<strong>NALIN</strong><br/><br/>As she crouched in the dubious cover of what few crops there were near the town, Nalin was able to hear voices rising from the crowd.<br/><br/><strong>"...come out ya coward!"<br/>"...they'll slaughter us all!"<br/>"...what have you heard?!  Wher's the sheriff?!"</strong><br/><br/>They seemed to be in a near animal panic, and from some of the racist comments she was hearing, no few of them blamed her own people for whatever was going on.<br/><br/><strong>XIN</strong><br/><br/>Xin had been sent to the town of Line's End in search of the newest Slayer.  Unfortunately for him, his trip had been delayed by racist workers and broken trains.  He'd been forced to go by horse from the last town, the train not running and, he'd been quite clearly told, even if it had been the ticket master wouldn't have let him on.  The sun was setting as he crested a small rise and saw the town below him.  There were piles of rocks and other debris that rose above even the highest of the town's buildings.  The natural landscape had been dug up and stripped bare, with no trees and little plant life within the town itself.<br/><br/>Of more immediate concern, there were a crowd of men armed with pick-axes, torches, and lanterns beating at the door of a mansion.  If he was to guess, he rather doubted that they'd be anymore friendly than the last people he'd had to deal with.  From his vantage point, he could also see someone crouched in the growth of what was a fairly sizeable garden just outside of town.