Eyes in the night

[A Stranger]

"That's it. Keep on laughing..." The strangers whisper trails off into silence.
From their hiding place they watch the towns citizens walking in and out throughout the day into the late evening.
"At least this town is more eventful than the last." they think to themselves before sighing silently.
They smile behind their mask and continue watching for... Something.

After a while they return to their hiding place and pull a cover over their body in order to disguise the form of a person.

[A Stranger]

After a few hours of rest, the stranger wakes up from their nap, packs up their belongings and heads out. They are careful to clear any evidence of occupation that may have remained.

They decide to move on to the next town and after several hours of walking in the shadows they reach the next town. They spend the best part of an hour scouring for a decent place for temporary accommodation, hide their belongings and make their way closer to the town where they find a tall bushy tree to hide inside.

Once they are in position, they sit and watch. They occassionally tense and relax their muscles in order to avoid cramping but never move from their chosen spot.

People come and go but the stranger remains still and silent, watching them all intensely.

After a while the stranger spies somebody in town. The strangers eyes light up and a cruel grin forms behind their mask.

Once darkness arrives again, the stranger leaves their tree and returns to their temporary accomodation. They lie down under the cover used to hide the shape of a person and closes their eyes.

[A Stranger]

Late in the evening several days later, the stranger approaches the woman they have been watching for the past few days.
They appears to her in a breathless, desperate and anxious manner.
"Miss! Miss! I need your help. I was exploring with my friend and he has been taken ill, I think that a wolf bite he received got infected. He has passed out and I can't move him alone."

The woman appears to take pity on the stranger and their friend. "Wait right here. Let me fetch some supplies from my home."
The woman disappears and the stranger smiles inwardly to themself and mutters "This is so easy".

The woman reappears carrying a bag and the two hastily leave the town together.
After several minutes of walking briskly the stranger stops the woman and she looks around.
"I don't see your friend. Where is he?"

The stranger grabs the woman, pulls out a knife and hisses in a low, cold voice
"Listen to me. If you try to run, I will kill you. If you try to scream I will kill you. If you make me kill you then I will then take your children. Do You Understand?"

The woman tries to back away in shock and fear but the stranger grabs her again as she trips over a rock.
The stranger then pushes her between two rocks into a hidden cave that the stranger had used for accomodation the past few days.
The woman is then tied up, gagged and pushed harshly into the corner of the cave.

The stranger then kneels before her and watches her intensely and silently.

After what seems like several hours, the stranger drags the woman to her feet and pushes her out of the cave into an almost pitch black and moonless night, almost causing her to fall over.
"Be quiet woman!" The stranger hisses almost snake-like.

As the woman gathers her footing the stranger hisses again "Now. Take us somewhere private."

Under the moonless sky, the stranger and the woman make their way through the wilderness until they come to a cave.
"In here!" The stranger whispers into the womans ear and they enter the cave.
Once inside, the stranger then brandishes their dagger and whispers "Now listen. I am going to remove the gag and if you scream or shout then I WILL kill you. Do you understand?"
The woman nods their head slowly, watching the stranger with obvious hatred and fear.

When the gag is removed the woman opens and closes her jaw several times before speaking "Who ARE you?"

The stranger crouches in front of the woman and grins coldly. "Who I am and what I want with you is not important. The only important thing is that you do exactly as I say."

The woman looks at the stranger with an iron look of hatred "You won't get away with this!"

The stranger laughs and says softly "Woman. If you feel that your husband is going to come and save you then you are very wrong."

Shortly afterwards, the stranger hits the woman over the head with the hilt of their dagger and as she passes into unconsciousness They whisper "Sweet dreams, Mrs Demelii"

[A Stranger]

Whilst Alessaina Demelii is unconscious, the stranger gets to work on writing a letter.
Once they have finished they leave the cave and several hours later they return.
Outside Galmair a note can be found pinned to the tree just out of sight of the towns guards.

Galmarians!
We have your guard Demeliis woman.

If you wish to see her alive again then we demand that 3000 gold coins, 150 assorted unique magical gems and 200 good quality magic wands be delivered to Runewick within 7 dwarven days.

Failure to comply will result in the death of the woman.

In the event that the woman dies, a fee of 200 gold coins will be required for each body part that you require for burial.
There will be a total of 8 body parts totalling 1600 gold coins

We look forward to your delivery.

[Lord Arcia]

Arcia knocks on the door and waits for a moment. He can hear the footfalls of someone moving through the house and he steps back from the door slightly as it begins to open.

"Aye? How can I help ye toiday?" asks the Nanny, with a babe on each hip. Arcia lifts an eyebrow at the young lady.

I had wished to speak with either the lord or lady of the house. I had noticed over the past two weeks Alessaina had been acting rather melancholy. She had agreed that I could keep watch of the children one night so that Leon and herself could have some quiet time."

"Nay, she came home in a rush and grabbed her bags of bandages and off she went!"

Arcia pauses for a moment and taps his chin a few times and responds in a curious tone. "Which way did she go?"

"I dinna see." The young woman shrugs and readjusts the babes on her hip.

"Thank you for your time. Be sure to pass on the message when she returns if you would please."

Arcia leaves the Demelli residence and stalks towards the east gate and looks around and finds a note pinned to a post.

[Mephistopheles]

Possibly right after Arcia had seen the post Vern awakes and goes to head to Cadomyr, he reaches the gate and on seeing the note he lifts a brow. he goes to it and takes it down to read. Furrowing his brow in a frown he shows the note to Brawndara, and then posting it at the crest so more would see. Brawndara and Vern head to Runewick looking for answers...

[Alessaina]

A tired nanny can be seen wandering the town, her usually coiffed braid a tangled mess from her long work at her employers' house.

She approaches all townspeople she can find, asking them if they've seen Ally.

"Mrs. Demelii's been gone for almost a day," she explains, speaking slowly from a lack of sleep. "Where is Captain Demelii?"

The young woman looks for Leon in all his usual places in town and becomes more frantic by the passing hour. When she finally sees the note posted at the crest, she cries out in horror. She doubles her efforts before returning to their house to the four children she cares for.

[Uhuru]

Uhuru speaks at length with Arcia and Vern before setting off to search around Runwick and outlying areas. After coming face to face with an undead black dragon she heads straight back to Galmair and marches up to the Crest gate and reads the ransom note. Her mouth drops open wide in shock at the absurd amount being demanded then slams closed in fury. "Well, there will be hellbriar to pay for this, I can tell you that!" She storms off in a huff.

[Alessaina]

Those who make their way toward Hemp Necktie Inn may find small pieces of white cloth caught on a few trees.

The cloth snagged on the trees appear to be pieces of bandages, one smudged with blood. The trail appears to stop at the inn instead of continuing on south.

[Kyre]

Never venturing far from Galmair without Oxi, Kyre gathers some boughs for a carving project before stopping to pick up a cloth with a very small amount of blood on it while avoiding a particularly aggressive dog growling at her. Touching it with a long red nail from her ungloved hand she then places the finger lightly on her tongue and blinks turning her dark eyes to stare somewhat puzzled toward the southeast. Kicking the dog attempting to gnarl at her steel boots, the witch moves with a purpose toward town, the boughs in her arms dropped forgotten to the ground laying nestled in some dog fur.

I need to find Oxi then Leon.

[Kugar]

Good riddance to bad rubbish.

The note has been left unsigned.

[Avariel]

After hearing the news, Avariel sits on the stairs of the Necktie and plays his pipes. "Whoever it is, if Ally is still alive, she must be kept at a secure place. Her guard knows, we are searching for her... so he must have hidden very securely." He plays a sad melody, allowing his body to move automatically, so his mind is clear. "The place needs to be dry, so they can sleep; they have to eat... so only caves and ruins are the only possibilities." He all in a sudden ends his play, puts his instrument in his bag, takes his bow and leaves for the wilderness. His senses are turned to any uncommon noise or track he might find.

[Alessaina]

Ally wakes, a queasy feeling in her stomach as she struggles to sit up. A dirty strip of cloth covers her eyes, blinding her from her surroundings. The gag in her mouth tastes of blood, most likely from the dull pain radiating from her temple.

She can't determine her location from feeling around with her tied up hands or from the smell. All she can tell is that she can feel a faint breeze on her tear-stained cheeks and hear the whispering of leaves on the Scandrel pines.

I don't even know if I'm in the same place.

The ground feels the same as before, but there are countless places with stone ground and spongy moss-like grass.

Curse my stupidity. This is what happens when I try to help a stranger.

I hope they find the pieces of bandages I managed to snag on trees. It'll lead them to where we were hiding. Unless he found them when I was unconscious..

[A Stranger]

The stranger returns from another trip outside.

Quite some distance away, several trees can be found on fire some way outside the town of Runewick and the word "KIDNAPPERS" can be found etched into the dirt.

The stranger returns to the hiding place and seeing their victim awake, they pull off the blindfold roughly and slap the woman around the face before throwing some scraps of bandage in her face.

"You fool! Did you not think I'd find these scraps? If you are expecting a rescue party you are very much mistaken. Let me assure you, if I didn't still need you alive then you would certainly be dead. Keep testing my patience and you WILL be dead and I will have your children up here instead!"

[Gina South]

After hearing the news, Avariel sits on the stairs of the Necktie and plays his pipes. "Whoever it is, if Ally is still alive, she must be kept at a secure place. Her guard knows, we are searching for her... so he must have hidden very securely." He plays a sad melody, allowing his body to move automatically, so his mind is clear. "The place needs to be dry, so they can sleep; they have to eat... so only caves and ruins are the only possibilities." He all in a sudden ends his play, puts his instrument in his bag, takes his bow and leaves for the wilderness. His senses are turned to any uncommon noise or track he might find.

Love I just heard the news... we are hunters.. can we meet at the inn.. and track her, two is better than one... Elven eyes are sharp...

[Uhuru]

Evie and I talk at the depot in Galmair. Both of us wondering two things, why the ransom loot would be dropped in Runewick and why they would need so many wands. Do they wish to start a war between Runewick and Galmair? Doesn’t seem likely. If all they needed was to store the loot that certainly could happen anywhere.

I suddenly recall our big project, which is easiest to reach from Runewick. My eyes grow wide and I become apprehensive. We have always wondered about the need for such a large ship and as soon as we near completion one of our townfolk goes missing. We run out to the ship build site and look all around but find nothing.

The next dwarven day I mention this to Cal. He says they haven’t even taken over the ship or arrived even. I say they could be preparing. Someone could be here. He suddenly recalls that he, Evie, and Vel had met the shipbuilder in a cave, southwest of the Hemp Necktie Inn. I look soberly at Cal and tell him we have to search out there, now. I grab my gear and run to change. He doesn’t argue and follows my lead.

We teleport to the Inn and head out there, being careful to avoid the pools of lava, searching all around until driven out by a bone ghost, bone schemes, phantom archer, and an armored skeleton. We had to run for our lives, running into a mob of rats and wolves. I opened a portal book and the mob walked into it and surrounded me. I fought for my life, with Cal trying to help me clear the way out or to the portal. We finally managed to get away from them and I read a different book, fleeing to Runewick where we could make our way back to Galmair.

I told Cal, “I do think we were close, very close. I feel it.”

[Brawndara]

*Follows the road down from the necktie spotting broken twigs. After slaying the Terrorsaur's,Brawn stands atop Cherass citadel looking across the land. Seeing nothing he decides to across the bridge into the castle.* *Seeing on signs of a living person around he heads back to the tower and readies himself to kill the Terrorsaurs before going towards yewdale.*

[Gina South]

Said into the sky... as if Gina wished that Alessaina could hear her:

Aly I looked for you.. I searched the left twin the right twin and the Paddock Farm... I went through the fortress... but there are two black dragons.. are they guarding something... are they guarding you? I will keep hunting..

[Mr.Oldie]

"yet another taken?" Zzrracckk 'Purple' mutters out aloud to no one i particular after seeing the parchment and general chaos it seems to create among his fellow Galmairians.

"Gaah! When will the Town ever underzztand zzat zzere be much power in numberzz. Higher numberzz in dealzz or higher numbers in people searching; Numberzz izz alwayzz good."

Looking at the few passersby and waving the parchment around as if trying to get their attention he speaks aloud. "Why cant y'all arrange a zzearch and try together?"

Shaking his head to himself he places the parchment back on the crest and walks off.

[Alessaina]

She sits, curled up in defense against the cold. The blind fold is gone now, but the gag remains, silencing her words.

It's been five days now. Five days of waiting for something to happen. At least the man is feeding her, a few pieces of fruit here and there, things he's gathered. No doubt he doesn't want to enter a town and draw attention to himself.

Without the blind fold, Ally can see that she's still in the same place she'd been forced to lead her kidnapper to. She had hoped that the increased tenacity of the creatures would have taken the man out, but somehow he was always next to her.

Ally watches the strange man warily, and he watches her as well. They've come to an unspoken agreement to leave each other alone. She's noticed that he doesn't seem to sleep, his eyes seeming to glow in the dark when she dares to sneak looks at him.

She starts to piece his plans together from his faint mutterings that he thinks she can't hear: incriminating evidence, town unrest, chaos...

[A Stranger]

The stranger looks over to his captive occasionally.
He admits to himself that she can seem rather attractive... "whenever she shuts the hellbriar up!" he adds under his breath.

After approximately 11 hours into the 5th day, a distinct whistling noise can be heard from outside the hiding area. He turns to his captive and mutters "Stay here" before standing.
As he stands he looks back down and smirks coolly "Oh. You don't have a choice." He laughs coldly and leaves the safety of their hiding area.

From inside, two distinct voices can be heard muttering to each other quietly. The stranger reenters the cave, collects what seems to be a small envelope and exits again.
After several more minutes of muttering the stranger returns to the cool darkness of their hiding place alone.

He kneels beside his captive who has remained silent at this point.
He reaches into his bag and pulls out an apple and offers it to her without a word said. As his arm moves, his sleeve falls down slightly and there on his forearm is what appears to be a religious symbol.

[Alessaina]

She scrambles away from him upon seeing the mark.

"The Nameless One," she hisses, her sapphire eyes flashing with fear. "What do you want?"

The apple bounces out of his hand and onto the ground when she smacks at him. Her hatred for this man grows as his plan suddenly becomes clear to her.

"You are sick. They'll never believe it's true!"

[Lord Arcia]

Arcia paces back and forth outside of the gates of Galmair. "I do not understand. There has been nothing else found here...Perhaps a citizen of Runewick truely is to blame?"

With a determined step Arcia moves to the teleporter outside of Galmair. He closes his eyes and whispers, "Runewick." By magic he is taken to Runewick and speaks to Florain Dreyndel in a concerned tone.

"Have you seen any strangers about lately?"

Florain Dreyndel shrugs and replies, "I cannot help you with that. Why not ask Elesil Daelwon over there, I'm sure she has the answer." She then points in her direction and Arcia bows in thanks. He sighs and approaches the female asking the same question, but it goes largely ignored. The guard Brassius seems equally uninterested.

A moment later some rustling catches Arcia's ear and he turns to see some man clumsily pushing his way through undergrowth. Upon seeing Arcia the man exclaims "Oh, Hellbriar!" and flees immediately. Arcia moves towards the man in a swift pace and a few moments later the man trips over a rock. Arcia begins to speak but the figure climbs to his feet and draws a dagger and lunges for the elf, silencing him.

Arcia slashing in a wide arc in front of him hoping to put some distance between the human and himself but the human presses the attack and takes a hit from the ax, causing him to fall back. Thinking the man to be too injured to assault him further, Arcia moves to hold the man's wrists but the man spits some blood on the ground and lunges, dagger first. The elf swings his fist and punches the man in the throat, sending him to Cherga.

Another elf then approaches and helps Arcia move the body to the Runewick cross and Arcia searches the body, finding a note. He opens the note and reads it, a concerned look forming over his face.

My beloved Queen. Your will has been done and the two towns are stirring.
I believe they will start to fight soon.

Your Orcish allies have received word and agreed to assist you in capturing the towns.
Cadomyr will seen be all-ruling.

Long Live The Queen!

[Fiona]

Fiona stares at Arcia in disbelief as he tells her the news, her eyes wide in shock. Orcs allied with someone from Cadomyr? That can't be true.
The elfess stares into the distance thoughtfully, only half listening to what Arcia tells her. Taking Galmair and Runewick over... No, it can't be. Yet... no. Sure not. Suddenly she seems to realise something. Turning her attention back to Arcia she says: "It is possible that kidnapping Ally was only a distraction. "

Some time later, Fiona arrives at the teleporter in Cadomyr. Her heartbeat stops for a second as she suddenly finds herself surrounded by several orcs. Stumbling back, she somehow manages to avoid their axes. Horrified, the elfess runs into Cadomyr through the wide open gates, fearing what she would find. To her surprise, the town itself seems quiet and peaceful. Thinking about what Arcia told her, she starts to search for her friends.

[A Stranger]

Meanwhile, the stranger and his captive remain in the dark.
They had changed their location in secret after the meeting with the unknown messenger to avoid the opportunity for deception.

The stranger appears to be grinning proudly.
"I bet that fool wasn't expecting to be killed and the letter found. It appears that luck is on our side, wouldn't you say so my pretty?"

The stranger laughs evilly before picking up an apple, removing his captives gag and pushing the apple into her mouth.
"You need to eat. They won't fight over a corpse... Unfortunately.
I wonder if anyone has met the Orcs that have been dispatched to Cadomyrs outskirts yet. Bloodthirsty lot them."

The stranger laughs again, a crazed look is evident in his eyes and his lips pulled back in what appears to be a menacing smile

[A Stranger]

Several hours later and the stranger had left their hiding place in the shadows.
Approximately 20minutes later he hurries back in, gags his captive and pulls her to her feet roughly. He then starts to push her out of the cave.

"We're leaving! Now!"

He continues pushing her until they both arrive outside in the fresh air. He stops for a moment with his head cocked to the side slightly "Damn, they are close!" he mumbles to himself.

He looks around him and then hastily pushes her ahead of him.

After a few minutes he pulls her to the side roughly "Be careful fool!" He then guides her around a sign with the word "Yewdale" written on it.

He pulls her behind a large building where a hedge grows and he whispers harshly "Stay here and stay quiet. If you don't, I will kill you AND your children"