Recent content by Kristen Pirian

CORTOS "Who is in command here?" asked Kristen. One of the surviving Guardsmen, known aptly by his fellows as "Cold Blood", took a perfunctory glance around. And then he said, "You are, ma'am." Kristen tried to get a reckoning of their number, the Guardsmen, and she found the task shockingly...

Kristen sat in the Black Talon, sharing in the selfsame exhaustion that everyone felt. The price of victory had been steep. But, thanks to many a valiant effort, not so steep as to resemble defeat. And that at least was a cause for rejoicing. She had much to think about, as well. Though her...

From the vantage of the Drennan marksmen, there came from a source unseen a Chain sailing as though loosed from a ballista nestled somewhere beneath the cliff. The spearpoint of the Chain impaled the underbelly of the bridge upon which the battle was being fought. Fiercely did the Chain pull...

AFFIRMATION Time to chronicle my thoughts has proven more elusive than I originally anticipated. I pray that none escape from my mind before my pen can capture them. However, before I proceed in earnest, I feel I must first make an affirmation of my beliefs at present. This shall serve as the...

The advantage of surprise would swiftly fade. Though the Cortosi soldiers were in disarray and confusion now—the true reckoning of what was happening dawning only on those who saw with their eyes rather than heard with their ears—it would not last. A horn sounded, loud and carrying, its call...

Felix, knowledgeable of many things as attested to by Arn, navigated the four of them toward—what Kristen could only assume was—one of the rare amenities of the war camp. But such treats to be found in times of lean living were hardly to be questioned and doubted. And so now with cup in hand...

The air of the family tomb seemed to Kristen even more stagnant than that of the hallway behind her. And as her eye traced over much of what the light revealed, even the dust itself carried an ancient quality. How long had it been since someone set foot in this old tomb? The thought conjured a...

With Zinnia's introduction, and the recognition of House Pirian by one of its most beloved names (long had it been for her hearing it since going into those Academy gates!), Kristen said: "Greetings, Mother Millicent. As Zinnia has said, we come out of a case of curiosity, and we do seek a...

Apologize to Porridge? But here Rhory in essence took the very thoughts from Kristen's mind and spoke them aloud, and Kristen nodded in affirmation. Porridge did deserve the tossing he had received. She would add: "If he has any sense of humility and sportsmanship, he will know that he is in...

A dour outlook, as was Edric's wont. But not entirely so. The light of his torch illuminated his family name, etched into the arching portal in which the door itself was housed. He remarked on it curtly, but it seemed of little importance to him, and so in turn it was of little importance to...

Their only option was to feign death. Beneath the glimmering canopy of the oak forest, through which golden sunshine of an otherwise bright day shone, several Anirian companies lay dead—or so it seemed. Kristen Pirian lay face down among the bodies—tired, wounded, fearful and, above all...

RUMINATIONS I am troubled by an idea which threatens to shatter my whole world. This idea, a black thought born from a mire of malice and despair, is far from having true credence. Yet it persists. And it persists because I know, deeply, that the pristine faith I once held has sustained scar...

And then would come a reply to Initiate Saderzaine Vult of the Dreadlord Academy. The letter had been composed in the last hours of "peace" before the war in Cortos began in earnest. The writing of the letter was of a practiced calligraphy, like a song manifested into flowing form on the page...

Kristen shot her arms high into the air, whether or not Felix and Rhory still kept hold of them, and gave a loud cheer once Arn recovered and rebounded against his foe, so sudden and powerful was her excitement. She bounced on her heels, and her feet perhaps once or twice departed from the...

If, with the help of Aionus and the Court of Stars, the very heavens above, a remedy could be effected for the woes which ailed the Republic, then what joy it would bring to Kristen's heart! "There are many who cling to the old ways," Kristen said. Yet, she smiled. "But they have already been...