Areador : The Struggle

[Werther]

Pinecliff

The village of Pinecliff stood in northern corner of Eastern Kingdoms. Being located in land ravaged by wars, this village was road side village who often housed warriors of one king today, and those of other tomorrow. Village itself was rather small. It had one Inn, a blacksmith and general store. There were some houses around these establishments and they grew some crops.
The night itself was approaching quickly and it was going to be dark soon. Adventurers of local kind, deserters from army and other travelers were slowly showing themselves at Dark Hollows Inn. It was rather large hall, built to house many guests. Cheapest rooms available were the stables themselves, exclusive ones were those with proper bed and sheets.
Loud noises of travelers and locals filled the hall and the fire pit attracted many of this kind. Inn keeper was busy serving drinks and listening to news about war. It seems like one side is winning now, but yesterday they were losing. Like always.

Paladin of great stature sat next to small table. He drank his pint of ale and observed everyone who caught his gaze. Feeling some what disturbed and tired, he was planning to go to bed early. Raising himself up, he moved towards the inn keeper. Some patrons gave him strange look, as they haven't seen his kind for some time.
Inn keeper was serving drinks and cleaning tables by the time Ariel decided to speak with him. He spoke, in rather kind, but commanding voice which was rather loud for man of his age. - So, have you heard any news concerning war? - Inn keeper rose his gaze towards the tall man and spoke in, rather quick and nervous tone -You see... this war has been going on for quite while. Everyday it seems like the situation is changing. Sometimes Kings Harold's men win, sometimes Marion, by the dwarfs beard knows who he is, wins. And that happens all the time. You seem to be like paladin. Paladins don't usefully sell their sword to warring kings. Why are you asking me this? - Ariel really didn't know what to say and quickly answered - Even paladin should be aware of politics... and I'm traveling, helping others on way. With so much peril in this world, there must be some light. -

[Irean]

Shayndra Featherleaf

Shayndra sat in a corner of the inn, petting her fox while listening to reports on the war. She ate her supper with her free hand. She spared a glance towards the paladin conversing with the inn keeper. Perhaps there was light, somewhere in the world. But every light casts its own shadow. She finished her supper quickly, her grey blue fox sitting beside her, content to be pet. She would retire early, perhaps leave before the streets were crowded with people.

[Werther]

Ariel stood there for a while until inn keeper turned his attention towards young paladin - If I was you, I'd stay here for few days. For paladin, there's lot to do. There's goblin infestation south east of town. I believe they have inhabited some cave or old fortress. I'd check it out. You'd help us a lot by bringing end to this vermin. Don't go alone, they can be quite deadly in packs. - Finishing the dialogue inn keeper went towards some patrons, filling his duties. Feeling a need for fresh air, Ariel strolled towards exit and went out in darkness.
By the looks of the place, there were quite lot of camps of soldier built around the streets. Ariel soon found himself near bonfire and in company of soldiers and his ears were keen to hearing something new.

- The battle was massacre! - soldier yelled - They forced us in the pass and there was nothing but steep cliff behind us! We fought valiantly, but most of us died! I ran as quickly as I could and managed to break trough enemy lines. Now I'm here * hic * drinking and telling you this. I'd wish I'd fall with my brothers... - Sound of something falling echoed as another soldier threw of his helmet, aiming towards the darkness. - 'ell, I was in similar situation! We were attacked by dragon and the beast slew many of us! I was desperate to win, but I had no choice! My sword fell down and I picked the spear and began... - It was enough for Ariel as these men were obviously drunk and didn't tell anything serious about the war. Some fight dragons, some shadows, but some themselves. World hasn't changed that much in few years. Humans were the same. With hardness in his chest Ariel slowly walked back to Inn and found quiet corner of the bar to sit down. He rose his hand and took out his most valuable possession - Book of Light - Concentrating his mind on the book he was soon lost in the pages, quietly spending his evening reading.

[Lucius Cypher]

Lucilia sat near a Inn, testing the properties of some dust she found. She saw some kids making fires near the edge of the village, and saw that when the fire touched the dust, it make some pops. Right now, using her alchemist set, she was testing to see just how potent the dust could be. As she worked, she also listened in to the babble around her. Mostly drunken boasting about them killing such, or complaining in general. But she still listened, as this information could prove useful. Information about the war could be necessary, since battles usually brought looters, and bandits. as she worked, the dust showed a strange quality; it created intense heat, but it didn't pop or explode like she saw before. "Strange..."

[Ellri]

Life had not been easy for Thora since leaving her birthlands. She had not starved, but neither had she thrived. For the first months of her independence, she had found occasional work for the various warring nobles of the border regions, but she had never felt truly home among them. Their causes did not really inspire her. Nobles, unlike the common people, were annoyingly concerned with 'purity', both of their people and even more so with their own families.

The sole reason she had gotten any work at all was because they were equally foolish when it came to forestry. Thora was sure that without trained woodland guides like her, the oh-so-proud nobles would've gotten themselves lost within hours. No, she had little use for nobles for anything except an easy source of money, even if they generally did not let her work for them long once they noticed her ears. Wearing her hood at all times would have hidden them, but of course that was far from proper. Those nobles always went on and on about 'dirty blood' and how she ought to be ashamed, as if Thora had any blame for her ancestry.

With each new job, she got further and further away from home. Any money earned rarely lasted long, as more than a few of the nobles would not even consider hiring her. It was on one of the few lengthier jobs she got that sword as a payment. Considering that she never really learned how to fight with one, and that it was, from what others told her, of low quality steel, made learning to do so of rather lackluster interest. A couple of jobs later, she even learned that it was poorly balanced. Suffice to say, she saw no reason to treat it well. Her skills ensured one thing, though. While buying food was oft unfeasible, hunting was free. The sword proved a decent spit, be it deer, mountain boar or forest rachnid.

About the only fun she ever had was about half a year after she left home. She'd joined up with a gang of freelance warriors, known as the Wolves' Teeth, who were in the process of a lengthy quarrel with one of the local nobles, a stuffy fellow who simply was infamous for his hatred of anything even remotely elven. Suffice to say, he had not hired any woodland guides for setting up the ambush for the freelancers. The ambush was, to Thora's eyes at least, about as subtle as the trail a rutting cave troll would leave after smelling a mate. Not even the Wolves' Teeth had trouble seeing it. That particular region rather quickly found itself lordless and Thora was once again out of work.

Over the next months, Thora had moved steadily northward, following the rumors of work. Sometimes she worked a few weeks in one place, other times a couple of days, there was no clear pattern how long a job would last. The only clear pattern was that the further away from home she got, the less tolerant people were. Unfortunately, the stories of work all sent her further from home, not that she could return there anytime soon, if ever.

After three weeks of hardly any work, she found herself with hardly any money, in a small tavern far north-eastern corner of the eastern domain, at the edges between the sea, the hilly forests and the northern mountains. From what she'd heard, the village was called Oakencrag or Pinecliff or something like that, not a name that she recognized at least. She had seated herself within, not far from the fire, enjoying its warmth, even as she tried to play with the fire using the little magic she knew, not really paying attention to what people said around her.

[Werther]

Having a seat and being warmed by the flames of fire pit. helped Ariel to concentrate on book. Reading trough passages that describes honor and integrity to how to detect evil presence, he was improving his magical skills. For his own amusement and safety, he casted detect evil and with watchful eye examined every single patron. To him, some auras were blue and red, some were green and gray. Some were very black. They are the ones he needs to watch out. Manipulative and decisive, they tend to be lawfully evil. By the looks of the clothes, they seemed like traders to him. Most of these folk were green colored and that meant that they were chaotic neutrals. Armor and cheap shields signified that they are mercenaries and soldiers. Ariel was confident of written word.
He kept his watchful gaze on patrons and drank his ale.

[Durandal]

A little whistled tune was heard coming from what looked like a young human child, followed by a large dog which drooled a bit on the ground, its dopey grin evident as its tail wagged back and forth in a slow looping manner. They entered into town, the child seemingly hopping and skipping along, although the hopping and skipping was more of an act than any real, actual playfulness coming from the young "child".

In fact, Lucky was rather worried at the moment.

He barely managed to escape to the countryside after someone in one of the major cities, Mirzkalan, decided that the young child looked decidedly like a certain halfling that had escaped the clutches of the Guild before. A manhunt was underway for him, and thankfully, they were diverted to searching through the entire sewage system through some clever planning and an effective decoy. Oh, when he thought about those masterful and arrogant Guilders getting their boots full of piss and shit, he just couldn't help but grin!

Entering into the inn, he scanned the room for a brief moment with narrowed eyes, sizing up marks, before putting on his best innocent face and heading over to the Paladin. Thankfully, his dust-covered clothes (and even a nice few smudges of mud on his face) gave him quite the appearance as a young orphan who had seen better days. Groveling, seemingly, at the Paladin's feet, he said, "Oh, please kind sir.... I've gone for so long without something to eat.... I'm so hungry...."

It certainly wasn't a lie. He was awfully hungry. But he had quite a bit left of money that he had spirited away. Thankfully, most of his extra gear was in a hidey hole outside of town, so the halfling looked the part of the young child quite well. Dukonklid did his part as well, giving a short whine and putting his tail between his legs.

Oh, perfect.

Detect Evil would probably detect him as Chaotic Good.

[The Nexerus]

Idril focused intently on the small town up the road, just now coming into view. She'd taken much longer than expected to get this far, what with most of the longer, more direct roads cut off due to the war. Idril didn't understand Humans. If they were as wise as they claimed to be, how was it that they resorted to war to fix even the most minor of disputes? Idril was convinced that the kings of the Eastern Lands were all children at heart, bickering and squabbling amongst each other, blubbering and crying war if one of their fellow child-kings said something spiteful. Sadly, there was no patient mother to watch over the Eastern Land's kings and keep them from playing rough. It was always sad when a life, even the life of a human commoner, had to be extinguished to feed the flame of some poor fool's petty rivalry.

Collecting her thoughts, Idril examined the features of the town. Pinecliff, it was called, if she remembered correctly. Made entirely of wood, Idril noted with a degree of amusement. Perhaps architecture was a word unheard of in the Eastern Kingdoms. Pinecliff seemed a small settlement, even for a hamlet, but it would have to do for accommodations until something more proper could be arranged. A woman of House Saralonde, even one as tough and powerful as Idril, could only sleep on a poor man's bed for so long. The poor stitching of an improperly constructed bed pricked her soft, delicate skin, and the rotten wood pained her sides each time she had to spend more than a few minutes lying down. Hopefully the next town up the road would have a nice, proper inn; none of this "Dark Hallows" thrown-together hogwash.

Wand up her sleeve, ready to be dropped into her hand with a flick of her wrist should the need arise, Idril opened the door to the Inn. It was quite disappointingly exactly as she had anticipated. A foul odour polluted Idril's nostrils within moments of her entering, surely the result of some ungodly combination of urine and mead. Each and every inn patron looked like they were either a brigand, a poor craftsman, or the wife of either or. Every patron, Idril thought to herself whilst forming a sly smile, but a precious few. It seemed that the young Miss Saralonde was in for one of her first pleasant surprises since reaching the Eastern Lands. A paladin, surely on some holy quest or crusade or whatnot, sat reading in the Inn. He stuck out like a sore thumb in a crowd of bandits, labourers and merchants, although Idril had to admit that she was probably something of an oddity in these parts too. Choosing to indulge her curiosity and fulfil one of the reasons she chose to visit the Eastern Lands in the first place, Idril strode up to the armour-clad Holy Knight and smiled at him. It was a friendly smile, not quite her usual condescending grin, for she didn't seek to cause this particular traveller any ill. Misguided as Paladins tended to be, they had the right idea, and if something were to happen around here it would be wise for her to have a potential ally in mind.

Impatiently shooing away the beggar, Idril introduced herself to the Paladin. "Idril Saralonde, of the High Elven Isles." she began, curtseying as best as she could manage with her robe. "A pleasure to meet you, Sir...?".

[Ellri]

As she sat beside the fire, not paying attention to the people around her, she suddenly felt the tingle of magic being used. Thora could not sense what it was, having never learned that skill. It had a questioning feel to it, but anything else was lost on her. The one effect it did have, was to shake her out of her musings.

She looked up from the fire, releasing the fireball she had been playing with back into the fire, causing a shower of sparks to shoot out in the process. Since she had entered the tavern several hours earlier, when it was all but empty, it was now filled with a veritable crowd of different people. Some clearly were villagers, gathering to share the mundane gossip. In a far-off corner, seated at a small table, there was someone who looked much like a lord, surrounded by a squad of fierce-looking men-at-arms, all dressed in fine chain mail and identical surcoats. She could not make out their Sigil, but that mattered not. Lords were always trouble, and these days, rarely offered work.

Thora was thankful that her hood was raised, for if the lord was local and one of the elf-haters so common in this region, there would not be much chance of him letting her by unmolested. She was really getting tired of all their notions of "purity". The crowd in there did not make her the least comfortable, so she pulled her hood further over her head, trying to blot it out more, even as she looked around further.

Before she could note much about anyone else, the door once again opened, letting another person in. Though the newcomer wore a hooded robe, it was not hard for Thora to see that for one, it was another female, and second, that she was not at all human. With her unwanted other sense, Thora got the 'smell' of burning hair, but she quickly tried to push it down, for she had no interest in that aspect of magic. It soon became clear that she was not alone in recognizing the elf as such. From her height, it was clear that she had to be one of the high elves.

Thora did not know whether the elf ignored the insulting catcalls from the men-at-arms or simply did not hear them, but she made her way to the fire, away from them and close to her. She stopped beside an orphan, shooing him away. Thora saw him slip a small purse away, even as he sheathed a small dagger. It wasn't clear to her where the purse came from, but the technique was fairly familiar to her. Knowing a highly skilled cutpurse when she saw one, she unhooked her money pouches from her belt, hanging them on a leather thong around her neck, inside her shirt. Catching the eye of the young-looking 'orphan', she winked at him, letting him both know that he'd been seen, but that his secret would be safe with her. It was not as if she cared about either stuffy high elves or those 'honorable' paladins. The former, particularly the aristocracy, were irritating, the latter were not in her experience known for stopping the behavior of those nobles towards those with elven blood in their veins. Some she'd heard, even helped them stamp out 'impurity'...

She decided to tune into their conversation, mostly out of curiosity, even as she went back to playing with the fire, drawing fireballs out of it, then rolling them back in. It was mostly harmless, and helped her relax.

[Irean]

Shayndra Featherleaf

Shayndra continued to pet Iris, her fox. She was happy to sit and listen for now. Maybe there would be work here. At the very least, she could take a look of the goblin infestation. Her head was shadowed, and her ears mostly hidden by her hair, but hearing the noble's men-at-arms catcalling at the high elven women was not a comforting sound. She had no grudge against the high elves, even if she thought they were a bit uptight.

She turned in her seat and glared at the noble and his men. Her ears were still mostly hidden by hair. She tapped the shoulder of the inn keeper as he passed.

"Might I inquire the price of a room?"