[center][h2]The First of Knights[/h2][/center]
[center]...rip and tear…[/center]



	Farwaen walked behind Hafface, his eyes studying her intently. She was rather weak looking and though she walked with purpose through the forest, he couldn’t help but notice her clumsy footfalls. He could only assume her parents were of a weaker stock — and noticing the abundance of lumber all around and the lack of the danger of the plains, he could think of why. Even still, he knew she was his guide to his quest, and beyond his judgement all he could feel was appreciation for her humble acceptance of his presence.

	“Thank you once again,” He called out to her, causing her to flinch. The spattering of greens surrounded them as silence dominated the area following his voice. It took her a moment before she replied, much more carefully and quieter than he was speaking.

	“Why are you following me?” 

	He frowned, clearly he wasn’t clear. “I’m on a quest.”

	Hafface stopped to look at the Eidolon. 

	“What does that have to do with me?”

	Farwaen gave a sheepish grin. “I don’t know where my quest is.”

	“Remember my second question?” Hafface asked.

	Farwaen opened his mouth, but before he could get an answer out, the roar of a bear came trampling through the underbrush. The serene noises of the forest were replaced with heavy growls and snapping branches. A massive beast of brown fur and teeth burst out of the green foliage — Farwaen’s eyes doubling in size, and a rattling scream coming from Hafface. 

	Instinctively, Farwaen punched out with his shield, catching the beast twice his size on its rim. His arm felt no weight thanks to the magical properties of his bulwark, leaving the bear snapping its jaws around the edge of the shield. Farwaen’s surprised expression turned to one of deadly seriousness.

	“By Hevel…” he swore. Blinking eyes of all sizes were twinkling all around the scene and beasts of many sizes were emerging from the dark forest. Even the songbirds above began to circle angrily, screaming revenge at the trespassers. They were surrounded. Farwean bit down and bared his teeth at the salivating bear.

	“See me through my battles, oh Lord.” His prayer was a growl. Hafface dove behind the knight and Farwaen’s blade flashed, catching the sun. All at once, the forest charged. 

	Farwaen stabbed out with his blade, slipping by his shield and dispatching the bear with a clean strike through the lung. The bear fell off his bulwark and he spun in time to use the edge of the circular shield to break the neck of a barking wolf. Without losing focus, he swung his blade around, slicing through a hovering songbird and landing into the neck of a deer with a fleshy thunk.

	Squirrels bounded off the tree branches, tiny teeth and claws aimed for the Knight and his ward. Farwaen caught three on his shield, one with a stab of his sword, and bucking out his head, he knocked another one clean out of the sky. His boot came down to finish the beast with a splatter, putting him back into a fighting stance.

	Wolves were circling him now and deer were stamping the ground. Farwaen gave a bestial roar and not waiting for his enemy, he brought the fight to them. Hafface screamed about something Farwaen couldn’t see, his vision as red as his sword as he dove in. He dodged a bite, uppercutted the jaw of a buck with the handle of his blade, drove a wolf to the ground with a stomp on the head, and brought his bulwark down to decapitate it. Blood sprayed and another wolf came snapping at his legs, but Farwaen was quick to strike its nose with his elbow, spinning to drive the point of his blade through its back and out it’s stomach. 

	The scene was painted red as more and more of the forest’s denizens attacked the knight with a maddened fury that could only be described as supernatural, but Farwaen was unshaken. He danced among the macabre scene, scoring the trees with the blood and flesh of his enemy, until at last the only sound left was Farwaen yanking his blade from the skull of a moose.

	“Ha…” Farwaen mocked, only to spin on his heel and strike out with his blade. A sneaky polecat was now impaled on the end of it, the rest of the blade struck into a tree. Keeping pose, he looked over at the reddened Hafface. The elf was peeking up at the warrior through her fingers, only her face free of speckled sanguine.

	She sputtered her words. “The… Beast Queen…”

	“Beast Queen?” Farwaen pulled his blade free and gave it a flick, spraying blood off the sleek metal. He gave it one more flick before sliding it back into its scabbard.

	“You want a quest?” Hafface found her resolution. “Then I think I have one for you. Come with me, I’ll bring you to Noetal. He knows everything there is to know.”

[center]-0-[/center]

	Along the outskirts of Masol’s settlement there was a house of sticks. While nothing should be noteworthy about such a thing, the house of sticks was one of a kind among the elves. It consisted of poles driven into the ground, then woven together with smaller branches. Curved to a round top, the entire home was complete and a blanket of moss was cut to curtain the entrance. Most unique about such a structure, though, was that it was much too small to contain a pile of elves. 

	Inside it’s soil smelling walls was only a single elf. He was a tall elf with a prominent nose and serious face. Something in how he stood showcased both a strict demeanor and a strong distaste for caring about his surroundings — in so much that he didn’t care for the politics or company of the other elves. Besides that, his seemingly tired eyes were hiding the glint of intelligence he was known for in the earlier days of the elves, before he retired to his house of sticks. 

	Being so insular in his behavior, Noetal had long since lost his shallow friends and the companionship of most of the village. One such exception was his good friend Hafface, to whom he never ostracized for her ugly scar, but rather enjoyed her seperatist way of thinking. It was hard to say how much he cared for her, but he did sample small smiles and grins whenever she was around, amused by her antics and pleased by her company. 

	It was at such a moment that he should have been smiling as he was looking right at her, but he wasn’t, since he was horrified…

	“What happened!?” He all but screeched, standing at the entrance to his tiny home, his eyes glued on the blood pasted Hafface and her Eidolon companion. 

	“Ho.” Farwaen greeted and stabbed his blade into the ground before kneeling behind it. He tilted his head so that it met the cold pommel. “I am the Knight known as Farwaen.”

	“He came from the sky,” Hafface explained quickly, summoning a disgusted look of confusion from Noetal. “But more importantly, he’s untouchable, and very stupid.”

	“Hey!” Farwaen frowned from his kneeling position. 

	“I think he could be the one to fight the beast queen.”

	“[i]Fight[/i] the Beast Queen?” Noetal scoffed. “Are you mad?”

	Hafface aggressively grabbed Farwaen and stood him up. She pulled on his arm and forced him to showcase his weaponry. “He’s equipped with special tools, and… and…”

	“Where is this… Queen of Beasts?” Farwaen cut them off. “If vanquish she must be, then I shall deliver.” He punched his sword into the air and stood tall. “Hevel wills it!”

	Noetal scrunched up his face. “Hevel?” Shaking his head before Farwaen could answer, he explained. “The beast queen is a myth, one brought forth by a particularly troublesome elf who is now long since banished.”

	“A myth!?” Hafface huffed. “We were just attacked by every manner of beast in the forest… the BEAST QUEEN’S FOREST! She exists, and she intends to keep us from the woods.”

	“Oppressive.” Farwaen rubbed his chin. “Pray tell… where can I find this exiled elf of trouble?”

	Noetal let out a long breath. “Nimueh is her name. You’ll have to find her to get any further in this mad inquiry of vengeance. As for where she is…”

[hider=Summary] Farwaen rip and tears a bunch of forest animals sent to kill him by the Beast Queen’s curse. Hafface takes him to her friend Noetal in the hopes of explaining that Farwaen could be the hero they need to kill the Queen. Noetal explains that the Queen is a myth and that only Nimueh knows the truth. Farwaen insists on finding Nimueh.
[/hider]

[hider=spirit]
Farawen: 2

Plus 1 for being the main character
Plus one for being there :)

So like 4 now.
[/hider]