The Dawn Palace

Carolinus stretched, he wallowed in a sea of pain, the tightness of his muscles and the great fatigue of his body screaming at him with a thousand mute hurts. So great was his discomfort he lost himself, lost track of what Louisa was saying and even where he was.

It could not last. So great was his weariness everything had taken on a dreamlike quality. He opened his eyes, on some level hoping to awake from a dream and find himself once again in the white city. It was not to be.

Still distracted, not yet able to focus on Louisa, he looked around the room. He had put a great deal of effort into building Louisa's private room. It was intended as a replica of a small spot in Baz'Auran's garden. A reflecting pool flanked by white marble pillars and statues of men and women in gentle repose. He had failed utterly. It was a pale reflection at best. Haremhold could have done far better with so little effort. Once again the knight of the white city felt he had failed, despite all his effort he could not even come close to matching his brother's artistic flare. He perceived himself as a weapon, a disposable shield, and felt a great self pity. All I am made for I battle and sacrifice.

He sighed sadly. Steeling himself he concentrated, bringing himself back to the here and now. Louisa was looking at him with concern, puzzlement set upon her artful features, adding a youthful look to her appearance that had been missing for decades. He reflected on her before he answered the unspoken question in the worried set of her brow. Louisa was still as physically young and beautiful as the day he had made her his prophet, but the energetic inquisitive girl had long departed. What sat before him now was a stateswoman without peer. Sixty years on the throne had robbed her of her innocence but lent her an air of utter self assurance. There was something about her new commanding look that Carolinus found profoundly attractive, it troubled him but he had neither the energy or the time to probe such feeling further.

'I'm sorry Louisa. I was lost in the past. My mind always seems to wander there when the wolves are at the gate.' He replayed what she had said last in his mind 'I am very tired' he reached down and took up a silver wine goblet 'I thank you for your concern. You're right, I should rest soon, we all should. There are still some things I must do, then I will join the men at relative ease until the Titans arrive.'

He sipped his wine, it's arid taste did little to ease his thirst so he took a larger measure. ''It is strange they announced themselves so.'
He nodded 'They are a strange people. I would admire them if I did not despise them so.'
'Why did your father create them?'
'I do not know, nor do I know why he abandoned them. I was ignorant of their existence until I fought the Khar. I cannot imagine what they must have done...' he looked deep into Louisa's eyes, seeking some resolution or clarity as his own slipped away 'Baz'Auran is not cruel my prophet, he is sometimes harsh but always fair. He gives and he takes, such is the nature of all things. He would not have turned his back on them, not without cause.' he heard the doubt in his own voice, it's very existence a betrayal of his vows.
Louisa had also learned diplomacy during her time on the throne. She heard the doubt in his voice, and the subtler undertone of self reproach. Knowing from long experience that Carolinus was one to heap responsibility for the world's ills onto himself in form of perceived breeches of his vows and similarly sure of her inability to argue him out of such ridiculous behaviour she simply moved him onto another matter knowing it would allay his guilt, at least for a time. 'How go preparations?
'Well. The Titans did us a great service when they announced the day of battle. The battleworthy recruits and regulars are resting or helping with construction. The rails should be complete up to wall five, as well as the majority of the winches. If we need the rails before they're done on wall six Wardstone will already be lost.' He drained the last of his wine in one swallow, fortification against reality 'If that happens I will be dead. You, Louisa, must surrender to the Titans. At least the people will survive.'
Once she would have railed at him for such a statement, but now he saw she better understood the stakes. She did not argue, instead her mire was one of extreme resignation 'What do you think of our chances?'
He smiled softly 'You are the only one I'd give an honest answer to. I don't know, I really don't. The whole thing could fall apart in the first engagement, most of these men have never fought for real, and none of them have fought anything the size of a Titan. Arrows are going to be like bee stings to these foemen, our walls are only thrice their average span.'
'We have the warmachines, we have the wardens.' she matched his soft knowing smile with one of her own 'And we have you.'
'It is what I was created for.' he made no attempt to hide the sorrow in his voice. A pallor fell upon the room until he suddenly smiled, a brilliant flash that lit up from nowhere 'Yes, we have the warmachines and the wardens, and we also have me, but that is not all we will have. Of all the things the gods can do there is one I consider the most high, the most noble and wondrous. Tomorrow our defences will be more than redoubled.'

From the book of Carolinus'Ka'Baz'Auran

The labour of Kelmeris the unconverted had been great during his bonded service for the peoples of Markien. Along both sides of the Iron road, stretching as far as the eye could see in both directions, piles of metalwork awaited enchantment.

'Thy labour is complete Kelmeris, and thy bondage is relieved. Go back to the First People, tell them these words. I am the son of Baz'Auran, I know his will and his heart. I have come but recently from his side. He is not gone and neither am I. There will be much death soon, it is not necessary. All who would live in peace are welcome in my father's house.'

So if was that the unconverted returned to his people, leaving Carolinus'Ka'Baz'Auran with many sheets of seemingly useless metal. Or so it seemed to Kelmeris, he had lived amongst the peoples but still understood but little of the capabilities of Carolinus'Ka'Baz'Auran.

'Rise up' he said, and so the Stoneward rose up.


The breath of life is not a thing given lightly, nor was it, as Carolinus was discovering, a trifling thing to bestow on so many at once. Carolinus could not fault the Shieldbearer his industry, he had clearly been hard at work, no doubt fulfilling some aspect of their baffling honour system.

Carolinus spent half the morning attempting to commune with all the metal at once. Near noon he realised he would have to individually touch each and every piece. Despairing for the precious time lost he started down the trail. It was near dusk when he had completed this tiresome task.

Once done however it became far easier to hoop all those individual threads together into one tightly tangled knot. Focusing as much of his spark as could safely be allowed into his hand Carolinus shot a bolt into that knot, it divided into several thousand as the resulting magical shockwave was at once both dispersed in whole and divided equally. The ground beneath the metal piles bubbled and writhed but did not rise up. It took another jolt of raw creation to force life into the Stoneward.

In unison thousands of hulking figures made of earth and stone rose up, climbing out from within the ground as if it were a thick liquid. As they grew upward they absorbed the metal plating, sheets of metal swam through rock and granite bodies, forming breastplates, greaves and armguards affixed to the living rock skin of the Stoneward. Each stood the same impressive twelve foot span and wore the same impassive look on the same blank and mostly expressionless face.

He said nothing to them, there was no need. To the Stoneward he had given a collective conscience in a limited sense, a hive mind still loose enough to allow some individuality. The air hummed as thousands of creatures suddenly given life cried out in shock, wonder or fear, and were answered by thousands, all asking the same questions. All fresh minds suddenly given awareness. As newborn babes the Stoneward wallowed in sheer wonder at their own existence. They instantly knew a level of mutual trust and empathy that few men or gods will ever achieve, they communed at speeds too fast for any spoken tongue. Consensus was quickly formed and a question finally directed at Carolinus.

'I am Carolinus, son of Baz'Auran, he who created all things. He created this world and the ones above it, he created those who people those worlds. He created me to be his knight, and now I have created you. The Stoneward. The land you are formed from is called Markien by it's people. It is defended by the Wardens, who might be called your siblings, to them I gave great power but also grave responsibility. To the Stoneward I have given life itself, also I have given you great power and great unity. But as I said unto the Wardens I now say unto you. Power must be earned, lest it be abused. All things come with price.

The Stoneward will defend Markien forever more, that is the price of your existence.'

Spoiler
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2 major acts. Create the Stoneward. In addition to being made out of metal and rock the stoneward also possess a hivemind, able to communicate instantly over great distances, and also the ability to 'swim' through rock as D&D earth elementals do.