Another black night had shrouded Ea in its grip and a heavy rain had chosen to pour over Estolad, soaking the earth and creating puddles of thick mud that squelched when stepped in and threatened to take the boot of whoever was foolish enough to plant their feet upon them. A brief flash of thunder sounded near the horizon, followed by the resulting rumble like so many boulders rolling down a stone chute. In this brief flash of light, four figures were illuminated on the road heading towards the city, three of them had their faces and forms hidden by cloaks embroidered with the B.A.D.I crest, but the figure leading the pack had no such clothing upon her.

Despite the harsh weather and the uncomfortable cold that it brought, Winter had chosen not to wear a hood and cloak, such a ghoulish way of traveling was not the sort of thing she did, and so she wore her usual garments, stained dark by the rain constantly pouring down on them and dripping off her and onto the ground. Her hair was glued to her scalp by the persistent downpour and her naked arms were soaked completely, nevertheless she didn't mutter a single complaint.
"So where are we heading first?" Winter asked once they'd entered the village.
Her first companion took a scroll of parchment from under her cloak and unrolled it, keeping her head over it lest the rain drag the ink off the paper.
"Kaima inn," Shari's voice spoke from under her hood "Apparently people supply even more information when they're drunk."

"They also supply you with a handful of fists if you're not careful," Winter muttered.
The four of them proceeded through the village till they came to the only inn in sight, Kaima inn. They paused briefly for a moment and then entered, escaping from the harsh terrain outside. Once inside the three cloaked figures gratefully lowered their hoods. Shari was Winter's priestess of balance from the temple of order, the other two were two B-cass B.A.D.I agents assigned to accompany her, the first was an elf with auburn hair tied behind his head and sparkling green eyes, however his face was slightly yellow and he was missing a bit of one ear, the other was a dwarf with a thick black beard that almost completely obscured his face expect for a pair of rock gray eyes that seemed to be scanning the whole interior of the inn with unparalleled detail.

"I never liked pubbs," he said in a gruff voice.
Winter gave one look at him before turning her attention away. The four of them were here on a search for information about the rebellion currently taking place in B.A.D.I, several members had been deserting the guild hall and a few had turned spy against them, plotting to move against Merenwen as soon as possible. They only knew of this because of the sudden yells from a drunk agent the previous morning. He had been immediately interrogated and discovered to be one of the rebel spies inside head quarters. No sooner had they leaked him of all information possible than Winter and her three companions had been sent to Estolad where the man had claimed the rebellion was hiding. They were told they may receive reinforcements later but they had been made no promises.

"Math-eal," can you hear anything.
The elf, called Math-eal, closed his eyes and bowed his head, concentrating hard. Math-eal was a psychic specialist and had mastered both telepathy and clairvoyance, meaning he could read the thoughts of weak minded people with ease. However he looked up after a few minutes and shook his head.
"Most people here are drunk," he explained in a heavy wood-eld accent "Their thoughts are all over the place, and the sober ones don't know anything."
Winter sighed and moved towards the bar, ignoring the stares alot of the occupants were giving them, especially her. She walked up to the bartender and looked up at him. Winter was dwarfed by many people but this man was taller than a horse by the look of him, perhaps he had some troll blood in him.

"What do you want?" he asked.
"I'm looking for information on the rebellion," Winter explained.
"Dunno anything about it," the man grunted in a very troll-like fashion.
"I hope you're not hiding anything," Winter said, staring straight at the man.
The bartender felt a shiver run down his spine and he swallowed.
"I'm not hiding nothing," he said again.
Winter sighed and turned away.

No sooner had she left the bar than she heard a yell from the black-haired dwarf accompanying her. She looked round and saw him wrestling with a drunken man fumbling for a knife in his belt.
"Goron, what happened?" Winter asked.
"Dumb drunk," Goron replied between grunts "Just came at me. Ragh!"
With a shove of incredible strength, Goron threw the drunk off him and bounced back to his feet, shoving a fat fingered hand under his cloak. The drunk rushed at him again just as Goron produced a decorated silver axe from within the folds of his cloak and swung it with practiced precision, sending the knife flying from the drunkard's hand and skidding across the floor.

Winter stared at the drunk for a moment and her eyes narrowed.
"I recognize him," Shari said.
"What?" Goron looked about.
"I saw him walking around head quarters a few months ago," Shari explained "He's a B.A.D.I agent, or a rebel one at least."
"I see," Winter said, her cold gaze fixing upon this man "Better sober him up then."

The sky was as dark as he had ever seen. It was as if shadows had gone and consumed everything within sight. Why was he out this far anyway. He had no real reason to be here, in this small rural village people had come to call Estolad. Tobias stood upon the outskirts of the village completely drenched from the heavy downpour that threatened to drown all. His cloths clung to him tightly as he stood and waited for something even he wasn't sure would come. The night was frigid and the dampness of everything didn't help matters. Walking around had proved just as gruesome as the rain had long ago turned the quite streets into booby traps of thick mud. On several occasions to get here he had almost lost his boots deep within the mud.

He had chosen to leave the safety and comfort of the Misty Forest for the simple reason of traveling. Spending so much time concealed within such a place left him out of touch with the current events of the land. Which is one thing he hoped to rectify in his travels. A streak of lightning crossed the sky above causing the night sky to illuminate as if it were day again if only for a few moments. The shadows soon returned afterward followed shortly by a clash of thunder. He had lived through storms before and it was odd how the sound of thunder could be heard from so many other things as well. One that stood out in his memory the most had taken place in Alulanta Falls. He had been one of the few to witness the birth a new waterfall as it was created from an overflow of water above. Thunder and the sound of all that water hitting the rocky ground blow sounded like one.

But enough of waterfalls and thunder. The main thing on his mind at the present moment was getting out of the rain, if only for a little while. He was not very used to dealing with it as the shelter of the Misty Forest often let little rain within.

Tobias had been here several times before as he tried to bring up a mental image of the layout of the village. He knew of an Inn nearby but wasn't sure if it would still be there. The name of it completely escaped his grasp. He would soon learn the answers to these questions as he began to slowly walk forward through the mucky ground.

Tobias continued to trudge on as he made his way to where he believed the inn to be located. He made sure to take his time with each step as to not loose either of his boots. It took alot more time then he had wanted to but at last he stood a little ways before the inn. Placing his hand upon the side of a nearby building to rest he walk here had taken alot more energy then he had thought. It was worse then walking in sand which for some reason always tired people then walking on the bare earth.

Before him stood the Kaima Inn. So that was the name he thought as he looked on it with wonder. It had been long indeed since he had been here and it didn't look any different then before. He was about to continue on when he noticed a small group of people come from within the inn. You would think any within would wish to stay there if only to stay out of the bitterness of the night sky. There were four people in total and he was even more shocked to see that one wasn't even dressed for this kind of weather. Surely she would catch a cold if she stayed out too long like that. The others, more properly dressed were cloaked. Three of them being of average height the forth was rather small giving him the impression that it was a young adult.

He watched as a local drunk attacked this shorter man. During the struggle he could hear voices but could not quite make out what was being said over the sound of the raindrops all around him. The small group seemed to take great interest in this man as they were no longer moving on. Not sure as to what action to take he waited to see how things would progress without his influence.

It was a shock he'd been allowed back in.

Here, in the pouring rain, the Kaima Inn had deigned to open its doors to him. It didn't seem as though Ms. Kaima was working tonight, so that may have had an effect. Then again, she might have simply warned her goons against him. Him being Nathaniel, of course. And his crime? An all out brawl with the Guardian of Fire, perhaps two months prior. Their fight had left various tables upturned, many patrons upset, and of course Ms. Kaima herself red-faced and flushed as she scolded them as a mother might. It was a wonder she hadn't dragged them out by their ears.

Now the drunk worked for that same guardian, though there was still an air of distaste managed between them. Vaudeux may have been charismatic, but the fire wielder was as hot-blooded as his element; and it would surely be his downfall. Even now his power could be barely felt; claps of thunder and the tears of Merenwen were falling from the sacred halls of Aman. Kaima had become swollen as various beings from all walks of life pooled inside the warm escape. Now most of them were drunk, and the other half steadily heading for as much.

If the warrior didn't have such an aversion to water (and would have arrived here at a more ordinary time; a few hours after the rooster's crow, for instance), he'd be in the same state. As it was now, the proud warrior was still painfully aware of everything going on, and it seemed no matter how many glasses he upturned the numb drearyness he sought remained out of reach. The Wilwarin had such better taste.

Quietly the male sighed to himself, as if reminiscing over a pleasant memory, The doors opened but his dark head remained lowered, body slouching over the honey-laden mead. The Shadovar cohort cared little to listen in to the conversation; listening to a drunken Uruk singing about his rabbit was far more interesting, and people coming in from the rain could hardly be called peculiar. Until one of them decided to approach the counter, of course. His teeth stung as he grinded his molars, grimacing as wet sloppy steps assaulted his ears.

"I'm looking for information on the rebellion."

The new sound was refreshing, and with a curious grunt the warrior straightened, glancing over to the voice. She was thoroughly wet, and the sight brought memories of Catalina to mind. Indeed, it was if it had even infected her; both the hair that clang to her and the girl's clothes (or lack thereof) were all the traditional blue of sky tears. Why anyone would travel without multiple jackets was beyond the patron, but the male also knew better than to linger on such things.

If Nathaniel were more drunk, he may have offered her a drink. Perhaps even implied he had the information she was looking for. However, her appearance was too noticeably unusual, and she looked to be the same height as Skertin. As if by divine humor the bartender serving tonight was a towering fellow; taller even than the warrior's considerable height, and it showed well against the poor little girl.

Rebellion. Are Ita's men defecting already?

Before the male could pick the blue lass' brain, she'd already found the lack of information from Ed uninteresting; choosing instead to move on. Carelessly he shrugged, ignoring the situation and drinking at his mead. One less wet cat to ruin the floors and give him nightmares. The mead was good, and it cooled his throat as it trickled down.

"Ragh!" The shout inspired surprise, and going on that instinct he turned. Every muscle tightened, abdomen tightening as the threat of danger washed over him. Wasn't this supposed to be Kaima, free of such things? Wasn't that why he'd decided to come here; why he'd chosen a pub to escape Lomedor's oppressive cabin fever? So much for that hope.

The warrior rose from his seat, long after the battle had finished. It was little effort on his part to piece together the dwarf with a drawn axe and an unarmed man as being the root of the fight. Even now the drunkard seemed to stagger unsurely, no doubt looking for some weapon. The dwarf did not hold such obvious signs of impairment; nor was he lunging at the drunk fool. A hero, then? Or perhaps someone who believes themself noble. Pah.

His entire body rippled with energy, adrenaline pounding. It took considerable effort to sit back down. Even at that, both dark eyes were trained on the pair; it would do no good for a brawl to start out; a lot of the beings crammed in here were big enough to topple the structure. Reaching back, his hand found the handle of his mug. Slowly the sober man rose it, sipping from the edge quietly as he attempted to listen in to what was being said. He'd always had a remarkable skill for concentrating on one thing.

"I saw him walking around head quarters a few months ago," The man thought he heard one of the figures say, and he leaned forward subtly to try and hear them better. "He's a B.A.D.I. agent." Nathaniel choked on his drink in surprise. "Or a rebel one at least." Here he turned in his seat, coughing tightly into his fist. A B.A.D.I. agent, here?? More importantly -- a rebel one? Suddenly Kaima had just become a lot more interesting. And perhaps Shadovar had just gotten an interesting capability for an ally -- if the man survived, of course.

Praying to Ita -- the true Ita, not that diseased, posing mutt, Nathaniel rose from his seat. A quick nod was exchanged to the bartender, and he pushed his half finished mug away. Then, with the posture of a noble and the arrogance of a king, he approached the trio who were eying the drunk who appeared to be searching rather desperately for a weapon upon the floor. What a fool, to pick a fight with a dwarf. Nathaniel had fought Sraxen in a tame environment, and it'd still been wretched.

"You are here on account of B.A.D.I.?" The quicksilver tongue caressed each word as it passed from his lips. Without waiting for a response, he nodded to the drunken man. "You will not get much from him, you realize? If he knows you, he trusts you." Both shoulders straightened just a little more, self-inflated with his own ego. "I spent fourteen years learning the art of interrogation. I have no patience for traitors. I would be honoured to help... if I may?"

He reeked of magical essence and potential, and with the latent power of concentration he need not worry of having his mind read. In fact, as proud as he seemed -- he also had an air of honesty to him, with the soothing voice of a con man and those same fast fingers. Such was being skilled in the art of diplomacy. Smiling politely -- for it would not do to destroy the facade, he nodded at the four members in turn. His gaze lingered on Shari, something frightful twisting in his spine and making him uncomfortable. A carnal beast in the pits of his stomach wanted to devour the female, but his self-control was thankfully greater.

"My name is Nathaniel." Another gentle smile was coupled with his warm eyes.

Winter knelt down in front of the rogue agent, giving him the same gold glare she gave to just about everybody. The man swallowed and Winter noticed him shudder slightly, but despite the downpour outside it was relatively warm inside.
"Ranor Sevenem," Math-eal said, rifling through a few more pieces of parchment "Hasn't reported in since the rebellion started. He was on the suspect list."
"I see," Winter muttered.
Ranor didn't seem to like having the arctic angel looking at him the way she was, he was looking at Winter with something along the lines of loathing.

Winter looked round at Math-eal.
"Anything?" She asked.
"He's drunk," Math-eal shrugged.
She swept a damp lock of hair out of her eye and looked back at the man. She wasn't the sort of person who interrogated others, not to mention he was a B.A.D.I agent, or an ex-B.A.D.I agent at the very least, and would no doubt be trained to resist most forms of interrogation even if he was drunk.

The sound of heavy footfalls caught her pale ears and the half angel glanced about to see another figure walking in their direction. She showed no other signs that acknowledged the man's presence apart from keeping eye contact with him until he was right next to the group, at which point she stood up, and even then she was still looking up at him. She thought she heard Shari snigger at Winter's obvious height disadvantage against the man, fortunately though Winter was unable to become irritated by this. Just by looking at him, Winter could tell his ego was just as tall as he was, if not taller. He held himself the way a man with a high opinion of himself would and certainly spoke that way too.

Winter couldn't quite figure out why, but staring at the man gave her a headache, and not because she had to crane her neck to look at him. She took her frosty gaze away from the man and looked over at Math-eal, who currently had his eyes screwed up, his teeth gritted and both hands clutching his head.
"What's wrong?" Winter asked.
"Headache," he muttered and flicked his eyes in the man's direction for a brief moment.
Winter got the message immediately: Can't read his mind.
"I spent fourteen years learning the art of interrogation." The man boasted, as though attempting to imply something "I have no patience for traitors. I would be honoured to help... if I may?"

Goron coughed loudly, but there were obvious sounds of disguised laughter within it.
"Even a drunk B.A.D.I agent can resist any form of interrogation," he chuckled "Bribery, threats, telepathy, torture, you name it. I doubt the attempts of a mere civilian will get him to loosen his tongue. But we have other ways of getting information, all we need is to get him back to head quarters."
Upon hearing this, the man scrambled to his feet and made another dash at the dwarf, clearly having something against the vertically challenged race. This time however Winter was in range and whipped out her hand, grabbing the man by the shoulder and causing him to stop.
"Don't do that again," she said calmly, giving him another cold look which seemed to subdue him. She turned back to the tall figure still standing nearby "Not that your offer for help isn't appreciated, but we've caused enough of a ruckus here and I don't want anybody staring at me while I'm working. Excuse us."

She turned about and directed the rogue agent in the direction of the door, motioning for the others to follow. It was still pouring heavily outside and was showing no sings of letting up. Goron shoved Ranor forwards and sat him down on a damp bench opposite the inn.
"We can't exactly carry him back," he said "He's bound to make a break for it."
"We'll have to deal with that problem later," Winter said "I'm more worried about that other man."
"You mean the tall guy," Shari asked, taking another stab at Winter's height, or lack of it.
"In a word, yes." Winter said "If he needs to hide his thoughts then he clearly has something to hide in them, I suspect he's planning something."

Three Days ago…

“Rebellion?” Caius replied. “B.A.D.I?”
“Yes sir, it started after Merenwen ascended to power and the stepping down of Sartana.” The house guard said
“Were talking about THE guardian Merenwen.”
“Yes Sir.”
Caius stood from his chair and paced around his desk. He folded his hands behind his back as he reflected on the situation. “Along time ago Tobias Drate and another member of tried to… convince the Lomedor High Council that it would be better not tax BADI.” Caius said. Such a move was against the nobles of Lomedor and indirectly Caius and House Lucius.

“On top of that it has that self proclaimed goddess or whatever that Merenwen thing calls herself running it, no wonder it has rogue agents are trying to wrestle control from its leaders.” He said in disgust. It was common knowledge among the House of Lucius and it members that Caius hated and held no faith in the gods and guardians.

“It gets better.” The guard said. “The second in command is known as Winter.” He pulled a folder out of his robes and withdrew a hand drawn picture of the half angle. “Remember her.”
“Oh my.” Caius said as the memory of the duel in the streets of Lomedor with the girl flashed in his head. One of the guards had been killed during the onslaught, something Caius could not forgive. “Can you dig up the location of the BADI rebels?”
“No but I can tell you a few of agents have been moving in and out of Estolad of late.”
The guard said.
“Good, I’ll be on my way.”

----
Present Estolad.

The knight slowly walked down the streets of Estolad looking casually from building. Caius was dressed in his house uniform; his cloak was a fine dark blue silk with elaborate patterns of what appeared to bolts of lightning etched across the back. His pants and garb matched the dark blue of the cloak, but on the front of his garb was the family crest of House Lucius. His appearance made him look formidable and Caius walked with a stride that was so proper people were afraid to make eye contact with him. Many rushed to get out of his way and only studied him when he passed wondering how even in the rain could he keep such an aura.

Sure enough after a few minutes a commoner rushed up to him. “My Lord.” The man quickly stated.
“Yes?” Caius said in a manner of annoyance and authority, he had to keep an image of importance and status.
“There is trouble at the Kaima Inn.” He replied. “There talking about integration and rebels sir. Just might think that some one of your nature would want to investigate…”
Caius nodded. “Thank you for your concern citizen.” A coin filled from his hand and the common greedily caught it and smiled. He then bowed before running off into an alley.
Caius smiled, dressing and acting regal had its uses for such instances. He quickly made his way to the inn.

None the less in a few minutes did he round the corner and see a handful of people out side, one who looked drunk sitting on a bench. Caius kept his royal composure and wanted to look as official as possible. He caught bit and pieces of their conversation but could not make it all out in the rain, or their figure’s for that matter. It was time to put the foot down.

“EXECUSE ME!” Caius boomed in an official voice. He walked towards winter and the others outside slowly. “I have some questions I would like to ask you.” He said as he came up them. Now he could make out their features, and the half angle was clearly the woman he had fought in Lomedor. Despite this he kept a stone face and stood there waiting for a reply.