Firestorm Citadel
From SpiralKnights
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"Now only death and smoke hang in the air, even from these great heights. And the fires; the unnatural fires that seem to burn eternal, the fires that turn even the most pious men into horrible nightmares, I know that these fires shall soon take me as well." — Almirian codex text
All that remains of the once great kingdom of Almire, the Firestorm Citadel houses the legions of lost souls burning in the flames of a forgotten war, endlessly rekindled by the twisted spirit of their former lord.
The Firestorm Citadel always appears at the final stratum marked as a fire or undead icon. Only one open gate will lead Knights into the Firestorm Citadel.
Contents
Lore
The Citadel originates from a war-stricken land of three competing kingdoms. The smallest of the three, known as Almire, was a land of lush, beautiful trees and golden fields. It was ruled by a young and determined king known as Lord Vanaduke, and, despite its small size, Almire was recognized as a powerful nation for its military tradition and disciplined armies. Given time, it could expand to a mighty empire. For this, the other two kings feared him and formed a truce to invade Almire.
From atop the highest tower of the Grand Citadel of Almire, Vanaduke watched his kingdom crumble. His army was stretched too thin and it was not long before Almire would completely fall to the weight of the two combined armies. Going mad from the pressure, he fled from the citadel and vanished into the mountains, vowing that he would one day reclaim his throne. Leaving behind his family, his people, and his homeland, Vanaduke journeyed into the mountains to the east, driven by superstitious tales of ancient gods within their dark depths.
He tirelessly searched the mountains for many years, no longer the man he was before, but a mad hermit. Then one day he discovered a small cave that radiated with unnatural warmth, smelling of ash and sulfur. Within it he discovered a great chamber whose floor was waist deep in ashes. They were warm, and Vanaduke soon felt the sting of hot coals through his tattered boots. At the center of the chamber was a blackened shrine, whose deity's features were worn and indistinguishable.
Vanaduke began to whisper, reciting the names of his family, the names of the kings before him, and all the towns of Almire. He repeated this like a chant, increasing in intensity until he was shouting. With this he began screaming the names of the rival kings and all the wrongs they committed against his kingdom. He cried out to the god of the mountain to punish them, to give him the strength to take his kingdom back. In his frenzy he looked to the face of the deity and in it he began to see the face deform. The image burned into his eyes and brain like cinders, and contained that which sounded like the screaming of foreign tongues and war drums. With this, Vanaduke began to sink into the ash. He choked on the ash as it pulled him below, tasting sulfur his screams now sounding of roaring flames. Then transformed by the flames and cursed by the deity, Vanaduke was changed, armor fused to his skin, his hands turned to metal claws and beast fur grew along his back, the only feature to tell he was still Vanaduke was his face, even though twisted into the shape of a skull he was still recognized as who he truly was...
Many days later the citizens of Almire watched as fire began to erupt from the mountains. Leading an army of terrible fiends, Vanaduke returned to his kingdom, destroying the occupied forces of the two opposing kingdoms in a single day. In time the two kingdoms fell, Vanaduke's legion burning everything in their path. When he returned to Almire, it burned as well, for everywhere he went, and everything he touched was doomed to ash, thus while re-claiming his kingdom he destroyed it too.With nothing left to destroy, his legions left him and returned to the mountains, leaving the king to sit in his throne of ash and cinder, all the people of Almire dead around him.
There the cursed king has remained since, ruling a burning kingdom from an ashen throne, surrounded by the lost souls of those that once served him. It is there that the king still mercilessly destroys any who dare enter his kingdom, however much the ashen shadow of what was the rivers that flowed with clear water and the leaves of the trees glittered like emeralds under the shining sun.
Knights Recounts of Lord Vanaduke
Some knights say that when they see Vanaduke for the first time, his face is always full of emotions, and so distressed is he that he will try not to let anyone rule his lost kingdom again, for it is the best he can do to make up for what he did.
Levels
Blackstone Bridge
Monsters
Charred Court
Monsters
Ashen Armory
Monsters
Smoldering Steps
Monsters
Throne Room
Within the throne room of the citadel Lord Vanaduke stands waiting to mount a final defense against any who manage to breach his citadel's defenses.
Monsters
Notes
- Mission 9-3, King of Ashes, showcases this set of levels.
