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[Edik Dragomir]

Rays of moonlight beamed through the trees. A shadowy figure seemed to snake through the undergrowth. Lights glowed from a small hut like building. Edik paused in the shadows and looked at the building. He rolled his eyes ha, what a lying Monk! I’ve followed his directions perfectly and he’s lead me to a bloody hut! Rebel Base? More like somewhere you can take a dump if you’re out hunting. Talking of hunting, I’m starving. I should just stuff this plan and go and find some nice young women…

Edik started arguing in his head, reminding himself that he was going to have to kill the fool Monk for leading him into the middle of no where. Edik was about to turn and leave when he thought he might as well knock the door, after all their might be something or someone tasty in there.

Edik wandered casually over to the hut, what if the Monk didn’t actually know the rebels? What if I’ve been set up and there’s a group of soldiers inside and more around here waiting to ambush me?

Edik paused infront of the door. It looked pretty solid. Ah well, I’ve got out of worse situations before. Edik said and knocked upon the door twice. He waited a moment and knocked again. “I know someone’s in there.” He said. There was silence, Edik sighed and got his shoulder ready, “I’m going to knock this door down!” He said loudly. Then a harsh voice answered, “If you don’t know the password, you will surely die!” It hissed at him.

Edik paused and took a step back, he drew his sword. Password?.. Password… Ah now I remember! “Willow.” Edik said smoothly, "but if you’re one of the Queens soldiers I swear, I will spill all your blood upon the very ground where your boots are standing right now!”

The door swung open and a huge man with a club in one hand and a loaded crossbow in the other stared at him. Edik simply stared back, his eyes flashed from blue to red and back again. “Well you don’t look like one of her soldiers.” Edik said and put away his sword.

The man in odd bits of armor grinned a toothless smile, “I’d kill any of her soldiers myself if I got the chance. Anyway I’ve never seen you before… What’s your real name? Where do you come from? And how did you find where to find us?” He said narrowing his eyes.

Edik smiled sadly, he didn’t like anyone knowing who he was. But he couldn’t exactly lie to this people, he needed them to trust him. “My name is… Edik Dragomir. Son of King Dalish Dragomir. I come from our lost town Gillian. I’m half vampire, half witch and I found out how to find you from an old Monk who healed me from garlic poisoning… Well actually I got drunk and ate some garlic bread, but tell anyone and I’ll have to kill you.” Edik said with a wink and then a laugh.

The Doorman’s jaw dropped as Edik said who he was and his eyes continued to pop out of his head. This Prince had been missing for nearly a hundred years and had a huge price on his head. The man laughed when Edik cracked the joke though. “I think it’ll be best if Kade speaks with you, he’s our leader…”

Edik nodded and the man lead him into the hut… Which was actually a huge building inside. To his left Edik saw a room full of chairs and loads of books along the walls, a blazing fire was burning on the far wall and he saw what looked like an elf and a small goblin creature playing chess. “That’s the Common Room…” The Doorman said and continued to lead Edik down a corridor. They took a door on the right which opened up into a large conference room. The Doorman knocked the door and a voice shouted “come in!” The Doorman looked at Edik and smiled, “good luck chap, I’ll leave you here.” He said and walked back towards the front entrance.

Edik walked into what looked like a big conference room, ten people sat around a long table, They were idly chatting but looked like they were getting ready for a meeting. Edik's black clothes lit up in the bright light of the room, his white face seemed even more white if that was possible. He smiled at the people around the table. Then looked into the eyes of a young Elf sitting at the head of the table on a large chair and said. "My name is Edik Dragomir..."

[Evanesence]

Everyone was settling at the table as Kade took his seat at the head. There hadnt been an ambush earlier in the week and the news had finally reached Kade. He wanted to warn his fellow rebels, so he called for a meeting. It seemed only Renia was missing from the table, as he looked about. Must be out. Bella will fill her in. Kade looked to the person sitting on his right. Bella was in her human form, therefore her face was devoid of emotion or any hint of what she thought.

Kade cleared his throat and was ready to begin when there was a knock at the door. For a second He expected Renia. "Come in," He called. The door opened to reveal a familiar face in which Kade hadn't seen in a while. The person introduced himself as Edik Dragomir and looked in Kades direction. KAdes reaction was delayed from surprise, but broke into a grin moments later.

Kade could feel the surprise from the council members but addresses Edik anyways. "Edik! Its been too long. I see you found the Base alright. How are you my friend?" It put the council members at ease to know that Kade was familiar with the man who had suddenly appeared. Everyone was very friendly to new members. They Rebels in general were like a Family, with the same goals for different reasons. Kade saw Bella turn to look at Edik, again unable to read her expression.

"We were about to start a meeting. If you wish to sit you can take Renia's empty seat until she arrives." Kade gestured to the seat besides Bella. Renia and Bella went everywhere together it seemed so it had seemed appropriate to seat them together in the council. But since she was absent, it was the only open seat. Bella turned to look at Kade this time. It was rare that Kade let anyone who was not on the council join in a meeting.

[Renia]

OOC-May I join in?

“By all means, take my seat,” Renia’s voice chimed happily as she entered the room as well. “I’ve had enough of sitting around, and that’s just the excuse I need. Welcome... Edik, was it? We’re glad to have you.”

A few light strides brought Renia to stand against the wall behind her usual chair, where she could still communicate with Bella easily and see Kade as he spoke. For once she could just lean against the wall comfortably rather than sit at the table, which was a plus. She had no idea what to make of the new arrival, but felt certain that Kade would explain everything in due time.

Meanwhile, she could almost feel the others’ questioning gaze. Where were you? they seemed to be asking. Why were you late? The corner of her mouth twitched in a repressed smile.

“Sorry I’m late, Kade,” she apologized, meaning every word. “I was a little detained, but I wouldn’t miss a meeting.” Fact was, she had already heard a few rumors about a sudden ambush that nearly turned tragic for the Rebels. From what she had heard all the Rebels in question had managed to get away. However, it would be a great comfort to hear that news directly from Kade. She assumed this was the nature of today’s meeting, and Renia, for one, was anxious to discuss this news.

Edik’s arrival threw things a little out of ballance, though. How did he fit into this? Renia tried not to glance his way, but she, like all the others, was wondering why he had been allowed into the meeting so easily. Was there something special about the guy? Did he have information? She was grasping at straws to explain his presence, but Renia was one of the more patient members of the council, rivaled by her best of friends, Bella. She could wait for things to play out.

[Edik Dragomir]

OOC: yeah sure, I don’t mind. Just trying to get Edik to fit into the plot now. Therefore these posts will give you and your characters an idea of what he is like and what he’s been up to.

IC:
Edik stood for a moment feeling all the eyes in the room on him, none of the others had ever seen him before, he was a complete stranger and they most likely didn’t know whether to trust him or not. Edik had only ever seen Kade a few times and that was before Kade was the Leader of the Rebels, he wasn’t even a fully grown elf back then. But Kade took interest in Edik’s style of hunting and fighting so Edik got to know him quite well. He used to visit the Rebels occasionally when Gillian was first destroyed by Queen Nivira, but back then things weren’t as bad as they are now so Edik left the Rebels to do their own thing and went off on his own. He was never a true member, but they took him in when he had no where to go. After his father King Dalish had been killed Edik had to hide for a while, simply because the search for him was so intense that he couldn’t go to any town or village safely.

Edik strode across the room and was about to sit down when Renia walked in and said that Edik could steal her seat. She seemed happy to stand, Edik smiled “Thank you Renia.” He sat down and started twiddling his thumbs. Edik looked at Kade as the meeting hadn’t fully started yet. “The reason I haven’t been seen is years is because I’ve been doing all sorts of secret dealings, it’s been immensely risky I’m surprised that I’m not dead yet. You may of heard my name whispered on the wind when the Queen’s Captain and his men burnt to death in their own barracks. Or when the Field Marshal of her army went missing and his head turned up at the Queens feet a week later.” Edik laughed, his eyes lit up as he did so.

Edik itched at his chin and ran a tooth along one of his fangs, “the problem now Kade is that the Queen is getting even more powerful by my eyes. She’s getting even more soldiers, there are so many humans in her ranks now that the Elves can’t be happy. Small villages keep getting burnt down for no apparent reason by bandits, which she has blamed to be us. When we all know full well she’s behind it.” Edik paused almost growling. “Kade she’s putting fear into all the people of this land. We are apparently a group of rebels who are going around plundering the countryside and killing innocents. She’s told everyone that we will finally be stamped out of existence. This ambush you mentioned must be her first step.”

He paused looking around the room at everyone. “This is why I’ve returned. It is time for action, I can’t be a one man army. So I’ve got to join yours, we’re fighting the same battle just for different reasons. But we need this land to know our cause, we aren’t bandits, we’re freedom fighters. We need to do something to make ourselves known. Something which will shock all the people in this land and maybe cause a few riots against the queen. This way more people will join the Rebels… But by god the Queen will do everything she can to try and destroy us.” Edik said looking at Kade finally. He wondered what thoughts were going through these high ranked rebel’s heads.

Edik smiled “like I said, I’m here now. I’m ready to help, my own life means nothing as long as the Queen is still alive. I can’t get at her alone, her magic is far too strong. As for the Prince… I’m not looking for him, he’s a lost cause, maybe dead. If we make a big enough impact on this land maybe he will come looking for us.” Edik said harshly and most likely upset a few people saying it. But Edik would do anything to have his tiny Kingdom back, the thought of a prince abandoning his own made Edik sick, even if it was wasn’t the Elf princes own fault.

Edik looked around at everyone, there were a lot of unreadable faces. “What say you?” He said blankly. eugh, I need a drink after all that talking Edik thought, hoping that he hadn’t been too forward considering he had just got to the base and was already putting his ideas and opinions across.

[Evanesence]

As Renia entered Kade gave her a smile and nodded at he apology. As Edik began Kade turned his full attention to him. He liked to hear others ideas and opinions. What interested him was how Edik looked at the situation with Nirvia at a completely different angle. Kade considered Edik's theories and stored them into his memory. As Edik mentioned not looking for the Prince, Kade went slightly rigid. Finding the Prince was one of his upmost goals along with destroying Nirvia.

For some reason Kade had always had the gut feeling that the Prince was still out there, alive. It almost hurt that some people didnt have the same faith as he did. It doesnt matter so much though. Like he said; same battle, different reasons. Kade scanned the faces of the council. He saw some hard faces, some nodding, some blank faces, some frowns, and an occasional smile. Kade looked over to Bella who's face was blank, like usual, and her spine was stick straight. She was staring at Renia over her shoulder.

Kade figured they were communicating. When Edik returned his gaze to him and asked what he thought, Kade leaned forward on his forearms and looked from Edik to all around the table. "We all have our opinions on the whereabouts of the Prince, and of Nirvia's actions." Kade looked at Edik, "I have heard those rumors you've mentioned. I've seen the villages being burned, people being slaughtered. I try to stop the madness as Im sure you all do. Its a tragedy; Licadem's state. But this also brings me to the reason why I called a meeting together.

"We've all heard rumors these past few days one of which is quite disturbing. A few of our comrades were in one of the small bases. They had been followed by Nirvia's men which was lead by a powerful man, whom I'm guessing is Nirvia's favorite. This man only seems to turn up in tight situations. He isnt just a soldier roaming the streets killing innocents. His name escapes me and I know not of his race.

"In this ambush, our rebels got away with a breaths of time. However, normal procedure is to hide any information in the base, take it on your person, or destroy it at last resort. Our group was able to take vital information, but left behind scrolls and a map. I spoke to one of them just last night. He informed me that he isnt possitive which of the scrolls they might be or where there location is now."

Pausing Kade looked at all the council members, and Edik's, in turn. Then pulling out a folded parchment from his sleeve, he lifted it so everyone could see. "And whats more, this has been posted in all towns on royal command. I as 'the Rebel Leader' had a Price on my head for many centuries. But now Nirvia found out some information that will make it even more difficult to roam towns."

Kade unfolded the parchment and read aloud, "People of Licadem. I hereby declare that anyone who has any information on the Rebel leader, Kade, to report to the palace immediatly. Those who do so will be rewarded greatly. Anyone who brings the Rebel leader ALIVE to the palace will have brought peace to all of Licadem." Kade looked up to see the reactions of the surrounding people. He noticed immediatly Bella had changed into her elven form and was scowling fiercely. He then looked at Edik beside her, and back to Renia.

"Renia, have you any more information on the Ambush?"


______

Bella turned to see her best friend who was more like a sister enter the room. She had to force herself to remain stone faced. Instead, when Renia finished speaking to Kade she said, Hello. I'm glad to see your alright. Edik started his speech and Bella listened to the new member of the rebel's, who was let in on a meeting which was rare, intently. Bella noticed Kade's stiffness as Edik talked harshly about the Prince.

Bella looked back at Renia, to see her reaction, wondering what she thought about this all. Kade caught her attention though as he summed up the Ambush rumors. I wonder who this Nirvian favorite is. He sounds dangerous. Kade took out a parchment and began to read. As he did so, Fury ran through Bella's veins. It was near impossible to control she was forced to switch into her elven form. Bella was so angry that she had to repress a snarl. How!?! How did she find out! Why?!? This makes life much more difficult. Esspecially in Farth. Everyone knows Kade in Farth. She relayed her thoughts to Renia on a slightly calmer note.

[Renia]

Renia listened intently to Edik’s opinions as he described exactly what he had been doing for so long. His achievements sounded impressive at least. Renia had to admit she was impressed with what the man had managed to do alone. Obviously he was not to be taken lightly.

On some points Renia found herself agreeing with Edik whole-heartedly. Yes, Nirvia was growing more powerful, more bold. Yes, she was gaining far more soldiers than ever before and swaying even some of the common folk to her cause. Yes, she was blaming the Rebels for all the wrongs she inflicted on Licadem. And hell yes she they needed to do something about it!

Then he related his harsh opinion that they should abandon the search for the Prince. Alright, so he had a slight point there. Whether they found the Prince or not, Renia knew they must do something about Nirvia, of course. However, she had never even thought once of giving up the search. It was too important to Licadem to find him. He held the hopes of the people. He was the entire reason for the Rebellion in the first place! How could they even dream of abandoning hope and still win this?

The other council members were mostly stone-faced, revealing nothing of their thoughts. A few looked interested or hardened against what Edik had said. Renia was not so complacent. She went stiff at the suggestion, every part of her rebelling against that idea. She felt a severe urge to speak out against this ridiculous concept. If we allow people to go about spreading such things, all Licadem will lose hope. We’ll lose the war for sure if that happens. She felt the need to yell her thought to the room, but Renia was not on the council for nothing. She controlled herself, and after a moment even her fists stopped shaking. She felt very strongly about their mission as Rebels. Hearing anything that seemed to go against their cause upset her. But she was not about to give that away. She didn’t want a fight, after all. Edik thought differently than her, but, as Kade went on to say, they all had different opinions and reasons that had to be respected.

She calmed herself while Kade went on to speak of the topic that had brought the council to meet today: the recent ambush. The first thing that caught her attention was this ‘Nirvia’s favorite’ character. Obviously a dangerous man. She was surprised she had not heard more of him, whoever her was. The man must be skilled at keeping himself and his men out of sight until needed. Nirvia had a secret weapon, it appeared.

Then Kade related what had truly been lost in the ambush. Information. As he read through the document, Renia became more and more outraged. How dare Nirvia place a price on Kade’s name? This was going to be a huge problem, huge!

I agree, she relayed to Bella. Kade’s got to take more care from now on when leaving the base. Already I’m betting that someone in Farth is planning to turn him in first chance they get. Information must have already been relayed to her of his presence. We’ll have no end of problems because of this...

Kade surprised Renia by asking her if she had any more information, and Renia turned her attention to him.

“The reason I was late today is because I was speaking to Gyrad. One of the men who escaped, apparently. I was curious as to what the attack had been like. I admit he wasn’t as helpful as I wanted. He claims it all happened too fast, that they barely managed to get away as it was by collapsing the building around themselves. But the way he describes the attack... Well, it sounds very much like...” She paused, unsure if she should relate her opinions to the entire council. She had not yet had time to speak to Kade of recent events. But it looked like she had to let him know now.

“It sounds very much like the attack was animal like. Quick, deadly fast. Perhaps a group of Alterion with rather strong forms. Pure speculation on my part, though. It’s just an idea. Well... there’s more to it, really. I was attacked by one such Alterion man the last time I went out on my own. He had the form of a crow, a cougar, and unbelievably a dragon. I only narrowly escaped him. But the point is, there’s at least one Alterion siding with Nirvia for certain. Whether or not he is Nirvia’s favorite, I have no idea. Could be working under him at least. That’s all I can offer you at this time, I’m afraid...”

[Evanesence]

Kade sat in silence as he ran over what Renia had to offer. Alterions on Nirvia's side. How many? What forms? He closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again and watching the faces of the council. Looking back at Renia he said, "It is very possible that Nirvia has Alterions on her side. If it was Alterions that attacked the small base, then thats a real set back."

Kade paused thinking of the best corse of action. "Bella, Renia. I'm assigning you to this ambush case. You are the strongest Alterions in the Rebel group. Get as much information you can on the possibllity of this attack being one of alterion kind. Find as much information on the Leader of the group. I want to know what we are up against. In the mean time, lets hope for more alterion recruits. "

Looking around the table he added, "Anyone else have anything to offer?"



OOC: i didnt have Edik assigned anything because I dont know how often he'll be online.

[Renia]

Renia shot an enthusiastic glance at Bella, but kept her response limited to mind-speak. Al-right! Another mission together. And this one sounds interesting. I am going to enjoy sniffing out those traitors. Especially the one that attacked me. She slowed her thoughts with effort and sighed at how she was getting excited over something that was going to take a lot of spy work to accomplish. Nirvia’s favorite was going to be hell to track down. And she doubted the one which had given her so much trouble was actually the leader. He’d seemed more of a tracker to her.

So, where do you wish to begin? she asked Bella, already returning her eyes to the counsel and listening in on the last of the meeting as she conversed with Bella. The two of them usually kept up their own conversation in addition to listening to the counsel speak.

[Evanesence]

Bella, still in her elven form, flashed Renia a grin as Kade assigned them their next mission. I know! I can't wait to get out of here and start making some progress. I've been dying for some action. Do you think the both of us together would be able to take on this... traitor Alterion? I think we should start at the scene of the crime. Make sure their is no evidence of an Alterion attack. Fur, animal like marks, and etc. Then we can branch out from there.

Bella lassoed her energetic enthusiasm and melted into her human form. She listened to what other council members had to add. Kade seemed to be wrapping the meeting up. "Alright," He said, "lets get to work. We have a lot to work on..." in a quiter tone, Bella and a few others heard him add, "...like always." She watched as Kade got up from his seat and nodded to the council in general.

Bella stood as Kade approached her and Renia. He placed a hand on both their shoulders. Looking at them each in turn he said, "Be safe". Kade walked past them and over towards Edik. "Edik! Dear friend, come lets catch up."

Bella turned towards Renia. "Shall we?"



OOC- I think we should branch off into a new topic and start the investigation. I'll leave this open incase Edik comes back. That way he can converse with Kade.

[Renia]

Renia agreed with Bella on everything. They certainly needed to start with the small base that had been raided. If they could find evidence there, it might point them in the right direction. She could not wait to begin the investigation. This was going to be just like old times for Renia and Bella. The two were at their best when they worked as a team. Obviously Kade knew this. He always seemed to pair them together on important missions.

Kade rapped up the meeting and headed over to wish them luck. Renia watched him walk away with mixed feelings. She felt quite sad for Kade. This new decree by Nirvia was going to limit his freedom severely. Kade was not going to be able to go out as often now. She knew how much Kade liked to be a part of things. Now he was going to have to spend more time leading from a distance. On the other hand, Renia was secretly glad of that. They needed Kade. Without him everything would fall apart. Now that he was going to be taking less risks, she needn’t worry so much about him.

She watched him wander off with the newcomer, hoping Edik would keep Kade out of trouble for a while. She had little hope, however, because Edik seemed to her as likely to lead Kade into trouble as he was to distract him from it. She fervently hoped she was wrong about that.

“Alright, let’s go track down Nirvia’s lapdogs,” she said to Bella with a grin. It had been far too long since they had worked on a mission together. Nirvia had best watch out.

((I agree. And since it's your turn to post, you get to start the new one. ))