Prologue:
Of Storm & Steel
Esri was cursing his bad luck as he rode as hard as he dared along the path that ran though the thick and tangled Marbaro Forest. The day had started off sunny and bright without a cloud in the sky to be seen, and he had set out on his usual mount to hunt in the forest. Around midday though, things changed drastically.
The weather had changed from great to incredibly bad in such a short time that Esri couldn't believe it was normal. The sky had clouded over in less than a minute and the rain began to pour, soaking him to the skin so thoroughly that he now shivered with cold. Thunder crashed above, assaulting the eardrums and drowning out the sound of pounding hooves and creaking harness, or harsh breath and pouring rain. Lightening turned the darkened day bright white, blinding him by turns and making him nervous; lightening was a dangerous thing.
Be wasn't afraid mind you, just cautious.
He did not slow his pace as he came to a bend in the path but went careening around it, leaning as his mount did, trusting to his trusted horse's ability. He had to get out of Marbaro, the faster the better. The storm made the forest dark, and as good as an adventurer he was, things came out in darkness that he would rather not confront in this weather.
Another flash of sharp lightening blinded him at that moment and it was maybe because of this that he didn't see the wolf come out of the trees until he was almost upon it. His horse however, did see and with a neighing scream she skidded to a stop in the middle of the path. Esri, unprepared for the sudden halt, went flying over the head of his mount. Just at the moment before he hit the ground he released the reigns and got his feet under him, landing in a crouch in the thick mud. His feet sank inches into the soggy ground.
The adventurer's hand went automatically to the crossbow hanging from his belt. It was in his hand and aimed at the wolf in a heartbeat.
The wolf was no ordinary wolf, he saw with slight dismay. It was nearly as tall as he was while standing on all fours and was almost as long as any horse. It had bone like armour covering it's head and various other parts of its body.
Esri swallowed.
This was the Guardian of the forest, the wolf that he had heard other Hunters and Adventurers speak of.
The Forest Wolf.
Many had said that she had killed over a hundred skilled warriors. He knew a man who had lived though an encounter with her, a man who was scarred severely and missing an arm.
Esri began infusing mana as fast as he could. Building it up in his body until it practically leaked out. Then he stopped, bewildered and curious.
She wasn't attacking.
He noticed then for the first time that the wolf was carrying something in its jaws, hanging from strips of white cloth. She looked at him for a long moment then lowering her head, and gently placed the bundle in the middle of the path. Rising her head again she released a long low howl that sounded so sad and broken that Esri felt his heart clench slightly at it. Then, she turned and went back into the trees, not giving him a second glance.
Esri gave a slight sigh of relief and keeping his crossbow at the ready, he edge closer to the bundle on the path. The cloth stirred fitfully as he approached it and he stopped as it gave a loud wail.
This was madness, he thought his heart beating faster. What in the name of Pino was going on. He continued on towards the bundle and stooped to look inside.
An infant was wrapped within, small and utterly perfect. It had dark skin and a fuzz of pure white hair dusted it's head.
Esri stared in wonder and stopping it's crying the child stared back at him. What was a child doing so far away from habitable territory? Was it some kind of demon? After all, the forest wolf had brought it to the path. Or was it a lost child and the wolf was intelligent enough to want to help return it to its parents?
The child gave a coo and held up its tiny arms towards Esri. He found himself smiling putting away his crossbow and reaching down he picked up the bundle, child and all.
The rain began to subside as he stood up and carried the child over to his now calm horse. The sun broke though the Dark clouds and a halo of light fell on the path. The child's eyes reflected the light, eyes pale and sparkling like diamonds.
"Where did you come from little one." he asked half to himself.
The child made a sound that almost sounded like an answer and Esri chuckled.
He couldn't leave it here, demon or not it was a child. Taking a dry blanket from his saddle bags he wrapped it around the child, which he discovered was a girl, and removed the wet cloth she was wrapped in. He had never seen cloth like it before. He stuffed it in his bag, thinking all the while. He had never seen anyone with dark skin either, and people with white hair were usually old.
He climbed up into the saddle as the rain stopped all together and holding the child against himself with one arm and the reigns with another he directed his mount towards Rugio Ruins. From there he could purchase a Teleport Stone to travel directly to Sofya City.
He couldn't leave the child behind but Traveling over land with her could be potentially dangerous. He would have to find someone to take care of her. He himself had to many responsibilities to deal with to add a child to the list.
So with resignation, Esri took the mysterious girl child with him, he didn't know what would come of it, but their was no way he could overlook such a thing.
14 years later
Elswiess was troubled. For the pass four hours she had worked very hard to help out around the shop but it seemed the no matter what she did there was always something else waiting to be done. She had polished all the weapons and gear on display, swept the floor and polished it, brought in water from the city well to fill the both the water barrels and helped Smith put the finishing touches on a number of armours and other assorted gear.
Still here she was, up on the roof patching the holes that the storm had created. She had left Smith attending to customers to fix the leaks and when he was dealing with customers he usually didn't pay attention to much. It dawned on her how much work it was to keep a shop running.
She wiped the sleeve of her plain linen tunic across her brow as she slapped black jelly over the last hole. She didn't really have to do allot of work. Smith had told her it was fine if she helped out but don't push herself. She wanted to work, it was the only thing too do. She wasn't skilled enough to be a blacksmith like Smith was, or smart enough to work for the government office like Pino. She sometimes took lessons from Pino, when she had time of course, for Pino always seemed to be busy. She enjoyed lessons with Pino but all the while she wondered where she belonged.
What really interested her was adventurers. Sofya always seemed to be overflowing with Adventurers looking for work, forming parties to head off on hunts, or trading. They intrigued her to no end with their variety. All seemed different and exciting in ways that defied normalcy. She had seen two of them fight in the town square, one wielding a massive broadsword, the other a pair of knuckles made entirely of orichalcum. The swordsman was powerful and his great sword left the cobblestones in the square cracked and destroyed, his swings created gusts of powerful wind that ripped shawls from shopping wives shoulders and bellowed up enough dust to cause dust storms, but he had lost none the less. The girl with the knuckles was fast, elegant and deadly. She dodged and danced and struck like a viper, bringing the large swordsman to his knees.
The fight had prompted Elswiess to start training.
However it wasn't as easy as she had thought it would be. She had a set of throwing daggers given to her by Smith which she used to hunt small creatures in the underground channel. She was getting better but sometimes she had to run away, especially if some more powerful creatures showed up.
She was able to handle Corda and Blue Jellies fine, but she couldn't take on Ghosts just yet, they where harder to kill. Sometimes she even ventured out to Rakua Plains to gather animal skins and fluffy fur from the Raffy that lived there, but apart from that she stayed in the city. Smith had forbidden her to go any farther anyway; so she didn't. He had taken care of her since she was a baby and to her, he was like a father. What he said, she usually obeyed.
Usually...
Smith was, like his name, a skilled and well known blacksmith. He ran a smithy called Armoury, and usually never left town. His materials were brought to him by an adventurer known only as Three.
She liked Three.
Like all the other adventurers he gave off an air of superiority and power and he always seemed to be serious and mature. Smith had once said that he himself was an adventurer but had found another calling in crafting. Elswiess couldn't imagine him ever being an adventurer but if he said he was then she believed him.
Looking down over the bustling street, she wondered what it would be like to go out into the world and hunt monsters and treasure.
She was still pondering this when she saw Esri coming up the street. A smile curled her lips and she gathered up her slime bucket and scoop quickly, scampering off too climb down from the roof as fast as she could.
Esri was an adventurer.
She had first met him when she was five years old, but he had told her that he knew her from when she was just a baby. That he had given her the name she now had. He was the leader of one of the most powerful guilds in all of the Empire; The Revenants. Apparently, Smith was also a member of that guild, but his job was making weapons, Armour and other gear for the other members. He had once told her that his brother was also a member.
Esri came by at least once a week to speak with Smith and bring a list of things the guild needed him to make. He would also speak with Elswiess and sometimes gave her spina to buy thing she wanted.
Esri was hard to explain.
He was often silent and thoughtful, as if he always seemed to be pondering some unfathomable theory in his head. Eslwiess considered him to be one of the smartest people she had ever met, except Pino of course. He knew so many things that no matter how many questions she asked, he was ready with an answer. Sometimes she though he was always right to make her fret.
As she came though the back entrance to the showroom of the shop she realized that today Esri was wearing a light killer coat and carried a his war bow gun slung from his equipment belt. His armour was usually more impressive. His black cloak was clasped at the shoulder with a silver brooch made to look like his guild's coat of arms; a skull intricately engraved with ancient runes. He didn't turn from examining a two-handed broad sword that Smith was presenting to him, but she saw his shoulders move ever so slightly, his head tilted just a little.
Unnoticeable by most but not her. He always seemed to be aware of his surroundings.
"Hello, Wiess."
She smiled as she came to stand a few feet behind him. His voice was quiet, but it reached around the room like he had spoken aloud.
"Hello, Chief."
Esri handed the sword back to smith.
"That's fine craftsmanship as always. Did you finish the Rapier I asked you for?"
Smith smiled.
"Something so simple, sir. I had finished it even before you had though to ask."
Smith reached down under the counter, rummaged around and brought out a short thin sword sheathed in a black leather scabbard. The sweepings, crossbar, pummel and knuckle guard were a dark black and shone dully in the sun arching though the high windows. The handle, and Turks head were both white and a black leather cord hung from the end of the pummel on which was attached an ornamental white wolf's fang.
Esri took the Rapier and examined it. He rubbed his hand over scabbard, slowly, then he drew it, examining the thin pointed blade. The edges were stained black but the thin fuller down the middle was white. Eslwiess thought how small it looked in Esri's hands.
He sheathed the sword and nodded to Smith.
"I think you outdid yourself with this one Smithy. The balance is perfect and it's very lightweight. What materials did you use?"
Smith rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"I added Dragon Bone to the oriculcum to make it stronger. The bone turned most of the metal black. So rather than make it all out of that mixture I added fine sand to the rest of the ori for lightness and it so happened it turned those parts white. I think the colouring was perfect, never mind the ingredients."
Both men laughed at that. Eslwiess watched in slight confusion.
"Why would you make a sword that's to small for you to wield comfortably."
Despite being young she had grown up around weapons and knew them well. Using a weapon that wasn't suited to you could be fatal in combat.
"It isn't for me." Esri said, turning to her for the first time. He had this habit of smiling with his eyes that always made her feel warm. "I had this made for you."
Eslwiess blinked a few times.
"Huh?"
Esri chuckled and held out the Rapier, hilt first to her. She reflexively took it, her hand wrapping around the handle. It was almost a perfect grip, just a little bigger than her hand, and it was way lighter than she had expected. The leather grip felt warm against her palm.
She looked up at Esri, totally lost.
"Why do I need a sword?"
Esri reached into his waist bag and brought out something shiny and silver. It was a Revenant's brooch.
"Eslwiess, how would you like to be a member of the prestigious and powerful Revenants Guild."
Eslwiess opened and closed her mouth several times before words came.
"Am I dreaming?"
Esri laughed.