Authors Note: Thank you for the reviews so far. Your feedback is deeply appreciated and constructive critism I will learn from and put to much use, thank you. The next chapter is the actual story now, so the last chapter wasn't really a chapter, but just a prolouge, whereas this chapter is the actual story, or in other words, the DD game that me and my friends, and my dad are constructing. As you read on, you will see that the adventurers you meet are going to be given thier first task. (Just thought I'd add, when we actually did RPG the whole quest, it was so scary that some almost puked and other's nearly wet their pants.) You may find it hard to understand how this first quest relates to the prolouge, it kind of doesn't really. It is just the first test so that the readers may understand the characters more and their strenghths. Please enjoy. And Thanks again. - Sandra

Scarlet and the Blade of Light

Chapter 2: Marlo

The town of Marlo was a passive town, it was a town filled with people of open minds. Marlo accepted anyone into their towns graciously, whether it be dwarves, humans, elves half-elves, halflings and so on. The only certain races of people that Marlo exiled were anything of a sinister heritage and outlaws. It was not exactly a simple looking town, though the people carried simple lives. They had their basic needs along with extra places such as the weaponry and so on and so forth. The people there were friendly and most were ignorant; unaware of most dangers. They were quite used to foreigners coming in and out, mostly simple bards traveling by to tell their stories for a coin or two.

That night, it was the same as usual, the skies were perfectly clear; you could see every star in the black sky. It was a full moon and there was a small party held at the square. Young lovers snuck off to small gardens to hide from others and whisper to one another quietly. Men went to inns to drink and gamble while their wives minded their children. Single women listened to the bards and sighed dreamily at their poetical ways of speaking and their faerie tale stories. Others would just spend time with their families, and those without families stayed isolated enjoying themselves a light drink, or with their friends, such as Demonia Isis, Edlyn Redstorm and Ariadne Luna.

The three were rather quiet that night, they had a fire going nicely, sitting around the campfire roasting sausages and whatnot. The gnome, Ariadne, had a pet monkey that screeched and crawled around her shoulders playfully now and then. She named her monkey after her past lover as a joke; his name was Dimble. Dimble was a small monkey; Demonia and Edlyn wondered why she ever kept the thing. It didn't help whatsoever, it just stood there and picked at her hair and screeched until the three of them were literally driven up the wall. If anything, Demonia and Edlyn would have picked something like a wolf, or even a wild dog, perhaps a raven, but a monkey? Oh, but Ariadne loved Dimble and some could see the obvious, it was simply annoying, but adorable too. Ariadne gave Dimble her sausage, sighed and stuck another one on her stick, she could never get any food in her mouth with Dimble around.

Demonia smiled, particularly amused as she watched Dimble shovel the food in his mouth. Ariadne got up abruptly and started to stretch and yawn, Dimble jumped off her shoulders and angrily screeched at her. Her soft, short, light blonde hair glinting from the light of the fire, her eyes a crystal blue, soft with a deep love of nature. She was wrapped in clothing's of fur with a quarterstaff lying down on the ground next to her leather boots. She was very short, though she stood her ground, her fingers seemed to glow with light and her smile was soft and meant for everyone. A druid she was and a firm believer of the god of nature, Obad-hai.

"You tired?" Demonia asked, her voice was powerful and strong.

Ariadne looked down at her wide-eyed, "Of course not."

Demonia just smiled yet again, she was a half-elf with pitch black hair that fell around her shoulders, her eyes were dark and if you looked hard enough you could see some general red hue. A fire burned in her eyes, a mysterious history lay behind the mask that even she knew so vaguely about. She never did know who her parents were, her real parents that is, her foster parents told her they were murdered by orcs. The only thing they ever left behind to her was a magnificent blade that she knew little about. It was a short sword, the hilt had a pommel gem that glowed a deep scarlet. Whenever she drew it out it would light a globe around her, giving her protection (plus 2). The blade itself would light up whenever it detected anything Lawful Evil. It cut through almost anything; the only thing she knew apart from its great worth was its value. Her foster parents told her to keep it out of sight at all times underneath her robes, others would love to get there hands on such a blade. The blade, of course, was called: Scarlet. She was an excellent fighter and went to a small military institute when she was young. It didn't cut for her so she went and taught herself, leaving her foster parents behind. She then met Edlyn Redstorm along with Ariadne, along with, of course, Dimble. The three of them have been friends for nearly twenty years, living in the town of Marlo. They always spoke of their dreams, training often, but never acting upon their dreams or making their training worth it.

Edlyn's eyes than glittered with deep mischief, "Ever heard of that house up yonder?"

Demonia looked at her cautiously; the two looked somewhat alike yet very different. Edlyn's black hair usually fell around her shoulders like dark magic. But always annoyed with it, she always put it up in a high ponytail. She was shorter than Demonia by a few inches, thinner and more nimble. Her eyes were dark with a navy blue rim; now and then in the light you could see shades of green. A jagged scar ran across her cheek, from when she tried to undo her first detected trap and failed, it nearly took of her head, but dexterously for a beginner-rogue, she was able to dodge it just close enough before it completely skewered her head off. So while Ariadne was the most wise and serene, and Demonia was charismatic and intimidating, Edlyn was the clever and mischievous, though sometimes she could be to bold for a rogue and at times it put her in trouble.

"What house?" Demonia asked.

Edlyn shrugged, "You know, the house that's no more than twelve miles from here...the one that's haunted."

Ariadne barked a laugh, "You really believe that Edlyn? Or are you just trying to scare us again with your pathetic stories?" Demonia started to laugh with her.

Edlyn looked at them both seriously, "I'm dead serious...you've never heard of that house? Everyone talks about it here, those who come in, never come out, and those who do come out are never the same."

Demonia shook her head in disbelief, grinning to herself, "Well if the people oh so talk about it here, and everyone knows, than why do the travelers keep trying to go in this, so-called haunted house?"

Edlyn paused, and threw her stick in the fire, she looked back up at the pair of them."Something terrible happened there...no one knows exactly what...but there is rumor that there are a few valuable items inside that house."

Demonia and Ariadne exchanged looks, "That's it?" They both asked in unison, than they both started to laugh.

Edlyn gave them a grim smile, "Fine, if you both are so confident, I dare all three of us to go there, and go inside and find these items."

They both stopped laughing real quick, "You can't be serious?" Demonia asked.

"Why not? We've been wanting to do something like this for a long time, I figure we should pack up and head out now, it's not all that far." Edlyn told them, she got up and started to roll up her sleeping bag. The other two could see she was dead serious about this. The lust for adventure started to course through all three of them.

Within a few hours, they were packed up and ready to set foot for the first time.