0:Privilege to Live
1:PTL %d
2: Just another lonely night in my castle, thinking about mortality and heritage. After my father passed away, I managed to keep the nobles content, and the poor, though dissatisfied, haven't started a rebellion. I don't think they're desperate enough to do so in the near future. Still, I've always felt like something is missing. I know I need to produce an heir to the throne, but that alone has never felt like enough, not when it comes to leaving my mark on history. Just producing an heir like my ancestors did, while keeping the kingdom stable, feels too bland.|| I want more than that. I want to be remembered for ages. I want people to speak my name and keep the thought of me alive for centuries. Not just as a ruler who kept things from falling apart as so many others did before me, but as something greater. I look at the map of the known world spread across the wall in my chamber. The entire continent is under my reign. The only known foreign land lies beyond the ocean to the north, ruled by Queen Brittany. Every other area far to the east, west, and south is filled with nothing but drawings of sea monsters, etched by the Unsunken: the god who raised the continents from the depths so that humans could live and prosper. I went for a stroll outside the castle. Every guard, nobleman, and peasant seems to wear the same strange expression. A mixture of fear and excitement in their eyes. I overheard the old tavern keeper muttering to a customer: 'How could she do this after so many years? Attacking our people completely unprovoked...'||Campaign made by Inchworm.||Help with plot sentence structure and world map was done by ChatGPT (Fantasy Map Creator by OpenAI).
10: I walked toward the ship, where Michael - my childhood friend and most trusted general was waiting for me. He pulled me into a hug and muttered, 'Don't die out there, alright? We've come too far for that.' I gave him a nod, the kind that says more than words. Then I stepped onboard and looked once more at the body hanging in the center of the harbor. He wore armor nearly identical to ours, with a light green shield strapped to his back, those are the Queen's colors. Are the people on the other side of the ocean strong and willing enough to resist our impact? That thought will torment me as I pace the deck tonight, trying to sleep aboard this ship.
11: After securing the first towns near the shore and establishing our settlement, I walked toward the beach to look at the distant ships. White flags fluttered faintly on the horizon, barely visible, signaling Michael's arrival with horses, supplies, and soldiers.|| I leaned over the maps spread out on the hastily constructed wooden table set up on the sand. I was surprised by how inaccurate the old charts had been, the ones drawn by travelers and merchants who'd visited our homeland. Still, one landmark appeared on every map, regardless of its origin: the Mermanchild Castle. It stood proudly inland, guarding the heart of the Queen's territory against coastal invasion. According to legend, it had stood for centuries, though no one could remember the last time someone dared to challenge it. Now, Michael and I would put its walls and the spirits of those inside to the test.|| I gathered the papers and turned toward my tent. Servants and squires darted between wagons, unloading meat hunted from the new land and the last of the supplies we brought from home. The fear I'd seen in their eyes had started to fade, now replaced by something else: excitement. They believed this invasion might actually succeed. And I... I had to look confident, even if I was probably more afraid than anyone else on this island.
12: After taking Mermanchild, there were no cheers. Not a single sign of relief. If a stranger had seen only the faces and posture of our soldiers, servants, and generals, he wouldn't have been able to tell we'd just won a battle. Everyone was exhausted - mourning the loss of longtime friends, or even nameless comrades who could just as easily have been them, and they all knew what came next.|| The Queen wouldn't wait for us to settle in and fortify our defenses. Michael was still chasing down the last of the survivors - those who'd vanished into a hidden tunnel beneath the castle - and I can only hope he catches them before they regroup and strike from behind.|| Now I see light in the distance, faint glimmers beyond the swamps: the Queen's reinforcements. They're preparing to retake the city. We're tired. We're outnumbered. But this time, we're the ones behind the walls - it's the only advantage we have. A scout arrives with the words I've been dreading: 'The Queen's army is moving, my lord. The first soldiers have entered the swamps.' I close my eyes and whisper a prayer to the Unsunken. Michael, please make it back in time.
13: When I emerged from the tunnel, warm sunlight fell across my face. It felt surreal to be underground and still see the sun, like an ancient castle with its roof collapsed, the caverns below had become alive with growth, nourished by the rays that pierced the stone above, and thanks to this light the Queen's people had been able to settle here, building hidden villages beneath the earth.|| Something primal stirred within me, a sense of safety, of being sheltered from the world above, but the sight of pale green flags in the distance shattered that calm - there were too many to belong only to the survivors from Mermanchild Castle, the entire community had gathered, armed and ready to face us. It would be impossible to storm their fortifications without preparation, especially after the losses we suffered defending Mermanchild, and we need time to rebuild, to recover, before we can continue our march through these caves whose vastness and secrets we are only beginning to grasp.
14: The smell of burning village hung thick in the air. Up close it was almost comforting, if you could blot out the images that had come before the flames. Bodies lay in the streets and along the outskirts I see one man still clutching his shield, as if hoping it might guard him in the afterlife. When we found the secret passage and met the tribe's first warriors, their answer was raw and immediate: a frenzy of violence, like a bear roused from sleep. No map showed the place where we now stood. Luckily, we have one of the Queen's subjects, captured in the battle and spared, along with his family. His freedom, and their safety, bought me the information I needed.|| Centuries ago, the underground rivers were gentler, during drought that caused a long starvation period, desperate folk would swim the passages to seek new homes. Now the waters run deep and violent, those who tried to follow the old paths drowned, ending the long misery that had driven them below. Their weapons differed from the Queen's, though echoes of craft and design remained. Their skin was pallid, like the parchment my scribes use.|| I urged my horse about and followed the column as it pushed toward a ravine whose breadth hinted at the island's vast, hidden underworld. I did not know where this new path would lead, but if we are to conquer the island we must first purge the dangers that lie beneath it.
15: The ravine burned under a scorching haze as our soldiers in black and white swept forward, setting fire to village after village, house after house. The defenders were either cut down or fled. We could not keep any of the villagers alive with us, every scrap of food was needed to keep our own people from starvation. A handful of tribesmen escaped into the tunnels, but they are no concern for now.|| Moments ago, scouts rushed to me and Michael with grim news: a heavily fortified castle lies ahead. Only two bridges span the chasm, crossing the sheer cliffs and the river that forms a natural barrier for the purple-bannered soldiers. It will take many strong men to hold those narrow crossings.|| My duty now is to gather food and mine every vein of ore these caves can offer. Meanwhile, I have ordered Michael to raise a camp near the enemy walls, a shield against any sudden strike. I must begin the mining soon, or we risk being overrun. Only the Unsunken might know how many soldiers hide behind those walls.
16: It feels as if it were yesterday when I first saw the purple-painted shields emerge from the mountains. The wild tribe vanished as suddenly as they had announced themselves only weeks earlier. Some survived the massacre and became part of our new community, not as equals, but at least alive. Few of them were grateful for that mercy, though it was not my concern at the moment.|| I walked toward Michael's tent. On both sides of the road, mutilated bodies lay in ditches dug by tired, mostly broken men in white. One of his medics stopped me. 'My lord, he needs rest. The leg is healing slowly, but the cut was deep. He barely knows where he is.' I respected his plea. I knew the next battle would be mine alone. Still, I feared he would never wake to see and share what we had built. The lance had torn into his leg above the knee. A little deeper, and he would not have survived. Now the entire army was under my command. It would all be over soon, or so I told myself as I entered yet another abyss carved into the mountain.
17: I had not felt happiness in a long time. When it finally came, it was not for the reasons I had imagined at the start of this journey. Michael was alive. My best friend was walking again, not without help, but walking, rather than lying unconscious in his own bed.|| The final target of our campaign lay ahead. The Queen's castle was larger than any map had promised. White banners lay before the walls. The siege had already begun.|| I looked at the light green shield lying beside me, waiting for its turn to be melted down in the forge. It was almost identical to the one carried by the corpse of an unknown peasant back home in the harbor. My smiths had done their work well, nobody could tell that shield back at home was only a replica. I could only hope that this whole effort will not be wasted, and that we can finally conquer the last bastion of this cursed island.
