Passion at First Sight (EVK rp1)
Apr 4, 2023 16:54:56 GMT -5
Mongo the Destroyer, bloodiedfox, and 1 more like this
Post by vastrix on Apr 4, 2023 16:54:56 GMT -5
Cologne, Germany
Cologne is an ancient city. Once named Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium that was founded by the Roman Empire in 50 AD.
Donzig walks with Esmeralda von Krauss and Sinclair Godfrey through a city park
Donzig spits on the ground and looks around at an ancient guard tower from a bygone era. When he speaks, his voice comes out sullen.
Donzig: I don’t see why we are here.
Esmeralda von Krauss: We are here to learn, dahling. You now know that Victoria has been educating Armand about your past, it’s only fair that we do the same. Who better knows Armand than me?
Sinclair Godfrey: If there is no better knowing of Armand than you, why are we here?
Esmeralda chuckles, lighting an Egyptian cigarette in a blood-red foot-long holder.
Esmeralda von Krauss: You will see. I am but his soul mate, the one we seek is his godfather.
Esmeralda stops walking and cocks her head as she takes a drag from her cigarette and blows the smoke out as she laughs.
Donzig: Something funny?
Esmeralda von Krauss: Hilarious, dahling, but you will see for yourself soon enough.
They approach an old guard tower from when the city was first built during the Roman Empire. The door t the place has been bound shut with chains and a padded lock to prevent people from entering the tower that looks like it could crumble if too many people walked the stairs to the top of the tower.
Sinclair Godfrey: It looks like our journey ends here. There’s no entering this place without a key.
Esmeralda reaches into her clutch and pulls out an old key that must be hundreds of years old.
Esmeralda von Krauss: I had the tower condemned long ago to hide the secrets below it.
She unlocks the padlock and unchains the door before opening it. She leads the way inside, pressing a series of rounded stones to reveal a secret stairwell that goes down into the Earth.
Several stories below the ground, they come upon a prison cell set into a wall. They hear the sound of flowing water before they come upon a sight unlike any other. A man sits in a cell on a cot that had long ago disintegrated into dust. A man with long unkempt hair and beard sits on this cot of bare stone, a fire in the middle of the room and a fountain of water set into the wall that constantly brings clean water. A tree grows in the room with golden apples, the golden apples of Idunn. The man only has one hand and though there are apples that are at the peak of ripeness on the tree, he can only eat those that have fallen from the tree. They do not help the old god as much as they would fresh and so grey is sprinkled throughout his hair and beard. He looks like he was humming an old ballad of war when they walk up to the cell. He looks at the three visitors with a small smile. Sinclair’s eyes go wide.
Sinclair Godfrey: When you said godfather I thought you meant…you hold captive here Tyr, the God of War? Is he the literal father of Armand?
Donzig: Ha! Godfather in the mortal reference and a godly reference.
Tyr: Caia? Caia Ultia? Have you come to free me at last?
Esmeralda von Krauss: It depends. Have you decided to apologize for your betrayal?
Tyr: Sidimund should have retreated once his leader was killed in combat. I was only looking out for his best interest.
Esmeralda von Krauss: And not that Romulus had promised you Sabine women and mead if you would retreat from the city that Sidimund was sacking after taking control of the Goth tribe that was attacking.
Tyr: Bah! Romulus had left the young nation by then to ascend into Olympus! He had offered me a taste of Aphrodite. If she could be slipped away from Hephaestus for a moment.
Donzig bangs on the bars with impatience.
Donzig: Tell us what we need to know and be done with it. You won’t be finding freedom on this day.
Tyr: Tell you what?
Esmeralda von Krauss: Tell us a story about Sidimund from what you saw during the sacking of Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium.
Tyr: Why would I do such a thing? It brings me no benefit to tell a story that involves my being betrayed.
Esmeralda von Krauss: If you do this for me, I will set you free. I would imagine that much has changed in the two millennia that you’ve been absent from Asgard.
Tyr seems to consider it for some time, looking down at his stump of a hand where the great wolf, Fenrir, had bitten it off in the binding of him. He sighs.
Tyr: Very well. It was almost two thousand years ago. The Altar of the Ubii had just been built…
Long Ago
Sidimund follows close behind his leader, Vandalarius, into combat against the Romans. An entire tribe of Goths behind them to add their power to the attack. Sidimund, who now goes by Armand von Krauss, splits the skull of a Legionaire down to the neck before moving on to the next victim.
The archers on the wall drive them back though. Sheer numbers of arrows rain down upon the Goths to keep them at bay.
Vandalarius: Tyr! Oh, Father of War! Aid us in our darkest hours. We need the food within this city to carry on eating and surviving! We need the women in this city to carry on growing our population. Fall back!
As Goth warriors began to fall back, a thunderclap announced the arrival of Tyr. He stood nearly a head above most of the Goths. He holds a greatsword in one hand (which duh, the other hand is missing), and begins a charge against the Romans. Vandalarius joins him and leads the attack.
Vandalarius: For the tribe!
It isn’t a moment later when the gate is breached by a massive tree that the Goths had felled and turned into a battering ram. As the Goths spill into the city, fighting any soldiers they can get within reach of their blades, Vandalarius, Sidimund, and Tyr head for the capital building with a small force, slaughtering on the way.
Outside of the capital building is Romulus, the founder of the Roman nation. He rushes for Vandalarius and the two begin clashing with blades as Sidimund goes into the building.
Inside the building, Sidimund kills a couple of soldiers that are guarding the civilians inside. His eyes lock onto a beautiful blonde in an expensive silk gown that clings to her every curve. He stops to stare, open mouthed at the beauty before he gathers his senses and bows.
Sidimund: My lady, this is no place for you to be. You should away with me and I will award you with riches. Might I the honor of your name?
The lady curtsies and begins to slowly draw up the hem of her dress over her thigh, causing Sidimund to raise an eyebrow.
Lady: Caia Ultia.
Sidimund: The Merciless?
Caia Ultia: One and the same. Now, shouldn’t you be attending to the war outside?
With that, Caia reveals her upholstery needles and selects one of them. She flicks it in his direction, but he deflects it with a swipe of his sword. That’s when he hears the pained cry of Vandalarius.
Sidimund: Another time, Caia. One day you will be mine!
Caia Ultia: I look forward to it, dahling.
Sidimund rushes outside to see Vadalarius falling to his knees, Romulus pulling a great blade from his chest. Tyr is felling other foes, but not paying attention to the leader of the tribe.
Sidimund: NO!
Tyr notices Vandalarius falling onto his face in death and puts out a cry.
Tyr: We cannot hold the city! We should fall back from the Roman founder and run!
Sidimund rushes to the scene as Romulus turns around and runs the god through with his sword. Romulus’ eyes bulge from his head.
Romulus: I am a GOD!
Sidimund: As you slew your brother, I am slaying you. To me, my brothers!
Sidimund rallies the Goths in the wake of their leader’s death. Tyr, for his part, runs. That is until he nearly runs into Caia Ultia the Merciless. She flicks an upholstery needle at him, striking him in the throat so far in that the needle pops out through his spine on the other side. Tyr drops to the ground like a puppet with cut strings.
Tyr: What have you done to me?
Caia Ultia: You know I saw through the window what Sidimund did not see. You struck Vandalarius from behind before Romulus could finish him. What did the son of Ares offer you?
Tyr: I can’t move anything below my neck!
Caia Ultia: What did Romulus offer?
Tyr: A night with Aphrodite!
Caia Ultia: Now you spend an eternity in the ground. This guard tower holds a secret dungeon for Romulus’ special guests. Now that he is dead, you can use it. You’ll be able to move again within minutes after I remove that needle. You are a god, after all.
Tyr: Why do you help the Goths? They are enemy to Romans like you!
Caia Ultia begins dragging Tyr into the guard tower.
Caia Ultia: I am no Roman. Just as Sidimund is no Goth. One day, he will be mine.
The Present
Donzig looks at Tyr, aghast. Then, he looks to Esmeralda.
Donzig: How is this about Armand? He took control of the Gothic tribe after Vandalarius died and met you. What of it?
Sinclair Godfrey: Is this more of a romantic “how you met Armand for the first time story”?
Esmeralda lights a fresh Egyptian cigarette in her blood-red foot-long holder and smiles.
Esmeralda von Krauss: You have me found out. It was passion at first sight. He was so brave in taking the leadership of the tribe and murdering the founder of Rome. All of this before we discovered the Krimson Kharnival and the power it bestows upon us. I just wanted to remember what it was like to want him. To need him.
Donzig: This is all well and good, but we should be training for the Rumble.
Esmeralda von Krauss: And do what, dahling? Have you forgotten how to throw people over the top rope?
Donzig: No.
Sinclair Godfrey: He means yes. He gets so busy dealing out pain that he forgets that the reason for being in the ring is to throw people out of it.
Tyr: Hey what about me? Are you going to release me?
Esmeralda von Krauss: Of course.
She flicks an upholstery needle at him, hitting the exact same spot she had ages before. Tyr goes limp. Esmeralda opens the door and walks across the room.
Donzig: Why did you do that?
Esmeralda flicks ashes upon the paralyzed form of the Norse God of War with a chuckle.
Esmeralda von Krauss: He has been imprisoned here since the early days of Rome. I would kill my jailor if given the chance.
She yanks out the needle and walks back out of the cell.
Esmeralda von Krauss: By the time you regenerate from that wound, we will be long gone, dahling. You will be free to return to Asgard to eat the fresh apples of Indunn that she had picked for you instead of the rotten ones that fell from the tree.
Tyr: Nothing will stop me from destroying you someday, Caia. You and Sidimund!
Esmeralda von Krauss: Betters have tried, dahling. Betters have tried.
The three exit the tower and Esmeralda locks it back up.
Esmeralda von Krauss: It won’t hold, but it will give us more time.
Sinclair Godfrey: Wait. Better than the Norse God of War have tried to kill you and Armand?
Esmeralda von Krauss: You should have seen how angry Ares was after the murder of one of his children!
Cologne is an ancient city. Once named Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium that was founded by the Roman Empire in 50 AD.
Donzig walks with Esmeralda von Krauss and Sinclair Godfrey through a city park
Donzig spits on the ground and looks around at an ancient guard tower from a bygone era. When he speaks, his voice comes out sullen.
Donzig: I don’t see why we are here.
Esmeralda von Krauss: We are here to learn, dahling. You now know that Victoria has been educating Armand about your past, it’s only fair that we do the same. Who better knows Armand than me?
Sinclair Godfrey: If there is no better knowing of Armand than you, why are we here?
Esmeralda chuckles, lighting an Egyptian cigarette in a blood-red foot-long holder.
Esmeralda von Krauss: You will see. I am but his soul mate, the one we seek is his godfather.
Esmeralda stops walking and cocks her head as she takes a drag from her cigarette and blows the smoke out as she laughs.
Donzig: Something funny?
Esmeralda von Krauss: Hilarious, dahling, but you will see for yourself soon enough.
They approach an old guard tower from when the city was first built during the Roman Empire. The door t the place has been bound shut with chains and a padded lock to prevent people from entering the tower that looks like it could crumble if too many people walked the stairs to the top of the tower.
Sinclair Godfrey: It looks like our journey ends here. There’s no entering this place without a key.
Esmeralda reaches into her clutch and pulls out an old key that must be hundreds of years old.
Esmeralda von Krauss: I had the tower condemned long ago to hide the secrets below it.
She unlocks the padlock and unchains the door before opening it. She leads the way inside, pressing a series of rounded stones to reveal a secret stairwell that goes down into the Earth.
Several stories below the ground, they come upon a prison cell set into a wall. They hear the sound of flowing water before they come upon a sight unlike any other. A man sits in a cell on a cot that had long ago disintegrated into dust. A man with long unkempt hair and beard sits on this cot of bare stone, a fire in the middle of the room and a fountain of water set into the wall that constantly brings clean water. A tree grows in the room with golden apples, the golden apples of Idunn. The man only has one hand and though there are apples that are at the peak of ripeness on the tree, he can only eat those that have fallen from the tree. They do not help the old god as much as they would fresh and so grey is sprinkled throughout his hair and beard. He looks like he was humming an old ballad of war when they walk up to the cell. He looks at the three visitors with a small smile. Sinclair’s eyes go wide.
Sinclair Godfrey: When you said godfather I thought you meant…you hold captive here Tyr, the God of War? Is he the literal father of Armand?
Donzig: Ha! Godfather in the mortal reference and a godly reference.
Tyr: Caia? Caia Ultia? Have you come to free me at last?
Esmeralda von Krauss: It depends. Have you decided to apologize for your betrayal?
Tyr: Sidimund should have retreated once his leader was killed in combat. I was only looking out for his best interest.
Esmeralda von Krauss: And not that Romulus had promised you Sabine women and mead if you would retreat from the city that Sidimund was sacking after taking control of the Goth tribe that was attacking.
Tyr: Bah! Romulus had left the young nation by then to ascend into Olympus! He had offered me a taste of Aphrodite. If she could be slipped away from Hephaestus for a moment.
Donzig bangs on the bars with impatience.
Donzig: Tell us what we need to know and be done with it. You won’t be finding freedom on this day.
Tyr: Tell you what?
Esmeralda von Krauss: Tell us a story about Sidimund from what you saw during the sacking of Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium.
Tyr: Why would I do such a thing? It brings me no benefit to tell a story that involves my being betrayed.
Esmeralda von Krauss: If you do this for me, I will set you free. I would imagine that much has changed in the two millennia that you’ve been absent from Asgard.
Tyr seems to consider it for some time, looking down at his stump of a hand where the great wolf, Fenrir, had bitten it off in the binding of him. He sighs.
Tyr: Very well. It was almost two thousand years ago. The Altar of the Ubii had just been built…
Long Ago
Sidimund follows close behind his leader, Vandalarius, into combat against the Romans. An entire tribe of Goths behind them to add their power to the attack. Sidimund, who now goes by Armand von Krauss, splits the skull of a Legionaire down to the neck before moving on to the next victim.
The archers on the wall drive them back though. Sheer numbers of arrows rain down upon the Goths to keep them at bay.
Vandalarius: Tyr! Oh, Father of War! Aid us in our darkest hours. We need the food within this city to carry on eating and surviving! We need the women in this city to carry on growing our population. Fall back!
As Goth warriors began to fall back, a thunderclap announced the arrival of Tyr. He stood nearly a head above most of the Goths. He holds a greatsword in one hand (which duh, the other hand is missing), and begins a charge against the Romans. Vandalarius joins him and leads the attack.
Vandalarius: For the tribe!
It isn’t a moment later when the gate is breached by a massive tree that the Goths had felled and turned into a battering ram. As the Goths spill into the city, fighting any soldiers they can get within reach of their blades, Vandalarius, Sidimund, and Tyr head for the capital building with a small force, slaughtering on the way.
Outside of the capital building is Romulus, the founder of the Roman nation. He rushes for Vandalarius and the two begin clashing with blades as Sidimund goes into the building.
Inside the building, Sidimund kills a couple of soldiers that are guarding the civilians inside. His eyes lock onto a beautiful blonde in an expensive silk gown that clings to her every curve. He stops to stare, open mouthed at the beauty before he gathers his senses and bows.
Sidimund: My lady, this is no place for you to be. You should away with me and I will award you with riches. Might I the honor of your name?
The lady curtsies and begins to slowly draw up the hem of her dress over her thigh, causing Sidimund to raise an eyebrow.
Lady: Caia Ultia.
Sidimund: The Merciless?
Caia Ultia: One and the same. Now, shouldn’t you be attending to the war outside?
With that, Caia reveals her upholstery needles and selects one of them. She flicks it in his direction, but he deflects it with a swipe of his sword. That’s when he hears the pained cry of Vandalarius.
Sidimund: Another time, Caia. One day you will be mine!
Caia Ultia: I look forward to it, dahling.
Sidimund rushes outside to see Vadalarius falling to his knees, Romulus pulling a great blade from his chest. Tyr is felling other foes, but not paying attention to the leader of the tribe.
Sidimund: NO!
Tyr notices Vandalarius falling onto his face in death and puts out a cry.
Tyr: We cannot hold the city! We should fall back from the Roman founder and run!
Sidimund rushes to the scene as Romulus turns around and runs the god through with his sword. Romulus’ eyes bulge from his head.
Romulus: I am a GOD!
Sidimund: As you slew your brother, I am slaying you. To me, my brothers!
Sidimund rallies the Goths in the wake of their leader’s death. Tyr, for his part, runs. That is until he nearly runs into Caia Ultia the Merciless. She flicks an upholstery needle at him, striking him in the throat so far in that the needle pops out through his spine on the other side. Tyr drops to the ground like a puppet with cut strings.
Tyr: What have you done to me?
Caia Ultia: You know I saw through the window what Sidimund did not see. You struck Vandalarius from behind before Romulus could finish him. What did the son of Ares offer you?
Tyr: I can’t move anything below my neck!
Caia Ultia: What did Romulus offer?
Tyr: A night with Aphrodite!
Caia Ultia: Now you spend an eternity in the ground. This guard tower holds a secret dungeon for Romulus’ special guests. Now that he is dead, you can use it. You’ll be able to move again within minutes after I remove that needle. You are a god, after all.
Tyr: Why do you help the Goths? They are enemy to Romans like you!
Caia Ultia begins dragging Tyr into the guard tower.
Caia Ultia: I am no Roman. Just as Sidimund is no Goth. One day, he will be mine.
The Present
Donzig looks at Tyr, aghast. Then, he looks to Esmeralda.
Donzig: How is this about Armand? He took control of the Gothic tribe after Vandalarius died and met you. What of it?
Sinclair Godfrey: Is this more of a romantic “how you met Armand for the first time story”?
Esmeralda lights a fresh Egyptian cigarette in her blood-red foot-long holder and smiles.
Esmeralda von Krauss: You have me found out. It was passion at first sight. He was so brave in taking the leadership of the tribe and murdering the founder of Rome. All of this before we discovered the Krimson Kharnival and the power it bestows upon us. I just wanted to remember what it was like to want him. To need him.
Donzig: This is all well and good, but we should be training for the Rumble.
Esmeralda von Krauss: And do what, dahling? Have you forgotten how to throw people over the top rope?
Donzig: No.
Sinclair Godfrey: He means yes. He gets so busy dealing out pain that he forgets that the reason for being in the ring is to throw people out of it.
Tyr: Hey what about me? Are you going to release me?
Esmeralda von Krauss: Of course.
She flicks an upholstery needle at him, hitting the exact same spot she had ages before. Tyr goes limp. Esmeralda opens the door and walks across the room.
Donzig: Why did you do that?
Esmeralda flicks ashes upon the paralyzed form of the Norse God of War with a chuckle.
Esmeralda von Krauss: He has been imprisoned here since the early days of Rome. I would kill my jailor if given the chance.
She yanks out the needle and walks back out of the cell.
Esmeralda von Krauss: By the time you regenerate from that wound, we will be long gone, dahling. You will be free to return to Asgard to eat the fresh apples of Indunn that she had picked for you instead of the rotten ones that fell from the tree.
Tyr: Nothing will stop me from destroying you someday, Caia. You and Sidimund!
Esmeralda von Krauss: Betters have tried, dahling. Betters have tried.
The three exit the tower and Esmeralda locks it back up.
Esmeralda von Krauss: It won’t hold, but it will give us more time.
Sinclair Godfrey: Wait. Better than the Norse God of War have tried to kill you and Armand?
Esmeralda von Krauss: You should have seen how angry Ares was after the murder of one of his children!
