Story The Council of the Damned (KARPS Story)

King Arthur's Roleplay Server, more commonly known as KARPS; originating back in Classic KAG, a server hosted by an individual named VanHuek thrived daily. Filled to the brim with avid Roleplayers such as myself and dozens of other players (Some notable players being Lieber, PinxViiN, Zeeee80 and Madbow), small stories evolved into epic sagas stretching months across the year. But alas, the time for Classic KARPS has come to an end, and a new dawn arises as Zen Laboratories constructs a new, and better looking KARPS for Beta KAG; bringing along new concepts, new stories and new players.

I work as the lead and only writer for KARPS, in the past I wrote an immense amount of Lore for KARPS; but in the end we decided that I had written too much and thus decided to replace it all. However, I have developed the old Lore of KARPS into an upcoming novel, and this thread is somewhat a teaser of the epic story to come; I'll be revealing the first Act of this story, which is around approximately 70+ chapters long. There's alot of storyline to follow, kinda like Game of Thrones, I kinda doubt many people will be interested in this story, probably not, oh well.

(Note: This story contains a lot of dark and violent features; if you're not a fan of blood, frequent swearing, horror scenes and all that stuff, it's advised you do not read on. I'm making edits to remove the sex/nudity and downscaling the violence a reasonable amount. This epilogue for example is probably the most violent scene, it gets alot calmer don't worry. c: )


Welcome to Arkus, a planet of lush wildlife, magic, civilisation, Gods and colossal monstrosities who are hell-bent on your utter destruction. As of right now, Arkus has been thrown into an intercontinental war that has been on-going for a generation and a half; a war between the Council of the Damned, a warlock faction, wielders of dark magic, though not necessarily evil; the war sparked solely because of the Council of the Damned, but not for the reasons you may believe, their opposing faction, their nemesis; the Order of the Three Lights, a Paladin faction determined on wiping out the Council from existence. Then there’s the Blademasters of Karanos, they’re making efforts to not include themselves in the war between the Order and the Council, but in a turn of events, the Blademasters have started turning on each other; some side with the Order, and some side with the Council, thus the Blademasters are on the verge of a civil war… and if it does, it’ll be bloody.

In short, to save you the lecture: The Council has been active on Arkus for only a hundred years, and the Order for millennia; they desire to wipe them out for giving demons access to the world, thus creating an “imbalance”, so they claim. The Blademasters want no part in the war, but are turning on one another in an imminent display of violence and blood. Old Gods reside in the world; eighteen of them to be exact, Old Gods are godlike beings that were once mortal, now ascended into a more powerful form. Magic thrives in this world, it’s even in the air you breathe, however, one of the continents of Arkus, named Karanos, is completely absent of magic; the other continents, Aeolus, Unik and Sornatis, carry it in abundance.



Chapter Zero - Epilogue: Deathmatch

The endless skies of Karanos held a crimson hue as the sun was setting on Arkus; towering, hardened sandstone spires were casting elongated shadows upon the rolling sandy dunes. Wind was carving its way through the sand, creating all manner of patterns in the fine grains. Three sandstone spires reached up into the sky, and almost triangular shaped, smooth platform in the middle of these spires. A male Warlock, dressed in fine red and black robes stepped into the platform, his long black hair billowing in the wind whilst having a slight malevolent grin on his pale face.

His elven ears twitched as his eyes fixated on something, his grin faded as it seemed he became filled with anger. Burning red flames appeared in his palms, as opposite him was a Paladin; a female one at that. Dense and heavy armour covered all of her body; she was clearly a high-ranking Paladin due to the certain arrangement of sigils donned on her shoulder pads, possibly a captain of sort. A small slot for her amber eyes was cut out from her helm. She stepped forward in aggression as her silver and gold-lined sabatons slammed against the sandstone platform; wielding her heavy shield in her left hand, whilst equipping a greatsword in the other.

"You're a long way from that filth pit you call your city..." She said with an arrogant tone, while she angled her blade towards the Warlock, "... and you've come all this way, just to bleed out in the sand."

The Warlock grunted as a brief wave of flame rolled down his shoulder, down his arm as he struck his palm forward; unleashing a lance of pure fire towards the Paladin, she swiftly ascended her shield to cover herself for protection; but the projectile was destroyed halfway through making its way towards her as an entity dropped down from above; it rose from its kneeling position as it was facing the Warlock, flames enveloped it, but soon dissipated into a faint wisp of smoke. It was a Blademaster, an Orcish one for that matter, and a very pissed off one. His teeth baring as veins pulsated though it's grey skin, the sound of him inhaling and exhaling was the only resonation in the dunes as his shoulders rose up and down, he was tall, very tall, taller than both the Elven Warlock and the steel-covered Paladin. A kilt around his waist as well as leather straps going over his shoulders and around his torso; this was presumably for holding his weapons, however he was unarmed.

The harrowing Blademaster’s piercing green eyes staring directly at the Warlock. "Go back to where you came from, BOTH OF YOU!" he bellowed at the top of his voice as he cocked his head towards the Paladin whilst pointing at her rudely.

The Paladin stepped forward, lowering her blade before saying in a calming voice, "Leave Blademaster, this feud does not concern-" She made attempts at a calm approach.

"Shut your mouth, Paladin bitch!" He growled. "You are trespassing on OUR territory, and you will NOT bring your petty feuds to our lands!" His dark, gravelly voice echoed through the valley.

The Warlock stomped forward, clearly irked from being deprived of a good fight, "As the uh... Paladin bitch was saying..." the Warlock came face to face with the Orcish Blademaster, carrying an arrogant smirk as the Orc turned back around, grunting in the process before looking down at the scrawny caster. "This does not concern you; now be a good dog and go back to whatever cave you were hiding in, do so and I may give you a treat later."

The Warlock had just made a huge mistake, the Blademaster roared as he kicked the Warlock in the chest; unleashing a heavy and very audible crack as presumably many of his ribs had been shattered beyond repair by the immense and potentially deadly kick to the chest. The impact sent the unfortunate Warlock flying into one of the sandstone pillars, he was temporarily incapacitated.

"Enough of this! Let's get this over with." The Paladin yelled before charging straight for the Blademaster, she swung downwards to try catching him off guard; the Orc gazed over his shoulder as he rolled to the left, and her blade clashed into the sandstone.

The Orc managed to land a blow on the Paladin, striking her helmet with his heavy fist; clearly denting it. She stumbled to the right as a small trickle of blood came from the bottom of her helmet. Even unarmed, the Blademasters were still incredibly dangerous. The Orc attempted another swing, but she lifted her shield quick enough to deflect; a large amount of skin was ripped from his knuckle as he struck the barbed shield. In a fit of rage, the Blademaster grabbed a hold of the shield and ripped it from her grasp, still dazed from the blow to the head, she attempted to jump backwards, but the Orc had different plans with the shield, instead, he uppercut her with it, dealing another potentially deadly blow, as well as knocking her helmet off her head.

The sound of metal clanking echoed as her helmet was scattered across the floor; her golden hair was let loose as her lip had been split open from the first initial strike. She arched over, her eyes set on the Orc as she gripped her greatsword with both hands, before unleashing a battle cry and sprinting straight for the Orc; she gave an arcing swing from the left, whereas the Blademaster had angled the shield that it'd scrape and hit the nearby sandstone pillar, which it did; it gave a metallic ring as the blade shattered, a fragment of which shot directly into one of the Orc's eye.

He batted her hand away as the hilt was thrown across the floor, and jabbed her in the stomach with the shield with immense force. The Blademaster tossed the shield aside as he grabbed hold of the Paladin's throat and lifted her up, all with one hand; the Orc's strength could not be matched by anyone within the Council nor the Order. She frantically gasped for air, clawing at the bleeding Orc’s hand; she took an alternate decision as she reached behind her on the back of her armour, a hidden compartment of sorts? She pulled out a jagged knife and pierced the Orc's wrist. He reeled in pain as she was dropped back on the floor, she gave a powerful leg sweep, and the Orc fell onto his back; the woman rushed towards the Orc and onto her knees, and she drove the knife into the Orc's throat before he could react.

She withdrew the knife and stood; the dark blood of the Orc seeped onto and soaked into the sand, clumping it together. She cracked her back and neck whilst stretching her limbs; as powerful as Blademasters are, they are reckless, and with a single unseen strike they can be taken down. Her gaze turned itself onto the Warlock, which was still gasping for air; the Warlock was attempting to bring himself to his feet, but kept on sliding back down. The Paladin wiped the blood on the cloth of her tabard before storming over towards the Warlock, grasping him by the wrist to drag him onto his feet, readying the blade in the other hand; the Warlock had different plans, he angled his palm towards her face before unleashing another terrible blast directly in her face.

She screamed as she stumbled backwards, the fire burned away her skin and hair; she still however had her grip on the Warlock, and drove the blade into his flesh, directly below his ribcage before releasing her grip and keeping the holy blade there. The Warlock rippled and shimmered with a dark glow as the dark caster teleported a short distance behind the Paladin, ripping the blade out from his body, releasing a shriek of pain in the progress; the removal might’ve been a good idea to prevent it from dealing more damage; the Paladin however was still groaning in pain, it was time to finish her off. The scent of burnt hair and seared human flesh crowded the area, she extended her hand; growling and covering half of her face with her other hand, clenching her teeth with such force they may shatter; and her only visible and possibly working eye glaring at the Warlock with unparalleled fury.

The enigmatic Warlock unleashed a torrent of superheated flame from both his palms, which first enveloped her hand, melting away the metal, the leather, and then her skin; the fire wrapped around her as it burnt her alive, she collapsed onto the floor and onto her stomach. The Warlock began to walk forward, still unleashing a beam of fire on the Paladin, her screaming stopped as her carcass was enveloped in flames. The Warlock stood straight, and then looked down at his body, the immense cut in his chest as his robe had been greatly torn; he had already lost a large sum of blood and was feeling faintly dizzy. To prevent any more precious and vital blood being lost, he ran his finger along the wound, cauterizing it and reeling in pain. He'll need to get back to his city quickly to get proper medical attention.

A sense of victory filled the Warlock as he gazed around, the Paladin's burning corpse, and the Blademaster's- Wait. Where did his body go? There was a visible pool of blood, but no body. Fear filled the Warlock as he turned his head in every direction to see where he was, then he appeared in the distance... a gaping wound in his throat as blood still dripped down his chest, his eyes burning with the fires of rage, baring his blood-soaked teeth as his veins glowed with an eerie red hue, the Warlock had completely frozen in fear, he was too afraid to move. The sun was nearly set, for both the Warlock and for the day. The dark caster began to panic as he limped away in attempts to retreat from the Blademaster that was in some form of frenzy, it was a final act to inflict as much damage as possible, they are neither dead nor living; they are outside the cycle, however, once entering this terrifying state their time is limited before they finally, and permanently kick the bucket.

The Orc unleashed a terrifying roar as he began to charge, kicking up sand in his wake, every terrifying step he took towards the injured Warlock quaked through the sandstone, getting louder with each thud with his imminent approach. The Warlock didn't want to look back, all he was doing was muttering something himself, if it isn't him praying to the Gods that the berserker doesn't catch him, he should be.

The Blademaster knocked his shoulder, spinning the Warlock around to face the deathly Blademaster; he slammed the Warlock by his throat and slammed him against the jagged sandstone pillar with incredible brute force. Locked in his hold, the Blademaster began to tear at the Warlock's flesh, reopening the recently closed wound that the Paladin inflicted, but doing so much more; his entire torso was ripped open as many of his entrails dropped to the floor; and those that remained in his body were torn from him by the Blademaster and strewn across the floor; while also biting chunks of his flesh out of the Warlock's throat as blood splattered everywhere; the Warlock's incomprehensible wheezing as he stared up at the sky, clawing at the Orc's grip. His limbs were next, an immense force pulled on the Warlock's left arm, his flesh, tendons and muscles tore as it was ripped from his body and thrown elsewhere. Finally, the rage-filled Orc applied both of his hands to what remained of his neck before snapping it. The Warlock's lifeless and desecrated body collapsed to the floor, and the burning rage in the Blademaster's eyes had faded as he too collapsed onto his back as his life finally ended.

This is a war that has been going on for decades, and it has yet to cease. The Council of the Damned fight against the expansive Order of the Three Lights, and the Blademasters fight with the highest bidder. Three lives, all of each different origin, entered this place, and none of them left to go back home and see their family. Never underestimate your enemies.




Enjoyed that I hope? I'll be updating this every other day, upload times may vary on my availability, some days I may be able to post twice, some days I might not be able to post for a whole week, I'll try my best though. I'm not the best writer. ;A;

Also! If you want me to create a character based off yourself, PM me! :D This is an ongoing series and I'll always need new characters.

 

I bellieve that dwarven gunpowder 'n' stuffy pump flamethrowers 'r' coming out soon

 

Spoiler: Get out.

 

:<

 

Nice writing, I enjoyed reading through it. Especially encapsulated medieval (with some fictional, but welcome, elements) warfare with the Blade (Paladin) vs Brute Force (Orc) vs Magic (Warlock), like a scissors paper rock game. If you need any help with editing I would be happy to help, I do quite a bit of writing as well (prompt based) and would love to proofread or offer some advice.

A suggestion if you are writing heaps of work on a daily-ish basis to make a subreddit dedicated to your account and to make text posts there, I find it pretty convenient as I spend heaps of time on r/writingprompts and therefore write too much for my, or more specifically my grades', own good.

Looking forward to the next chapter!

 

Oh I'd love some help. :D
I mostly do my writing on the day that I'm not posting, then proof-read it, make edits, additions and a final brainstorm before I finalize it on the forums. I'll create a KAG Conversation for us and post the WIP of Chapter 1; I have the entire plot set out (For atleast 30+ chapters), just need to write them in fact.

 

Great story
Love the twist at the end and 'outside the cycle'
BTW I can also do some minor edits and proofread
Good luck man!