Puppeteer of the Kingdom of the Veiled

It was summer of the year 900 in the peaceful kingdom of the veiled. The citizens of the kingdom knew not of crime or wars for centuries, or.. haven’t, until recently! Until about 5 years ago it was a place of pure harmony and peace, but with the peace and quiet came the disbanding of the armed forces and any forms of security or law enforcement. As such, the poorer people in the slums took the opportunity to make quick money with theft and mugging, they formed guilds: the thieves and the muggers guilds were the largest in the town and the few remaining watchmen dared not mess with them. The king grew ignorant of pleas of the peasants begging for rearming and reinstatement of the townguard! The king enjoyed his luxury and peace. No major crime was happening so he turned a blind eye to the pleas and kept on living in comfort. And that is where our protagonist Fabian comes into play. It was summer, the evening was still young and the sun was slowly setting.

As the shadows were cast over the streets, the muggers guild began their gathering.

“This month we’re underperforming! Rookies need to step up their game,” said the guild master as he pointed at a hand-drawn chart behind him, “Muggers ought to mug! Go out there and mug ’em!” he stated as he chugged his drink, “Ah! Fabian!?” a thin, young man raised his hand, sitting at a table surrounded by other scrawny men wearing raggedy cloaks.

“Y…yes?” he said, the guild master squinted at him.

“Hmmm… you go with the west side team today! make sure to mug someone rich tonight yes!?” the young man nodded, “yes chief!”

The guild master dismissed the gathering and thus the muggers went out into the city, but something stopped Fabian. He hesitated following his team out…

N.N.: I think he should follow at a distance!

O.F.: He should follow his team, he can’t mug someone rich in his shack :3

N.N.: This is true you cannot mug people if there are no people

N.N.: He might know something.

O.F.: Distance is fine with me 🙂

N.N.: He got spooked

Fabian told his team that he had to ask the leader something and assured them he’ll be right behind. They cared not, so they left without him. Fabian waited a short while and then snuck out after them, following from a distance and hiding in the shadows. While he was scrawny, he had 1 thing for him and that he was natural at sneaking and hiding, the thieves guild wanted to recruit him but he quite enjoyed the company of muggers and chose to remain a mugger instead. He followed them to the west.

As they approached the western main street, the team stopped and hid in the shadows as a watchman walked down the street and yawned, not paying any attention, in fact muggers often mugged the watchmen too since they were only there for the looks and did nothing else. Hours after that passed as Fabian climbed to the rooftop for better vintage. Nothing… the streets were quiet and the shops were closed, when suddenly a familiar sound of coins scattering on the rocky street filled the silence.

the team to which Fabian was assigned rushed out from the alley they hid in and onto the street. Fabian peeked over the roof edge and could see a wealthy looking man collecting coins in a dimly lit street light as he was swiftly surrounded by 4 muggers who unsheathed their daggers, “Oi man! What’s unfortunate! we’ll help ya don’t worry.”

1 of them said but the man continued collecting coins in silence ignoring them. Fabian observed, but something didn’t feel right… The clothes!! he noticed.

The clothes the man wore were rich and that of a noble, but at the same time… old! Raggedy and out of fashion. In fact Fabian hasn’t seen anybody wear such clothes except in the old paintings. He thought, ‘maybe a traveling merchant?’ but he felt concerned.

N.N.: Observe. Trust the gut.

N.N.: Oh this sounds like a really tough spot for Fabian to be in… I think he should Observe!

O.F.: Agreed!

T.T.: but what about his team? I fear they are in danger….

O.F.: Let there be blood i say :3

N.N.: ITs a dog eat dog world.

Fabian hunkered down, laying flat, quiet as a mouse he even slowed down his breathing to remain as silent as he could. He observed as the man slowly collected the coins from the rocky street. 1 of the muggers pulled his dagger out and placed it in front of the man who was on his knees. The dagger glinted in the dim light and the man chuckled slightly, “hehe,” the muggers looked at each other confused and then down at the man, the 1 who bared his dagger spoke, “EY! Having problems hearing?”

The man shook his head and spoke quietly, “no… are there others around?” the mugger looked at the rest of his team as suddenly the man who was on his knees had his hand around the mugger’s neck, squeezing hard as his neck snapped back in a loud ‘crack’ sound and laughter filled the silent room, “AHAHAHA!! VERY WELL THEN.”

And before the others could react, the first man’s neck was broken, his body collapsed to the ground as the man in old noble’s clothes leaped like a wild beast.

the man leaped on 1 of the other buggers, pushing him down and pinning him to the ground, in a beastly growl he sunk his fangs into the mugger’s neck. The remaining 2 muggers dropped their knives and began to run in panic as Fabian observed, terror filled his eyes as he held his breath, realizing hiding is his only means of survival now. Few moments later the panicked muggers were disposed of as well by the stranger who then calmly walked off down the street, leaving bloody footprints behind.

Fabian stayed hidden for a while longer but another 15 minutes passed and he could no longer hear the footprints, he deemed it safe to move and tried to decide between possible options.

“Run to the nightwatch and inform them of the murder and suspect? but they’re useless…. Run to the king and inform him of the murder? Would the king even listen to a mugger..? Mayhaps run back to the guild and inform them of what happened?

O.F.: Now i’d go and hide in my shack.

S.A.: Even if the nightwatch is useless, reaching them might give him a chance, something like this old man will surely keep on tracking him down.

N.N.: Take the possesion of his now deceased colleagues. They are not gonna need those now. Return to guild and give in the loot as today’s bounty.

S.A.: Maybe he could also hide in Miss Orlenas shack

N.N.: hmmm i think the nightwatch would be a good choice but do they listen to a Mugger when they get mugged by them frequently?

O.F.: Regardless of what he is going to do, it means trouble 😮

S.A.: and make it double.

N.N.: I vote going back to the guild

N.N.: aye

O.F.: If my shack is no option then back to the guild i guess.

Fabian jumped quietly off the roof and ran over to his comrades. Checking for vitals which he couldn’t detect any he decided to collect their coin purses before heading to the guild. As he snuck through the alleys making his way to the guild, he noticed the court magician standing by the watch headquarters, looking around nervously before opening the door. The magician was the king’s personal entertainer and said to have been quite powerful but never showed his powers publicly which led to rumors.

Fabian shook his head and then when the magician was through the door he continued heading back to the building. It did not take long, Fabian rushed to the guild’s doors and burst through them, “GUILD CHIEF! I Must!” he gasped, and as he looked at the bar, there sat the man in the old clothes, blood stains on his raggedy noble clothes as he took a sip of his drink and smirked, baring his fangs at Fabian, “Ah…that’s the 1 i’ve been waiting for, if you’ll excuse me, chief.”

O.F.: And here ends the story of Fabian…

Guild master nodded drunkenly before faceplanting back on the bar, “Fabiaaaaaa….follow him or something manthing he works for king he wants you…” he mumbled drunkily. Fabian’s heart pounded as he froze in fear watching the murderer approach him slowly. Fabian went through his choices, ‘dagger… i could try to attack him? Or I could run… I’m not very fast i won’t get away probably. Get out and try to hold the door? Make a run for the night watch? Or submit and follow the murderer?’.

S.A.: If he is gonna submit he should at least take a last drink at the bar shouldn’t he?

O.F.: Drink, then submit, I like the sound of that.

N.N.: Agreed!

N.N.: Sounds like the option involving the least getting killed in that Scenario!

Fabian took a deep breath and in a trembling voice he spoke, “I w..would… could use a d..drink…”

He took a step towards the murderer who stopped, smirked and turned, gesturing at the bar, “by all means, I can wait, I got ALL the time in the world,” he said with a smirk, making a strange emphasis on the word ‘all’ which Fabian noticed but ignored. He walked past the man who whispered -‘you can’t run’ which made Fabian’s eyes widen and his heart pound even faster as he headed to the bar.

Fabian poured himself a glass of the strongest drink they offered which was a strange, terrible and herb tasting, somewhat sticky drink which he actually hated but it definitely got you drunk. In that time somebody else walked througfh the door which distracted the murderer. Fabian, noticing the man turning away, quickly dashed through the bar door and sprinted for the back exit. All seemed well until he reached the door, burst out of it and bumped into the court magician.

N.N.: Grab the necklace. It’s like breathing to him.

N.N.: Take the Necklace, it could be enchanted!

S.A.: If the necklace is a relic of great power it might give him a chance of survival if he would need the help of the magician it would be quite the bad choice

Fabian grabs the necklace and hastily recovers, sprinting off in the direction of the night watch as behind him the mage winches and howls, “GIVE IT BACK” the scream sent chills down Fabian’s back but he swiftly turned into a dark alley, using darkness and maze like alley streets to his advantage. It didn’t take him long to get to the night watch’s headquarters. Fabian made a dash for it and to his surprise he burst right through the door with no one chasing him.

“L…lock it! LOCK THE DOOR.”

The 2 night watchmen who were resting there after their 10 minute patrol looked at him confused-.

“Now now lad… the door remains open to all who need help or something… i don’t know, nobody ever comes here,” he said and yawned. The other watchman just ignored his presence and focused on his half empty bottle with a deep expression. Fabian rushed to the door and tried to find a way to lock it, but there was no lock or deadbolt.

“Barricade it! quick! a monster! out there is a monst…”

But before he could finish his sentence a knock on the door, “pardon the late night intrusion o’ noble guards! may i come in?” a voice of the murderer came from the other side of the door. 1 of the watchmen tried to reply but Fabian swiftly threw a coin purse at him to make him shut up, “NO!” he shouted as he looked around. The watchman recovered from the coinpurse slap on the face, “ey lad what da’ya think ya doin??”

He took his baton and walked closer.

N.N.: He has not time to explain or fight

N.N.: Is the window front facing or to the back?

N.N.: Look for a backdoor, a place to hide. The monster will ahve to sate his bloodthirst with these guards.

S.A.: There is always time for a fight, but fighting the guard is of no use, if he wanted help there.

N.N.: In that case searching for a backdoor maybe the best option

S.A.: Yes go for the backdoor

Fabian snuck past the guard heading deeper into their headquarters. This building appears to be built like barracks, it’s a relatively long building but easy to navigate. Fabian found the back door and swung it open, before the murderer stood, “Ah there you are!”

The door, unfortunately, opened to the outside, so the murderer quickly grabbed Fabian by the hand and smirked , “now why would you make me run around so much?” he said as he yanked Fabian through the door, Fabian fell to the ground.

In that moment however, the necklace he stole from the court magician fell out of his pocket and the murderer froze in his place, “w…where did you get that?” he hissed as he took a step back.”

Fabian swiftly scrambled to grab the necklace, holding it before him as he got up, he now had a moment to check it out. It was a vial, of some powdery substance inside, and a piece of cloth from what he could tell in the dim moonlight. The murderer took another step, “no! That fool!”

Fabian thought he could use the necklace to scare away the monster and make his way back inside. Or, he could attempt to command the monster to leave but he’s unsure if the necklace can only scare it away or control it. He also got curious as to why the court magician had a necklace which such a monster was so afraid of, and desired to know the answers.

T.T.: I bet the magician can shed some light on the situation… It surely was no coincidence that he was at the thieves guild at the same time as the murderer.

N.N.: I think he should try to get answers from the Magician!

N.N.: command the monster to leave. The necklace should be worth something after all.

Fabian held the necklace out in front of him, “Be gone! Leave the beast! Leave and seek your master out you foul creature,” the monster hissed and broke into a sprint at inhuman speed, there was no way Fabian could follow so he headed back inside the nightwatch’s headquarters and decided to speak to the guards. After about an hour of explanation the guards listened attentively, he also got to reclaim his coin purse which had enough money to last him the rest of the month.

The watchmen demanded he show them the street with corpses which he happily obliged. At that time, the remaining 2 watchmen returned from their patrol. And so Fabian, accompanied by the 4 watchmen, only 3 of whom were drunk, walked the streets towards where the bodies were, and as they got closer they could smell something burning. Smoke rising from the street where the bodies were. As they rushed through the dark alleys, the moment the street came into sight for them, they saw the court magician burning the bodies to ashes, presumably to remove the evidence, but the moment Mayce spotted them, she approached them with a smile, “oh noble watchmen, what pleasure! I was informed of bodies on the street by the muggers guild and offered my assistance in removing them… what brings you here? Nightwatch doesn’t handle crimes…” she squinted at Fabian and then gave him a bone chilling creepy smile.

Fabian left out the necklace details to the watchmen as he didn’t want something valuable taken from him, so he decided to just go along with her act, despite feeling like she’s plotting something, he knew better than to trust people, especially tonight.. All he knew was that the necklace kept him safe from the monster, and that Mayce is connected to him in some way. He whispered something to the watchman captain who grunted, “Miss Mayce… we uhh… of the uhh… nightwatch we appreciate…”

1 of the sober watchmen stepped in, “we appreciate your efforts miss court magician. Please head back to the castle we’ll handle the rest of it here,” he smirked and Fabian hit him on the side with elbow, “oh but do allow us to escort you.”

Fabian nodded, “and i need to head to the mugger’s guild to submit my report.”

Mayce smirked at him, “ah, what noble watchmen we have, sure…” she said unhappily.

Fabian retreated into the shadows as the watchmen proceeded to escort her to the castle.

N.N.: Better to follow, have an escape option ready if things get out of hand.

S.A.: Always be a step ahead.

N.N.: Given what happened tonight, the following should be better: maybe Fabian can overhear a conversation on the way.

And thus Fabian decided to stay back and observe from the shadows, and the entire time he felt like he was being watched… Surely it was that monster, observing him. Fabian clenched onto the necklace tighter and kept up with the watchmen. ON day way, completely like an idiot one of the drunk watchmen blared out, “SO DID YA KILL THOSE MUGGERS???” to which Mayce just giggled, “Oh what? no! I was at the watchmen house. Your colleagues could attest to that! Why would I kill muggers anyway?”

Another while later, the castle could be seen in the distance now and the watchmen failed to get any information out of Mayce, but to Fabian’s surprise, the drunk captain spoke the first actually useful phrase of the night, “has the king been faring well? Haven’t seen him in awhile.”

Mayce’s face distorted into a very angry expression as she tried to maintain her friendly smile, “king is well, you needn’t to concern… the palace staff are taking good care of his majesty.”

O.F.: I didn’t like Mayce from the beginning but now she is actually sus!

S.A.: A classical magocratie in the background after she got rid of the king.

As they reached the gates, 1 single guard opened the gates for Mayce, but when the watchmen insisted to head in and report the killings to the king, she refused them and told them to return to their duties. This seemed exceptionally suspicious to the watchmen and Fabian alike. The watchmen however decided not to argue and obeyed the order, however after they got a bit away they quickly turned into bushlines and headed towards the walls of the castle, Fabian followed them.

After a brief discussion, watchmen suggested scaling the wall with a human ladder and having 1-2 of them go into the castle along with Fabian to try and uncover the truth and reach the king.

N.N.: I’d say take the sober one along if he’s still there as a compromise!

O.F.: Mmhmm, we need at least one red shirt accompanying Fabian.

S.A.: Sure take this one with him, a witness is something good

N.N.: My thoughts exactly witness or bait both good.

O.F.: A witness, or rather a sacrifice? :3

Fabian nodded, “I’ll take him with me,” he pointed at the sober watchman whom he met first, the guy nodded. And thus they climbed on the shoulders of their companions and scaled the wall. Landing in the courtyard of the castle they made their way to the nearest window. Fabian told the watchman to throw his chainmail off as it’s making too much noise, and so he did. The window, to their fortune was unlocked and led into the dining hall of the castle which was empty at this house.

Fabian crawled through the window, the watchman followed him right behind and the 2 found themselves inside the castle.

“Do you know where the king’s chamber is?” Fabian whispered, and the watchman nodded, “should be upstairs end of the western hall,” Fabian nodded, “lead the way.”

The 2 snuck through the castle to the service staff used stairs and made their way up the stairs. The castle was dead quiet and eerie. The castle supposed to have at least 10 servants and at least a few guards.

They made their way to the presumed king’s chambers with no interruptions and Fabian opened the door, inside the chambers were empty… in fact, it seemed that the chambers hadn’t been used in a few months. Both agreed it was strange and that the king wouldn’t be sleeping elsewhere, unless he was sleeping with the court magician but even then, the stale air and layer of dust was an obvious sign that the house keeping staff were not doing their job which made no sense to either the watchman or Fabian.

Fabian contemplated the possibilities -‘we could check the magician’s room… or search the dungeon? maybe… try to cause a commotion and see if guards show up? no that sounds like a terrible idea’ he whispered to the watchman.

S.A.: The dungeon it is then, there’s gotta be somebody with an iron mask

N.N.: Magicians room. They must have some valuable bits and bobs, and knowing how the necklace saved his life last time… why not have a peak

S.A.: You know there’s gonna be some sort of sacrificial stuff in her room, probably some traps as well.

N.N.: But traps could also be present in the dungeon if the magician hides something there

S.A.: I mean where’s the staff? If not in a soup for some demon mumbo jumbo

N.N.: The magicians room could yield some information

Fabian and the watchman continued to sneak around the castle for the next short while in search of the magician’s room, and at last they found a room door to which had a few runes on it. ‘This must be it’ thought Fabian. As they opened the door, they were shocked by the simplicity of the room… there seemingly was nothing out of the ordinary in the room…. No artifacts, no magic circles… At first glance it looked normal, but then, upon a closer examination, Fabian noticed that the bookshelf was slightly moved and stretch marks were visible on the wall behind it. Pointing that out to the watchman and making him move the bookshelf, a hidden entrance was revealed to them. Spiraling staircase heading upwards.

They bravely followed it upwards and thus they found themselves in a dimly lit, stale air, dark, dusty room. Smell of rot hit their nostrils like a hammer, making them nearly throw up from the stench but they both somehow kept their composure. As their eyes adjusted to the dim light, they could see cages…and hear grunts within them… Upon a closer examination, in the cages corpses sat. Some were clawing at the floor and some were laying dormant, and in the central cage his royal majesty, king Mason Figurea, his arms reaching through the cage’s bars as his half rotten corpse growled like a vicious beast, eyes white as the moon. The sight of this made Fabian stagger but the watchman caught him, “what in the hell is this?”

Fabian shook his head, “necromancy…”

And from a dark corner to the left of them a light giggle could be heard, “indeed it is a little mugger! And with this you know my secret, and thus I can’t let you escape… You should have died to my little experiment of the revived vampire… but instead you went ahead and caused a city wide commotion, and all for naught.”

Mayce spoke from the shadow covered corner of the room, “return the necklace and i might allow you to live as my slave, until the day you die and become a corpse servant.”

S.A.: Sounds like a win/win

N.N.: Oh no…

The watchman drew his short sword, “the only 1 who’ll die here is you, you wench! In the name of the watchmen of the glorious kingdom of the veiled, I command you to…” but before he could finish, the cages were lifted and the corpses began stumbling towards them, “….RUN!” he shouted as he dropped his sword and sprinted down the stairs, Fabian following him without a moment’s hesitation.

T.T.: poor Fabian… back to running away again.

O.F.: I am curious if those are more dried out corpses or more of the juicy kind?

S.A.: I think they sound more of the juicy type, might be just Miss Vikis choice of words

O.F.: So they certainly make unpleasant slurp noises when walking? Good good, thanks for clearing that up :3

S.A.: Nothing is cleared up after them Miss Orlena

O.F.: And i won’t do it either!

N.N.: ewwww

N.N.: I would run as well

But the moment the duo found themselves back in the necromancer’s room, the vampire stood before them smirking, “and thus we meet again! You’ve nowhere to run.”

Fabian remembered the necklace, he took it out and pointed it at the vampire, “BACK BEAST!” the monster staggered back growling, “Help us rid of the necromancer and I will destroy this necklace and free you! beast.”

Fabian spoke without thinking about his words…. The vampire squinted at him, thinking for a moment, and in that moment…

S.A.: Your broom would be of no use anyway. You would just make it worse

Fabian found himself in grasp of 1 of the corpses as it’s rotten jaw connected with his shoulder and his nails ripped at Fabian’s flesh, Fabian screamed in pain but held onto the necklace, collapsing to the floor, the watchman had no time to react when 4 more corpses came through the opening behind them, 1 more falling on top of Fabian and the other 2 stumbling towards him. After them Mayce emerged with her arrogant smirk, “Lynn, obey me and kill them! what are you waiting for?” her arrogance annoyed him… and at the moment, Fabian held the necklace not Mayce. Lynn contemplated his choices for a moment and before she could say another word, he dashed at Mayce and a moment later sank his fangs into her pale, soft neck.

Not a moment later Mayce found herself losing consciousness as the neurotoxin from the vampire’s fangs kicked in, her artery pierced, she collapsed to the floor, and with her so did the living dead she animated. Fabian crawled from under them with the help of Lynn who smirked as his body slowly began to crumble away into ash, “you’ve freed me… not save this kingdom,” he said as he disintegrated.

And thus Fabian and the watchman found themselves heroes of the night, having battled a necromancer and her risen dead. They told the truth to everybody and a new leader was elected for their kingdom. Over the years things went back to normal… for most, but not Fabian. Fabian and the 4 watchmen were deemed heroes, and have become renowned monster hunters ever since, forming their own guild and being supplied by the kingdom for all their financial needs.