Clara
_Almann rode up to the town on his rouncey. He'd been here a few times before, taking note of the fair and good food (and women) of the local taverns and inns. It was always a pleasure stopping by to make some errands and catch up with the locals. Although Almann himself looked like a foreigner, his consistent use of the local dialects here make him seem as a commonman of the empire._

_Perhaps the most interesting part of this trip is the little macen girl who was heading this way as well. How could a macen be so short? It truly puzzled him. He heard of the Hill and Deep Lora being that small, but never a macen. Perhaps Lora blood runs through her veins? But he thought they couldn't interbreed. Truly strange. Nonetheless, the girl seemed an able craftsman. Her face was dirty, which was common among the street artisans of the city, and her hands callused. He got to see some of her wears while they were making their way to the small town. They were good, exceptionally good._

_They approached the town, and the first startling thing was the lack of noise. Where are the guards? The market is eerily quiet... So is the surrounding farmland. He should've been able to hear something..._

_Almann comes to an abrupt stop on his horse, unsheathing Anat. The foul aura of the blade startles the rouncey a bit. Seems like the horse would need to be accustomed to the blades presence..._

_Almann turns to the girl he'd been travelling with._
Robin
"It's silent. Way too silent for this time of day. We should be careful."
Jacob
"Is it? I knew you've been here a couple times before, so I guess you'd be right. But maybe the people are too in awe of me to even make noises?" *Clearly, Ralki was one with an egotistical outlook on things. She continues* "Nah, I think you're totally right, there's no sound whatsoever, and what's with that horrid smell" *In all likelyhood Almann would not of noticed it, as Ralki's smell can likely track something at a larger distance than most hunting dogs,* "Smells like raw meat is spoiling." *She gags, she's not used to this smell, well actually she is, she had fought an abomination before so this smell is rather tame compared to that.*

**(She should've had her birthday by now!)**
Clara
_Almann shrugs and winks_
Robin
"That may be true, who knows?"
Clara
_His horse trots through the village. There is absolutely zero movement. No signs of struggle, it doesn't seem to be a raid on the village. That only leaves a handful of other things that could've happened._

_Almann moves forward slowly, looking around. Some of these houses were downtrodden, as expected. Many of these downs have ups and downs in thoroughfare when it comes to trade. He had been here a couple times before, perhaps at it's height. There must've been at least 200-300 souls in this town. But he can't hear anything. He spots a couple of shapes on the hill to his right. He can't make out exactly what they are. He'll have to check that out later. For now they'll continue towards the Lord's mansion..._

_When he got to the walls he immediately saw the bloodstains and scattered weaponry. Looks like they're closer to figured out what happened eh?_
Robin
"Looks like none of the conflict reached the houses. Perhaps there was an evacuation and a subsequent duel for the towns ownership or belongings? Perhaps someone had beef with the lord here? He was always a shrewd fellow..."

"Those who stick their noses where they don't belong often end up dead..."

"There also seems to be something on the hill over there..."
Clara
_He jerks his thumb to the right of the fountain_
Robin
"We should scout the lord's mansion first and then go see what's on it."
Jacob
"Alrighty then!" *She said with a gleeful face, she had frowned earlier when she saw the blood. She must've tried to ignore that, whatever the case, she's eager to figure out what happened.* "So what do you think must've happened here, I haven't a clue" *That last part is somewhat of a lie, she likely knows something occured that forced everyone to evacuated, but nothing deadly enough that most of them couldn't get away.*
Robin
"You seem quite enthusiastic about this. I have a few ideas, but we'll have to see a bit more before I make some bold predictions to what happened to the town. Maybe, if the lord is dead, I'll be able to claim this land by default. One can dream..."
Clara
_He walks past the gate and spots a few bodies. They seem cleanly killed. He'd unhorse himself and knock on the mansion door. It was worth a try._
Jacob
"Yeah, it's not often I get to meet with an actual merchant, I usually just have a stall somewhere... I'm not really someone who knows a lot about business... Wonder what killed them" *She seems remarkably unphased by this.* "Did this place used to get lot's of economical attention, since you've been here often."
Robin
"It had enough attention to keep it alive. There were around two hundred people here at all times during a good year. To see no one though? Very strange..."
Clara
_Almann kicks open the doorway, looking around and listening in to any sounds the house might emit._
Jacob
*Ralki looks around eagerly, seeing anything fancy would be amazing for her! She looks a random object and acts Almann* "What's this! What's this!? It looks cool!" *How sweet, just like a child...* "Ahen, I mean, we should look for evidence of what has happened here, right?"
Robin
"You're not used to seeing this sort of wealth eh? Perhaps I should set you up with some of the higher end clients I have in the upper district of New Salvainia. This is sort of decrepit compared to some of their abodes..."
Clara
_Almann looks around some of the rooms, looking for dead bodies or anything, but there's simply nothing. He'll make his way upstairs to do a double take. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Perhaps they should check outside?_
Robin
"We should go back, seems like there's nothing here. We can take a trip around the mansion to see some of the bodies. Perhaps they'll give us a clue as to who fought here..."
Jacob
*Ralki squeezes her nose so that she cannot smell* "Alright, let's go and find out what happened! I'm just doing this so I don't smell all of the rot." *She says while looking rediculous.* "Onwards!"
Clara
_Almann mounts his horse and starts to make his rounds around the property. There's plenty of bodies here... Looks like the men sallied outside of the mansion and village to defend it. It also seems like they weren't successful. The bodies themselves are a mix and match of maiming and clean kills. There are only two possibilities now he'd imagine. It also looks like some of the bodies are completely pale... As if drained of blood..._

_Almann laughs nervously_
Robin
"I think I figured out who our culprits are..."
Jacob
"Who?" *This time her obliviousnous is truthful, she hadn't encountered a vampire in her life not heard of them. Ralki thinks for a moment, what could drain blood like this, of course it had to be this!* **"They were the mosquitos, I knew it!"**
Clara
_Almann grins. She has a good sense of humour._
Robin
"Vampires. Strong ones."
Clara
_He turns towards the hill_
Robin
"Perhaps their bodies are over there? I doubt that these men had silver weapons though..."
Jacob
"Vampires?" *Ralki questioned, of course she hadn't heard of them. She had always lived in such a small area that she would've never heard of all these things* "Sorry I'm not sure what you're talking about, why would silver make a difference anyways?"
Robin
"Vampires. Unholy and twisted beings who feast on the blood of sentient beings. Like all unholy things, they're also weak to silver weaponry and holy magic. The bastards come in different subspecies, but they're more or less similar to eachother. The ones here don't seem to have such a bad time of dispatching the guards. Most vampires are also weak to sunlight, so they must've done this at night, when they'd be at the height of their power. Unlike the demon races that can completely make themselves look into different races, they can simply mask some of the signs of their infection. Eyes and fangs can be hidden away, but their aversion to sunlight cannot, save for a group of them."
Clara
_Almann heads toward the hill while explaining_
Robin
"What makes them so dangerous is their strength, speed, and tendency to gravity towards powerful magic. They are predators, with base species as their prey. Everything about them is manipulated to make them apex predators at night..."
Jacob
"Huh? Are you talking about Oni when you're speaking about changing appearences, I think the correct term is a 'nether' race." *Ralki tilts her head in confusion? Where is he getting his information* "So vampires are a form of undead? Neat."
Robin
"Aye, Oni. I just get my info from what I hear from merchants. Take it with a grain of salt mind you. Though vampires are known widely in the city. Where there are plenty of prey there are predators..."
Clara
_Almann unhorses himself and inspects the bodies. A young and older man. A tragedy, really. Looks like they were tortured before they were killed..._

_Interesting. The old man was killed quickly. No use in staring at dead bodies though..._

_There seems to be another body, facing the gate. Did he try to get away? Strangely enough, he's not pale or stiff. Usually bodies would be stiff after a few hours. He puts his fingers on the neck of the old man to see if he's alive..._
Jacob
"I think demon's are a different thing from nether races. But anyways happened to them? Wait no, nevermind, I know" *Yep, who couldn't know, some vampire attacked some innocents. Even ralki isn't **That** Dumb, she walks towards the body facing the gate and waves her hand in front of his face.*
Clara
_He feels a heartbeat. Really? He's alive? Shocking._
Robin
"This one is still alive. He's missing some... Body parts, but somehow the poor bastard is still living..."

"If he survives the trip back to the city, we can get him healed up. I don't have experience with healing, do you?"
Shirley
It burns. 

I'm reminded of the one time where someone left a jar of honey open, and then the next time anyone noticed it there were ants, a bright vicious red swarming all over it. No one ever admitted to the crime, but I was the one who witnessed that disgusting scene, this slow death that the honey experienced as bit by bit was removed by the ants.

Is this what it feels like?

My head is locked in a sultry hot chamber where there is no escape. I feel the heat on my face. It's not quite the scorching sunlight of Siui, but the cooler glow of Sepduania has its own charm. But while the sun shines on my face, attempting to rose me up to face a new day as it has done for the past 35 years of my life, and that of many others, I cannot open my eyes to take in this familiar light. 

I try to raise my arms and grasp at this darkness, but they refuse to move. Ships with anchors lowered, or thirsty camels in need of a drink after constant travelling.

...Heh, who am I fooling? It's not that they can't move. It's because they aren't there. My brain attempts to rationalise their existence, but a captain can't give a command to a sunken ship. They might yell and yell and attract the attention of others, but the ships won't ever rise unless the gods themselves took pity.

I feel my chest sinking. While the flagship hasn't sunk yet, the keel has been thoroughly busted, irreparable without outside help, and soon it will meet the same fate as the rest of the fleet.

It burns.

Is this how I meet my end? What a pity. 

I can't even feel hatred for those vampires that drove me to this state. That is how much my will has been eaten away. The numbness on my neck and the intense stench of carrion tells me where this burning comes from, but even with their blatant message and show of triumph, I can't feel any emotion. 

They've won in the end at it seems, it seems. Not only have they made me a cripple, but they've also robbed me of any will to live. I'm not scared, just apathetic. The life and death of the people I attempted to aid mean nothing to me- not because I'm more concerned about my life, but because I simply don't care anymore.

I-

A warmth grazes my chest

...This is not sunlight.

Memories of one my brothers in blood demonstrating how to feel a pulse reaches to the forefront of what remaining conscious I have.

My heartbeats increase.

Trepidation?

Someone is rapping on this hot, sultry chamber that surrounds me and suddenly the fugue is lifted from me.

Apprehension?

The numbing heat is replaced by flowing lava burning through my veins.

...Dread?

Its takes me a moment to realise what it is.

Anticipation. Excitement. Expectation.

The strength to scream for help. Beg to receive salvation. To save oneself.

...It might be foolish of me to assume such, in case I let myself down but this is *Hope.*

What a hypocrite I am. But I suppose without this inbuilt gift, life could never arise.

I don't want to die. *I want to live.* 

All and any doubts are cleared from my mind and for a moment, just a brief second, I feel the clarity of a sage well up within me.

With all the strength I can muster from this sinking flagship, the captain sends one last hurrah with all the smoke signals they can muster.

"Help... Me..."
Jacob
*She looks at Almann for a moment, staring, like saying 'do you really think I'd have any healing', but she doesn't say anything. She looks at the man and just grows larger to be really tall, picks up the man and walks towards the wagon.*
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*Ralki is now 3 meters tall, what is this mad world.*
Clara
_Almann's mouth almost hits the floor_

_So THAT's why she's so short. It all made sense. Why would she have healing though? It wouldn't make sense now would it? Her face said it all._

_He simply follows her back to the horses and wagon_
Jacob
*Ralki puts the man into the wagon and shrinks back to normal* "I can't ride a wagon while 3 meters tall and weighing just under 500lbs, now can I?" *She does not realize the absurdity of that sentence, she must lack common sense.*
Clara
_Almann shrugs and smiles._

_Almann gets on the wagon, hooks the horses into their respective positions, and begins to move the cart towards the nearest city. They'll find a healer in the city there to take care of the old man._
Robin
"The bastards missing his arms and eyes. Missing an eye myself, dunno how the fella is gonna live after this. Heard some new magical fake limbs are in the making at the capital, though they're exceptionally expensive..."

"Looks like he'll have to enhance his sense of hearing and smell for now eh? People usually don't last long in this state."

"Don't think I caught your name though, talking the entire time without mentioning names is odd. I'm Almann, Almann Jek."
Clara
_He offers his hand_
Jacob
"Ralki, the master potter and adventurer, *I'm not actually concidered a master adventurer I just like to think I am*" *She shakes his hand,* "Nice to meet, you Almann. Huh, those vampires certainly did a number on this settlement..."
Robin
"Hopefully they didn't get the other people. They'll congregate back to the village now that the danger is gone. The local lord will repopulate the area. This is a prosperous area after all..."
Clara
_They'll be reaching one of the local cities any hour now. Almann supposes he'll keep making conversation..._
Robin
"Where'd you learn your trade? Learned mine from the steppe elves, wandering blacksmiths an' all..."
Jacob
"Natural talent... I was born with a talent for this magic, mold earth, which allows me to change and well mold earth. It becomes rather easy to become a master potter if you have magic like that" *Huh, that's strangely honest-* "But of course I use it better than anyone else could" *There it is.*
Robin
"Really? I got into metalwork when my mentor figured out I had a knack for bronze magic. An affinity for the element you're molding really does help with learning doesn't it? The steppe elves had to learn how to blacksmith and fight well to counteract their lacking in magic. Naturally many of them got exceptionally good at that. That's why the high elves need some of them. The cavalry and the crafts among the steppe elves are some of the best."
Jacob
"Yeah, streppe elves sure are great..." *Ralki grumbled, she then says with enthuasim* "So, you're a merchant, right? Where have you been? You must've been many places, right? On trades?"
Robin
"Plenty of places. Been across the Salvainian Empire and back, through Lymia and Horuoir, on the borders of Ombu, and through the beastkin lands to the northeast. Lots of interesting work around those parts. It's especially interesting now that the elves are raiding beastkin lands. That's how I lost this..."
Clara
_He points to the eyepatch over his right eye socket_
Jacob
"Ah yes, that... I dislike that quite a bit, the slave war. It must be weird only having one eye, like, you've had something your whole life then you lose it... Wait, that's what this person is going to go through..." *She looks back to the injured man, damn, that's gotta hurt.*
Robin
"He's missing both eyes, and arms. He'll live though, if he's lived so far he'll live for a little while I'd think. Macen and other beings adapts. We learn. When I lost my eye I focused on listening, I made up for it in another way. The old man, if he's flexible enough, can do so as well."

"My missing eye is simply a reminder for me, the high elves view macen and my people as inferior. We'll teach them some discipline one day..."
Jacob
"I don't think it's a good idea to hold a grudge like that... I hate the slave war but I wouldn't blame every individual." *Ralki shrugs, she actually tends to try to ignore this topic. She never liked slavery but hated discussing it. She lived a small village where no one would've even heard of slavery, let alone have an opinion on it.*
Robin
"The slave war? I don't care much for the beastkin in all honesty. I know it sounds harsh, but they are quite suited to defending themselves. I My pity does not go out to them, but the current peoples enslaved en-masse under the Silnari empire. The steppe elves are a lower class, forced into poverty and drafted into fighting. Missing a tributary payment, essentially taxes, is a death sentence. That's what happened to those who raised me. It took me two weeks to find their remains in the Moluinwur Steppes. By then their faces were unrecognizable..."

"I will side with the beastkin so long as they have the same goals as I. I've worked with many agreeable folk, but they don't seem to understand how this world works..."

"Slavery is normal for the empires of the world, the few, like Lymia, who outlaw it rely on other means to make income. I'm more concerned with those whom I was raised by. Either way, if the empire falls, the rest go free regardless. The high elves themselves have always been a stuck up race, it's in their blood to think themselves of a higher class."
Jacob
"Are they? I guess they may seem to feel like they're above everyone else, but they seem like decent folk when I see them." *Ralki is telling the honest truth here, she doesn't observe that or they aren't as stuck up as he says they are.*
Robin
"Where do you see them? Just curious."

"The one's in the big cities, on most trade routes, and ones employed under their respective governments and lords think quite... Highly of themselves..."
Jacob
"Most of my life I was an assistant to my mother, selling pottery. In a small village, where newcomers were rare. It was a homely place, mostly earth macen such as my father and mother, but some high elves and hill lora existed too. Actually one of them was called Mary, made a good pie, loved that pie."
Robin
"Humbled perhaps. The ones I fight are the cosmopolitan slavers, aristocrats, and laity among the empire. A few high elves here and there who sit humbled in a small village wouldn't fit that mold."
Jacob
*Ralki kind of gets where he's coming from, he lost his eye from a conflict that the high elves started. She doesn't agree with those beliefs, but yeah.* "I see."
Clara
_Almann could see the city coming up ahead. They'd roll up tot he gates, state their business, show the crippled old man in the back, and go on with their way. Eventually they'd reach a wagon compatible section of the city to tie their horses and cargo up for the remainder of their stay._

_Almann would lock up and hide most of the loose goods and other valuables in chests and locked floorboard cupboards of the wagon._
Robin
"I think I saw the infirmary back towards the entrance, didn't look too busy so we shouldn't have a terrible time of taking this geezer to the doc's. We should take the horses regardless though, don't think you wan't to walk on these streets too much without proper boots..."
Clara
_It only just occured to Almann now that the muck was thick in this district. They must've been in a better district going in, because now the mud (filled with god knows what) is almost ankle high in the streets..._
Jacob
"Yeah, I'm tall enough" *She infact is tall enough, just not now.*
Clara
_Almann fireman carries the old man and mounts his rouncey, he'd make his way back the way they entered towards the infirmary..._
Jacob
*Ralki follow, the man would certainly be alive still. Hopefully, healers work wonderes, don't they... She's visited them too many times!*
Clara
_They would arrive to the infirmary. The place was clearly marked on a cleaner cobble road than the rest. The sign held up in front of the door would present a red snake coiled around a winged staff. This was a decent hospital it seems..._

_Almann would unmount, shift the old man on his left shoulder and tie up his horse to a free post. He would open the door with his right hand and come face to face a balding gentleman and a series of healers and acolytes scurrying around attending to those among the beds both in the back and in the front of the hospital._