Never in the life of Lehran Kalos had he been in such a miserable place for despite the natural night vision of his kin, he could barely see past the gloom and all he could hear was the weeping of those around him along with the foul smell of soiled clothing, bodily waste mixed with the faint smell of the sea and the creaking of wood as the ship rocked upon the waves. From what little he had seen before being shoved inside at the point of a sword, he saw several gaunt, skeletal faces of other elves, poor bastards who had been chained up and waiting to be shipped to, Maker knows where, most likely the Tevinter Imperium if he had a sovereign to bet on. After stumbling through the dark and making his way past the others with some so lost in their despair that they even ignored him when he bumped into them, he finally found a corner or at least a wall to rest his back on.

You just had to go borrow all that money he thought rather sourly towards himself for he had made one of the most classic mistakes that would later get someone killed or sold into slavery. If he still had his lock picks or at least a knife, he would have felt better about his chances of trying to make some form of escape but the shem who had brought him here had been thorough in their search. He swore that if he ever managed to get himself out of here, he would leave the Free Marches and head elsewhere like Ferelden or Orlais or maybe even go find the Dalish.

'You are new here' came a smooth, masculine voice in the darkness to his right which did not have the same accent as someone from the Alienage and had a more foreign sounding tone which he could not truly identify.

'And what makes you say that?' asked Lehran with some curiosity for in his situation, he had nothing else to do but wait and hope that he gets some opportunity at freedom.

'You do not smell like the others' coolly replied the voice 'and you speak like one who still believes that freedom can still be attained.'

'And I take it that you have some sort of plan to get out of here?' asked Lehran who had some ideas on how he could stage a breakout with assistance from another.

'Someone is coming for me' answered the voice in a calm and patient manner 'although I must admit that had things gone a bit better, I would not even be in this situation.'

'Sounds like there is a story behind that' said Lehran who had been in more than a few tight spots in the past which could have entirely been avoided had he or someone he was working with had taken better care to not be so clumsy.

'You can say that and until then, I have time to speak' spoke the voice in the darkness.

The streets by the docks of Hercinia were now silent as night had fallen across the lands and it was the time of night when most folk who engaged in illicit or even darker activities were abroad. The local Watchmen of course did not bother to patrol the docks around this time for most of them were paid off or "encouraged" by the local Guilds to do their routes elsewhere. Armed mercenaries and local gang members roamed the streets. Some were tasked with keeping watch over the transfer of contraband which were transported from ships which would then be distributed to the dealers on the streets, others were on their way back with ill-gotten gain to be sold to fences and some had even more sinister intents.

Among those who could consider themselves most definitely the latter, were the pirate crew of the Saint Beth. A trio of them, men garbed in leather armors and wielding daggers which were sheathed on the sides of their belts, staggered out of an inn while singing a boisterous sea shanty. After more than a few drinks, the pirates felt perhaps more than a bit frisky and fortunately for them, they knew just the place where they would not have to pay an extra coin for some company.

One of the pirates, a Rivaini named Martello stepped to the side and announced to his mates 'you lads go on ahead, gotta drain the snake.'

The other men hardly acknowledged their shipmate for they were too drunk to care and the man staggered off to an alley to relieve himself. Undoing the belt of his pants, he felt a sense of relief which began to fill Martello as he passed out all the ale he had drunk from the tavern and after a quick moment, he was already rejoining his mates who were not far ahead of him. He kept an eye out for trouble, watching to see if any of the local street rats would try to rob him and he began to have that gut feeling that someone was following him.

Looking back dark streets behind him, he saw not one living soul and he thought that perhaps he must have drunk too much or perhaps the ale was not a good batch. Quickening his pace so he could rejoin his shipmates, the pirates made their way to the Saint Beth which carried their cargo. Martello had joked with the idea of sneaking away a couple of their current stock and setting up a brothel somewhere and they all had a good laugh from it, from pirates to pimps one man said and they further joked about the idea of turning the ship into one giant sea-born den of vice and sin.

When they eventually arrived near where the Saint Beth was moored the pirates felt somewhat re-energized by the salty smell of the sea but for Martello, he felt another sensation which was highly unpleasant. A hand shot out from behind him and covered his mouth before the edge of cold blade tore a bloody gash across his throat and his vision began to blacken. Blood gushed out from the fatal wound as he gurgled his last and before the blackness took him, he could hear the sounds of clashing steel and the pained screams of his fellow shipmates.

'Well that must have been a real stroke of poor fortune' shrugged Lehran towards his companion who still remained in the dark.

'Indeed' his companion who called himself Mahanon Lavellan then spoke 'would you care to tell your own story? How you came to be trapped here as I have?'

'Fair is fair' said Lehran 'it all started when-'

'To arms! to arms!' shouted a muffled voice from above and the sounds of footsteps could be heard along with the faint sound of clashing steel.

'And there is my rescuer' said Mahanon in the dark and Lehran could hardly believe that his companion had been speaking true this whole time.

The eyes of those within the cargo hold turned upwards with hope rising in their hearts as the sound of battle continued on.

'Those shem sure sound like that they are being given a real beating' commented Lehran.

'I have learned well enough not to question the skill of that one' Mahanon then said.

After several long minutes, the sound of the fighting finally ceased and those within the cargo hold began to wonder what was going on.

'What's going on?' a woman asked in a terrified voice 'why did the fighting stop?'

Again, there was silence and it seemed that time had stopped as everyone within the cargo hold stopped to listen. Soon they heard the sounds of footsteps from outside and the door which led into the crammed up space, opened to reveal a shem holding a key ring and a lantern with another figure standing behind him while holding a glowing blade to the pirate's neck. The blade slid across the human's throat, spraying blood upon the floorboard and those closest to the door who then cowered before the stranger who now silently stood at the door way.

'And I shall be taking my leave, perhaps you can join us, my clan has taken in a few of you city dwellers over the years' Mahanon then said as he stood up and began moving towards the slender figure at the doorway.

It did not seem like a bad idea thought Lehran who recently just did consider trying to look for the Dalish and it seemed that he had just found them. Getting up to his feet and feeling the weight of the chained manacles around his wrist, he followed his black haired companion who had been dressed in rags as much as he was and the elves around them took the cue as well with more than a few whispering prayers of thanks to the Maker. The others of course barely had the strength to get up and most of them who were simply too weak, stayed in their place and pleaded to be liberated.

Wishing to at least thank their savior, Lehran soon became surprised as he got a closer look to find that their liberator was what looked to be an elf woman of an unusually tall stature with pale skin and a rich mane of red hair which flowed downwards and was decorated with golden leaves, bright feathers and gemstones. Human blood matted the woman's armor which was composed of silvery scales while a green cloak of some expensive fabric was draped around her shoulders and pinned in place with a gilded pin depicting a bird of prey carrying a sword. In her hands, she carried two leaf bladed swords which despite being coated in gore, generated a soft, obviously magical, cyan glow with intricate ivy-like symbols across their surface.

Words were exchanged between the two as the tall woman gave a slight, warm smile to Mahanon. The woman then looked to Lehran with eyes of jade green and a haughty look before her gaze was focused upon the others who were in chains. There was then a clicking sound from Mahanon as he used one of the keys undo his manacles before tossing the ring towards Lehran.

'I would like you to meet Lady Kayren Swordwing' Mahanon then said as he rubbed his wrists and immediately did Lehran decide to stick with the Dalish plan.