The Quest to Find The Kingdom of Philadelphia

BudKnight's First Journey

The great kingdom of Philadelphia was one that BudKnight had not heard of before, but when he heard of a new king rising to the throne....well he knew it was time for him to finally bend the knee to a true king. He was traveling with his two companions SirPewpALot and Jasmine from across the continent. Together they were a merry band of travelers who would hopefully find a home in the great Kingdom of Philadelphia or Philly as some seemed to refer to it. 

The unfortunate thing was that the journey there would be filled with dangers whether it be great beasts, bandits, or bad weather. They would have to do their best together to beat anything that came there way. With BudKnight at the lead they could accomplish anything!

The horses were well fed and watered before they departed on their journey so the need to stop would not come quickly. You always wanted to get as much distance covered as you could early on in your trip just in case you ran into any troubles along the way that would slow your progress. Without the horses that task would be impossible to accomplish so taking care of them was the main priority. 

As they passed through the desert oasis of Las Vegas they "oooh'd" and "ahhh'd" at the wondrous sights that were spanning for what seemed to be forever. Although that may have just been a desert illusion caused by the heat bouncing off of the sand dunes. They would never know for sure as they had no time to stop!

"My good sir, BudKnight! When shall we be making camp? The heat has taken much of the horses energy that they once had at the beginning of this journey." SirPewpALot proposed the question with concern in his voice.

"Yeah, I'm also a bit tired. I could also go for a good drink and some food if we are taking suggestions on what to do next." Jasmine added.

BudKnight rubbed his metal helmet where his chin lay hidden and pondered these questions and suggestions mightily. Although he did not wish to stop their tremendous progress, he also did not want to cause unnecessary stress and strain on these majestic beasts. Especially his noble steed Blue Moon who had been with him for so many other journeys. 

"I have an idea! I believe we should stop to make camp and allow our noble steeds to rest up. Perhaps we can open a few beers from our stockpile and cook up a nice meal. What do you say?" He turned happily to his fellow travelers.

They both looked at each other confusedly and then back at BudKnight, "....Yeah. Sure. Great idea."

They shook their heads as they all dismounted and began to make camp. It took some time and gathering of a few materials, but they eventually had their bed rolls, fire, and everything else set up for the night. The horses were tied up not too far from the fire with some food and water of their own. The beautiful sound of beers being opened could be heard through the camp before SirPewpALot came forward to hand one to Jasmine and BudKnight.

"Dilly Dilly!" BudKnight exclaimed as the other two muttered it begrudgingly. 

The darkness kept creeping in on the campsite as the hours passed....

The food was consumed, the beers were enjoyed, and all that was left was to get some sleep. The problem was that there was always people on the prowl to do dishonorable things while people slept! BudKnight had noticed them as they passed Las Vegas and again as they approached this small cluster of trees, but they were trailing behind as to try and to not be noticed. Unfortunately for them, BudKnight was ever-vigilant! 

The scoundrels who had been following BudKnight and his companions were in for quite the surprise when they finally decided to show their faces at the camp. In preparation he had waited till his companions had fallen into a deep sleep and filled his bed roll with a dummy that had been constructed to resemble him from a distance or in the dark. He had it made for occasions just as this and it had never failed him yet. That mixed with the live bait for his companions meant that the wannabe robbers would never see him coming...

He watched as the men slowly made their way into the camp from multiple directions with their guns drawn. He had covered his armor with a mixture of leaves, branches, dirt, and grass to blend in with his surrounding environment. He hated to reverse all the hard work that SirPewpALot had done to make his armor nice and shiny, but it was necessary to stop these villains. SirPewpALot would have plenty of time after cleaning up the corpses to shine it all up.

Enough thinking! He thought to himself.....

TIME FOR ACTION!

With that he rose quickly from the underbrush and sprinted into the campsite yelling a mighty battle cry...

He threw all his weight into one man sending him flying off of his feet and into the campfire. His screams of pain and agony fueled BudKnight as he moved on to take out his next attacker. The evil doer's were caught off guard by the appearance of this giant man covered in all sort of nature and armor. One man began to flee, but BudKnight grabbed him by the shoulder and drove his sword straight through...

"Ahhhhh!" The man screamed until his life left him.

"Take that you scoundrels! None shall leave this campsite alive! BudKnight has decreed it!" He shouted.

All the craziness had woken up his fellow companions who were now standing at his side. It was a standoff as the attackers were not sure what to do except to point their guns at the travelers. SirPewpALot had drawn his sword as well which made BudKnight smile a great big smile, even if it could not be seen under his helmet. He turned to look at....

"Uh, Jasmine. Why are you using that infernal contraption? I thought we talked about this when I bought you that nice crossbow?" He put his sword in its sheath and put his hands on his hips.

Jasmine rubbed her forehead in frustration, "Not this again please. I know you two are Knights and all. But I am not. I am using a modern invention to solve modern problems."

"But it....it just doesn't....really fit in with the group's dynamic and theme....and I would just be much more comfortable knowing you were using the gift I got you. You know....the crossbow." He motioned for the crossbow that was laying near Jasmine's bed roll. 

The man who must have been the leader of the attackers interjected, "What is going on!? What is wrong with you three? Well, I suppose mostly the big guy there covered in dirt acting like a crazy person. The woman at least seems like she is all there in the head."

Jasmine sighed and dropped the gun to pick up the crossbow...

"Ah Goody! Now we can get on with it." BudKnight exclaimed with cheer in his voice.

"Hey! I asked you a question!" The Evil Leader interjected once more.

BudKnight quick as lightning made his way to the man, knocking his gun away and picking him up by the throat....

"I will address your questions and comments! Just have some patience and respect! Is that too much to ask?" As he was speaking a bullet bounced off his shoulder plate.

With a reaction time ALMOST as good as BudKnight's, Jasmine turned and fired a bolt from her AWESOME crossbow into the man's chest killing him instantly. Now only four men remained including the one dangling from BudKnight's grip.

"Now where was I before your companion rudely interrupted me. Ah! Yes! The dirt comment. It is called camoflauge! Do you know nothing of battle tactics!? It allowed me to get the drop on you and your men obviously." He shook his head at the lack of training these men had, but what could you expect from a group of robbers.

"As for your main question of 'what is wrong with you three two?" He recalled the correction the man made to his attack on their character, "Well I'm not sure all the trained professionals in the country could give you an answer to that one. Jasmine here would say that I am insane. Although I myself believe that there is nothing wrong with me. I am just a noble Knight trying to live honorably. YOU are the ones who attacked US. What is wrong with you?"

Before the man could answer BudKnight dropped him from his grip and swung his sword up over his head and down with a mighty force. The man dropped to the ground in two pieces. He had no time to wait for an answer to his question and believed the man deserved to be interrupted as he had been on TWO occasions tonight.

Three men remained...

The man who had caught on fire had gotten back on his feet to join the other two men left alive. He appeared to be in quite a bit of pain from his time spent....on fire. There were three left on each side of the fight so BudKnight knew he could not let his guard down just yet. They had not yet gained an advantage. 

"I apologize sir. I would not have knocked you into the fire if I had not believed it would be the end of you. You seem to be in quite a bit of pain." He spoke calmly.

"You think!? It's excruciatingly painful! You threw....into a fire! How would it not be? I'm going to end you for this!" The man yelled as he raised his gun and began to fire. 

The bullets bounced playfully off of his armor...

With the attack focused on BudKnight, Jasmine went for cover and began firing bolts from her super duper crossbow at one of the enemies who began firing at her from cover. SirPewpALot charged forward at the third and final man who was firing at him as well. Our armor was superior to bullets though and made for perfect protection against these evil doers. 

BudKnight chuckled loudly at the burned man as he reloaded and moved closer.....firing every second he could. Eventually he got within arms length and his gun clicked empty. With one might swing of his sword from the place it sat upon his shoulder the man was cut in two from right to left. His top half fell back into the fire and set ablaze once more...

"Oh well that is just overkill I suppose. Poor fellow. Next time I hope he chooses to do good in this world!" He said as he began to make his way to where Jasmine was firing from.

Behind him he could hear SirPewpALot trading blows with the man he was fighting. He seemed to never have a great grip on his sword which caused him to toss it upon swinging many times in the past. There were times though when he just chose a good bit of fisticuffs over his sword though. This may have been either scenario, but the fact that his sword lay about fifteen feet away stuck in a tree seemed to point to the former possibility. 

As BudKnight arrived at Jasmine's location he took a knee and spoke, "How is it going? Does it fire okay? Is it a good balanced weight? Do you..."

"Can you just shut up about the crossbow already? I'm using it and that should be enough! If I was using my pistol I wouldn't have to reload for every shot." She said angrily as she poked out and fired another bolt that finally found it's target sending the man to the ground crying out in pain.

"See! Fantastic work Jasmine! It has served you well. You should give it a proper name! Not that it's a sword, but in this case we will make an exception!" He said with pride.

She muttered as she reloaded the crossbow and made her way over to where the man lay on the ground screaming. BudKnight followed closely behind...

Jasmine stood over the man and fired the final kill shot to stop his suffering. A bit of blood sprayed out and covered a bit of BudKnight's helmet. He tried to wipe it off, but it just got smeared and mixed in with the dirt he already had on his armor.

"Ah, no worries. I'm sure SirPewpALot will be able to get it all off later when he cleans it." He sheathed his sword and made his way over with Jasmine to watch the fisticuffs that was still occurring on the other side of the camp.

The bout was fierce as each man landed heavy blows upon the other and neither seemed to want to give an inch in the fight. Although....SirPewpALot was wearing armor so it was much more impressive that the other man was still putting up such a fight. Somewhat embarrassing that SirPewpALot had not yet won...

"Come now my good man! Take him out! Give him a good one, two. Let's be done with this in quick fashion." BudKnight said from the sidelines.

Jasmine just shook her head and went off to get another beer before the cleanup started of the campsite. No matter if it was their own place or just some area in the wilderness, they never left a battlefield uncleaned. BudKnight was above such tasks though with his knighthood and all so he would make sure to give good directions to the other two on what needed to be done or if they missed something.

The fighting continued on for what seemed to be an eternity until finally the enemy  dropped to a knee and SirPewpALot landed a knockout blow across the mans jaw with a solid right hook. With that BudKnight gave him a solid golf clap to show his appreciation of the victory. He then unsheathed his sword and drove it down into the man's back to make sure he did not get up later on.

"Now on to the cleanup SirPewpALot! We must make haste is we are to get any sort of sleep before continuing our journey tomorrow. Hopefully with no further interruptions on our quest I would hope. Otherwise it will be months before we make it to the Kingdom of Philadelphia." With that the cleanup began.

BudKnight removed his armor to go clean up in a nearby water source, leaving his companions to do a tremendous job cleaning up the battlefield that was once their nice campsite. Once he was done with that, it was on to get some much needed rest before their journey continued...

The sun was quite warm upon his face that morning, but he couldn't enjoy it for long as he quickly got back into his majestic blue armor. With some effort they had cleaned up the camp, packed everything away, and got the horses ready to continue traveling. It was time to continue on and hurry to The Kingdom of Philadelphia!

The road was long and the travel was difficult, but in the end BudKnight knew it would be worth it to find a King worth serving in a land filled with crime and corruption. Democracy had failed this nation and only a Monarchy would be able to get them back on track. That was why it was so important for him to find this new King on the eastern coast. If he was the man they said he was, then he may just be crazy enough to lead the country back to a golden age.

Blue Moon was of course the perfect noble steed along the way getting him across all sorts of terrain and even kicking a wolf in the face when it sprung out to attack them. He would make sure to reward his mount when they eventually got to their destination. Perhaps a new saddle, a good brushing, and the best food any horse could want. 

By his calculations they were only mere hours from arriving in the Kingdom of Philadelphia and his calculations were always somewhat accurate...

"Soon enough we shall arrive in this new kingdom and bend the knee to our new king SirPewpALot. I can only hope he is even half the man they say he is in the taverns across this nation. If he is then we are sure to finally find a kingdom worth serving. Jasmine I am sure you will find something to do when we get there and you are always welcome to join us on our quests. IF you obviously bring along your trusty and magnificent crossbow." He said with hope for a good future and eagerness to arrive. 

The others just nodded in what was most likely agreement and not just a way to keep him from continuing on with his monologue. He was sure of it. So he stopped talking and continued to let Blue Moon carry him toward his destiny.

"Hey Bud, when we get there....shall I finally receive my official Knighthood? I know you said that the one I got before didn't actually count....even though I got it from the same place as you...so I was hoping I could finally get it." SirPewpALot inquired.

BudKnight sighed, "Well, I suppose so. It would only make sense after all the hard work you've put in squiring for me. It will be difficult though and we will have to find somebody to fill in for the duties you usually had during our quests."

He quite enjoyed having SirPewpALot around to do all the things he did not wish to do, but eventually it would be time for him to progress on to being a full fledged Knight. Even if it was technically already something that happened and BudKnight just lied. He'd give it to him for a second time and allow him to finally become a proud and honorable Knight. This time for the Kingdom of Philadelphia. 

As they came over the peak of a large hill they could finally see it off in the distance, the Kingdom of Philadelphia. It did not appear to resemble any Kingdom that BudKnight had seen before in Europe, but times were changing. The sight of it made them all more eager to arrive so they began to push the horses harder and increased their speed. 

The streets were busy and bustling with people going to and from whatever mundane tasks they were trying to accomplish. They were essentially the peasants of Philadelphia as far as he could tell and they were below a Knight such as him. He was in search of the one true King and would not stop until he found him. He had heard from a barkeep that the man they were searching for could be found at a warehouse towards the middle of the city. It was quite odd information, knowing the man was a King....but perhaps he was actively keeping an eye on his kingdom. Something that made BudKnight confident this would be the king to lead them all to greatness. 

After some time traveling deeper into the city they finally found it...the warehouse where the King would be found. There they would bend the knee and pledge their fealty to him and this kingdom....

The warehouse was poorly lit creating a lack of visibility as they entered...

On the far side of the building they could see a figure slowly approaching them. In the silhouette you could see he was wearing a crown. This was it....the moment they had traveled so far for...to meet the true King of Philadelphia. They all got down on one knee and place their weapons across their open palms....

"Jasmine! Bend the knee! This is royalty we are here to see!" He yelled in frustration at the lack of etiquette on display.

"I'm your friend, but if you keep trying to push this royalty and knights stuff on me. I'm going to shoot you.." Before she could finish, BudKnight interjected.

"As long as it's with your crossbow and not that other thing, then I'd die happily." He said with a covered grin.

She just grumbled and got down on one knee, "Happy?"

"Extremely." he responded. 

The man continued approaching and eventually he came into the light for the travelers to see. He stood there in all his glory staring at the group with what seemed to be confusion.

"Who are you all? Why have you entered my warehouse!?" He questioned in a Kingly tone.

"We are a collection of a noble knight, a squire, and whatever it is Jasmine does. We have come from far away lands to seek a place here in the Kingdom of Philadelphia under the one true King.....KingRevan!" He said with his head bowed.

The King was pacing back and forth, rubbing his chin and pondering this idea. Not that BudKnight could see as he would never raise his head before hearing the response of what he hoped would be his future King...

"I suppose. I suppose this is acceptable. Philadelphia was once a lawless land until I took control of it, I do need some warriors to keep it that way." He said in agreement.

The three rose and put their weapons away before BudKnight spoke, "Thank you my King! You shall not be disappointed in your choice to trust us with service to the Kingdom. We shall serve you well."

"I believe so. As I do not make any bad choices. I am King for a reason. The sword and armor suits you BudKnight. As for you...the other one...the squire. I believe you shall now be a Knight as well, but you shall be using an axe from now on. I think it shall suit you better than a sword. It will also allow you to cut wood for me when I require it!" He said with grace.

"I shall acquire an axe at one my King." SirPewpALot said with excitement. 

"Now go. Serve me well. Also....this cocaine that Javier had me acquire should be distributed and sold across the Kingdom for the people to enjoy. That is your task at hand. Do not fail your King!" He said as he turned and returned to the darkness of the warehouse.

The three began to get to work loading some of the cocaine into a cart which they would then attach some horses to. It would be the perfect way to help get the cocaine around the city and into the hands of loyal merchants....

"Can we just use a truck? I mean I get it. You want to use swords instead of guns. Why do we need to make this task harder than it needs to be? We can transport quite a bit more with a truck." Jasmine groaned.

"You cannot trust those machines over a couple of fine horses Jasmine. You should know that by now. It's not up for debate so just keep loading up the cart. We'll be on our way soon enough." BudKnight responded.

Once the final package of cocaine that they could fit was in the cart they were on their way. Soon enough the Kingdom of Philadelphia would have it's cocaine and the King would be a happy man. This was the start of what would be fantastic quests and journeys for this trio....most likely duo if Jasmine continued with this negativity towards their way of life...