Lowering her head against the flurry of snowflakes that swirled around the streets of Estolad, Jess wandered aimlessly. She stopped before the door to Kaima Inn but decided against going in. The small girl continued down the main street, lost in thought.
Suddenly, the atmosphere changed and Jess instantly realised that something was wrong. She looked up, her face suddenly alert. Without warning, three ruffians leapt out at the seemingly unprotected girl, armed with maces and swords.
Jess however was ready.
She didn't bother drawing her knives, instead she dove off to the side as a heavy blow came at her from a mace weilding man opponent. She kicked her attacker several times and cracked his skull open. The half elf leapt to her feet and flipped over a man with a sword, who followed her with the weapon and accidently brought it down onto his friends head.
For a moment he just stared at Jess, his eyes wide as he realised what had just happened. 'Yeah, well done.' Jess smiled at him and then slammed her palm into his nose, cracking the bone and causing little spears of bone to enter the mans brain. 'Nice welcome.' Jess muttered, leaving the bodies where they lay.

Rye looked at the young woman with curiosity. She was obviously a powerful assassin, killing the three men with ease. Rye approached the mysterious girl, staff in hand and ready to defend himself if she attacked.

"You are deadly if I do say so myself."

The girl was quite attractive with long blonde hair and a slim build. She was a half-elf, just like Rye. He knew she had a very troubled soul, losing someone she loved dearly. He wondered what she was doing in Estolad, but Rye knew she wasn't evil.

(OOC: Sorry about the shortness, the next one will be longer.)

Instantly, Jess spun, her hands darting to her daggers. Her eyes fell on the speaker and found a small old man who was leaning against a large staff. Something made Jess relax slightly and she didn't draw her daggers. 'Why thankyou.' she smiled at him, bending down to a body and feeling in its pockets. She pulled out several gold coins and carefully pocketed them before turning back to the man. She cocked her head to the side, her face curious. 'You're a half-elf aren't you?' she asked him. When he nodded Jess shook her head. 'I never expected to see another in this village.' she said, her eyes darkening briefly before returning to their normal green colour. 'So what are you doing this far from home?' she asked, her face interested.

Shalura pulled her cloak tighter around her to proteect from the freezing cold weather about. She had been wondering aimlessely, buisness as usual. Looking about she saw almost every inch of the village was covered with powdery snow, she resisted the tmeptation to start a snowball fight with a random stranger but these kind of things can be very hard to resist. Looking up she heard sound of fighting, she ran over to it forgetting about the cold as her cloak flew out behind her and the hood was pulled off her head. She eached the source of the noise and relaxed, it was Jess and as per usual she had the situation perfectly under control. But there was somebody else with her who perked Shalura's keen curiousity. She walked over to the man smiling slightly.
"Hi" she said "having fun?"
She giggled slightly looking at the man on the ground.
"Let me guess" she said "he attacked you without reason, with a big weopon and got his butt completely kicked? Right?"
She smiled again, most people she knew had a habit of beating people up very badly, she was not into it herself, prefering just to defend and cuncust the attacker if neccissary.

Rye looked at the two girls. He was curious as to who they were and why they were in Estolad. The weather was cold and they were wearing light clothing. Rye couldn't let them freeze, so he decided to invite them into his home.

"Come with me and I will answer all your questions. My home is just around the corner and I'm sue you'd love a hot chocolate, am I right?"

Rye looked at the girl with black hair. He had studied many books in his lifetime and could tell she was a half dragon.

Amazing. The last time I saw one of her kind was fifty years ago.

Rye shook his head. Now he was even more curious. What was a half elf assasin and a half dragon doing in Estolad? Nofurye was intent on finding that out.

Trudging through snow wasn't exactly Kie's idea of fun, not that he'd had any, as a matter of fact he hated snow. It chilled the bone to the core, froze your hands even more when you picked it up and made a sickley crunthing sound when stepped on. But apart from that he was ignoring the cold as best he could with little success. He decided that it would be much warmed to do some exercising, at least then he wouldn't be bored. He ran as fast as he could and leaped upwards, not managing much height but propelling himself off a wall and onto an opposite one where he repeated the action, this method was tiring but worth it as because as soon as he was on the roof he was warmer and sweating slightly. He wiped the sweat off lest it freeze on his face. Walking to the edge of the building he noticed 4 people. One was lying on the ground and looked dead and the other 3 were talking, the usual random stuff, who are you, where do you come from, would you like blah blah blah. Kie hated this kind of typical behaviour, it was half pointless not to ask seeing as it would be instinct to introduce people to you or your friends. Not wasting another second Kie dropped down from the roof landing in the snow andcausing some of it to fly up onto his clothes, he brushed it off cursing slightly then turned to the strangers.
"Not the best weather for standing around and talking" he said "it would be much easier to conduct introductions inside somewhere, I don't like doing it out in the cold where you just stand around talking"
He looked at each person in turn, two half elves and a human. Odd company but he had got used to that in the past 4 years. Waiting for them to reply he leaned casually against the building he had just dropped down from awaiting a reply.

Rye looked at the three people that stood infront of him. They all looked very interesting and Rye thought he could learn alot from them.

"Hello boy, you are welcome into my home aswell. Follow me and I'll take you there. It isn't very big and it's surely not neat but I find it cosy."

He wondered why he invited strangers into his home. He didn't know where they came from, why they were in Estolad and if they were as good hearted as they seemed. But he was very curious. Three young beings were actually talking to him. They normally walked away and made jokes about his age or his stench, but these three were different.

"Well are you three coming or not? You can't freeze out here and I'm sure you don't want to either. So follow me and we can talk when we get there."

Rye turned around and started walking, knowing that they'd follow him. He knew young people were curious about mysterious old men and he was sure they'd love to find out about him.

ITanium, casually resting on the flat roof that the young man jumped on, titlted his head slightly. He then watched him jump off the roof and onto the floor with powdery snow. He looked to the other side of the street, that was where the men dropped. He had watched them plan out the attack on the young girl and he let her go into there trap, but for some strange reason, just from the way she moved, he had a feeling that she would prove herself above them.

He wasn't one for talking to strangers, not even his friends or family, but when so many half breeds such as himself gather in one village he cannot help but get curious. He dangled his legs over the ledge and slowly slid down the vertical wall as if gravity was none existent. He allowed himself to drop from about five meters high and he landed on the ground with a thud, a strong gust of wind blew around him in a circle causing powdered snow from his landing to circle round him from his feet, up his legs, up his body, around his head and then into the atmosphere.

He didn't say anything at first, he just stared at the unconcious person on the ground. He crouched down too him and took his pulse. There was a gentle beat, his heart rate was insanely low and he was dying for sure. He snapped his fingers near the mans face to see if he responded, he got nothing. He looked up to the victor of the battle. "May I take your prays blood to recharge?" he growled. He long blonde hair getting thrown around from the violent wind, a storm was coming.

"Hello boy, you are welcome into my home aswell. Follow me and I'll take you there. It isn't very big and it's surely not neat but I find it cosy."

Kie's muscles tensed slightly and his eyes narrowed, he didn't appreciate bieng called boy.
"Very well then" he said "just don't be surprised if I outrun you"
All the same Kie followed the man, not even knowing who he was. But he knew he was not evil, otherwise Kie would know. He stopped briefly and turned his head to the two girls behind him.
"Coming?" he asked "I don't like the idea of you freezing to death"
He then spied anotehr an there examining the body on the ground, he looked at him confused.
"May I take your prays blood to recharge?" The man asked.
Kie breathed out a little louder than normal, this man seemed to be some kind of vampire, or other life sucking demon. But all the same
Kie sensed no evil from him, not yet anyway, this man seemed neither evil nor good, but he was closer to evil. Kie turned back round and began looking at the old man infront of him thoughtfully, raising a hand to his chin.
I wonder who this man is, and why is he letting us into his home so easily. Only time can tell
He lowered his hand and concentrated on following the man, no matter where he led him Kie would be ready. He turned his attention back to the two females not looknig where he was going.
"By the way" he said "my names Kie. Don't forget it, it's only got 3 letters in it"
He faced back forewards and continued trudging through the snow feeling the cold begin to bite at him again, he was surprised he didn't have icicles hanging off his hair.

Jess shuddered at ITaniums words. 'Sure, go for it.' she said. However, when he lowered his head towards the body Jess couldn't watch. Instead she followed after the old man, his promises of a warm room and drink finally seeping past her defences.
She caught up to the others and walked beside Kie, almost like a child compared to the tall man next to her. Jess wasn't quite sure what to think of this tall human. He had just appeared as if out of nowhere. Still, maybe she'd get some answers once they reached the old elfs home.
She would just have to wait and see.

Itanium looked away from her and down at the man. He opened his mouth but there were no huge fangs for drinking blood, just larger than usual fangs for humans. As he brought his mouth closer to the mans neck, his fangs grew out greatly and he peirced the mans skin, he then began to drink. When he felt like he had had enough he stopped, took his teeth out and then he took out a hipflask. The blood was trickling quickly from the two holes in the mans neck, he put the hipflask to his neck and began to fill it.

When the hipflask was full, the man slowly started to come around, the man looked at ITanium's face with blood gashing down his chin and he screamed. Itanium lifted up his heavily armoured right arm that looked almost like bone. (Check teh avvy) and he slammed it in the mans face, he was now dead. He slowly stood up and noticed the girl slowly walking away. "Thanks..." he muttered loud enough for her to hear.

Kie suddenly felt an annoying freezing sensation in his hands, he looked at them and discovered they were going white from the cold, damn his lack of gloves. He thrusts them in his pockets in a vain attempt to warn them. He scanned his surroundings seeing what he could use to his advatage if anything went, a little ka-ka (wrong). Watching the man ahead of him was about the most entertaining thing he could think of at the moment and it wasn't at all amusing. He watched his breath come out in smokey strands dancing infront of his face, which was now begginning to sting from the cold, he wished they'de get wherever they were going soon before he became a living icicle standing in the middle of a bare street. He looked back at his companions, two of them he already knew were female and judging by the way the other man had taken blood from the first girl's victim he could tell he was a vampire, as for the two females one was an elf and the other looked human, almost but not quite though, he wondered why that was. The man infront of him elven too and much older though Kie still stood taller than him, as a matter of fact he was much taller than anybody here. This didn't exactl come in handy when going into houses as he had to bend down everytime he walked through a door though, size had its advantages though, even if it made him a tad clumsy.
Still they were walking and Kie could feel his toes begin to freeze up and wondered if they were going to fall off. He wrigled them about in his boots in a vain attempt to keep warm which was hard when you're walking at the same time. He felt almost annoyed that it had to be snowing, freezing, and a very open street despite the smallness of the village. Trudging through snow with not that many warm clothing was not the best thing in the world.

Jess looked at the vampire, her face faintly sick. ' Don't mention it.' She said. She turned to Kie. 'Cold?' she asked, her eyes twinkling. He didn't reply and the half elf smiled. ' Here use this.' she said, forming a fireball and tossing it to him. It floated around him, warming the surrounding air and lessening the mans shivering. 'That better?' she asked with a laugh, then sped up and walked beside Rye, gloved hands in her pockets to warm her hands.

Rye continued walking, knowing that they would follow him. His home was just around the corner and he couldn't wait to sit infront of a warm fire. He was quite excited to have guests since it had been ten years since the last and he'd never had this many guests all at the same time. They looked quite interesting too, although they were quite young.

I must know there stories and why they are here. Knowledge is my way of life and I need to know as much as I can.

He laughed to himself as he tunred the corner, his small hut sitiing by itself. He looked back towards Kie and then at his hut again. He wasn't sure the boy would fit, but he had to try. You'd rather be cramped than being outised in the cold. Rye proceeded towards the house and opened the door. It was midly warmer than the outside, but the fireplace would heat the place up in seconds.

Jess followed the small old man into his small, cosy hut. As he lit a fire in the fireplace, Jess sat down with a sigh on one of the many little chairs that dotted the room. As the others filed in behind her, Kie bending almost double, Jess examined the room itself. It was a cosy little place with paintings and tapastries lining the walls and now a cheerily crackling fire in the grate of the large fireplace. 'Comfortable.' she noted.

Kie stepped into the small hut relieved by the warmth but having to bend down to go through the door, his head brushed the cieling as he stood up, he hated bieng so tall sometimes. He glanced about sitting down into one of the chairs dotted about the room, and at the fire crackling merrily in the fireplace, well where-else would it be?
"Nice place" he said gazing about "if a little cramped"
He brushed lumps of melting snow from his hair and pulled the damp locks out of his eyes. Taking in every detail of the room made Kie wish he still had a home to go to.
"Anyway" he said "I was under the impression you wanted to ask us something?"

Rye sat down and looked at the people as they watched him, waiting for him to say something. They looked curious and eager to find out about him, but there wasn't that much to tell.

"First of all, the first step is to introduce ourselves. I'm Nofurye Mando, but call me Rye for short. I haven't met another person that has been able to pronounce my name so please, don't try."

Rye was desperate to know what they were doing here, but he wasn't going to be impolite. He was sure they wouldn't mind either. They'd rather be in an old mans house sitting next to a warm fire than out in the freezing cold. His home was cluttered with many books and scrolls. Over two hundred years he'd never had enough time to clean them up.

'Alright then.' Jess said from over at one of the bookshelves where she was examining a puple felt lined scroll. 'To put it basically, my names Jess, I'm an assassin, spy and a theif and I'm in Estolad looking for someone.' She smiled then and picked up another scroll, glanced at it and put it back where she had found it. 'So what about you guys?' she asked, turning around to face them.

Kie was flicking through a dusty book from a shelf behind him not really reading it at all. He closed it with a snap and looked up as the man asked a question.
"First of all, the first step is to introduce ourselves. I'm Nofurye Mando, but call me Rye for short. I haven't met another person that has been able to pronounce my name so please, don't try."
Kie couldn't blame him, that was the sort of name that would have your toungue in knots, it almost made his redundant.
'To put it basically, my names Jess, I'm an assassin, spy and a theif and I'm in Estolad looking for someone.' 'So what about you guys?'
Kie glanced in her direction briefly and then went back to flicking through the book and blowing the dust of a particularly grubby page. He waited for a while for somebody else to asnwer then shrugged.
"I've already aid my name's Kie" he said "just about all you need to know at the moment"

(OOC: Noone else is posting so we'll just say that it's just us three in the house at the moment. The others decided to go somewhere else for the meantime.)

Rye stood up and walked over to a pot on the bench filled with water.

"I almost forgot. Would you two like a hot chocolate?"

He walked over to the fireplace and placed the pot on the stone slab. It would take a couple of minutes to boil, but Rye didn't want to use magic. It might scare his guests seeing as they thought he was an old man that couldn't defend himself. He noticed that they were getting impatient. They wanted to get to the questions, but Rye didn't want to be rude. He sat down and looked at the two people. They were desperate to ask questions and Rye would let them, with an answer for all of them.

"Go ahead, what do you want to know? I'm sure you want to know alot. I'll answer any of your questions about me or the land of Arda. After all, I've been a scholar for over two hundred years."

Jess glanced at Kie and, noticing that he was content in listening for now, she asked Rye, 'Have you ever heard of an orb of power, you know, something that can make you see someone that is far away, even if they are dead?' When Rye hesitated thoughtfully, Jess's hopes flared. Did he know anything?

((OOC: Meh, I didn't know we were to follow, but i'll join... I'm also gonna assume teh door is open...))

ITanium, slowly followed the strangers, unsure why, he just did. He was never the curious kind, but whilst he was on the roof he could hear the man raverting on about Half Breeds, him being a half vampire, a very rare breed, felt like he had no choice but to follow. He slowly walked through the open door to the small place, bending down slightly as he entered. He wasn't the tallest of people, but he still had some height.

He stood there for a few moments, hearing something about an orb of power. He cleared his throat slightly, as if he was about to say something. He leant on the wall and placed his right foot on it flat for firm balance.