Legend of Ransera

Kira and Jesse had technically arrived to Ecith sometime in late Frost. They’d wandered around the continent somewhat aimlessly, looking for signs of civilization. It had not been a good time. On top of the constant rains, they had to deal with a sickness that was causing their aether to constantly drain. Kira’s wards were the only thing keeping them from dying out in the wild so she was never at full power with hardly enough spare energy to fly them any meaningful distance. The sickness affected Jesse even more; he no longer felt confident in inter-continental teleportation… which meant no more trips back to their home continent to get supplies.

But they’d made it, somehow. They’d spotted Drathera from the skies and managed to trudge their way to Lowtown at about mid-day. It was the first day they could remember that it hadn’t rained since they’d arrived and it looked like the locals were putting on some kind of celebration, though it was hard to tell since neither Kira nor Jesse knew much about Ecith customs. For all they knew, this was simply how they lived every day.

“Kira… I need food,” Jesse told the woman beside him as smells hit their nostrils.

“It’s Zorela now,” she replied with a haggard cough. “Wonder if our money’s even good here.” That'd been the least of their worries up until that point.

“Oh right, Zorela,” Jesse said with an exasperated wave of his hand. “With any luck they accept banknotes here. If not...” He still blamed her for their current situation. It was her mark that had gotten her chased out of town and he’d been guilty by association. He’d considered abandoning her on several occasions but could never bring himself to do it. They had a relationship of sorts, but romance had been nonexistent for the last season.

As they got closer, Zorela wondered if they’d face any issues. They’d gone out of their way not to interact with anyone so far and nobody had come to bother them yet. Still, they were from the imperium. The two of them stood out like sore thumbs. She carried guns, ammunition, and dressed like she was a foreigner. Then there was the mark on her hand that had gotten them into this whole mess; she couldn’t even hide it because her gloves had gotten ripped off weeks ago. She certainly hoped it wouldn’t cause any issues here either.

A sharp whistle cut through the crowds, seeming to only find the tired ears of Jesse and Kira without a single other person noticing.



An elf woman sat there comfortably, black of hair and black of dress with skin that lapped up the southern sun. She was busy running a whetstone across a stunning longsword, with a deep sapphire pommel with black crows' feather hand guards. If she managed to catch their attention, she would give a small head gesture to call them over, a small smile in the corner of her lips.

And if they decided to approach, she'd smile sweetly at them, "You two look like you've had a pretty rough time of it." She looked down at their dirty and ragged and unflattering clothing. A perfectly manicured eyebrow rose, "You could use a bath. Or two."

Some seabirds cawed out from further down the stone street and the woman huffed. "Seems I have some time on my hands." She grabbed the sword by the pommel and brought it over her shoulder where it seemingly disappeared. She hopped down from the crates without a single sound eliciting as her high heeled shoes touched the stone. She approached Zorela, a hand on the exhausted woman's shoulder, "How about we lounge at the hot springs?" She turned toward Jesse, hooding her eyes and looking up at him through her lashes. A hand reached out, rubbing his bicep, "We can have food brought to us there, my treat?"

She walked past them, revealing the open back of her dress and the sword that was imprinted upon her skin there.



She peered back over her shoulder, "That is if Jesse and Kira of the Imperium aren't so afraid as to let their hair down and relax with me." She winked at them, and nodded her head toward the mountain that Drathera called home. "You're safe while you're with me."

Zora and Jesse trudged along until they heard a whistle, causing both of their heads to turn in unison. Zora narrowed her eyes at the elf while Jesse’s jaw dropped when they saw the beautiful elf who was trying to get their attention.

“Gods, what a welcome sight,” Jesse murmured to himself as he instinctively walked towards her. Zora watched him go and shook her head. Men, one pretty face is all it takes to derail their minds. She reluctantly followed and waved all the same.

Zora disliked how pretty the woman was. It only made her feel self conscious about her own appearance. She’d painstakingly altered her face to something she thought was pleasing, but her fae powers didn’t allow her to make her dark circles magically go away. Still, she was glad to have someone to talk to. She certainly felt more comfortable talking to an elf than an ork.

“Yes, ‘rough time’ pretty much sums up the entirety of the last season for us. I don't think you'd believe our story even if we told you,” Zora admitted as she watched the sword disappear. No, she’d felt it go – one moment the aether flux told her it was there and the next it was just empty space. Then there was the lack of sound as the woman dropped to the ground. Details that Jesse would miss entirely… but the knowledge that this woman was magical in some way put Zora on edge. The very last thing Zora wanted to deal with was a mage trying to hassle them.

“A bath sounds divine… and food? You must have read my mind,” Jesse said as he looked at her pretty face up close.

When the elf walked past, Zora elbowed him in the side, pointing at the sword’s imprint. She gave him an earnest look but he shrugged her off. He set off to follow the elf, only pausing when she addressed them by name.

“Oh come on!” Zora said exasperatedly when she realized the woman knew her real name. It was impossible! She’d spent so much time painstakingly adjusting her appearance… had an imperial spy somehow gotten word of where they were headed? So many thoughts went through her mind, only stopping when Jesse turned his head to speak to her.

“Look, I know what you’re thinking but we’re way too drained to do anything. I think we should just give her the benefit of the doubt and see what she has to say. If she’s got ill intent maybe we can try talking our way out of it.”

Zora shed tears of frustration but she wiped them away and nodded all the same. “Okay. But I’m leaving our crap here. If things get dicey I need all the aether I can spare.” She set their cargo aside next to where the woman had been sitting, only bringing with them what they had physically on them. The pair then walked a bit faster to catch up to the woman.

“How in the world did you know my name,” Zora asked as politely as she could manage. She wanted to grab the elf by the shoulders and shake her until she got some answers, but managed to resist the urge.