[IC] The Kingdoms of Miras

[TheDarkTemplar]

---

Karaas: Nalrokan Outpost on the edge of the Great Mirasthian Desert
Infantry Scout Yireth Wroth stood upon the battlements of the outpost overlooking The Dead Sea. The glow of the moon on the sands caused the seemingly never-ending desert to appear as a frozen sea. To think that a place as beautiful as this could be home to such evil as The Purge, the young scout pondered the thought as he scanned over the wasteland. He wondered at the mysteries and hidden secrets that could be buried out there. Of course he was not foolish enough to venture out in search, almost anymore who enters the Dead Sea never returns, his fellow scouts only ventured far enough that's they'd still see the outpost on the horizon before heading back.

He wouldn't be left alone to his thoughts though, as a woman joined him on the battlements. It was Captain Laraysa Shivenen, overseer of this outpost, she was making her rounds about the battlements to check on the men and the status of the surrounding area. Yireth stood at attention upon recognizing his commanding officer but was quickly signaled to be at ease. "Captain Laraysa, I've observed no suspicious activity so far ma'am, he announced as he walked past him to get a closer look at the environment. There was a silence as he carefully examined the dunes, it was only when she turned to face the young scout that she spoke, "How have you been Yireth?" the captain made it her priority to know every soldier under her command. Yireth was a young lad from a small surface settlement that had been established a few years before he was born. His parents were one of the first settlers there and with its location so close to The Dead Sea Yireth took his job here more seriously than most here. While this was good it meant the boy was less likely to be casual when asked. Despite this the captain found it refreshing to see such a patriotic spirit in the lad.

"Very well ma'am, I've received word from one of our scouting parties. Another anomaly was sighted six miles west of our location", Yireth replied with the utmost formality and precision.

"Yireth I asked how you were not for a scouting report", Laraysa chuckled slightly after being reminded of Yireth's stiff nature.

"Apologies, Captain. Honestly I've been on edge for some time now. What with these recent sightings and my mother falling ill I worry for my family", it was clear that a great weight was lifted off this young man's shoulders. Laraysa was about to answer when a faint screech could be heard in the direction of the desert. Laraysa spun around to catch a glimpse of whatever created the noise, on the horizon was a black winged creature, very large to be seen from the distance it was at. Laraysa's first guess was that it was a dragon but in her years as outpost commander she had now known dragons to venture that far out into The Dead Sea...something was wrong. Yireth, send a courier with a letter to the crown then go see your family. I should expect you back here in four days.

The scout's eyes widened in uneasy surprise, "What message would you have delivered?"

"Give a full report of this month's anomalies and sightings. Tell the king that he must summon the conclave, quickly now!

Yireth bolted down the battlements and into the archives, he gathered all the reports filed within this month and placed them within a satchel along with a letter requesting the king to summon The Conclave. With the satchel packed Yireth hurried over to the couriers' quarters and assigned the package to a courier. The messenger mounted his horse with haste and was on his way to the capital.

[Mr_pink]

Zax slowly and cautiously crouched along the rooftops as the sun set on the horizon. He placed his feet as carefully as possible, each step like the stitch in a wedding dress, slow and safe. He pulled the black hood over his balding green head as he neared his target. He leaped from the building he was on onto the slabs on the roof across the street from him. He almost slipped on the slanted surface, but maintained his balance by gripping onto the chimney.

He carefully crept down until he was at the edge of the roof before he gripped onto the last few slabs and swung down onto the balcony. Zax carefully twisted the door knob before entering the second floor of the home and quickly rolling into cover. His eyes scanned the room, every now and then spotting something glinting in the dark and marking it down for later. He eventually moved across the room and began to gather the glinting objects in a large burlap sack. He began to rake through drawers and wardrobes after that and then searched under the large bed in the room after that.

Zax slowly opened the door out into the house and then left the room and began to search and steal anything left lying around that he could find. He heard a large yell behind him and spun around to find that the family he had been told would be out of the house for the entire day was back early. Zax' eyes glanced to the left as the father of the family realized what was going on and prepared to draw the small sabre at his hip. As quickly as Zax had turned, he had ran. He leaped out of the open window to his left and rolled as he hit the street below. The father was quick to run down the stairs and out the door, following Zax as he escaped through the city.

Zax had to give it to the guy, he was quick for an old guy. Every time Zax spun a corner or leaped over a crowd and onto a wall the old man was right there behind him, charging through the crowd like they were nothing. Zax was getting tired of this, he turned a corner before swinging the large sack filled with metals and precious objects around behind him, smacking the father in the face and sending him falling to the ground. Zax quickly made his escape via a nearby wall he scaled. He was left panting a few alleys away, he chuckled a little before checking the sack to see if anything was damaged. A few plates had smashed, but he probably wouldn't have been able to sell them anyway. Overall it was a pretty good heist in retrospect. He slung the large sack over his shoulder and made his way out onto the public street, his hood no longer over his head.

[TheDarkTemplar]

The Capital City of Narasthia

---

Narasthia: Palace of the Royal Family

Kind Sardis strolled down the halls of the Royal Palace, a look of frustration upon him as he contemplated over a solution to a problem that has been plaguing his people for some time. These fanatics ,"The Scions of The Umbral Goddess", have been terrorizing the outer settlements for some time now as part of their religious crusade. Their efforts have become more than a mere annoyance to the Ash King and they would soon feel his wrath. "Thoughts for another time, for now I must attend to more pressing matters", Sardis thought before his servants opened the doors to the grand dining hall. 

Queen Niranyia was standing just beyond the doors waiting for her husband to arrive. "Hello, love", Niranyia said before kissing her husband and taking her seat beside him at the table. The grand dining hall lived up to its name as It's ceiling was covered in various diamonds and sapphires which glimmered and glistened as the glowstones, cut and shaped to compliment the theme of the hall, illuminated them with a soft light blue glow. The walls were cut from white stone which was as smooth as glass and given an accent of finely shaped silver embroidery. The floor was comprised of obsidian which was blacker than the deepest depths of the underground. Indeed the grand dining hall was a marvel but it paled in comparison to the Great Hall. 

At the table Sardis was about to begin dinner when something stopped him. The moment was unusual as it was around this time he'd be hearing from a certain unruly child of his. "Where is Ariya?", he asked despite having a good idea as to where she was. Niranyia simply grinned before placing her drink back onto the table. "I'm sure she is fine. Ariya knows how to fend for herself, after all it was you who was so determined to have her be taught Kar'Tal when she was a child

"So she could be safe when the time came to fight, not spend her days fighting across the capital"

"She has chosen a noble path, not many are capable of being Insidiari. She serves the kingdom in the way she sees best you should be proud" 

"I am proud, my daughter is blessed by Rheasa and a skilled assassin...I just wish she'd spend more time learning the ways of the court. To be ready for the day she becomes queen as is her duty."

"Her duty as of now is with the Insidiari, when the time has come she will take her place upon the throne. All you have to do is lead by example she will notice, she does not have to be by your side to learn"

Sardis let out a short chuckle before returning to his meal. Before he could finish however Wrelis, the ambassador for the king, came bursting into the dining hall. His eyes wild with fear and his hands shaking to the point he had trouble handing the king the numerous papers he had in a satchel. "Wrelis, what is the meaning of this?", Sardis demanded with an aura of annoyance about him. The ambassador lowered his head before answering, "Urgent news from one of the desert outposts, your eminence!"

The Ash King looked over each document, with each paper read Sardis became more and more angry. His eyes frantically darting across the page as he tried his best to assess the situation. Once his eyes read the last of the field reports his eyes closed in disdain for his worst fear had come into reality. "What is it?", Niranyia asked as she stood up from the table. Sardis handed her the papers and the queen quickly read through them and making a look similar to her king. "Surely it can't-"

"It does. A Purge is beginning, we must summon The Conclave", Sardis handed the latter's to the ambassador "Make copies of these and send them to each of the kingdoms along with a Summoning of The Conclave". Wrelis scurried out of the dinning hall leaving Sardis to stand by the fireplace. A massive alcove housing blue flame left a pale blue glow on the king's face. Niranyia walked away from the table to her husband's side and accompanied him as the two gazed into the flames. There was a maddening silence before Sardis spoke, his words were sullen as he declared, "If this truely is a Purge its been the first in ages...pray we survive this, because of Nalrok falls the world follows"

[Draconfound]

Kannet slowly made his way through the market streets, pausing occasionally to look at wares. Though his pace was still quite sluggish, he was glad that he could move mostly unhampered now, as the children who had gathered around for the small sweets that he always carried with him to hand out to them had mostly dispersed as soon as the supply of candy ran out. He was on his way to the town's central square, where he had deemed to preach his many wise thoughts, but as he turned a corner to exit the market he heard a somewhat loud scuffle from an alleyway nearby. Approaching the alley in question, he observed some breed of goblin, rummaging through a sack as a man, injured and unconscious, lay on the ground behind him. To any other man what had happened here would be obvious- a goblin had assaulted and robbed this innocent old man- but Kannet prided himself in the fact that he was never so quick to judge, and so he approached the goblin in question, in such a way that his end of the alleyway was blocked in case the goblin were to attempt that exit without conversation.
"My greetings to you, good sir. I heard some sort of scuffle this way, and wished to inquire as to what might be the matter."
He crossed his arms behind his back, staring the Goblin down with a no-nonsense look as he awaited the man's answer.

[Mr_pink]

Zax swung around to face what seemed to be a well educated homeless person. His face skewed into a puzzled look for a second, but it turned back to a sneer as he realised what he had to do. His tongue darted out of his lips like a snake as he quickly thought about what exactly he was going to say until he finally had it.
"Well you see I've just travelled here from a faraway land called..." He thought to himself, this whole 'persuasion' thing was harder than he thought it would be.
"Well the name doesn't matter" He said quickly
"It's near the southern plains you probably wouldn't even be able to pronounce the name of where I'm from if I told you anyway." He eyes shifted around, looking for an exit if this long haired good samaritan were to call the city guard. He put on his best posh accent for the next part.
"Essentially this thief tried to mug me! Me of all people! I reacted justly and smacked him over the head with my bag of loo- I mean possessions!" He took a look at the man standing in front of him in more depth now. He didn't seem to be armed, and he didn't look nearly strong enough to be one of those monks who train for years to not get hurt when you kick them in the ghoulies. But then again, those robes do hide a lot. Zax grinned to the man in the hopes that he would just let him go on his way.

[Draconfound]

This man seemed dangerous, regardless of race, and Kannet was well aware that he would need to play his cards right if he wished to achieve the most desirable outcome. First, he reached with his mind to the goblin's, employing his powerful illusion magic to cause the goblin to see a guard walk by the alleyway, and set this illusion to loop every few seconds. Any who is not foolish would not attack if they believed a troop of guards nearby. With this measure in place, he began to speak again.
"How horrible! To think such a crime could occur in such a place as this. Are you harmed? No, don't answer that, you probably are, whether you know it or not. Come with me, let us report this crime to the captain of the guard, they will be more than capable of addressing that issue and directing you to a healer."
He was not sure that he believed Zax's version of the story, but there was no sense in doubting until he had evidence to the matter.

[TheDarkTemplar]

---

A small town near the border of Nalrokar surface territory..

Six Ash Elves on horseback rode through the forests as the sun began to descend beneath the horizon. Adorned in black light leather armor with throwing knives, daggers, and swords that would have been concealed had their capes not been kicked up by the wind as they sped through the woods. Their identities hidden behind masks covering the lower half of their faces along with black hoods. The only identifiable mark on them was the same symbol on the left of their chest. An infamous image of a black dragon that is feared by many in and out of the Kingdom of Nalrok. This symbol belonged to The Order of The Insidiari, an ancient Nalrok assassin order created to carry out tasks either too dangerous or too "dishonorable" to be done by regular soldiers. Wherever they are seen death is soon to follow.

One of them raised their hand into the air signaling the group to stop and they did so almost instantaneously. After signaling the party to halt the assassin dismounted from her horse and the others followed suit. "Kieros, stay and guard the horses", she ordered as the party tied the reins to a nearby tree. From the way she carried herself it indicated she was their leader as she pulled out a piece of parchment from a satchel, "This is our target. A goblin thief named Zaxazy Treechucker, years ago he operated as a lone assassin. That kind of work gets you enemies and is the reason why we are here. We have tracked him to this town and have orders to capture him if possible" the eyes of the men she commanded looked disappointed as they had hoped to challange a fellow assassin, despite it being a goblin. The assassin leader smiled as she knew what would come next would change their moods, "but we have been given permission to kill if capture proves unlikely. That being said we are Insidiari and we fulfil our contracts. Let's hunt us a goblin...

The Insidiari made their way into the town without alerting a single guard. Their motions were fluid and silent as they stealthily traverse through the alleyways and rooftops. Finally the group locate their target in an alley during a confrontation with some human. The assassin leader watched the two from above. Her black and blue eyes picking up every fine detail of the alley as she looked for a way to get an advantage over her target. Upon inspecting the area the assassin gave the signal to her team to take aim on the human and the goblin, if they didn't come quietly they'd be dead before they got a chance to run. Once she received the signal that the archers were ready the assassin leader jumped down from the rooftop and quietly landed behind the two individuals. Before she even stood up her dagger was already unsheathed and she was now in an attack stance that was elegant yet intimidating. 

"Unless The two of you wish to be filled with arrows I suggest you surrender your weapons and come quietly", while killing the human would be easier the assassin figured he could be an accomplice and so will be brought to the capital as well as the goblin. "There are four Insidiari assassins with their arrows aimed on you at this very moment. They are hidden so don't try to look. If you prefer to have your blood in you you'll do as I say. Now.

---