Author's Note: Just a side note, this is happening as it probably would, not with all the skill tree crap, I'll explain how the magic and stuff works, they all know what all the spells are, it just takes different amounts of spiritual energy to be able to use the skills, also they may not be successful, and so practise is also a major factor.
Some things, like Darkness' transformation abilities come naturally, however, her form changes the more powerful she gets and the transformation takes spiritual energy, which would have to recharge; and therefore she can't use any magic for a while after transformation either way.
Also, just because they know and have enough spiritual energy to cast a spell, doesn't always mean that they'll be successful; it just means that they'll waste some mana.
Now, I shall go on with the story.
Chapter 1:
The Light in the Dark
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
- Margaret Mead
--- --- ---
The sky was shadowed with plump clouds. Rain was due to fall at any moment; thunder already split the sky in two.
A shadowy figure stumbled wearily towards an impromptu encampment.
Her destination, the makeshift fortress for the surviving rogues, was a flimsy protection against the furious jaws of Hell that had swallowed all she lived for six months before.
A deftly aimed arrow skewered the ground and inch from her foot. The figure looked up from under the rim of her dark cloak's hood. A young rogue entered her view, another arrow knocked into her well maintained short bow.
"What is your business here stranger?" The brown haired woman yelled, aiming deftly with an arrow that would not miss if fired.
"I come from no home now; I seek shelter and rest; and perhaps a chance at revenge." The stranger answered, she flipped back her hood to reveal hair as black as jet, eyes the colour of shining bronze, and skin that was pale olive.
"Who are you to take this vengeance against?" The rogue was set back on edge; the arrow was drawn further back.
"Revenge against the vile creatures that razed my village; I have no qualm with the rogues." The young woman in the cloak stated bluntly.
"Then state your name and your purpose!"
"I lost my name in the rubble of my town, I am known as Darkness, and I am the bane of any evil that dares walk this realm, my purpose, is to destroy it." Darkness was beginning to get impatient, she had traveled from what seemed like the other side of the world and a rogue was holding her from rest.
"Enter, go straight to the Captain of the rogues, she will deal with you." The rogue lowered her bow and opened the flimsy gate that 'protected' the encampment. She indicated a mail clad red headed rogue; Darkness assumed she was the Captain.
"Thank you." Darkness brushed passed the rogue guard and entered the encampment. She headed straight for the Captain, not wanting to cause any trouble.
The Rogue captain saw her coming and met her with a blatantly objective stare down her nose.
"Well, outlander, why are you here? Perhaps to join the seven others already here to combat the evil that has taken our monastery?" She said this with such sarcasm, that Darkness was sure she expected a no, however she shrugged it off.
"If they are fighting the same evil I have chased to this point then yes, I am here to destroy the evil that has taken your monastery."
The Captain nodded and with a small amount of assent in her voice as she introduced herself as Captain Kashya. Kashya directed Darkness to Akara, the priestess of the camp; she sent her off with a warning that if she did intend harm to the rogues, that Akara would know in an instant.
Darkness headed in the general direction of the tent; along the way she passed some incredible bored looking rogues who took it upon them selves to give her venomous glares. 'They're not exactly a very trusting lot.'
The tent was a very astonishing…purple. Akara, the priestess of the Sightless Eye, as she introduced herself, was an aging wrinkled mess of wisdom and ancient healing magic.
'Welcome child,' Darkness winced inwardly at being called a child, an action only her late master had done, 'I'm afraid I can but offer you poor shelter within these rickety walls. Andariel, the Maiden of Anguish, has driven us from our monastery, and now we take shelter in this camp. If you are one of the people who have come to help destroy Andariel, and then I hope you will accept the help of the others who came.' Akara spread her arms in welcome and smiled warmly.
With a nod Darkness took her own turn to speak, 'I answer to the name of Darkness. I have chased this evil far from my lost home, and I shall continue, and it has come to my attention that part is rooted in your monastery, so in joining these 'others'…I guess I will.'
With an ever growing warm smile Akara thanked her graciously and told her of a tent that she could store her belongings in, and rest in.
----
The tent had been at least four meters by six meters, and there were four bed rolls evenly spaced along it as well as a tub for washing and four chests; one of the bed rolls and one of the chests seemed to be freshly placed, word travels quickly around such a small encampment.
Darkness placed her only belongings neatly next to the new bedroll, her rucksack that held two other shirts and another pair of her black breeches, a tome of all she had learned and could learn, a few scrolls, and a few potions of restoration. She left her silver long sword, En'ubys, with her rucksack and put her kris on her belt.
After discarding her cloak, she walked out of the tent. Her hand went to the opal in the hilt of her kris for comfort; Darkness took a deep breath, and crossed towards the fire in the middle of the camp.
----
Darkness approached the fire. She saw a lone figure sitting by the fire, he was young, he couldn't have been more than twenty; two years older that Darkness was herself. Judging by his attire and the crude wand hanging at his waist, he was a Necromancer.
Now Darkness' people and Necromancers had had no quarrels until earlier in Darkness' lifetime. There was a tragedy and either people believed that the other had instigated it, it lead to a massive upheaval of any contact between the two peoples; it had left a bitter mark on all of them.
Therefore Darkness saw it best avoid the young Necromancer. She saw an older, rather burly, man standing by a wagon, she approached him.
'Greetings traveler,' He said mildly, 'how far have you come and from where?'
'Merry meet to you, I hail from the Umbra Mountains far to the west.' Darkness mentioned the name of her birth area with pride.
Warriv, as he happened to be called, was astonished, 'The western Spine? You must have been traveling for a very long time. What brings you here?'
Darkness turned here eyes elsewhere, counting the figures hovering about the fire, 'I traveled six months, all the while following a voice on the breeze that whispered of retribution.'
'Ah.' Warriv left it at that. He may not have been one of the most intellectual people, but he could definitely tell discomfort or sadness in a person's voice.
Darkness left Warriv's company and launched herself onto a wall, where, seated, she could survey her surroundings better.
There were three women talking about nine feet from the fire, by Darkness' reckoning there was an Amazon, a Sorceress and to her mild surprise and amusement, an Assassin.
A Paladin and a Barbarian were engaged in a deep conversation, which Darkness could only guess was about battle, seeing as they both looked to be hardened warriors, though the Paladin seemed much younger than the Barbarian.
'And I'm the Druid; I'm 37, which is still young by my standards, and I'm named for a tree.' Darkness turned abruptly to see a lightly wrinkled face grinning at her. The Druid was at least six foot four, and had a long braid of deep copper hair.
He held out his hand, 'I'm Rowan.' Darkness shook his hand, a slight smile on her face.
'Darkness.'
'Where do you hail from Darkness? I come from the High Lands, the Sacred Forests around the base of Mount Arreat.'
'I come from the Umbra Mountains of the western Spine.'
Rowan looked surprised, 'Oh really? So you must be one of the Draconys-Necros people? That's fascinating, I've never met one of your people before, and in fact you kind have passed into legend among my people.' He beamed again. 'It's nice to meet a fellow Shape Shifter!' He slapped her on the back, and she almost fell off the low wall that she was perched on.
With a laugh, tinged slightly with bitterness, she responded, 'It is a pleasure to meet you too, sir, but I'm afraid you may not come across any more of my kind. All that I know of were wiped out by the very evil that I trail.'
Rowan looked sympathetic, 'That's terrible.'
There was a silence between the two.
'I should probably tell you about the others. We all seem to have the same goal, but I'm the only person who noticed you arriving.'
A quizzical look crossed Darkness' features, 'How did you know I was coming?'
A black shadow flapped down and landed on Rowan's shoulder. A large raven carked at her.
'Why, Nike told me.'
--- --- ---
Rowan walked with Darkness for a bit, telling her the base layout of the camp, where a few nice spots to sit were, and trivial things.
They were quiet for a bit, a darker mood descending upon them both.
'Now, as this I believe is a morbid formal matter, so I shall hand you an equally morbid and formal introduction of myself, then you can go meet the others of your own accord; you would do well to do so, you'll be banded with all of us for the entirety of this damned siege.' Rowan stopped walking, Darkness halting a few feet in front of him; she turned sideways to hear him out. 'I am Rowan Siobhan of the Scosglen Druids; I am a Secret-Master at the Greatest of the Druid Colleges, Túr Dúlra. I am elite among the Druids in the way of Caoi Dúlra, the art of being one with Nature that the Druids hold sacred. I come in the name of the great oak Glór-an-Fháidha to defeat the cursed evils, and to aid the victory of Sanctuary over Hell at the time of Uileloscadh Mór.' Rowan nodded grimly, as the words set his path in stone, 'Now, go tell of yourself to the others.'
They parted. Darkness watched Rowan's back for a short while before turning to the sound of metal clanging on metal; not the sound of battle, but of forging.
Darkness walked towards the forge, two large forms stood by the bellows and metal. The soft glow of red from the furnace and then hum of conversation sifted the air like fingers though sand.
The night was still, peaceful almost, before the morrow.
The two figures, one, the male, of definite Barbarian heritage, the other, the female, most likely part Barbarian. With the official sigh of resignation to the task at hand, Darkness approached the forge.
'Well hello there! I'm Charsi, the blacksmith here in town, who might you be?' The blonde female, Charsi, called. She strolled towards Darkness and held out a gloved hand.
'I'm called Darkness. I'm here to aid in the destruction of Andariel…hopefully.' Charsi's happy demeanour made Darkness' mouth pull at the corners; it was nice to hear someone so cheerful in such a time of evil and uncertainty.
'Really?' Charsi's eyes widened, 'That's great, thank you! Oh, this is Vorak, he's a Barbarian. He's here to do the same thing, only right now he's surrendered to helping me at the forge.' Charsi grinned at the Barbarian who had just been brought into the conversation.
Vorak nodded in acknowledgement.
Darkness figured that that was all she was going to get, so she bowed out and headed off to find her next victim of induction.
--- --- ---
She walked away form the Amazon woman to again seek the next of the apparent Seven, now Eight warriors come to fight for people who they had never met before.
This Amazon though seemed very much like the business person, her name was Kiyana and she was an Amazon from the shores of the South Sea, which was ironically, north of the rogues' monastery, in fact it was around the equator, in the tropical forests and mangroves the roamed the shores.
She quickly spotted the next 'victim' of introduction, a dark skinned sorceress from the east.
'Greetings to you Sorceress.' Darkness said as she approached.
'Greetings to you stranger, I name is Sailis, and I am an ex nihilo Sorceress, I hail form the eastern deserts. What is your name?' Sailis asked in a honey voice.
'I walk by the name Darkness, and I come from the Western Spine.' Darkness bowed in a way that her sensei had taught her was a custom among Sorcerers.
Sailis looked both a little impressed and shocked. 'Then you are of the Draconys-Necros people?' Darkness nodded. 'Why have you come so far form your home?'
'You came because you felt the evil energies building; I came because those same evil energies destroyed my home.'
'Oh, I am sorry; it is…a pleasure to meet you.'
Darkness nodded, she left the Sorceress, whom she seemed to have made uncomfortable. Darkness was beginning to learn just what kind of reputation the Draconys-Necros had among different peoples.
--- --- ---
She had met with and spoken to an Assassin, Tareshi was her name. She seemed very accepting of Darkness' people, and she had asked conversationally about one of the Draconian magic branches. Called the Inheritance magic branch because of the nature and name of the spells, Tareshi seemed earnestly interested in it.
Tareshi herself was an Assassin of the Viz-Jaq'taar an order of Mage Slayers who kept the peace among mages, and prevented any travesties like that between Horazon and Bartuc from occurring ever again.
With this all in mind Darkness chanced upon a Paladin. Who, having seen her first introduced himself.
'I am Owen Feydason; I am a paladin of the Zakarum form Kurast in the Far East. Who might you be?' He gave a slight bow out of courtesy.
Darkness introduced herself, again. 'This is going to quickly become a monologue.' After she was finished, Owen looked vaguely uninterested.
'Draconys-Necros? You don't practice death magic and raise the dead such as the Necromancers do, do you?'
'You have no idea about the magicks that my people implement.' Darkness hissed between her teeth, 'And don't you ever compare my people, or our magic, with those…fetid travesties.' This put Darkness in the foulest possible mood.
Owen shrugged that off, ignoring the unimpressed glare he was receiving.
'Fine.' Darkness left him at that.
--- --- ---
Darkness had firmly decided against speaking to the Necromancer, she found out his name from over hearing a discussion about magic between the Viz-Jaq'taar and the Sorceress. His name was Lance Acer'bus and he had travelled from the hills in the west, just north of the area of the Western Spine that Darkness had come form. In fact, he came from the prestigious school called Palacio del Hueso, which was in the centre of the capital city, Necrom.
She decided that for all that information, she only cared for the name. She probably would be cursing it under her breath at some point.
--- --- ---
At some point they had pretty much all gathered around the centre fire of the rogue encampment. Discussion ensued, about weapons and tactics, then shifting onto magic, and then onto the morbid reason that they were all there.
Soon after they had all retired to their gender respective tents.
Darkness lay on her side in her bedroll, she could feel that the other women were asleep, she could hear them gently breathing.
Darkness felt something strange stirring inside her, tonight, Rowan out of all spontaneity had welcomed her and accepted her with open arms, she guessed that was out of age and wisdom; Darkness rolled onto her back and turned her head so she could see the sleeping Assassin on the next nearest bedroll. Tareshi, however, had been friendly as well.
Darkness closed her eyes.
She guessed that feeling was strange because she hadn't felt it for so long.
Hope that things may get better.
Arcanus: Thanks to you all for reading, this is just an introductory chapter; the rest of all the chapters should follow by quests.
Ciao.