### Akali dai Remethiel

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Her hands were balled into fists as she swayed along behind the group. One hand held the pouch of Sovereigns that was her forward payment, while the nails on her other hand nearly pierced her skin as she glowered and bit her lip. She may not like Luminous Knights, they did bad things to magic, she didn't like seeing **that** happen. The brutality of a mage gone on a rampage, on a selfish, self-serving rampage, sickened Akali. Not all of those paladins had to die - though she regrettably acknowledged that they brought their fate upon themselves by challenging their mysterious employer and an entire village full of mages in the first place. _'And we did not get the map!'_ Akali was particularly angry about it being swept away from her and handed to the elf, Darthalia. Akali kept glancing at the aforementioned, who seemed perplexed by her sudden appointment as keeper of the relics. _The relics that Akali wanted!_ A low growl came from her throat, but she stamped it out pretty quickly and replaced it with a wide smile. 

_'That elf is pretty, we like pretty things, they suit us. We will just follow her and ask to look at the map whenever these other ones go to do their scouting.'_ Akali's eyes dilated as her stare seemed to bore into the back of Darthalia's head. _'We do not need to be ugly about this, no we don't. We will just be nice... nice and calm. There is beauty in patience, yes there is!'_ Akali's internal monolouge helped her calm down, and she unballed her fists from her sides and slid the pouch of money into her clothes. _**Patience.**_ That was all Akali needed to have to get what she wanted. Viva crawled out from her hiding space in Akali's clothes and the elf handed the creature another acorn to replace it's lost one. The flying squirrel munched on it happily, making cheerful noises as she sat on Akali's shoulder. **"Yes Viva, we have time do we not? You are _so_ pretty, yes you are!"**

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### Dysmoira Bazgard (interaction with the other recruits near the end)


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_'What the hell is this?'_ Dys stared down at the body of the bandit she had been forced to strangle with her bare hands, the one she was hoping to preserve for the captain to inspect. That was, before everything turned into hell on earth and they were assaulted but not one, but _two_ mages. The battle was a blur, between her having to wrestle with the bandit who she had knocked out that had awoken still slung over her shoulder, to the once-dead bandits laying near her feet who had miraculously resurrected. She hadn't been able to help with their allies who had been tethered, as she was literally swarmed by zombies, and then by the clones of the horrifying child-mage, Mimel. The battle between that _thing_ and the Overlord was inhuman and hard to watch. She had never witnessed the like of it in her life.

These horrific events had reinforced the fact that she **hated** magic and those who used it. Dys was disgruntled, pissed off, and in a generally sour mood. Meaningless death, so much of it, and these bandits had only been tools for the real evil of the world. **"Mages."** Dys growled through clenched teeth. She slammed her axe into the ground and looked up at the sky. She should have been ready for this, but she _wasn't_. She felt shamed by not realizing how shell-shocking true battle could be. 

_'Glory?'_ She kicked the dirt with her boot. **"There is no glory in this. I was a fool!"** She wrenched her axe from the ground and stomped over to where the rest of the recruits were gathering around the Overlord, and ended up standing next to Varkasan and the other recruits, Freiya, Steven (who she believed to be much too young to be out here, but he _was_ skilled with the bow), and Alicia. **"I'm pretty pissed."** Dys said simply, knowing that they would understand that she meant about the mages. She longed to drink some ale and sit in a tavern, not worrying about battles and death. But she was intent on doing this. **"We were too weak. We'll have to learn how to combat these _things_ more skillfully in the future."**