Nippon, Land of the Rising Sun, realm of the mighty samurai and as of recently, Prince Tyrion of Ulthuan’s new home until the season passed or the Druchii lost control over Tor Elithis. Throughout his short stay here, Tyrion had already seen and done much, having fought off a revolt by the nationalist samurai Sanyo Kawasaki and survived riots on the streets of Usaki, the Capital of Nippon, on account of price hikes on Elven imports. Yet it was not his battle with Kawasaki that brought Tyrion lasting consequences, it was his subsequent conversation with the samurai in prison where he handed him his sword and pleaded for the human to not commit suicide; for within two days of this meeting he was suddenly being summoned to the Court of the Shogun.
“Is anyone going to inform me as to why I’m being summoned here?” Tyrion called as he was lead into the court by a group of samurai known as Hatamoto, retainers specially selected by the late emperor for their loyalty to his dynasty on the battlefield.
The samurai all stood silently as a figure entered the room wearing red samurai armour and a helmet so large it encompassed long strands of silver hair within its frame to impress its owner’s wisdom upon those who saw him. “You have been brought here at my charge, Tyrion, Prince of Elves. You stand accused of consulting and supplying arms to the sentenced traitor, Sanyo Kawasaki, by no less than 4 guard witnesses. Do you accept these observations to be true?”
Tyrion gasped for a second, surprised this was even an issue as he responded with “Well of course I did. Kawasaki requested his blade during his trial. And who are you to question me anyway? I cannot be on trial.”
“Hold your tongue elf, you speak to Yoritomo Ieyasu, Shogun of Nippon. Do you normally supply weapons to prisoners just because they requested them in Ulthuan? Just because a prisoner requests an honourable suicide, does not mean that the court should accept such a plea.”
“I…I thought the trial had concluded in favour of such an outcome.”
“Regardless, it is up to the Imperial court to ratify the decision of that tribunal. Have you even the vaguest comprehension of the problem you have created for us, never mind the constitutional implications of such unilateral actions.”
“But surely the death wishes of a samurai must be honoured. To reject such a fate would make him a Ronin after all?” Tyrion questioned.
“Indeed it would which is why it would simply be better to defer the case indefinitely, that way the samurai lives out his days in prison without ever breaking his oaths. Instead, you have forced him into making a decision that should never be made by one man alone. Do you even know if he still breathes elf?”
“He was still alive when I came to pray for him the morning afterwards. I promised not to see him again from then on….But surely if this is such an issue you could simply disarm Kawasaki?”
“What an outrageous suggestion! Consider how many of my men could die trying to disarm him.”
“Well then I could do it for you.” Tyrion suggested.
“I want you nowhere near Sanyo Kawasaki ever again. Do you understand that? You have caused enough issues already and frankly, you deserve to be imprisoned for what you have done.”
“I don’t think her highness would appreciate a suggestion like that, Shogun. It would surely affect any friendships she may hold with my people.” Tyrion said before gesturing to a set of stands above where a woman clad in red robes was sitting on a gilded throne within the confines of a glass box, a woman who Tyrion deduced was in fact Jungi, wife to the late Emperor of Nippon who died in questionable circumstances and acting Empress of Nippon until such a time that a successor may be crowned.
“Be that as it may, you have created significant political upheaval and so I must request that you leave Usaki Castle, Prince of Lothern.”
“And where am I to go, Shogun? You are of course aware that I cannot sail home.”
At that moment a servant (who Tyrion suspected to be a eunuch) approached the Shogun and handed him a scroll which the Ieyasu proceeded to look at. “It seems you are in luck elf. Our agents have spotted a raft of Northern ships approaching the Kiroshima-Wan coastline to the North-East. Our armies in the region are well prepared to face them but if you’re so desperate to be a hero, I recommend you go give them a hand. Perhaps you can reduce civilian casualties while we clear up the mess you’ve caused.”
And so Tyrion left the Shogun’s court in partial disgrace for his blunder. He had only done what he knew to be right yet clearly he should have been more cognisant of the ways in which legal verdicts were handled in this foreign land. Tyrion entered a set of stables where his squire, Princess Eldyra of Tiranoc, was tending to his horse Malhandir and her own steed Maladhros.
Eldyra: “How did it go?”
Tyrion: “I’ll tell you once we’re under way.”
Eldyra: “So we’re going somewhere then?”
Tyrion: “You’ve got that right, Norscan raiders are coming Kiroshima is 5 days ride from here.”
Eldyra: “I’ll make sure the you and the Silver Helms are well stocked then.”
Tyrion: “Oh no little hummingbird, you’re coming with us.”
Eldyra: “But I…I’m not ready…I’ve never fought Norsemen before.”
Tyrion: “Well there’s always a first time for something. Besides, you’ve come a long way since I found you crying at a shrine….and none of the Princes at court laugh at you any more now do they?”
Eldyra: *Chuckling to herself lightly* “Not sure any of them would dare with you standing by me.”
Tyrion: “Exactly. Now, are you not Eldyra, Squire to Tyrion?”
Eldyra: “Yes, I am.”
Tyrion: “And is Tyrion known for training poor squires?”
Eldyra: “No.”
Tyrion: “See? You’ll be fine. Now come on little hummingbird, time to suit up.”
And so with Eldyra’s morale restored and their steeds’ fully stocked, Tyrion, Eldyra and his regiment of silver helms known as the Knights of Alabast set off on their journey to the North-Eastern coast of Nippon to fend off the Norscan invaders.
………………………………..5 Days Later……………………………
Having traversed valley-sides, mountain tops and great fields of rice and lotus blossoms, the elven riders finally reached their destination. Upon arriving at the coastline where the Norscan were set to land tonight, Tyrion was introduced to Datashi Matsunorii, Daimyo of the Datashi Clan, who was in charge of this coastline’s defences. A rather secretive fellow who rarely travelled to the capital to take part in its politicking, Datashi never declared an allegiance when Kawasaki’s rebellion took up arms, causing many at court to suspect that he privately sympathised with the rebels but lacked the boldness to declare war against the Emperor, though such allegations could never be verified of course. Datashi took Tyrion and his allies along the beaches to oversee the hidden defences they had planned, suggesting that his men could thwart the Norscans themselves yet never quite went as far as admitting that he didn’t appreciate the elves’ help. And so, with spearmen and archers nestled in bushes and cavalry hiding behind sand dunes, they all sat and waited in silence.
Hours passed and the sun began to set as darkness rolled in. However, just before the last few remaining glimmers of light could finally fade, the Norscan ships came into view. Five longboats each bearing the bear-pawed symbol of the Ursfjordings upon their sales came into view upon the horizon. Tyrion recognised these sails as hailing from the Great Hall of Urslo based in the Ursfjord and instantly realised that the Daimyo had underestimated his enemy for these were not mere Norscan marauders, they were touched by the taint of the Were!
300 Norscans disembarked and immediately got to work, using their enhanced sense of smell to sniff out the Nipponese warriors that were concealed within these beaches. Men were torn from their hovels and immediately hacked to death by Norscan steel, forcing the Daimyo to blow his horn and signal a full scale attack. Nipponese infantrymen clashed into the Norscan ranks, covered by arrow fire while Datashi personally circled round for stragglers with his cavalry guard and Tyrion unsheathed his blade to lead his Knights into the fray. The battle was fierce while Eldyra held back, fearful of what may happen if she made any errors and then she saw him; Beorg Bearstruck, son of Bran,

Champion of Chaos and chieftain of the Ursfjordings, who stood at over 7 feet in height clad from head to toe beneath an adult grizzly bear’s pelt, disembarking and charging into battle with his Norse great-axe in hand. Sensing that this was her chance to prove her mentor proud, Eldyra directed Maladhros to attack the pelt-wearing chieftain…….

• Angry React: Eldyra charged towards Beorg Bearstruck at full throttle with her father’s sword in her hand and the shield in the other. However, Beorg saw her coming across the field and anticipated her charge, causing him to duck just as she had planned to stab him and swing at her steed’s front legs with his axe, sending it crashing to the ground and her flying.

As she picked herself back up, Beorg swung his axe into Maladhros’ neck before turning to his prey. He charged at her with an overhead swing which she blocked with her shield only for him to pull her sword from her hand once she thrusted toward him. He swung twice more which she narrowly avoided with her shield until finally, he lodged his axe firmly into her shield thus enabling him to pull it from her hands before knocking her to the ground with a sharp elbow thrust. Beorg proceeded to pull out a pair of iron manacles and cuffed both of Eldyra’s hands and feet before chucking her into the hull of his longboat to be taken and sold on a Norscan slavers market. While this was happening, Tyrion was far too busy fighting Beorg’s marauders to notice his squire’s disappearance until it was all too late. Many Norscans had indeed died at Tyrion and the Nipponese warrior’s hands but it mattered not for Beorg had escaped with a far greater prize than he initially anticipated, a Princess of Tiranoc in his possession! ….

• Wow React: Eldyra gripped her father’s blade and rode straight for Beorg atop her Tiranoc charger. She felt the wind woosh across her brow as she sped up, faster and faster until she came into a range and stuck her blade straight through Beorg’s chest before he could even react. Beorg Bearstruck fell to the ground and gurgled his last few words under a stream of blood before finally dying.

With the chieftain defeated, many marauders instantly turned and fled to their longboats while Tyrion’s knights finished those who remained off. As the Norscans fled back to the sea Tyrion rode over to Eldyra to congratulate her, removing her helmet so he could hug her probably for her first battlefield kill. However as the two comforted each other Tyrion remained cautious, noticing that nobody else was celebrating their victory nor even congratulating each other for their efforts. It was quiet, much too quiet.
And then it struck, as an arrow flew through the air and pierced the back of Eldyra’s skull. Tyrion held Eldyra in his arms as tears fell from his sockets while her own eyes glazed over only for his mourning to be interrupted when two samurai approached him with their katana’s unsheathes, forcing him to drop Eldyra so he could fight them off. Meanwhile spearmen approached the Knights of Alabast, attempting to kill them before they could turn tail and run.
After slaying both samurai, Tyrion lifted Eldyra over his shoulder and proceeded to carry her towards Malhandir only for him to take an arrow to his greaves while loading her onto his horse. He mounted his horse and set off to out-gallop these rouge samurai, quickly catching up with his fellow fleeing silver helms, yet the Daimyo was in pursuit with over 60 mounted samurai at his back armed with a combination of bows and lances. They fired their arrows, killing a few more silver helms as they caught up while other silver helms survived the arrow fire only to be stabbed in the back by a lance once the samurai caught up thanks to their lighter armoured cavalry. Only Tyrion’s steed managed to outperform the samurai horde, even while clad in Ithilmar armour, and so managed to pick up pace until finally, Tyrion escaped the Daimyo’s warriors. Tyrion rode off into the countryside, injured by arrow fire and with a dying squire strapped to his saddle… …………As the battle pressed on night began to roll in. The clouds parted overhead and Morrslieb appeared in all its glory as a full moon. Meanwhile, the Norscans seemed to be growing stronger, almost as if there was a link between the two…
While his men simply grew stronger, Beorg Bearstruck underwent a transformation as he threw his helm to the ground and took in the moonlight. He removed his boots and un-clipped his armour, leaving only the bear hide he wore on his back in place. His face mutated, rounding out as his mouth and nose began to protrude from his facial expression, his ears grew, his teeth sharpened and fur sprouted from all across his body as his own hands and feet mutated into the paws of a bear while each one of his fingers and toes stuck to each other and lengthened into the size of daggers. Beorg grew in size until finally the bear-skin he wore on his back fused with his own skin, creating a hideous hybrid of Norscan and bear. Beorg let out a series of bear-like growls (

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPwxqy11MrI) and entered the battle……

• Sad React: Regardless of the Norscan chieftain’s new state, Eldyra knew she must stand by her vows and so charged straight for her adversary. Beorg was now more animal than man and so he saw her coming, causing him to charge towards her in response. Horse and bear strode towards one another, picking up speed as they did so until finally, the two clashed. The bear-man leapt towards the horse, battering it over and knocking Eldyra from her saddle.

She attempted to stand and fight only for the Beorg to immediately jump on top of her and attempt to bite through her chestplate. His teeth scraped across her armour while his paws slashed through her armguards. Suddenly, the bear flipped her over and Beorg bit her back before using his jaws to shake Eldyra around. The shaking became more and more violent as the bear clawed at her back randomly, mauling her beneath its immense strength. Eldyra screamed in agony before finally being killed when the bear shook her a final time, snapping her neck.
The Norscans continued to fight until finally they were pushed back to their ships by Tyrion and the Daimyo’s forces. Sadly, it was much too late for the Princess of Tiranoc who’d long been mauled by the Norscan chieftain. ….

• Love React: Regardless of the Norscan chieftain’s new state, Eldyra knew she must stand by her vows. She charged straight towards her adversary atop her steed, while he was now more animal than man. But the bear saw her coming and so began to charge towards her too. Horse and bear strode towards one another, picking up speed as they did so until finally, the two clashed. The bear-man leapt towards the horse, battering it over and knocking Eldyra from her saddle. Still she stood to her feet and swung at the bear with her father’s blade, the bear swung at her with its paws but she evaded them with her shield and pressed on with her attack, slashing at the beast’s fur with her shield though no single swing was quite able to pierce the bear’s hide.

Beorg growled in anger once more before knocking Eldyra to her feet by slashing at her face. The bear clambered on top of her and began biting her wildly. However, just as Eldyra seemed to be done for, Beorg’s fur suddenly set alight as Tyrion appeared behind him and stabbed the bear through his back with Sunfang. The bear died instantly and Tyrion lifted its paws so that Eldyra could escape before its corpse crushed her. Eldyra and Tyrion went on to defeat the rest of Beorg’s crew, though privately Tyrion was rather disappointed that Eldyra had needed his help. ….

• Laugh React: Regardless of the Norscan chieftain’s new state, Eldyra charged straight for her adversary atop her steed but the bear saw her coming and so began to charge towards her too. Her horse clashed with the bear and reared up onto its hind legs to kick the bear’s face with its front hooves.

The bear-man continued to leap towards the horse but was consistently knocked down, enabling Eldyra to swing at the beast with her sword. Beorg raised his paw to slash her only to be dismembered by a swing of her sword, before being stabbed through the head one final time by the Elven princess. And so Eldyra joined Tyrion to finish the Norscans off. The two fought valiantly alongside each other, decapitating bearmen in their dozens and celebrated together with the Daimyo’s troops once the Ursfjordings had fled.