Mists of Winter: Chapter One

[alhoon]

RAEN,
THE LORELEI
"I come from Arbora."

"Indeed I do miss. I've heard a few things about Arbora but didn't have the fortune of visiting it. "

[kintire]

KAT

Listens with a slight smile.

"Sir, you are a romantic! Surely you must speak with Genei. If she refuses you, you are no worse off than now, and if she accepts, then bliss! And I am sure this Vaasan lady will accept. Who can refuse true love, accompanied by sufficient gold?"

She pauses and gives a slight grimace

"And whoever this new owner is, you can't be worse off than you were with Van Diecks, if half the tales are true."

[Adam]

He picks up the broken pendant delicately, giving the area a quick glance before rising and looking to Franz.

"Let's go through the gate, then," he says, "Make sure that nothing untoward has occurred."

He hustles along, letting Franz and Munchen lead the way this time. He quietly stuffs the pendant into a pocket for later examination.

[steveflam]

Once they are safely over the fence, Munchen included, Franz leads on with Munchen. He walks slowly to where he saw the place in the brick wall where he saw the hinges but no door.

"I have a sunrod in case we need light, Benn," he offers in low tones.

[VAN]

KAT, SARA, AND RAEN
THE LORELEI

SARA


A short, curvy harlot in a lacy gown and little black domino mask rises from her couch with languid grace and approaches Sara.

"Hmmm, you are new, yes? We don't get many women in here."
She smiles.

"Are you just here for the floor show, or are you looking for company?"

Sara glances the woman and then fixes the mask at her face.

"You can say that I'm new I guess, it's my first time here. I have heard the Lorelai has great shows and came to verify by myself. An opportunity to have good time and listen some good music isn't something I can pass easily! I have heard there is an excellent performer here. Do you know if he will be present tonight?"

Sara waves hoping a maid can see her.

"You next drink is on me of course."

[ewancummins]

RAEN

RAEN,
THE LORELEI
"I come from Arbora."

"Indeed I do miss. I've heard a few things about Arbora but didn't have the fortune of visiting it. "

Miss Sophie smiles.
''Sometimes it's called he City of the Western Kings-- only I never did figure out what was western about it. You can't much further east without falling into the sea or walking the Mists.''
She shrugs.
''Darkon, though, now that's a bigger mystery to me. Is the king truly a wizard? With real magic, not just trickery? And are there whole towns of fairy-folk?''

[ewancummins]

KAT

KAT

Listens with a slight smile.

"Sir, you are a romantic! Surely you must speak with Genei. If she refuses you, you are no worse off than now, and if she accepts, then bliss! And I am sure this Vaasan lady will accept. Who can refuse true love, accompanied by sufficient gold?"

She pauses and gives a slight grimace

"And whoever this new owner is, you can't be worse off than you were with Van Diecks, if half the tales are true."

''Yes, yes indeed. He once burned half a man's ---ah, sorry. Not a tale for a lady.''

[ewancummins]

SARA

KAT, SARA, AND RAEN
THE LORELEI

SARA


A short, curvy harlot in a lacy gown and little black domino mask rises from her couch with languid grace and approaches Sara.

"Hmmm, you are new, yes? We don't get many women in here."
She smiles.

"Are you just here for the floor show, or are you looking for company?"

Sara glances the woman and then fixes the mask at her face.

"You can say that I'm new I guess, it's my first time here. I have heard the Lorelai has great shows and came to verify by myself. An opportunity to have good time and listen some good music isn't something I can pass easily! I have heard there is an excellent performer here. Do you know if he will be present tonight?"

Sara waves hoping a maid can see her.

"You next drink is on me of course."

''Thanks--oh, and yes, you must mean Theon, the Kartakan singer, yeah?"

[ewancummins]

BENN
FRANZ
MUNCHEN

THE DARK DOOR


Munchen sniffs around the open archway.

Without a light Benn and Franz cannot see more than a few yards into the murky gloom. No far wall or side walls stand in sight, just ghostly ribs of rafters ten feet up and an open stretch of floorboards sunk an inch or two below the alley's stone lip.

[steveflam]

Franz cracks the sunrod. "Want me to go first I presume?" He holds out the sunrod for benn so he can keep his hands free if leading.

[ewancummins]

Franz cracks the sunrod. "Want me to go first I presume?" He holds out the sunrod for benn so he can keep his hands free if leading.

The light shows an open floor, ceiling rafters, and the dim surfaces of upright walls standing thirty feet or so to the left, right, and dead ahead. He sees one door on the far wall--closed.

[alhoon]

RAEN
THE LORELEI

Raen's smile can be seen under the mask.
"While I've not personally saw an act of magic from his majesty, Azalin Rex himself, I firmly believe he's the most powerful magic user in the land. And while the stories about the fairy-folk are a bit exaggerated, there are indeed towns in Darkon with population consisting mainly of elves and their kin. One such town is your neighbor town of Nevuchar springs, where the hot springs send the Vuchar river that passes through the grand city of Il Aluk. Other such fairy folk live in their own settlements in the northern forests that border the mists.
While Il Aluk, the jewel of the Crown and the western port of Martira Bay have imported much of the technological marvels of the more advanced lands, the lands of the elves and the human communities near them, are usually technologically backwaters. I would doubt you could find a decent crossbow or broad sword there, let alone gunpowder. So, with little in the way of decent weapons to defend themselves from the creatures of the night and the spawns of the mists, the elves have to rely on their magic; Their magic users are assumed to have magic powers that can create wonders or destroy within seconds.

And if their magic users that can become invisible, read a person's mind with a glance and tell all their secrets, fly up in the air and throw bolts of fire, lighting or even acid remain firmly in the grasp of the Crown, consider how much power Azalin Rex must yield. I believe Azalin Rex himself used his nearly endless magical prowess to halt the advance of the Falkovnian invaders in all invasions and turn them back in a rout without wasting a drop of Darkonian blood.

But I take too much of your time monopolizing the talk about my homeland. I apologize.
What is your opinion of magic miss Sophie? Do you fear it? Respect it? Consider it a useful tool like a good weapon or consider it a fiendish practice?"

[ewancummins]

RAEN AND MISS SOPHIE

"Back home, the Church burns witches and warlocks-- along with pagans who claim to be miracle workers. The clergymen, some of them can do magic with the blessing of the Lawgiver, only I guess that's not magic. It's prayers. In the part of Arbora where I grew up, the parish priest could throw a red mark on a man's face with an angry word."
She shivers.
"It had that stink, that roast skin and burnt hair smell--just like marking a steer with a branding iron. I've heard of greater wonders, but I left before I saw too much more of that stuff. Since then..well...I have met men who used magic and didn't seem to be bad sorts."

[VAN]

The Lorelai
Sara

Sara smiles at the woman, Kat was right indeed they could find a bard in Lorelai.

"Yes, Theon exactly. I'm looking forward to his performance, I'm sure he will have very intresting tales to sing. Do you know if he has travelled a lot? I was always curious as to where the bards get their material."

[ewancummins]

The Lorelai
Sara

Sara smiles at the woman, Kat was right indeed they could find a bard in Lorelai.

"Yes, Theon exactly. I'm looking forward to his performance, I'm sure he will have very intresting tales to sing. Do you know if he has travelled a lot? I was always curious as to where the bards get their material."

"He's going up on stage now."

The harlot points to a silver haired man, lean and weather-beaten in looks and dressed in plain, rustic clothes, who mounts the stage with long, lunging steps. No mask.
The old man carries a lute tucked under his right arm and cradled with his left hand.
He sits down on a three legged stool near the middle of the stage and begins tuning the lute with small, rapid movements of his hands.

Sara hears some clamor behind her--if she looks back

VIEW CONTENT:

, she sees more masked guests arriving, in ones and twos.