It was a somber evening as the sun had set on another harsh, unforgiving day in the lands of New Calradia. Inside the Inn of New Ayyike the mood was drastically different however, as a party of heroes seated in the center of the room jovially entertained one another with tales of their personal exploits in the field of battle that day. One individual at the table stared into her mug with an apathetic expression on her face. A ruddy, brown complexion, Slight of frame and garbed in the padded cloth armor worn by those in the rhodok military, this individual sat among her companions deep in thought and seemingly oblivious to the cheerful, celebratory atmosphere around her.
This "Hero Party" consisted of both men and women of many different talents, temperaments and convictions. Each individual member had a different reason for joining the party, merely seeing the union as a means of attaining his or her own personal goal. This woman in particular was no different and had joined in hopes of attaining riches and fortune through use of the skills she had honed throughout her life of combat. Ever since she was a girl, killing was all this individual knew and while no one lives forever in the game of war, she had managed to survive for nearly three decades doing just this and had become very good at it. She'd fought under the banner of the Velucan military for years before defecting to join the cause of a certain elder crone and her group of upstarts to form the nation of New Stratia. Several seasons had passed since the Nation's "great schism" and many founding members including her had gone to follow their own paths, but even now she couldn't help but fondly recall the brothers and sisters shed spilled blood, sweat and tears with all those years ago and longed to once again take up arms with them.
She was so busy reminiscing that she did not even notice the courier now standing at the head of her party's table.
"I've a Message for a...'DarkKarma' I was told I may be able to find her here?"
Raising her hand, she grabbed the message from the courier and nodded her head in acknowledgement before quickly walking away from the table to examine the message while the rest of her party continued with their celebration. It wasn't often that she received mail, save for a few friends and relatives that she chose to keep in touch with, only serving to further peak her curiosity. She instantly recognized the Stratian Seal on the document,eagerly breaking it to get to the message inside. To her surprise, it was not a message at all, but rather a deceleration of war.
"For their crimes against New Calradia certain members of The Coalition will be held accountable. Oohillac, Loki, Tears of Destiny, Garem, Gawin, SmilingDaemon among others, will not be safe, lest we remain resting uneasy.
There shall not be rest for the wicked. Justice, now, lies outside the boundary of order.
We, in our way, will seek them out and hunt them down, where we can. Chaos comes this autumn for the Fallen."
A satisfied smirk crept across her face. She was familiar with the Fallen Brigade and such actions seemed all too familiar of them. Equally familiar was the reaction of her former companion and respected leader, Canary, the Elder Crone. The two nations had seemingly not changed one bit from what she remembered them to be and it was at this exact moment that this lone soldier realized that she had not changed either.
The soldier then went to the front of the bar and placed a large sack of denars on the counter before a perplexed barkeep.
"Tell those staggering sods over there that the drinks are on me tonight. Also, give them my thanks."
DarkKarma went back to her room, gathered her belongings and fastened a crossbow the size of a small child to her back and proceeded out the front door. Now possessing a resolve and renewed sense of purpose she had not felt since first flying the Stratian banner years ago, she readied her bow,mounted her horse and quickly departed for the Stratian capital of New Dhirim, once again ready to take up arms for the Chosen Hands of the Ascended Order of Stratia,unsure of but excited for what the near future held in store for her.
