…And so He came from the West, in the times of our greatest sorrow. Shining in power, resplendent in graciousness He strode our lands barefoot. Where His hands lay, there was joy. Where His blessings fell, the land was whole. And our people arose as one to His call following His pilgrimage. His miracles without end, our needs never refused.
And lo they came, the Disciples of the Enemy, spitting their poison, drowning our hopes. Tekuna the Poisoner, Euvgeni the Cruel, Souriin the Damned, Flash the Reaper and Damalanthas the Fallen. For days the Lord strove with their venomous tongues, coming and going at their beck and call. And they broke His soul, and shattered His resolve. And so He scattered the people, and bent his knee to the Enemy.
So teach your children, and tell them this tale of woe. Few are we of the Mirrored Soul that remain. But we stand where He fell, and we remember all. We watch and we wait, for in His sacrifice, He taught us our duty. We will smite the Enemy, and ready for His return. Keh’tra mar’k fa-al-laan. Long live the memory of Jarron Tilessin, the Lord of Light and the Mirror of Our Soul… 

An unidentified author (from the private scroll collection of Lord Damalanthas Quithas)

It was dark and he was cold. The pain in his hand faded to a numb ache, and his head was no longer spinning. Someone clapped his hands in the dark, and he rose into the air. His dirty travel-worn clothes changed, smoothing and morphing into the softest blue doublet made of wool. A mug of ale appeared in his hand, and he lifted it to his mouth involuntarily. The liquid went down soothing his stomach, and calming his mood. The darkness lit up with a single star in the sky that slowly brightened until he had to shield his eyes.
“Good morning, my friend.”
He opened his eyes again. There was a handsome elf standing in front of him…no, not an elf – he was too muscular for an elf. A half-elf. He wore soft burgundy tight fitting leather hose and soft boots. His shirt was of white silk with billowing embroidered sleeves. The sash, of a bold red color, hid a harness for a magnificent rapier at his side. His hair was tied in a single blond braid reaching past the small of his back. He had a friendly roguish smile on his face, and he moved with an elfin grace that made Grumplin feel awkward just standing still. 
Without knowing why or how, he lifted the mug to his mouth again, taking a long quaff. Hmmm, it was mulberry extract this time – his favorite.
The gentleman bowed to him with a theatrical flourish, smiling widely at him, “Damalanthas Quithas at your service, master Grumplin.”
He straightened up, and clapped his hands again. The mug disappeared, and Grumplin found himself floating in a reclining chair.
“Now that you’re comfortable, let me tell you what’s happening. You’re dreaming, fast asleep. And I’m here to ask you to do something for me. Don’t bother trying to talk: I can’t hear you, so sit back, and remember everything I tell you when you wake up.”
Damalanthas frowned, looking around, and snapped his fingers. The darkness changed instantly, tearing like a painting into a panoramic view. They were sitting on a rolling hill, and a slight breeze fanned Grumplin’s face. There was a smell of dew in the air. The sunlight warmed his bones. Damalanthas turned towards him. He had a mischievous twinkle in his eye.
“I spoke to Tekuna a short while back. I arrived just too late to see you off. You’ll be glad to hear that Tekuna survived the attempt on her life just fine. The gentlemen were most eager to speak of their employer once they understood what a stabbing does to a woman’s mood. Unfortunately, it gets us no closer to who is responsible for the attack. They were paid mercenaries, but with the right keys and extremely well funded. If you’ve managed to locate Euvgeni, tell him to beware of Kolya. He has received a lot of money recently.”
Grumplin shuddered, remembering the bitter man looking over him before he fainted. He tried to speak, but his mouth would not obey.
Damalanthas turned towards the sun. He continued, ignoring Grumlpin’s struggles.
“Oh, that’s about it. Souriin will be waiting for you at Euvgeni’s estate. He’ll take you to New Ivrea.”
He turned suddenly and raised his hands dramatically. “The stage is set, the curtain rises.”
He winked at Grumplin, “Remember all I told you? Now wake up…Wake up!”
He started shaking Grumplin violently.

“…Vake up. Vake up, you lazyhead. I dunno, Kolya. Never seen a havvlink sleep vit a food bowl innis face.”
Grumplin wrinkled his nose. There was a pleasant odor in his nostrils. Slightly too peppery but… His stomach turned, producing a loud lament. He popped his eyes open. The big man was toothlessly grinning at him.
“Haaa, I tink you vere right. Hiss alive. Now don’t move liil vun. I vill feed you.”
A giant spoon moved towards his face. Grumplin opened his mouth to speak, but instead got a ladle full of hot stew in his throat. He choked briefly and then swallowed it all.
“Haaa, votch it. I need de spoon back.”
He tried to tell the giant to go slower, but instead he got another mouthful.
“You know Kolya, it feels like I’m feedink my little vun. Haaa. I ‘member…”
There was a hiss of iron, and Yuri stiffened. A large blade flicked out from his chest, ripping through the furs, glistening crimson like a tongue. The bowl fell on the halfling, spraying him with hot stew.
“Yuri…?”
The giant toppled sideways from where he was kneeling, pulling the hilt out of Kolya’s grasp. He cursed, and bent to retrieve his blade. He set his foot against Yuri and pulled it out with a scrape.
“For days I had to listen to this idiot ramble without end.”
He kicked the body furiously. 
“This moron was my only choice of scouts. Dumb brute. What can I say: wrong place, wrong time.”
He turned to the halfling, wiping the sweat from his face. Grumplin was panicking. He was trying to slide backwards, but Yuri’s arm had fallen across his knees, and he was too weak.
The man approached him smiling wickedly, “Don’t worry my little rabbit. It’s not your time yet. You are the bait for this trap. You’re about to help me become king.”
He removed a gem from a folded cloth. He put it down on the ground, and smashed it with his boot.
Grumplin tried to scream, but no noise came out of his mouth. He was too terrified to twitch, and could only stare with wide-open eyes.
The air shimmered in front of him, and men faded into view. There were six of them, all armed with wicked blades and axes. Kolya clasped hands with one of them, laughing openly. 
“It goes as planned brother. Tonight I take the halls of Outreach back into our family’s hands. Spread out, and take your places.”
Kolya propped Yuri up, cursing his weight. With his sight, Grumplin could see the heat ebbing from the body. He sobbed before he could stop himself. Kolya looked up.
“Just keep on lying there my little mouse, and not a peep out of you, or you’ll find a bleeding smile added to your throat.”
He nodded weakly. Kolya moved off to stoke the fire. The others faded into the trees.
He could hear someone approaching on the path, “Kolya, your turn to patrol.”
Grumplin was watching as Euvgeni approached. Kolya stood up, “No, I don’t feel like it.”
Euvgeni approached closer, eyes gleaming wickedly, “What did you say, Kolya Vladovich?”
“I said no. I don’t obey traitors.”
“Kolya, you’re one step away from joining your ancestors.”
“Bhe, heh. No, Euvgeni, it’s you who will hang on a pole tonight.”
They both drew their blades with a hiss. Euvgeni was the larger of the two, and also held a longer weapon. They started circling. Grumplin could see the heat of shapes creeping through the grass. Euvgeni was looking at the fire; he would see nothing until it was too late.
“Why, Kolya? I trusted you. I thought we were friends. I, a traitor?”
Kolya leapt forward, swinging his whistling blade in a diagonal arc. Euvgeni parried with the cross-hilt, the two blades singing. He leaned closer, bringing his elbow with a crunch into Kolya’s face. He stumbled back, keeping Euvgeni back with a wild horizontal slash. The shapes were almost on Euvgeni.
Grumplin screamed, “Behind you!”
There was a hiss in the air, but Euvgeni was already spinning. He let the momentum of his pirouette carry his blade. Like a snake striking, faster than Grumplin’s eyes could follow, his gloved hand darted in the air. He let the blade’s tip land on the ground and he kicked out, leaning on the sword, letting the momentum of the spin provide the force. His boot caught a rising man on the side of his head. Grumplin caught a glimpse of an arrow in his other hand.
With a shout, Kolya chopped downwards with his blade. Euvgeni dove towards him, dropping his blade and rolling under the blow. The hilt caught him in the shoulder, ending his roll. Kolya chopped downwards again with a scream, but Euvgeni kicked his legs, and the blow landed wide. The tip of the sword hit a rock and with a loud ring and a shower of sparks, the blade snapped a foot off the ground.
Kolya cursed, discarding his blade in disgust as Euvgeni rolled to his feet. He tried to snatch the sword he had dropped, but with a blood-curdling scream another man dove into the melee, swinging his axe into Euvgeni’s midriff. He leapt back, into the waiting blade of another attacker. Euvgeni froze, the tip of the sword wavering at his neck. Grumplin had started to move almost as soon as the fight started. With every fiber of his frightened halfling soul, he strained to remain silent. His heart was beating so loud in his ears, that he could hardly hear the noises of the blades clashing. He reached Yuri, and pulled at the blade on his back. It was so heavy that at first he thought it was glued to the scabbard. He strained until he could feel stars swim before his eyes again. Euvgeni was backing up against a tree, three armed men giving him no room to maneuver. A meaty, bloody palm brushed him aside. Yuri got up with a rasp, frothing at the mouth. He swayed on his feet, and let out a roar at the moon. He lifted his large blade in one hand and charged forward swinging the axe in a whistling arc above his head.
“He’s going berserk!” screamed one of the men.
Euvgeni grasped at the distracted swordsman. He caught his wrist, and he twisted. The bone snapped with a dry crack and a howl of pain. Euvgeni caught the sword before it hit the ground. 
Metal whistled through the air as one of the men threw, and a dagger lodged in Yuri’s shoulder. He hardly noticed it, continuing his charge. The blow from his axe resonated on the horizontal parry, and the man’s blade spun out of his numbed hand. Yuri head butted him, and he crumpled to the ground.
Suddenly Yuri stiffened, holding his chest and he dropped his guard. Kolya slashed him from behind, and he fell like a log of wood.
“And stay down you bastard,” he screamed at the body, hacking it again. He turned only to see Euvgeni, bleeding from several cuts, drop the last man to the ground.
“Only…you and I…now, Kolya. Why, I ask again?”
Kolya was backing up, looking wildly around for assistance.
“Because you’re false to your blood! Because you first let the Lizards butcher and eat our children, and then you make friends when they lose ground. Because you’re too weak to rule our nation, and you give it to a Council of squabbling fools. We need to be strong and become the mighty wanderers that we once were!”
Euvgeni picked his blade up off the ground, keeping his eyes on Kolya all the time. 
“What you talk of is not strength, it’s suicide. Our nation lives or dies by the trade from the North. We are too large a people now, and the land is too hostile to move continuously. Who paid you? Who did you sell your honor to?”
“My honor?” laughed Kolya. “You know nothing of honor. There will be others. I’m not the only one who wants you dead!”
With a desperate scream he leapt forward. He swung the sword in a wicked horizontal arc, aiming for Euvgeni’s head. Euvgeni dropped to one knee. The timing was perfect, and he could feel the edge whistle through his flying hair. He braced, letting Kolya do the rest. The blade passed through him, bending from the man’s weight. Kolya dropped to the ground, the sword flying from his grasp. He coughed once.
Euvgeni turned him over. 
“You’re dying, but there is still time. Tell me. Tell me who gave you the money. Who’s your contact?”
Kolya was going pale, but his teeth were clenched in a smile.
“Tell me, and I’ll make sure that nobody knows what happened here. I’ll make sure your family live in honor. If not, the dogs will eat your flesh in the central market.”
Blood was bubbling on Kolya’s lips, “Moltoy…Darren… Moltoyhhhh.”
Euvgeni got up tiredly. He walked over to Yuri. “By all the gods…” The giant was still breathing, bleeding heavily from a number of wounds. 
Grumplin stood up. The world was swimming in front of his eyes again. He felt like bringing up.
He crawled to his backpack, and opened the straps painfully. Upon finding a metal gourd with ‘Trouble’ printed on the front, he unstopped it carefully, and took two small sips. Immediately, his body convulsed, and he felt a warm glow spread through every muscle. Elder Drimble had given it to him to use in a dire emergency.
As his body relaxed, he offered it to Euvgeni. There was so much blood around Yuri. With a smile, Euvgeni accepted, “Thank you my friend. If this saves his life, I will repay you in triplicate.”
Grumplin smiled, and nodded weakly. The potion was making him sleepy. Trying to keep his eyelids open, he slurred:
“Damallllasaas said you musst go back to the New Capital. Ssssouriin awaitsssus... your esstate...”
His eyes were closing of their own accord, and he could no longer force them to open. He floated onto a soft huge silken pillow, and he relaxed, dreaming of home and comforts.