VagrantStory

7/24/2019 VagrantStory

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/vagrantstory 1/25

1



VagrantStory ..................................................................................................................................................................... 3

Prologue ........................................................................................................................................................................ 3

§1 Loosing the Hunting Dogs into an Unknown World ................................................................................................. 5

§2 The Sealed Memories of a Warrior .......................................................................................................................... 7

§3 Steel Fangs, Fragile Soul ........................................................................................................................................... 9

§4 Souls that Cannot Die-- Hell in the Waking World ................................................................................................ 11

§5 A Quickening Within the Dark's Ancient Capitol.................................................................................................... 13

§6 To a Realm Beyond the World of Human Knowledge ........................................................................................... 15

Epilogue: Shouldering the World-- A Vagrant’s Story Begins ..................................................................................... 17

PERSONAGENS ........................................................................................................................................................ 19

ASHLEY .................................................................................................................................................................... 19

SYDNEY .................................................................................................................................................................... 20

GUILDSTERN ............................................................................................................................................................ 21

CALLO MERLOSE ...................................................................................................................................................... 22

ROSECRANTZ ........................................................................................................................................................... 22

JOHN HARDIN .......................................................................................................................................................... 23

JOSHUA ................................................................................................................................................................... 23

DUKE BARDORBA .................................................................................................................................................... 24

Tia Riot .................................................................................................................................................................... 24

Marco Riot ............................................................................................................................................................... 24

Commander Duane ................................................................................................................................................. 24

Commander Grissom .............................................................................................................................................. 24

Commander Samantha ........................................................................................................................................... 25

Commander Neesa .................................................................................................................................................. 25

Commander Tieger ................................................................................................................................................. 25

2



VagrantStory

Prologue

Ashley Riot -- Just Another Swordsman

Riskbreaker. Charged with protecting country and

citizens, the VKP (Valendian Knights of the Peace) agents

skilled enough to earn that name are few. Together, they

form the Dangerous Criminal Task Force, apprehending orsometimes just secretly "dealing with" major felons.

Consequently, Riskbreakers must have two things; well

above normal fighting prowess and the ability to make

lightening quick judgment calls on when to use their given

right to murder. Of course, those skills are only for use in

cases of national interest.

In other words, a Riskbreaker is not his own man.

Were the Parliament, Valendia’s ruling body, and all

the organizations it commands assembled together into one

gargantuan living organism, the Riskbreakers would be thathuge monster’s fangs. An individual "fang" cannot act of its

own will. It must act as the "brain" dictates, biting into the

game at which it is aimed, ripping and chewing the flesh so

that all parts of the creature may gain nourishment. In that

great beast that is national authority the Riskbreakers are

the piece aimed at its enemies, the "fangs" disposing of them

with a few quick snaps.

Such a system leaves no room for individuality. A

Riskbreaker’s thoughts must center around his loyalty to

Parliament, all his actions on preserving Parliament’s

authority. He follows orders in blind faith, unknowing of all

the reasons behind them. It is not for a simple "fang" to

delineate between "right" and "wrong".

Yet no matter how willing a man is to kill off his "self",

being human, it is incredibly difficult for him purely to act as

a "fang". True "fangs" must squash their humanity into near

non-existence, yet they must also raise their will to survive

to its uppermost limits. If a man simply focuses on honing

the physical skills necessary, shoving the awareness of his

humanity off to the side, his spirit will dwindle and dwindle

until it dies altogether. Then, no matter how incredible his

fighting abilities, when faced with true felons, each of whom

harbor a spark of chaos in their soul, that man will never

come back alive.

The capability to renounce both individuality and

humanity, yet retain spirit --- only those who can fulfill that

conflicting, contradictory requirement have what it takes to

survive the life of a Riskbreaker. That is what Parliament

expects. Given simpler words, they expect the impossible.

In all the years since the official founding of the

Dangerous Criminal Task Force, it has never escaped the

chronic problem of a low average survival rate. Only one

agent breaks that curve, successfully and safely completing

mission after mission---

Ashley Riot.

About all anyone really knows about him is that he

was once a member of the Kingsguard, voluntarily forsaking

that post and falling into the lightless world of the

Riskbreakers. To the VKP, he is the perfect "fang". Even the

most difficult missions--- the majority of which involve acting

as a "protector of the law", quietly silencing anti-

government factions--- he brings to a flawless close with an

iron will, coming back safely time and time again.

Since being assigned there, he has "handled" over

100 cases. While the vast majority of other Riskbreakers

have either lost their lives or lost their nerve at the incessant

slaughter, consequently being stricken from all records,

Ashley continues to complete missions with unshakable

indifference, raising neither complaint nor question.

An impossible, incomparable warrior. A perfectly

loyal servant. The impartial law made into living flesh. AshleyRiot is truly the "unbreakable fang", the "unscratchable

blade". All humanity forfeited, all ties of companionship

severed it is easy to believe that he has ground even his heart

into a polished sword.

Ashley Riot, the most reliable of all the VKP’s

Riskbreakers is now the prime suspect in the murder of Duke

Bardorba. Two months have already passed since the search

for him commenced, yet not a single trace of his

whereabouts has been uncovered. Within the VKP, it is

widely believed, though unofficially so, that learning the

truth behind the whole mystery is impossible.

One week prior to the murder, a single event creates

a tie between Ashley Riot and Duke Bardorba. The

Mullenkamp Cult, under the orders of their young leader,

one Sydney Losstarot, assaulted and infiltrated the Duke’s

Manor, and it was Ashley who was ordered to remedy the

situation.

However, the number of suspicious points is far

larger. Firstly, why was Ashley, an elite member of the

Dangerous Criminal Task Force, given that assignment

instead of the Templars, a group specifically created to deal

with cults? Secondly, it has come to light that the

intervention by the Crimson Blades was ordered by the

Cardinal without the consent of Parliament. Thirdly, an

unknown beast was sighted within the manor proper during

the incident. It’s reported that blows were exchanged, but

those who could further testify to that fact either died during

the incident itself or shortly afterwards under mysterious

circumstances. Word or whereabouts of any other survivors

is as of yet unknown.

3



In addition, Ashley’s specific assignment was the

pursuit and capture of Sydney Losstarot, not the Duke. Once

he departed for the Manor he vanished completely, only to

resurface once, one week later, as the final visitor received

by the recuperating Duke at his Secondary Residence. He had

no communication with Headquarters at all, completely

unlike any of his previous missions. Hence, we have no

information as to what occurred during that one week

period.

Only one subject will be avoided, the place to which

Ashley pursued Sydney; Lea Monde, the ancient and dark

city 25 years destroyed by the Great Quake. What happened

to him there, and why the greatest Riskbreaker ever became

Valendia’s most wanted violent criminal--- we have no

means even to suppose an answer.

From a mundane swordsman to a vagrant who bears

the world on his shoulders. Let’s step behind the eyes of

Ashley Riot and discover what really happened…………

4



§1 Loosing the Hunting Dogs into an Unknown

World

Sydney Losstarot--- leader of the Müllenkamp Cult

and manipulative terrorist acting under the supervision of

political powerhouse Duke Bardorba. The moment Ashley

received the order to capture that enigmatic man, a curious

premonition began to form in his mind.

Ostensibly, Ashley was chosen for that mission

because the Cult was recently discovered to be more than

simply an extremist religious cult. Accused of being an anti-

government organization that had gone as far as to attempt

regicide, Müllenkamp was deemed dangerous enough to

warrant a Riskbreaker. Or so the official story says. In reality,

Ashley was deployed on the orders of a small group of

politicians plotting to take advantage of the recently-

snapped secret bond between Sydney and the Duke. Though

officially long since retired from politics because of poor

health, the Duke retained a firm hold on the hidden goings-

on of Parliament as well as his power as a manipulator of theDark. Ashley was chosen by those plotters to be certain of

completely severing the squabbling Duke and cult leader

from any power.

Ashley himself had no interest in passing judgement

on the political maneuvering. He had long ago left all

decisions on "right" and "just" in the hands of the VKP, not

once thinking on the whys or wherefores of his orders. Once

a mission begins, his soul is completely sealed off. His brain

is used only to assimilate exterior information and transmit

it to his body. A soulless doll acting purely in the best way to

successfully complete the mission--- that's Ashley's "style".

Thus, his spirit is always wrapped in silent darkness.

No matter the situation or circumstances, to Ashley it's as if

he's watching a story that's unfolding page by page. His

physical body stands on the stage, disconnected from his

will, following the script of the story to its predetermined

end. His soul sits, separate, in a quiet, dark spectator's booth,

watching his body dance across the stage. Everything

external is turned away. Nothing ever reaches as far as the

soul within.

The darkness wraps thickly around his soul,coccooning it in a false sense of peace, armoring it from

Reality. But on the night he broke into the occupied

Bardorba Mansion, from the second he and Sydney met, that

armor began to crack. No, perhaps it is better said that the

framework of Reality itself began to crack, things dismissed

as mere fantasy by common sense actually happening.

For example, Sydney is immortal.

Completely disregarding the demand for his

surrender, the young prophet grabbed for his sword, forcing

a reluctant Ashley to fire his crossbow. The arrow struck

dead on with enough power to punch a hole in armor plate,

let alone a bare, scrawny chest. It drove clear through

Sydney, cleanly piercing his heart. At least, that's what

Ashley thought.

Barely phased by the crossbow bolt sticking out of

him, Sydney stood, and as an incredulous Ashley watched,

pulled the bothersome thing out. He then proceded to call

forth something even more difficult to swallow than an

immortal, summoning a creature straight out of the world of

myth and legend-- a wyvern. The grotesque beast dropped

in from above on thick, leathery wings, it's long neck snaking

this way and that. The sheer size of the creature more than

dwarfed Ashley. However, fresh from feasting on the

Crimson Blades outside, the red painting its teeth and the

reek of blood on its breath wre anything but illusional.

The wyvern's flaming breath flickering about him,Ashley charged forward and rammed his sword into the

beast's breast. The sturdy sword cleaved through scale and

hard muscle, permanently halting the huge heart

underneath. The strange feeling of cutting stronger-than-

human flesh still echoing up his arm, Ashley had no time to

feel fear before the wyvern died.

Unfortunately, that small gap was still enough for

Sydney to get away. He gathered those of his followers still

alive and made a clean escape from the chaotic wreck of the

Manor.

Ashley then also withdrew. But having seen unkillable

prophets and killable wyverns-- his machine-like coolness

and soulless calm had been cracked to their very

foundations.

The situation had obviously escalated beyond the

scope of a single agent. The Riskbreaker part of Ashley

wanted to return to VKP Headquarters immediately and

report what little information had been gleaned, and then

wait for further orders. The occupation of the Duke's Manor

dealt with, the necessity of Sydney's capture became

questionable. Besides, would conventional methods ofsearch and capture even work on Sydney, with his strange

powers?

But the rest of Ashley was ensnared by the reality-

warping aura of magic that surrounds Sydney like a cloak. His

decision to pursue the Müllenkamp Cult to Lea Monde was

inevitable.

He went like a hound loosed on a fox. This scent he

would follow with pit-bull tenacity, until his teeth sink into

his prey's neck. And in this particular case, personal interest

has sharpened his sense of smell to blood-hound keenness.

5



Yet, just who, or what, it was he chased, Ashley had

no idea; a mystery that was pushing him, the VKP's greatest

Riskbreaker, to bring out his best. The goal of this hunt, then,

was not the capture or kill, but discovery. Ashley wanted to

know the true face of the man who had cracked the armor

around his soul, and even more disturbingly, actually

touched it.

The hunting ground is Müllenkamp's base of

operations, the ancient city where the legend of a priestess

still lives-- Lea Monde.

Ashley sets out as the morning sun rises, cutting away

the last shadows from the nightmare in the Duke's Manor.

What he doesn't notice is the halo of darkness still lurking

about him that those bright rays don't sweep away. That

darkness is a "present" left behind by Sydney. What lies

hidden in its depths, a simple hunting dog doesn't know. He

simply presses on.

What will Ashley find in Lea Monde? Perhaps this

"Dark" that's manipulated by immortals. Or perhaps he'll

find a shadow of himself...

Exactly according to premonition, the Wheels of Fate

have begun to turn.

6



§2 The Sealed Memories of a Warrior

Once, Lea Monde boasted the some of the best

wineries and finest wines in all of Valendia. Likely, they were

once stored, a rack for each type, in that hall. The cellar is

man-made and exceptionally large, the light from the

torches left behind by the Cult followers not enough to chase

the shadows from all the corners.

There, with darkness flickering in his peripheralvision, Ashley felt an involuntary shudder.

It was one not caused by Lea Monde, nor its denizens.

Indeed, the magical creatures that run rampant in the

blacker spaces of the ancient city, the walking corpses and

ghouls, the uncountable bodiless spirits and all the other

monsters; none of them inspired any terror in Ashley. Even

he himself was mystified at his lack of fear at things that

would panic a normal man.

No, what scared Ashley to the core was the truth

about himself, of which he was just starting to learn.

Was it truly simple darkness hovering about the

edges of his vision? Or was it truly not "darkness" at all but

something cloaked in "Darkness", following him just outside

of his awareness? Since entering the cursed capitol, Ashley

had begun facing off with the unfamiliar foes "doubt" and

"paranoia".

Then Sydney Losstarot began his "game," taking Callo

Merlose hostage and luring Ashley ever further into the

depths of Lea Monde. With every step closer to the city's

heart he took, the inner unease about himself grew. It felt asif another Ashley Riot, one different and unknown, was

coming forward from the ruins around him.

That thought struck fear into Ashley like nothing else

could. If that "other" wasn't illusionary, that would

make him, the Ashley Riot he had always thought himself to

be, the illusion. All he believed the world to be would turn

false.

------So just who is Ashley Riot?

Still plagued by doubts that were admittedly illogical,

a sudden, high pitched squeal stopped him. A shriek fit to

send shivers down a man's spine trembled through the air of

the huge room in which Ashley found himself-- a steel blade

being drawn across a stone floor. Soon the deep, hollow

thud of metal armor joined it, creating a chilling cacophony

that filled the air.

Ashley had already seen the fallen Crimson Blades

raised as zombies by the Dark. As this new monstrosity

began to lurch out of hiding and he felt the extent of its

hatred for all living things, he strangely felt his cool

composure returning.

There was going to be a fight. That, he could immerse

himself into. His self as a Riskbreaker and Agent of the

Valendian Parliament could come to the fore, would become

more real. It didn't matter if his opponent be man or

monster, Ashley could shove all unnecessary thoughts and

worries to the back of his mind and bury himself in the fight.

For at least a little while, he could be simply a weapon,

nothing more. As the death-match with the whatever-it-was

across the hall ticked closer, an odd sense of peacedescended on him.

It wasn't long before the "whatever-it-was" stood

revealed. Another squelching, half-rotted zombie it was not.

Flickering torch-light glimmered off a suit of armor. Once, it

must have been custom-designed for a knight of huge

stature, each metal plate painstakingly pounded out and

embossed, then assembled into a stunning whole. Well,

whole except for a helmet.

But a helmet wasn't needed. The creature had no

head on which to put it. Nor did the shoulder plates rest onliving shoulders. In fact, there was no flesh at all within the

thing. Peer through its joints and all you would find is an

unmistakably empty cavity.

The Dark that permeates every inch of Lea Monde

had seeped into old armors long ago drenched in the blood

of foes, possessing them, giving the dead metal a semblance

of life. So was born the monster "Dullaham." The living

muscle that once moved its limbs is long since rotted away.

No bones support its frame. Instead, the Dark attached

marionette's strings to the armor itself, manipulating its

impromptu puppet like a master.

The "living" armor slowly turned to face Ashley.

Gathering power in the tip of the huge blade in its hand,

Dullaham struck the floor, leaving behind a deep gash in the

stone. Almost as if it'd been waiting for Ashley, a deep red

light began shining from within the cursed metal, more

power pouring into it from the Dark.

What it did next, no one would have thought possible.

Moving several times faster than any living creature of the

same size, it closed to within two steps of Ashley. A bare

fraction of a second later, its sword, easily longer than a manis tall, swung down like a lightening bolt.

Ashley did manage to block the strike and his shield

did not crack, but the arm holding it felt on the verge of doing

so. Numbness shot down his arm, every muscle fiber

quivering with the stress of the blow.

Yet such a massive, sweeping attack left Dullaham

wide open, an opportunity Ashley promptly pounced upon.

While the greatsword still swung with the momentum of the

slash, Ashley stepped into the space created, quickly closing

the last two steps. Aiming for the joint in the armor's rightarm, he struck. Steel met steel in a clash that sent sparks

glittering into the dim light.

7



Surprisingly, Ashley's attack didn't stop there.

Throwing all his strength into it, he hit the same place again.

Dullaham staggered, unable to bring its sword back into

position to counterattack. Five, six, seven times Ashley's

sword connected with cursed steel, the metal visibly

deteriorating each time, becoming much weaker.

Cushioned in the white haze of no thought brought

on by the fight, a new worry suddenly bubbled into Ashley's

peace. When did he learn how to chain attacks together like

that, not allowing even the slightest chance of

counterattack? He'd never done any such thing before

setting foot in Lea Monde. But now it was like he'd practiced

the technique for years upon years, until the pattern had

soaked all the way into his bones.

The armor having taken more damage than it could

handle, the Dark abandoned Dullaham and the empty metal

started to crumble. Another cold shiver of fear sliding down

his spine, Ashley stepped back and asked himself;

"What am I?"

8







§4 Souls that Cannot Die-- Hell in the Waking

World

The Crimson Blades' young priest, Grissom, was

beyond a doubt dead.

Surrounding Lea Monde like the sea surrounds the

island upon which the city sits lies the Snowfly

Forest. Droves of the white insects that give the forest its

name flutter wildly all through out it, a living blizzard. In the

deepest glades Grissom made his stand, intending to show

Sydney just how far his skills with the Dark extended. He

attempted to summon a defender powerful enough to drive

off both the black-clad priest and Ashley, who suddenly

stumbled upon the scene.

But, as Sydney had warned, Grissom overstepped

himself. He called more power than he could handle, being

devoured by the very strength he'd hoped would save

him. By summoning a being far exceeding what he had

imagined, the extra strain on his mind and body likely caused

sudden cardiac arrest. Obviously, the sorcerers the Cardinal

thought to train in secret still had a long road ahead of them

before they could reach Sydney's level of mastery.

Yet Grissom had barely fallen before he stood once

again, for all appearances completely revived. High on the

new life and power the Dark had infused in him, Grissom

triumphantly raised his voice and called forth a living armor

greater than Dullaham, this time intent on killing the two

interlopers. Perhaps it was the influx of power from the

portal to the Other Grissom's first summoning had half-

opened that triggered his surprising revival. Or maybe, in thesecond that he died, the Dark already in his system gained

an opportunity to infect his entire body, morphing into a

different sort of fell strength.

Quickly appraising the situation, Ashley chose to fight

with Sydney, an opponent he was only supposed to capture,

in order to destroy Grissom and his summoned defender,

who were both actively attempting to kill him. Slamming his

sword through Grissom's heart, he felt it still for a second

time. Once again dead, the priest did not rise a third time.

For those humans stained by the touch of the Dark,death means one of two things. One is simple

inconvenience, as in Sydney's case. Even with a crossbow

bolt running straight through his heart, he was capable of

swift and total recovery. In other words, Sydney posessed

"complete immortality". However, not just anyone could

attain it. Ashley was certain there was some other secret to

it. A secret for which Grissom and all the rest of the

Cardinal's forces were searching. They would have no easy

time finding it, he was sure. Was that missing piece simple

to attain, the Crimson Blades would not have been able to

hunt the Cultists into near annihilation. Likely, Sydney's

complete immortality was something only one man could

posess at a time.

All the other souls bearing the Dark's stain were

assured the other death-- "incomplete death". When a soul

merges with flesh, the resultant state is called "life". Upon

"death", the soul is freed from the flesh, returning to the

Other. Likewise, the moment a new flesh is conceived in the

womb of a mother, a soul comes out of the Other to merge

with it. That is the proper cycle for all things of limited life-

span.

Souls touched by the Dark have been yanked out of

that cycle. Even after the body has perished, the soul is not

allowed the peace of the Other. Bearing the taint marking it

as part of the Dark, it is condemned to walk the world of the

living for eternity. Bodilessness alone brings on

indescribable agony for the damned soul-- a soul which

cannot die. That is "incomplete death". Those bearing that

cursed fate slowly go mad, their sense of "self" fraying to

shreds. Desperately, they seek any suitable body to posess,

so that they can escape their torment even for a short

time. A "suitable body" is one which lacks a soul; a corpse.

All the zombies and skeletons Ashley had seen

rambling about ever since setting foot within Lea Monde

were undoubtedly manifestations of that theory. Long since

having forgotten who they were when they had lived, driven

relentlessly by a jealous hatred of the living, they attack

anyone unfortunate enough to cross their path.

Once the body they posessed decomposes, or is

otherwise rendered unusable, the souls are once again

forced out bare into the pain of the Waking

World. Immediately, they begin to search for another flesh

cage to lock themselves in, fighting others of their kind

viciously for the chance. And so on, forever.

That, Ashley thought, was a pretty good picture of

what he'd expect Hell to be like. Grissom failed to achieve

complete immortality. That left only the path of incomplete

death for him to follow.

Given what Ashley had witnessed thus far, the deeper

the Dark's stain upon a creature, the faster its body turns to

dust upon death. In many cases, mere seconds passed

between the striking of the fatal blow and the complete

disintegration of the body. Killed by his own summoning,Grissom should have crumbled to ash within a few moments,

his soul stripped of self and left to prowl the confines of Lea

Monde's bespelled walls.

Emphasis on should have.

But he once again found his way into Ashley's path in

the broken and sunken alleys of Undercity East, far from the

wild green and dancing white of Snowfly Forest. His body

was stone cold and his blood sluggish, but Grissom was still

unmistakably himself. By some tragic fall of Fate's dice, he'd

re-posessed his own body. He was completely unaware ofhis own death. Wondering at his body's strange

unresponsiveness, he did not even think to name it what it

was; rigor mortis.

11



Then Neesa and Tieger arrived, a pair of the few

surviving Crimson Blades. It wasn't until they-- his sworn

companions and fellow commanders-- told him, that

Grissom realized the truth. As if that revelation was the

trigger, madness erupted within his mind. Voices from

nowhere whispered to him that his "friends" were only after

the hard-won flesh he'd so recently possessed. They were

just another group of condemned souls, the incomplete

dead, and thus just more ways to split the few availablecorpses. Grissom's self began to unravel, the coldly polite

priest disappearing under the ravening jealousy of the living

felt by all the undying souls of Lea Monde.

Voicing a strange noise, the thing that once was

Grissom moved far faster and smarter than expected of a

zombie, quickly retreating into the labyrinthine ruins of

Undercity East. First, he needed to gather up some more of

the Dark's power… …then he could come back and drag his

"friends" down into his new world---

If existence meant only constant pain and anunending search for corpses to posess, that was certainly

Hell. But to discover suddenly that you were already long

dead, and only sheer chance had thrown your soul back into

your own body-- that had to be Hell's deeper levels. Ashley

decided then and there that he wanted nothing to do with

immortality, neither Grissom's or Sydney's variety. He sent

up a quick prayer to the god he'd chosen temporarily to

believe in once again, praying that death would bring him

nothing but an end to everything. When somebody died, it

was best and proper for all of that person to die, both body

and soul.

Ashley paused for a moment. Was he really all that

different from Grissom? The past he had thought was his

was slowly being torn away, new memories and skills

floating out of the darkness of his mind. Was the "Ashley

Riot" he had believed himself to be for so long, was that man

already dead? Did some unknown pain-mad soul sit in the

back of his head, manipulating his corpse to kill the living

Crimson Blades? Was he truthfully just another of Lea

Monde's innumerable zombies?

Be that as it may, it was still too early for him to give

in to eternal sleep. So Ashley told himself, pulling together

the frazzled edges of his self. He hadn't the right to flee into

agony-provoked insanity. He had a mission to complete.

It didn't matter how brutal the Truth hidden in the

Dark heart of Lea Monde, Ashley would face it. As one

whose soul bore the taint of the Dark, he would hunt that

answer until his body faded to black dust on the wind. He

would follow it like a hound on the scent, until he recovered

his true self.

12



§5 A Quickening Within the Dark's Ancient

Capitol

Jan Rozencrantz. A former Riskbreaker, yet a man still

true to himself and his pragmatic machiavellianism. Human

to the core, he used everyone and trusted no one in the

pursuit of his desires. Of all the people wandering around

Lea Monde, groping after the Dark's promise of power,

Rozencrantz's motivation for wanting it was perhaps the

purest of them all; simple greed.

So Ashley mused muzzily as he watched the other

Riskbreaker's chest part company with his waist, the two

chunks flowering into a black ash that invisible winds

scattered throughout the Chamber of Reason.

But even Rozencrantz, fox-clever and grounded in

practicality as he was, believed -- impractically, foolishly--

that the Dark couldn't touch him at all. It was a Dark-

enchanted stone blade brought an end to that empty

fantasy, ushering Rozencrantz's Dark-stained soul down the

path to incomplete death, but it was that convenient,

believable lie that first doomed him.

So, given that, could it really be ruled out that

Rozencrantz was a brain-washed tool of the VKP?

Rozencrantz was a former Riskbreaker. Considering

all the top secret and highly sensitive information one

needed to know for missions, would the VKP really let him

simply retire? Even the idea that he got kicked out and was

then left to roam loose was hard to swallow. It was very,

very likely that Rozencrantz had been brainwashed; twisted

so that every idea and action he thought to be purely his own

was instead precisely what the VKP wanted him to do. A

sacrificial pawn sent into the fray to catalyze certain events

to the Parliament's benefit, if you will.

Ashley's train of thought stuttered to a halt, then

backtracked. Wait, perhaps he was only wishing that's what

happened-- a convenient, believable lie that would bolster

other thoughts that might just be more convenient,

believable lies…

Making conscious effort, Ashley gathered wits

scattered by Rozencrantz's nasty blow to the back of his

head and tried to stand. At the far end of his still-fuzzing

vision he could make out Sydney, near the doors leading out

of Kiltia's Temple, and off to the side tottered the newly

awakened stone goddess.

"I give you the City, Riskbreaker!" Sydney intoned,

aiming one slender hagane claw of one empty, eldritch metal

hand right at Ashley, "All it's power-- all to you! Make

haste! Join me! Already your powers are close to

readiness! Come!"

"Keep your cursed city!" Ashley shouted right back,

pent up anger and frustration suddenly welling up and

spilling out.

Come to think of it, Ashley hadn't so much chased

Sydney to Lea Monde as Sydney had lured Ashley there, but

for what reason the Riskbreaker had no idea. The blonde

prophet left behind a mile wide trail, and he never ventured

too far ahead of his supposed pursuer. At one point Ashley

even overtook Sydney-- only to be shunted off into the role

of Sydney's protector against the Dark Crusader. Sydney had

summoned a long parade of monsters to bar Ashley's way,

and each was undoubtedly formidable. But not a single onewas so overly terrible that Ashley couldn't defeat it with a bit

of work. It was almost as if Sydney could guess how good

Ashley would be at which place, and then summon a beast

that would push that level ever so slightly.

Unfathomable behavior on the part of a quarry

Ashley in no way understood, until Rosencrantz blurted out

the whole thing. Perhaps thinking Ashley too muddled or

unconscious, he laid the whole plot in the open during his

verbal sparring match with Sydney.

So Sydney never had any plans to kill him. No. Maybeit is better said that Sydney was testing Ashley, tossing him

into Lea Monde's monster-infested mazes and watching to

see if the Riskbreaker made it out alive or not. Dying, of

course, meant that he wasn't up to Sydney's

requirements. However, survival meant power. With each

beast he killed his weapons mastery grew and the Dark's

roots sunk deeper into his soul. Theoretically, once he

reached the center of the maze, he would have become

Sydney's ideal… whatever. Put simply, Sydney

was training him, using repeated limit-pushing battles to

force Ashley's potential into a continuous, sharp

growth. That was the immortal's reasoning, his purpose

behind the otherwise odd actions he took.

And Sydney's ultimate motive: an Heir to the

Dark. He needed a successor to the Wellspring, and Ashley

was it. The Dark was the last thing Ashley ever wanted, and

he was sparing in the use of what he did have. Reason

enough, according to Sydney, to give the Riskbreaker power

equal to that of a god. Consequently, Ashley-- long since

stained black with the Dark's touch-- would receive the only

escape allowed from a gruesome incomplete death. As

Sydney's successor, he would inherit Complete Immortality.

Everything Rozencrantz, Guildenstern, the Cardinal

and the VKP were searching so desperately for, and Sydney

was handing it all to him on a silver platter.

Ashley didn't want it. Any of it. Was it really possible

for a born human to live and function in a human world once

he'd become something entirely different? Ashley thought

not.

13



When he'd lost the only things that let him enjoy a

happy life as nothing more than a man, he'd fallen into a hell

of desire for that which he could never again have, and there

was no way out. The Dark was no miracle. It couldn't sate

that desire by bringing back his family or the simple, quiet

happiness he'd known. It couldn't even tell him if he'd ever

really had a family and a happy life in the first place. It

certainly couldn't change his past as a licensed murderer in

the VKP. No, the Dark was a saltwater drought that wouldparch a throat further for every sip taken.

"Where's Merlose?!"

At least Merlose, he thought. If he could do nothing

else, he wanted to bring Callo Merlose safely out of this fairy

tale turned waking nightmare. He'd failed once before to

protect his family, and even if that memory was no more

than a warped lie it did nothing to change the guilt ridden

self-loathing that ate at his heart. This time hewould not fail.

Almost as if he'd heard the whole of that inner

monologue, Sydney smiled a mysterious little smile and

turned his back on the other man. Striding out of the

Chamber, he casually threw over his shoulder;

"You may be able to save them-- your wife and

child. Should you meet them, repent Ashley, repent!"

A multi-pronged barb driven straight into his deepest

pain, all the blood drained from Ashley's face in a rush. A

second later, his tired brain finally processed the meaning of

what Sydney had said.

-----he could save Tia and Marco?

He had to know what Sydney really meant by those

words. Shoving himself all the way to his feet, Ashley started

after the blonde's retreating figure. He'd gone no more than

three steps when something interposed itself between him

and his quarry.

Kali. The living statue. Carved into the likeness of an

ancient, foreign goddess of war, it had been in a convenient

place at a convenient time for Sydney. Using a small bit of

the power coveted by everyone excepting himself and

Ashley, he'd brought the stone demoness to life.

She'd been waiting patiently for the chance to strike,

body torquing in a strangely snakelike, hypnotic

fashion. Three beautiful faces looked out from atop two sets

of shoulders, the entirety of the Chamber of Reason well

within her field of vision. Four slim arms belied their weak

appearance, each holding aloft a huge, wickedly sharp

weapon. One arm swung in wide arcs the great sword that

had cut Rozencrantz in two. Another held a gargantuan,

forklike sasumata ready to rend. A mace so big that oneblow would likely smash every bone in his body, and an axe

that could probably slice his shield and his self in half in a

single swipe hung poised in the other two arms, ready to

strike the second an opportunity presented itself. Magic

wound through her twisting, dance-like step, drawing the

eye and sapping strength.

For all that she was just a stone likeness of the old

goddess, the power of one deified by present day believers

had been poured into her. She would not be easy to

destroy. Not easy, but not impossible either. Sydney would

not have given her life if he did not think Ashley capable of

taking it from her. His strength had grown to the point

where he could go toe to toe with a god and win--- just as

Sydney knew it would.

In pursuit of the immortal bearing the mark of the

apostate, the Riskbreaker clashed with the Goddess of

Slaughter. Dark slammed against Dark and the air itself

trembled, a shockwave rippling through the whole of the

Wellspring like the first contraction of labor, foretelling the

birth of a new Ashley Riot---------.

14



§6 To a Realm Beyond the World of Human

Knowledge

The lovely, pale skin of Commander Samantha slipped

from sight, the cold, dawnless black of Lea Monde

swallowing her whole. One red rose blossomed on her

breast, the inked lines of a tattoo, and another --still

blooming-- blood crimson rose colored her stomach. At it's

center glittered the blade of a short dagger, stabbed nearly

to the hilt in her gut. The man she loved and whom she had

believed loved her, the man she trusted completely and

never once doubted, had stuck it there. Already mostly

dead, Samantha fell from the dome of the Great Cathedral

in a graceful arc, like a flower petal sinking with the rain

towards the hard stone ground so far below.

Ashley saw her, in that single second she dropped

past the Atrium's window. He'd been about to climb the

stairs leading up from that chamber of secret

sacrifices. Black dust drifted from her body, the

disintegration process already begun. Likely, only the daggerthat killed her would hit the flagstones below.

Such was the fate of every Blade Guildenstern led into

the Dark maelstrom at the heart of Lea Monde.

Even after the Commander's corpse past his line of

vision, Ashley was still completely aware of her. When the

Dark first touched both their souls, an uncanny connection

between their senses opened. Whether it was simply that

they had a "like rhythm", or some other unexplained cause

that created the bridge spanning their minds, Ashley didn't

know. However it happened, it gave him the power to seethrough her eyes and hear with her ears. That link to

Samantha's mind, and the similar one leading to Callo

Merlose, provided handy insight into the movements of the

enemy's top ranks.

Her body dissolving and her soul starting to slip away,

one last thought ran through Samantha's mind and across

the bridge to Ashley's, where it rang clearly. It wasn't a

shriek of rage against the betrayal that made her a sacrifice

for another man's gain, nor was it a wail of regret over her

own death. It was fear--- fear of the bleak, blood-drenched

future her lover was chaining himself to in his desire for thepower of an ultimate dictator.

Save him! she cried to Ashley. Her enemy. Her lover's

enemy. Their only possible savior.

Ashley intended to do so.

He'd already accepted the duty of stopping

Guildenstern from Sydney, the blonde prophet's life

bleeding through his fingers from the gaping swath where

the Blood Sin's inked lines once twined. Shouldering both

pleas, Ashley stepped out into night air saturated with therain and the Dark, all of Lea Monde stretching out below him.

He walked into it calm. Any anger he may have felt at

Sydney and the way the other man had provoked

him, manipulated him, had evaporated long ago. All of the

eavesdropping on pasts, the prophesying, the warped truths,

even his charismatic façade as the Mullenkamp Cult's leader;

all of it was part of a meticulously tailored plan to save the

ones he loved. But that plan hadn't worked. So he placed

that burden on Ashley's shoulders, trusting the Riskbreaker

as his chosen successor.

It had been a conceited and entirely inconsiderate

thing for Sydney to do. Never mind that Ashley wanted

nothing to do with the Dark, the now-mortal Sydney had

taunted him with the "hunt", playing on the Riskbreaker's

fidelity to a mission and buried need to save his family in

order to grind him into the desired form. Despite that

callous disregard, Sydney's hidden hopes and desires were

something Ashley could understand.

Where "law" forms solid pillars that regulate and

stabilize mankind, "emotion" creates the crossbeams thatlink the pillars together into the latticework called

"society". It was "emotion" -- love for one's parents,

affection for one's children, passion for one's spouse, trust

of one's friends, even the strange "best enemy" respect for

one's eternal opponent-- that held the human world

together. So Ashley believed. In a world without those soft

"emotions" it would be impossible to value human

life. Solemn laws and strict punishments alone lead only to

cowering fear and stacks of corpses. Guildenstern was

looking to create just such a world, binding the admittedly

weakened pillars of law into one hard column and placing

himself at the very top.

Crouching on the rain-drenched Cathedral roof, the

man who would be a god completely ignored Ashley's

entrance. His back to the Riskbreaker, Ashley got a clear look

at the stolen Blood Sin tacked onto Guildenstern's bare

back. No, not "tacked". The black-inked swath of skin had

melded completely onto his back, now as much a part of him

as it had been of Sydney.

Amidst the oppressive, evil-tinged, power-drenched

air, Ashley yelled;

"Guildenstern!!"

The man who'd unhesitatingly consigned his lover's

soul to an eternity of half-living hell lazily spun around. The

eyes that looked upon Ashley with black glee were nothing

but cloudy whites.

"Come, Riskbreaker…"

Elation danced in those foggy orbs, latching onto

Ashley's eyes with a mad intensity.

"Your death will be my rebirth!"

15



With that announcement, the huge mass of Dark the

ritual sacrifice of Samantha had called to the top of the dome

suddenly began to condense into Guildenstern's right

hand. Power flowed into the small area at the pinnacle of

Lea Monde, almost as if it were soaking in from the entirety

of the broken city below. The air became so thick with the

heady force of its presence that goose bumps started

crawling up Ashley's arms.

Lightening brightness flared and Ashley instinctively

protected his sight from the eye burning glare with an

upraised arm. When his vision finally cleared, the being that

stood in front of him was not the Guildenstern who had been

there only seconds before. While there were similarities, the

Guildenstern he looked at now was, on some fundamental

level, wrong.

Purple bolts of pure energy slithered across skin dyed

midnight black. It was not a simple case of his skin changing

color. Muscle, blood, bone, organs-- every last cell in

Guildenstern's body was drenched in the Dark, it's colorstaining his skin from the inside out.

His right hand held a gargantuan sword; a melding of

three blades made into the shape of the Blood Sin. A few

moments before, it had been atop the Cathedral's roof as a

simple decoration in the shape of the Iocus priesthood's

symbol, the Holy Win. But Guildenstern had changed it,

vaporizing the mundane metal and then instantly

recondensing it with ample amounts of Dark mixed in. The

result-- a super-dense, super-tensile alloy called Damascus.

Flipping the giant weapon about like it was no morethan a willow switch, the man-turned-god laughed once, a

harsh burst of sound that rolled out with a palpable wave of

force.

"Come help me celebrate my ascension!"

Guildenstern lifted his rood-blade high and the sword

immediately doubled in size, white light gushing from the tip

then instantly freezing, an icicle of power. The next second

it had whipped around him completely and smashed into

Ashley's defenses with frightening strength.

The Riskbreaker's eyes registered one strike, but the

rest of him felt at least three. Had he been even the slightest

nanosecond slow with his counter, his fate likely would have

been similar to Rosencrantz's.

Faster than a surprise attack, strong enough to slice

six unprepared Ashleys in half, Guildenstern was simply

probing at his opponent's defenses. A thought and he was

behind the other man, the rood-blade flicking out and slicing

through both magical and physical shields like neither was

there. Left behind was a not-shallow gash across Ashley's

well-toned abdomen.

Ashley slapped a 'heal' on the wound before he could

lose too much blood. The cantrip summoning the power had

barely left his mouth when Guildenstern's words echoed

through not only his ears, but every nerve in his body.

"Well parried, Riskbreaker. You truly are the greatest

bloodhound --blood-drenched, hell hound-- that the VKP has

ever turned out. But you cannot destroy me. Lea Monde

is mine. I am a GOD!"

"……Oh I'll kill you, Guildenstern. You belong in this

world no longer."

As a Riskbreaker, Ashley had made it his mission to

eliminate Guildenstern. Not for Parliament or Valendia

would he destroy the power-mad creature of the Dark that

the Crimson Blade Commander had become, but for all the

people the world over, so that they could continue to live

peacefully, as people. Shouldering the hope of humanity,

Ashley brought to bear a power that transcended mortality.

In the skies above Lea Monde, two different "Darks"began to intertwine----.

16



Epilogue: Shouldering the World-- A Vagrant’s

Story Begins

Where do Dark-stained souls go when they die?

The mantle of Master of Lea Monde passed to a new

bearer, and in the process many new souls felt the touch of

the Dark. All --excepting one, of course-- were sent into the

arms of an incomplete death.

Before, the spell songs etched into every wall of the

City would trap them within its bounds, forever confined on

this side of Oblivion. Insane and vicious, those rotted souls’

very presence served to entice more of the Dark into the

Wellspring, their hatred and pain feeding it.

But Lea Monde burned. Already in ruins before the

blaze, the fire-gutted corpse could no longer be called even

a shell of its former self. Unfortunately, those wretched

souls once stuck within it were not allowed the freedom

brought by destruction, though their cage was now gone. So

where do they all go now?

And what will happen to the survivors? That handful

of people who survived the fires and earthquakes that

leveled the old City yet bear the Dark’s taint. What will

happen to them when they die?

Ashley knows.

A living bridge between the world of the Dark and the

world of Mankind; successor to pure power, Ashley

Riot knows. The logic of Life, the meaning of Death, and the

Fate of those forever trapped in between-------

It was late on a rainy evening, precisely one week

after the extremist religious cult “Mullenkamp” staged an

attack on the estate of Duke Bardorba. In the trading city of

The Graylands, at his secondary residence, a lone visitor

begged an audience with the recuperating Duke. It was

hardly an appropriate hour for any visitor, let alone one

requesting personal audience with Duke Aldous Byron

Bardorba on his sickbed. Were this visitor anyone other than

who he was, the Chamberlain would have told him politely,

but coldly, to call again at a more suitable time of day, and

have him shown out.

However, this visitor showed the credentials of a VKP

agent. This was not someone the Chamberlain had the

power to admit or dismiss, he had to ask the Duke himself.

Thus it was that the visitor --Ashley Riot-- gained

entrance to the Duke’s bedchambers.

Looking back, all the servants mentioned how the

entire evening had been somewhat odd, an air of vague

abnormality suffusing everything. Usually, the Duke was

long asleep by that hour. Yet that night he made no move to

dim his candles, sitting up the whole evening as if he were

waiting for someone he’d long expected to come.

Upon showing Agent Riot in, the Chamberlain did as

the Duke ordered, having every servant within and nearby

the Duke’s private apartments, including himself,

withdraw. Predictably, of what then happened between the

two men there was not a single witness.

Four and a half hours later, the Chamberlain returned

to the rooms to inquire after the situation. Suspicious at the

complete lack of sound from within, he entered without

waiting for permission. Ashley was nowhere to be seen. The

Duke’s body, hours dead, lay serenely upon his bed, looking

more at peace than he had in years.

The VKP’s reaction to the Duke’s demise was

swift. Their spies within the residence had barely finished

reporting the death before the Coroner’s Squad was

knocking on the door. Scant minutes later, the Duke’s

apartments were cordoned off and the autopsy begun. No

signs were found of either external injury nor poisons. Given

that he had been ill for an extensive period of time, the

logical conclusion was that he’d finally succumbed to it.

Answer enough, as far as the public would be

concerned. Yet there remained the matter of Ashley’s

presence at the time and, unbeknownst to most, his

mission. The Riskbreaker may have found it necessary to

assassinate the Duke and, to avoid later troublesome

investigations, made the murder look like a natural

death. Ashley’s position as the last man to see the Duke alive

was evidence enough of that possibility.

Were this incident truly an extension of his mission

concerning the Mullenkamp attack a week prior, then it hadbeen Ashley’s judgment that, for the peace and safety of

Valendia, its most revered National Hero needed to die. To

do so for such reasons was well within his rights as a

Riskbreaker, so of course he would face no charges. In fact,

the VKP would throw all its might into a coverup, even going

so far as to brainwash any possible witnesses.

Thus, the entire residence was shut down and sealed

off, the VKP fully expecting a report from Ashley inside the

hour, informing them of a situation along the lines of their

supposition.

Twelve hours later, there was no report. There was

no Ashley either, VKP Headquarters realizing it could no

longer locate its foremost agent. In that instant, the VKP’s

attitude towards the situation made a sudden about-

face. Ashley had gone AWOL. It had become more likely that

the Duke’s assassination was not for reasons of national

security, but for Ashley’s own personal reasons. Given that,

the now former -Riskbreaker’s license to kill was rendered

null and void. His actions were no longer considered the

erasure of a national threat, but the premeditated murder of

a high noble and renowned public figure. The VKP

immediately assembled and deployed a search-and-capture

team.

17



Twenty-four hours after the Duke’s demise an official,

public announcement labeled Ashley Riot the foremost

suspect in the most foul murder of the beloved Duke Aldous

Byron Bardorba.

Yet, counter to the expectations of the VKP’s top

brass, the dragnet they believed had been set up with

lightning speed failed to capture even the slightest trace of

Ashley‘s whereabouts. It was almost as if he’d vanished from

the Duke’s bedchambers in a puff of smoke.

The entire search yielded only one lead, and a tiny

one at that. A sentry mentioned that while on routine patrol

duty the night of the murder, he came across Inquisitor Callo

Merlose, Ashley’s assigned partner in the Mullenkamp

investigation, loitering on the outskirts of the Duke’s

residence near the time of the murder. Prior to that sighting,

Inquisitor Merlose’s last report had come a week earlier,

mentioning the decision to pursue the cult to Lea Monde. It

was possible that she had been an accomplice to Ashley's

crime.

Unfortunately even that small lead came to a rapid

dead end, for after that single sighting she too disappeared

just as thoroughly as Ashley had……

A steady, cold rain pelted the cobblestones. Ashley

stood at the mouth of a dim alleyway, quietly watching the

Duke’s bedchamber window. He stood patiently,

waiting. Sydney Losstarot had borrowed his face and his

name for one last visit to the Duke, and he would be

returning shortly.

And return he did; in soul, anyway. His body had

turned to black ash a little while before. With him came the

Duke, their deaths intertwined, as decreed by their unique

compact with the Dark.

Lea Monde was gone. Its rune-carved walls

destroyed, they could no longer bind the Dark-cursed

dead. Instead, as one they flowed into a new vessel--- Ashley

himself. Accepting an uncountable number of souls, an

uncountable number of lost dreams, Ashley provided a

peaceful haven for every last, condemned one.

He’d come to terms with being Master of the Dark

and his duty, as he saw it, was not to rule, but to

stabilize. Unlimited power had been granted him not to use

as he pleased, but to enable him to smooth out the wrinkles

where the world of the Dark collided with Reality.

As Master of the Dark, Ashley knows. The path the

survivors of Lea Monde will take is as plain as day to

him. Callo, Tieger, Neesa, even young Joshua; any road they

choose will inevitably lead to him. If not in life, then of a

certainty in death. Their flight to paradise could go no other

way.

Under the black leather trench coat, his destiny inked

fine lines across his back. Shouldering the burdens implicit

in that contract, Ashley turned away from the now-bustling

residence and began to walk. The rain-drenched alley ran

ahead of him, the beginning of an endless path into a place

of eternal twilight, a place unfathomable to the mortal mind;

the seam where Reality and Magic melt together.

And so begins the story of the wanderer---- the

vagrant.

18



PERSONAGENS

ASHLEY

Valendia Knights of the Peace (VKP)

Riskbreaker

Male

Late 20's

approx. 6'0"

The VKP's greatest Riskbreaker. Upon graduating

from the VKP Academy at the top of his class, he was

assigned to the Kingsguard. He walked a path so elite it could

have come straight out of a storybook tale of heros--- until

the death of his beloved wife and son at the hands ofcommon thugs. After that, his life made a complete about-

face. Consumed by grief over the loss of his loved ones and

rage at the perpetrators of the crime, Ashley resigned from

the Kingsguard, voluntarily joining the VKP's darkest and

most dangerous squad: The Dangerous Criminal Task Force,

more often called 'The Riskbreakers.' By that time he may

well have killed his soul, undertaking missions with the sure

calm of a machine. In short order, he was the VKP's most

reliable agent.

Then came the orders to deal with the Müllenkamp

occupation of Duke Bardorba's Manor. There, Fate crossed

his path with that of one Sydney Losstarot. The result of that

meeting set Ashley on the road to Lea Monde.

Ashley Riot was last seen one week later, at the

Duke's Secondary Residence. Immediately after his visit to

the mansion, the Duke himself was reported dead. The VKP

has named him the prime suspect in the Duke's murder, and

has undertaken investigation.

CHARACTER ANALYSIS

Combat Ability: Ashley is so skilled that it's effectivelya given that he will come through any mission alive. He is

well versed in all weapon-types, though his preference lies

with one-handed swords. When he infiltrated the Duke's

Manor, he chose to use a blade of that type.

Separation of Mind and Soul: In addition to incredible

combat ability, Ashley possesses an unshakable composure-

- a "perfect Riskbreaker". However, that perfection comes at

the cost of killing his soul and emotions. Looking from that

different angle, Ashley is an "imperfect human being".

Distance From Others: Ashley is a man of very few

words. Upon meeting his new partner Callo for the first time,

he completely ignored any personal overtures like

introductions. Instead he focused solely on the assignment.

Any other connections were superflous and hence

unnecessary-- obvious evidence of his closed-off heart.

The Necklace: Hanging from a chain about his neck is

the symbol of the Iocus Church: the Rood. Given to him by

his beloved wife while she yet lived, it is his most treasured

memento.

TOP SECRET

Ashley has always walked on the straight and narrow.

Even though he moved from the Kingsguard to the shadier

Riskbreakers, he maintained his belief in protecting

Valendia's citizens and preserving justice. Or so his few

memories lead him to believe.

Yet, within his physical memory are kill ing techniques

that his mind does not remember learning. As he fights his

way deeper and deeper into Lea Monde, these lethal abilities

reappear one by one. Perhaps Ashley himself wanted them

to be sealed away, because with the reemergence of each

one come fragments of a painful past.

MEMORIES OF HIS FAMILY

Ashley believes he once had a wife and son, both of

whom were killed by common thugs as he stood by

helplessly. That tragic event stoked the fires of hatred in his

heart, providing him the impetus for joining the VKP. But

those fires burn both ways-- at the thugs for killing his family

and at himself for failing to protect them despite his

incredible skill. The burns scar his heart wide and deep.

To escape the continual pain, Ashley threw himself

completely into his work, marching steadily through the

present, not once looking back on the "good old days". Whatfew memories remain to him support this view of his

"present self".

Yet...

Are the deaths of his wife and son truely the reason

he closed his eyes to his past?

Were they really killed by "thugs"?

Did he even have a wife and son?

Even Ashley himself is uncertain of these things.

19



SYDNEY

Müllenkamp Cult

Leader of the Müllenkamp Cult

male

unknown (late 20's?)

approx. 5'11"

Founder and leader of the Müllenkamp Cult. He is

devastatingly handsome, with his silk-fine golden blonde

hair and porcelain white skin, but somewhere within that

gender-neutral beauty lies a distinct aura of danger. His

charisma is so alluring that almost anyone who comes into

contact with him is instantly captivated. Even amongst the

larger part of his followers-- the self-styled "Keepers of the

Word"-- Sydney stands out like a butterfly among moths.

Likely, his incredible charm comes from his

possession of the mysterious power known as the "Dark".

From that also stems his ability to speak of a person's past

with uncanny accuracy; "listening" to their souls, even after

only just meeting them. Clever politician that he is, Sydney

then manipulates what he has "heard" as he wishes.

Ordinary folk can't help but think he makes miracles. Thus

his believers increase and his influence expands.

Perhaps the greatest of all his "miracles" is his own

immortality, not dying even though his heart was pierced

clean through.

Originally, the control of the Müllenkamp Cult laid

with Duke Bardorba. For unknown reasons, Sydney decided

to change that, assaulting the Manor of his former

benefactor. There, he first met Ashley Riot, the agent sent by

the VKP to quel the situation. Intrigued by what he "heard"

in Ashley's soul, not to mention the Riskbreaker's fearless

fighting techniques and sheer talent, Sydney deftly provoked

the other man into chasing him to Lea Monde.

CHARACTER ANALYSIS

Connection with the Duke: Between Sydney and Duke

Bardorba lies a connection other than the simple one of

benefactor-beneficiary. Sydney's allusions toward making

knowledge of the Dark public -- such as his summoning of a

wyvern in the Manor -- seem to be intended to force the

Duke into a particular decision.

Interest in Ashley: Sydney puts special effort into

provoking Ashley, putting stronger and stronger monsters

into his path. Each encounter increases the Riskbreaker's

skills and tempers his personality, forcing out more and

more memories and abilities. But what is Sydney's reason for

doing that? Only he knows.

Aloof Charisma: As the most powerful user of the

Dark within the Müllenkamp Cult, the true extent of what

Sydney can do is unknown. Even his best friend Hardin is

unsure of what Sydney is capable. With what power he does

display, Sydney gathers ever more followers, but at the same

time he ever more hides his true intentions, becoming alone

in the midst of a crowd.

The Greatest Weapon: Only on a very few occasions

does Sydney directly fight another. Why bother? He can

easily summon monsters to do the fighting for him. He can

even impose his will on other humans... The Crimson Blades

have found more than a few of their own dead "at their own

hands"-- hands that were influenced by Sydney.

TOP SECRET

Neither Sydney's arms nor his legs are living flesh, but

eldrich metal. During his infancy, he spent quite a bit of time

on the edge of life and death. Only at the price of all 4 of his

limbs was his life narrowly saved. Now, Sydney describes

that event as "giving his limbs to the gods."

Rumor has it that that event could have a connection with

Sydney's immortality. It was shortly after that time in his life

when the Blood Sin was first noticed on his back.

20



GUILDSTERN

Order of the Crimson Blades

Leader of the Crimson Blades

male

32 years old

approx. 6'0"

Leader of the Crimson Blades, he graduated from the

Academy at the top of his class with a sterling record. It was

not long after that the Cardinal himself heard of his talents

and loyalty, so Guildenstern found himself assigned a

generous position. While refined and elegant in manners,

from his speech and habits one can paint a picture of a man

to whom the ends justify the means.

When the Müllenkamp Cult occupied the Duke's

Manor, Guildenstern and the Blades moved on the Cardinal's

orders, attacking the mansion without notifying the VKP.

There, he employed heavy-handed tactics, setting buildings

aflame indiscriminantly and ruthlessly supressing any

retaliation. Discovering Sydney already fled, he immediately

began persuing the Cult to Lea Monde. The true aim of the

persuit, however, was not to capture a felon or exterminate

a heretic. In other words, this wasn't the Crimson Blades'

typical "witch hunt". Instead, Guildenstern seems to be after

Sydney's "power".

Once in Lea Monde, Guildenstern undertakes a more

thorogh search for Sydney, as well as setting his

subordinates in the path of the new thorn-in-his-side:

Ashley.

CHARACTER ANALYSIS

Dying for a Dream: Guildenstern does have a lover

within the Blades; Samantha. He is fond of her, but not in

love with her. There are parts of his heart which she does not

know. It seems that the Cardinal's Prodigy instead loves only

his "One Dream".

Priest and Mage: Though he is a member of the Holy

Orders, Guildenstern has no qualm about using the

"heretical powers" of the Dark. In fact, his mastery of them

is such that he may even match Sydney.

Battle Prowess: There are only a few times when

Guildenstern directly confronts another, so analysing his

ability is difficult. Yet, taking a look at his attitude during

encounters with Sydney and Rozencrantz, it's clear that he

has confidence in his swordsmanship.

Rozencrantz & Guildenstern: Guildenstern has

devoted his life to the single path leading to his Dream.

Rozencrantz, on the other hand, comes and goes like a fickle

breeze, speaking with a silver tongue and eaisly changing his

stance to fit the situation. Those shifty traits Guildenstern

finds most abominable.

TOP SECRET

In Lea Monde, Guildenstern witnessed dozens of

mysteries, yet he didn't bat an eye. His only focus was

improving his command of the Dark. To the normal Crimson

Blade, Lea Monde gave them their first taste of magic. That

they also could learn to use it's power shocked them terribly.

However, Guildenstern's previous exposure had long

accustomed him to the Dark and its usage.

Rumor also has it that he is "The Cardinal's Chosen."

21



CALLO MERLOSE

Valendia Knights of the Peace

(VKP)

Inquisitor

female

23 years old

approx. 5'7"

Though still young, Callo Merlose is a top notch

Inquisitor. Both beauty and brains, Callo is darkly exotic and

highly intelligent. She received a degree in Psycholology

from the Academy, specializing in the study of the criminal

and the religious psyche. After graduation, she moved into

the VKP proper, earning a position in the Information

Analysis Unit. She has not been there long but she is keenlyobservant and coolly logical, putting her head and shoulders

above her more experienced colleagues.

Assigned to support Ashley during the occupation of

the Duke's Manor, her job was to help him get into the

Manor. After Sydney's escape and Ashley's subsequent

persuit, she had little choice but to follow her assigned

partner to Lea Monde. Shortly after arriving there, she was

captured by Sydney. However, that situation ended up

playing into her hands, as forced proximity to both Sydney

and the tailing Blades allowed her to study them carefully.

Yet her official report was titled only "Observations in

the Wine Cellar."

CHARACTER ANALYSIS

Natural Inquisitor: Information analysis is not so

much a job to Callo as it is a natural habit. Though thrust

suddenly into the dangerous role of a hostage, she was still

able to calmly observe everything going on around her.

Perhaps that is the root of the ability to read the "inner

hearts" of others which she developed in Lea Monde.

ROSECRANTZ

Valendia Knights of the Peace(?)

(VKP)

Riskbreaker (?)

male

Late 20's

An enigmatic man, he shadows Ashley's movements

for reasons unknown to all but himself. He claimed to be a

replacement for Callo: a more experienced Riskbreaker sent

by the VKP to supplant an inexperienced Inquisitor. A

transparent excuse, considering any Riskbreaker knows they

always work alone and mid-mission changes in plan never

occur.

Despite that lack of fore-knowledge, Rozencrantz

knows a surprising amount of information about the

Müllenkamp Cult's inner workings, Sydney's powers, and the

true form of the Dark. Indeed, he knows way too much to be

a simple agent of the VKP. It appears that he double-crossing

several organizations at the same time.

Though the evidence is scant, there are hints of a

connection between him and Duke Bardorba.

With a slow drawl and a quick wit, Rozencrantz

skillfully deflects all attempts to divine his true motivations

or intentions.

He is also purported to have the ability to render the

Dark useless.

CHARACTER ANALYSIS

A Peculiar Philosopher? Despite piles of casual and

not so casual insults hurled at him by the Crimson Blades,

Rozencrantz doesn't care. His aim is simple-- to get ahead in

the world. He will do whatever necessary to achieve that

goal. To him, the ends always justify the means. A philosophy

certainly not shared by the Blades.

22



JOHN HARDIN

Müllenkamp Cult

Second in Command

male

29 years old

Sydney's right-hand man, and a key commander of

the Müllenkamp Cult. They led the assault on the Duke's

Manor together, but Harden held the responsibility for

caring, or not caring, for the hostages.

Unlike the multitudes of Sydney's other followers,

Hardin did not enter the cult under the spell of the prophet's

sermons or bewitched by his charisma. Instead, incredibly

distrustful of a world where injustice was commonplace, the

former police officer was attracted to the anti-establishment

elements of the Cult.

Both Hardin and Sydney consider each other their

truest friend. Sydney confides his secrets in Hardin, and in

return Hardin trusts Sydney completely. If doubt or

confusion ever arises between the two, it is never long-lived.

While Hardin may look intimidating, what with his

ever-fierce expression and five-o'clock shadow, inside lies a

warm and personable fellow.

CHARACTER ANALYSIS

Hardin's Kindness to Joshua: Though the Duke's sonJoshua is technically a hostage, Hardin shows him an

inordinate amount of affection. While that kindness is truly

from the heart, ulterior motives prompt it along. Long ago,

Hardin lost his younger brother and now he seeks to attone,

putting Joshua in the dead boy's place.

JOSHUA

Duke Bardorba's Family

Son

4 years old

Duke Bardorba's son, conceived in his twilight years.

Still an innocent, angelic little boy, he is the Duke's

irreplaceable child, his "light." During the occupation of the

Manor by Müllenkamp, Joshua was taken hostage along with

the mansion's servants and the rest of his family. However,

he alone was allowed to live, taken with Sydney to Lea

Monde. Sydney is no fool. He was well aware of how the

Duke values Joshua. Perhaps this is just another step in

Sydney's plan to force the Duke into a certain course of

action.

The shock of the attack on the Manor and the

following kidnapping pushed little Joshua into silence,

uttering not a single word since he was first captured.

Strangely, he is very attached to Hardin, the very person who

started his traumatic experiences. Not to say Joshua isn't

aware of who kidnapped him. He simply accepts Hardin's

genuine kindness with the guileless sincerity of a child.

CHARACTER ANALYSIS

Scars on the Heart: Joshua is the one person whoholds all of the Duke's love. He knows nothing of his father's

plots, the Dark, Lea Monde or the whole mess surrounding

all of them.

Every so often, an illusionary boy looking exactly like

Joshua appears before Ashley or Callo. The boy is

undoubtedly a reflection of someone's soul, but just who is

unknown.

23



DUKE BARDORBA

Duke Bardorba's Family

The Duke Himself

64 years old

approx. 5'9"

Former Member of the Valendian Parliament

The Duke's full name is Aldous Byron Bardorba. He

participated actively in the Valendian Civil War 36 years ago,

earning recognition as one of the heroes who brought that

conflict to a close. Thanks to the merits of his valor his

political say always held especial weight, dominating the

Valendian Parliament for a very long time. Though he retired

his position several years prior for reasons more than just his

health, the Duke's influence in Parliament has hardly

diminished.

In addition to his official Parlimentary duties, the

Duke was also charged with "monitoring" the Dark, making

certain some incidents never reach public attention.

Common rumor names him the benefactor of the

Müllenkamp Cult.

Despite his increasing age, the Duke's mind hasn't

fogged in the slightest and though ill he retains all of his

dignity. If he does have a weak-point, it is certainly his young

son Joshua.

When Müllenkamp occupied his manor, he safely

retreated to his Secondary Residence. Yet, one week later,

he was found dead in his appartments, supposedly at the

hand of the visiting Ashley.

CHARACTER ANALYSIS

The Heart of a Manipulator of the Dark: Though it was

his own manor that was occupied, the Duke escaped even

the slightest difficulty. Safe in his Secondary Residence, he

watched the events occur. He then went as far as to order

the sacrifice of his family and staff.

He does turn the same cynicism on himself, saying it

is his fate to "rot alive." That casts some question about the

heart-coldness of this "manipulator" of the Dark.

Tia Riot

The wife within Ashley's memories. A beautiful and

refined woman, he married her while still assigned to the

Kingsguard. While all three of them were picnicking one day,

she was murdered by fallen knights.

Marco Riot

Ashley's only son by Tia. Like her, he took a killer's

blade in the heart during the brightness of mid-day. Young

as he was, he died that day. His relationship with Ashley, his

"Papa", was incredibly close.

Commander Duane

While a cleric and technically a proponent of pacifism,

Duane joined the infiltration of Lea Monde brimming with

plans to eradicate the heresies that abound there. Since his

training focused on the priestly, he lacks skill with physicalweaponry. However, a considerable array of strong offensive

magicks makes up for that short-fall.

Gifted with a talent for leading others, Duane was

given charge of a small platoon. To his subordinates, he is

haughty and merciless.

Commander Grissom

Duane's younger brother, and similarly a cleric and

participant in the take-over of Lea Monde. A comely youth,

he has none of his elder brother's harsh tone or vicious

manner, remaining coolly polite even to his enemies. Yet

hidden behind the elegant niceties lies a needle sharp mind

and an ice cold heart.

Of all the Crimson Blades involved, Grissom perhaps

has the greatest faith of them all -- in God and himself. He

has decided that it is his personal mission to "purify" the

Dark.

As for overall power, Grissom outstrips his elder

brother by a considerable margin.

24



Commander Samantha

Another Crimson Blade participant in the infiltration

of Lea Monde, Commander Samantha looks like she should

be hunting for wedding dresses, not demons. She earned the

rank of "Commander", but upon walking through the Dark-

drenched streets of Lea Monde, uncertain of what new

monster waits around the corner-- a core of fear and

confusion began to grow within her. In the end, Samantha is

at heart a normal girl.

Between her and Guildenstern is more than a simple

superior-subordinate relationship. But while he never seems

to lose his cool even in respect to her, Samantha loves him

fiercely and with a single-minded devotion.

Commander Neesa

A cordial woman and a commander oft depended on

by Guildenstern. Though she is a woman, she has more than

enough skill to match blades with a man and come out on

top. Her chosen weapon is the Heavy Mace, and she swings

the huge, cumbersome thing like a light stick. She holds no

doubts about her work, and she never questions orders.

In contrast to the other female commander,

Samantha, Neesa is frank, blunt and not very feminine. She

gets along very well with fellow commander Tieger.

Commander Tieger

Yet another commander in the Crimson Blades. A

heavy-set, muscular man, Tieger uses his inborn strength to

swing his Heavy Axe around like a feather, crushing enemieswith a single powerful strike. You wouldn't guess it from

looking at him, but he is an intelligent and quick-witted man,

being very fast on the up-take.

Tieger is incredibly proud of his position as a knight

and commander, never once straying from his personal,

strict moral code. He is very friendly with his fellow Blades,

regarding the bond of friendship as a very serious thing.

Documents

VagrantStory