[b]Starting Date and Time:[/b] 45th Day of Ceruleo, 300 DM, Sunrise

[b]Starting Location:[/b] Stone Crest, at the gate leading up into the Indiga Mountains

[b]CS URLs:[/b] [url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/2896760]Alya[/url] & [url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/3012336]Rilana[/url] & [url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/3085356]Chartrose[/url] & GM

The winds howled loudly through the snow covered village of Stone Crest. Many of the residents were used to it, but this year it seemed the snow was determined to be nonstop and much heavier than in recent times. The village had been quite peaceful since the last Reckoning in Mauven, which put the village in control by [url=http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/ebonfort/images/d/d8/Captain_Iy'kayia.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20151007190929]Captain Iy'kayia[/url] and her company of Drow and Orcs, usurping the previous residents of Humans and Deep Dwarves. The captain found herself standing there, bundled in the specially made wolverine furs lining her armor, scimitars hanging in their scabbards at her hips. She'd been made aware of this expedition when Lord Knight Svarak's squire, Tomas, arrived with various orders, and she decided to join up. 

She knew there wouldn't be another attempt at a Reckoning for at least two more seasons, so she could risk it for the fun of the journey. And it would look good for a possible promotion, after all, the current Warden overseeing Stone Crest was getting quite old. This would be a chance to truly test her skills before challenging him. She scratched at the ear of her mount for this trip, a rather large ram, courtesy of the Frost Trolls further up in Indiga. They'd originally had horses slated for this journey, but southern horses just couldn't cut the cold or the snow. The only horse joining them would be ridden by the new Envoy. She'd arrived a few days earlier with Tomas, and was apparently in charge of the entire expedition. Some old law from over three hundred years ago. That disgusted the captain. The woman was just a mere civilian, yet would outrank all of them. And Envoy wasn't a position that could be won by blood either, so she couldn't simply kill the woman to move up. 

Tomas wasn't joining them, as he'd given her all the appropriate paperwork, muttering something about having to cover Svarak's work, whatever that meant, before returning to the capital. Another drow woman began walking over, and Iy'kayia felt her frown deepen. Warden Knight Drisceya. She'd managed to join in the expedition despite her high rank, due to her extreme knowledge of the Underdark. There were no others more adept in traveling through there. It was simply the Knights being extra cautious, unsure if the passes would be accessible during the winter. It irked the captain having yet another person that outranked her, especially another drow woman. 

The warden said nothing, climbing into the sagging saddle of a ram, smiling like a spider as only drow can. After several long moments, [color=bc8dbf][i][b]"Well done on winning your Reckoning, I hear you suffered very minimal losses."[/b][/i][/color] 

The captain grinned slightly at the recognition, [color=7ea7d8][i][b]"Thank you Warden."[/b][/i][/color] She almost bragged, but thought better of it. 

[color=bc8dbf][i][b]"Captain is a good rank for you, I'm sure that it is one you will hold for a very long time."[/b][/i][/color] 

The compliment felt like a slap across the face to the captain, suggesting that she didn't have the strength to go any higher. It infuriated her, and she could do nothing but accept it. [color=7ea7d8][i][b]"Thank you Warden."[/b][/i][/color]

The pair watched in silence as the rest of the group slowly gathered together over the course of the next stretch. Civilians had been allowed, and even encouraged to come, and the Knights would even foot the bill. Though it still seemed as though many had the common sense to not attempt something so dangerous as a mountain trek mid winter. The knights only had four representatives attending, the envoy, and four other civilians, bringing the group to a total size of nine. There was a mute girl with a young wolf accompanied by a drunkard hunter, a mercenary, and a rather fat Homunculus that was a recognized medic from the capital. The other two knights were both unranked, though one was brought in for he knew many languages of the races that they might encounter en route, both human men. 

After the entire group was assembled, the unranked knight, Beran, asked a simple question, [b][i][color=a2d39c]"Why's there another ram saddled?"[/color][/i][/b] A quick glance confirmed that it was so, in addition to the unmounted rams that were being brought solely for the purpose of carrying supplies. 

Iy'kayia rolled her eyes, [color=7ea7d8][i][b]"That squire of Svarak's probably messed up his paperwork. Never trust a squire." [/b][/i][/color]

Then a voice that many knew boomed out, chuckling lightly as he spoke, [color=f7941d][i][b]"Oh come now, if there's anyone I trust it would be that squire of mine."[/b][/i][/color] Lord Svarak was seated upon the chimney of a house near the gate, with no indication of how long he'd been there watching them in silence. All the Knights grew wide eyed in their surprise, no expecting the most powerful knight to be here. He hopped down lightly, glancing at each member of the party in turn, his eyes linger on Rilana's for just a moment longer than anyone else's. [color=f7941d][i][b]"Well Envoy, are we ready to go?"[/b][/i][/color] With that, he climbed into his saddle with feline ease, his standard Ebonsteel shining, contrasted by his crystalline greatsword strapped to his back. An observant person would notice he wore no extra furs, and seemed perfectly comfortable in the frigid cold.