<div class="floatright">Pipa Truebridge<br/>(http://i.imgur.com/RoDooxQ.jpg)<br/><br/>Lady Ansel<br/>(http://i.imgur.com/gmcRZIk.png)<br/><br/>Eren<br/>(http://i.imgur.com/QmRfzG7.jpg)</div><div align="center"><span class="bbc_u"><em>OOC world information thread located here.</em></span> (https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=234676.0)</div><br/><hr/><br/><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 18pt;">The world of Eden, Year 442 pi</span><br/>The small mining town of Oreford<br/><br/>The last few weeks had been a drastic departure from everything she'd known to be normal life for the orcblooded woman named Pipa Truebridge.  For most of her young nineteen years of life, she'd been a little bit of an outcast.  Having quarter orcish blood running through your veins in a town of only a few hundred humans meant that you were always a little apart from the others.  It was a small community, a few hundred women and less then a hundred men, one of whom was her very popular father.  So she was never outright mistreated by anyone, small communities simply didn't act that way.  However she was never really included by most of her peers, as they formed friendships that seemed to include her only when it was convenient.  But all of that changed a few weeks ago when it was made known that she would compete in The Dungeon in the year 443.  Suddenly people seemed to see the value in her strength and magical skill, more than a few ribald requests were floated by her, and certainly she couldn't help but notice the number of women visiting her father at nights seemed to go up even more.  In fact the night before the armed caravan was to arrive to take her to Tinchea Valley, several young women took her to the community bath house and gave her a rather personal and intense 'fairwell' that left her wondering why she couldn't have had that type of friendship for the last few years.  She was shocked a second time that same night when her teacher, who'd instructed her in the ways of earthen magic, geomancy, had revealed he had other magical talents as well.  Then, that night, he imparted upon her some of the basic tenants of Eros Magic, careful to preserve her virginity of course.  But it was amazing what could be done together while still remaining a virgin.<br/><br/>Everyone knew how dire the punishments could be for taking the virginity of one who was slated to be a contestant.  Few were stupid or rash enough to ever risk being found out.  This was a point that was driven home in the most brutal way possible the next day as the caravan bearing the markings of the Tanian army rolled into town.  For tied by wrists to the tail wagon was a bloody sack of meat that appeard to be roughly human.  Though it was hard to tell, so horribly gored was the corpse after being dragged an unknown number of miles behind a wagon.  So filthy was the body from the trail dirt that even the body's wounds were not visible.  Pipa of course saw it, as she stood front and center in the crowd, with her father on her right and her teacher on her left, the elders of the town just ahead of her.  One of them, after greeting the knight commander that dismounted and approached the group, asked about the body that was being dragged along in the wagon train.<br/><br/><strong>"He tried first to force himself on a contestant,"</strong>the lady knight responded with a look of disgust at the body,<strong> "Then he tried to 'ugly' the girl up with a magical scar, hoping she would be rejected from the contest."</strong>The gasps of the town were not at the state of the body or the brutality of his death, but at the thought that someone could do such a thing and get away with it.  The lady knight clapped mail and plate hands together and then pointed at the body and said to one in the caravan,<strong>"Water."</strong>The servant jumped down from wagon and went to the corpse, pulling aside a gag and holding a water skin to it's lips.  Then to the assembled horror it became obvious that despite the absolutely devestated condition of the body, the man tied there was still alive.  He sucked at the water skin for a few moments till it was pulled away.<br/><br/>Then in a pitiful cry he wailed,<strong>"Please just kill me, I didn't mean to..."</strong>Whatever he had to say was cut off by the servant slamming the gag back between cracked and broken lips.<br/><br/>The servant turned back to the lady knight and nodded,<strong>"Ring of Regeneration is still in place commander."</strong><br/><br/>The knight nodded and then turned back to the group as if the matter was no longer worth considering.<strong> "You must be Pipa then?  It's an honor to meet another contestant."</strong>She said with a genuine smile, pushing past the elders and extending a gauntleted hand to the quarter orc.  "<strong>You should know that Tanian army takes your saftey as important as anything else.  My best women are guarding the caravan, an entire platoon, hand picked from the best of our nation's west guard." </strong>Sure enough there looked to be at least two dozen armed soldiers mounted on horses, and probably half again that many servants and pages riding the wagons or now walking around stretching or seeing to the needs of the soldiers.  Unsurprisingly perhaps, all of them were women.  The knight continued,<strong>"My name is Lady Ansel, I'll make sure that you are seen safely to the mages tower in Tinchea Valley, whereupon they will teleport you to the Temple of Cyril.  Your safety is my only concern contestant and if there is anything you need, please ask.  Our trip may not be the most pleasant, but I swear on my life and honor you shall arrive safely."</strong>The knight was very plain of face, and it was obvious that even in her younger years she would not have made the cut to be a contestant herself.  But there was a hard grim determination in her gaze and stance that spoke volumes to verify her just given oath.<strong>"Take a moment,"</strong>she said gesturing to the town,<strong>"to say goodbye to your people.  For the next time they will see you it will be on the Æthertube a little over a year from now, and if the gods will it, again in person after that." </strong>She turned and addressed the whole community in a loud boisterous voice then,<strong>"When this brave contestant either escapes the dungeon, or finally defeats it!"</strong><br/><br/>A roaring cheer went up from the community, and the knight turned and began returning to her horse.  Pipa had some time to say her goodbyes then was ushered to a coach with heavy velvet curtains.  Ushered inside she found thick comfortable velvet seats and a woman sitting inside.  The dark beauty looked at her with critical and intense eyes, and was possibly one of the most beautiful women Pipa had ever seen in her life up to that point.  Guessing she was around the same age, this was obviously another contestant.  Dressed in black clothing that was a mixture of leather and heavy wool, her hair gleamed with the slightest hints of red in her dark brown hair, and the only sign of imperfection was a red scar on her left cheek.  The door to the coach closed and almost instantly it jolted into motion as the woman nodded her head,<strong>"Pipa?"</strong>she asked pronouncing the name correctly, as if she were saying Pip-pa.<strong>"Nice to meet you, I'm Eren." </strong>Then almost as if she were ashamed she turned her head to the side, as if hiding her scar,<strong> "I know, but I'm told that the asshole who gave this to me weaved a bit of dark curse into it.  I'm hoping the clerics of Cyril can remove it.</strong>"  Now this was a shock, Pipa hadn't ever been used to someone being ashamed of the way they looked around her.<br/><br/>Things certainly had changed for her.  How much more would they change in the next year?