They're a little long, but i need to know which is best.
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The Regal Army was created by the Royal Family, long before the creation of the Three Kingdoms’ Triumvirate Sovereignty. The eldest in each generation of the Royal Family was traditionally the next in line for the throne, regardless of the heir’s gender. The other siblings would not inherit the throne unless that eldest abdicated or was killed. Many centuries ago, the Queen had been blessed with seven sons. The eldest inherited the throne, as was the tradition, but his six brothers had felt left out, insignificant and useless. They wished to assist in the running of the Three Kingdoms, even if they did not make any decisions. They were all military-minded men and skilled warriors, and they decided to serve their brother by using these qualities. After many council sessions, and with the approval of their brother and their mother, they became the Regal Knights. Basing themselves in an old castle a short distance to the north of the Royal Castle, where the throne stood, the six brothers served their brother honourably and expanded the concept of a Royal military force.
Over the following generations, more royal family members who would not rise to the throne sought out the glory of being a Regal Knight. Their actions became legendary and soon the word spread to the towns and villages throughout the Three Kingdoms. Ordinary people wished to become a Regal Knight, to defend their King or Queen, to fight for the Three Kingdoms. The structure of the Regal Knights was expanded to create the Regal Army.
The next century saw reforms that shaped the Regal Army. Still officially based in the castle of the Regal Knights, outposts were created throughout the Three Kingdoms. The years saw the creation of the Regal Army’s ranks, rules and regulations, uniforms, hierarchical structure, and as the years passed, Dervanfall grew around the castle headquarters.
The castle, therefore, was the oldest building in this area of the Central District. As crooked as The Sword and Shield tavern looked, it appeared straight to passers-by. The castle was constructed entirely of old stone native to these parts, unlike the Royal Castle that was built from stones brought down from the Nirem Mountains, and had been built years before the birth of Dervanfall as a coastal outpost for the Rissu army during the Tri-Race War.
Surrounded by a tall and similarly crooked wall, the castle compound had a series of buildings around the towering keep. Most of these buildings had been used as other things when the castle was first built, such as storehouses, kitchens, and barns for the animals that would provide food for the troops. With the luxury of being in the middle of a city, where almost everything was available and within a mile’s walk, these buildings had been converted into barracks and offices. The stables remained, of course, as had the kitchen, though they now incorporated the storerooms since few soldiers now used the castle’s canteen, choosing instead to go for a meal somewhere else, such as the popular The Sword and Shield tavern.
The castle keep was five storeys tall, which was an impressive height for a castle so old. The keep was also quite wide and long compared to other castles of the same era, which made it all the more useful to serve the Regal Army’s purpose. While each of the floors had originally been split into two or three rooms, they had become more complicated as these rooms had been split into smaller chambers and corridors. The keep now served as the administrative centre for the Regal Army, coordinating the outposts and castles throughout the Three Kingdoms, with an office for the head of each area. The keep also contained research departments in the dungeons, though what the army needed to research was only known by a very select few people.
The barracks in the compound were full of soldiers, though many of these men and women were recruits in the initial stages of their training, while most of the other soldiers were those who were only fit for parades and other ceremonial duties. There hadn’t been a threat to Dervanfall for hundreds of years, so most of the more formidable troops were sent to defend the Three Kingdoms’ borders. This made little sense to the people of Dervanfall since, to the best of their knowledge, there had been little to no danger to the borders of the Three Kingdoms, so surely the best soldiers should be close to the Kings, in case of internal enemies.
The castle was highly defended. Ten archers lined each of the surrounding walls, four kept watch from the roof of the keep. At the main gate, directly opposite The Sword and Shield, stood four guards, plus an extra four archers on the wall above the portcullis. The other gates, the west and east entrances, only had two guards and two archers, though the steels portcullises were impossible to penetrate, even when unguarded.
To any citizen, the Regal Army Headquarters were impossible to break into. The walls were too high to scale, the gates were highly defended. Despite all that, any thief saw no problems in entering the Regal Army headquarters if they needed to. After all, the army had yet to create an adequate defence for the sewers.
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Like everythin’ in Dervanfall, there’s a story behind the army. I sometimes think this city’s too soft, livin’ on the stories of its past. Then again, that’s probably why the Guild has survived so long. P’rhaps being soft is what makes this city so lucrative and vulnerable. Or p’rhaps the Guild itself is another story of Dervanfall.
The most impressive thing about the Regal Army is that it’s huge. There’re no less than five thousand men in and around the city, and countless more are scattered around the Three Kingdoms. I don’t know how many there are, of course. I don’t exactly get out of Dervanfall often, but I hear the army have outposts and camps in every possible area of the Three Kingdoms. I do know that the bulk of the army is posted out beyond the Nirem Mountains, and that another sizeable portion are defending the Oscanian border. Some folks say they’re there for our protection, others say they’re only there to control us, the people of the Kingdoms, in case we get out of hand. Personally, I don’t care. There’s no reason for anyone to pick a fight with the army, and they don’t exactly bother me. In fact, I rather like the army – they’re the only people who can piss the Vigilia off more than us thieves!
The point is they’re huge. The army covers all three Kingdoms and still has enough men to sort out the Oscanians and whoever’s giving us problems beyond the Nirem Mountains. Originally, though, there were only six members. Back then, they were the Regal Knights, and they were all members of the Royal Family. This was back when we were the Rissu Kingdom, and we had only one King, and we got lumbered with whoever was born first. You see, only the eldest child in each Royal generation gets the throne. Doesn’t matter if you’re a boy or girl, if you’re the oldest in the Royal litter, you get the golden highchair. Unless you’re killed, or you abdicate, obviously. The others are doomed to public appearances when they’re older brother or sister can’t be bothered to descend upon Dervanfall. Someone was bound to get upset about this, weren’t they? In this case, it was Prince Randril the Fourth who kicked up a fuss. Actually, that’s not true; he was annoyingly pleasant about the whole thing, from what I hear. Decided he wanted to do more for his Kingdom than serve his big sister as and when she needed, and wanted to put his keen military mind and combat skills to good use. In short, he wanted an official excuse to play with his sword, so he and his brothers set up their own little military force: the Regal Knights. Once they had the approval of the Queen, they took over an old castle on what had once been the northern edge of the city and served their sister as the swords of the Kingdom.
Over the following generations, almost all of the Royal children that wouldn’t get the throne joined the Regal Knights, hoping to make a name for themselves in the Kingdom’s history. Just goes to show you how well they did, ‘cause the only name anyone remembers is Randril. A number of them were honoured for their services in the Tri-Race War, centuries later, but very few remember the names of any Regal Knight except it’s founder.
After the War, with Three Kings settling nicely into the Rissu castle, the Viseth and Nirem Kings requested that their own knights merge with the royal military force. Given that these foreign knights were not of royal or noble blood, instead earning their honour through their performance in battle. This now meant that the Regal Knights were not so regal anymore, and in the post-war excitement, a number of the people began to dream of joining the Knights, so the Kings thought, “What the hell?” They opened the organisation to the public, allowing the volunteers to take up swords with their heroes, and so, the Regal Army was created.
Now, the castle that started it all has had more than a few improvements over the years. Originally it was a small stone keep with a wooden wall, created from the trees that were cleared out to make way for the noble districts – Gods forbid a tree should ruin their view of the bay. Now, it’s a true fortress, one of those places that throw up the word ‘impenetrable’ halfway through a conversation. Of course, ‘impenetrable’ is less of a warning to a thief, more of a challenge. When the people of Dervanfall describe their property as ‘impenetrable’, it’s because they hope to the Gods they didn’t overlook something that we can use to get in a swipe whatever they’re hiding.
A couple of thieves have actually tried to get into the castle before me. Strictly on tasks, of course – you’d have to be a fool to break into an impenetrable castle without knowing what’s in there. And when you hear what’s defending it, you’ll probably agree that it’s not worth it.
The first guy to try it was Kelo, an older thief that was their when I first joined. He was a big favourite of the Master Thief’s and a highly capable thief. He had to infiltrate the castle and retrieve some money that a corrupt solider had stolen from a disgruntled whore. Not a greatly important task, true, but Kelo, like us, loved a challenge and I heard that the whore offered him a lot more than his monthly fee. Besides, we’ve got to keep the clientele happy, and Kelo was the best man for the job.
Trouble was, he never returned. It’s a tough business, thievin’, and both the Army and the Vigilia have little to no tolerance for our quick-fingered antics. While the Vigilia are likely to arrest you and parade you through the streets, simply to prove to the public that they’ve done somethin’ right, the Army will kill any trespassers on the spot. If a thief is killed on the job, the Guild generally don’t hear about it for a long time, if at all. We never knew how far Kelo got, but I have a feelin’ he got closer than anyone else.
The second thief sent in was Burrow, an eager Nirem recruit who joined us a few years back. Not the most skilled thief, or the brightest for that matter, but I’m sure the Master Thief had his reasons for selecting him. They’d have had to been bloody good reasons ‘cause this task was one of the biggest we’d ever been sent. An aspiring Dockland gang lord had found an Army controlled warehouse on his turf. He wanted someone to get into the castle’s archives, find out what was in there, who was guarding it and how much it was worth. Co-operation with the Dockland gangs is almost unheard of, but we snapped up the chance to do so, not to mention the offer of half the heist’s takings and the fact that Fic Monotra would owe us a favour. You can never have enough favours.
First thing Burrow has to deal with is the walls. Like most complexes, there are four of them, they’re tall and made of the best quality stones from the Nirem mines, smoothed over to make climbin’ almost impossible. Unlike most complexes, there are problems at the top, usually in the form of several highly trained archers trying to shoot you down on the way up, several more deadly swordsmen to cut you down should you reach the top, and if you’re lucky, they might even have a cauldron of boiling tar to pour down on you, though the council are insisting the Army should only use these as a last resort after a number of complaints from scalded pedestrians. Now I say the walls are almost impossible to climb but Burrow, not being the brightest of fellows, decided to have a go anyway.
He made it halfway up, undetected, before losing his footing and sliding down. The noise from the Sword and Shield must have been pretty loud that night, ‘cause no one heard him. You’d have thought he’d have given up after that and not pushed his luck, but you don’t know Burrow. Up he goes again, but this time he catches the eye of a patrolling archer, who naturally proceeds to call on his comrades and make Burrow’s job even harder. While Burrow doesn’t have the skills of a perfect thief, he certainly has the determination of one, but an arrow in the shoulder is enough to make anyone lose their grip. He dropped to the floor and disappeared down an arrow, pursued by two guards from the gate.