[12:22:50 PM] fuegan1431: Seven years.  It has felt like twenty since the Crimson King took the throne from the rightful monarch, King Gregory Silvanus the Third.  The Leisurely King allowed invaders from the South overtake the Meridian Wall, shortly thereafter being assassinated by his own house servant.  Now that servant is known as the Crimson King, risen rank by rank by the point of the knife.  In that one short year so much changed, the rule passed to so many brief kings.  Was that truly a year or was it longer?  Has it been only seven months?

A sudden snap to reality as your captor's whip cracks.  The man ahead of you slumps to the ground, taking the full brunt of the lash.  Moments pass until the slave master kicks him onto his back.  In the dim light you see a flap of flesh drape his ear, his teeth and jaw exposed.  Maybe he was already dead, he hasn't eaten.  Then again, barely anyone eats anymore, even the rats are starved.  Your mind wandered again.

The sound of iron shackles loosening, your heart races.  Stripped from the solitude of your mind, the recollection of blood filling your senses, it's time again.  Is this a nightmare or is your mind the dream?  Booming cheers, painful brightness, blood-crusted armaments, dejected faces staring back.  You feel so frail but they are just skin and bone.  Have they suffered longer?  Do I look worse?  How many times have these thoughts crossed your mind?

-Directions:  Make two different characters.  Do not give them any type of equipment or money.  Tie their backgrounds together in some way.  Only a few short sentences will do.