Prologue

Cool fog laped lazily against the unyielding stone wall of the city, entrusting that its adventual end would be well beyond and into the city proper. A single man stood atop the wall carrying an oil lamp that had seen far better days. Chips in the glass cast splits of light out into the dark at strange angles and small holes dotted the sides from punctures. Occasionally the light would reflect and send the man reeling momentarily from the blindness. 

“I wonder whats out there at this time of night.” the man said to no one. 

He slowed his pace to a halt and turned to face the abyssal emptiness beyond the flickering light of the lamp and safety of the wall. He could feel the rising fog before he noticed, it risen faster than the man had expected. The guard filed the thought away with the countless others that came to his mind, so many of the questions just seemed to lack answers. Even the ones he could get Scholars or Peres to explain, rarely came any easier.

“Eato.” 

Eato turned to see his friend and cospiriter in pondering the unknown. She wasn’t particularly special, in Eatos mind she was actually quite plain for an orc. Her skin was a lighter shade of a green, a trait he had always found odd about the race, and she was dressed in a matching outfit to his own. A single chainmail gown, belt, pants, boots, and Dominia crest shirt. 

“Arlaina, what brings you out into this foggy night?” Eato turned back to the void once more and sighed. “It’s being dreadfully quiet tonight as well i’m afraid.”

Arlaina stepped beside him and retrieved a small flask from her belt and took a sip, then offered it to Eato. Eato happily accepted and took a hasty swig of the contents, 

“Thats nice,” He said handing it back “Your own work?”

“Almost got it down,” She said, returning the flask to its apparent home. “Met a farmer in the market who grows the types of fruits I need, just need to work on the mixture now.” 

“So you say,” Eato frowned, “I don’t know if you’ll have the time.”

“Oh thats right,” Arlaina shifted her spear and did her best to rub the sudden annoyance from her face. “The Iron Circus, az I forgot all about it.” She groaned and looked out into the night.

“Just a week, praise light. After that we can go back to regular routine.”

Silence fell between the two, both simply enjoying the peace and cold that the fog seemed to provide, Its rising was beginning to cast the area around the lantern in an ethereal glow. Neither spoke, both listened intently to rushing of leafs and creaking of branches beyond what the light could reveal. 

“I wonder how the pere travel at night, seems too dangerous for any sane person.” Eato said  with cautious wonder.

“Its not so bad,” Arlaina said “if you stick to the roads anyway. I’ve made the trip from here to the capital a few times. Even the caravans are willing to travel at night should they need, real dangers seem to stay away from cities and towns.”

“You’ve been to Hilstella? When? What was it like? Was it as pretty as they say?” Eato blurted each question barely stopping to consider breathing. 

“Surely you’ve been?” She said

“I’ve never the time now.” Eato said disheartedly, “Though i’ve tried to get enough together a few times, but things just never seem to work out.”

“Then i’ll do my best to offer it justice, its hard to describe well though.” 

“The outer walls then, Do they really reach to the heavens themself?” 

Arlaina laughed and shook her head.

“Not quite, but when you stand at the first gate and look up…” She trailed off in thought “It almost feels like they do. The brilliant white and intricate carvings, Its unlike anything else i’ve ever seen.”

“The Markets?” 

“Ah, that i can give a better description of I think. When i was there it was nearly impossible to find a single beggar. Even the peasants seemed to be dressed in noble finery, and the nobility were unmistakable in their manors and carriages. A few even walked among the markets and chatted idly with peasants.”

“Peasants and Nobles? I don’t really think i can buy that.” 

“You asked, i’m just telling you.”

Eato turned back towards Dominia and cast his eyes out on the fog sea of a city. Street lamps and houses gave it a faint glow of ever flickering light, and the dark cobbled streets of the empty market were nearly visible through it. Dominia wasn’t ugly, in the daylight the city bustled and roared with life as traders, travelers, Pere, and even nobility traveled too and fro. Being the central connection for most of the North eastern to the mountains of the Central South, It saw its fair share of events. 

At night however, the city turned to a ghoulish ghost town of dregs and betrayal. The underground of Dominia preformed the majority of their work in the night, those that didn’t depend on people to be around, and often bodies would show to the morgue the next morning having suffered a fatal or horrific attack. They seemed to only grow worse each year, though wether that was due to the violence or… something else.

Eato shuddered as a chill ran down his spine. Arlaina noticed and offered the flask again. 

“The Daemon?” 

Eato nodded accepting the flask, then took as big a gulp as he could manage. He could feel the warmth of the drink spill into him. 

“I wish it wasn’t.” He muttered.

“Theres supposed to be ways to defend against the thing right?”

“I don’t really understand how the Count plans to do that when no ones sure what in the name of creation the thing is!”

“Its just a man, probably an out of control Arcanist or Pere. I don’t think it could be anything else. I mean, what would have the strength and power to cut through whole people and disappear.”

“Thats almost worse, especially if its an Arcanist.” Eato paused and took a deep breath. 

“Come now, its-” 

A shrill piercing scream of pain shot through the mist and shattered the otherwise silent facade of the city. The two looked to each other and then rushed to the inner stairs. Another scream came as they made their way to the bottom of the steps.

“This way!” Arlaina shouted

The duo hastily pushed their way through crowded alleys of street urchins and girls, getting occasional shouts of annoyance as they went. They never broke stride, Arlaina leading the charge allowed the smaller frame elf to slip into the wake of destruction behind her. 

“Help me! Please!” The cry came from a young man held by his throat several feet above the ground. Long dark fingers affixed with razer sharp claws dug deeper into the struggling mans flesh, slowly drawing more blood and screams. 

“Stop!” The voice surprised Eato, as he had been to the one to say it. Arlaina was stuck dumbfounded at whatever monster lay before them. 

Eato was nearly caught in its sight as well. The form was tall, taller than any normal person he’d ever seen, it had backwards facing legs, disjointed patches of fur and exposed sinew gave it a gory appearance in the light, but the face was the worst. It looked like a human girl, someone that Eato found very familiar. He just couldn’t…

“Aze…” Arliana whispered “Its the young Lady Elizabeth…”

Suddenly the face fit into its slot, and Eato remembered all the times he’d seen the girl. She had always been beside the Count, every function or address, she was always within eyesight. Count Philistines daughter was beloved, unlike her father she bore no hatred of any one race and often worked to aid the poor and build the city. To everyone she was the redeeming trait that came from the Counts ownership of the town. 

To see her now, beheading an innocent beggar in a darkened plaza at night, it was almost too much to believe. Eato blinked and tried to focus his eyes, willing them to see anything else. They didn’t. They showed the now beheaded body of a young beggar Elf, blood and viscera dripping from the creatures hands.

“What should we do?” Eato managed. He could feel every ounce of his body shouting, screaming to him to run. Out of the corner of his eye he thought he say Arlaina shaking as well. 

The Creature-Elizabeth must have hear them because its head snapped to the side and the once calm face of the girl began to be cut with a sinister and inhuman grin. Half the girls face seemed to open and reveal sharp and mismatched teeth. Suddenly it lowered from its bipedal position and began to sprint towards them. The plaza was small, no longer than a few carriage end to end but the decent seemed inconsequential to the creature, as it landed before them with a growl and slashed. 

With no shield or way of defending himself, Eato braced for the inevitable embrace of death and prayed for it to be quick. Arlaina on the other hand reacted in a flash, the pounce seeming to have driven her from her state. She shoved the spear into the creatures palm just as it opened a gash along Eatos arm. The Elf fell back but quickly drew his sword, Arlaina pulled the spear back and heard the creature wail in pain. A sound of off key harmonics seemed to explode from it as it reeled in surprise.

“Over here!” Eato turned to see a small human boy with messy blond hair and a fitting brigandine holding a bow and knocking an arrow. He stood in an alley diagonal from them and was flanked a tall woman in near full plate mail and holding a broadsword. 

“Now!” The woman shouted. 

Eato, moving on instinct alone, grabbed Arlaina by the arm and pulled her away as fast as he could manage. The wound on his arm burned and he began to feel its pain more fervently, but he pushed on and did his best to ignore it. The Creature had been readying itself for another swing when Eato had grabbed her, and sudden lurch forward pulled them out of its range just in time. 

A whistle and thud drew Eatos attention upward, towards the alley and duo, The woman had stepped out and the boy was rushing the remaining distance to help himself and Arlaina up. The creature cocked its head with intrigue and curiosity, sniffing the wound and then looking towards the woman. 

“Are you alright?” The boys voice was higher than he’d imagined and up close he could see that the touches of youth had yet to leave him. His eyes were sharp and concerned, inspecting the duo and scrutinizing them. “Come on, we need to go!” 

The boy pulled Eato and Arlaina past the incoming fight and into the narrow alley they had appeared in. Eato and Arlaina caught their breath in raspy gasping gulps, but the blonde boy simply took a deep breathe and placed his hand atop Eatos wound. 

“In the Goddesses light.”

Eato didn’t respond how he’d intended. At first he gave an instinctual quip of surprise, but when he looked to see why the boy had decided to grip a fresh wound, he saw the disturbing image of his body being expediently resown.
“You really shouldn’t look.” The boy said calmly, “Its really unpleasant stuff. I’m Albert by the way.”

“Eato.” Eato said, pulling his arm away now that Albert had finished the healing. 

“Arlaina.” Arlaina muttered. Her eyes remained locked on the two figures in the fog beyond their narrow gap. 

“Lady Jeann!” Albert called “They’re both alright from what I can see.”

Jeann was a very simple woman by many mens standards. She was attractive for sure, but most days that figure and image was hidden behind armor and chainmail. She would attend noble parties, because it was expected of a Pere of some fame to do as such, but she loathed them and actively tried for jobs that had conflicting dates. Jeann simply hated the idea of idle time being wasted when there was something so much better to do.

The creature before Jeann towered over her and glared down at her through the eyes of a young girl. The Counts Daughter. The last person she wanted to have to harm on the job, but business was business and they needed information. A corpse would provide that, though the Count might not appreciate the lack of a living daughter. She thought. The creature lunged and Jeann made two quick steps back, avoiding the swipe, and then swung. The blade ran through the creatures arm, nearly half the width, before hitting bone and stopping.

The creature screamed and flung her back, sword and all. Though she managed to keep herself standing, she could feel the power behind its movements. Whatever the creature was, it was strong. A smile split across Jeanns lips. 

“Perfect, you’re exactly what I needed tonight.” Readying her blade for another swing, Jeann began to laugh. 

“Lady Jeann!” She could hear Albert call “They’re both alright from what I can see.” 

“Good, keep them that way! This seems like too much fun to resist.”

Jeann dashed forward and meanuvered herself to the side, giving slashes into exposed areas all the while. The Creature blocked what it could with its arms and struck Jeann hard in the side, bending her armor and sending her flying towards the wall. As she rose to her feet, Jeann gave a full throated laugh and touched the wound to her side. 

“Thats alright, I like it rough too.” 

Jeann was a very simple woman to many men. She hated nobles, detested wearing dresses, and loved to fight. It was always that simple. 

“Albert!” Eato, Arlaina, and the boy Albert turned to see a trio of figures rushing their way. At the head of the procession was a Dwarf in a leather cuirass, a gnome in full black, and another female orc, only this one looked nothing liked Arlaina. She was tall, deep green, and seemed to be more well muscled than anyone Eato had ever seen before. 

“Boulin, Dantes, Ulma,” He said rising to his feet. “Sorry we rushed out, Jeann heard the screams and-”

“Thats alright,” Dantes said. He spoke calmly and with an harsh accent “Whats on?”

“Nother drunk?” The Orc asked, her voice was deep and booming. 

“No,” Albert said, “We think its the monster. Worse though, it has the face of young Lady.”

“Darkness!” the dwarf cursed. “Course it’d be that way.” 

 A sound of crashing stone and singing metal drew the groups attention back out into the plaza where Jeann stood, albeit bloody, victorious over the limp frame of a young lady bare of any fur or clothing. 

“What happened?” Albert asked

“I beat her,” Jeann said, then looked the girl over, “At Least I think I did.”

“What was that?” Eato asked cautiously

“I’m not sure…” Jeann spoke calmly, but avoided the young lady any further. Instead she approached the group and sat beside them. Blood caked her armor and fresh gashes dotted her arms and face, but Jeann smiled and leaned her head back against the wall. “I know one thing for sure though. Whatever it was was beyond anything i’ve seen.”

With a sigh, Jeann drew a simple flask from her pants and sipped, then looking up towards the fog filled, orange hazed sky, gave an annoyed click of her tongue and stood. 

“Albert, I need you to send a letter to Mehonoris, inform them I need their Pere for a bit.”

Albert rose, then paused at the name.

“Mehonoris? The coastal town? Who do we know there?”

“If im not mistaken, Alder. I heard he took up a research position in their Library of Creation.”

“You mentioned him before, right?” Boulin asked, tugging thoughtfully at his beard “Some Arcanist from Academy days or something?”

“Something like that.” Jeann said. “Now then, lets get you two back to your stations. I think this has probably been enough excitement for one guard shift, no?”