Baldur's Gate : The Sword Coast Chronicles : NWN2 Persistent World

Title: Memories

She sighs as she talks to the scribe. “I remember everything. I remember like it was yesterday.”

The sounds of mugs clinking together, laughter and loud conversations. Asuka was having a few drinks in the barracks with some of the golden lions guardsmen. Even though she was a commander of the golden lions she had much respect for her men and wanted to be on a personal level with them.

“Hey commander give us a speech!” A soldier would yell out towards Asuka. “SPEECH! SPEECH! SPEECH!” they all started to chant. Asuka smiles and takes a swig from her mug and she stands.”Alright, alright calm down, calm down you bunch of heathens!” She laughs as so does the men drinking with her in the barracks. “Alright what does a…”

A loud boom is heard, the barracks shakes a little as everyone looks around.”What the?” Asuka says but before should could say another word, a large boulder comes crashing through the barracks making an explosion sending Asuka and the golden lions all over the barracks floor.

“Whhhat is going on” Asuka slowly gets to her feet holding head looking around as some more of her men start to stagger to their feet. “INCOMING” a soldier yells seeing a fiery boulder being thrown into the air towards their direction. “MOVE, EVERYONE OUT!” Asuka says while directing her men to get out of the area.

Asuka was the last one out just in time as the fiery boulder crashed into the barracks setting it ablaze. Asuka stopped looking at the courtyard seeing a flood of warriors wearing green and black armor battling the golden lions in the courtyard. “Commander what do we do?” A soldier yells over the sound of fighting, screams, and loud crashes of buildings being hit. “We clear the courtyard and hold it.” Asuka draws her crimson blade with the soldiers drawing theirs, they charge into the courtyard to battle these black and green army foes. The crimson blade slices and cuts through the armor of the soldiers in black and green armor like butter, Asuka stops as she spot a soldier that she has only heard about from her father's tails. The man stood back wearing the black and green armor, a black hooded cloak and steel face of a snake. These were not ordinary soldiers, these were the Emerald Vipers. “No it can’t be, they are all dead.” She looks around and starts to notice that the men in black and green are also Emerald Vipers. She yells out. “VIPERS!” with that she quickly strikes down one of the Vipers eyeballing the man in with the steel face of a snake. The Emerald Viper doesn’t move he just stands there with his arms crossed watching the battle ago. Asuka makes her way over to him slashing viper soldiers one by one as she moves through the crowd. She gets closer and closer to the Viper with the steel snake face, striking down any viper in her path. When she reaches him, she flicks the blood off her crimson blade. “Well if it isn’t a Crimson Blade. How wonderful it isssss to sssee one.” The Viper with the steel snake face speaks in a slow but snake like talk. “No matter, I’ve killed many of your kind, it will just be another kill to my lissssssst.” He draws his blade and so does Asuka. her attacks are blocked. She tries high, low, and thrust attacks but yet the Viper blocks her every move barely moving from his spot. Eventually Asuka would get tired of getting blocked breathing heavy with every attack. “FIGHT ME!” Asuka yelled going in for another attack but again would be blocked by the Viper. “Come on!” She stands there with her blade tip touching the ground, trying to catch her breath. The Viper started to laugh in an evil manner and sheaths his sword crossing his arms once again. “AHHH!!” Asuka charges the Viper ready to strike down the man, but the Viper side steps out of the way. Asuka’s eyes widen as she missed and the a shooting pain hits her as she falls to the ground. The Viper had pulled a dagger in the last minute, stabbing her in the side of her armor where there was no armor to protect her. The Viper walked himself over to the fallen Asuka and rolled her over. “Who, are you?” Asuka says holding the dagger in place looking up at the Viper. “ My dear, a Viper Lord, never tellsssssss.” smoke bombs are suddenly going off all over the courtyard. The Viper Lord looks up seeing the smoke filling the area. He looks over at his commander turn and walk out leaving the area of the smoke together.

“When I woke up I was inside a boat bandaged up. Ryunbi was sitting there and said everything will be alright, But I need to rest. And before I knew it he was taking me places to keep me hidden from the Vipers, and telling me that The emperor is dead and the Emerald Vipers are on a hunt to kill anyone who served him. So for now we need to keep moving until he can get us out of these lands safely.” She sighs “And the rest is History, I am here at the gates.” The scribe licks his pen and dips it back into the ink nodding to himself as he finishes writing.

A Quest for Champions

The empire of Kara-Tur stood on the edge of ruin. The Emerald Vipers, a rising force of assassins, warlocks, and traitorous generals, crept through every shadow, poisoning the last pillars of the realm. Honor was fading. Loyalty was rare. And war was no longer on the horizon...it was already at the gates.In the mountain stronghold of Wu Pi Te Shao, the heart of resistance beat fiercely in the halls of golden banners. There, Commander Asuka Musashi, the indomitable leader of the Golden Lions, knelt before her Empress—Kairi Zhang.

“We are not enough,” Asuka said solemnly, golden armor worn from battle. “Our blades grow dull from repetition, not battle. The Emerald Vipers are not an army.......they are a plague. If we are to survive, we need the warriors who once made Kara-Tur feared. I ask permission to search for the Champions of the Crimson Blade… and the lost Lions of old.”

Empress Kairi hesitated, then nodded. “Go. Find them, if you can. Bring back our legacy… or what remains of it.”

Asuka's journey took her far from the peaks of the Wu Pi Te Shao, riding through misty forests, war-scarred plains, and silent villages where temples stood burned and bells no longer rang. She carried only her blade, her name, and a list of warriors once revered across the empire—legends, now reduced to rumors.Some were gone without a trace. The twin Ronin of the Eastern Reaches, once masters of the Crimson Dance, were said to have vanished into the sea, chasing exile rather than shame. A monk named Kaido, who once tamed a rampaging oni barehanded, had died defending a village that no longer existed. Others had lost the will to fight. She found Captain Renjiro, once a proud Golden Lion, drunk in a gambling den, broken by guilt and grief. He refused to even meet her eyes. Lady Aomi the Bladestorm, now lived as a healer, her swords buried beneath a cherry blossom tree. “I gave enough,” she whispered. “Let the young bleed now.”

By the time she reached the burnt-out city of Tenkai, Asuka stood alone beneath a broken statue of a Lion, one she herself had helped raise years ago. The journey had aged her, not in body but in soul. She had followed the trails, the rumors, the fading echoes of warriors who once stood as giants. Some were gone, others had given up, and a few—perhaps the worst of all—had forgotten what it meant to fight. And yet, in that moment, Asuka did not weep. "I will not Give up I will find you all"

"The Lion's Search"

Across the war-torn lands of Kara-Tur, the name Asuka Musashi had become a beacon—and a warning. Once a warrior of unshakable discipline, now a Commander of the Golden Lions Guard, Asuka carried the weight of a crumbling empire on her shoulders. The Emerald Vipers had spread their corruption like a plague—twisting lords, razing villages, and toppling resistance.

But Asuka was not one to kneel.

With her golden cloak flowing behind her and her blade ever at her side, she rode from province to province, from scorched battlefields to forgotten temples, seeking the scattered remnants of the warriors she once called brothers and sisters. The Golden Lions had not fallen nor did the Crimson Blades—they had fractured. And now, she needed them more than ever.

Weeks turned into months, and the names on her list slowly faded into silence. Some had vanished, others had died, and a few had simply lost the will to fight. But one name burned brighter than the rest: Takeda Musashi—former general, once her mentor, and once feared as the Crimson Blade.

Her search led her deep into the Jade Mountains, where clouds clung to the peaks like ancient spirits, and even time seemed to tread lightly. There, amid rice fields and fog-draped forests, she found a lone farmer with the stance of a swordsman and eyes like a storm waiting to break.

“Takeda,” she said softly, standing before him, the wind catching her hair like lion’s mane. “The Crimson Blades and Golden Lions Guard need you. Kara-Tur needs you. The Vipers are striking at the heart of everything we once fought for.”

He didn’t answer at first. His hands were calloused not from war, but from the land. Yet, when he looked up at her, Asuka saw the fire still burning behind those quiet eyes.

"Return of the Crimson Blade"

In the shadow of the Jade Mountains, where rice fields swayed in quiet rhythm and time moved slow, a man once called a war god now tended crops. Takeda Musashi, former general of the Golden Lions Guard and once feared leader of the Crimson Blade mercenaries, had traded steel for soil after the rise of the Emerald Vipers plunged the empire into chaos. Takeda had disappeared like a ghost—no banners, no blood, no farewell. To the world, he was dead. But the legend lived in whispers.

Years passed.

One evening, beneath a crimson dusk, a lone rider crossed the field and halted before Takeda’s modest home. Dressed in black and gold armor, Asuka Musashi—a commander of the Golden Lions—dismounted. Her eyes held the same fire Takeda once saw in warriors facing death, not fearing it “Takeda,” she said softly, standing before him, the wind catching her hair like lion’s mane. “The Crimson Blades and Golden Lions Guard need you. Kara-Tur needs you. The Vipers are striking at the heart of everything we once fought for.” He didn’t answer at first. His hands were calloused not from war, but from the land. Yet, when he looked up at her, Asuka saw the fire still burning behind those quiet eyes. "You’ve hidden long enough, brother," she said, her voice calm, but edged with urgency. “The Emerald Vipers are spreading. Cities fall. Honor fades. I need a warrior. Not just any warrior—you.”

Takeda said nothing, only returned to sharpening his farming blade, the movements silent, deliberate. “If not for the Golden Lions,” she continued, “then for the Crimson Blades. They’re not what you left behind—but they’re still yours. They’re waiting.” The edge of his blade gleamed. His grip tightened. For a long moment, the wind was the only voice between them.
“I am no longer the man I was,” he said. “No,” she replied. “You’re more.” Silence passed between them like a sword’s breath before the strike. Then Takeda stood, straightened his back, and walked to the shed behind his home. When he emerged, he wore the tattered red sash of the Crimson Blade and carried the katana that had once brought kings to their knees. Then, Takeda spoke once again, eyes locked on the horizon. “If I return… the Vipers will bleed.”

Asuka nodded. She had her answer. The Crimson Blade & The Golden Lions Guard would rise again.

Blades of the Falling Sun

The drums of war echoed faintly across the shattered lands of Kara-Tur, a slow, distant rhythm that grew louder with each passing day. The Emerald Vipers, silent and coiled for too long, were beginning to stir. Time was running out. Far from the capital, Asuka Musashi, the Lion-Hearted Commander, and Takeda Musashi, once the Crimson Blade, rode under twilight skies. Their journey was desperate and sacred—to gather what remained of the old order before the empire collapsed completely. Their mission: reunite the scattered champions of the Golden Lions and the Crimson Blades.

In the war-forged Wu Pi Te Shao Mountains, Empress Kairi Zhang, Sister of the Current Emperor of Kara-Tur of the North Qin Shin Zhang V, trained a new generation of Lions under the cold eye of Supreme Advisor Tesshu Biapa, a master of tactics and deception. Tesshu warned that the Vipers were close—too close. If war came before the old warriors were found, Kara-Tur might not survive. But Empress Kairi Zhang refused to sit idle.

Across burned-out villages, haunted forests, and the high plateaus of the Obsidian Steppe, Asuka and Takeda hunted the ghosts of the past. First, they searched for Kage Isho Kuzu, the silent blade of the Crimson Blades, Villagers say that a shadow is seen in of the ruined Temple of the Night Wind. Isho had vanished after the last war, embracing solitude and silence—but are his daggers still sharp? Will he stand by The Crimson Blades & Golden Lions Once more?

Next there were rumors of a master assassin once feared across the seven prefectures. an assassin who found him surrounded by mercenaries he had trained, in the ruins of Ashinobi Tower. Takeda agreed that this must be Jonin Rynubi. Will Rynubi stand by Takeda once more?

The third rumor in a village from the north was a man known Iron Tiger of the north. He had become a warlord of his own, protecting a mountain fortress from Viper incursions. Some people say that he carries a Crimson Blade but only pulls it out to strike down the Vipers. Takeda thought for a moment and looked to Asuka "Shogun Daishi Tora-Te, he is the only man who protect his own and stay the path."

Finally, the last rumor was a man who recluse in the mist-draped in Kyoden Monastery. rumors stated that the man was once the strategist who defeated three warlords with a single feint. Who nearly died from his wounds with many arrows. Asuka smiled and looked to Takeda "oh that has to be your brother that you always wanted!" She huffs and rolls her eyes. Takeda smirks..."Lets see if we can find them all."

With their ranks swelling and the old guard reforged, the sun began to rise over the land.A new beginning was ahead of them and so was hope. The blades had returned. And the roar of the Golden Lions would be heard once more.