Old Aquintances, outskirts of town

[Lord Hoehn]

Off Rourke rode, down the dirty streets of Notnuats as beggers skirmished for the last morsel to be found, the chill of the night corseing through his body as he made his way to the South West outskirts of town.

His horse stopped after many minutes of riding at a large ominous iron black gate, thick foliage and an anicient stone wall surrounded the area, keeping peering eyes and unwanted visitors away. After a few minutes of waiting patiently, the gate swung inward without a sound. Rourke galloped ahead, and the door magically after being passed closed as by some arcane magic.

Rourke did not take notice of the beautiful gardens or fountains that surrounded the property, such appreciation of beuty had long ago been lost to him. The brick road took him through the densly thick trees till he came to a clearing and in that clearing stood the Valylie House.

Clearly the largest house in Notnuats, even though few knew of what laid behind the walls, it was pratically a castle with stained glass windows and stone walls, the whole place reeked with wealth. In front of the castle stood statues of all kinds on the neatly cut lawn. A pond to the right had a statue of an daemon blowing water out of its mouth up into the air. It had been years since he had came here but as always, it stayed perfectly the same.

He dismounted his horse by the door, the horse went off a bit from the house to graze but knew to stay not far from where it was released. He walked up the stone steps to threshold and banged on the massive dark wood door twice.

After a few moments, the door was opened by a young shaven man in a tailored suite. “Good Evening Master”, and as if someone whispered in his ear, he paused, “O’Rourke”. “His lordship will not be available tonight, but perhaps if he is generous, will send you a letter for a more formal meeting to speak to you.”

“Well, even though a meeting with Master Valylie would be most enjoyable,” in a sarcastic reply. “I am here to see a lady Kathrine” “And are we expected,” was his curt reply. Rourke just stared at him for a few moments. The young man stammpered “well, may I give leave to inform Lady Kathrine of your presense” “No, just show me to her, we are old friends, very old friends. The young man doubted him, this boy looked to be far to young to be anything as to old friends with Lady Katherine, but he changed his mind after watching the Man’s hand slip inside his cloak”

“Of course sir”, right this way. They walked down the long carpeted hallways, filled with expensive furnisher, and large tapestries overlooking on the walls. The only light that could be seen was the torches lining the walls. After traveling down many hallways and down a spiral staircase to the basement level, they came to wooden door, even though the door was shut, you cold hear the ringing of steel on steel across the hallway.

[Lord Hoehn]

As the door opened, he saw what was nothing short of beautiful, inside the room was a magnificent display of blade and movement. It was as if the two figures were in a rithmatic dance, perfect parry against perfect execution time and time again. Neither combatant gaining the advantage.

They were in a large lighted circular room, weapons of all sorts were stashed in racks across the wall and the occasional dummy was thrown towards the corner. Mats covered the ground in all directions. The battle became more and more intense as the slender swords collided. The one on the right came in hard battling vigoriously with a relentless thundering of strikes to the left. The one on the left hastly put his sword up, barley blocking each strike. In one final attempt, the one on the right shoved ahead overpowering the one on left and at the same time kicked the legs out of the other combatant in one swift move. The figure fell to the floor and on impact, the sword skided out of the grasp and clanged to the floor. Before the combatant had a chance to recover, a sword was pointed at the chest in the center of the heart. It was over in less then a sec.


a feminime voice gasped “You cheated”, she tried reaching for the sword but a foot struck her hand before she could touch the hilt. The man stared at her “You lost, perhaps in a next century, ehh sis” Her face began to form into a pout untill she rolled her head to the side and noticed that they had visitors.

“Madame Kathrine, may I pres… “Rourke!” She lept up off the ground as if she could fly. and sailed up and embraced the young man. He welcomed it and even smiled, how could he not, it had been such a long time and most couldn’t resist Lady Katherine. She was soaking in sweat and wearing leather combat armor, but that did not make her any less buetiful, holding herself at the early seventeen with a slender frame, strawberry blonde hair and pale fair complexion. You would think of her to be an elf princess if it wasn’t for the red pupils that were set into her eyes. “Kathrine, it is good to see you again”

The muscular twenty one year old with raven black hair just stood there with his sword, boaring his red eyes at Rourke in hatred. “So your savior has returned, welcome back Rourke”. In a sarcastic reply. Rourke just kept his eyes on Kathrine, “shouldn’t you be out tonight Arcevis, the night suits you” Without another word, he stormed out of the room still holding his sword, followed by the unnaturally quite servant.

She finally pulled back finally, “Well I can see your manners haven’t improved, a pity” in a jokingly chuckle. “So, how have you been, tell me of your exploits and adventure, there seems to be no end of excitement under the Lord. “He looked around the room, “what you say is adventure and exploits is but killing, murder, and destruction” “Well,... nothing sounds exciteing if you say it like that, what brings you here, I couldn’t expect you to come all the way here to just see me. “I need information on a matter”, “you wish to kill someone”, “Well, nothings exciteing if you say it like that”

She gave a sigh and turned towards the door, “follow me” The torchlike hallways only enhanced her figure and splender, she was one of the few people he could stand being around and not want to kill them. “So who is it this time”, holding out her slender hand and giving a smile that showed her two white pointed canine teeth. He grabbed her hand to follow “One by the name of the Rogue King”

[Lord Hoehn]

She led him back up to the first level, past many doorways and corridors into the left wing. She pushed open the double stained glass doors, and what was inside would make a notable wizard baffle. The library.

A circular large room, lined around on all sides by bookcase upon bookcase, books of every age, size, and condition. The only light provided were the twinling of candles that magically arose when the doors where upon. The most magnificent of all was the glass dome ceiling, showing the clear night sky and stars.

She looked around the room in admiration, it was her favorite room after all, “Father is still collecting, it might even be comparable to the Great Brishinia Library someday if he keeps at it, and I so enjoy reading”

Rourke never really cared for books, and he had already been here on more than a few occasions, what was the point of reading if you could experience first-hand, he looked at Kathrine and felt sorry for her, when was the last time she even stepped outside the castle walls. He realized it disturbed him more than a little that he even cared. To be polite, “Your father does have a magnificent collection”

“Yes, yes he does, I spend so many of my nights here, captured in their pages” She walked towards the twenty foot ladder, “So the Rogue King is it”, she climbed up the ladder, it magically slide around the room,

Rourke fidled with his dagger, moving it around his hands in circles to pass the time

“Hmm.. Rat King, Rightful King, Richard King I, II…..lots of Richards,…wait, I think I found it”, she reached with her hand, to the top corner of the bookcase, …it was just out of reach. Under her breath, “nilfilyle”, and the book magically soared into her hand, she looked down and gave a wink, “I’m getting better in the arts, though as you could tell my blade still hasn’t improved” She slid down the ladder with the very thin ancient pamphlet in hand.

“Lets see here”, she walked down over to the ornate thick sofa, Rourke just stood behind her, still twirling his dagger.

She blew on the binding and a cloud of dust shot out into the air, “R you sure he isn’t already dead” half jokingly.

“The Rogue King…I can’t make out much of it, its old, really old” “At one time there seems to of been a goodly and just king that united all the races and ruled over the whole realm…..He dissappered, it dosen’t really say what happened, ……something about a balance act, but that is all I can make out….the pages themselves are about the break in my hand as we speak”

“That’s it”, “that’s all there is”, giving a disappointed grimace, looking down at the pages if they were keeping secrets from him. “So…….it could be anybody”
“Or he could already be dead” she hopefully pointed out

But that didn’t sit well with Rourke, the last thing he wanted to face was a Lich King.

“Maybe the Lord made a mistake”, hopeing to solve the issue right there

“The Lord dosen’t make mistakes”, he looked into her eyes…..”Ever”

Kathrine, bit her lower lip and curled her hair with her fingers thinking…….”I could ask dad”, “I’m sure he would know something”

“No, I hope that he dosen’t even know I’m here if I can help it”

Rourke twirled his dagger, faster and faster, “This will be more difficult that I had thought, even more so with the heir to throne right behind me”

Kathrine perked up, “Cole”, “I guess he would of finished the Academy by now” “Is he everything his father was at that age”

Rourke laughed, “Cole, the idiot, nothing short of a dissapointment I’m sure” “He passed with flying colors at the Academy, but he fails to be of any use in real life situations, he lacks his fathers hunger for perfection and power. He growled, so its my job… to put blood on his hands, make him feel it, a lost cause in my opinion.”

“Because it would be a awful thing indeed if someone had a conscious, what would we do with him” Kathrine teased, Rourke just ignored the comment, still thinking how he was suppose to find this mysterious character.

[Lord Hoehn]

Rourke leaned on a bookcase in the darkness of the room as time passed by, contemplating, how was he suppose to get to the Rogue King?, he and Cole would have to lay low for a while, gather what they could on the streets for a while, interrogate certain individuals,


No, that would just create suscpicion against them,An idea struck him and he gave a scow for not comming to the conclusion earlier

Let the Rogue King come to us, we could plant rumors around town that we are banished fugitives of the Lord and seek the Rogue King's counsel or even put off that we wish to join him, ...a blade will be found in his back, "Yes, that would do," giving a small smile

He looked up to see that Kathrine was still in the room, She was sitting on one of the sofas patiently, moving her hands around a palm sized glass orb.

He slowly walked across the room and quietly sat down next to her, watching..

Her eyes were shut, and her mouth tightened with concentration, under her breath you could hear the soft chanter of the magical language

After many minutes she opened her eyes and the palm sized orb slowly dimmed with every passing second

"If you could scry on him, why didn't you tell me in the first place?", eyeing her coldly

After fulling gaining consiousness, she turned to him and spoke "It is impossible to scry someone unless your or someone around you can provide a mental picture of the figure, and even then that does not stop magical items from disrupting the scrying process"

Rourke put a hand on his head, rubbing his temple, he hated magic, there was too many unkowns and to many restrictions to it, it was always unpredictable, ironically for the past centrury he had been serving the most powerful magical family in the realm

"So who were you scrying"

She stood up abruptly, finally realizing what she saw "Cole's in trouble, we need to get to him"
Rourke, without a second thought he leaped off the sofa and was already out the door, going through the hallways and corridors, dashing out the door and jumped onto his horse, galloping down the estate road

Out of the corner of his eye as he passed tree after tree, he thought he saw a shadow, and the next thing he knew, two slender arms were wrapped around his waist a voice whispered in his ear

"A large fight has broke out in the Knights Head Pub, and Cole's in it....he is not alone"

Rourke did not seemed suprised by the sudden voice, knowing at once who it was, digging his feet harder in the side of the black steed, spuring it even faster "Your father would not approve"

"Well then, he will have to not find out, anyways I do want to see the new heir,....anyways its been along time since you've bought me dinner anywhere"

Rourke couldn't help but laugh, it was most unnatural of him, "He is nothing of significance I assure you" it had been a long time...