<strong>Name:</strong>Oda Vladimira Krupskaya<br/><strong>Professions:</strong>Explorer / Ranger<br/><strong>Damage Capacity</strong><br/><em>Physique:</em>5<br/><em>Agility:</em>4<br/><em>Intellect:</em>3<br/><strong>Defence:</strong>14<br/><strong>ARM:</strong>10<br/><strong>Feat Points:</strong>3<br/><hr/><br/>"If there is something lurking out in the darkness, and in the cold - and it drove the girl here, we should know of it," Oda agreed.<br/><br/>She downed her cupful of firewater. Valentine was right. Something strange was happening. "I have never seen a Winter Elf this young stray from her Shard into the lands claimed by humans. No - I have never seen a girl of her kind this young at all. Look," Oda traced the rudimentary design of the girl's tribal tattoo with two calloused fingers, following the elegant sweep of her cheekbone, down into the elfin curve of her jawline, "these are the marks the Nyss dye into their skin. They speak of her Shard and of her life-path, and they say she but recently came of age."<br/><br/>"I have known Nyss trappers and rangers, but she is not seasoned - her body is not yet hardened by the wilds," she indulged in a wry smile - doubtless they had all heard of, and perhaps even retold and embellished, the tall tales of her fondness for Winter Elves, "but they had all come of age many summers before and knew the land well enough that it posed little threat to them. But the Nyss are fierce in protecting their dwindling numbers and for one so young to venture out..." she trailed off, absorbed in her thoughts. She saw Valentine's detached, methodical gaze scrutinising every detail, every scrap of knowledge which could be discerned. That reassured her. There was something conspiratorial in harbouring a Winter Elf fugitive this close to the frontier of human civilisation and she was glad for accomplices.<br/><br/>Oda pressed her fingertips to the girl's throat, feeling the shallow breaths and the faint pulse of blood under pristine skin. Like fish in a frozen pond, life stirred beneath the surface - the girl would live.<br/><br/>"I do not know if she speaks our tongue, but I know enough of hers. When she wakes, we should hear her tale."