The World Kiln

 Within a cavern dimly lit by the first rays of dawn, the herald waited in anticipation as they watched their master for the first signs of wakefulness. In steady rhythm, the chamber echoed with the bassy snores of power cycling and the clicking of subroutine restoral as the massive, metal-skinned wvyern slumbered. The herald always woke first in preparedness for the days duties, but such was the minimum of a herald's work. The rhythm faded into a single, low tone as the Great One woke. Shutters pulled back to uncover its eye lenses, tensile cords pulled taught to stretch out its wings and gears spun to move its mighty limbs from rest.  The Great One regarded its herald with approval as it lifted from the floor, then lumbered in long strides towards the mouth of the cave. Just before reaching the entrance, it lowered its tail to the floor and waited while taking in the view beyond the mountain, creating a ramp up onto its back. The herald obliged and hurried on, securing thems...

 For the third time since chaos had engulfed the Kingdoms, the castle walls were surrounded. Positioned at the end of Stormsedge Ridge, the fortress overlooked a number of settlements in the lowlands and holding the location was essential for controlling the lands below. Smaller forces had tried to lay claim to it previously, but the force now gathered outside dwarfed them all. Stood in ordered ranks, the auburn-armoured knights waited patiently with their equipment readied but held at ceremonial position, rather than aimed at the obstacle before them.  At the head, their leader's armour was covered with embelishments and engravings marking his division, rank and the names of past victories which, when viewed in detail, could be traced all the way back to the earliest battles of the Kingdoms.  In contrast, the fortress master's once shining armour had been scoured black, removing any markings but for a stylised dragon's head which held many of the same origins, denoti...

   A solitary figure journeyed through the valley. A cerulean knight garbed in an ornate, platemail aegis whose colour had been turned pale by age, trimmed more by verdigris than gleaming metal. Gone were the monsters of old that had inhabited this land, as were the castles of recent times. Now the earth was a bed of ruin heaped upon ruin.  The venturer's travel continued for some time longer before they finally found the one they were looking for. A being clad in hulking, coal-black warplate which shared superficial similarities with their own knightly suit, but was far more brutalist in its shape and scale. Waiting motionlessly, this entity could have been mistaken for a statue carved out of the trunk of a great, fire-blackened tree from a distance, but the signs of activity became more evident closer up: the scorching breath of the armour's exhaust vents, made visible in the dust, and the low hum of the powered mechanisms behind each massive, dark-metal plate.  As...