"Deliver the Whispering Dark to me..." said Khorvayne, the sorceress who had charmed her way into One-Horn's camp and gained a delightful audience with him. Her hand reached up and gently brushed the underside of the minotaur's chin. "...and I shall see you...richly...rewarded."
Suggestions of both natural and unnatural character played with the minotaur's mind. In normal circumstances he was a terror of the Allir Reach, his band of raiders a plague upon the roads, but here in his own tent with this relatively tiny human sorceress he trembled ever so slightly. His very words seemed alien to him, and yet it was his own tongue which spoke them, "Yes. I will. I have just the man for the job."
The tips of Khorvayne's fingers turned black as she brushed.
"Good..."
A strangely simple mission.
Aulane Markle, wealthy and prominent merchant of Vel Luin, had something stolen from him, and he had requested Kristen Pirian from the Academy specifically, given how well she had handled the last time something had been stolen from him. Yet unlike the previous time, this was no bombastic robbery, no large sum of coin heisted or chestful of valuables plundered. All that had been taken was an ordinary silver amethyst amulet; not a particularly expensive item, but not insignificant either. The odd thing? This was the only item taken after quite a longwinded scheme and eventual betrayal. A man by the name of Bylin Sigg had worked his way into Markle's Guild as a laborer, learned eventually where this particular amulet was being kept, and then stole it and fled.
It suggested that something was unusual or unknown about the amulet, but what? Neither Aulane could say nor Kristen even speculate; Aulane made a great number of purchases and sales personally and through his Guild, so he scarcely even remembered the amulet until it was gone.
Fortunately, the thief Bylin had an audacious streak in him, for he had secured a Portal Stone key from a traveling mage in Vel Luin and even pompously let slip where he was going: the Allir Reach.
The mission quickly authorized by Proctor Magomo, her primary Proctor, Kristen was dispatched on Bylin's trail.
Oh, to use a Portal Stone again! These were Aionus's great blessings bestowed onto Arethil, holy sites to a faithful believer like herself.
Kristen appeared out of thin air, snapping back into reality, by the Allir Stone. She was mounted upon her horse, all her travel gear stowed in the saddle bag. She wore her armor and with it the tabard displaying the colors and symbol of House Pirian, the white background and red cross. It was not often that the crest of House Pirian graced the continent of Epressa, but here she was again. Last time it had become a pursuit of justice and retribution for a shocking massacre of Celestialists in Alliria. This time it was something more mundane, but, to Kristen and her efforts to graduate from the Academy and become a Dreadlord, no less important.
Bylin, unfortunately, would have a headstart worth several days' time. The best Kristen could do would be to chase town rumors, perhaps chance sightings of him by other travelers. If Bylin was as audacious as he was in Vel Luin, he will have left some kind of trail for her to follow.
So she set out upon the road, choosing a more northerly direction; Bylin and his big mouth hadn't expressed any intent of going to Alliria to maybe fence the amulet there.
Upon the road she questioned any and all people she came across, giving Bylin's description. The travelers, farmers, peasants, merchants, caravaneers, mercenaries, adventurers, none of them had seen a man matching it. Frustratingly, some of the men she questioned had the gall to assume she was a jilted lover after the object of her affection and thus tried to charm her. She hastened away from such encounters.
It wasn't until the late evening, when the sun dipped low to the west and lit stunning fire to the sky, that Kristen found her fortune.
In the low light, she didn't see his approach until they the two of them were nearly atop one another. But Kristen brought her horse to a halt, figured that she might as well make one last attempt before finding a suitable site to camp for the night.
"Pardon me," she said, "but may I borrow a moment of your time? I am in search of man, a human man: he has medium blond hair, dark green eyes, a patchy beard about his chin. Have you seen anyone of his likeness as of late?"
Dal
Suggestions of both natural and unnatural character played with the minotaur's mind. In normal circumstances he was a terror of the Allir Reach, his band of raiders a plague upon the roads, but here in his own tent with this relatively tiny human sorceress he trembled ever so slightly. His very words seemed alien to him, and yet it was his own tongue which spoke them, "Yes. I will. I have just the man for the job."
The tips of Khorvayne's fingers turned black as she brushed.
"Good..."
* * * * *
A strangely simple mission.
Aulane Markle, wealthy and prominent merchant of Vel Luin, had something stolen from him, and he had requested Kristen Pirian from the Academy specifically, given how well she had handled the last time something had been stolen from him. Yet unlike the previous time, this was no bombastic robbery, no large sum of coin heisted or chestful of valuables plundered. All that had been taken was an ordinary silver amethyst amulet; not a particularly expensive item, but not insignificant either. The odd thing? This was the only item taken after quite a longwinded scheme and eventual betrayal. A man by the name of Bylin Sigg had worked his way into Markle's Guild as a laborer, learned eventually where this particular amulet was being kept, and then stole it and fled.
It suggested that something was unusual or unknown about the amulet, but what? Neither Aulane could say nor Kristen even speculate; Aulane made a great number of purchases and sales personally and through his Guild, so he scarcely even remembered the amulet until it was gone.
Fortunately, the thief Bylin had an audacious streak in him, for he had secured a Portal Stone key from a traveling mage in Vel Luin and even pompously let slip where he was going: the Allir Reach.
The mission quickly authorized by Proctor Magomo, her primary Proctor, Kristen was dispatched on Bylin's trail.
* * * * *
THE ALLIR REACH
THE ALLIR REACH
Oh, to use a Portal Stone again! These were Aionus's great blessings bestowed onto Arethil, holy sites to a faithful believer like herself.
Kristen appeared out of thin air, snapping back into reality, by the Allir Stone. She was mounted upon her horse, all her travel gear stowed in the saddle bag. She wore her armor and with it the tabard displaying the colors and symbol of House Pirian, the white background and red cross. It was not often that the crest of House Pirian graced the continent of Epressa, but here she was again. Last time it had become a pursuit of justice and retribution for a shocking massacre of Celestialists in Alliria. This time it was something more mundane, but, to Kristen and her efforts to graduate from the Academy and become a Dreadlord, no less important.
Bylin, unfortunately, would have a headstart worth several days' time. The best Kristen could do would be to chase town rumors, perhaps chance sightings of him by other travelers. If Bylin was as audacious as he was in Vel Luin, he will have left some kind of trail for her to follow.
So she set out upon the road, choosing a more northerly direction; Bylin and his big mouth hadn't expressed any intent of going to Alliria to maybe fence the amulet there.
Upon the road she questioned any and all people she came across, giving Bylin's description. The travelers, farmers, peasants, merchants, caravaneers, mercenaries, adventurers, none of them had seen a man matching it. Frustratingly, some of the men she questioned had the gall to assume she was a jilted lover after the object of her affection and thus tried to charm her. She hastened away from such encounters.
It wasn't until the late evening, when the sun dipped low to the west and lit stunning fire to the sky, that Kristen found her fortune.
In the low light, she didn't see his approach until they the two of them were nearly atop one another. But Kristen brought her horse to a halt, figured that she might as well make one last attempt before finding a suitable site to camp for the night.
"Pardon me," she said, "but may I borrow a moment of your time? I am in search of man, a human man: he has medium blond hair, dark green eyes, a patchy beard about his chin. Have you seen anyone of his likeness as of late?"
Dal