[attr="class","h1"]The Forgotten Ballad

[attr="class","body"]Aldous was once nothing more than a simple lapine: a generational dirt farmer from a modest but respected family, owner of his own burrow and engaged to his childhood sweetheart, and a somewhat wistful if not quiet and familiar face in the Woodhurst community. Sure, in his younger days Aldous had endlessly dreamed of living one of the many lapine ballads he so adored. Tales of chivalrous knights, of kingdoms and princesses in distress, and of good versus evil had always invoked a sense of wanderlust in the lapine, but soon enough dreams gave way to the reality of life in the simple and isolated community. The rest of his days would have to be content with only the occasional evening stroll through the nearby forests and valleys, and for a time, Aldous was.

Or so he thought. All of that changed the day Aldous stumbled upon an ancient secret buried not far from his quiet commot and came into possession of the artifact. An artifact which soon gave him vivid and horrifying nightmares of death, despair, and an unknown threat to the people he cared for, and perhaps to the very world. Heeding the words of the apparition of his childhood hero, Aldous would not long afterwards abandon everything in his life to set out and follow the visions, leaving Woodhurst for the first time in his life to travel far across Niseca in search of any kind of answer to his new quest. These travels saw the lapine befriend and train under a wayward mercenary, become a knight of his own order, and, eventually, see him stumble across his first clue and a direction to travel.

North.

And so, his quest has continued, alone but undaunted, into the unknown with purpose, inexperienced but full of heart and hope, and prepared to face the dangers which no doubt lay in his path. After all, this was his quest.

As a knight, he would see it through.

Open to Anyone!
I’m still working out all the details of what I hope Aldous’s quest will entail in the end, but I plan on having him travel through as much of Fortuna as I can reasonably manage, especially to some of the more maybe obscure and less explored areas on the map. This opens the possibility of having a varied and fun cast of characters that I’ll definitely make use of via NPCs, but if anyone has a character who would like to meet my little rabbit knight and have an impact on his quest please let me know! I’m very, very open to ideas, and to be honest I’m still debating whether I want this thing to be more of a self-contained little adventure story or a bigger thing involving Fortuna as a whole (naturally with any permissions needed!), but with most of my characters being rather isolated I’m hoping this’ll be a good opportunity for me to RP with some characters I wouldn’t otherwise get the opportunity to interact with.

Darker Elements
If some of Aldous’s visions weren’t hint enough, I plan on having his adventure develop somewhat darker elements over time with a more Lovecraftian and magically surreal nature. Think floating transdimensional horrors, entombed and forgotten immortal forces, enchanted cities with questionable adherence to the passage of time, those kinds of things. Not going to have it be a gorefest or anything, but just fair warning that it’s not going to be a high fantasy adventure.

Locations

• Woodhurst, Niseca
  Small, isolated, and composed mostly of farmers and simple craftsmen, the lapine commot of Woodhurst is nestled in a large hill on the border between Niseca and Submiere. This is, or was, Aldous’s home and the place where his family still lives, and it was visions of its destruction that ultimately led the knight to set out on his quest. Not that the lapine of Woodhurst are aware of this. Once well respected and liked here, following his supposed dip into insanity Aldous was mostly shunned by the rest of his community, and many are convinced the knight is likely dead following his disappearance into the wilds of Niseca.
• Valley of No Sound
  It was the Valley of No Sound that Aldous spent fruitless months crisscrossing Niseca to find following his departure from Woodhurst. It’s exact nature or even location are completely unknown to the knight, only that it was where the vision of Sir Korbin said his quest should lead. There the knight is supposed to find the “story of the seven sisters”, the next step in his journey, and perhaps even some answers to his visions. A lucky break in the search finally came when Aldous stumbled across a bard in Niseca who told him of a valley far to the north in Aissic that seemed to match his description, and it is there where the lapine now journeys to.

People

• The Cadburys
  Aldous’s family live in Woodhurst where they have spent generations toiling in the burrows as dirt farmers. Though far from wealthy, the Cadburys have a history of being a respectful family and are regarded as one of the pillars of the community. Thus, it came even more as a shock when Aldous seemingly fell into insanity, abandoned his life, and fled Woodhurst on some fool’s errand of a “quest”, even if the lapine ultimately did so to protect them. Whether the rest of the family misses him, shuns him, or simply believes him to be dead, Aldous does not know, but their survival lies far more important in his heart than any homesickness.
• Magnolia Belmont
  Magnolia Belmont was Ol’ Lady Belmont’s only daughter and Aldous’s childhood neighbor and sweetheart. As they got older the two would eventually become engaged and buy their own burrow in the commot, and for a time it seemed to everyone in the community that they would live a happy and normal lapine life. Thus, it was Magnolia who was hit the hardest when it seemed as if Aldous had finally lost his mind, and the breaking of their engagement caused an uproar throughout Woodhurst that was only matched when Aldous abandoned the commot entirely for his quest.
• Drest
  A wood elf sellsword who Aldous encountered during his travels across Niseca, Drest would become a good friend and travelling companion to the lapine for a time. It was from the experienced sellsword that Aldous learned what swordplay and survival techniques he now knows, and it was also Drest who ultimately “knighted” the lapine and helped him to establish the Order of the Seven Stars, even if the wood elf himself remained skeptical and cautioned Aldous away from following his visions. The two separated soon after the knight learned the location of the Valley of No Sound, with Aldous heading north and Drest farther south.
• Sir Korbin the Mushroom Knight
  The hero of one of the most well known lapine ballads, Sir Korbin the Mushroom Knight was a farmer who became the impromptu protector of an isolated lapine community, and who’s deeds and skill at arms eventually won him knighthood from the great King Harland the Fleet. This story became a personal favorite for Aldous in his childhood, and Sir Korbin remained a role model for the lapine even into adulthood. It was an apparition of Sir Korbin, brought on by the artifact, which ultimately led Aldous to take on his quest, warning the lapine of a great danger to Woodhurst and the world that only he could prevent. The mythical knight also left the cryptic suggestion to seek out the Valley of No Sound, though Aldous has seen no sign of Sir Korbin in any of his visions since.

Objects

• Forgotten Artifact
  A small and beautiful but damaged crystal prism inlaid with silver and flecks of black and green that Aldous uncovered and took from a set of underground ruins near Woodhurst. It was soon after acquiring the artifact that the lapine would begin to receive his horrifying nightmares, and with the artifact itself appearing within them in the possession of Sir Korbin, Aldous is convinced it plays some key role in his quest. What role that is remains to be seen, however, and until then the lapine keeps it close and protected around his neck.
• Crest Shield
  A heather shield gifted to Aldous by Drest, the surface of the shield is dark blue and features seven prominent stars. This has become the symbol for the lapine’s knightly order, the Order of the Seven Stars, and was created off of the seven stars which seemed to feature in a number of Aldous’s visions.

Summary

The full summary of this storyline can be found in the spoiler tag below. This gets you up to date on all of the events so far. This summary was last updated on 00.00.00.