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Carrion Queen, Historical Excerpt 1

The Carrion Queen’s Conquest was a subject of much scholarly interest; her army was nearly the smallest on the continent by numbers, despite the record number of magic users, creatures and part-creatures. At a mere four thousand foot soldiers, one hundred healers, and sixty Captains, they should never have been able to breach the Kyolan borderlands, much less defeat and absorb the rest of the armies on the Continent. 

In the culture of Jadzia’s people, the Kyola, there was a legend she learned at her father’s knee, which told the story of a young knight who harnessed the energy of Dawn, Day, Dusk, and Night, Magic, Mundane, Creature, Part-Creature and Human, to defeat a great faceless evil. As all legends are, it was based in truth and that truth set the stage for a cultural reformation. The story was lost to those outside of Kyola, but within its borders all were welcome, and all were taught the legend. 

Each child, at the age of five -and each newcomer to Kyola- was tested by The Great Mage, and earned their Designation: Dawnwalker, Daywalker, Duskwalker, or Nightwalker. From there they trained to hone their instincts and natural energies, until their release from the Houses of Knowledge at the age of twenty. Any Designation could go into any field of study or work, but the focus of scholars at the time was how The Carrion Queen’s  Army functioned. 

As in the legend, Jadzia called all able fighters regardless of race, Designation, or magical ability, and formed them into a single army. Four factions, working in fluid synchronicity. 

Dawnwalkers were first to the field, hacking the opposition with axes, warhammers and concussive booms of offensive magic. Subtlety was not the gift of Dawnwalkers, but their ability to decimate with brutal and blunt efficiency was awe-inspiring. They broke the enemy lines like a landslide, single-minded and explosive.

Eight hours almost precisely from the time Dawnwalkers arrived to the battlefield, the Daywalkers smoothly replaced their ranks. Daywalkers specialized in aerial and ranged attack:  Archers, Trebuchet, flight-suited Creatures, Weather Mages who turned the lakes of blood left behind by Dawnwalker victory into ice under the feet of their opposition. 

Another (approximate) 8 hours later the Duskwalkers lit their path across the battlefield, blazing through enemy ranks with Firefae and burning greatswords. Opposing armies -having been bruised and demoralized by Dawnwalkers, skewered from above and frozen by Daywalkers- were caught off guard by the second rush of melee fighting and the abrupt change in temperature brought on by the Duskwalkers. The bare few survivors spoke of a wave of forge-like heat, and the very ground they stood on steaming. With haunted, wide eyes they told scholars and healers of soldiers screaming as they roasted in their armor, dropping like flies from steam burns, cut in half by flaming swords which cauterized and left them alive.

In accordance with the Rules Of Engagement followed by all Continental Armies, any battlefield fighting ended when the sun fell fully behind the horizon. Dead were counted, the surviving injured were gathered and bundled off to healers, standing soldiers fed and sent to sleep like so many frightened children. And frightened children they were by the end of the Carrion Queen’s campaign, for when the moon was highest in the sky the Nightwalkers rose. 

Nightwalkers slipped into enemy camps, swift and silent as deep waters, bringing the end to any remaining opposition with thin silver blades and wicked, flashing claws. Moonmages and Pixies poisoned wine, vials of medicine, whispered spells that brought deadly nightmares, and left only clergy and non-combatants alive. Nightwalker honor was absolute, they did not kill the innocent, the unblooded, or those in service to the Gods.

Eight hundred melee Warriors, two hundred Mages, twenty-five Healers, and fifteen Captains made up each Designation. Each Captain was in charge of fifty to fifty-five Warriors and Mages, Healers moved freely, and Captains elected a Captain Major who attended War Council and related orders.

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THE CARRION QUEEN

There shall rise a Queen of Carrion Birds, and her Flaming Sword

The kingdom will fall into blood and ash under the force of her rage

But from the ashes, like a phoenix, will rise a kingdom of Light and Honor

It shall be prosperous, shining, a beacon of the new world

Jadzia has survived everything life has thrown at her, and some things she’s thrown at herself. Victory looms on her horizon after years fighting a continental war to equalize the standing of Magic and Creatures in a world long-ruled by the Mundane. The same war will guarantee her a singular, personal revenge- but that just doesn’t look as good on paper, does it?

Victory is hard-earned, her revenge taken, but what happens after victory? When revenge turns to a sucking hollow in her ribs, and stone walls become mirrors and magnifying glasses? 

How do you live surrounded by ghosts, drowning in Prophecy, clawing to create a world worth raising children in, all while shattered at the joints?

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Greetings!

This is my space to put (read immortalize) all things pertaining to my in-progress novel The Carrion Queen. You have been warned, bits and bobs will be flying: worldbuilding, characters, strategy, outtakes, future chapters, playlists, random shit that floats around in my head that I may retcon later -you name it, it’s here. Comments and criticism welcomed, thanks for showing interest!