CHAPTER ONE:
As he weaved through the back streets Karosin resisted the urge to scowl at the clumsy pursuit behind him, not so much at their presence, which didn't concern him in any real way, but at the fact that they would inevitably have to be dealt with, and that he would have to do it in such a way that wouldn't lead to awkward questions later on from his wife. Such are the sacrifices of a married life, he thought to himself as he turned down an alleyway and seemed to disappear from sight.
A few moments later a trio of men followed him around the corner, walking more quickly than would be considered normal, and drifting apart from each other in a bid to ensure that they blanketed the entire breadth of the alley. They'd followed their mark ever since seeing him leave the jewellers, with a full looking pouch hanging from his belt. It was the thought of this pouch, and the knowledge that the alleyway was a dead end, that caused them to quicken the pace even more.
Wordlessly though, as they reached was was undeniably the very end of the alleyway, and was also undeniably empty of potential marks, they looked at each other in consternation. At least until a black cloaked man dropped into their midst from above.
Karosin had considered simply using the magic of his boots to walk up the walls of the alley and away from them, but that would have left the trio frustrated and looking out for another target, which was probably not the best thing for anyone concerned. As such, and with more glee than he would admit to when this became a topic for discussion, he had come to the happy conclusion that they would have to be dealt with rather than fled from.
As soon as he landed he lashed out hard with the sword in his hand, twisting his wrist over at the last second and cracking the flat of the blade hard across the fellow's skull. To Karosin's momentary surprise the blow didn't actually drop his target. Clearly his skull is mostly bone rather than brain, he thought as he followed up that strike with a swift back-kick towards another of his assailants, who was now trying to flank him. The heel of his booted foot drove into the man's solar-plexus and he folded up and collapsed to the floor. One down now but Karosin didn't pause his fluid movements, and swung his leg straight back through, now bringing it up as a knee, which thudded into the groin of his first target, causing him to fall to the ground as well.
Two down in the blink of an eye he then turned to the third, a faint smile flickering across his lips as he did so. "If you run I shall chase you down, if you fight I shall knock you down, if you beg I shall turn you down." Holding his sword out straight he pointed the tip of the blade into the other man's face, before pointing it towards the floor, "sit on the other hand and I may perhaps show some decidedly uncharacteristic mercy."
His wannabe mugger dropped to the floor alongside his groaning companions, he then started to speak but was forestalled by a sudden jerk from the sword that hovered in front of his eyes. "If I wanted to listen to your mewling excuses I'd ask for them," said Karosin casually as he crossed to the fellow he dropped with a kick earlier, and booted him in the skull to quieten him.
Karosin reached down to his belt and removed a pair of manacles, tossing them to the seated figure. "Put them on", he commanded, as he slid his sword back into its sheath and then unhooked the crossbow at his belt. "I'd suggest staying still," he said as he sighted down the length, at which the rogue kicked himself backwards, terror in his eyes. Karosin simply shrugged, "don't say you weren't warned", he said as he fired.
The bolt sunk into the man's thigh, and he rolled over and clasped his leg tight. "Stop being a baby about it", sneered the former assassin as he put away the crossbow and turned away. "The guards will be here presently, if I find that you resisted them then I will personally hunt you down, and if I have to do that then a bleeding leg and a period in gaol will be the least of your concerns. Count on it." With that he made his way back down the alleyway and out towards the main thoroughfare, it didn't take long for him to find a guardsman, (their livery of silver and royal blue tended to stand out)., He explained what had just come to pass; a small token displayed to the guard ensured that his word and explanation was believed; and Karosin was free to go about the rest of his rather pressing business.
This pressing business ensured that he moved rapidly, aware that his little diversion had more or less ensured that he would be late for the arranged meeting. Not very late, and probably not late enough to cause any of the others gathered there much undue stress, but enough to bother him on a personal level. Still, he arrived at the prescribed meeting place only a few moments late, and was then let through the pair of sturdy- looking gates.
Once he had passed through these he instantly spotted his wife, the Sunite priestess Llana, who was presently engaged in a discussion with a man, with closely cropped brown hair and wearing a set of loose and rather tattered and frayed robes.
I thought that the beggars would be stopped at the gate, thought Karosin as he strolled towards the man, keeping his face as neutral as possible.
As Llana spotted him she turned around and smiled, somehow managing to shoot him a warning look at the same time, thus going some way towards forcing a polite initial greeting from her husband. "I assume you're here for the same reason we are?" He asked the robed man.
Orrin gave a good-natured smile of his own in response. "Yes, though I know little about what that reason is", he replied with a slight shrug. "It would be troubling for me to leave the children for long anyway."
"You work in one of the orphanages?" cut in Llana, her tone at once interested and concerned. Her own works placed her in a position to help some of the most unfortunate people on Faerun, and she was always interested to meet a fellow altruist, though she would have been the first to argue the toss if one were to label her as such.
Karosin on the other hand would never, ever be labelled as such, and had to stop himself from gritting his teeth at the particular avenue of discussion that seemed to have opened up in front of him. Given that he was never one for the kind of shoptalk that occurred when his wife met fellow ecclesiastics and other assorted philanthropic types he simply laid a kiss on top of her head and then stepped away to look around the large waiting room they were housed in.
As the cloaked figure of Karosin wandered off Orrin simply gave a mental shrug and an external smile. He couldn't affect how some people thought of him and what he did, but neither did he really care, there wasn't the luxury of such in the works he did, aiding the poorest of children and teaching them how to grow up. Even in a city as progressive as Silverymoon abandoned and unwanted children were a problem, and there was always the need to keep the most vulnerable of them out of the hands of Zhentish people traffickers and the thieves guilds.
"Indeed, I've been there for a number of years now, of course it has been there for far longer than I have." He gestured with a calloused hand towards the vibrant red robes that Llana wore, as well as the holy symbol of Sune that was pinned over her heart, "Of course you wear your own badge of where you offer your own help", said Orrin with a smile. "I took a group of the children to your temple last year, and they had a wonderful time, we were hoping to return again this year but I simply haven't been able to find the time", he shrugged.
"You simply must visit again," Llana implored, "it is far too rare that we have children at the temple, and they do so enliven the place." She paused in thought for a moment, "if you desire I can send some of the acolytes down to help bring the children up?"
"That would be a huge help, thank you", replied Orrin. He was about to ask more about the day to day actions of the church when the door opened again and a short, blonde male Elf walked into the room.
From the far side of the room Karosin sighed wearily.
"Ahh there is nothing like a warm audience straight from the off", said the Elf cheerfully as he closed the door behind himself, "and, at the risk of being a cliché it seems that you are nothing like a warm audience."
Llana, unlike her husband had smiled at the arrival of the Elf, and stepped across to give him a greeting hug before turning back to Orrin. "Orrin I'd like to introduce you to Kellindel".
Kellindel broke away from the embrace and, showing a thoroughly un-Elven effusiveness that had been the despair of his parents whilst he was growing up, also moved across to embrace Orrin, who was clearly not used to such immediate physicality and looked slightly embarrassed at the act.
Breaking away from Orrin, the Elf looked towards Karosin, who seemed to now be idly testing the sharpness of the dagger that had appeared in his hand.
Correctly viewing this as no type of invitation to approach the former assassin, he looked away from the human and turned back to Llana, "Do you know what this invite is for?" He asked her with a comparatively blank look, which proved to her entirely that he hadn't actually bothered to read the memo that had summoned them beyond the fact it was an invitation to meet with Methrammar Aerasumé, the head of the Argent Legion, and son of High Lady Alustriel Silverhand.
"I'm afraid not", admitted the Half-Elf, "there's no detail in the letter and when I asked a friend who is as member of the Knights in Silver she had no clue either.:
Kellindel smirked slightly, reflecting on the fact that it would almost certainly be dangerous in the extreme, because he knew well enough of the abilities of both the Sunite Priestess and her husband. "I'm sure all will be revealed in due course."
He suddenly smiled brightly, "how about some music to pass the time?"
"If you play so much as a single note then I promise you that the next time you sing you'll have the range of a soprano", said Karosin, who was still idly flipping a dagger over and over between his hands.
Kel turned to face the assassin, shooting a wink to Llana as he did so, "So you're a poetry man then?" Said the bard with false brightness, "As happens I did recently pen a stunning series of sequential stanzas! It is titled, 'the horrifying joy of a succubal night'. I cannot deny that it is one of my darkest works, and perhaps not suitable for sensitive ears."
There was a click as the door swung open again, and a positively demonic figure stepped through the door. Standing about six feet tall, and with shoulder length hair that was a curious morass of red and black, the man was handsome in a strangely abyssal way. His skin was pale to virtually the point of transparency, and a series of black tattoos were inked around his red eyes. The being had a small goatee, and a set of slight fangs that were visible when he smiled.
Which was exactly what he was doing as he entered, "Orrin my friend", he said in a deep and gravelly voice, "how are you? How are Sissy and the children?"
Orrin also smiled as the figure entered the room, "Yami it's good too see you after all this time!" He waved off the questions and then turned to the others, "Please I'd like to introduce Yami to you all, he looks entirely villainous, but I assure you he's only fifty percent villain at most."
The pale skinned character dropped into a low bow before straightening up, "I assure you all that I'm closer to thirty percent."
He'd been about to continue when another character followed in behind him, standing a full head shorter than the black robed figure of Yami he was a wood-elf, with coppery skin and a slender build. Following behind him was a strange looking beast, it looked almost like a golden badger, but with larger dimensions all around, and an additional four legs.
"Hello there", the Elf looked warily around the room, taking in the variety of species and expressions that presented themselves. "my name is Saevel, I have been asked here to meet with Methrammar Aerasumé, I don't imagine any of you are he?"
Llana smiled at the question and shook her head, "No, we're still waiting for his arrival. Have you travelled to be here?" She recognised his discomfort at being inside, and figured that it was a reasonable guess to assume that he was one of the elven rangers who worked tirelessly to protect the settlements of the north, both human and elven, from the innumerable tribes of monstrous humanoids that proliferated in the foothills of the mountain range that made up the Spine of the World.
"Many miles, yes", replied the elf with a bow. For a moment he looked as if he would reply but it seemed to all watching that he was so unused to exchanging words with other sentient beings that he had simply forgotten how to actually do it.
Though he too was an elf, Kellindel had no such problems, being more gregarious and outgoing than many would have liked, and so he took up the conversational mantle, "How about you?" He looked towards the paper-white skinned figure who had entered just before the elf, "what did you say your name was? Yami?" He both asked and answered the question, "that's an... Interesting name."
"Nickname actually", corrected the figure, "my real name is", he paused whilst trying to frame the sentence politely, "challenging to pronounce, and if you pronounce one of the syllables incorrectly you risk accidentally summoning something from the Abyss."
"Seriously?"
"No."
Yami had been about to continue his explanation when a broad and fully armoured human wearing a tabard that noted him as a member of the Argent Legion walked into the room.
"If you'd please follow me, Sir Aerasumé will see you now."