To you, dear readers, I introduce my character; fair Vael Vher'Dalis D'Cambion. Young emblazier of the family D'Cambion, traveling all the way from the Old North to brave himself on the harsh lands of beasts and develop foreign relations.
The king's family D'Cambion has massed quite a fortune and the extended tree of the members have spread far- far enough to have been in many campaigns with many families of power. The emblaziers are young and noble in nature, often favoring higher quality, polished armour, and will wield weapons of those similar to the sports of the region that they were raised.
The snowy peaks of the mountains around the keep D'Cambion are house to few beasts who are capable of surviving the harsh conditions. However, it's not quite the beasts that the young Vael fears in his home land, as there is just as much of a threat inside the keep itself; the families who serve D'Cambion are as treacherous as any snake- and twice as beguiling. They are always plotting to steal and seize the throne from underneath the hands of the fair family of the king, and any emblazier is ready to return home upon the word that the family may be threatened.
Vael waits behind the building; rain pours down from the skies, off the gutters and off of the hood of his oiled cloak. A young D'Cambion is taught to always be cautious, keeping their identity a mystery to those who need not know. Under his cloak, he toys with an idol he's been carving from red oak. The sound of the horse shoes echoing through the alley perks Vael's attention; a light-set rider on a skinny horse meant a traveler or a courier. The horse slowly and wearily advances down the alley.
Vael's hand wanders to the grip to the dagger sheathed on the back of his waist. He makes sure to conceal his movements from the rider. As the stranger approaches him, he can finally start to see the emblems and crests of his home nation abreast the rider's bone-coloured cloak, so thoroughly saturated with rain that no amount of wax could keep the rider dry.
"D'Cambion..."- the rider's voice is parched and tired.
Vael's relief is evident in the sigh; a dense mist exhaled in to the sharp chill of the freezing rain.
"I am he. I am Vael Vher'Dalis D'Cambion, emblazier of the D'Cambion family and third in line for the D'Cambion throne." Young D'Cambions were always proud of their position within their hierarchy.
"I carry a message for you, young emblazier." The rider shifts his weight on the horse. The various buckles and rings on the horse's halter and on the rider's belt chink together, casting sound off in to the darkness. He nearly collapses off the horse when he drowsily dismounts.
"What message could you bring, riding through the days and the nights? Do you bring word of my father? Is there a plot against my family?" The sound of panic in Vael's voice grows. The underhanded meeting with the sleep-deprived rider could only mean that his family were in danger. His heritage, his birthright and his future might possibly be at terrible risk.
"Calm, boy. Your father is safe enough." As the rider settles on the ground, he turns to loosen the bridle on the horse's saddle to hopefully give the fatigued horse a chance to rest. The rider has a smaller physique, but wide shoulders and quite tall. Being mounted on the gelding, it was quite hard to tell his size.
"The king is safe, my boy, however, you are not!" The rider turns, his cloak billowing and splattering water and mud about and the scraping steel noise of a longsword drawn from its sheath. One hand is thrown out as the rider flings his sheath aside and thrusts the blade of the sword towards Vael's ribs. Vael counteracted and drew his dagger beneath his cloak. A quick reaction twisted his body away from the point of the rider's sword. The piercing tip of the longsword slices straight through the cloak and the rider grunts as the weapon becomes embedded in to the wall. Vael swings his cloak over the attacker's face, disorientating him, and in one flourish, Vael impales the foreign rider's throat.
Vael slumps down on to the wet stone, physically and mentally exhausted.
"When one is in the clutch of victory, one is the most vulnerable to defeat."
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I am sorry for writing something so long, I got carried away.
I'll be watching the action unfold from the sidelines but may well join in once I know more.
