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[Ash]

The land of eternal winter. The Ice Mountains. The two Elves made their way slowly through the snowcovered forests. A muddy path led through the forest of pine and conifer. The blanket of snow did not fully disguise the floods of green, and the soft snow fluttered gently down like faeries from the sky.

Anduriel walked alongside her horse, a mount as white as the snow it walked on. She held its tether gently and led it down the path.

From behind her warm wrapped silk robes, she looked back on her friend Neelahn. The place was cold, yet strangely not overly so. A slight breeze ruffled the robes and the hair of the horses, when a sudden rustle and crumple came from both sides of the path.

Six black-cloaked men came out from the side of the path, and another six from the other sides. All were brandishing daggers, their silvery glint contrasting with the black cloaks.

"Look out!" Crow squawked, fluttering quickly from Anduriel's shoulder as she leapt back and reached for her sabre.

[Athena]

Neelahn quickly reached for her bow and her quiver with arrows. She placed an arrow on the bow and aimed for the man closest to her. She loosed the arrow and screamed: "You take those six, I'll take these!" to Anduriel. The arrow rushed swiftly through the air and hit him in the head. He gave a short scream before he fell down on the ground. In the meantime Neelahn had already gotten another arrow and aimed for the second guy. Meanwhile the guys were drawing closer, they didn't seem to care about the loss of one of their mates. It missed his head but hit him in the right arm. The guy screamed and grabbed his arm.

She grabbed one more arrow, a drop of sweat glimmering on her forehead. She aimed for the guy and the arrow hit right through his heart. He dropped dead within a second. The remaining four on her side were not very far away anymore now. Neelahn hurried and aimed for one of them. He seemed to have seen it coming however, because just at the right moment he moved to the left. The arrow instead hit the hand of the guy who had been standing fairly close to the first one. "Arghhhhhh" he yelled and those were his last words, for before he could say more, an arrow flew through the air and hit him in the heart.

The other three guys neared her now, their daggers in their hands. Another arrow she took, no time left to think about why these men attacked them. Once more she aimed for one of them.

[Ash]

Within a second, Anduriel had removed her cloaking robes, reducing to her much thinner, more regular clothing and had whipped out her sabre. She held it aloft in a battle stance that showed her skill with a blade. She had been trained well.

She waited for the bandits to close in before deftly bringing the blade down and around in a swinging arc. The curvature of the blade made the arc even cleaner and smoother, and as it came back up to complete the circle it caught the first bandit square through the ribcage. It carved up through his chest and out from his shoulder.

In the same movement, she spun around a full 360 to give enough momentum for her to take down the second guy. She slashed the blade neatly across his back, having spun her way past him and then, as he faltered, the blade was brought back on its own path and forced it clean through the larynx. The blade was now neatly coated in blood as the other four moved in.

The fair Elven princess withdrew the blade and squared off against her foes. One came forward, but his strikes with the blade were feeble and swatted aside like a bug as Anduriel performed three lightning fast kicks followed by a nose-breaking strike with the hilt of the sword.

Two of the bandits, one from Anduriel's side and one from Neelahn's, stuck their swords into the necks of the horses, who screamed and whinnied in agony before succumbing to the darkness of their own deaths.

"Come to me, Neelahn! If they get close, you cannot stop them with a bow!"

[Athena]

Neelahn ran to Anduriel when she heard her words. Now a distance away from the men she aimed for one of the three that she was taking on. She focussed and the arrow hit the guy right in the heart. He died at once. Quickly she grabbed one more arrow. Neelahn had never had to use her bow to kill another Memorian, but it wasn't that much different from animals and practise targets. Two guys left now. As long as she could keep the distance between them great enough, she'd win. She took three steps back, then aimed for one of the two guys' heads. The arrow flew through the air very fast and hit him left of his left eye. The last guy (out of the six) threw a dagger Neelahn's way. Quickly she threw herself to the left, she heard the dagger passing by as she evaded it. Next she took another arrow, put it on the bow and aimed for him. He got hit in the chest and slowly fell to his knees, trying to get the arrow out. With a quick and swift move he got it out. Immediately more blood gushed over his chest and hands. Having hasted his own death with this action, it only took one minor moment before he deceased.

[Ash]

The remaining guys just took off, knowing to continue was totally futile.

Anduriel sheathed her sword.

"That was too easy," she said, "but it's not good that our horses are dead. We should follow thim. See where they goe."

As soon as she said it, she started running off in the direction the guys took without waiting for an answer. Her inquisitive mind meant that she had to find out where the bastards were going. Sword in hand, she now began to stalk them back to their lair.

[Athena]

Neelahn noticed the guys running off and before she knew what happened, Anduriel had run after them. Neelahn ran after her and the guys, keeping her bow in her hand. While running putting up an arrow on her bow so she could shoot were it neccesary. It'd be interesting to see where they'd go, she wondered why they had attacked them. Still a bit shocked her thoughts weren't really sorted or ordered. Blindlessly she followed, keeping alert for danger while a part of her mind was elsewhere. Anduriel was right, it was really too bad they had lost the horses, for one because they'd have to continue their journey walking and not in the least because she cared about them. But there was little time to be sad now. That could be done later, when this was.. over? She had little idea of what would lay ahead of her, but regardless it'd be better to focus on it, for now. She looked forward, narrowed her eyes and kept following.

[Ash]

Wearing only her regular clothing, she didn't notice the cold at all. She ran at full speed following the black-cloaked men and vaguely contemplated throwing her sword to impale one in the back, but dismissed it as a foolish idea.

The men eventually ran into a clearing, followed by a small thatched-roof village. The men ran into the village and turned a corner somewhere, but when Anduriel turned the same corner they'd disappeared.

"Curse the Gods!" Anduriel hissed, coming to a stop, panting hard. "How did they get away?"

[Athena]

Breathing heavily Neelahn replied: "I've no idea", after having catched up with Anduriel. She, too, was panting. "Do you have any idea why they attacked us?" she asked Anduriel. It wasn't until they stood still like this that Neelahn noticed it had gotten colder. She looked around, but could not find any trace of the men. She walked around somewhat, but didn't notice anything looking suspicious or odd in comparison to the rest. "They must've gone somewhere!"

She took a breath and realised she was thirsty. From her bag she got a bottle (water sack, canister kinda thing) of water, it looked brownish and wasn't made from glass. On the side there were some ancient tokens written. She took some sips before she screwed the black cap on again. She turned to Anduriel and asked: "Any clue on what to do? Shall we look around in this village, perhaps? Maybe you would like to drink a bit first." She hold out her hand with the water in it as a gesture.

[Ash]

Anduriel took the waterskin with a grateful nod and gulped it down before handing the skin back.

She proceeded then to remove the concealed sheath on her back that she usually kept her sabre in, sheathed the sword, and slid the sheath into the waist-belt on her robe.

"I would assume them common brigands - out for nothing more than coin or hostages for ransom. But such groups would usually hold us up rather than just lunge for the kill. And they certainly would not slaughter two perfectly good Elfbreed stallions. They are worth more than two common travellers. Granted, I am a princess, but what are the odds that they know that?
"You are correct, though, we should look around. I suggest to check the tavern."

Seeing Neelahn's quizzical expression as to how she knew there was a tavern, Anduriel smiled wryly.
"Every village has one. Why else do you think the village is here?"

She set off down the path, coming to one of the larger buildings with a sign outside. It said "The Salty Seaman."

"The Salty Seaman? Uh...okay."

[Athena]

Ah yes, dwarfs were heavy drinkers. Neelahn vaguely recalled her dad having mentioned it during one of his travelling tales. Wishing she recalled more of his stories, she wiped away a tear thinking of her dad again. Her dad.. she hadn't thought of him for a while now. Anyway, better focus on the road ahead. Or the tavern, better said.

"Sounds like a weird name allright.." Neelahn answered when she saw the sign. The Salty Seaman? Who called a tavern like that? Well, she may soon find out. She said to Anduriel: "Perhaps we can ask some people in there if they know anything.. if we feel they can be trusted with that information. I'd rather not have another person trying to plunge a dagger in my back."

She walked up to the door, it was an old oaken door with a hard iron grip as handle. When she opened it, it squeeked loudly, almost daunting.

[Ash]

Walking in, the two saw a warm and rather homely place. The Dwarves were naturally short, but very stocky of build. The two Elves looked very out of place, but the Dwarves, rowdy and loud in their bellowing drunken laughter, paid them little mind.

Anduriel had to duck under the doorframe, but found inside the Dwarven building to be fairly decent sized. Looking around, there wasn't much sign of any of the bandits, however she did notice a flicker of black from behind the bar for an ever-so-brief second...

She frowned slightly, walking up to the bar. Speaking regular Memorian, she called over the barwoman.

"'Allo, what can I do for yer fine people? Don't get many Elves in the tavern..."

"Yes, well, we're looking for someone."

"Found many someones, I'd say!" The barwoman guffawed. "Drink?"

I suppose I'd better...if only to soften her up. It would look strange to be without a glass in a drinking pit.

"Yes," she said hesitantly, "and one for my companion, too, please."

The barwoman returned, plonking two large tankards on the bar. Lifting the cap, Anduriel saw a dark brown liquid. A local ale. No doubt it would taste positively awful, but she nonetheless steeled her nerve and took a swig, feigning enjoyment as she handed over two coins in payment.

She made a concealed gesture to Neelahn to encourage her over to the bar. The barwoman, unconcerned, went on to serve her next customer. No doubt she knew every single individual in the bar. Looking around, Anduriel did see a few humans, but none wearing a cape.

She craned her head slightly and saw an open door into what she reasoned was the brewing cellar. The same way that flicker she'd seen had gone.

As Neelahn approached, Anduriel whispered into her ear in high Elvish.
"I need a distraction...do you think you can keep the barwoman talking? I need maybe five minutes..."

[Athena]

"Okay," Neelahn whispered back. She stepped close to the bar and took a sip from her drink. In all honesty she didn't like it at all, the taste was afwull and her throat felt sore. Keeping an good gesture and playing along she could do, so she pretended to like it and took one more sip.

She looked at the barwoman and said: "Hey. I'm a bit new here, how's business?" She had never seen a dwarf before, only remembered her father's stories. "So why's the tavern called 'The Salty Seaman'?"

[Ash]

"A good question, m'dear..."


Anduriel smiled wryly as she took her drink and shuffled along the bar. Neelahn had picked a good question there, but Anduriel almost felt sorry for her as the barwoman began to recite a long and incredibly boring tale about the name. Anduriel used the diversion well, though. The barwoman was so wrapped up in telling the tale that she never noticed Anduriel slip behind the bar and into the doorway, creeping down the stairwell, the barwoman completely oblivious.

Anduriel snuck down into the cellar passageway, and saw two men talking in hushed whispers. She quickly ducked behind a nearby rack of beer-kegs and listened intently.

"...we tried to get them, Eminence, but they defended themselves. We never expected them to-"

"No matter. They cannot go far. The town watchmen have already been informed. Where are the others?"

"In the church, Eminence, we will-ungh!"

The man referred to as 'Eminence' had thrust a blade into the other man, who, from what Anduriel could discern from what little she could see through the gaps between the beer kegs, now hung limp over the blade which now stuck out from his back.

"No," the man said flatly, "you will not."

Anduriel gasped slightly, and the man heard.
"Who's there?"

Anduriel gulped down her nerve and shuffled her way around the side of the kegs, and as the man looked round, she was nowhere to be seen. She had been lucky. Had he been a second faster, he'd have seen her.

"Hm." The man's footsteps ascended the stairway towards the bar, and Anduriel breathed a small sigh of relief as she came out from her hiding place to see the dead guy slumped in a corner, surrounded by a pool of his own blood.

Checking to ensure the guy hadn't come back down, she bent down by the body and quickly searched it, finding a small amulet with an engraving of a serpent. It was meaningless to her, but she figured someone might know what it meant. She also took a dagger from his boot, engraved with the same symbol and encrusted with brown dried blood...probably that of her horse, and a scrap of paper with some lines drawn to represent streets in a rough diagramatic map. A black dot was there...and the street map represented the village. From what she could gather, the black dot represented the tavern.

[Athena]

Neelahn, standing at the bar, noticed a guy coming from the cellar, wiping his knife. Immediately her heartbeat went faster, would Anduriel be..? It wouldn't.. She didn't know if she could bare another loss, if she could deal with losing her friend. With adrenaline in her veins she ran downstairs.

[Ash]

Anduriel heard the footsteps and started, half-expecting the black-cloaked man to return.

Upon seeing Neelahn, she breathed a sigh of relief.

Noticing Neelahn's horrified expression about the blood on her robes, she smiled and waved dismissively.

"It's not my blood," she explained, "this man's dead. You probably saw his killer walk out the door. We should-"

"WHAT IN THE NAME OF THE BALANCE IS THIS!?" came the shriek of the barwoman as she saw the two of them standing over the dead guy. "MURDER! MURDER!"

"Yes, murder!" Anduriel snorted, "And the man who did it walked right up the ramp before my friend came down! I saw the whole thing."

"Lie! You did it."

"If I did it, why in the name of all that is holy would I stand over the body long enough for you to find out? You can check my weapon if you wish."

The woman seemed to calm down. Anduriel's openness had convinced her, at least partially, of the Elf's sincerity.

"The man who did it walked right out the door, wearing a black cloak...now I'm guessing you let them down here regularly. With more of them?"

"Y-yes," the barwoman looked perplexed. Why would one of those men suddenly be dead? "they come in every Friday night...why?"

[Athena]

"They attacked us." Neelahn answered. The cloaked men came there every friday night.. why, what for? And one of them had killed another.. why would he do so? Who are those men and why had they attacked them? All questions yet to be answered.

[Ash]

"They what?"

"They gutted our horses, ma'am, and were trying to kill us as well. Look for yourself. I found this on him." She handed the barwoman the knife, still encrusted with the dry horse blood. She inspected it, and saw the emblem of the serpent.

"Oh my..." the barwoman gasped, "this is the symbol of the Church of Voltec."

"Most churches preach peace, this one breeds violence, it would seem," Anduriel scoffed, "did you know they were of this church?"

"No. If I did, I'd never have let them in! I thought they just needed a private meeting place...sort of like a working man's lodge. Never thought anything like this...that Church are a baaad group to be messing with. I'd advise you to get out of the village and go back to...well, wherever it is your pointy-eared selves come from, dearie."

"I don't think we can do that. Not after what happened. He wasn't killed because we fought them off. He was killed for a reason..."

[Athena]

"I agree, we have to find out why they attacked us. Something strange is going on here. Could you tell us more of the Church of Voltec? Anything you know may help us." Neelahn said.

[Ash]

"They're a veery closed and resistant group of humans. They believe that all other beings...dwarves, elves, orcs...should be exterminated. Now, I can't blame 'em on orcs, but-"

"Why, then, would they set up a meeting place in a dwarven town? Better to set it up in a place they know is safe, yes?"

"This town is not just populated by dwarves. The other side of the river is mainly human dwellings. The Seaman is the only tavern, and we serve all kinds. The caped men asked for a private place. I didn't ask why, but now I know...

"They believe in human racial purity. And the removal of anything that could constitute witchcraft or magic. Above all else, they hate Elves. Why they believe all this, I haven't a clue. But by all accounts they come from a continent far away from Memoria. Or so it's rumoured. They're blindly loyal to their religion and will stop at nothing to convert everyone..."

[Athena]

"Ohh, that sounds.. very scarey. Do you.. do you know how much of them there are? And from another continent.. sounds so far away. Why do they come interrupting our land? It's none of their business who lives here. Crazy zealots.." Neelahn's voice faded away.

"What do you suggest we do?" she asked Anduriel.