Raymond_of_Clubs
the Yee to your Haw
The walls of Kalepeck Keep stood strong through many tough, hungry Winters, and many a warrior learned their trade from its old masters. Time after time, it welcomed children – nobody’s children, abandoned, forgotten, orphaned, - many of whom died for it to persevere. Those who survived, sturdy, and brave, and trained in the ways of sword and spell, devotedly protected the Keep through the gradually worsening, beast-filled, evil-swarming Winters, and set out to spend their skills on good deeds over Summers, many turning soldiers and mercenaries in service of those in need.
Two frightened, scrawny, shivering young boys, clinging to one another for dear life, entered its great halls on a chilly morning in early spring, their stomachs growling and bellowing like dying whales, the old rags they called “clothes” thrown over their slim figures like a fur cloak over a lamppost. They couldn’t tell where they came from, only bearing traces of ash on their skin as a hint, and didn’t look like brothers, but called each other so with determination, one refusing to eat if the other wasn’t served, one unable to sleep in peace if the other wasn’t present and safe.
Once rested and fed so that the old masters with their scrutinizing frowns couldn’t find any protruding ribs, they were entrusted with their first wooden swords, which they broke sparring against one another by the end of the season. Fiercely defensive in the presence of older boys and bullies, exploding with concern whenever one of them fell sick or got injured in training, they’ve spent their first Winter in the company of one another, and when a swarm of harpies broke through the window in one of the towers, they hid in a closet for three days, taking turns using each other’s tummies as pillows – the elders said they wouldn’t have survived if it wasn’t for the shared body heat.
Two years later they were allowed to train with dull steel, carefully and with supervision. The heavy, sturdy blades took way longer to break – up until one of the boys developed a certain talent for magic, that is. The old masters started teaching him spells, and his brother didn’t hold back the awe at the astonishingly fast progress. Lacking in any sort of magical abilities himself, he didn’t want to fall back, taking up archery and training with a shield, and soon began winning sparring matches more often. They never let their differences come between them though.
Several more Winters later, the old masters were getting too old to take care of the keep. The soldiers started coming too often, recruiting. The mages sent their invitations as well. The brothers, in the meantime, concerned themselves with no such intricacies and politics – they’ve just killed their first chimera all by themselves, and then snatched a bottle of tooth-rotting sweet liquor from the kitchen, sharing it over a triumphant feast and getting their asses kicked later for misbehaving.
As they grew older, promises were made. Everyone left the keep sooner or later, and they weren’t keen on spending the rest of their lives behind its walls either. Venturing further and further into the woods during their hunts, they couldn’t wait to set out on an actual adventure together, waiting only for the Spring to melt down the snow that was blocking the paths.
The promises were broken.
First came the mages, urging the old masters, talking long dutiful talks in the great hall, shooting glances at one of the brothers. The next morning, he was gone without a trace, without as much as an explanation, let alone a heartfelt goodbye. The roads were still blocked off, and the other man waited, and waited, and waited, and the old masters shook their heads at him, unable to get through his stubborn head to tell him his brother wasn’t going to return.
Then came the beasts. The warriors of the keep stood their ground for one too many attacks – many died, many left. Unable to bear the sight of his home without his brother in it, the other man left too, with the soldiers, to defend the people of this land in his own way.
They haven’t crossed paths for a long time.
Kalepeck Keep came to desolation. Year after year, nobody took care of the walls, horrible creatures inhabited the basements, harpies and griffins made themselves a nest in the proudly standing towers, deadly spores grew on the walls in the kitchen. Times were hard, and the warriors’ numbers grew thin. The soldiers struggled to keep the beasts on the other side of the border between the wild wastelands and the kingdom. The mages busied themselves with closing the growing ruptures in the fabric of space, which spawned more and more ferocious otherworldly beasts as the time passed.
This year, Winter came way too early. It was advancing slowly into the end of Fall before, but not as drastically, and the snow wouldn’t block the roads until way into the latest harvests. This year, the beasts changed into white furs and ravaged the villages closer to the border before the leaves fell.
A man in his prime, sword on his belt and a book of spells in a pouch on his side, approached the old keep from the north, his heart aching at the sight of his childhood home, now looking more like a ramshackle cottage than the fortress it used to be. Villagers formed a small crowd around him – several families, elders, children – trying to stay behind his back for safety and protection. Their homes, destroyed by a horrible blizzard, were left in ruins and in a hurry, as, under the mage’s shields, they gathered their most precious belongings and left to seek shelter in the cold walls of the ancient fortress.
Another man came from the south, clad in armor, wielding a sword and a shield, leading an unlikely ensemble of passing travelers, still shaken after the attack of a terrible beast. With their carts broken and most of their horses having run away in terror, reaching their destinations was out of the question – not through the snow that had covered the roads. Instead, the soldier led them to the place he most associated with the feeling of safety, though the poor state of it brought some worry and a long uneasy sigh.
The mage and the soldier stared at each other, each unsure if the other would even recognize his face, before opening their arms wide and sharing a tight embrace, pounding on each other’s backs and laughing into each other’s necks. The Winter will be harsh on them all this year, with no way out and no other warriors to help them protect the keep. The people they’ve chosen to protect will need food and warmth, and neither will be easy to get – but they’ve done it before, back-to-back, and this year they’ll manage, too. And this time, be it beasts, or blizzards, or gods know what else, nothing will keep them apart.
Hello, everyone! My name is Ray, they/them. Thank you for reading through my plot idea. Here's a quick summary:
Two boys, bound by loneliness and misfortune, declare each other "brothers" and grow up training together at an old fortress. As a group of mages unexpectedly takes one of them, and a squad of soldiers recruits another, they're left with no proper goodbye, and over several long years and tough winters none of them finds a chance to return to the keep that was once their home. However, one very early winter, one of them finds himself defending surviving villagers, and the other fights off a beast that threatened a group of travelers - they both have the same idea to bring their flocks to the nearest safe place, but the roads away from the keep are quickly cut off by the snow, which means they'll have to live through winter together.
I'm imagining this as a sequence of events - settling inside the keep, cleaning out its various monster-infested parts, going away hunting, fending off dangerous monsters, dealing with the people and their needs (children falling ill, someone going missing, accidents ensuing among the unpredictable trap-riddled walls), and so on, and so on, and so on. As well as a ton of heartfelt moments in-between, sincere brotherly love, witty banter, plenty of drama because of all the surrounding danger, and some cozy moments because I bet there's still some of that sweet liquor in the basement, and they're bound to find a moment to share a bottle.
I don't have a preference for which character to play. I'm also not sure about a lot of things, like their ages, and the exact events that followed them leaving the keep. But we can brainstorm all of that together, right?
I usually like my posts quite long and will ask you to send a sample ahead, so that there aren't any misunderstandings right off the bat. I write at a moderate pace and will not rush you, but I love to chat OOC and would adore it if you were up for a lot of character talk as well, be it here or over Discord (the latter more convenient).
Let me know if I've missed any important details, if the premise isn't clear, or simply if you found it to your liking and are interested in writing something together.
Have a great day!
Two frightened, scrawny, shivering young boys, clinging to one another for dear life, entered its great halls on a chilly morning in early spring, their stomachs growling and bellowing like dying whales, the old rags they called “clothes” thrown over their slim figures like a fur cloak over a lamppost. They couldn’t tell where they came from, only bearing traces of ash on their skin as a hint, and didn’t look like brothers, but called each other so with determination, one refusing to eat if the other wasn’t served, one unable to sleep in peace if the other wasn’t present and safe.
Once rested and fed so that the old masters with their scrutinizing frowns couldn’t find any protruding ribs, they were entrusted with their first wooden swords, which they broke sparring against one another by the end of the season. Fiercely defensive in the presence of older boys and bullies, exploding with concern whenever one of them fell sick or got injured in training, they’ve spent their first Winter in the company of one another, and when a swarm of harpies broke through the window in one of the towers, they hid in a closet for three days, taking turns using each other’s tummies as pillows – the elders said they wouldn’t have survived if it wasn’t for the shared body heat.
Two years later they were allowed to train with dull steel, carefully and with supervision. The heavy, sturdy blades took way longer to break – up until one of the boys developed a certain talent for magic, that is. The old masters started teaching him spells, and his brother didn’t hold back the awe at the astonishingly fast progress. Lacking in any sort of magical abilities himself, he didn’t want to fall back, taking up archery and training with a shield, and soon began winning sparring matches more often. They never let their differences come between them though.
Several more Winters later, the old masters were getting too old to take care of the keep. The soldiers started coming too often, recruiting. The mages sent their invitations as well. The brothers, in the meantime, concerned themselves with no such intricacies and politics – they’ve just killed their first chimera all by themselves, and then snatched a bottle of tooth-rotting sweet liquor from the kitchen, sharing it over a triumphant feast and getting their asses kicked later for misbehaving.
As they grew older, promises were made. Everyone left the keep sooner or later, and they weren’t keen on spending the rest of their lives behind its walls either. Venturing further and further into the woods during their hunts, they couldn’t wait to set out on an actual adventure together, waiting only for the Spring to melt down the snow that was blocking the paths.
The promises were broken.
First came the mages, urging the old masters, talking long dutiful talks in the great hall, shooting glances at one of the brothers. The next morning, he was gone without a trace, without as much as an explanation, let alone a heartfelt goodbye. The roads were still blocked off, and the other man waited, and waited, and waited, and the old masters shook their heads at him, unable to get through his stubborn head to tell him his brother wasn’t going to return.
Then came the beasts. The warriors of the keep stood their ground for one too many attacks – many died, many left. Unable to bear the sight of his home without his brother in it, the other man left too, with the soldiers, to defend the people of this land in his own way.
They haven’t crossed paths for a long time.
Kalepeck Keep came to desolation. Year after year, nobody took care of the walls, horrible creatures inhabited the basements, harpies and griffins made themselves a nest in the proudly standing towers, deadly spores grew on the walls in the kitchen. Times were hard, and the warriors’ numbers grew thin. The soldiers struggled to keep the beasts on the other side of the border between the wild wastelands and the kingdom. The mages busied themselves with closing the growing ruptures in the fabric of space, which spawned more and more ferocious otherworldly beasts as the time passed.
This year, Winter came way too early. It was advancing slowly into the end of Fall before, but not as drastically, and the snow wouldn’t block the roads until way into the latest harvests. This year, the beasts changed into white furs and ravaged the villages closer to the border before the leaves fell.
A man in his prime, sword on his belt and a book of spells in a pouch on his side, approached the old keep from the north, his heart aching at the sight of his childhood home, now looking more like a ramshackle cottage than the fortress it used to be. Villagers formed a small crowd around him – several families, elders, children – trying to stay behind his back for safety and protection. Their homes, destroyed by a horrible blizzard, were left in ruins and in a hurry, as, under the mage’s shields, they gathered their most precious belongings and left to seek shelter in the cold walls of the ancient fortress.
Another man came from the south, clad in armor, wielding a sword and a shield, leading an unlikely ensemble of passing travelers, still shaken after the attack of a terrible beast. With their carts broken and most of their horses having run away in terror, reaching their destinations was out of the question – not through the snow that had covered the roads. Instead, the soldier led them to the place he most associated with the feeling of safety, though the poor state of it brought some worry and a long uneasy sigh.
The mage and the soldier stared at each other, each unsure if the other would even recognize his face, before opening their arms wide and sharing a tight embrace, pounding on each other’s backs and laughing into each other’s necks. The Winter will be harsh on them all this year, with no way out and no other warriors to help them protect the keep. The people they’ve chosen to protect will need food and warmth, and neither will be easy to get – but they’ve done it before, back-to-back, and this year they’ll manage, too. And this time, be it beasts, or blizzards, or gods know what else, nothing will keep them apart.
***
Hello, everyone! My name is Ray, they/them. Thank you for reading through my plot idea. Here's a quick summary:
Two boys, bound by loneliness and misfortune, declare each other "brothers" and grow up training together at an old fortress. As a group of mages unexpectedly takes one of them, and a squad of soldiers recruits another, they're left with no proper goodbye, and over several long years and tough winters none of them finds a chance to return to the keep that was once their home. However, one very early winter, one of them finds himself defending surviving villagers, and the other fights off a beast that threatened a group of travelers - they both have the same idea to bring their flocks to the nearest safe place, but the roads away from the keep are quickly cut off by the snow, which means they'll have to live through winter together.
I'm imagining this as a sequence of events - settling inside the keep, cleaning out its various monster-infested parts, going away hunting, fending off dangerous monsters, dealing with the people and their needs (children falling ill, someone going missing, accidents ensuing among the unpredictable trap-riddled walls), and so on, and so on, and so on. As well as a ton of heartfelt moments in-between, sincere brotherly love, witty banter, plenty of drama because of all the surrounding danger, and some cozy moments because I bet there's still some of that sweet liquor in the basement, and they're bound to find a moment to share a bottle.
I don't have a preference for which character to play. I'm also not sure about a lot of things, like their ages, and the exact events that followed them leaving the keep. But we can brainstorm all of that together, right?
I usually like my posts quite long and will ask you to send a sample ahead, so that there aren't any misunderstandings right off the bat. I write at a moderate pace and will not rush you, but I love to chat OOC and would adore it if you were up for a lot of character talk as well, be it here or over Discord (the latter more convenient).
Let me know if I've missed any important details, if the premise isn't clear, or simply if you found it to your liking and are interested in writing something together.
Have a great day!
