after the Hawks left the Isle of Ghosts behind. Aside from the unlucky Hawks facing Aurora and their volunteers’ wrath, most of the Northern Camp is… bored with current events on the Isle, with word of the fighting not having yet spread far, and Guard-Captain Shoebill most of all. Sure, it’s an honour and all to be able to represent the Tempest’s interests on the Isle, but Shoe is a soldier, not a diplomat or politician, and he has no idea what he’s doing aside from the fact that he needs a break. Of course, being a soldier, Shoe’s idea of a break isn’t a spa retreat; he’s looking for a good fight. The Guard-Captain has started drilling the soldiers and Hawks in camp and is more than happy to oblige anyone brave enough to ask him with a fight, and ends up crossing talons with a handful of the Northern Camp’s residents; a young soldier named Esker, the retired military knight Cavalry, and even another member of the royal guard, Gyr Icepeak. Near the end of the week, individuals from both camps wake to find that a hastily-written note warning of impending misfortune has been slipped into their tent in the night, with a recommendation that it would be in their best interests to move to a different spot to avoid injury. Most of its recipients heed the warning and safely avoid what follows - rocks, a tree, or something else falling onto where their tent had been in the night - but in the Northern Camp, the young soldier Esker opts not to, and is injured a few days later when a large tree falls across her tent. Soldiers from both the Northern and Eastern Camps have started to vanish. They go out on patrol and, later in the day, never return. The obvious cause for many is the people in the opposite camp or the increasingly agitated Grey Ghost, and the situation on the Isle grows more tense day by day; each camp has banned people from leaving its shelter without a suitable escort, and there have been a few small skirmishes in the ruins and the forest. Unless things start to calm down, a battle between the two camps is inevitable. Volunteers are found among the members of both camps to help look for the missing people. In the Northern Camp, one such patrol fell upon further misfortune when it was attacked by the Grey Ghost; its leader, the Austringer Aquila, was found dead by the rest of her squad, and her search partner, Cavalry, nowhere to be found. It was assumed by the rest of the windwyrms that Cavalry was killed as well, and probably dragged off to the Ghost’s lair as a meal; in reality, the former soldier was merely injured and brought into the Eastern Camp by those in it who recognized her. More surprising than attacks by the Grey Ghost or vanishing members of each camp is the sudden appearance of three-eyed, double-winged dragons known as Seraphim, reaching out to those wandering out from their camp. Centuries ago they fled the windwyrm kingdom to avoid massacre and took refuge on the Isle of Ghosts to avoid their hunters, and since the first outsiders arrived on its shores have been waiting and watching to see what to do. Their leader, Lady Three-Eyes, fearing discovery or that the fighting on the Isle might destroy their home, finally reached a decision and asked her people to reach out to the strangers and invite them into their home, the Inner City, so that she can speak with them. From the Eastern Camp, Brisk, Harbinger, Morse, Cleo, Lucky, Capricorn, Psychopomp, Ketch, Sabien and Yaotl are invited - the latter of whom had to be rescued from the Grey Ghost and brought into the Inner City for medical treatment. From the Northern Camp, Esker, Peregrine, Screech and Caladrius all make their way into the Inner City, guided by one of the Seraphim. They each are given a chance to speak with Lady Three-Eyes alone and hear about the history of the Isle and the Seraphim who have refuged there since the rise of the First Tempest. She asks that they speak with the leaders of their camp and urge them not to fight, and tell them that the Seraphim simply wish to stay on the Isle in peace; most of those invited into the Inner City are moved by the Lady’s request and agree to do what they can to help. The first request the Seraphim had outside of this was assistance with one of their own; the Grey Ghost - or Altai, as they were named at birth - was one of them. Hatched a Grey Seraphim into a strange and painful body, with the immense burden of protecting the Seraphim, they have been growing more hostile by the day, agitated by the number of strangers on the Isle and a few violent encounters with soldiers from both sides. All sides decide quickly that something must be done about the aggressive creature; the windwyrms want to hunt and kill them, Ironbrook’s scholars are curious and wish to attempt to capture and study them. The Seraphim fear that they may accidentally ruin any hopes they have of establishing peace with the outsiders. Although they have served them well protecting them in the past, their aggression - sometimes even directed at their fellow Seraphim - is pushing the other groups on the Isle to regard the Seraphim with suspicion. Lady Three-Eyes asked those who have been working and visiting her and the other Seraphim for assistance; she wanted to distract Altai, draw them away from the outsiders, and if possible, find a way to contain them within the Inner City for the immediate future so that they cannot harm any more outsiders. Through the combined efforts of Brisk, Screech, Harbinger, Morse, “Grey Brightsprout”, Esker, Chitter, Caladrius, and some of the Seraphim, Altai was successfully lured into the confines of the Inner City. They would no longer be able to harm anyone else and would be safe from the windwyrms keen on hunting them down. Esker was injured after protecting Altai from a group of their hunters, and Harbinger was wounded by the grey seraphim themself after crossing into the city. Despite this, they were able to be trapped within one of the larger abandoned buildings, where, after days of hissing and snarling and clawing at their prison, Altai finally began to calm down. Assisted by Screech of the Northern Camp and Ketch of the Eastern Camp, Lady Three-Eyes was successfully able to meet up with her old friend, Baroness Thunder Blackpine, and discuss the events on the Isle and what had happened to each in the years since they had last met. In each camp, sympathetic outsiders that had been won over by the Seraphim’s efforts managed to press their leadership into ordering their soldiers to stand down, and once again an awkward peace settled across the Isle. With Altai contained and the fighting over, the Seraphim made contact with the leadership of each camp and arranged for proper negotiations to be conducted. It took days and many hours of discussion, but eventually, an agreement was reached; the Seraphim would remain as the neutral wardens of the Isle, and small parties from Ironbrook and the windwyrm kingdom would be allowed on its shores, provided they promised not to cause trouble. A secondary agreement was reached with the scholars of the stormherald Societies, championed by Misstep - seeing it as her big shot at setting herself apart from her family - with Cloud Barebranch’s guidance, allowing for them to continue their research into Elder Drake and windwyrm history on the Isle, provided in exchange they offer teaching for the residents of the Inner City. Gradually, most of the outsiders who came to the Isle disperse, with Baroness Thunder and Lady Three-Eyes meeting in the Inner City one last time to bid eachother farewell - and to grand the former a favour. Desiring to continue the lost tradition of the leadership of the windwyrms keeping Seraphim advisors, the Baroness wishes for Captain Nighthawk to undergo the Ceremony of Fire, and the leader of the Seraphim grants that wish. During the next full moon, Nighthawk, Altai, and some others on the Isle undergo the Ceremony and emerge bearing the marks of the windwyrm gods. Both will have much to adjust to - Altai most of all, now freed of the burden placed upon them at hatching by the gods - in the weeks and months to come. With that, the Baroness and her entourage departed from the Isle of Ghosts and returned to their homes in the windwyrm kingdom. Although nothing dramatic occurs immediately following their arrival back, for many of those who found themselves there during the events that occurred on the Isle - and those who heard the news later - a seed of doubt is planted in their hearts. The Tempest and their court decide to honour the agreement made by the Baroness with the Seraphim and Ironbrook, although make no offer to allow the residents of the Isle of Ghosts safe passage in or out of the kingdom, as some might have hoped. The danger passed, the Greygale Stones are deactivated by Kara and Qin, and the heavy clouds of fog that concealed the Inner City and much of the Isle of Ghosts disperses, allowing sunlight to fall unfiltered on its shores for the first time in generations. Misstep, true to her word, begins the process of converting portions of the Eastern Camp into classroom spaces, recruiting other scholars from the Spire as teachers in exchange for the chance to study the Isle and its inhabitants up close. The reaction among the Seraphim is mixed; all are grateful for the outsider’s assistance in averting disaster, but while some are eager to learn, others have little interest in Misstep and her colleague’s teachings. As time passes, things on the Isle of Ghosts settle down into a new sense of normalcy. The Isle’s residents are no longer forbidden from leaving by Lady Three-Eyes, and some even decide to travel away from its shores to see the rest of the world. Karakoram Greygale, unsurprisingly, is one of the first to do so, leaving home with a promise to write and return when she can, to study at the College of the Spire as she’s always dreamed of. Though, as there was no promise of safety in their old homeland, none of the Seraphim who hail from the Isle of Ghosts make a return to windwyrm territory, fearing that they might fall victim to Hawks or superstitious dragons. With the Isle open to the outside world and news of the Seraphim spreading, they can only expect yet more curious visitors from across the Realm.
Lore Updates
The following lore pages have been updated to reflect the ending of the Exiles of the Old Kingdom event:
Seraphim Slots Have Been Added to the Store!
Seraphim slots have been added to the Store - if you’re interested in purchasing one for your character/a future character idea, check out this comment over on DA for more information.
In order to give everyone interested in acquiring one a fair chance, we’ll be determining who gets to purchase from the first “batch” of Seraphim slots using the dice tool over in the discord server. You’ll have until midnight EST on Sunday, September 26th to comment to enter into that “raffle”, so make sure you reply to the comment linked above if you’ve got ideas for Seraphim characters.
Want to get one last entry in? Draw, RP or write about your character’s reaction to the outcome of EoK and their return home (or wherever their travels will take them next) - it won’t sway the ending any further, but your work will be eligible for the Event Entry EXP and bits bonus.
You may only do one “Aftermath” entry per character that could’ve participated in the events of EoK. These can be completed at your own pace, but please mark it as “Aftermath for Exiles of the Old Kingdom” in your EXP trackers and when redeeming for bits.
The next big RoS event will probably not be happening for at least a few more months - us admins need a break & time to plan - expect a winter release for that! As things are still in very early development we can't say anything for sure, but the next event may see a return to Theavia...
In the meantime, however, we’re currently running a smaller, Halloween-themed side event; our second yearly Spooky Challenges event! This year's got a costume contest, short story contest, and new bestiary entry (animals or plants this year as well) contest, so if you're feeling creative, check it out - there're some fun prizes! It'll be running from September 7th to October 31rst at midnight EST. Comments are closed.
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