[OL-FB] La Revenante

[Khorne]

Similar to the story I did last year (The Secret War), the tale of La Revenante will also be divided into different chapters with a corresponding build. For ease of navigation, I will once a again add a table of contents to the first post, with links to all chapters and builds:

Prologue - Fire and Brimstone

Chapter I. - Rocinante
Chapter II. - Salty Business
Chapter III. - Underground
 

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Prologue - Fire and Brimstone

The flames wrapped around the woman's body and clawed their way up, spurred on by the fresh air. The chains which held her to the stake rattled as her body contorted in a deadly struggle against the heat and fumes. Yet still, she hardly made a sound.

Annoyed, the priest of Zeus continued to spat out the sentence of condemnation. The crowd was ecstatic at the sight of such a spectacle. It had been a while since they had a good burning.

"For defying the King's Royal and Absolute Authority: Death", the priest exclaimed as the crowd started to roar. The soldiers were vigilant as to not let any peasant come too close, every now and then violently shoving one away with a hard butt of the musket.

"For standing up to a tyrant", the woman transformed the priest's words in her mind. It took most of her remaining life energy and vestige of sanity to form any thoughts in the face of immolation. Defiant to the end, as the flames licked her clothes and hair and burned her skin.

The cleric waved his hand to calm down the crowd. He grinned sadistically as he continued the follow-up of his plea.

"For challenging the base principles of the Faith and its representative here in the Realm: Lord Calida, for this Heresy", the priest made sure to accentuate the last word, "death by burning at the stake!"

Her mind crawled up from the abyss once more: "For showing the people the Truth."

"In Death, punishment. An end to your miserable short-lived life, rat," the priest looked at his victim. The flames reflected in his black beady hate-filled eyes.

The smoke filled her lungs. Coughing violently and through excruciating pain, the end had come.

"In Death, Absolution and equality. Death is the beginning. Ideas are immortal."

A chilling scream. And then total darkness.

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The start of a new story series. Could be handy if you read the Secret War, but not completely necessary. I think in terms of length, it might be somewhat similar. I'll try to make the builds bigger this time (12x12).

I hope you all come along for the ride and will enjoy the story. As always, comments and criticism are welcome.

And for those who know where this is headed: no spoilers 

Extra pictures (with unedited one):

Spoiler

 

 

Edited December 26, 2024 by Khorne

[Khorne]

Chapter I. - Rocinante

Celeste jolted up from her hammock, nearly falling out in doing so. She woke from a deep slumber and felt as if crawling her way up from a dark chasm. There were trickles of sweat on her forehead - she was burning up and grasped her neck, taking in deep chugs of fresh air. It took her a moment to return to her senses and become aware of her surroundings: the hold of the ship Rocinante, together with other survivors of El Oleonda who were able to flee the island.

"So you finally awake, madonna", a young man remarked as he slurped his soup. "I wasn't sure if you wanted me to wake you up. We're nearly at the coast."

"A bad dream?", he queried, then looked up, wiped his mouth and asked in a more serious manner: "or a vision?"

"It's nothing of importance, Joseph", Celeste quickly replied and waved away his interest.

She rubbed her eyes. "When are we disembarking?"

"Tonight. The captain says it'll be safer if we use the rowing boats to make our way up to the smuggling caverns off the shore, instead of using the port to dock. The army has been put on high alert after our escape from El Oleonda. We need to lay low."

Celeste raised an eyebrow. "There are no smuggling caverns off the Granoleon coast, as far as I'm aware."

"We're not going to Granoleon, madonna. That's too dangerous now. We sailed south to Salinas-de-Sant'Arrys instead."

"But I need to go to Granoleon," Celeste protested. She let her hand slide over the scar on her cheek, a grim reminder of past events on El Oleonda.

"Oc, I understand. Don't worry. Me and the others, we're all with you. To the end, madonna. You saved us all. If it wasn't for you, we'd have never made it off that island. We'd never have made it through the patrols on the high seas. We owe you our lives."

Joseph paused for a second and then continued to lay out the plan. "From Sant'Arrys we'll slip into the Champs Fauves. I know some folks there. They'll help us out. We'll find a way to Granoleon."

-----

Since this chapter is closely connected to the prologue, I decided to post it today in a quick follow-up. Also, I won't have a lot of time the coming weeks and wanted to start the story already with a least a bit of character introduction and not just a vague prologue.

[NOD]

The prologue with the woman on the pyre was very realistic. Really very good photo editing. Luckily it was only a nightmare. I really like Chapter I and I'm excited to see what happens next. 

[Jeff of Clubs]

'The board is set. The pieces are moving' 

Great story so far! I do love the effect of the flames. Did you light the poor victim's eyes or was that a digital effect?

[Khorne]

On 11/24/2024 at 7:25 PM, NOD said:

The prologue with the woman on the pyre was very realistic. Really very good photo editing. Luckily it was only a nightmare. I really like Chapter I and I'm excited to see what happens next. 

Thanks! I'm glad with how the build and the photography came out, as well.

21 hours ago, Jeff of Clubs said:

'The board is set. The pieces are moving' 

Great story so far! I do love the effect of the flames. Did you light the poor victim's eyes or was that a digital effect?

No, the eyes are printed on the head. You can see a non-edited version in the spoiler tag. I bought the head off Bricklink, but I think it's originally a Jawa head. I like how the eyes added a touch of humanity over a completely black head piece.

[Keymonus]

Amazing set up and development! The story begins in a gruesome way but hey, BoBS is preparing for rough times in the third era! The two vignettes are amazingly well built, but the story is really stealing the scene! Well done, @Khorne, even if I fear that no good will come from giving the rebels/heretics/heretic rebels/free thinkers a martyr to mourn!

[Khorne]

On 12/2/2024 at 7:48 PM, Keymonus said:

Amazing set up and development! The story begins in a gruesome way but hey, BoBS is preparing for rough times in the third era! The two vignettes are amazingly well built, but the story is really stealing the scene! Well done, @Khorne, even if I fear that no good will come from giving the rebels/heretics/heretic rebels/free thinkers a martyr to mourn!

Thanks @Keymonus, glad you liked the short read so far. I'm looking forward to expand the story and hopefully have some free time soon to finish up some other MOCs for the next parts. The rough times in BOBS will surely get referenced in the story!

[Khorne]

Chapter II. - Salty Business

See spoiler below for a clearer, non-edited picture.

 

The Rocinante floated off the shores for some time, staying hidden between the rocky outcrops and coves until night had come. It would be safer to row ashore under the cover of darkness. Thankfully for Celeste and the rest of her party, rain had started to fall during the twilight hours, further diminishing the visibility. Celeste didn't know the area at all and peered out into the darkness to spot anything at all to help her get a lay of the land. Only in the distance could she make out the faint light of a lantern.

The crew made it to shore without incidents, where they quickly jumped off the rowboat with the remaining gear and packs that had survived their escape from El Oleonda. From the darkness, several figures emerged - their faces masked by neckerchiefs pulled up high. Joseph nodded as a way of greeting them and turned to Celeste.

"Smugglers", he explained. "Don't mind them, they're merely here to make use of the captain's ferrying service, as we did. We're getting off and they'll load their goods on the Rocinante, which'll then ship them to another port."

"What are they smuggling?", Celeste queried.

"Salt. It's the prime product of this region and source of most of Salinas-de-Sant'Arrys' income. They smuggle it from here to regions in Oléon or beyond where the tax rate on salt is higher. We have it in abundance here, so it's relatively easy to turn a profit. If you know what you're doing and willing to break the law, obviously. Punishments are hard."

Joseph pointed his lantern forward, towards a crevice or crack between the cliffs before them. If one didn't know what to look for, it was easy to miss. It looked like a natural crack later expanded by human hands.

He gestured Celeste to follow him. "Come, madonna. We'll use the same tunnel network as the smugglers. We'll be able to get into Sant'Arrys unnoticed this way."

"Oi, amic!", one of the smugglers shouted softly in a muffled voice. "Be careful in the city. The garrison is on high alert and the populace is restless. The governor is planning on raising the taxes and increasing the levy of men to bolster the army in El Oleonda. Needless to say, the people are having a hard time with those ideas. Last I heard, a priest got incarcerated during protests, further raising the tensions. Far mèfi."

Joseph nodded in acknowledgment. "Farà."

Then the party entered the darkness of the caves.

Spoiler

[Kai NRG]

Nice job on the lighting!  I like the rugged shape you've achieved on the rockwork too.

[NOD]

A great build, a tunnel network right on the coast! It is exciting and fun to read the story.

[Khorne]

On 12/24/2024 at 6:15 PM, Kai NRG said:

Nice job on the lighting!  I like the rugged shape you've achieved on the rockwork too.

Thanks! An easy edit, but it helps add atmosphere. I wanted to make the rock/cliff bigger, but apparently this is the extent of my dark grey slope pieces . Could've sworn I had more. Probably tied up in another build somewhere, I guess.

6 hours ago, NOD said:

A great build, a tunnel network right on the coast! It is exciting and fun to read the story.

Thanks! There is less action as of yet, compared to the start of the Secret War which had a clearer narrative from the beginning. I'm setting the scene first before we get to the juicy bits . It's Phantom Menace-esque politics and economics first, haha.

 

On to the next!

 

---

 

Chapter III. - Underground

Following a series of tunnels, some man-made while others were created by the course of ancient underground streams that had since dried up, Celeste and Joseph caught up with another of the smugglers also using the tunnels on his way back to the city. The local knew the underground network like the back of his hand and together the party inched closer towards the city, finally leaving the damp tunnels for the more civilized yet more pungent sewers.

Joseph was gagging at the stench and tried to cover his face with his sleeve. "We should've tried our luck above ground, I reckon."

The smuggler was quick to turn down that idea. "Non, amic. Marrida idéa - bad idea. The city is in turmoil since the governor announced they'd be raising the salt tax and levy more men for the wars in the colonies."

He turned to his accidental companions, to underscore the gravity of the situation. "The situation is bad, cresètz-me. Yesterday, they arrested père Verlaine. He's a popular fella 'round these parts. A Ferryman."

Celeste looked inquisitively at Joseph, in want of clarification. While Joseph was from around, Celeste used to live in the northern parts of Oléon and she had a hard time keeping up with both the dialect and the local idioms.

Jacques - the smuggler, noticed the glance and briefly explained. "A Ferryman is a member of the Stygian Poor Order. Traveling mendicant priests of Hades who help those who can't afford proper funerary services or live too far off in the wilderness to be serviced by the regular priests. There's many such communities here. Père Verlaine helped many people. He's a trusted fella and wanted to use his voice to appeal to the authorities."

The smuggler continued to drudge through the muck. "The bastards locked him up, though. No one knows what has happened to him since. Today, the Gendarmerie was out and about to arrest suspects of incitement of anti-royal sentiment."

"Not much further now. We're near to where the Forger lives. He'll fix you up with proper papers and documents to travel the country. You'll be model citizens again.", Jacques stated and slowed his pace.

"He's already dead.", Celeste said bluntly as she stared ahead into nothingness. She shook her head. "I have seen it."

Now it was Jacques who looked suspiciously at Celeste and then Joseph. "Your amigueta, she okay? Who is she talking about? The Forger?"

"Non. Père Verlaine. He is dead."

Jacques scoffed in disbelief. "How would you know? You barely got here. The garrison wouldn't do that. Especially now. I mean, they're not the brightest lot, but it would be like lighting the fuse to the bomb beneath their own position themselves."

Joseph's face turned white. "She... she just knows things...She sees things. It'd be safe to assume the worst. We need to leave the city."

[NOD]

Another exciting sequel! I notice that there is a red cloth hanging on the windowsill of the house, where the gendarmerie arrested someone. Is it a sign of the Brigade Rouge? The sewer and the house placed transversely is well built.

[Khorne]

7 hours ago, NOD said:

Another exciting sequel! I notice that there is a red cloth hanging on the windowsill of the house, where the gendarmerie arrested someone. Is it a sign of the Brigade Rouge? The sewer and the house placed transversely is well built.

Thanks, @NOD! The cloth may be a reference, but it wasn't 100% meant to be a literal one. More of a symbolic link to show the arrested man had revolutionary or at least anti-royal sympathies. Glad you caught up on that!

I like the diagonal house as well. The first iteration of the build was more "standard" and just plain frontal. I didn't really like it, so I reworked it so that the house was now diagonally placed. It adds an interesting visual dynamic.