A dark figure approaches the corner temple in the midst of the night. The darkness surrounding her is one that is attributed this time to the moonless sky. It seems all is quiet in the normally bustling city whose streets never sleep.
The figure enters the temple that defies explanation. This den of corruption in the mouth of the lions who seek their end. How is it that it survives amongst Paladins and Judges? No one knows. The only truth is that it stands, and some say stronger than those who administer the justice.
Yet this night is not about the temple, nor the dark figures waiting within, nor the society of cutthroats and thieves who thrive on the loss of others. This night is about her.
The Silver Urchin. The Black Sheep. Emily. Adoptive daughter of shadows and hounds. The prodigy child returns home after so long and her return has not been unnoticed.
She has no magnificent abilities. She doesn't inspire fear on those who see her, nor is she able to perform greats feats in combat. However she has been the only one who has claimed the Beast. The only one which Hirum protects for reasons he keeps to himself. The High Shadow's weakness.
Of course this simply means that those who wish to see Hirum's end are alert. If any night is the night to strike, that night is tonight. Thus the alleys have many eyes tonight. The rooftops grow wings. And shadows flicker where they should not. If the High one is to fall, tonight will be the night.
She enters the temple expecting nothing. She has her own reasons to return and no one knows them. She is the wildcard in this theme. Will she side with Hirum? Will she join the opposition? Worse of all... will she rat them all out? No one knows. Perhaps not even her.
Emily. The Urchin. The Silver Tongue. She enters the temple and approaches the shrine that at one time nearly took her life away. This time however things are different. With a simple spell the trap that triggers when she steps near the altar is dismissed. Child's play to this now mature woman. Yet there is also acceptance, for without it the spell would never have left her fingers. Without devotion she would now be much like once before, staring at the floor passing into unconcsiousness.
Hirum watches her. They do not exchange words. He, at this point is also expecting words from her. This night is not about the lessons he might be able to teach her. This night is about her and her choices to the future.
Emily places the thirteen gems on the floor. She follows instinct, there is no logic to the madness. Yet all fall in the right place and soon the shape of a mask can be seen etched on the patterns set by the gems. This mask is dark, gloomy. It speaks of ill-omens and dark secrets kept only for those who choose to go forward where no one else does.
It is common knowledge that most of the Black Hound never comit past certain points. They use the basic knowledge given to them and then mix their devotions with the training of other ways. This is done merely for their own sake. Going past a point in the Black Hounds service means entering a realm that ultimately leads to an unknown place. People are afraid of the unknown. Not even Hirum, mightiest of all has gone pass this point, from herein her path is truly her own.
The gems are set however. Dark prayers begin and the room falls into unnatural darkness. Wolves and dogs around the city stir as their dark nature is called upon. Howls in the night can be heard throughout Pranzis. Though no one admits to hearing them. Acceptance bringing reality to the dark facts. Denial a comfortable blanket.
The air inside the temple becomes still. Not even Hirum's sight of darkness can pierce this cloak. This cloak comes from a place of privacy with the Wary Shadow. At that the priestess speaks her terms.
I come today of free will. My steps my own. My shadow yours.
I have served myself and thus served you for sometime now. A pawn to the halfling that stands in this room. He showed me the door and I walked through it. Now I am on the other side of the threshold.
It is now that things change. No longer will I serve the need of those who cannot keep for themselves. From herein I serve myself and through myself I serve you.
I am your tool in darkness. Eye in shadows. Deceit in velvet blackness. Greed is our force and life and through it I will enter the unknown realms of your world.
Yet this path is mine to walk. I will not walk on old roads, nor will I truly answer to others. Accept this from me and you will gain my tongue. Deny it and lose.
The silence in the room is unnervin, yet her words are not heard by any. Only darkness surrounds it all at what seems eternity and more so.
Soon the darkness begins to subside. The lights around the temple bathe in the green tint that normally surrounds its halls. The wolves and dogs enter their dens once more. Peace returns to the dark night.
Suddenly the walls of the temple begin to shake, the air builds up as static crackles from bend to bend, frame to frame. A sense of distortion is felt and the air in front of the priestess begins to collapse within itself. As lightning struck, a tall figure appears before Urchin.
The light clears around the room and before her stands an imposing Slaadi. It is not clear if its skin is green or if its just the reflection from the ambience of the temple. The creature speaks in a dark language that causes confusion to those who hear it, dark omens no one understands. The its voice shifts to a more understandable common as it addresses Emily.
Troglavius Ex'tlatac, here to show the hidden path
Acknowledging the outsider, its figure begins to fade and it dissapears once more into the ether it once came from.
Thus a new path is opened. A path which no one has walked before. A path of freedom from the only known to her, free of ties only known to her, free of focuses to channel her gifts, a path for her.
Emily smiles ironically to her previous master. His ignorant face feeding her pride. Walking out of the temple, nobody knows what to expect and as she walks through the Pranzis gates and into the wilder country the unexpected is the only security...
