The Thunder and the Rain

All story posts will be here, and all background/intro posts will be moved to Color of Evil.

It is a late night and Scipio sits deep in a forest at an ancient shrine. He hears the trod of a horse in the distance, and it slowly draws closer. After some time Scipio stands and waits, this forest is mostly empty, so it is quite unlikely that the horse and its rider are headed anywhere but this decrepit shrine of Bahamut.

After a time the rider can be seen in the dim light of the solitary torch he carries. As if he senses your gaze he stops and in the shadows you can see his head raise to meet your gaze. He holds for a moment, his horse restless in the dark night of the forest. And then he continues his journey. As he gets closer you make out his form more clearly. A Messenger, bearing the crest of central (5 stars surrounding the Sun, each star colored to represent one of the great cities), he stops just inside the firelight, "sorry gov' I had a hard time finding the place. I meant to come upon you just before dusk, but I'm not used to these forest roads. Now where did that go..." He digs in his messenger bag for a moment before pulling out a scroll and a piece of parchment. He unrolls the scroll and after clearing his throat he proceeds to read from it...

"To the Esteemed Master Scipio Arcanus. The agency of Central (apologies but our branch must remain anonymous in case this message is intercepted) has heard and seen much of your honorable deeds. And after gathering much information on your character and abillity as possible we have deemed you a worthy candidate for a commission. The exact terms and conditions of your contract can not be disclosed here however we can say that it will be working with powers, much like yourself, that are unknown, unique, and potentially dangerous. The rewards will include gold, property, and rank should you complete your contract. We understand your difficulties in traveling to central, and as a show of our sincerity, we are sending with this message a voucher promising any driver of a carriage payment for your safe delivery to Central."

Clearing his throat again the messenger carefully closes the scroll. "I was given additional instructions to tell ya that this is a matter of the utmost importance. As if hiring a messenger to ride post haste all the way out here wasn't obvious enough that it was important."

The messenger dismounts and hands you the scroll and the voucher. "Well Gov' I got me a nice 3 day holiday and a nice room at an inn in that lil village back there. So If you don't mind, I'll be heading back for a pint. Feel free to come along, though I hear it told that you white mages aren't much for drink."

Ardith woke up in bed for the first time in three days. He looked down and for a moment forgot who it was sharing his bed. He laid his head back down thinking back trying to remember who this red headed woman was that slept naked in his bed. He remembered lots and lots of blood wine and the smell of scorched something or other.

Finally, as he felt her stirring he said "Didn't you have some sort of message for me?" The woman woke with a start to this. "Shit!" She exclaimed she got up in a hurry and began rummaging around the house for her bag. Ardith gleefully thought back to how modest she had previously been. Ardith pulled his pants on, and hunted for his jacket before heading to his drawing room to enjoy a smoke, as well as some sobriety. Laying back against his chair, he swept his long blonde locks behind his head and began packing and lighting his pipe. Quickly surveying the room he remembered first meeting her. 3 days ago in this very room. He cast his glance around and spied her things under an upturned chair. "Sweetheart, I think your things are in here." He thought to her. She ran into the room, having managed to remember a shred of decency she was covered with a red satin sheet.

"Excuse me." She blushed. As she picked up her satchel and read the scroll; Ardith only half paid attention. Reading her mind gave him the jist of what it was about. "and i was told to also tell you to report to the Inter-city taxi service...." her face went white, "in 20 minutes...."

Ardith smiled, "well we better hurry then..."

20 minutes later Ardith arrived at the Under-city branch of the Inter-City Taxi service. A very long and bothersome ride later he sat in a cell waiting for the rest of whoever it was that was arriving. His friend with the red hair was just locking up his villa. He snapped his fingers "Vatrice! That's her name!"

Scipio remained silent while the Messenger relayed his information. A summons? From Central? That is odd, he thought, holding the scroll up before his softly glowing eyes and halo. Best be going, I guess. Re-rolling the scroll and folding the voucher into his pocket, Scipio quickly collected his modest belongings, mostly the bare necessities for survival on the roads, with the one exception of a beautifully carved wooden staff. The staff, standing at a height even with his eyes, was a gift from his family when he had begun his education under the White City mages. The memory brought back both pain and happiness. Though he had been expelled and shunned by everyone he had once known, it had helped shape him into something for good and justice.
"Let's go Argos," he mumbled to his staff and headed in the direction the Messenger had taken. He had no intention of indulging himself in drink or other carnal pleasures that night, but he would follow the Messenger anyways. "You know, Argos," he said to his staff as he walked along the path. "Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to not care, you know? Well, I guess you don't, but still. What could be wrong with a glass of wine?" He fell silent as he remembered his first encounter with a drunkard who abused women, and the ensuing . . . grilling the man received. "Perhaps I'll just continue on towards Central and buy a carriage ride instead."
After awhile, Scipio came across the village the Messenger had mentioned. He stopped to collect some modest supplies, though the hour was indeed late and the store proprietor was not too happy with having to wake up to serve him, then continued on his way. He would walk for a few days before he came across a town large enough to have a carriage he could hire to take him to Central. "Hope you like hitting stone, Argos," he chuckled as he walked along, this staff thumping into the dirt with each step.