People know much, but they will never see what I've seen. The world needed heroes so I have answered. Mistake has led me to this misfortune of being a sworn protector: We thought we were okay, we had it under control, but the foolish novice wizard (human, of course) made an error in judgment with a teleportation spell gone awry. We separated and I found myself laying on the deck of a ship propelled by a ring of fire the surrounded it. I woke up groggy, and realized I was looking into the tip of an arrow of a drawn bow, my kabuki-like mask askew on my face. A tiny, lovely high-elf reached her hand out to me. I looked, but did not except as I made an effort to get up on my own and straightened my mask.
"Are you okay?" the small Elvin sorceress asked.
"I think so…" I replied. "A little fatigued."
"Who are you?" inquired the wizard who had drawn the arrow at me. "Or what are you, more so? Your red skin and tail and horns tell me demon."
"My name is Knarghellah. I'm a tiefling." I noticed a paladin staring at me out of the corner of my eye.
"Ah, so you're half elf, half demon. So why are you here on our ship?" he asked.
"Oh, umm… spell gone wrong, I think."
"Oh, okay." said the elf. "Well, my name is Belle. This is Diabolisque…" she said, pointing to the wizard. "and this is my fiancé Mira." She said, now indicating towards the paladin.
Noticing my weary state, Belle took me to her chambers and offered me a bed to lie on and food to eat. I fell down on the bed and my black hair rested on the pillow and lay in contrast to the crisp white of the sheets. I fell asleep and dreamed of past horrors; my mother being raped and murdered, me hiding under the stairs until they came for me and forced themselves on me too.
I woke up in darkness, sweat dripping down my face and trailing down the long dark scar on my upper arm. I still lie in the same room but the only light I saw was the flame of the elemental surrounding the ship. I saw Belle's outline standing in the doorway.
"Hello Knarghellah, we request your prescence on deck." I followed her and saw a regal elfin woman standing with an entourage of tall strong-looking men. She appeared to be some kind of elfin royalty. The wizard and the paladin stood by her talking.
"Hello Knarghellah," she said. "I am Selene. I heard you've appeared here by mistake. You can accompany us if you wish, or is there a place we can drop you off?" I shook my head "no."
Selene looked quizzical. "Haven't you got a home?"
"No," I sighed. "I am a drifter. I have no home."
Selene grimaced. "Well, I can tell you are a fighter, juding by your armor. Are you a blade for hire?"
"Sometimes…" I replied.
"Well," she continued. "We do need all the help we can get. We have no money to give you but we are heading to the town of Icewindale. There are rumors of a dragon somewhere nearby. If you would like to, you may join us and take anything of value you find along the way. Diabolisque here says dragon parts are very costly."
"Why not?" I answered. "I could use a bit of carnage. Hell, count me in."
The rest of the evening was spent chatting in the smoking room until we reached Icewindale. But on our way there, we noticed something. A mass of fog hovered a few miles behind us. But there was something odd about this fog; it seemed to be following us. A few miles off in a different direction was a ship. The fog suddenly came up upon this ship and swallowed it whole. It hovered there for a second then moved towards us; the second ship was nowhere to be seen. Mira put up his detect evil spell. There was something very defiantly warm and evil about it. But the fog was gaining on us. Belle attempted a spell to make the weather around the fog cold. The fog only absorbed the spell. The ship was now racing towards Icewindale but the fog was yet closer. Suddenly, we were engulfed. My head hit the floor. All went black.
