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Sands of Destiny [ScarletNight x KinkyWithClass]

Joined
Mar 28, 2024
Location
Switzerland
Plot overview
In the northern desert of the lands of Aridonia the tower of the evil sorcerer High Lord Balthazar suddenly appeared.
As a daughter of the Ochieng, a well-known family of knights and guardians of the neighboring region, the young Kioni sets out on a quest to defeat him, eager to prove herself to her older brothers. But instead of the glorious victory she imagined, all she encounters there is utter defeat, losing not only the fight but her freedom as well.

After years in slavery, an exceptional barbarian named Björn arrives at the tower and stumbles over the imprisoned swordswoman by chance, deciding to help her defeat the sorcerer and get her back to her family safely. A long way from home as the tower had been moved again, they get to know each other on their journey and fall in love with each other.


"Nala Kioni Ochieng"
Meaning "successful", "full of life" and "born when the sun shines", but she mostly goes by Kioni.
She's brown-skinned, has almond-shaped dark brown eyes, high cheekbones, full lips and eyebrows, soft facial features and black tightly coiled curls plaited into thin braids and tied together in a tail reaching to the lower edge of her shoulder blades. She's 5'9" tall and as a skilled swordswoman she has an athletic but still curvy and soft body. She doesn't have any tattoos, but she'd wear big earrings and a necklace made of small gemstones.

Kioni comes from a dryer, subtropical steppe-like region called Aridonia, where the native language is Aridian and the people are called Aridonians.

The land has vast deserts, orange-golden plains and rugged mountains and is home to many deadly animals. Adapted to the arid and dangerous environment the Aridonians are rather strong, resilient and resourceful. To survive, they had to study the animals living around them, finding ways to live symbiotically with them or learn about their weaknesses to fight them off, which is still taught to every kid growing up, as you never know when a new species or enemies suddenly appear.

Their cities and towns are either built into the mountains or made from sandstone.
Kioni's family comes from and reigns over a region closer to the border, which is governed by the city of Jua Mwema, usually referred to as Sunvale in other languages, southern of the desert Simba Jangwa.

Their language is characterized by sharp, guttural sounds and rolling consonants. When speaking in other languages, they have a distinct accent with a clipped and precise enunciation.

"High Lord Balthazar of House Serpensis, first of his name and Exhalted Sorcerer."
The sorcerer looks to be in his late 30s or early 40s but is really about 300 years old, and there's a magical artifact in his possession that keeps him immortal - if it's broken, he ages back to where he would be now, which is to say, a pile of dust.
He is of a medium skin tone, like light olive roughly, green eyes, tall (about 6'3"), skinny, short black hair and a goatee with a little sprinkle of grey (a Dr Strange kind of look only more sinister). He is an old fashioned noble type, but he has a magical snake tattoo, as it's his family's symbol, that can slither and move around his body, and even turn into a real snake.

Balthazar comes from Hellenia, where people are called Hellenians and speak Hellenic.
Hellenia is lush, pretty flat with some small mountains, temperate, known for their rich cuisine, wine, culture, philosophy, art, science, literature, etc. One of the pillars of civilization. It's a very nice place to live all round...well, except for the slaves, which are like 20% of the population. It also has a reputation for being a place of excess and hedonism at times, especially among the higher classes who can afford such luxuries. Hence you can see where Balthazar gets it from.

The sorcerer speaks many, many languages fluently and elegantly, rarely cursing and using purple prose whenever he feels like it.

"Björn."
Just Björn, no titles, no surnames, only the nickname "Half-Eyes", though he resents that name because people usually make fun of his heterochromia.
The barbarian is 6'6" tall, broad shouldered, very muscly, very little visable body fat, surprisingly little body hair. Long jet black hair, rough stubble on his pronounced chizzled jaw (he shaves with a knife, not a razor), pale skinned as he's originally from the Far North (Germanic/Scandinavian analogue, vikings basically). Lots of tattoos I think, his arms, chest, and back mostly. There will be Nordic runes on his right arm I think to signify heritage, but he's gonna have a mix of styles as he's been all over the place and wants to show it off, they're also going to be symbols of his triumphs as an adventurer. He wears one earring and a septum, being more of a brutish, primative type. As usual for a barbarian, he has a lot of scars.
Björn he has heterochromia; one light blue eye and one greenish-hazel. Something invisible at a distance or in dim lighting, but becomes plainly obvious up close.

Björn comes from a place called Nordholm, the language is Nordic and people there are called Nords.
Nordholm isn't really a kingdom, more like a confederacy of different Jarls and sometimes kings. There's lots of mountains, valleys, fjords, and of course ice and snow. It's a pretty brutal place and you gotta be tough to live there. Plus it's not the most fertile land so most people train in combat from an early age in case there's a bad harvest and they need to go raid some place.

Even though very uncommon and unexpected of a nomadic barbarian, Björn also speaks many languages fluently, just...well, he's much more vulgar than anyone you've ever met who was that supposedly cultured.
 
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Introduction
The hood of my black cloak pulled low over my face so as not to draw attention to myself I mount my scimitar onyx. Once again, I make sure that my sword sits tight before giving my mount a gentle nudge with my heels: "Haya, Jabari!"

It's still early evening in Jua Mwema, my hometown, with the majority of people asleep. Riding fast through the empty streets I can feel the stifling hot air seeping through my iron armor.
There's a good reason why the Aridonians usually avoid this time of day, but I don't have much choice. I can't wait until the temperature is cool enough or I'd risk being spotted and stopped by my older brothers or parents...
But this time I won't be dissuaded. I'm going to show them what I've been training so hard for all these years. I will prove to them that I am a worthy Ochieng knight, even though I'm a woman and my parents would rather have me otherwise!

Equipped with multi-plate, pointy pauldrons, a close-fitting breast-plate with a sun and the head of a scimitar onyx engraved into it, showing its origin from the Ochieng family, half vambraces covering the outside of my forearm, half gauntlets protecting the outer palms with thin linen bandage wrapped around my hands for a better grip, and half greaves on top of my dark brown linen clothes I ride through the northern city gate, the cloak and another black linen cloth wrapped around my waists blowing in the wind.

The townspeople have mentioned a strange tower appearing out of nowhere a couple of days ago in the northern desert Simba Jangwa.
There are rumors that the tower might belong to a powerful man called High Lord Balthazar, a sorcerer so dreaded that he had even been banished from his own country.
I could hear my brothers strategize the day before about how to handle the situation. Should they send a scout and observe quietly, send a messenger and find out what he wants, or directly attack with full force hoping to catch him off guard with a surprise attack?
Either way, it's clear that nothing good will come of the appearance of the tower, and that it needs to be dealt with.
If I manage to defeat him, everyone will acknowledge me, and even my parents won't be able to deny me finally becoming a knight...

Defying the heat Jabari and I ride through the orange-golden plains, stopping here and there to take a short break and replenish our liquid supply.
After a few hours the sun finally sets and the air starts cooling down, allowing for faster travel. It's still a long ride to Simba Jangwa, though.

It is already deep night when we arrive at the desert, Jabari already quite exhausted from the long and hot journey.
"You've done great, boy", I say patting him and get off of the scimitar onyx to take one last break before setting off for the last bit of the journey.
According to the information I could overhear, the tower is supposed to be a few miles off to the eastern mountain range, in a place where the mountains are even more rugged than usual, dangerous mountain lions roam around, and poisonous scorpions lurk in every crack. Being well rested will be essential for survival in such a harsh environment, and not to forget the upcoming battle against the sorcerer, which sure won't be easy.

After a few hours of sleep to regain some energy, we continue the ride. It's still dark outside, but the sun will be rising soon, so we can't afford to lose too much time.
Sitting on Jabari, we charge along the foot of the mountain range through the desert, looking out for the tower and any potential danger along the way.
It doesn't take long for the top of the tower to appears on the horizon. I take a deep breath. "Here we go..!", I say to the scimitar onyx and lead him directly towards the tower, mentally preparing myself for the fight ahead...
 
Balthazar wakes from his deep slumber by the sound of a familiar hiss, shooting upright on his ornate bed in the center of his circular stone room, the cieling high with many crystals hanging from them shining with dim orange light barely enough to see, the walls with shelves carved into them holding books, potions, tools, and various other instruments of arcana, the floor lined with arcane paintings of snakes surrounding his bed. The snake paintings slither and hiss, animated as if they were alive, swirling around Balthazar in an alarmed frenzy. Balthazar knows what this means - they're warning him.

Balthazar snaps making the crystals hanging from the cieling brighten illuminating the whole room as he swiftly steps out of bed. He extends out his arms to his sides, and as he does one of the snakes rises from the floor becoming a corporial python, grabing his robe in its teeth and draping it over him as he puts his arms through the sleeves. He ties the robe together as he marches across the room to his crystal ball, which is pulsing with a red light.

He touches the crystal ball, summoning forth a transparent glowing hologram of a much smaller sand snake. The snake hisses at Balthazar in a strange rhythm which would sound simply like animal noises to a normal man, but since Balthazar knows the magical language of snakes, it translates perfectly in his mind.

Sire! An invader is riding towards our tower, armed and armored! Nobody here travels at this time, much less in warrior's gear. Her intent is clear, she intends to harm us!

Balthazar raises one of his sharp, black eyebrows inquisitively. "She? A woman? In armor, wielding weapons, riding towards my tower?," he laughs mockingly, "This bitch must have some nerve. I'm curious now...show her to me."

The snake retreats back into the crystal ball, transporting back into the desert where the girl rides. The crystal ball then projects an image of what the snake itself sees, as it slithers with unnatural speed under the sand, keeping pace with this girl and her horse.

"Get on her horse, but don't spook it. I want to see what this girl looks like."

The snake does as instructed, quickly and subtly wrapping onto the horse's leg, it's semi-corporial form not letting the horse feel anything, and allowing the snake to cling to its underside without being shaken off, as it peeks over the underside of the horse's neck, looking up at the rider.

Balthazar leans in getting a good look. "An Aridonian noble crest...that explains how well equipped she is...and how arrogant. But it's no crest I've ever seen, they must not be that important. But, gods...she's young, maybe 17 or 18?"

Balthazar leans in closer looking at her face, shapely, high cheekbones, smooth dark skin, deep dark eyes, and long black braids that flow in the wind as she rides, a determined, optimistic look on her face. Balthazar bites his bottom lip as he smiles slyly. "It would be such a shame for one as young and beautiful as her to die in such a foolish way."

The image in the crystal ball ends as the red holographic snake appears out of it.

Shall we dispatch my bretherin, sire? Surely they could intercept her and kill her long before she even nears our gates!

The painted snakes on the floor hiss and slither excitedly and angrily at this suggestion, but go silent as Balthazar holds up his hand to signal them to cease.

"No...that's far, far too easy. No...we must teach this foolish girl a lesson. She thinks she can march into my tower and beat me? Let's see her try," Balthazar turns around, to look at the large painted snakes on the ground, brow furrowed, smiling slightly with one corner of his mouth. "Besides...it's been a while since I've had a good plaything."

The snakes stop slithering for a second, surprised, but only a second later hiss and rattle their approval. Balthazar sharply points to the side, fully extending his arm. "Go now, my servants, spread throughout this fortress and be prepared to follow the girl wherever she goes! But! I cannot emphasize enough - do not strike until I command, and under no circumstances are you to bring any serious physical harm to her! Bruises, scrapes, and minor cuts are acceptable. But we don't want to damage the goods, now, do we?"

The snakes hiss and howl their approval, excited to do their master's bidding, and bolt across the floors and doors into the rest of the fortress.

Balthazar chuckles to himself lightly as he glides across the floor, grabbing his staff, and preparing for what he knows will be a very one sided battle.
 
Drawing closer to the tower a strange feeling of being watched arises in me. Just for a few seconds, but enough to make me look around, irritated. I slow down Jabari and put my hand on my sword, gazing closely at the mountain range, trying to see if there are any enemies hidden behind some ledges. Used to the darkness, as all Aridonians are, I can see the shapes and outlines rather clearly, but I cannot seem to find any creatures or humans in ambush. I turn my gaze to the other side, looking towards the sand dunes. But nothing suspicious there, either.
Confused I shake my head. "Must have been my imagination...", I whisper to myself, signaling Jabari to ride faster again.

Getting closer and closer to the tower I notice how tall it is. It's actually rather massive for something that allegedely turned up out of thin air.
'So that is something magic can do..?', I wonder, having a hard time to believe it. I've never really seen any magic before as it is nothing the Aridonians possess, and I haven't yet had the chance to travel abroad. But even in other countries that strange power called magic seems to be rather rare. There has only been talk about its might, like being able to control the elements with it, flying and even healing people... or hurting them. But who knows how much of that is true... people always tend to exaggerate abouth these things, anyways... right..?

We finally arrive at the massive, circular building made of black stone. A strange, sinister aura lies over it, almost as if it was a living creature of the night itself. A shiver comes over me, looking at the tower. Even Jabari seems to notice it, as he shakes his head reluctantly, protesting to go any further.
I give him a soft pat at the neck and get off him.

"You can wait here, Jabari. And remember, run away if danger arises", I say as I look around us once more.
'It's strange that there are no enemies so far... not even a single creature... as if the animals around here are avoiding this place, too.', I think to myself, 'And there is no sign of any soldiers in front of the tower, either... It couldn't be that a High Lord lives here all alone, could it..? Maybe it's not that rumored Balthazar after all...'

My hand on the sword hilt I slowly walk towards the entrance gate, still on the lookout for any ambush or other signs of residents of the tower. Finally at the gate I can feel an oppressive atmosphere building up around me, making my heart beat faster.
I swallow deeply as I raise my hand and knock hard against the enforced wooden door, ready to face the foreign intruder.
 
As Kioni approaches the door, making a remark about not seeing any intruders, faint hissing sounds appear from behind the door - Kioni does not yet know what these are, most likely mistaking the sound for the sand blowing around her, though something about it does seem rather mocking. As she knocks on the door, it seems to click loudly as it unlocks, the large stone double gates slowly creeking open inward, the dim blueish light of the inside of the tower seeping out into the night and onto Kioni herself, as if some ominous spotlight were shining on her...and her feeling of being watched inensifies.

As Kioni slowly marches in, she takes in this grand inner chamber, lit by faintly glowing crystals hanging from the cieling, not unlike chandeliers, illuminating long tables and decorations, including suits of armor lining the walls, great murals depicting Balthazar's great deeds, and many arcane runes that seem to emminate some sort of mysterious power...many of which are minimalist paintings of large snakes. As Kioni steps in further, she notices she is alone in the room - there isn't even someone there to open the door. However, the creeping feeling that she may not be alone is intensified as the doors behind her loudly slam shut, and click once again as they lock themselves. As soon as this happens, the hissing sounds Kioni heard outside start again, louder and closer this time, and she could swear it almost sounds like laughter. That's when, out of the corner of her eye, she notices that one of the snake paintings on the wall is not there anymore...as if it had moved.
 
As the heavy door opens, I straighten myself up a little more, making sure I stand tall and confident, as expected of a knight, only to find that noone is standing on the other side.
Confused I look around, but I don't spot any humans. Getting goosebumps by the feeling of being watched yet not seeing anyone, I start to think that MAYBE this was a bad idea...
'Damn, I should have read more about magic before coming here... I definitely was too rash... but then again, if I had done so, my brothers surely would have gotten ahead of me, again...', I reconsider in my head, hesitating for a moment. 'No, Kioni, don't be afraid... I'm only nervous because this is the first time I'm up against a real enemy and not just another Aridonian or creatures...', I try to reassure myself before I take a step in.

The dim light is rather pleasant coming from the darkness outside, not straining my eyes too much, but the blue color gives everything a cool and unfriendly look.
In Jua Mwema everything is bright and warm, in yellowish and orange-red colors, very inviting compared to here. One more reason to get this behind myself and leave as soon as possible...

Even after fully entering the chamber I can still not see a single person, but that feeling of being watched becomes even stronger, which is extremely irritating.
'What the hell is going on..?', I think to myself, tightening my grip around my sword. 'He must be hiding...'.
I look at the strange symbols resembling snakes that are all over the room. What a weird thing to paint onto the walls. I wonder if the snakes are some sort of family crest animal or if the person living here just likes them a lot. Being rather familiar with snakes here in Aridonia, I have met many different kinds, some even held as pets, and to some degree I can understand the interest in them, as their quite strong and useful, for the good and for the bad... but I'd definitely rather keep my sweet Jabari than these cold, sneaky animals.

"Hello?", I call out loudly while my eyes roam over the impressive suits of armor, wondering why he has them if he's supposed to be a mage. Do they wear armor as well? But even if so, no single person would need so many of them! Just thinking about all the work needed to maintain them...
My gaze falls on the murals, studying them with interest. They kind of remind me of some fantastical stories I used to read as a kid, even though a lot darker for sure.

Completely absorbed by the murals I flinch as the door suddenly slams shut. Startled, I turn around in reflex, drawing my sword instantly.
'I've let my guard down! This is bad..!', I scold myself in my head, staring at the locked door, still noone else to see.
Hearing the hissing sounds around me getting louder, sounding as if they are mocking me, I turn my head back at the walls, looking at the snake paintings with unease.
That's when I notice one of them missing, finally understanding what's going on, and for a short moment my heart almost stops beating.

Jumping back appalled, I quickly try to get an overview of how many of these weird, arcane snake symbols are in this room.
In shock I realize the huge number of them, placed all around me. Not sure which way to face, I hold my sword in front of me in a defensive manner, ready to act any moment and slash any drawn snake that tries to get close to me.
My eyes focused on noticing any movement in my field of view, I listen closely to try and note any hissing sound moving or coming closer from behind. Feeling somewhat silly for acting on a mere painting I still don't let my guard down. This is the tower of a magician after all. Who knows what to expect here?
 
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