A dream realized (prologue to Ishgard events) [Story]

[Brave]

An audible ‘zipping’ sound could be heard as Brave finished putting on his clothes and inspected himself in the mirror of his inn room.  People could say what they wanted about the Forgotten Knight, but the rustic accommodations were appreciated by him at least.  The small hearth in his room, the choice of wood to be burned (some kind of pine… it had to be), to the smells of food and spirits coming from the tavern below. When the call for aid came from Ishgard though, it was almost like a flashback to years past.  He couldn’t help but think of how this all suddenly came to be, the desire to become a dragoon, the need to fight the Dravinian Horde, so many things that were once impossible now leading back to a childish dream and becoming a reality.  

 

More importantly though, it was the hardwork that he accomplished in his past as well as his (for the most part) good service to the Maelstrom that helped him get here, as well as land his new line of work.  Brave looked at himself in the Mirror again.  The Ironworks uniform certainly looked fancy.  The material it was made of felt like nothing else he’d ever worn before.  The attire ‘breathes well’ to quote the quartermaster.  To this day he still didn’t quite follow how that description applied to clothing, but he knew that if he wanted to even remotely fit in with Garlond’s team, he’d at least have to copy the vernacular of the quartermaster.  Bringing his mind back to the present, he admired the craftsmanship while trying to get over how ‘unique’ it looked.  The blue, white, silver, black and orange emblem left a ‘colorful’ appearance compared to his other choices in armor.  He was already missing his red and blacks of Maelstrom but he could not deny the craftsmanship of the garb.

 

“It sure is snug though…” he thought to himself as he twisted from side to side, taking another moment to also look over the weapon they provided him.  Leaving the shield and sword behind for something more akin to his great axe felt right.  Brave had been wanting to try out these ‘great swords’ that some of Ishgard’s more offensive oriented knights were favoring.  The heft alone accompanied by the long grip just felt like he could do a great deal more punishment with the blade.  He honestly expected something a little more functional looking  and less decorative considering the reputation that Cid Garlond had acquired for his airships.  The weapon however matched his armor almost completely… Garlond certainly had a way with keeping his men looking “uniform” with one another, that’s for sure.  Brave only wished that he didn’t stick out like such a sore thumb here.  At least his work with the Ironworks was a promising step forward in terms of work he’d been hired on to do.  It may not have been ‘the Knight of Ishgard’ he’d hoped to be, but was a welcome change from caravan duty, as well as the accursed voidsent he’d been dealing with in the Coral Sea before he left their number.

 

 

Putting his best foot forward, Brave left the Forgotten Knight, beginning his journey in the land that had once barred him from entering.

[Brave]

_{Bravaden looked out to the skyline of Western Coerthas, the stories of the place being rife with conflict as well as being one of the many bastions of defense against the Dravinian horde was drastically understated.  No story of gallant knights or bard’s song regaling a heroic journey could describe what he was feeling right now.  If he were here a few years ago it would be a different matter.  He’d chalk it up to training, or ‘living out his dreams’.  Now as he stood vigil over a caravan of supplies, it finally sank in.  He was at Falcon’s Nest, and was about to be doing some good- NO! Not good!  Edifying work!  He was going to help Ishgard, he was going to-}

 

_{“Aye Brave!  Hop to it!  These boxes aren’t going to load themselves!  Ain’t no dragons attacking so no need for you to be staring off all stoic like, waiting to use that new toy we gave you.”  One of the Ironworks caravan drivers gave a hearty wave to him as he brought Brave’s attention away from his stories.  The roegadyn simply shook his head as the hyur had once again been lost in his thoughts.  The new recruit hunched over apologetically as he hurried over to a box and helped load the cargo.  “Sorry about that, been trying to come here for a while now, and I guess it’s finally setting in.  Didn’t catch your name?” Small talk was never Brave’s strong suit, but if he had finally found an organization to put an honest day’s work in he’d need to get over it.}

 

_{“You can call me-“ He looked the hyur over and smirked “Braensmihd”.  You wouldn’t happen to be the Limsan Lominsan we recently took on would you?”  He gave a jovial shove to the hyur causing him to almost drop the box.  “Hey now!  I just started working here!  Don’t make my first wage be spent on replacing whatever you’re hauling in these crates!”  He set the box the box down carefully as he replied to his new companion’s query. “And yes… I hail from La Noscea.  I’d say I miss the warm weather there, but you could say I’ve worn out my welcome there.”  Brave attempted to play it off with a laugh, but Braensmihd didn’t need to be a soothsayer to read the highlander’s mood.}

 

_{“We all got history Warder.  If you’re out here trying to forge a new way of life that’s fine and all, but keep in mind we’re here to restore the status quo for these Ishgardiens here.  Dragon’s being put in their place is one thing, but we’re of a mind to reacquire some of the lost siege equipment in Dusk Vigil, while shoring up the defenses of Falcon’s nest.” Braensmihd motioned over to a box as he picked up the one beside it, “Besides, leave the dragon slaying to the dragoons and Ishgardien knights.  We Ironworks folks got enough trouble on our hands fixing that giant airship the Holy See is so intent on.  We’ll handle these smaller jobs for Master Garlond while he and the ‘big wigs’ put their noggins to better use.”}

 

_{Bravaden gave a morose nod as the well-intended advice opened up an old wound.  “You have the right of it Braensmihd.  Don’t you worry, I’ll keep-“.  The hyur paused as he saw something heading toward Falcon’s Nest stairs.  It was blatantly obvious from the uniform that it was one of the engineers he and Braensmihd’s crew were to meet, what was more concerning was the deep red stain permeating the blue garb.  The fortress’ watch was already springing to action as they rushed to meet the injured man.  The roegadyn looked to Brave with a curt nod.  “Might want to hold off on loading now… something tells me the person we needed to deliver these supplies to just came to us.”}

 

 

 

_{He looked to Braensmihd as the injured engineer was carried past them on a stretcher.  The only thing that the man could say was “black… armor…” before he passed out from his body being wracked with pain.  The roegadyn directed his attention to Brave as he watched the pained mess of a man be taken to keep, “Hope you know how to use that thing…” Braensmihd said seriously as he looked to Bravaden’s  greatsword.  “Because it looks like your ‘simple’ guard duty just got a lot more complicated}

[Brave]

Bravaden looked over the report with a scowl.  He knew this wasn’t ‘his’ fault but he couldn’tshake how the attack felt like it reflected poorly upon the division he’d just been hired to assist with.  The man whowas injured was named Aaron Bosche and if the gods were kind, he’d be able to use at least one of his arms and hopefully walk with a cane instead of crutches.  Whoever this Black Armored manwas, he certainly had good reason to assume Bosche was dead, if this mechanic hadn’t braved the highlands on his own, the caravan might have ridden right into another ambush.

 

Braensmihd apparently recognized Aaron and had been waitingdiligently outside his room, praying to whatever gods he worshipped too for the injured engineer.  So many questions leftunanswered and regarding the attack and the only person who could fill in the gaps was hanging by a thread.  The hyurhated waiting around and finally decided to leave the roegadyn to his thoughts and prayers.  Brave on the other handneeded to prepare.

 

The only thing that was certain about the assailant was hisarmor, he was armed with a bladed weapon, and also could perform some kind of magic…

 

Brave muttered under his breath about ‘damnable dirty fingerwigglers’ and proceeded to see if anyone within Falcon’s Nest could explain if they knew of who the attacker might be? 

If Brave needed back up or if this man had a bounty on him, he couldseek out the aid of others or AT LEAST be better prepared. 

The fort was full of travelers and knights alike.  Surely someone would have information to gooff of.  As the daylight hours wanedthough, the hyur berated himself and his optimism.

 

Ishgardien xenophobia was true to form and definitely not inshort supply.  No one here wanted to getinvolved.

 

The best lead he had to go off of was a recommendation froma squire who was DEEP into his cups.  Thepoor lad seemed greatly disturbed by the whole matter regarding the Ironworks engineer but it was what the conversation segued in to that most concerned the newly hired guard.  The squire spoke of anorder of Ishgardien knights fallen from the grace of the Archbishop.  These renegade ‘peacekeepers’ doled outjustice as they saw fit and stood against the tyranny of a corrupt government.

 

The more he listened to the lad the angrier he became.  Whoever this black armored man was, heclearly didn’t know the good that Garlond and his team had accomplished for Ishgard and its denizens.  Who could denythe use of siege technology against the Dravinian horde as well?  If the squire was right and this enemy of theIronworks was indeed a ‘dark knight’ then Brave would need to try and understand just what they were capable of.

 

As his investigation came to a close for the evening hetrudged his way back to the roegadyn he befriended.  Braensmihd looked a little haggard, butmaintained a stoic expression as he saw ‘the rookie’ approaching.  “Find anything of use Bravaden?  I’d like to see this man get what’s coming tohim if at all possible.”  Brave shook hishead dissatisfied with his efforts “Not enough… but I have a lead that may show some promise.  Any word on when we’ll bedeparting…” He directed his attention to the door beside Braensmihd “…if we’re leaving at all that is.”

 

Braensmihd’s expression never faltered as he spoke “I’m notgoing to let some boogeyman of a knight prevent us from doing good work.  That being said they’ll need to prepare ateam to go back to the encampment, they’ll probably redouble the guard too I’d wager.”  The large man shifted his headfrom side to side, as he attempted to relieve his body from its stooped vigil by the door.  “Ishgard needs those siegeweapons, Skysteel might be an up and coming provider of the tools needed, but there’s no reason to see perfectly useable siege weaponry go to waste.  With it recently being cleared out, we won’thave the same difficulty that previous teams had reacquiring them either.”

 

Braensmihd pointed a heavy hand at Bravaden.  “We just need you and the rest of the guarddetail on point.  Good men and women losttheir lives today, and people with the technological know-how aren’t a gil a dozen.”  Brave looked crossly back atBraensmihd, not appreciating the tone he was taking but it was nothing ‘new’ to him.  “People who lose something close tothem all grieve in their own way, but it would best to keep the finger pointing to a minimum.” Brave spoke curtly as he turned to leave.  “I’ll be returning to Ishgard until the newteam is assembled.  I have a few leads tocheck out that might help me better prepare.”

 

 

Brave bit back the remark he wanted to say as he left… doinghis best to not get dragged into the potential blame game.  “Be well Braensmihd… sorry about your friend.”