The sun was setting over the plains of bohar, soon it would be night and Tori's job would start. Just like every night. Tori stepped out of her small house, the slowly setting sunlight shone on her armor. The sun turned all the grasses a bright crimosn orange, flakes of pink where also seen. Tori sighed, It had been 6 years since the fall of the kingdom she so valiantly defended, she knew it was going to be a a quiet night, or so she thought. Two hours passed and the sun set, nothing, only a few wolves and a couple of plain cats. Suddenly screams where heard from the other side of the village, Tori rushed over, her spear ready, a bandit group had found itsway to the village, "sorry, but this is my village!" A quick spear swipe took  bandit's head clean off, then one of the bandits swung at Tori, she quickly drew her sword with ease and managed to block the attack. Suddenly Tori pushed back on the blade sending the bandit off balance, she then quickly  stabbed him in the chest. The rest of the bandits didn't last for more then an hour, they where fleeing before the sun rose. Tori decided to go to her house to get cleaned up beforeher shift ended. She gave a sly smile to the sun as the first signs of day started to appear.

Walking along the tall grass, a lone figure partially crouched skulked along the village outskirts. It had been a long journey from the surrounding farmland on the fringe of the Adelunian Kingdom, but this was normal for her. Her current objective was to deliver an urgent message to a small-time trader currently staying in a town in the Highlands close to the coast. The night had been long and fraught with danger, as she had continued to travel under the light of the moon to quicken her pace. The sight of a settlement on the horizon caught her eye, and she sent her wyvern companion to scout ahead. Lifting up her arm she watched as the small draconid disappeared into the distance. While waiting for its return, she carefully approached the walled fortification as the first rays of dawn were filtering through the clouds. When she was within ten meters from it, she saw the winged form of her scaled scout fly back with an unusually fast pace. Shiloh was wondering what had happened when she heard the voice of a woman cry out with fear: "Someone help! Brigands! There's someone armed outside!"

Looking around she didn't see nor sense any signs of any of the roaming highwaymen that prowled the area, when the whistle-blower ran back inside the confines of the village compound. More shrieks and cries of danger followed as her wyvern swooped down nearly flying smack-dab into her. Grabbing the creature before an untimely impact, she tried to calm down the agitated reptile. From what it relayed to her, apparently it had flown too low over the village and had caused an alarm. It had narrowly missed being hit by stones and darts and had veered back when it was being threatened. From what it saw, there weren't any armed men matching the description of the local bandit gangs that plagued the region, thus it was a potentially safe place to stop and rest. Pulling out a piece of venison jerky the Boharan herders had shared with her a while back, she rewarded the winged creature and praised it for its hard work. The pseudo-wyvern settled back onto its usual spot on her shoulders and rested its head atop hers.

Now within five meters of the village boundary, the residents immediately took notice of her and began running or assuming defensive positions. It wasn't until she was within earshot that she picked up on the anxious tones of the villagers and came to realize why they were hollering about a person who was 'armed and dangerous'. Raising her hand to explain, the men and women instead started calling for help and for the guards. The small draconid clinging to her back and its partially outstretched wings combined with the sunlight shining from behind likely cast a rather distorted silhouette which could have been misinterpreted for a monster or winged demon. She sighed, preparing for the worst.

Given it had been sometime since Vincent had had a vacation of any sorts since his time at the academy, it was so graciously forced onto him by his superiors. While he went to protest and wanted to keep up his duties, there was no second thought within any of them. Frowning, the young captain accepted the offer and decided that he would travel to the mainland to go see an old friend of his. He resided in Mamlak the last time he heard from him so he left the beautiful island of Egjora and took the first ship to the docks of Adeluna. The days that went by couldn't have gone any slower and by the time he reached the city, his legs felt like rubber. Certainly a captain of an airship like he was, one would be used to the constant imbalance a vessel had while traveling. While being the air didn't bother him greatly, sailing through the seas on the other hand had quite the opposite effect.

It took a couple of hours for him to recollect himself, not to mention calm down his steed, Midnight, before he gathered his things and stayed there until the break of dawn and rode out from the city. A day or two later, he was about midway into his destination when he spotted a remote village. "Be a good spot to stop and stock up", he said to his horse. Midnight merely answered with a dull neigh as if to question his master's logic. But he was running low on water and food since he unfortunately underestimated the length of the journey. It didn't seem like it took him this long to get to Mamlak, but then again how many years had it been? Besides he needed a place to rest for a bit, lest he camp out again when nightfall would come and it wasn't a pleasant idea. Letting the thought roll around in his head for bit, Vincent came to screeching halt as he spotted a gruesome scene of blood and some bodies about. He stopped Midnight in his tracks and inspected the view; they looked to be bandits and whoever did this acted with great precision. "Perhaps this is not the best place after all", he spoke which his steed neighed at him again. Then the shouts caught his attention and he rode up towards the crowd of people. Interesting enough, they were speaking about someone being armed and dangerous, which made him ponder who they were talking about if it wasn't the bandits back there. His eyes then latched onto the person that was center of their attention, not to mention the strange creature that was carried. Vincent looked at them questionably before he climbed onto the ground and took the reins to lead Midnight over closer to the action. "Anyone mind telling me what's going on here?", he asked, not wanting to get fully involved just in case his superiors would somehow hear about this and then he would really be in trouble.

Tori had just gotten out if her armor when she suddenly heard some citizens crying out for help, she didn't even bother getting back into her armor, she grabbed her spear and rushed out, she saw the wyvern fly off, and also heard the nighes of a horse, she looked to the front of the wall, the doors had been left open, she curled her lip, and called out to the rest of the villagers "run! Back into your houses! I'll handle this!" Her spear glimmered in the night, soon she was face to face with a cloaked figure, with that same wyvern perched on their shoulder. "Identify yourself!" A true heroine at heart, her spear and body poised to take whatever hit her, she would fight, and fight until she died. 

She turned to the sound of the horse which had also breached the gate. She was focused, determined. Suddenly hooks lactched onto the walls.. "dammit, the Hunters!" She quickly ran back inside her house and came out 3 minutes later with her armor equipped, soon 30 somewhat armored hunters where inside the wall, some had already set fire to some of the houses, as the families would retreat from their burning houses, they would be quickly murdered. Tori ran off her spear facing forward, ready to impale any hunter that got in her way. She got to where they were concentrated and began attacking.

Tori was fighting furiously, but she couldn't fight all of them at once, several times she was hit, but even with blood seeping from the cracks in her armor, she stayed determined and took two of them down before she got hit next, embers floated up at every second illuminating her eyes and her armor, swords clashed and blood spilled onto the ground, but the heroine kept on battling, everytime a blade clashed she would try and stab at the blade wielder, but she was becoming sluggish with her injuries clouding her judgement. This had never happened before, this was a trap, the bandits where scouts! "DIE DAMMIT!!"

As the fight went on the villagers began to retreat out of the village, but they where met with the two strangers, and stopped. But as they stopped in fear she took the injuries of her people, slowly the hunters where beginning to wear this tank down, they just kept on coming, she couldn't last for long by herself, not at this rate. Her cape fluttered with her movements, soon enough blood to soaked the well-worn cape.

Shiloh was confronted by a spearwoman with her weapon in hand, and slowly raised her own hands up in attempt to dispel the mistake the villagers must have made. But before she could explain, the settlement fell under attack. She detected several life signatures in the area, a great deal of anxiety, fear, and ill-will. Focusing on the source of malicious intent, she clicked her tongue and her little wyvern leaned its head closer. Whispering instructions, it took off into the sky to gather an aerial assessment of the battlefield informing her of what it could see via telepathy. While her companion was in flight, she drew her steel broadsword and her dragon bone blade before joining the fray. Scaling the village walls with ease, she slashed the ropes of any poor unsuspecting marauders who were still hanging from the other end of the grappling hooks. From her vantage point she could see the spearwoman, now in armor, attempting to stem the tide of armed highwaymen. The odds were too high; if she tried to keep this up she'd end up dead.

With that thought in mind, when her wyvern gave her its next update on the battlefield's situation, she informed it that she would be entering combat and to continue it's flight pattern until anything drastically changed. It was time to show these armed thugs what real hunters looked like. She started with the ones inside the settlement walls. From the rooftops of houses she cut down and routed anyone who bore the tell-tale emotional patterns matching the attackers. From overhead her winged scout was working on rallying any villagers to put out the fires through telepathic suggestion, and Shiloh herself stamped out whatever embers she found. Striking from the shadows, dealing swift blows to the groin and other soft parts, brutalizing the bandits with their own weapons, and even using the fallen bodies of her opponents as flame retardants–these were just a few of the tactics she implemented on them. She started by picking them off one by one, incapacitating them through non-lethal means so she could give them a public display of punishment later. One man was tied with his own grappling hook. Another was pinned to the wall of a house with the weapons of his comrades. And several others were subjugated to choke-holds or a strike to the head from the hilts of her blades. The more stubborn ones had their legs and arms injured, and were left at the mercy of the villagers they had intended to prey on.

Once the inside was tidied up, she moved out from the boundaries of the walls. Her far-sight showed her the woman, completely surrounded and routed. She was putting up a valiant effort, but a highly ineffective one. While she was occupied, some of the assailants were breaking away to enter through the gate while she was occupied. Her previous run had left her somewhat fatigued, but that was just fine. She had taken minor damage from clearing out the trash, and now was the perfect time for a pick-me-up. She would be changing her approach this time–putting away her blades for her enchanted shield and axe. With her shield in hand, she charged at breakneck speed and rammed into the first bandit unlucky enough to be in her way. Running at top speed she plowed down the rest, regardless if they were running at her or away from her. Whoever said shields weren't offensive implements clearly didn't know what shield bashing was. And by the gods, it was a cathartic experience.

The screams of bloody murder and agony of the victims of Shiloh's hit-and-run rampage could be heard meters away by anyone who wasn't in its path. Inside and outside the walls of the encampment were littered with the unconscious bodies of the armed men, some in less glorified positions. Not to let its human cohort hoard all the action for herself, her wyvern began dive-bombing any remaining stragglers aiming for the face and head. Some were on the receiving end of its poisoned sting.  

Tower was traveling through revaliir with his wife to find his old friend Sylvia. Sylvia always had a knack for getting herself into trouble so Tower figured looking for trouble was just as good as looking for Sylvia. This has led him to a small village that was seemingly under attack. Settlements under attack were kind of becoming a common theme for him, first he had to help defending Adelunda and now some small village? He better get recognition for this… The juggernaut again charged into the bandits like he did with the afflicted, swining his longsword around flinging the bandits into walls if he didnt kill them instantly. "This town under attack bussines is becoming an all too common occasion!"

His question had went unanswered directly yet he would an answer anyway. The sounds of fighting caught Vincent’s ear and mentally he groaned. This was certainly not the sort of vacation he wanted to partake in nor would the council be thrilled should the news arrive. However, he was a soldier and wanted to protect people. With a grave frown, he pressed forward, his swordhand waiting at the top of the hilt of the sheathed blade on his side just in case. It was his duty to watch over those that couldn’t defend themselves. The captain went against the sea of people fleeing from their homes as word came to him that bandits were spotted in the city limits. Smoke filled the air beyond him and it was all but certain that they were in terrible danger. Vincent was worried that unless others would show up, then this would be a losing fight. Regardless, his best course of action would be to make sure that as many people made it out unscathed.

The closer he got to the danger, the more he could start to see the ruthless ruffians stirring up trouble. Their reasons went unconcerned by him as his sword was unleashed and went after a small group that felt like lighting fire to another house close by. They were tough opponents and well equipped, but after some time, he was able to dispatched them non lethally. While he looked a little worse for the wear, it didn’t remove his focus from the objective. Their forces were scattered, so when he wasn’t fighting, he was looking out for any that were left behind. More of them showed up beaten or captured and he assumed that someone else was fighting as well. It made his heart lighten up a bit but the next sight would shake him to the core. A young woman was fighting as well, but she was slowly losing the battle she found herself in. The fight for her was going too long and their numerous advantage was taking its toll.

“Dammit.” Vincent hurried and kicked the nearest bandit he could reach before coming to her side. “Take it easy, miss.” Judging quickly by her wounds, Vincent worried that she could perish from bloodlust or a decisive blow by one of the enemy. “The madness should end if we find their leader amongst the chaos. But right now, we have to deal with these guys first…”

Tori breathed heavily, her heart pounded to a rhythm in her head. She called this 'Determination Beating to the Rhythm of the War Drums.' As she sat there resting on her spear, blood seeping from her wounds, she sighed in the midst of battle. A glimmer sparkled in her eyes, but she hurt, all of her cuts stinging, but somehow she had just the amount of energy left to cast one spell, only one. Suddenly Tori stood up, her spear beating on the ground. She was a bit off balace to begin with but she managed. Furious attacks met her body, she took the hits, blood splattering on the ground, but she stayed determined. Her cape blew in the hot wind, her armor dinged, and dirtied from the battle, every attack she swung at the attacker, killing them instantly, her eyes reflected the embers burning her village to ashes, tears ran down her face. Suddenly, she stopped, she looked down to the ground, and suddenly kneeled. A quick swipe and three charging hunters where cut in half. Tori suddenly picked up something, it was a blood stained doll. Tears fell from her eyes, she squeezed the doll and suddenly her spear raised up into the air, a long and furious battle cry echoed throughout the village.

The hunters where a bit hesitant with continuing their attack, but they continued, they where met with the stupid ones had a quick death. An arrow suddenly whizzed and hit Tori in her arm. She grimaced but continued fighting, more arrows, most of them bounced off, or snapped against the armor, others found joints, and exposed cracks. Finally, she fell to a knee. She had to use it. No other choice. Tori whispered a few words and suddenly hit the ground furiously, her spear started glowing brilliantly, gold and white filled the village, suddenly Tori screams "ARCHANGEL'S SPEAR!!" 

Then a sudden flash of light, Then dark. The rest of the hunters retreated, the fight was finally over, but at what cost? What once stood the village of Undu, was now a crater and a few charred ashes. Only a handful of houses survived, half the wall had been wiped out. But in the middle of the ruins lays Torinea, The Heroine, she lay, unconscious and barely alive, only a few hunters were dumb enough tostay in the village. Tori's armor was completely broken, a very cut up shoulder and neck where exposed, her pale skin dirtied by blood and soot, her legs also exposed, aswell as cut and bloodied, and an arrow to the arm, which surprisingly wasn't blown off in the Holy Spell-Blast. Tori was barely alive, her spear tip almost cracked in half.

The sun rose while the battle ensued, and once the battle was won, the villagers returned back to their destroyed homes. A few villagers traveled down to where Tori layed, "Sh-she's still alive! We need to get her out!" The villagers managed to remove the rest of the ruined armor and get the wounded Heroine into her damaged house. The situation looked grim, but she was able to save many lives.. The villagers where thankful..

"Seriously…what a mess." The attackers finally were out of sight, but now it was time to deal with the aftermath. She had arrived expecting a place to rest and restock on supplies before moving on only to be delayed by handling a local skirmish. Shiloh weighed her options. If she stayed to get this place back on its feet, she'd lose at least a whole day while if she left now she'd be behind schedule by half a day for sure. Her wyvern had returned fatigued and draped itself around her shoulders. Scratching it underneath its neck, she whispered: "Good work out there. Take a break for as long as you like." So far the damage wasn't irreparable, but it would take a while to rebuild the defenses and dig graves for the deceased. There was a quicker way to deal with the bodies, but she doubted the people would agree to a mass cremation. Too unsentimental and impersonal. Walking through the desecrated village she saw some of the survivors bringing the battered spearwoman in, stripping her armor so she could be treated. It wasn't a pleasant sight. The woman should've known not to keep going in spite of those odds, or at least call for reinforcements. If it weren't for her and a few other people helping out, the whole place would've been razed to the ground and sacked by the raiders.

Whoever these scoundrels were, they didn't have much honor either. In their retreat they abandoned the rest of their comrades who were wounded or unconscious. Then again what else would they expect? Sighing in exasperation, she figured she'd have to use her back-up plan since no matter what option she chose she'd be running late. Setting her knapsack down, she pulled out an enchanted scroll. Normally she'd reserve this for the dire situations, but she'd rather not damage her credibility as a courier after all she had done to build up her good reputation. Taking out her dagger, she carefully picked open the wax seal on the letter she was supposed to deliver and read the contents. Oh good, it was just news about a birth of a child and nothing truly serious. Yes she knew it was poor etiquette to breach a client's privacy like that but she knew how to reseal it as if it had never been opened. Besides, she didn't have time to waste in choosing whether she left or stayed. Once the letter was resealed, she unraveled the enchanted scroll, placed the wax-sealed letter on it, wrote the name of the letter's recipient on the scroll, and activated the sigil. In a shimmer and a flash, the letter vanished–and would appear wherever its intended receiver was. She'd come and collect her payment later once she was back in Adeluna.

With that bit of business resolved, she began surveying what she could do here. In spite of the combined efforts of her and her winged friend, there was a considerable amount of property damage and damage to the settlement's outer walls. She was no builder, thus there was nothing she could do to remedy that directly. She also couldn't heal the wounded, which was regrettable. Right now they were short on manpower, but luckily for them they had an unexpected source right among them: the remaining hunters whom she had so kindly taken out through non-lethal means. Obviously they weren't going to be willing to help fix the damages they caused, but Shiloh had ways to convince that didn't require eloquence and grace.  She had the captured raiders lined up before her, selecting those the least injured. She then stated that they were going to carry out their penance through hard labor, starting with fixing that they broke.

They laughed at her, some even spat at her face. "HAH! What makes you think we'd listen to you? You think we're gonna do what you tell us like a pack o' hounds?" One mean-spirited man in particular jeered. "Oh sure, you can choose not to…if you don't mind becoming eunuchs." She responded flatly. "Feh! You think you can scare me? You're all talk and no bite! And what's that supposed to mean anyhow?" The same man mocked, his eyes daring her to make a move. Some of the other men immediately paled at her previous response, while others who likely didn't know what she was implicating maintained their arrogance. Shiloh pulled out her phoenix blade, and slowly walked over towards the man, one step after the other as flames licked the edges of the sword. Standing a few feet from him she pointed the tip of the blade an inch from his neck. "It means…" She spoke quietly. "…That you'll be losing your manhood, without any ale to dull the pain." Tilting her hand she moved the tip of the flaming blade down from hovering near his neck to his groin. The man stopped talking back, and soon she had them gather materials to rebuild the walls and set up campfires for those who had lost their homes.