[color=95A5A6][b]> "Reports of a missing person led me here." <[/b][/color]

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	With the inquisitive gaze of Umildraen upon you, your hand reached up to lower your scarf from around your face and give room to speak. [color=95A5A6]"Not too long ago, a woman by the name of Aika Lenonne made her way up these mountains in search of this temple. She never came back down, and so here I am- to find her,"[/color] you trailed off as you looked off to the temple across the peaks. The grim thought crossed your mind that in a place as cold, dark, and dangerous as this, someone unprepared, lost or injured would have a very short time remaining. Your view snapped back to your guide, a questioning leer of your own fired back at him. [color=95A5A6]"You wouldn't happen to know anything about her, would you?"[/color]

	The dwarf by your side flustered a bit under your scrutiny and shook his head side to side. [color=E6B0AA]"Can't say I do, yer th'first one to hire me services fer some while. There are other hikers among th'peaks that take travelers too- or worse- she tried gettin' up here herself,"[/color] he shrugged and looked out to the temple himself. [color=E6B0AA]"She could be anywhere up here, y'know. What makes ye think she's in there?"[/color]

	[color=95A5A6]"The client- her teacher, master? He had tasked her to explore the temple. He wouldn't tell me why, but it was clear this was her intended destination."[/color]

	[color=E6B0AA]"Well he sounds almost as daft as she does. Least he ain't tryna kill her, or there'd be no sense in sendin' ye up here."[/color]

	A nod was all you felt needed as your eye scanned the pass between you and the temple, planning the final leg of the route in your head. You seemed to get lost in thought for a minute, as a nudge from your guide returned you to focus. [color=E6B0AA]"Seems strange to me though, don'cha think? One girl disappears up a mountain, so he only sends one more person to find her?"[/color] It dawned on you that he might be right, and that something isn't adding up here. Either way, there would be little point in turning back now. [color=95A5A6]"I'm confident that I can find her,"[/color] you reassured both Umildraen and yourself. The response you earned was a rather hearty [color=E6B0AA]"Har har! That's th'spirit,"[/color] and an even heartier slap on your back. He retracted his arm into the other and folded them over his chest, pinning his beard down to it. [color=E6B0AA]"Unfortunately for ye, this is as far as I go. Th'path ahead speaks for itself. But unless this Aika could fend fer herself, she could be layin' face-down in some red snow in that there pass,"[/color] he released his hand and aimed a fat index finger down between the two ridges in the distance, a small crevasse splitting them would be the most direct route to the temple.

	[color=E6B0AA]"Aye, best o' luck to ye,"[/color] the dwarf excused himself, turning about face and trudging back the way you came. With no one left to kill time for you, you pulled your scarf back over your mouth, and carefully made down the steep incline before you.

	Even here at the top of the world, the remaining peaks towered as mountains in their own right. The base of the ridges you found yourself between was cast under an umbral curtain, shielded from the silvery gaze of the moon by the sheer cliffs that rose to your left and right. From here, the Temple of Zorkuth was no longer in view, but you were certain you were headed toward it still. With the tall stretches of rock on either side, the bitter cold wind here died down significantly, along with the accumulation of snow, revealing the remains of an old stone-worked path of large bricks. This ancient semblance of a road crept along the pass, carrying you closer and closer to the other side. Still, no sight of your missing person could be made. Any snowfall even as recent as this morning would have covered tracks before this pass in minutes, and here there was almost no snow in which to leave footprints. It wouldn't be until halfway through the pass that you encountered anything of merit.

	Of course, the one thing you hoped not to cross was the exact thing blocking your way. Taking up a rather greedy amount of space between the cliffs was a hulking beast of a creature, clad ivory in thick fur and hunched over the carcass of something unrecognizable, though thankfully too large itself to be a person. This two-legged, two-armed thing was no part humanoid, as a fully monstrous maw accented small predatory eyes, all of which crowned by two massive horns which curled in erratic directions. It tore into its prey with vicious claws, bringing the color red into this otherwise black-and-white landscape as it knelt down and sunk its teeth into the meal to rip away something to chew on. It was at that moment, as it lifted its head from the food it crouched over, that its eyes locked with yours.

	There was no ambiguity in what would happen next. You reached for your...

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[color=95A5A6]
	• Sword and shield.
		[Archetype - Warrior]

	• Bow and arrow.
		[Archetype - Rogue]

	• Mace.
		[Archetype - Priest]
	
	• Staff.
		[Archetype - Mage]
[/color]