For the King (fantasy rp)

Raenon stood and bowed deeply, almost to the ground at the strangely garbed new arrival. He remembered once reading that such a bow was a traditional greeting for travelers in the desert lands. After raising back to his full height, Raenon called to the two guards standing just outside to find a room for the new guest, and to provide him water to wash with. Another custom he had read about.

When the man returned in his finer clothes, Raenon asked him to sit and motioned to one of the empty chairs. "Come, friend. Sit and feast with us while the others arrive," he said with a warm smile. "My lord the king shall be joining us once we are all accounted for. Allow me to welcome you to Galbadan, shining star of the North. Though, it has seen brighter days I must admit."

 

Nateia Bequem let the air currents lift her, as her heart sank low. The letter had come from a messenger, a letter from the king for her beloved husband. Few knew of his death in battle, those months ago. He had been a war hero, and the love of her life. She could see now his handsome face, and those deep blue eyes. They haunted her, as she knew she would never see them again. Only in the sketches she had made.

Nuddie had accepted the letter from the messenger, and had sent him on his way. She didn’t tell him that her husband was gone, she didn’t have the heart to do so. He had come from so far away. The letter had asked for a hero to come, she of course wasn’t a hero, but she knew she could still make a difference. She knew it meant a better future for her daughter: A safer future.

The goodbye had been tearful, as she left her beautiful daughter Freja with her mother and father. She had never spent more then a few hours from her daughter, let alone days, weeks or months. It had torn her apart to leave on an adventure she very well might not come back from, but she knew she had no choice.

She landed as the castle came into sight. She landed just next to the guarded gates. They looked at her with eyes of interest as her wings folded in. She quickly handed them the invitation, and was soon escorted into the castle. It was magnificent, something her ignorant eyes had never seen. For she had never left Katoni her entire life. She was ushered into the great hall, she looked around at the group of people, and took a small bow towards the Knight at the end of the table.

 

Leon took note of the new arrival at the corner of his eye and raised an eyebrow.

Interesting...

 

Held was hungry. He hadn't eaten since breakfast and dusk was already visible on the western horizon. What's more, he was also tired.
The day before he had visited a small town called Hasterdam, and with the loot of his last robbery he had bought provisions. He even had some money left to buy himself a new belt, as the old one was bitten in half by a merchant's dog... long story. Don't ask. Held didn't like talking about his many failures... he wasn't a very good thief, and most of his burglaries ended up in him being chased by the owner of that which he had tried to steel, or by their dogs, or, in the worst case, armed guards.
Held was walking over a small path which lead north. He didn't have a particular destination, he was on the lookout for unguarded and, if possible, unarmed travellers. Held hated walking. He used to have a horse (alright, a mule), but the poor beast had starved because he didn't have anything to feed it with. Held also hated being poor.

While the sun was turning red at the horizon, Held decided that he had deserved a rest. He left the path and made for a small forest alongside the road, where he could sit at ease without being afraid of being seen by anything... unfriendly. A certain kind of paranoia comes free with practising 'illegal matters'.
A five-minute walk from the edge of the forest, Held suddenly heard a noise. It was more like a sigh... it didn't resemble any sound a beast would make, so he decided to take a look in the direction he heard so sound from, only to be surprised by a voice talking to him.

"Help me..."

Held ran towards the voice. He was sincerely shocked when he saw a knight there, in full armour, laying against the trunk of a tree. His first intention was to run away, but his curiosity won over his fear and he took a closer look.

"Help me, please..." moaned the man.

Held kneeled next to the man.
"What happened?"
"I was assaulted..." spoke the man with difficulty and moaned again.
"Are there other knights?" asked Held carefully. "Others like you?"
"I had a shield-bearer, *ugh* but he's... dead. Please help me..."

Held figured that he couldn't just leave the man here to die and tried to lift him up, but the pained look of the man and loud groans stopped him.
"No, I can't... It's too late for me... take this."
The knight reached inside his curass and and brought out a letter. He pushed the letter in Held's hands.
"Bring this letter... bring this letter to Sir Kain of Dunfeldt... he will reward you... it is... it is of the utmost..."
The knight sighed and was dead.

Held saw that the seal of the letter was already broken. He opened it up and read what was written. His eyes caught the word gold... this was too good to be true! Finally his troubles would be over! No more robbing, no more hiding, no more poverty! Sir Kain would have to wait for his message, Held would take this task for himself!


---Five days later---

Held was in awe at the sight of the king's city... he had never seen anything like it. Riding towards the gates, he hesitated when he saw the guards standing in front of them. Forward, he ordered himself. He had to do this.

"Halt." ordered the guard standing left of the gate. Both of them approached him carefully. Held realised that he wasn't just a thief... he also looked like one.
"I... I have a letter from the king!" he said hastily, and showed the letter to the guards. They looked at the letter. They looked at Held. They looked at the letter.
"Right... it seems you're speaking the truth, but I'll be frank with you: I don't trust you. So if you're going to the king, I'm coming with you."
Held didn't like this at all, but he realised there was no way back from here. He had to go through with this.

Entering the king's dining room with the city guard at his side, he felt highly uncomfortable. Adding to this was the sight of several noblemen sitting at the table, enjoying a rich banquet. Held's mouth watered at the sight of the delicious foods, but the queer look on the noblemen's faces was enough to freeze him where he stood.
"This... fellow says he's got a letter from the king." said his armed accompaniment to one of the servants in the room.
Held produced the letter from his pocket once more and showed it. He felt his courage melting as the persons present looked at the letter in wonder...

 

Drake looked interestedly at the new arivals as they came in. The desertman, his proud bearings and over cleanliness gave him away if his skin and clothes hadn't. But their was something about this man, something that remined Drake of himself as he looked upon the warrior. He would have to spar him some time. Then came the winged cuty. He gave her his best warm smile as she came in. Then gave himself a smirk, the more females the better, he thought. Drake really had no plan on hooking up with any at the moment but at least he'd have something nicer to look at than sweaty guys. Then came the newest. He looked kind of nurvous and out of place, but he had a note and weather he took it or won it, it made no difference to Drake, he had gotten a hold of it and if he survived he would earn his share of gold. Drake stopped esting now, finaly full and looked over at the man in bulky armor who had been sitting their quietly. "Not hungry?" He asked curios, who came to a feast full?

 

Shao'Tio, who had not eaten much the whole time, now looked around the room. As he examined each guest that was sitting around the table, he noticed that one of them had not even eaten anything. "It is a strange thing indeed to be summoned to a grand feast and not even eat," he thought as he drank some more water. "I wonder where he came from?"

As he thought this, he began to feel a dark presence approaching. In an instant, his eyes rolled back, and it appeared he was looking into another world. Rae'non, who had taken notice of Shao'Tio, watched him intently. In an unearthly voice, Shao'Tio began to shout:

"Corruption, greater than any.
Darkness swiftly approaching.
Light is diminishing.
Time is running out."

All the guests at the table turned and stared at him. Shao'Tio however, did not bother watching their reactions, for he was too occupied in studying the meaning of his sudden outburst. As he was pondering what these words could mean, Rae'non interrupted him. Apparently Rae'non tried to explain to the other guests that Shao'Tio was some sort of prophet or something. This did not help matters much.

As the feast was almost over, Shao'Tio awaited for the last few guests to arrive. He now knew that time was running out, and that darkness was approaching, but he did not know why time was running out or where the darkness was coming from. As he reflected on shadows and evil creatures, a powerful thought hit him. Living in a dream world, he forgot to even be sociable. Why, I have not talked to anybody this whole time. Surely I should at least get to know them.

As he was about to speak to one of the guests, he had a flashback. His parents were being carried away from him. Calling out to them, they told him one thing: "Shao’Tio, remember to always have hope. Never despair, you may yet see us again…."

 

Leon had been watching each guest, at first with annoyance, but then with some hidden interest that crept over him while he was waiting.

He shifted his shoulder lean to leaning on his back as he took a glance at the food before he closed his eyes. He was quite tired and wasn't hungry at the moment nor was he thirsty. He had plenty of time to do that elsewhere. However, Leon was tired and he rarely slept. He was hoping to at least stay in the castle for the night having traveled all this way in a day.

Leon didn't realize he was dozing off and tried to stay awake while his eyes were closed.

 

Talaris walked along the path, his hair blowing in the stormy breeze, mist gathering behind him.

As he walked, he glanced at the letter in his hands, bearing the royal seal. He had taken it from a tough-looking warrior after he ate his soul. It was one of the best souls he had ever tastest. Evidently that man was one of these "heroes" being called here, so where there was one delicious soul...there would be many, many souls here.

Suddenly realizing that his appearance would probably frighten the guests, Talaris shifted his face into that of the man he had consumed, a tough-looking man with long hair, a short beard, and a scar beneath his left eye.

He headed towards the gate, and the soldiers shifted, looking warily at him. He waved the letter and called out.

"Hey! The king sent me this letter, and I need to get in!"

The guards nodded, then moved aside.

Talaris smiled. This was too easy. Tipping his hat to each of the guards, he headed inside, where he was lead to a dining hall. He sat down at an empty table and helped himself to the food. Soon he would be eating souls.

 

Haskeen sat at his table, sipping fine northern wines, contemplating each guest throughly as they entered and took their seats. Yes, this would be interesting.

A bear clad in armor wielding a sword the size of a palm tree, A thief attempting to pass as a hero, a winged swan, flown in from distant lands, a raving lunatic trying to pass as a prophet, a beggar elf, a few men, and now some sort of valiant knight. I see your true colors, most fair and courteous knight, for none are truly good as none are truly evil, but yours is a black shade of gray. And finally we come to our most gracious host, dragon knight, pfff, a noble playing hero.​

Haskeen took another sip of his glass before examining the grand northern hall better. The great thing, easily 200 feet long by 150, was quite what he had expected. Great wooden tables along the length of the massive place, two rows of stone pillars rose flanking the central aisle, amidst them were doors to the gods knew where, and at the end was a massive hearth, crackling with a lively flame. A grand stage stood before the burning embers, atop it the finest minstrels this old castle had to offer played tunes not so unfamiliar to Haskeen, the chilling desert beat flowed through the room on these northern instruments, a fair attempt at a crossover in his opinion. The tables, far more than would be necessary, were covered with the finest foods and drink, and Haskeen would know. It was not the greatest party he had ever witnessed, but one of fair measure. Nobles walked in and out, taking their pick of the fine foods, speaking with the guests as they pleased, asking questions of their host. Most were probably directed away from Haskeen, not the oddest of the lot by a long shot, the desert man was dressed in noble garbs after all, but he was merely a lucky soldier of fortune, and this time his fortune had brought him someplace he could get used to.

After another sip of his wine he turned to one of the other guests, the odd monster with the large blade, and said, "Such a glorious feast from our most gracious hosts, had I known such things existed in the north I would have come sooner. Where are you from friend, it is no secret that I come from the sands to the south, but you are of a sort I have not seen." With another sip of wine, drumming his fingers to the beat of the musicians, Haskeen awaited a response from the mountainous man that sat before him.

 

Rune stood form his chair, rather abruptly, clinging to his fur. "I need some air," he muttered and stepped out and away. People made him nervous, especially so many and there were surely more to come. He also couldn't stand the smell of cooked. Why did humans needed to roast their food? As it was it was delicious, and it took away some of the taste to cook it.

He breathed the fresh night air and relaxed. He didn't feel like explaining the incident with the knight so he go through this, bothersome as it was. Why didn't he kill a smaller guard and take his clothes instead of the knights? It fit him like a damn tent.

 

“Indeed a glorious feast, I haven’t eaten this good in over a year!” He said and punctuated the sentence by lifting the sword up an inch of the ground and letting it’s own weight pull it back down. His right hand slapping the table at the same time. “I’m from a tiny village in the northern mountains, you’ve never heard of it, remarkable place. If you think I’m impressive you should see the bears! HA!” Another loud click of his sword and slap of the table. “The stories I could tell my friend, but first an introduction.” Drake extended a hand to the stranger in greeting, “I’m Drake, but I’m better known as the Black dragon, you may have heard of me, I’ve done a few campaigns to the south in my day, if you have heard of me it’s all lies, well most of it anyways. HA!.” Drake smiled wide, enjoying his own joke. He knew that he was known for being overly violent and Drake was knew that wasn’t true, at least if you where on his side.

 

Leon woke twice to the sound of a thud against the dinning room table and opened his eye to peer at the man with the extremely large blade. A jolly fellow by what Leon could see, and gluttonous.

Leon mumbled to himself and slid down the wall he was leaning on until he was sitting on the ground. His arms still folded, Leon lowered his head again and closed his eyes once more.

 

Hmmm, the black dragon is it? Well, his are not familiar with Mulesk, but word travels fast with the caravans, I am not completely lost with this name. A smile yes?

With a large grin and a sincere chuckle, Haskeen took another sip from his glass, wiping a fake tear from his eye. "Yes, of course, the great tales of the Black Dragon! Do not blame me for not knowing right away, the stories they tell make you out to be so much less than you are in person." With one last swig, the glass was empty and Haskeen was waving to one of the pages to bring more. If he was to be treated like a noble, he would take advantage of it.

 

As a servant was walking by to deliver the noble man some more wine the maid stumbled as her foot tripped over Leon's leg and she started to fall, tossing the bottle of wine directly over her.

Leon, calmly extending his arm, caught the servant just before she hit the ground and with his other arm reached out and caught the wine bottle.

He opened his eyes again and frowned at the servant who hastely recollected herself.

"Forgive me my lord", the girl stuttered as she attempted to reach for the wine bottle.

Once she touched the glass Leon pulled it away and glared.

"Leave it", he said.

The maid quickly got up and took a bow, apologizing once more before quickly walking away. Leon stared at her for only a moment before he uncorked the the bottle and drank from it.

 

Enter Lord Bel-Burund

Bel-Burund marched down the hall towards the Great Hall purposefully, his two liveried servants prancing about him and bowing to his every whim. He was used to such things though. After all, he was a High Lord and he was in command of Galbadan's armies. Not to mention that since the King had no heir and the only other High Lord had gone bonkers, that left him the next most likely candidate. Yet, there was the problematic idiot, Rae'non. That freakish oaf would be dealt with as soon as the king died.Had Bel-Burund had his way, he would have that monster killed off just like the rest of his dead race. For some reasons though, the King favored him. It was disgusting.

As Bel-Burund entered the Great Hall, he was shaken from his introspection by the foul smell of travelers and the vile noise they made when they ate and talked. He covered his noise with a handkerchief as his servants ran ahead of him to announce his arrival to the chamber.

"Ahem," the one on the left of the great doors began. "Here enters the Commander of Galbadan's armed forces."

"The noble warrior who has been tested in battle and tempered like steel," said the one on the right.

"The favored of King Ramonis for the heir," said the one on the left again.

"His Grace...the High Lord Bel-Burund," finished the one on the right, after which both servants bowed almost to the ground.

The Great Hall fell silent save for the sound of Bel-Burund's footsteps. All eyes were on him and he seemed to rather like it that way. Quickly, he surveyed the guests. Brutes, all of them. Even one of those savages from the southern sands.

"Quite a motley crew that has been assembled thus far, wouldn't you say Rae'non?"

 

“Great might be a bit of an over statement, but a man has to make a living and what better than to do it at something your good at.” Drake commented and then took up a slightly more serious tone, though still friendly. “If you’d ask me, I’d guess we ran in similar professions though you have yet to introduce yourself, you have the look of a man who has seen many things.” He commented before taking a swig of the wine that sat in front of him. Drake was sure he had this guy pegged, though he had done most of his work in the north, he knew from experience that the desert was as harsh and deadly as any mountain winter, maybe worse in its own ways, and he had come to respect the desert warriors.

“Now on a lighter note, what do you think of our dear companions here?” He said motioning to the room as a whole. “Seems to me we’re in for an interesting adventure.” He glanced at the hosts of the party. His left hand tightened on it’s own in anticipation, the thrill of facing the unknown, the excitement of beating unbeatable odds. This was one of the reasons why he and his brother had left home all those years ago. The small peaceful village would have suffocated him by now.

And so entered the high lord. Flashy, blunt, and rude. Drake first concidered killing the man at his comment, then reconcidered to leave, but stopped only because he had yet to meet the king, their he would decide if the kingdom was worth his effort, if the king truly favored this lord it might not be.

 

An involuntary twitch of the lip marred Rae's features as the High Lord Bel-Burund entered the Great Hall, all garbed in the finest clothes money could by. He failed to cover his black heart with those fine silks though.

"Quite a motley crew that has been assembled thus far, wouldn't you say Rae'non?"

Another involuntary twitch. The man's voice irked Rae. Everything about him reeked of falsehood. Without so much as blinking, Rae replied. "This 'motley crew', as you put it, are the finest heroes in the land. They were chosen by our King, Bel-Burund. You may be a High Lord, but it is these people that have gathered here to ensure that you live to have your bottom powdered by your servants."

One of the servants coughed and the man with the large sword slapped the table and laughed aloud.

"Well," began Bel-Burund. "I shudder at the thought of placing my life in the hands of so vile a gathering. The King is sick and must not be in his right mind."

Rae'non jumped to his feet and slammed a powerful fist into the table. "You will not speak of the King in such a way. You border on treason, Bel-Burund. An area that I have been allowed to deal with," said Rae barely above a whisper. He let his other hand rest on the hilt of his sword.

Bel-Burund's eyes widened at the sight and his curly mustache twitched. "Indeed Rae'non. We shall see who the traitor is when the throne is mine. Come!" With a quick snap of his fingers, the servants jumped up from the ground and followed their master out of the Great Hall.

After a moment, Rae managed to regain control of himself and sat back down. "Please forgive the High Lord Bel-Burund my friends. He has a tendency to...over step his bounds. Like most nobles, be knows nothing of combat," he said loud enough for the fleeing Bel-Burund to hear.

 

Hmmm, a conflict between the benefactors, if this hurts my pay I shall have to have a word with the two, I did not come to the north to be cheated out of its gold. Still, perhaps a little charm for the "noble" and wealthy dragon knight, yes?

Haskeen raised one hand, quickly taking another sip of his glass, then saying, "Tis not for men of such high dignity to know the ways of battle, they must tend to their businesses and keep their option most lucrative. Then, when a problem plagues such great men as High Lord Bel-Burund, men like you and I come to protect such valuable men," Haskeen motioned to the guests sitting amongst the tables, and continued, "Should, out of gratitude he feel obligated to reward the works of us brave soldiers, we are in no place to turn down his modest sum of payment, should my colleagues or I feel cheated, then we must take what we have earned. This is the way in my land, and from the appearance of things, it is no different here in the sparkling north!" Though Haskeen's face remained choked out with a smile, large and believable, his eyes narrowed momentarily at the door which the lord had just recently walked out of.

He took one more sip of wine before saying, "Bothered not am I by the arrogance of a good, fat lord such as the man of greatest wealth and power who had just left the room, that is, should the pockets of said lord remain full and his lands be riddled with trouble. To bite the hand that feeds, or so your people say, is an unwise gesture, but to not feed that which must be is as unwise a gesture as the aforementioned one. Were you a man for such things, would not you agree, fair Dragonknight?" Haskeen took another sip, and then set the glass aside, leaning far back in his chair, letting out a yawn, and grabbed his glass again, taking another healthy sip.

 

Rune scurried to his seat without looking at anybody. Once seated, he glanced at the newcomer before reached for a glass of water.

He smelt it before lapping at the water a little, then drinking it like a normal person, careful not to drop a drop.

 

(Please tell me if this is the right place to put this. I hate to place it in the middle of the story!)

Name: Senora
Notable Aliases: n/a
Age: Unknown. She’s elven, so you know how that goes. She would appear to the human eye in her mid 20’s.
Gender: Female
Race: Elven, probably closely resembles a high elf race.
Birthplace: That’s a long story. But it won’t come into play.
Eyes: Green
Hair: Red
Height: 5’4”
Weight: 120 lbs.
History: Okay, this is difficult to describe on one page, but I’ll do my best. I was wishing there was a forum here where people could post back stories on their characters so that other people could read them, but I couldn’t find anything like that. Please tell me if I missed it. :0)

Okay, let me give you the short of who Senora is/was. Basically she started out as a poor farm girl who had this gift of empathy, which long story short led the town to believe she was a witch and they tried to burn her at the stake. Her cries for sanctuary were granted by her goddess, Kaelin’dar.

She had a super-natural experience and her deity explained why she had spared her etc, etc. In the process, she made her a priestess (cleric) and Senora took on attributes of her Deity. She placed her back within a different world and thus far Senora is the only Priestess of Kaelin’Dar that she has known. She’s still trying to understand her purpose, etc.

She's an empath. What this means is that she can feel the emotions of other people around her.

However, I never wanted this to be too powerful or unbalancing, so thus far, she has no control over it. She can't just decide to tap into someone's emotions. This allows me, the gm, or other players the ability to utilize this power when appropriate. In addition, while she is feeling what someone is feeling, she does not know what they are thinking. That part is a guessing game.

Also, when she is having an "episode" she's pretty much completely vulnerable to attack.

The other thing is, and again, her backstory explains a lot, she's taken on attributes of her deity as she is the only cleric of this deity so far. (Long story, hope this isn't confusing.) So one of the side effects of this is she's extremely beautiful.

However, this is not the kind of beautiful like, "Yay me. I'm hot." It's the kind of beauty that is so unusual she pretty much has to be cloaked at all times. I played her in a pen and paper game years ago and her looks were more of a curse than a blessing!

She's FAN-freaking-TASTIC for diplomatic reasons because her charisma is through the roof, but try sneaking into a tavern undetected to eavesdrop, forget about it. Even when she's cloaked people are just naturally drawn to her even though they do not know why.

To read her backstory, you can go here:


You don’t have to. Just if you want to read her back story. :0)

Family: N/A
• Parents:
• Siblings:
• Wife:
• Descendants:

Attire: Senora is almost always fully cloaked due to her appearance. Otherwise, she’s wearing traditional cleric attire. If expecting battle, light armor.

Weapon of Choice (Max of two): She prefers her mace, but also carries a bow.

Weapon Description:

Notable Powers (Max of two): She has the gift/curse of Empathy and has not yet learned to control it. She can also heal. She has basic turn undead abilities with her talisman.
Description:

 

Leon, after emptying the bottle of wine he set the bottle down as the great doors to the dinning hall opened and a pair of servants introduced a lordly main. Bel-Burund was his name, apparantly the successor to the king's throne. The man looked arrogant and prideful and it disgusted Leon somewhat.

"nobles", he thought.

Folding his arms again Leon closed his eyes and listened to his surroundings again, not much paying attention having emptied a bottle of wine. Somehow he needed to break that habit...

 

Senora clutched the missive she received from the king within her fist nervously. She stood hidden within the shadows of an outcropping of stables outside the city wall. Having spent most of the day observing the guards that stood at the entrance into Galbadan City, she decided that the intel she had paid for was definitely on the mark. The city was little more than a shadow of its former glory and the guards were certainly on high alert.

Most people that approached were denied entrance. Only a handful of travelers, who seemed to reveal a letter similar to the one clutched in her hand, were granted access. She sighed to herself as she noticed the sun lowering further towards the tree line. Dusk was approaching. Soon all entrance would be cut off until morning. If she was going to answer King Ramonis’ call for aid, then she would need to do so soon. Now was as good of a time as any. She hadn’t gotten a bad read on anyone all day.

Taking a deep breath she self-consciously tugged at the hood of her cloak ensuring that her features were properly veiled. Walking forward she stepped out of the shadows of the stable and into the waning sunlight. The king’s men were well trained as they immediately spotted her from across the well-trod path. They couldn’t see, but she smiled to herself as she approached the two guards, one whose face was swollen and badly bruised from an undeserved kick from some brute that arrived earlier in the day.

She considered taking the time to offer her services as a healer, but didn’t want to draw undue attention to herself. Besides, the wound was probably more damaging to the young man’s ego than it was to his health. He stood up taller as she approached. “Good evening, M’lady.”

“Good evening to you, Knight of Galbadan.” She replied with a smile in her voice.

The young guard stood taller still at having been called a knight forgetting to question her further.

This may be easier than I anticipated. She thought to herself walking past the armored lad. The captain of the guard, who had returned to his post after escorting his man’s attacker into the city shook his head and rolled his eyes stepping towards her with a commanding presence. She looked at him from within the shadows of her cloak. “I’m here by missive of King Ramonis.”

The captain’s stance softened as she spoke. He stared at her curiously for a moment and then cleared his throat. “I’m sure that’s the case, but we’ll need to see the summons.”

“Of course.” She extended the rolled parchment out to him. He took it from her and smiled without opening it. Before he could speak, the younger, bruised guard jostled up next to his captain.

“I could show you to the Feast Hall.” The captain scowled at his subordinate.

She placed a hand upon his forearm as this was exactly the type of attention she did not want. “I thank you. An escort will not be necessary as I know my way,” she lied. Her tone was gentle, but commanding in its own way. Uncharacteristically, they let her pass without further inspection.

20 minutes later…

She stood outside the doors to the Feast Hall having made one stop along the way. Since she had never found a temple for followers of Kaelin’Dar, she made a habit of finding local clerical chapter houses and making donations before she started any missions or employment. At best she was pleasing her deity, at worst it was just good karma. She made a particularly sizeable donation this time because from the looks of the city, the people greatly needed the help. She made a mental note that when her work for the king was through, she may stick around and help restore light back to this seemingly lost city.

She habitually tugged the hood of her cloak forward before entering the great hall. The scent of cooked food greeted her with all the warmth of a forgotten friend. She couldn’t help but smile. There was a fair sized crowd seated at the long table. Remembering her manners she curtsied deeply showing respect to all in attendance before rising again and heading towards an empty chair.

 

"Please forgive the High Lord Bel-Burund my friends. He has a tendency to...over step his bounds. Like most nobles, he knows nothing of combat," Rae’non had said.

How truly hilarious, Ketka thought to herself. The Bel man thought he was looking at only travellers. Ketka knew her state was not tidy, yet surely a noble could know royal blood when he saw it? She gave a snide smile. No, the humans were not the same as the Heckling. Who prided themselves on their ancestry and could tell each family just for looking at a person. The humans crushed their own past under the feet of the new. They looked only for the future.

There was no pride in being clean and wearing pristine garb. What good were clothes if you feared the way you sat in them? Ketka had been a princess and she had only been seen in the best of things. Precious mythril chain mail garnished in moon venom stones. She had not been afraid to scrap past things and they had not changed her attitude. Her favourite dress with its skirts fashioned in the colours of a scarlet rose, it had not detoured her from climbing trees or running next to her wolven friend Spere. Tears could be mended, clothes did not need change you. They were meant for nothing other then covering a person. She laughed aloud.

“Me thinks the only monster in the kingdom is lord Bel-Burund.”

 

Shao'Tio, who had not said a word for a while, now glanced at the newcomer. Fully cloaked, this person wanted to avoid detection. As she took her seat, Shao'Tio looked around at the rest of the guests. Each one has strength, each one has courage, but are they for or against my king. In a time like this, the last thing our kingdom needs is for this mission to fail. If even one villain was in our midst, everything could be ruined.

As he thought this, his eyes raced back and forth. Without hesitating, he jumped off of his chair and landed on the ground. Pulling a slender bow from his cloak, he fitted an arrow to it and then sent the arrow flying. It stuck to a wooden door.

"As this arrow sticks to the door, so will our fate be sealed if we do not cooperate. Put all past judgments behind, we must work as a team if we are to save this kingdom." Sitting back down on his chair, Shao'Tio remarked to one of the guests: "Take me for a fool, or a raving lunatic if you wish, and it will hurt us both in the end."

As Shao'Tio came back to his senses, he realized that he was still holding his bow. Silently, he put the ancient bow back in his cloak. This bow was given to me by the king. Back in Ramonis's younger days, he used to be quite the adventurer. I believe this bow was crafted by elves themselves, for it glows with magic. A blue aura like that of moonlight lights up this bow in the nightime. I am glad this room is light, otherwise, I may have attracted undue attention to myself once again. I am usually more calm and collected than this. Enough of this matter, I can think about it later. As for now, I had better get used to my traveling companions.

"May I ask your name?" asked Shao'Tio, to an unshaven guest who was wearing a dark brown cloak and had two notable scars on his face. The man did not reply. Shao'Tio looked at the man again, and noticed that he was sleeping. I will let him rest, he will need it for the journey.

 

Ketka laughed at the man, how did one work with people such as these. She knew better then to judge a man before knowing him. But these humans had judged her and her father had payed dearly for it.

“Why trust these before you? Is it not a human saying that you cannot trust a man as far as you can throw him?”