[i]February, 4901, somewhere in the Northern Range Mountains.....[/i]

	Lieutenant general Zavros Omrud snaps himself out of sleeping due to the locomotive's sound. The Trans-Aurelian Railway sure was busy today. Zavros peeked outside of his wagon to inspect the famed beauty of the Nothern Range Mountains.

[hider=My Hider]
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	The military train was stamped with Yllendir sigils at every door. Zavros opened his official records book in order to once again take a look over the cargo of the train. Bolt action rifles, artillery and rifle ammunition and general food ration supplies. The train was heading towards the capital of the province. Ever since the crisis of the twin emperors, Aurelia has been increasingly becoming a fire pot. Imperial authorities received increased reports of dissidence, especially in the remote areas of the Midlands. 
	Everything was quiet, the peace of the train was undisturbed, or so it seemed. Within the blink of an eye, the train's conductor pulled a forced attempt at stopping the train as an explosion could be heard in the distance. Zavros, together with his men, fimly grasped the seat's handles as the train eventually began to fall off the railway bridge. The train smashed itself from the cliffs and eventually stopped between a narrow corridor through the mountain. It seems that his operation was planned. Some of the Yllendir soldiers fell to their doom further down the valley, with some passing out due to trauma from being thrown around in the train. A handful of them were aware, including Zavros. Within ten minutes, a swarm of figures began to descend from small caves in the cliffs, down unto the train. The locomotive was on fire, burning coal being spilled everywhere. Eventually, the locomotive exploded, sending a wave of push force through the mysterious figures, each struggling to maintain their balance. Zavros's vision was dizzy enough to make him not realise what was happening on the moment, but he could distinguish the vague sound of bullets flying around. 
	Eventually, the atmosphere calmed down, and Zavros found himself being grabbed by what appears to be the infamous aurelian rebels. You could certainly distinguish them from the previous yells of "EEEEHAYYYYY!" and "YEEEEEEHHHHAAAAA!". No, this wasn't a silly non-sense child shout, this was the famous rebel yell of the aurelians, a tradition from the peasants who used these sounds to distinguish themselves over vast terrain in the swamps and forrests of the Midlands.
	After the general has been captured, he was tied tightly and put a bag over his head. The rest of the surviving dark elves were executed by headshot from a revolver, each being spat on by the rebels before being killed. The rebels cried out in victory as they signaled the others to climb down on the train. In half of an hour, wooden crates and medium containers tied to rope were descending down, together with a dozen more people. The heavy cargo was loaded on the crates and containers, while multiple rifles were attached to the back of each rebel. Such an operation lasted two hours roughly. Finally, the rebels torched the train further, leaving only the metal structure of the train to partially survive.


[i]Later in the same day....[/i]

	A bucket of water splash and Zavros wakes up, finding himself almost naked, aside of his underwear and a few bandages around his wounds. By the looks of it, seems like the rebels want him alive. [b]"Wake up, elf."[/b] said one of the men standing outside of the cell the general was in. [b]"You've just signed your death warrance, rebel scum."[/b] replied the dark elf, managing to stand up, although unbalanced.
	The general was escorted through stone halls and chambers, many with overgrown mushrooms and cave fauna. At the end of a hall, the general understood where he was, an old dwarven settlement, now inhabited by the rebels.

[hider= Rebel hideout]
[img]http://img07.deviantart.net/cdb3/i/2011/325/3/6/durnir__s_forge_by_durnir-d4e6o5x.jpg[/img]
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	Along the way, the general is spat on and mocked by the rebels, who were intrerupted from their meals and trainings. Entering one of the stone buildings, the rebels put the general on a chair and has his hands and feet tied down against his will. [b]"Release me at once, and you have my personal promise that you and your band will receive the mercy of the Empire in the form of conscri-"[/b] the general could not finish his sentence because a swift punch from one of the men landed on his right cheek, making him cry out in pain and grunt afterwards.
	"You're going to spend the next weeks, maybe months, here. You best listen closely and collaborate." said the rebel who seemed to command here. The next hours of the day were infernal for the general, where he refused to answer the interrogation of the rebels, he either had one of his nails pulled off, or a teeth taken out. 

[i]February, 4901, Midlands forrest......[/i]

	Days passed like crazy since Caleb found himself alone in the forrest. Sure, his entire life living in a village proved fruitful, for he learnt the arts of surviving in nature, but you could only survive much time. The winter was mild in the Midlands, but still, coldness increasingly crept through Caleb's body as days passed. He returned to his hideout, a small cave in the roots of an enormous tree. He spent the last number of days there, making the fire, eating worms, mushrooms and squirrels from time to time. His ammunition was depleted, for he used the last bullets in a previous fight with a boar. By pure luck, he didn't encounter wolves yet....but he was suffering from a cold, looked like it would be a severe one. At night, while lamenting in his own pain and neverending coughs, Caleb made peace with the fact that he will most likely die in a forgotten forrest, failing his father. On occasion, memories from childhoold would pop up in his head, from playing with his brother to learning how to ride on Tom. Eventually, he closed his eyes.

	It seemed like just a second since he passed out. Caleb opened his blurry vision to see himself inside someone's house. The sun gently shined through the window, the shadows of various alchemy glasses tainting the illuminated floor.


[hider= The mysterious house]
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	Caleb gets up quietly as the bed cracks some noises, promting an elderly woman to come out of a room. Caleb looks at her with suspicion at first.[b]"When I found you, I couldn't tell if you were alive or asleep, now it seems you're healthy as ever" said the woman, smiling warmfully.[/b]
	[b]"W-Where am I? Who are you?"[/b] replied Caleb, still dizzy. 
	[b]"I believe the correct words are 'Thank you!', young man.[/b]
	Caleb quickly proceeds to look around for his satchel, which he spots on the chair next to the bed. He reaches the satchel in order to search through to see if the old lady hasn't stolen anything.
	[b]"Don't worry, I'm no thief. All your belongings are there, untouched. You were in a bad state, the winter cold seemed to kill you slowly. You're experiencing a dizzyness state because I infused in you some personal herbs for revitalization and cure.[/b]
	[b]"Why? Why did you bring me here? Why did you save me?[/b] replied Caleb curiously.
	The old lady gestured for Caleb to wait as a noise came from the kitchen. She went towards the kitchen, gesturing for him to follow her. As both went inside the kitchen, the old lady had Caleb sit on the wooden table with a wonderful sheet ontop, full of aurelian traditional motifs. The old lady was brewing some porridge and she served Caleb her own special recipe.
	[b]"Why I saved you? It's what I do, me and the dogs, too![/b]
	[b]"The dogs?"[/b]
	[b]"How do you think I carried you here, sweety? All by myself? No, the dogs pulled the sleigh with you on it.[/b]
	The two would go on for many hours to talk about pretty much anything. Apparently this old lady has lived her whole life with her husband alone in this forrest. She and her husband grew together ever since they were children during the conquest of Aurelia. Both of their families were among those who took refuge in the forrest after the war.
	[b]Listen, I have to get to Aurelia as quickly as possible. Know any route out of here?[/b] said Caleb, eventually remembering his mission.
	[b]The forrest is pierced by a railway, trains usually stop here in order to collect wood from the local camp. You can try and sneak in one of the wagons.[/b]

	That was the plan from then. Once he left the old lady, he followed the path that the elderly lady told him about and arrived at the camp in the middle of the night. Seems like everyone was sleeping. His luck once again hit him as he saw the train suspended on the stone bridge that pierced through the trees of the forrest. With huge caution, Caleb made his way past the wooden fence and without making any sound, he climbed the metal ladder upwards, arriving at the tracks. He pulled the door aside as quiet as he could and hopped on in one of the wagons, making sure he'll be hidden through the numerous wood stacked. The next day, the train began it's course to the capital, Aurelia...