[System]
Gender: Female

Age: 23

Rank: Corporal

Former Regiment: 510th Cadian Shock Troops (Mechanized)

Specialty/Role: Vox-Operator and Reconnaissance Trooper

Personal Demeanor:
Once a zealous and hot-headed recruit eager to see the field of battle, Laen's demeanor has since been tempered by the Iron discipline of the Cadian Shock Troops and the dreadful realities of combat in the 42nd Millenia. She has a much more reserved outward personality, seeming quiet and distant to those around her, though a fire still burns within her. She's a loyal, faithful soldier of the Emperor that has excelled in her areas of expertise, but her reserved and disciplined attitude has kept her from advancing to a leadership role in the 510th. She keeps her mouth shut, her eyes and ears open, and does what needs to be done when it needs to be done, but rarely takes the initiative herself to make decisions, an unfortunate drawback of the disciple drilled into her all her life. While she will not hesitate to share her expertise and advise superiors when called upon, she does not question a decision or order handed down to her, regardless of her own opinion on the matter. She makes a loyal follower and dedicated comrade, but a wanting leader.

Her experiences have left her paranoid and restless as any loyal guardsman should be, constantly vigilant. She has a deep hatred of the forces of chaos and all those that serve the Daemonic, ingrained in her through her upbringing and reinforced in her military career. Conversely, she trusts her fellow guardsmen (especially other Cadians) with her life and will not hesitate to put herself at risk for her comrades.

Description:
Corporal Laen is far from an extraordinary looking individual. Standing only 5'3" tall with an athletic, although not particularly muscular build, she is towered over by most others and appears rather slight by comparison. Her light complexion and violet eyes easily mark her out as a Cadian, as does her standard battle dress, patterned in the muted green camouflage used by guardsmen on Stiri II. Her flak armor shows the wear of battle, with worn paint and scarred in places by shrapnel. Her helmet is mounted with a bulky headset for the vox-caster she wears on her back which itself looks almost comically large on her. The words "Call for a Good Time" are stenciled in white on her helmet, something allowed only due to her position as a reconnaissance trooper, far from commanders and commissars that might frown at such a thing.

Service Record:
The fall of Cadia marked a tremendous loss to the Imperium. However, its martial tradition remains alive and well, carried on by the scattered sons and daughters of Cadia, fighting countless wars against those who would threaten Mankind. Entire regiments continue to be raised from the descendents of those that survived Cadia's fall, born in gargantuan voidships and distant colonies instead of the fortress cities of Cadia, taught to hate the Archenemy that tore their world from them.

Corporal Laen is among those thousands of Cadians born without a home, trained to fight and die among her fellow Cadians and told countless stories of the homeworld she would never see and its near-mythic defenders that died by the millions to hold it from the most accursed enemy. She called the vault-like holds of naval voidships her home and those guardsmen around her family. Like so many Cadians before her, she has known little else than war, born among soldiers of Cadia and raised to battle in the 510th Shock Regiment alongside her brothers and sisters, her childhood merely preparation for martydom.

Laen's first combat experience was on Thesh, an industrial world caught in the path of an Ork Waagh. The 510th arrived several weeks after the ork vanguard, intending to relieve the beleaguered defenders and reinforce their fortifications. Laen, still a whiteshield, participated in nearly a year of brutal attrition warfare. She fought in day after day of brutal combat on the front, with little time to recover or even bury the dead between xenos assaults. The experience was sobering for the young woman who had yet to know the realities of war. After months spent grinding the xenos advance to a halt, the Imperials went on the offensive and drove the greenskins from the world. By the end of the Battle of Thesh, Laen had been transferred out of her whiteshield platoon and into a reconnaissance company, where she served as a vox-operator.

After a short respite from the campaign on Thesh, the regiment participated in the counter-invasion of Stiri II, an Imperial Agri-world invaded and subjugated by a Chaos warband spat out into the Imperium by the Circatrix Maledictum. It was here that Laen came face to face with the servants of the Archenemy and the horrific powers they commanded. Her reconnaissance unit formed the vanguard for the Imperial offensive, traveling ahead of the lines to test the enemy's defenses. She became an adept scout and navigator, for anything less meant a quick death on the overgrown fields of Stiri II. The campaign left the 510th a tattered shadow of its former self and Laen, now a corporal, was among the hardened survivors, having faced certain, horrific death for two long years and survived by luck and the Emperor's mercy.

Equipment:
Lascarbine - A shortened lasgun with a folding stock intended for specialist personnel. Laen prefers it due to her smaller physique, reconnaissance role, and bulky comms equipment.
Vox-Caster - A bulky manpack radio with helmet-mounted link. It provides infantry with the capability for long-distance communication with friendly elements.
Magnoculars - A handheld vision device that magnifies distant objects for observation.
Flak Armor - Protective body armor in the standard Cadian-pattern. Comes in two sizes: Too Big and Too Small. Laen's is the former.
Cadian Battle Dress Uniform - A simple and rugged uniform in woodland camouflage intended to serve guardsmen in a variety of environments.
Standard Regimental Kit - An assortment of equipment to sustain a guardsman in the field, including ammunition, rations, tools for maintaining military equipment, and basic medical supplies.

[User]
There was a twitch that even an Eldar would struggle to notice due to it's speed and microscopic scale, but nevertheless Epsilon had it in his right eye when he was mimicked. However when the man revealed he had the mask - and was disrespecting the item - it was much more noticeable with his head cocking on one side for a millisecond before returning to it's original position. His equipment seemed intact, but he was nevertheless distressed. Unused parts of his brain flared trying to tell him something, something to do with emotions, being taunted and the subsequent anger. However, he'd be having none of that. The only emotion a true servant of the Emperor had was love for his God-ruler.

"Listen closely. If you do not tell me your designation, your unit and why you are here on this ship, I will not torture you – torture would be redundant on one of your kind – I will imprison you. I will imprison you for as long as your life holds out, for as long as it takes for you to meet a slow and miserable end bought about by the ageing of your body. You think that your Emperor would want that? Do you really think that he would accept your sacrifice outside of martyrdom in battle?"

In a fraction of a fraction of a nanosecond, the question was repeated dozens of times. Of course he wouldn't. But would he want to be betrayed? This brought more questions than Draeta would care to ask, but he nevertheless had to compute them. Cold logic was what was needed here and that was precisely what any Krieger had cart-loads of.

Draeta didn't smile because he wasn't stupid, and even if he was the soldier was nonetheless emotionless. However, it would the perfect time to if narrative causality had a say in things. All the while the man was speaking he was chewing his hooding hoping to get a hole in it for... something he had planned. He was quiet and did it hidden to all but the most attentive of eyes, but nevertheless the sharp and impeccable teeth were grinding hard. Whether or not it would yield, the Kriegsman would turn to the sound and lean in when it was seemingly the closest and say "No, he wouldnt...." before lunging out hoping to catch the counterpart with his teeth. All the while, he was howling "For the Emperor! Die heretic!" in unending repetition.

[Assistant]
That took him back. The mocking, the patronizing. A soldier without a homeworld, just like his parents, and their parents before that. He tensed up, every cold, seized muscle in his body tugging and shifting. His teeth locked together, and he gritted them in not only anger, but spite. Were his eyes revealed he would've had the most bright hellfire burning within them.

The words continued to echo in his mind across the tense silence, his anger saying a thousand words, creating a cacophony of tension in the room. The words, they bounced, echoed, "No home.." and "Broke your homeworld.." He was angry, everything in his mind told him to yell out, cursing who or whatever captured him. But he remained silent, preparing his words articulately.

"Cadia stands as long as Cadian soldiers fight." He muttered, the familiar phrase from the lips of Ursarkar E. Creed himself, giving birth to a pride and nationalism even in the absence of a homeworld. He calmed himself in the ensuing silence, and yet repeated, his mouth now articulately and coldly stating again the same phrase: "Corporal Austen Corby, service number 4093375."

[User]
"Corporal Inessa Laen."

The voice made her shiver as much as the cold.

"Well Corporal, I need answers to my questions, and if you cannot provide them then what use are you to me?"

Its words were punctuated with a low-pitched hum. It took her a moment to recognize it through the pain that fogged her mind, turned her thoughts into an incoherent mess. It was a sound she had heard countless times in her short lifetime.

It was one of the most exciting sounds she had ever heard in her youth, the soft hum that announced the beginning of a live-fire excersize in the bowels of a voidship. It was one she had heard over and over in the quiet of her barracks as she spent hours loading and unloading her weapon, ingraining the simple motions into her muscles. It was the quiet, innocent sound that signalled the imminent destruction of a flakboard target at the end of a range.

On Thesh, it meant she was about to see combat for the first time. It was a sound that started the pounding in her chest, the rush of adrenaline, the anxious shaking of excitement and terror. And again, when the smoke cleared at the end of each brutal assault and a heavy silence fell over the killing fields, when the dead were counted and the dreadful reality of what had occurred began to set in, it was a sound of comfort, a sound that meant when the enemy came again, she would be ready.

On Stiri II, it was the sound that began every foot patrol. It was the sound of a dozen troopers reading their weapons in the cramped interior of a Chimera. It was the quiet sound of warning mere moments before an ambush. It was a sound she longed for more than anything when the ammunition went dry and the enemy was upon them.

But now, in this dark, cold room, it meant only one dreadful thing. She was going to die.

Death was what she had been raised for, death in the service of the Imperium. She had accepted that long ago and expected it to come much sooner than now. Only under the Emperor's protection had she made it off of those hellish worlds alive and if now he deemed her service complete, so be it, she was ready.

Inessa had always expected, hoped for, a sudden death. Perhaps for a heavy autogun slug to decapitate her in a firefight, or a lascannon to reduce her vehicle to molten slag. This was not what she had hoped for. The minutes seemed to drag on for an eternity as she hung her head, shaking uncontrollably from the cold, and desperately tried to remember the words to a prayer that wouldn't come.

The voice broke the silence again, drowning out her thoughts once more.

"What regiment were you with, Corporal? Where were you deployed? Why are you on this ship? Who brought you here? I want answers, soldier."

It could talk all it liked. She had no answers for it, none that would stay its hand without damning her soul. Things were better this way, better for it just to end.


[System]
Age: 24

Previous Occupation: Independent Contractor (Exotic Dancing)

Brief Personality/History: Elizabeth tends to have extreme shifts in her moods. Though often irritable, she can also be overly enthusiastic and happy. Most of the time she is impulsive and reckless; she doesn't think about the long term consequences of her actions so long as it makes her feel better in the moment. In her mind, the world revolves around her and the only other person she might love more than herself is her son. Unfortunately, she hasn't been able to see him as he lives elsewhere with his father.

Name: Tyler
Age: 35
Previous Occupation: Lawyer
Brief Personality/History: ???

Name: Ava
Age: 30
Previous Occupation: Secretary
Brief Personality/History: A quiet woman, she escaped the lobby with Elizabeth and Tyler in the office building when it all began. It wasn't long after she died a horrific death in front of Elizabeth, Erin, and Dallen that more than likely traumatized them.

[User]
It amazed her to see how quickly most of the people in the building had given up. Thinking that as soon as the doors would open the majority of them would flock back to their families, she was shocked that more than a few—even the ones that had been protesting—had elected to stay inside, afraid of stepping foot past the doors in the lobby.

Elizabeth was not one of them. She needed to leave. She needed to find some way to check on her son. Ava was another one choosing to leave, the woman having her own family to get back to. The one person that probably surprised her was Tyler. Thinking that maybe he would be too scared, she was shocked when he stated he wasn't going to be locked in again and was getting out while he could. Even though he didn't have family to get back to—and Elizabeth doubted he had any friends, either—the bachelor would have rather taken his chances locked in his own apartment.

The most controversial decision, however, was the little girl. After being saved, she'd stuck close to Elizabeth and the others like glue and when it came time for everyone to figure out what they were doing, once they made their choice she piped up, "I'm going, too."

It created more chaos as people claimed it was too dangerous for her to go out there. The adults intimidated her as they hovered over her saying, "Oh, no. It's too dangerous for you. You need to stay here."

But Elizabeth noticed that she as a strong little girl. Whenever she felt scared or overwhelmed, she reached out to hold her hand, but she stayed steadfast in her decision. "No. I need to find my daddy," she told them all. The firm tone sounded odd in her sweet high-pitched voice.

Knowing that she'd just lost her mother, she could understand why she'd want to leave and find the only other parent she had left. As everyone argued over what should be done, Elizabeth said, "I'll make sure she finds her father." Happy to find someone on her side, the little girl hugged her leg.

Those leaving all gathering at the elevator, they were given a brown paper bag with 24 hours worth of rations. They were allowed to come back within 24-hours if they changed their minds, but the Judge made it clear no one would be allowed entry after that point. Not planning to come back, it wasn't wasn't an issue for Elizabeth though Tyler looked as though he had doubts before getting on the elevator.

Out of all of them, Erin, the little girl looked the happiest. She stood beside Elizabeth, her hand in one hand and the brown paper bag in the other one. "It reminds me of the lunches we had on our field trip to the orchard," she said happily, tilting her head back to look up at her.

"Oh yeah?" Elizabeth asked, giving her all her attention. "Did you have fun?"

Scrunching her nose up, she shook her head as she remembered it. "Not really. It was just a bunch of trees and Billy Mitchell kept pulling my hair on the bus."

When the elevator doors opened to let them out and they all stepped off, they said their goodbyes. Tyler was first with a heartfelt goodbye for Ava thanking her for all her help. Just when Elizabeth thought she might miss him a little bit he turned to her and said a curt, "Farewell, Lizzy. I hope to never see you again."

Rolling her eyes as he walked away, her response was a little too late and she had to yell across the room, "Yeah, well, the feeling's mutual!" After she was done huffing, she turned to Ava to give her a hug and say goodbye. The woman bent down to give Erin one as well which she returned.

Once it felt like everyone was gone, she looked back at Erin who stared expectantly up at her with her big brown eyes. "Where do you think we might find your father?"

The girl perked up happily. "He's a teacher," she responded excitedly. "He teaches older kids."

"So a school," she stated. Erin gave an eager nod. "Shouldn't be too hard."

[Assistant]
"Romero high school. Home of the Wildcats," Dallen stated. Where Dallen's daughter was, where Erin's father probably was. It was a destination, and it was all that Dallen was focused on at this point. He thought that it was foolish for the others to leave on their own, but luckily the undead in the area had dispersed. They all now knew these things could be killed and how to, and of the various things that distract them, but they were still fast and never tiring.

"I'm heading that way," Dallen said. He lit up a cigarette and started walking.

There were enormous skyscrapers surrounding them, shadowing the entire city within a few miles. The middle school was a few blocks left off of mainstreet, which was entirely possible to reach and get back to the court house building in 24 hours. So long as the dead was in hiding, they might even be able to find a few more survivors, if there were any.

It wasn't long before they heard a scream. Just a block away, they met Ava once again. She locked herself in a random Ford Taurus while a walker scratched at the window from the outside. With a sigh, Dallen approached and killed the thing, using his knife and sticking it through the back of its' head.

"That didn't take long," he said as he freed her from her own cell.

"Guys..." Erin calmly said, her voice faint.

"Sorry, I should've been more careful," she said, taking a quick second to recollect herself. "It just, came at me so fast."

"We should stay together this time," Dallen said. "Help me get my daughter back, and I will help you find whoever you need to find."

"...guys!"

Before Ava could nod her head in agreement, Erin spotted a few of the undead turning the corner. Behind them, a horde. They were roaming through the city at random, some of their faces still fresh while others were covered in blood and gore. As the dead turned the corner, they spotted the group. One of them houled a blood curdling scream deep through the air and city, the message clear: Food.

"Run!" Dallen yelled. He led the way, taking the group through an alleyway and out the other side. They ran through some markets, then through a building, until they came out in town square. Dallen stopped dead in his tracks as he realized he had just led them all to their demise.

The undead were on both sides of them, and soon enough were at the front and back. There was a slight chance for an escape route, however Dallen thought about it too long and the chance was gone. The horde moved in, some running at them, others hobbling or crawling as fast as they could.

Dallen looked at Elizabeth with defeat in his eyes, realizing that this was the end. They were foolish to think they could make it out here, even for just 24 hours. There was no way his daughter had survived this, or anyone for that matter. They were all dead, or close to it. The dead and the dying.

"Look!" Erin said, pointing at the sewer entrance under the curb. It was small, but wide enough for them to slip through one by one. Wasting no time, Dallen ran up to it and stood guard. "Go!" he yelled. Ava joined him and the pair started firing at the oncoming horde.

Erin slipped through the sewer entrance with ease, though her landing on the other side wasn't perfect. She tripped and landed facefirst, scratching up her forearms and a bit of her chin. She ignored her own pain as she turned to help Elizabeth get down the sewer as well.

"Ava, your turn!" Dallen said, he ran out of ammo and tossed the gun. Using his knife, he killed another walker and pushed it aside. Ava was grabbed, she wrestled with the walker a bit, before shoving it off. Another was quickly on her, but before she was bit she still managed to free herself.

Dallen had a choice. Risk his life for Ava, or protect it by going to the sewers. There was only a moment's notice before they were completely surrounded on all sides, town square belonged to the dead. He leapt out of the way of an attack, almost fully sliding into the sewer grain. He pushed with everything he had until he was completely through, falling to the other side with the others.

"Elizabeth-" Ava said as she rushed to the sewer immediately after Dallen. She too made it, reaching her hands through for help as she tried desperately to force her way in. The dead were already on her from the other side, though, as they tore their fingers and teeth into her back. Her body covered the entire sewer entrance, blocking the dead from entering.

Erin watched in utter horror as the poor woman was screaming for her life right in front of them. Blood started pouring out of her mouth as her innerds were devoured. The walkers huddled around her corpse continuously ate and picked at her flesh, ripping it entirely from her back revealing her spine and organs. It was a painful and slow death, one that put Dallen almost into shock. It took him a few moments before he could regain control of himself again, and then he covered Erin's eyes.

"Keep moving," he told them. "Just keep moving."

Anyone who knew the area above like he did, knew which direction to take even underground. The pipes all lined parallel with the streets. He still led them to the high school, the three of them quiet as they moved on

[User]
Making their escape in the sewers, Elizabeth knelt down in front of Erin and tilted her head back to get a better look at the scrapes. "Does it hurt?" she asked her as she untucked a corner of her white blouse and used it to wipe the small amount of blood drawn away from her chin.

"I'm okay," she said though each time Elizabeth touched her wounds the little girl winced from the burn. Not once did she complain though. She was one tough little girl and she hoped her son, while much younger, was fairing just as well right now as she was.

Looking up at the scene above them, her eyes widened when she saw Dallen jump down. "What are you doing?" she asked. "Ava's still up there!" Thinking that he would at least try to help her, she craned her neck back to see the poor woman just make it. Her name the last word from her lips as she called out for help when she was grabbed, there wasn't anything they could do now. It was the same agonizing, painful scream that she'd heard fill the lobby. Covering her mouth, she backed up until her back hit the wall. They all stood there in horror as the screams finally died down. Finally she was quiet, but her body still jerked as they continued to feed on her.

Only when Dallen told them to keep moving did she press on, lingering behind the two of them. "They ate Ava," the little girl said, her voice shaking. She sounded on the verge of tears. "Just like the people in the lobby. Why are they eating each other?" Erin looked up at Dallen for some kind of answer. Hearing the distress in her voice snapped Elizabeth out of her trance and she picked up her pace to catch up with them. Seeing that she was with them now, the little girl turned to hug her for comfort. Elizabeth held her as she cried against her. "I want my daddy."

Elizabeth could feel her chest tighten as Erin spoke; she felt for the little girl. "We're gonna look for your daddy," she assured her, exchanging a glance with Dallen. After seeing what it was like up there, she was afraid of what they might find. While she was trying not to show it because she wanted to be strong for Erin, she was afraid, too.

The reassurance seeming to calm her down, Elizabeth pulled out of the hug as she looked down at the little girl. She wiped the tears away with her small hand. "I lost my bag," she said with a frown. "I dropped it when we were climbing down here."

"It's okay," she said. "When it's time to eat, we'll find some food." Erin nodded to show that she understood.

Breathing a shaky sigh, she looked to Dallen. "You know where we're going, Mr. Larson?"


[System]
Age: 24
Gender: Female
Race: Half-Giant
Appearance:

Salz is tall, almost 10 feet (at that height she's close enough). While not out on a mission she prefers to wear a loose shirt and pants.
Image
Personality: Salz is boisterous and easygoing. She doesn't take anything terribly seriously and is quick to try to make friends. With anything she has a great amount of self confidence. She finds formality difficult and treats anyone smaller than her in a matronly manner.
Brief Backstory: Salz is the bastard daughter of the old king of a small desert kingdom, one of many such children. Their father was killed in a coup staged by his brother that resulted in the deaths of the entire royal family. In the chaotic aftermath these children fled across the sea, fearing that they would either be purged as an afterthought or used as something for the remaining loyalist forces to rally behind. Eventually they landed in Thaln after a year or more of travel.
Her siblings dispersed themselves across the country but she stayed and pledge herself in service to the man that allowed them to take refuge in his home. She served as a caretaker for their son while he recovered from injuries taken in battle and later as a squire. Salz has recently been knighted.
Equipment: Salz wears the traditional armor of her homeland. She wields a spear that would be more of a pike in the hands of any human.
Skills: While trained in the more esoteric weapons of her culture Salz specializes in fighting with a spear. She also enjoys gardening which was not an option in her homeland.

[User]
Gillian huffed silently as Fanlily ordered them to march on, and the apparent scolding he was to receive once they returned to Candlean. He resolved to come up with a snarky retort….after the danger had passed. Would be pretty embarrassing to explain to Reon he died in glorious combat because he was too mentally preoccupied with coming up with sarcastic remarks to use on the chosen captain.

"Is this the shrine Master Trial saw in his vision?" Nori asks, somewhat taken aback by the...humble, she decided, nature of the shrine. She begins to scan the surrounding area, looking for signs of life, waiting on an answer.

"Yeah, we do seem one dooms-day evil cult short what we were expecting." Gillian adds, watching as Tyaethe tosses a quick prayer into the pool. "Possible ambush?" He asks, more or less to everyone. Considering what had happened at the fort, could not write off the possibility after all.

----------------------------------------------------------
Meanwhile ealeir that morning, a rather...unwelcome visitor trudge his way through the gates of Candlean, flanked on all sides by cloaked figures, a light haired man following closely behind. It was hardly rare to see a noble not of the order. After all, there were pleasantries to exchange, generous donations to contribute to their noble cause, and even the ever frequently (though rarely helpful) eager volunteer seeking to prove themselves.

However it was known publicly that the lead man, Livius Sunfield, was in no way the sort to make public appearances. A mixed blessing depending on who you asked. The youngest, and last, of the previous lady Sunfields progeny, the boy was considered a true prodigy in the field of golemancy. However, what few visits to the noble court he'd dare taken had left him with a reputation of being irascible and stubborn.

"I demand to see Captain Danbelion!" He says above the din of the morning chatter in the mess hall, voice rasping and straining to reach such a volume, clearly unaccustomed to needing to do so. A few servers awkwardly shuffle in place, unsure what to do with the sudden screaming noble in their dining hall.

"Ahh..sir..." The man from behind begins. "Perhaps you should take a more polite ton-" He begins, before being cut off by the younger man. "As a son of the house of Sunfield, I've a right to demand an audience with her if need be Vizer." He says, crossing his arms in opposition to the advice. The older man sighs, but says no more. Content to allow the noble to act as he wished, knowing there was little he could do to control him at this point. And he got the impression that the boy wouldn't listen to him, even if he were to explain that the captain currently wasn't in the fort. Best leave THAT headache to another poor soul.

-Pants@Saltwater Thief

[Assistant]
~I Left The Hillfolk's Dirt Roads for the Cobblestones of Candlean~

As a child, Tanda had heard stories of the cities of Taln, the kinds of places she passed on her journey south toward the headquarters of Candaeln. The Patriarchs considered any Hold with more than a thousand souls within it too large in the eyes of the Green God. And, the Patriarchs said, such cities were vile in the eyes of the Green God. And though there were many cities in Taln, none was more vile than Aimlenn in their stories. The people lived lives of squalor and sin. The poor slept in the gutters, the elderly left to die by the young, the King and Queen sealed within their fortress castle, and plague running rampant through the streets like so much filth in the roads. And this was to say nothing of the morals of the citizens themselves. Gamblers, thieves, layabouts, soiled doves, and false prophets by the thousands. Not a single soul was worth saving within those walls, and one day the Green God would wipe it from the land while the Hillfolk in their Holds would be left in his favor for their faith.

As the trading boat Mayon's Grace slid into the riverside docks with its loads of furs and fish, at every step of her journey, Tanda was not surprised to find these descriptions of Taln's cities were largely false. Poverty and banditry existed, but they were not all powerful forces that ruled Taln. Besides, half of the things the Patriarchs preached were proven to be lies before the children of the Hillfolk had arrived at the Temple of Mayon back in Garethen.

Tanda had no experience with being a sailor at all, and she did as she had for most of the voyage down the river- kept out of the way of the ship's sailors and watched the people on the shore for any ne'er-do-well types, ready to protect the sailors and their cargo. As lines were tied down and the oars and sails stowed away at her final destination, the Outer Ward of Aimlenn, she was practically vibrating with excitement.

She held her sling at the ready, watching the citizens in the riverside district up until the moment the captain presented Tanda with her pay and released her from the ship's service. If Tanda's father had ever known she would take a journey to Candaeln, Tanda would have been locked in the house and never let loose. But if he'd known she would have been paid by a woman- a woman captain of her own merchant boat no less- she could only imagine a burning stake within the courtyard of her old hill hold to know how that would have turned out. The captain, Ailsa, was kind enough to point out the compound of Candaeln by its flags over the rooftops of the city.

The road through the Outer Ward in the early morning was somewhat congested, full of peddlers and artisans on their way to do a day's work. Navigating the roads and rivers of Aimlenn was difficult enough, but walking to Candaeln was a simpler affair by far if she stayed on the path. And the one time she did get turned around, a local Justicar was more than willing to put her back on the path.

So it was that Tanda came upon a gate to the walled compound of the Iron Rose Knights. The rose bushes outside the walls were a dead giveaway, but having been pricked by thorns in the wild before and seeing the needle length thorns being left to grow in those bushes, she had to smile and wonder how many thieves or attackers would want to wander through those without anything short of plate mail on.

The smile on her face quickly died when she heard the boisterous, loud, and demanding voice of a man with authority in the courtyard ahead of her, marching into another building with his entire retinue.

Trouble, she had no doubt. Not the kind that ended with someone dead. Definitely the kind that ended with someone flat on the floor.

Tanda took a deep breath, straightened her shepherd's shawl, considered the signed wax-sealed note that was still in her satchel, and stepped across the threshold into the courtyard. And didn't feel much different on the other side. Except that she was in the presence of dozens of what she assumed were Rose Knights and the squires, attendants, hangers on- someplace a country shepherdess wasn't supposed to be.

"Excuse me," she asked one young man- man? Granma always said Rose Knights were women. What else was she wrong about?

 To the illustrious Captain of the Iron Rose Knights, her Lieutenants, her Majesty the Queen, and his Lordship our King,

I hope that this letter finds you well. I can only imagine that the runners have been arriving with weekly frequency from the Hillfolk's region. The Rose Knight appointed to oversee the situation in the Hills has found the last Patriarch, and the armsmen have long since been sent back to their towns and garrisons. The Patriarch's remaining followers are faced with exile, outlawry, or integration into the kingdom.

I write to you on behalf of the young woman bearing this note, signed and sealed by my own hand as a Priestess of Mayon. Our temple took it upon ourselves to rehabilitate and educate the children of the Hillfolk in the true ways and laws of Taln, not the lies and injustices the Patriarchs instilled within them. I formally report that this measure is well underway. The girl children learn their letters and numbers with a fervor I have never seen among our acolytes. The boy children are stubborn, but are being instructed in the true idea of Taln- that both men and women are equals both before the law and in our culture. Within another year, I may judge our work complete.

This particular child, Tanda, has shown remarkable resilience and intellect. She was secretly instructed by her grandmother in numbers and letters. Moreover, she bears claim to a suit of armor within the vaults of the Iron Rose Knights. One Lady Diane di Silva was sister to Tanda's great grandmother, Hera di Silva, who cast off the Silva name upon marrying into the Hillfolk tribes. Diane died childless, while Hera's line continued. It is my belief that Tanda would be an excellent candidate to reclaim this armor and enlist as Squire or Blade within the Iron Rose Knights. She has a healthy respect for authority that roots itself in justice, a stubbornness that saw her resisting the Patriarchs of the Green God and their poisonous culture from a young age, and a physical hardiness brought about by living on the edges of Taln's borders with few of our cities' comforts.

She will not be a meek puppy, but will need guidance. The Hillfolk are a reclusive people and half of the stories she has been told about Taln are lies, while the rest are lies mixed with truth. Be patient with her if she shows ignorance to the laws and customs of Taln. She will learn happily.

~ Signed and sealed, Marion Ysmalt of Mayon's Holy Order, the Temple of Garethen

[User]
Minerva Fairchild -- The Lion's Fang

While the world around her seemed so willing to remain tranquil, the sudden commotion from the Mess Hall sharply drew Minerva's attention. A long sigh passed between her lips in bitter resignation. There was always melodrama in the mornings it seemed, usually from an external force. By the lack of familiarity she found within the voice that had been so boisterous, the Lioness assumed it was precisely that. Letting one last breath escape between her nostrils so that she could find her temperance, Minerva strode smartly from the secluded garden and towards the Mess Hall.

While their newfound company had been mostly annoying if anything at all, she still easily held to her military bearing as the precise sound of her plate armored heels marked her entrance into the mess hall from one opposite end. A swift study of the attentions of others easily enabled her to discern the location of the disturbance as her one-eyed gaze fell upon the boy and his...accompaniment. Silence had lingered since his intrusion and interruption, and settling one hand upon the hilt of Durendal, the Lion's Fang, an infamous Knight among the ranks of her peers would be the first to approach them.

Her cadence was swift, but ever precise as she approached with a demure of confidence, perhaps even arrogance that could be best described as unrivaled. Yet it was never put to words as stood just a few feet distant, her singular eye studying the ranks of his company carefully as a light frown began to tug just lightly at one corner of her lips. Not a single one of them would be a challenge to her, she could sense it, she could feel it, and her hand fell off the hilt of her sword as a result. She didn't even doubt that she could easily defeat them unarmed.

"You shall make no demands here," Minerva began in a flat, but passive tone. "The Captain answers to no one, especially impudent children who believe they are privileged to her presence." Despite her negative response to his demand, Minerva swept herself into a low, formal, and effortlessly graceful bow. Marking her as one of the Nobles' court as well, she obliged the boy by giving her information to him. "My name is Lady Minerva Fairchild," she stated ever smoothly, "here, I am called the Lion's Fang." Rising once more from her bow, her arms tightly folded beneath her chest in a guarded fashion as her glare towards the boy seemed filled with burning, righteous conviction.

Before him stood the Knight that had defeated one of the most horrific Magi of their age, her own father no less, in brutal fashion. "Tell me why you are here," She began again, her brows furrowing with a display of slight, but subtle anger. "And it ought to be a good reason. Less I will remove you from our sacred grounds. With...or without your limbs intact."

Thief

[Assistant]
— Reonite Shrine —

As much as it pained him to, Indrau dismounted a distance from the shrine. Horses were too noisy and would give away any surprise they might have. He followed Tyeathe to the shrine but kept his distance, standing sentry with an eye towards the other shrine and a hand on the hilt of his blade.

"Could Tiral attempt another scrying? It would be useful to see what we were getting into before going in."

— Candaeln —

Things began to get very busy as she arrived. It also appeared that this other visitor was also looking for someone. She followed this newly arrived group, curious about the kind of person that would arrive with such an entourage and proceed to be so demanding. Eventually she heard the name of the Sunfield family, something that she recognized only through the letters that she had been receiving. These letters had only made mention of a single Sunfield daughter, no son. It was obvious that he was not one of the knights of Candaeln, or any other kind for that matter.

She grabbed the boy by the back of his jacket and lifted him until his eyes were level with hers and his feet were nearly his own height again off of the floor. It also offered him a much better view of the room and saved her the effort of having to bring herself down to his level. Despite her face being hidden behind the helmet the eyes that were visible didn't look at all angry. At least not as angry as the knight that had confronted him.

"There appears to be many empty chairs here. I expect that the Captain might be out. A pity. I had business with her as well."

Salz paused for a second.

"Are you a brother of Sult Sunfield?"


[System]
"asoiaf: Aerion Targaryen" by MathiaArkoniel licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0

The current king of Dainia and father to the twin princes of the kingdom. He is highly admired and respected by the people of Dainia, and only few know of his intention to end the bloodline of the royal family of Lunar by finding the heir to the throne of the enemy state.

Queen Velda of Dainia

"Historically accurate Disney - Belle" by Niobesnuppa licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0

The current queen of Dainia and mother to the twin princes of the kingdom. She is highly admired and respected by the people of Dainia, and it is unrevealed if she shares or is even aware of the king's intention regarding the heir to the throne of Lunar.

[User]
"Mathazar... I see. It would be like him to leave the palace unannounced." Eliezer first shook his head at his brother's tendencies before letting out a sigh of disappointment in himself. "Not that I can be one to judge him, for I have done exactly the same to see you today. Do not misunderstand, it is not you who are to blame, but my own decision to make such a promise to you. The fault is mine, as I should have foreseen the increase in security after last night's attempted assassination. Regardless, I still have the both of you to thank, you for protecting him, and him for allowing us to meet."

He then found himself disturbed when she revealed her intention behind wanting to get close to him after her explanation. What did she mean by 'the real Eliezer'? Surely the Eliezer who addressed crowds from afar as the Crown Prince of Dainia was the same person up close? This doll-like prince she had mentioned was simply who he was, in spite of how 'abnormal' she might think it was. At least, he believed he knew himself well enough to come to that conclusion. As for her, did she feel that she had succeeded in what she had intended to do?

"I am afraid you are mistaken, my lady. There is no other side to me. What you have seen of me is who I truly am, be it when fulfilling my princely duties or as your companion. I do understand how my demeanor might seem... unnatural to you, but I have never been given any reason to be troubled by it, and I apologize if it causes you discomfort. However, if you wish to know more about me, I am rather doubtful that this is the time and place to do so."

That was when an extremely attractive woman approached them, though, she proved to be an unpleasant one once she started to speak. From Raven's response, it was apparent that the two were not on good terms. He turned slightly tense when 'Amy' stepped even closer to him and made an effort to charm him, for he hoped that she would not recognize him. At the same time, he thought it unwise to boast about her 'conquests' in front of the man she was attempting to seduce. Only one who was unintelligent would still be drawn to her after hearing such a thing. Fortunately, it was not long before she relented and left them alone.

After the incident, Eliezer could clearly see Raven's insecurity from her actions and words. It was understandable, for having lost multiple times to a woman who was simply more flirtatious and attractive was sufficient to have one believe that those were the qualities that men truly sought. Perhaps that may be true for some of them, but there were many who placed importance on other things. Watching his lady closely, it would seem that she feared to lose again, and he saw the need to restore her confidence.

"Any man who could be 'stolen' by her superficial assets does not deserve a committed lady," he commented, before reaching under her chin and gently tilting her head up so that his warm amber orbs could stare into her cool blue ones. He desired to assure her that she would not lose him, at least not to her coquettish 'sister'. "I gave you my word, and I will say it again, my lady. Until the Sun sets on this day, you will have me by your side."

[Assistant]
raven looked at him but blusheda bit when he had tilted her chin up to him and said what he said to her. "Oh this guy is making it harder for me to kill him great Mathazar is going to be mad at me." She thought in her head but she did hate to hear that she only had him to sunset but she also knew after this they would never see each other again. She could see in him that everything was obligation he did it for it was a duty not because he truly desired it.

"Eliezer answer me this." She said as she pulled away from him. "Do you give things or money to the people of the village because you truly care or is it just to gain their favor so they like you?" Raven asked before looking at him.

"Also do you really want to come do this because you are having fun or will it be another Royals appearance hat the people work so hard to make perfect but to only find you never come for they have invited you and your family before but the day of the festival all of you never showed." Raven explained as she looked at him as she wrapped her arms around her.

"Also you say Duty is apart of life so here are my nest questions are you truly happy with that....do you parents even love each other or dud they marry because it was their duty did they truly wanted you and your brother born or was that just a duty to have an heir?" Raven asked him as she looked at him seriously. "Also if you were not born with a twin do tyou think your parents would bother having another baby because they want to or since they already did their duty what is the point of another child." Raven's eyes narrowed a bit at him.

"Have your parents ever been there on your birthday or have they had to travel because royal business trumps you and the family?" Raven said and knew she was going to get him mad at her with all these questions but he needed to hear them. "Also who mainly raised you and your brother after birth I am pretty sure the only times your parents got involved with you two was for public appereances and royal portraits before handing you back over to your Nannys and tutors as your grew up?" Raven said to him before walked next to his side.

"Then your father how well do you truly know the so call king.....do you know many have claimed that he has sent guards into the night and killed innocent people in their homes and burned them to the ground to try to hid evidence or witnesses?" Raven said and looked at him. "Also how he is basically leaving a big bullseye mark right on your back for the people to go after next once he steps down as king?" Raven said to him and looked at him.

"Look at you know you are trying to find a birde the benefits the kingdom but not yourself how can you even be bale to produce and heir with someone you do not have those feelings for duty can only go so far." Raven then looked up to see the sky starting to change colors. "Duty honor all that it is fine but Eliezer what about the Duty to your own heart." Raven said to him before looking at him.

"That night at the ball when I made you dance that dance that was so new and different I saw a Gilmore of a real smile out of you not a mask like smile you have developed." Raven finished explaining.

"So Prince Eliezer here is something you should ask yourself....What is it that you want not as Prince Eliezer next king of the whole kingdom...just as Eliezer that one I brought out here to see the village in a different point of view a view you and your family may have never experience or seen before." Raven said and soon saw it was getting late and felt the blade she had hidden.

"Um I....I better get you back thank you for indulging me on this for I know you did not wish to do it." Raven said with a fake smile and soon started to lead him back to the palace gates. She did not say anything after that but she knew she had to sneak back in and talk to Mathazar since she knew he was not going to be happy that she basically backed out this time.

She pulled out her fathers poketwatch to check the time was a beautiful design but it was not from this kingdom it was from the opposing kingdom that Eliezers father have been at war with basically. She then lead him to the servent entry and through a door. 'Take this door it will lead you to the hallways of the palace and you will not be seen." Raven explained to him before looking at him and kissed his cheek.

'Thank you for enduring the day with me I will always remember this day." She siad to him like as if they were not going to meet again and that was what she believed to him she must not be the right person to be his queen and two she was a killer. Raven then turned and leafy into the night.

[User]
Raven was visibly frustrated, perhaps even upset. Eliezer could understand that much, but not what he had said or done to induce such feelings in her. She had displayed a rather wide spectrum of emotions during their time together on this day, and he still found himself trying to pinpoint what exactly he could do to keep her happy, and what did the opposite of that. He wondered what she was attempting to get at with the first couple of questions she had asked him, but he decided that he had nothing to lose by answering honestly.

"As I have said, my lady, care is something I have been taught. I have learned that it is only right to do so, that it is one of the gestures that makes one a good person. Perhaps it is a necessity that I do earn their favor, but that only proves how important the people of a kingdom are to any ruling family. As for the invitation, I can honestly tell you that my brother and I were never informed of your yearly event, though, I wonder why that is so."

At her mention of the King and Queen, Eliezer's first instinct was to jump to their defense. They were his parents, and the rulers of Dainia, after all. However, he caught himself in time, realizing that for her to speak of them in such a way, there must be at least something to be concerned about. What did she say his father had done? And for what purpose? He might just be able to find out more, in due time.

"I know nothing of my parents' true thoughts or intentions, only their actions. It would seem that the inability to effectively convey our thoughts and feelings runs in my family, save my brother, I believe. I had never thought much of their absence as Mathazar and I were growing up. I did not find it unusual, for it was all I had ever known. I also have no knowledge on the claims about my father's deeds, I apologize for my ignorance regarding the issue."

Raven then brought up his 'other side' once again. She spoke of the Eliezer who was heir to the throne of Dainia, and then of the one who was here with her at this time and place. Were the two not one and the same? He struggled to comprehend the meaning of her words, the difficulty he found in making sense of them apparent from the long pause before his next response. He hoped that he had finally understood what she had been trying to say. The first 'Eliezer' had to do with his duties, the second, his desires. A hint of exasperation could be noticed seeping through his usual phlegmatic facade when he eventually found words for the subject.

"All this time, I have believed that I was adequate as a person, yet you seem to insist otherwise. You imply that I am somehow... incomplete, because I do not express my desires, and that upsets you. Why that is so, I still do not understand. Do my desires even matter? Why do they mean so much to you? What would be the use of wanting what I could never have? I do not think about what I want, for I am afraid of finding it unobtainable after discovering what it is. That is not happiness. I am... afraid... of ending up... more unhappy..."

He trailed off at the moment of sudden realization. He was currently sharing things about himself that he had never known about. Was it what she wanted to hear? Was it too much? He decided to stop himself there, and finish off with something else he had wanted to say.

"I can assure you one thing, my lady, that everything I have said to you today - about what I think of you, and how grateful I am that you have brought me here, is absolutely true."

He then took a glance at the sunset after their conversation, and ended off by thanking her for keeping his needs in mind when she mentioned him having to return to the palace. When she showed him the passageway that lead into the palace, he assumed that it had been Mathazar who had shown it to her first when he had invited her to the ball. If anyone at the palace knew of a secret path in or out, it would be his brother. He had not expected her to kiss him goodbye, and found himself stuttering slightly as he gave a reply after he was caught off guard by the gesture.

"I... had a lovely time with you today, and I truly mean that. A very good night to you, my lady, until we meet again," he said to her with a quick bow, before heading back to the palace.

---

"Mathazar, have Father and Mother called for us yet?"

Eliezer?! The younger spun around at the hushed voice, stunned to see his brother back at the palace peering in through his doorway. How could this happen? It should have been a simple job for Raven to finish. He did not let Eliezer see that he was shocked, however, and instead put on a show of concern. He got up from his seat and approached the elder.

"Not yet, but it is wonderful that you are back safe," Mathazar responded, before raising an eyebrow at his twin. "I see that you are troubled. Did the lady not meet your expectations?"

Eliezer let out a sigh. "It is not so much what I had expected as what I did not. You see, despite us only having met for the second time, it is as if she knows me better than I know myself, perhaps even better than you do."

Mathazar let out a chuckle and shook his head. "That is absurd, Eliezer. Nobody can know you better than I."

"You know not what took place, Mathazar. Today was, so intriguing, yet worrying at the same time. I have never felt such a way before," the elder attempted to explain.

The younger nodded with a smile, and took his brother by the shoulders. "You have to see her again, brother. Have your questions answered, lest you continue to be restless for goodness knows how long."

"You are right," Eliezer agreed. "Thank you once again, for everything."

---

At the break of dawn on the following day, a royal messenger would arrive at the village looking for Miss Raven Omrea. She would be handed a letter bearing the royal seal. Upon opening the envelope, she would read the following message:

My dearest Lady Raven Omrea,

I must say that I have had very much to think about after our meeting the day before. Your questions most certainly shed light on issues that I would have never considered on my own. However, your reactions and feelings towards my so-called 'situation' continue to perplex me. What was it that you truly desired out of me? Were you hurt because I was not happy in your eyes? You asked me if the King and Queen loved each other. Perhaps it was love that you were showing me. Regretfully, I realize that I am rather unfamiliar with the concept, but I wish to learn more.

By writing to you, I believe that for the first time, I am fulfilling the 'duty to my heart', as you have put it. Until you spoke of it, I was not aware that there was even such a thing for me. I have admitted my fear to you, something else that I had been unaware of. Could it be then, that I should not explore this on my own? If it were to be with anyone, I would like for it to be with you, my lady. I am extending an invitation to you to the palace, where I sincerely hope we could converse once again. I eagerly await your response.

Best regards,
Eliezer of Dainia


[System]
Age: 63
Race: Dunmer
Height: 5'8"
Eye color: Red, left is blinded

Class: Mage
Secondary Class: Warrior
Weapons: Ebony war axe and a steel dagger for some cases. Magic is still preferred.
Armor: Robes of Conjuration, leather gauntlets, leather boots
Clothes: Red dunmer clothing (good name, Bethesda), fur boots

Shout you will learn: Ice Form

Biography: Erius R'en, more commonly known as Alit, was born a century after her parents fled Vvardenfell to Blacklight. She spent her childhood enjoying the city's sights, spending much of her time as a spectator of the arena, before eventually having to move to the quieter town of Raven Rock. Alit was unsatisfied with the monotony of farming- and although lacking true combat skills- longed for something more. She left for Skyrim just two years after the defeat of Miraak with only the magic she learned from spare tomes.
Marital Status: Single
Relationships: Despite her bluntness, Alit manages to get along with Uthgerd the Unbroken and Arcadia. Her standing with the Companions tend to vary due to her nagging, but she does have an interest in keeping them alive and inspired in battle.

***

(i can and will snap my own neck)

Name: Haskell
Age: 30
Race: Nord
Height: 6'1"
Eye color: Grey

Main Class: Warrior
Secondary Class: Archer
Weapons: Nordic greatsword, Elven bow
Armor: Ebony armor
Clothes: Blue merchant clothes, boots, bone hawk amulet

Shout you will learn: Storm Call (aka the shout no one with companions they care about ever use)

Biography: Haskell hails from Windhelm, where he was a farmer before turning to banditry shortly after receiving news of his parents' deaths, both of whom served on the losing side of the civil war. A couple years were dedicated to terrorizing the roads and small villages before the innocent deaths started weighing on him. Haskell managed to slip away from the lifestyle without catching the attention of the others during a raid, and for a time he wandered alone, taking bounties from inns before eventually looking into the Companions.
Marital Status: Single
Relationships: He was friends with Nils, Luaffyn, and Quintus Navale in Windhelm. In Whiterun, he gets along with Uthgerd and Sinmir.

[User]
Velan's face cringed in anger "Oh yes your people taught me manners when they Killed my father, my mother my betrothed" velan's expression changed to sadness he gripped his pendent his voice was slightly shaken. "i don't care if you are not of the thalmor don't test me woman you won't be the first of your people learn what i can do with my bow" he told her simply.

Velan did not mince words his temperament did not allow him to joke with any Altmer all were his enemy if not today some other.
For now his party needed him and their very leader just might need him, Velan was no fool so with one last swig of his mead his put a small coin purse on the bar. "my half for the drinks and some coin for another round on me" he told jarett as he tapped him on the back and stood he gave one last look at the Altmer before turning to Alit.

"I need some air i'll be around the city looking for information fill me in later if you find something new" he said in a calm and soft tone before he turned and walked to the door of the inn. Velan carried himself in a defeated manner it was how he felt everytime he thought or spoke of his life before Coming to this cold unforgiving place.

[Assistant] Zazar was rising his brow at the request, "Zazar would like it if Zazar spoke with my group and have them present when this information is told" He said feeling like the group should know and input what they should do next with the Dovakiin. Motioning for the closest members of the group to come to their location, "You are with a group? I was hoping we may discuss this in private" The Bosmer looked quite disappointment when Zazar said he was in a group looking for the Dovakiin.

[User]
The orc woman relaxed as the tension slowly died down. Thought she might get into another tavern rumble and ruin the chance of joining the group. Maira eyed the Bosmer as he walked out of the establishment to get some air. So that's why he despised high elves so much. Maira somehow shares the same sentiment, though she barely remembered her own family being burned alive by the forsworn, that feeling of loss and longing still lingered.

She turned to Keldan, who was comfortably playing with her hair, she still made the orc woman slightly nervous. "Oh, did it looked that way?" she said tensely "I--was just simply trying to impress you my lady. I was not aware that people were paying attention. " and for the most part she did. She took a quick glance on the three.

Maira's goal for discretion was ultimately unsuccessful, though she can't say it was a total fail. The whole incident did caught their attention, and was even considering on commissioning for help in search of the dragonborn. So far she's doing good, but she could imagine her mentors facepalming at her foolish attempt.

"Though if I would make a suggestion on whom they should take, this group needs a dashing duelist who's quick on her feet." she turned towards the three "I havent personally introduced myself. Hi, I'm Maira. " she extended her arm in a laid back manner "Full time mercenary, part time business woman. How's it going?"

[Assistant]
Before Velan could leave he heard out Zazar "Zazar my friend i am but a simple Elf i do what i am told Alit, Jarett and you know this well when you need me i'll be around for now i must go" he told the Argoninan. Velan opened the door and walked out into solitude he looked down the street.

"i wonder if there is a flecher in town i could use some more specialized Arrows" he said to himself as he walked down the street Velan felt a pang of guilt for causing a scene "i need to control myself better by Y'ffre" he scolded to himself. As Velan walked the people of the city waved and greeted Velan, which made him feel strangely alone. Velan pulled out his pipe and lit the Viper Bug powder a smooth smoke raced into his lungs and left his nostrils in a thick lime green smoke.

"I should have brought a drink" he chuckled before continuing his walk towards the Flecher's.

[User]
"A quick duelist?" Alit's interest was already piqued at the prospect of another person joining in the search, but finding out Maira's specialty just made everything better, "Then our trip here wasn't time wasted after all. Having another member of team on offense would make things a whole lot better, wouldn't it?" she looked at the other two remaining Companions to make sure they were okay with having someone around who was most likely a thief.

"I know Thieves Guild armor when I see it," Haskell chimed in, "But you're all right with me, at least until I catch you tryin' to pick any of our pockets. If you survive long enough to even try with Alit being mostly in charge around here, that is."

The Dunmer scoffed. "Ah-hem. I do a good job at keeping everyone alive."

[Assistant]
Keldan had already finished her second cup of wine and was currently drinking the one that had been meant for Valen. "Dear, you don't have to pretend. I'm not naive, but I do believe you were trying to impress me, a little." She could tell she was making Maira just a tad nervous, and Keldan was loving it.

"Alit, you have saved our asses more times than I can count," Jarett said after taking a drink from the Alto wine Keldan had bought them. "I'm totally fine with Maira joining in, but Haskell is right. Just like she can keep us alive she can kill anyone just as quickly." He had seen the Dunmer woman fight when enemies got too close to her, and it wasn't pretty. "I do think you wouldn't steal from people who are so gracefully accepting your help. Unless you are expecting pay, seeing as you are a mercenary after all."

"If you're accepting people, why don't I offer my services too?" Keldan raised an eyebrow at Alit. "Of course, I'll behave and try not to piss off the little kitten you call Valen or anyone else. After all, you'll need a bard that will write down your adventures and spread them when you are either dead or retired." She had nothing left to do in Solitude and she had been looking for some kind of adventure. Joining the group that was looking for one of the most powerful people in Tamriel seemed like a good idea.

"You? You're a bard- wait, nevermind we heard your story too," Jarett looked at Alit. "So? You want the bard in too? She's gonna be a bit of trouble with Valen, but all the help we can get is good for us. We don't know what we're facing out there."

[User]
Valen sat on a ledge just out side the Flecher's he held the new arrows he just had purchased thinking over the what the man had told him "These were just shipped from Black Marsh coated in some rare poison out there...i have ten in stock". Valen flipped the arrow between his fingers he had half the mind to try these out on that blasted Altmer the thought of her writhing in pain as she slowly died was strangely soothing.

He wondered if she and the Orc would be joining their group while Maria most likely wanted in the Altmer seemed a mystery. His animosity for her was clear but it wouldn't be the first time the group put him in a bad position. "It's what families do....is in't it Father" Valen called out to the looming sky. Valen slipped the arrow into his Quiver before opening his Pendent he rubbed the painting softly
"You are forever with me my Riel...be my strength as i am weak. Be my guide as i am lost, Be my heart as i am cold" he said quietly.

A moment passed Valen had decided " I am dedicated to my compainions, My new family i will do what i must for the Compainions" he cheered. Valen stood up and dropped of the ledge land safely on the street below people looked on. "walking is for nords" he said with a shrug as he jogged back to the Inn I won't let my feelings get in the way of my family Altmer be damned he thought.

[Assistant]
"I'll be the smartest decision you'll ever make." nodding confidently at the dunmer, having full hope that they're ready to seal the deal with her. Finally, things are looking up, though it won't be completely guaranteed, having some company around her would provide refuge from Maven's dirty surprises.

Maira clears her throat at the nord's comment. Of course the armor was a dead give away, guess its not much of a secret to hide anymore. "Oh, You don't have to worry about that. Technically, I'm on vacation." she gave him a reassuring nod "I dont do any of that unless it's solely for business."

Maira was quite surprised that Keldan too, would like to come along. The orc could tell things would either get complicated or interesting when decides to, adding the strain between her and Velan. Either way she definitely looks forward to her company. "Wonderful! The more the merrier I guess."

[User]
"Someone's appreciative of my healing!" Alit clapped.

She took her time considering the bard's offer, which in all actuality didn't take much time at all. She looked pleased, if her grin was anything to go by. "So, not one, but two new people joining in?" Alit hopped off the barstool, "Well! Maira, Keldan, I formally welcome you two into the team. Hopefully no one will have a problem with this." That meant they had a good number of people on the front lines as well as the back-- way better than what they started with. For the moment, she was thinking that everything that even thought about getting in their way was as good as dead.

[Assistant]
"You know you're my favorite healer, Alit." Jarett grinned at her, pushing a glass of water towards her. "Well, how about we toast? For our new members and actually getting something from this damn trip we took?" The carriage trip from Whiterun to Solitude had paid off with two new members. He turned to Zazar and handed the Argonian a drink. "Join us!"

"I'm all up celebrating," Keldan retook her glass. She was glad Alit had accepted her in this adventure. She was a bit rusty in combat, and she had recently learned some spells she was dying to try out and mess with some people. Maybe she could ask Maira to train with her. "I just hope your little friend isn't too much of a problem."

"We'll talk to him," Jarett glanced to Alit and Haskell. They knew Velan didn't do well around Altmer, but Keldan said she was willing to behave. He hoped she was telling the truth. He didn't want any trouble within the group. "I'll come up with team-building exercises that we can all practice." He said, half-jokingly. If there was going to be bad blood between the Altmer and the Bosmer, they would have to get past it and work together. Only time would tell.

"So, what's your plan?" Keldan raised an eyebrow at Alit.

[User]
Valen opened the door to the Tavern in dramatic fashion he was silent for a moment he glared at Keldan but for a moment he saw Maria's hand holding her. love well lust at the very lest....who am i to stand in it's way he thought. For now he would bite his tongue and try to make this work he could tell by the drinks that their group had grown by two members.

Valen walked over to the bar he had a large smile on his face "so Alit, Jarett i see you both wasted no time replacing me" he said jokingly. "Who am i kidding without me to guide you in the wilderness something terrible might happen Jarett could break a nail" Valen chuckled heavily. Valen took his seat next to jarett he looke over to Keldan "if i might ask can you pass me a mug i'd like to get onther drink in me" he said in the nicest tone he could muster in a pseudo peace offering.

[Assistant]
Alit readily accepted the water, glancing over at Valen as he returned with a very different tone. Come on. Keeping two archers around was a good thing. "True." she sipped the non-alcoholic drink, glad to have something after a long trip.

"Someone has to keep her from leading everyone into some plane of Oblivion," Haskell commented.

"Anyway," Alit set down the now-empty glass, "Before we can decide on a plan, we need to talk about our strengths and weaknesses in battle. I know Haskell can stay up front, he's got the heavy armor." She eyed the others, having a basic understanding of their abilities, but before now, it was mostly the Nord she fought with. "Valen, Keldan- What range are you two most comfortable with?"


[System]
The Roguish Feline Monk

"There are three ways that I deal with problems. Make friends with it, punch it, or sneak up to it, then punch it."

[User]
C o m b o w i t h c o r n e r e d b l i s s
_______________________________

A metallic clatter marked the final deathrattle of the incursion, an inert blade crashing to the wet stone at Solglia's feet. Yvah turned quick in her stance, snapping her gaze all around the room until it was clear to her that the hostility had passed. Her chest caved slightly as she sighed with relief. Nearly everyone stood, but to her side lay the bleeding body of a deathly pale elf. Another sacrifice for these aquatic cultists, it seemed. It almost looked as if they had came too late and done too little to save him, given a tense moment where she watched if his slowing breath would cease even after the bandages. They didn't, thankfully, and kicked back into full action again after another of the slated sacrifices poured a magically shimmering poultice down his gullet.

Again, Yvah turned, this time to Araerys. The bard seemed in dire straits indeed. With some effort, Yvah bounded over the tainted river, feet and palms planting on either side of the ruined corpse of the lesser dragonkin. Standing straight, with a flick of her tail, she wiped the grime of the floor off of her hands. Instead of a look of minor disgust at the mess of the place, she look concerned at Ary. Leaning from side to side, her eyes easily catching the torchlight as they flick around over the half-elf's form, she inspects the extent of the damage. "Are you going to be well?"

Araerys, so very relieved that the fight was finally finished, resheathed her rapier in order to place her hands over her knees and double over as exhaustion finally sank into her body. While definitely better off than the unconscious fellow who looked to be a new member of their party, the bard was very much looking forward to a rest of any sort. She watched as a few of her party members tended to the male's health, only tearing her squinted eyes away from them as Yvah approached. "Ah, yes, I think?" she replied, straightening up from her half-crouch to as best a standstill as she could. "Better 'n that guy, fer sure. But a bit of a sit down wouldn't be unwelcome." She nodded her head at the feline in turn: "Are you doin' okay?"

"I can still…" Yvah started to cough, covering her mouth to hack into her hand. A couple small spots of red dotted her palm when she pulled it away. She sighed, some grief tinging her belaboured exhalation. It seemed she wasn't so used to seeing blood on her hands anymore. Looking back to Araerys, with some disappointment in her voice, she said, "I can still fight."

The bard's eyebrows furrowed together in concern, assuming that what she saw in her hand was not a pleasant sight. Her reply urged an involuntary scoff and a dismissive wave of Ary's hand, though the half-elf did take a quick scan of their surroundings for any further signs of danger. It seemed they were in the clear for the time being, but these sewers had already proved nasty at every turn, and it wouldn't do well to let the guards down just yet. Still, she said, "Let's not get ahead of ourselves, there. Just get yer breath back."

Given a moment to breathe, Yvah set out within this main antechamber. Pacing around the walls, searching for things of interest, she eventually made her way to one of the twin ceremonial pillars. Examining the column that the pale elf was bound to, Yvah found little of note, but could tell that something must've been important there. She just didn't know what to look for. "Ay!" she called, "If either of you acolytes wants to take a look, I think there should be something here!"

Ary made her way over, wincing a little at the wound in her side now that the majority of the adrenaline had worn off, and took a peek at the throne. After a few moments of poking at it, it came to her attention that the seat could be lifted. "It looks like I can open this," she said to Yvah, reaching out to do just that.

The cat monk turned from her examination of the ceremonial pillar toward the sound of Ary's voice. Yvah had seen the throne there before, but didn't think of it as much other than a fancy chair until the bard started prying at the seat. She trotted over, pulling her tools from her billowing clothes, and knelt before the throne. With a handpick, she start pulling up at any structure of the thing until she saw movement. Cautiously, she held the secret compartment open just enough to slide the pick inside, and felt around for any mechanism that could be a trap. All she found were the hinges at the back, and she pulled the seat open freely.

Yvah had only seen some teasing glints within the forbidden storage, but as the hinges made their dim squeal in protest of her plundering her eyes sparkled nearly as much of the fistfuls of gems inside. Stacks of coin all in a neat pile to a side, with vials and dusty parchments to its flank, and gems of many sorts and colors dotted atop it all. The thieving feline seemed almost giddy compared to the gloom cast over her throughout this cathedral delve. Furred fingers made quick work stashing the jewels in the same pouch as the others, similarly making no attempts to hide it. However, the coinage was in a rather heavy abundance, and she wasn't inclined to carry it all with her.

Yvah turned within her crouch toward the party and waved her arm as the other held the distended cloth pouch aloft. "We just found the tithe, boys and girls!"

>Religion of 10 to examine the pillars
>Help action to Araerys, resulting in an Investigation of 14 on the throne.
>Short rest Hit Dice roll yields +6 to hp.

[Assistant]
The blade-wielding contents of the third tank the party had opened (Ulor did not have much else in the way of references for her, and, having been looking another way during most of the latest battle, could not even say what she had struck down) had somehow seen the occasion as an opportunity to rebuke his mending methods. Ulor scowled, or rather half-scowled by contorting his face in a slightly concerning way, so that only the one side of it that was partly turned towards the girl was frowning. For all he was concerned, the spattered makeshift bandage was enough for the elf not to die from bleeding within the hour, and therefore all he needed to do there. Sanitary? For all he knew, this prisoner might have come from warrens churning with maggots and dipping with slime. He was quite certain he had once read of elves that lived in just such a place. Or was it goblins? Regardless-

It is astounding how many mortals see the food matter the wrong way around.

"Food doesn't heal wounds, but drink does?" was all Ulor had the time to reply between the octopus's commentary and the feline calling out from further down the chamber. With a grunt, he rose from his crouch, propping himself up with his staff, and began to hobble towards the throne the fiend had been sitting on. While the prospect of a "tithe" had sparked his curiosity, seeing as these people were likely to toss all sorts of this under such a name, whether they belonged there or not, he could not but stop to throw a glance at the altar and the pillars surrounding it. What he saw was apparently notable enough for him to turn as he walked, approaching to peer at the constructions more closely, scratching and rapping on the stone. The mouth of a god... There was an odd, unnatural tension in the air between the columns. For some odd trick of the magical weave, he could almost picture a thread running from the altar to its twin on the other side of the sewer channel. No, that one was the mouth. This was the hand that brought the meals to it. He could feel that the unholy maw hungered still, calling silently for the life of hundreds to be fed into it. And yet...

No one has been sacrificed here yet.

Not that we can see, at least. There might have been others before.

As satisfied as he could have been with his brief survey, Ulor put an end to the detour and joined the pair near the throne. Bending over the seat, he began to rather unceremoniously rustle through its contents. The gold would certainly be useful, if everyone in this city was as averse to haggling as that one man who sold... What was he trying to buy then? Well, not that it mattered any longer.

There were also scrolls inscribed with what seemed to be arcane symbols. He lifted them one by one, running a finger over the lines of the signs and muttering something that did not appear to belong to any language under the stars. As he set each parchment aside, he briefly turned up his head and called out in hollow tones: "There are an incantation of insight... One of elemental chaos... One of mire- No, of treacherous soil." He doubted anyone else in the group would have much use for the spells, or even understand what he was speaking of, but it was safer to inform them of his findings in the event he should forget them later. Indeed, maybe there already was something the scrolls would be needed for? All the better to announce them properly.

"That might become necessary for one of them" he added, without looking up, while the octopus pointed one of its tentacles at a glinting pearl held in the brawler's paw. Who knew, they might have been capable of selling the things.

Last in the receptacle were two flasks, filled with unusual-looking fluids. One of them, red and glimmering, he recognised as similar to what had been forcibly administered to the unconscious elf. A drop of it on the tongue brought a fleeting, but potent sensation of vigour coursing through his body. Well. Perhaps drink can heal after all. Not wounds, maybe, but... The other was dull and layered like a crystalline tower. Its taste was likewise one of strength, but of a far more focused sort, echoing through hands and feet.

"Life and power held in glass." Those were simpler, likely accessible to the rest, and he had little need of reinforcing his toes. Nonetheless, if none would take them - as he dimly hoped in choosing mystifying words - he would not pass the opportunity of performing some alchemical experiments. Small, of course, and perfectly manageable. As circumstances would allow.

A 19 on a Religion check gives some information about the altar, and with a 16 on Arcana Ulor identifies the scrolls.

[User]
Yvah glanced back down to the coins after calling the others over. It was quite a huge mound of them, and she wondered at how the fish-priests had come to acquire so much of it. For now, it was of little consequence. She could not carry it herself, and the sack of gems was clacking against itself almost too much as is. If she handled much more of the valuables, she wouldn't be able to move very quietly at all, and there seemed to be more of this place to discover yet.

After tying the pouch of shiny rocks to her hip beneath the folds of her robes, she swung her pack from her. Reaching into it, after planting it to the stone, she pulled out a lantern with a manual shudder. Once she lit the candle within, she poked around the darker corners of the room. Not much to it other than some extra water tanks. But while lighting one of the shadowed corners, she did spy upon something that caught her eye. Where one of the tunnels delved deeper, the other seemed to host a fountain.

As she gazed into the hallway, she idly closed off the shudder to her lantern, the candlelight then blocked. She stooped low as she often does, and stepped cautiously toward the sequestered fountain. There did not seem to be much to it at a glance, but there was a corner to turn across from it. Peeking around the bend, she saw frightened people in tatters, all barred from escape. They had not met her eyes, for they had not noticed her, and so she peeled back out of the room. Leaning out of the entrance and looking out to her party, she waved out to gather their attention. "Psst!" she hissed in a hushed tone, waving the others over one last time before stepping back in. She pulled at the lantern's mechanical cover as she poked her head from the corner this time, light shining faintly upon the apparent prisoners.

"It's okay," she whispered out to them softly, trying her best to look positive despite herself, "We're here to protect you."


[System]
Age: 25

 Gender: Female

 Race: Naga (attempting to transition to another race through magical means)

 Class: Artificer

 Personality: Fieri Angharad is haughty and opinionated, and almost religiously believes in the superiority of magic over all other things. Fieri Angharad has spent decades working in a secluded university, away from all humanoid contact, and is exactly as desperate for affection as that implies. Beneath a thick veneer of contempt, Fieri Angharad is close to a child in terms of practical experience and romance. For some odd reason, Fieri "Diamond-Tail" Angharad insists that everyone refers to her by her full name, nickname and all. Thanks to a hostile environment outside of her birthplace and an inability to cope with it, Fieri is ashamed of her current state of being, and is seeking to change it as soon as possible. Due to this, Fieri gets flustered if her most prominent physical traits are exposed or accentuated.

 Fieri was born in the bustling town of Cartus Magnum, located in the western portion of the nation of Ithillin. Fieri's parents found work as porters and washerwomen in the prestigious university that largely encompassed the town's workings. Cartus Magnum University was a mage's college dedicated to teaching practical magic and hard sciences, and held a stable of fantastic teachers to facilitate this. People from across the continent came to the town almost exclusively to either work for or study in the university, and Fieri's family was no exception. Fieri's father was, rather controversially, a tenured Senior Wrangler, who very narrowly avoided being fired for an ill-advised fling with Fieri's mother, a migrant washerwoman. Unfortunately for both Fieri and her father, Fieri's mother abandoned the both of them almost as soon as she was born, moving on without even a word of warning. With no knowledge of how to raise a child and no wife to do it for him, Fieri's father did what he always did: let the university handle it. And so, Fieri's upbringing was brought entirely into the hands of the university's servants, professors, and students.

 Fieri spent almost the entirety of her life within the confines of the university. Educating the young Fieri was a pet project of most of the university's faculty, who found an unceasing audience in the cheerful naga. As Fieri grew, so did her wealth of knowledge. Mathematics, philosophy, theology, herbology, and artificing all opened their gates to Fieri. Thanks to her father's extensive connections with the university and Fieri's minor status as a staple of the university's live-in entertainment, Fieri was afforded the faculty's level best in education, for no charge-- after all, any money taken in for her education would go right back to her father.

 At the tender age of 18, a startling idea crossed Fieri-- she could be learning to have a job! Startled and mesmerized at the prospect of having to work to earn her daily bread, Fieri nervously opted to follow a career in artificing-- utilizing advanced magic to enchant mundane objects into powerful tools. The idea of making her job trivially easy without even needing to expend too much mana was immensely appealing to Fieri, and she threw herself into her studies with gusto. Fieri studied like a madwoman, egged on by her father, and very nearly graduated at the top of her class at the age of 24. With her magical potential unlocked through rigorous training and studying, and a bevy of spells and enchanted objects at her belt, Fieri... promptly attempted to return to her life of lazing about the university and looking smugly at the students. It was at that point that her father gently but firmly encouraged her to go find a job elsewhere, and politely informed her that, if she continued to stay at the university, she would be arrested and convicted for vagrancy. With no small amount of bitterness, Fieri moved out of the university, and set off into the world. Fieri now wanders aimlessly, searching for odd jobs and helpful servants.

 Equipment: Fieri Angharad is equipped with a variety of self-made magical tools. The weapons underneath are poor-quality, but the enchantments on them are made with love. Fieri's arsenal is as follows.
* Staff of the Diamond-Tail: a university-provided magical focus, that allows Fieri to store and release large amounts of mana. In effect, it is a battery, for intensive magical works. Thanks to the wonderful efforts of the university's engineers, this staff is also capable of drawing mana from ambient sources. In broad daylight or in the light of a full moon, the Staff of the Diamond-Tail regenerates mana very slowly. The staff is also quite sturdy and hurts to be hit with. It is currently filled with several days' worth of stored mana.
* Knife of Lacerations: A standard household bread knife, enchanted to unleash a blast of concussive force exactly the size of its blade on impact. It's useful against unarmored, unexpecting targets, but nearly worthless against armor.
* Bag of Holding: Fieri's thesis project. This is a simple leather satchel, enchanted to magically shrink down anything placed within it. Even thought it is about the size of a traveller's pack, its carrying capacity is about the size of a shipping crate.
* Mana Battery Kit: The mainstay of Fieri's repertoire, this is one of the only things that cannot be made by an artificer. With this advanced piece of magitechnology, one can handily replicate the effects of the university's staffs in a smaller and less powerful form. The kit takes any stone, metal nugget, or gemstone and fills it with mana. These mana-filled minerals can then be inserted into an artificed object to make them usable for non-mages. The more valuable and conductive the material used, the more mana the resulting battery can contain.

 Abilities: Fieri's magical powers are based around utilizing mana in its raw and pure form. These abilities are relatively expensive to use mana-wise, but can also draw from her staff's reserves.
* Mana Bolt: Fieri is capable of projecting a bolt of pure mana at her opponent. The bolt is relatively effective against uncovered flesh, and causes moderate to severe burns on contact. Against large amounts of mana, the bolt reacts violently and explosively.
* Miasma: Fieri is capable of venting large amounts of vaporized mana into the surrounding area at once. The mana, while not strictly toxic, is almost unbearably hot and temporarily interferes with any sources of magic. Prolonged exposure to Miasma results in severe nausea and disorientation. Fieri is not immune to the Miasma's effects.
* Artifice: The gross sum of Fieri's life and Fieri's true calling, this is what Fieri is best at. With a generous amount of mana, a targeted object, and some imagination, Fieri can enchant anything. The more valuable the object is, the easier it is to enchant. It takes half an hour to a day of concentrated work for an Artificing to be completed, and the resulting object must be charged with mana to function properly. What Fieri can enchant is limited only by her scientific knowledge and imagination-- if she can logically conceive of a way to make a ring capable of teleporting its wearer, Fieri can enchant one to do it. Researching and developing new enchantments takes time, mana, and plenty of test subjects. A list of enchantments Fieri currently knows follows.

	+ Emit Force/Absorb Force: Phenomenally simple, this enchantment is designed around converting mana into directed kinetic energy, either to work against incoming blows or amplify them.
	+ Emit/Absorb Heat: Exactly as simple, this enchantment is designed around emitting large amounts of heat or absorbing large amounts of it. With some more sophisticated supplementary enchantments, the weapon appears to emit flames or bolts of frost from it, though the effects are the same.
	+ Discharge/Absorb Mana: This enchantment is explicitly required on every Cartus Magnum Artificer's products, for safety reasons. Upon being discharged, the enchanted object immediately releases all stored mana in a single blast that, at higher levels, overloads other magical items and causes extreme burns. Upon its Absorb function being activated, the object briefly draws from any source of mana directly connected to it.
	+ Feather/Burden: A simple and efficient enchantment, used widely across the continent. When active, the enchantment actively lifts itself (or pushes itself down), making carrying heavy objects significantly easier. In most cases, Feather is attached to armor.
	+ Grow/Shrink: A strange branch of enchantment explored by few, the effects of these enchantments are directly tied to the current size of the object affecting it. When activated, anything touching the enchantment will be either shrunken or grown to a predetermined level. At the same time, both its volume and mass change, allowing for even heavy objects to be carried with ease.

[User]
"Fear not, Lady Tanya!" decreed Marc from his abnormally tall perch. He was not the diminutive lady that stood by his side! Over the heads of his cohorts, he spied a dashing looking individual, dressed like a treasure hunter and quite well armed for her station. Wonderful! "There! A treasure hunter! Truly she will help us in our noble cause." Calling out to the lady he would later learn was named Liliana, he spoke loudly. "My dear lady! Please! Join us in our adventure! We are most pleased to have you with us!"

Who else could they grab? Marc was just the meat shield on this adventure but he didn't let a little thing like that bring him down. Not when there were so many strange and wonderful people to meet! "Well, there is also this fox lady!" he said, verbally mangling the race of the strange woman tending to the drunkard's wounds. "And the man with the magical staff," he said, nodding to Leander, "though he does look a tad blue. Perhaps he needs cheering up?" He laughed at his own joke before continuing. "And the drunkard, and the man who put the drunkard through a table! All worthy allies, assuming our fair Miss Sophia is able to tend to the woman's wound."

On that note, and satisfied that he highlighted all of the individuals he deemed worthy for the cause, he kneeled down next to the drunken, injured woman and the two tending to her. "Miss Sophia," he said, his voice warm and caring. "I know that you worry about your powers, and that you underestimate your confidence, but please know that we believe in you. You will do fine." He patted her on the shoulder as he spoke. He hoped that would reassure her enough to work her wondrous magic.

[Assistant]
"Whatinthe..." by then, Cristine's vision had gone blurry and her words more slurred than before. She didn't seem to notice the woman toying around with Cristine's arm until Cristine realized she couldn't move her own arm. That was not the first thing she noticed.

"You got... dog ears..." Cristine remarked as she reached out her working hand to touch Haruka's ears. By the time she grabbed on, the woman had already left, leaving Cristine to stroke the air with her fingers. She giggled in her drunken stupor, making a hiccup before falling slightly, over, and then back again. She could feel something being poured down her mouth. It didn't taste like beer, but the knight had already lost most of her senses to know. Sergeant Wykes gulped it down like a champ.

"So... yeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaah" Sergeant Wykes slurred. "What's all this stuff about adventure?"

[User]
Haruka nodded at Al, her tail's wagging slowing somewhat. While she was still excited, as always she was, things seemed to have calmed down a little. This drunken lady was taking having a broken arm like a champion, even for someone as deeply inebriated as her. It was really quite impressive.

"Yes, tall person," Haruka agreed, "We will need much alcohol handy for this woman until the injury heals, for pain reasons. If you would purchase for her a bottle for later, that would be-"

The drunken knight attempted to play with Haruka's ears, and they twitched slightly despite the woman being quite far off.

"Yes, for later. I think that she is well alcoholed at this moment," Haruka finished, nodding. She looked around her and marveled at the diverse Western group that surrounded her. There was even a bird! Truly, the West was a mysterious and strange place. One of them even called her a fox, which made Haruka momentarily consider exactly what her own characteristics meant. Perhaps she was a fox, and she just didn't know it. Kitsune were tricky, after all. So tricky, that perhaps they could even trick themselves.

Entire seconds of introspection happened before Haruka decided that this was too hard for her and stopped. Since Haruka was done with the arm now and the bird was busy with something, perhaps it was time to gather some information.

"Why are you people entering the castle of an angry man named Haldric?" she asked the paladins, "And why is he angry? Did you do something mean to him, and are going to make apology?"

[Assistant]
Fieri Angharad's dedicated searching eventually paid off. Sure enough, there was a sizable hole in the building's foundation. Though it was too high off the ground to simply walk into, the stonemasonry below it was rough and uneven-- perfect for climbing. Using her hands to propel her upwards and her muscular tail as a muscular anchor, Fieri gradually slithered up to and through the precipice without any trouble. With one mighty lunge, Fieri heaved herself into the tower's innards... and landed heavily on a moldering stone staircase. There were no innards, save for a single winding staircase.

Fieri grunted with equal measures frustration and pain. No lobby meant no easy place to set up shop! She'd be forced to crawl into the moldy musty underbelly of this damned dungeon! Worse yet, she'd have to use the stairs! Accidentally slamming the base of her tail on every step, Fieri slowly and achingly began making her way down the stone stairway.

Just as Fieri was starting to ponder about the depth of this seemingly-endless staircase, she heard a soft click. A trap had been sprung! The stone steps slowly began to angle themselves downward and rescind, leaving only a slippery, wet, stony ramp! This surprising change of events, while potentially disastrous for a biped, served only to make the snake-bodied Fieri's job easier. Her tail muscles easily gripped the imperfections in the stone steps, and all downward progress was handily halted. With no steps to bruise her tail on, Fieri quietly praised the designers of the Mad King's dungeon for their diligent concern for handicapped intruders.

At the base of the stairs was a quite inconvenient gap. Presumably, bipedal intruders would have found themselves sliding unstoppably to whatever lied below. Fieri, however, managed to stop herself in time. Coiling her tail and springing it forward, Fieri leaped over the gap and made it to the floor beyond with a meaty thud. Suffering only a few tail bruises and a wet underbelly, Fieri surged with confidence. She continued on into the depths of the dungeon, in search of plunder and marketing opportunities.