Nox's Dark Fortune

Ciaran, Baron of Esperance, was a man of pure ambition. He sought to conquer the world as if it were his rightful inheritance; not out of a lust for power, or a longing to be adored by all people. No, he wanted it so that he could reward those who had aided him in his quest and punish those who had refused him.

He was pragmatic and brutal. He didn’t shy away from sending men to their deaths in order to get what he wanted; though he would send them off with their heads held high and their spirits still hot with hope that they might prevail.

They never did.

Ciaran was not a man who was easily impressed by displays of power or wealth; though he did enjoy indulging in luxurious living from time to time. Ciaran was a shrewd tactician and often would make decisions based significantly on how they could help him gain more power, territory, or riches.

Of course, no man is perfect, and the baron was no exception. Despite his tactical mind, Ciaran made some foolish decisions based entirely on impulse. He especially had a tendency to follow his heart where women were concerned rather than his head. It was in this way that he lost his left eye to an assassin’s blade while attempting to woo the daughter of an enemy lord. In addition, it was through this same way that he had been exiled from Esperance in shame after being caught with the wife of one of his knights.

The latter event had not gone well for the knight either: he died at Ciaran’s hands before even a single day passed since learning of it. Ciaran simply did not tolerate infidelity very well: for himself or anyone else.

Over the years, Ciaran had amassed a small but formidable army from many lands under one banner; including men from both near and far who sought only adventure and riches in fighting for such a charismatic leader as he. With this army at his back, Ciaran marched across the world seeking new lands to claim for himself and new foes who would lay down their lives for the sake of fighting him at last.

In truth, very few men ever saw the end of the wars waged by Ciaran; though it seemed as though everyone on earth knew who he was before they met their end at his hand.

The sun rose over the horizon just as it always had-- except now there were no birds singing to greet its arrival. There were no flowers blooming to welcome its rays of light into their beds with open arms-- there were no beds anymore; just scorched earth littered with twisted metal frames and corpses alike among what remained of what once were thriving villages and towns sat nestled between majestic mountainsides and rolling valleys beneath which one could almost hear rivers flowing freely into lakes upon which boats sailed lazily along their shores. Their inhabitants are long dead... all save one: Nox the Reaper-- whose reaping days are far from over...

Nox didn’t want to wake up today-- but neither did any other day really matter anymore when you’re dead anyway. Nox pondered over the idea of being deader than dead, or even deadest. He wondered if that could be a possibility or just a concept too difficult for human understanding. Maybe, he thought, it is something only gods can understand. But do gods exist? If so, Nox saw himself as the god of death, capable of understanding deadest.

A knock came at Nox’s door as suddenly everything went silent except for pounding footsteps rushing toward him full speed! They stopped short outside his room’s door as whoever they belonged to realized they tripped over something during their mad dash toward him! The door opened quickly as the unnamed visitor entered cautiously while dragging something large behind them-- they pulled the mysterious item inside and slammed the door shut, locking it behind them before placing it down beside them on the floor. They then slid it underneath Nox’s bed where they knelt down next to it, hoping no one heard them enter or saw them hiding the object as both began chanting softly in unison.

Darkness surrounded Nox again, but this time without panic filling every pore of his body. Instead, there was peace filling every fiber within each cell of his being as he faced the unknown nature of death and existence. He contemplated the possibility of life once again within each organ, making them whole and creating life anew. He had been dead for so long that he desired a second chance at life - not as a specter of death, but as something more alive than ever before.

The chaotic thoughts swirling within Nox's mind left him feeling terrified and exhilarated; the power of life and death coursed through his veins like a torrential river. With each passing moment, the line between reality and imagination blurred further, leaving him uncertain whether he was truly experiencing this bizarre turn of events or merely trapped within a vivid nightmare. One thing, however