Khaylan Somisteel walked down the villages pathways, followed at a distance by a small entourage comprised of starry eyed peasant children and a pair of his fellow knights. Standing taller than both of his "brothers", and clad in a somewhat ostentatious set of clothing, it was Khaylan who had drawn most of the attention of the tag alongs. His black vest was embroidered with silver and leff open enough to expose a deep purple undershirt and was sinched together by a thick leather belt over a pair of loose fitting black pants that tucked neatly into a pair of high leather boots. He wore a single steel ring on his left hand, emblazoned with the seal of his house. All in all, he was the picture of wealth to the villagers who caught a glimpse of him, a dangerous prospect, were it not for the broadsword that hung comfortably on his hip.

The knights were both from houses that ranked lower than Khaylan's own, and were feigning friendship in order to curry favor towards their own respective houses. What he found most amusing was that both of the men beside him wouldn't hesitate to stab him in the back if they thought it would bring them power. Fortunately, like most nobility, this was a game he had been playing most of his life, and he'd had far better teachers than these two ever had. Still, although part of Khaylan berated himself for being so shallow, he was unable to lie to himself:

He loved the attention.

The trio approached the village square in time to catch the tail end of the performance. In truth, this had been his objective all along. Another peasant, hoping to earn a few gold coins had informed him of a delightful songstress who sang in the village square along with a small band of instrument players. Ordinarily he would have scolded the man for wasting his time, but the peasant had also mentioned that the songstress had long hair that was a very attractive color of strawberry blond. Instead, Khaylan paid the man a single gold coin and had arranged to investigate this rumor to see if it matched up with a girl he had encountered in the past. Now that he had seen her with his own eyes, the knight grinned in anticipation. When the crowd had dissipated, Khaylan clapped his hands together slowly and loudly, his two "friends" misunderstanding the sarcastic tone of the gesture and adding nervous claps of their own.

"A sad sum, my dear, and after such a wonderful performance," Khaylan said, directing his words at the singer. "What did you pull in I wonder? Wait, don't tell me. I'll double it if you and your friends here would play me a little song..."