#Lord Odysseus of the Rift

[kaz-identified]

kaz-identified presents...

Wastelander

Feature Character: Warlord Odysseus Ashford Category: Oneshot Genre: Freeform Rating: 16+ Warnings: Slightly suggestive narration and dialogue. Nothing graphic or even particularly suggestive, but reader digression advised Word Count: Summary: Stay out of the eagle's path.

I spent my nights on melting snow

There is no good reason to enter the Wasteland Rift. The endlessly snowy expanse between the Plaguelands and the sea, once called Russia, was nothing but ruins, enemies, and cold. Maybe there was something worthwhile in the Moscow Dead Zone, but beyond that, it wasn't worth it. The House of Falcons ruled the area with an iron grip, and the few brave enough to defy them proved far more dangerous than any of the beasts or Fallen in the area.

But if there was some reason, whatever it may be, to enter the Wasteland Rift, there are a handful of rules any Lightbearer stupid enough to traverse the area needs to learn.

Chief among them, is under no circumstance should you enter the Wasteland Rift. Never miss the same shot twice. You'll die in the space between the second and third. Avoid the House of Falcons. They'll kill you and your Ghost. Watch the snow. There are drifts that'll swallow you whole if you step into them. Watch for the wild animals. They'll tear you apart given the chance. Never enter Lord Odysseus of the Rift's hunt ground.

One particularly unfortunate Lightbearer learned this final rule from the Lord himself.

He spotted them coming a mile away, bright red against the snow, like a splash of blood. He watched as they approached the ruins, perched atop, waiting until they were nearby to drop down.

He grabbed the New Light by the shoulder. "Don't move a muscle if you value your life," he snapped, twisting their arms. He slammed them against the wall, knocking their breath out of their lungs with the force.

"The hell brought you to the Rift?" he demanded. He had one hand holding their arms behind their back and another pressing a gun to their head.

The Lightbearer stutters slightly, unable to speak for a moment, too shocked at the sudden attack.

Odysseus slams them into the wall. "ANSWER," he snaps with malicious impatience.

"I- I came looking for loot. I heard the Moscow Dead Zone hadn't really been picked thr-" they stammered out.

Odysseus cuts them off with a kick to the leg. "Bad idea. You're in House of Falcons territory. And more importantly, mine." He leans in to their face, the cold sting of the air mingling with the warmth of his breath as he growled out a warning. “Stay out of my hunting grounds unless you want to become my next piece of prey,” he hissed through gritted teeth.

He steps back, releasing his hold by pushing them to the ground. “I won’t be so kind next time. So preserve what’s left of your worthless life, and start running,” he growled, standing over them with the menace of an experienced predator.

He kicked a gun towards them, his face twisted in a look between disgust, rage, and pity. “Or stay,” he added, voice low like an animal growling at it's prey. “And I sink my teeth into your throat.” The way he spoke, it sounded like he was offering some kind of favor or mercy.

The Lightbearer scrambled to grab the weapon and ran.

Odysseus huffed, watching them leave. Running like a rabbit from an eagle.

Good. The less in the Rift the better.

There is no good reason to enter the Wasteland Rift.

[kaz-identified]

BTW Ulysses met a wish dragon once. before the great hunt. when one came to the Wasteland Rift. and he found it. and they were like "o risen mine. come to kill or to wish?" only to get blindsided by the fact he is literally only here to ask it to fucking leave because it is scaring the rabbits and he needs food.

[kaz-identified]

34, 64 and 24 for the guardians? 👀

34.

Lady Firefly Weaver! The Lady of the Cold. A Riftwalker rezzed during the beginnings of the Dark Age, Firefly fell into the Rift Walkers when Lords Arthur and Odysseus found her wandering the snowy plains with her Ghost, Torchbug. She became one of their foremost scholars and warriors, teaching the children of the Rift with her dear friend Atticus until her death. She was a founding member of Atticus' Frostguard and one of three who survived the massacre. These days she's traded her robes for a cloak and become a key player in the City's internal safety along with her Torchbearers.

64.

Preacher Santano is not, as his name would imply, all that devoted to the Traveler. He is, however, deeply devoted to, is his home, the Last City. Once a Peacekeeper, he now devotes himself to the safety and protection from internal corruption of the City as part of Firefly's Torchbearers.

24.

Calopie Orelesia was, as far as anyone was concerned for years, dead. Killed along with the rest of his Fireteam by the notorious Dredgen Lyre. And in a manner of speaking, he was. You see Calopie is, or rather, was Dredgen Lyre. Singlehandedly, he slaughtered his Fireteam at the urging of his once-mentor, Dredgen Nyx, a woman he is now sworn to track down and kill. "Saved" from his life as a Dredgen by the clever schemes of the Young Wolf Telemachus Ashford, he now serves alongside her and her Fireteam as one of her loyalest men, owing her a lifedebt for not killing him when he had the chance. ask me about my guardians

[kaz-identified]

Lords Odysseus, Arthur, and Dmitri, and Ladies Firefly, and Jaybird-2. Five warlords from the Dark Age.

Collectively known as the “Rift Walkers”, these five served as protectors and shepherds for refugees in the ruins of the areas between the Moscow Exclusion Zone and the vast, snowy nothing in an area known only as The Rift.

Five of the seven known aggressors of the Wing Breaker Campaign.

And my silliest guys ever

[kaz-identified]

Ulysses is not a great person, and I think that’s the thing that I really need to make clear when I’m writing Reign of Rift. He’s a complicated character, he has very justifiable, moral reasons for doing what he does but he also did just kill an innocent child, because like- revenge. He’s insane! Like he’s a good person now. But Lord Odysseus Ashford of the Rift was not a good guy and test. He was a man with good intentions, going about it in an incredibly violent way.

Which makes sense. Because he was fighting a war and he was the only man on this front but like he did not have to go that hard.