A Retelling Before the Gates of Aster Malik

The Siege of Aster Malik

Composed by Ser Aerek Ancyrion, the Lemon Knight
Hosted by Historian Jurixe S. Nithilar

15th of Sarapin, Year 1004 AF. Before a drawbridge. Old Aster Town

✦ An image of an aging Knight appears ✦

Clad in a crested helm and armour bearing the heraldry of the Duchy of Aster Malik, he removes his helm and places it upon the ground, then retrieves an ebony pipe from his belt and packs it with tabac. After taking a long, deliberate drag, he speaks at last.

The Plague Awakened

Ser Aerek Ancyrion, Regent of Aster Malik The siege of Aster Malik began with the Asterian Restoration's second Asterian Festival in 977 AF. As part of this grand showcase of history, Neraeos Pelagia raised the Iridescent Moon from Rashavi Bay, a Shallamese flagship that saw action in the Wars of Succession.

Ser Aerek Ancyrion But soon, adventurers who boarded the ship began experiencing symptoms like itching, rashes, chills, fatigue, rotting mouths, internal bleeding, and even death. Illindira, physician of Aster Keep, identified the malady as the long-forgotten Mysian Rot. Its ancient remedies, royal lemons, striped limes, and blood oranges, were Imperial cultivars thought extinct in the modern day.

The Discovery

Ser Aerek Ancyrion Adventurers searched nonetheless. Finally, an Asterian peasant found six jars of five seedless, deep purple royal lemons each in his cellar, preserved in brine from days of yore, a mark of luxury for the Imperial nobility. This was tributed to me, the Aster Regent. The Lady Tahquil Maris pried the first jar open. We consumed two lemons, and found ourselves cured.

He counts upon his fingers as he continues to speak.

Ser Aerek Ancyrion Three lemons were given to the reigning Aster Champion, Countess Nezaya Visindi, who presided over the Krymenian Academy and its vast laboratory facilities. A jar of five was sent to the Baroness Jurixe Nithilar of the Asterian Restoration, a Duchy protectorate. And another sent to the Hierophant Cieon Maralyn, then the foremost researcher of the Mysian Rot. I hoped that with a few samples, they could produce a cure.

The Drums of War

Ser Aerek Ancyrion Word of this discovery reached the Nerai. Days later, their agents cast accusations of greed at my own gates, and demanded for the Thalassan Empire what was Asterian by ducal right. When they were turned away, the Seagod Himself beat the drums of war.

"From the Sea of Screamed Prayers, the Third Legion of Scyros came ashore, five thousand strong, joined by Cyrenians led by the famed general, Crixos."

The Siege

Ser Aerek Ancyrion I sealed the town's gates, unwilling to surrender and expose my subjects to the disease. But then the Countess Nezaya and her Hashan allies marched for the Duchy, joined by Eleusian and Ashtani Chevaliers from the Guild of Knights, along with what countrymen would come.

Drawing a Siorraidhan scimitar, he makes idle strokes in reverie.

Ser Aerek Ancyrion We weathered pillaged farms and triton steam siege engines until Hashan arrived and we opened the gates, only to have Cyrenian forces rush it. Chaotic street fighting broke out in the lower town with heavy casualties, but it was Aster Malik's Knight Captain, Sir Jineid, who emerged to turn the tide.

Ser Aerek Ancyrion Targossian forces later joined us to repay my aid for them against Captain Blackgale's pirates, but the combined Nerai-Cyrenian forces were still formidable, and the siege continued.

The Miracle of Vastar

"Until the third day, when Lord Vastar Himself intervened! Seeing the plight of His age-old retainers against His age-old Foe, the Stormlord summoned His righteous wrath and smote five thousand Scyrians to ash and memory."

Ser Aerek Ancyrion We surged from the gates of Aster Malik and, at last, ended a siege unjust.

The Lemon Knight

Ser Aerek Ancyrion For their aid, a jar of royal lemons was paid to each of Hashan, Targossas, and Ashtan, exhausting my supply. We were next minorly sieged by an angry peasant mob, convinced that more cures were hoarded within. I took no action, but still the epithet "Lemon Knight" spread across the lands.

He sheathes his scimitar.

Ser Aerek Ancyrion And so this ground remembers the terror of a plague, a triton siege, a miracle of Vastar, and the legacy of the Lemon Knight who guards the Ducal Seat. A Knight embraces consequence for his acts, and so I wear the weight of mine.

The image of the aging Knight taps out his insubstantial pipe and picks up his crested helm, placing it upon his head. With a courtly bow, he vanishes from existence.