Sorrow and revenge

[Valaren]

Valaren stood alone before a single tombstone. On it, several names were listed. It was one of the many similar stones places in memory of those who died during the war, yet who could not receive a proper burial and were instead given only a few words on a piece of rock in a field to remember them by.

Valaren placed a bouquet of flowers, magically enchanted to be resistant to the snow and frost from this time of year, in front of the stone. It was the grave marker of his family. They, like many others, had wanted no part in the hostilities between Avaren and Aesir, yet had all perished nonetheless.

He hated Avaren for the war, hated it with a fiery passion. This was all their fault. They had ruined his paradise and murdered his family. Valaren wanted none of this peace and friendship garbage between mages and warrior, he would avenge his family somehow. Avaren would pay, along with any mage who forgot Avaren's atrocities in favor of working together.

[Escke]

"I'm sorry for your loss," A voice called out, followed by some crunching footsteps over the still chilled grass underfoot. A short girl approached, carrying no flowers for the dead but in her heart. She hadn't lost anyone special to her during the war, but then again, everyone in Avaren was special to her. Each life was worth anything, and the fact that many had died during the war with mages of all people, well, that was a great cause of sorrow to her. The war had not gone as well as it should have. Could a war go 'well'? For the greater good, it could, she was sure of it.

She saw the many names on the stone, and could only wonder at their fate. Had they been burned to death by angry mages? Were they crushed from above by Aesir? She supposed it was rude to ask such questions.

"Your family?"

[Valaren]

"Yes." He replied bitterly. "Murdered by those monstrous brutes of warriors from Avaren city, for no reason other than the ignorance of the people of Avaren. They feared and attacked Aesir simply because we knew things they did not. Savages."

The guy didn't seem to be one of the musclemonkeys of Avaren, so perhaps he was also from Aesir. It could even be that he was a kindred spirit, having lost many a friend and family member to their bloodthirsty barbarism.

[Escke]

"O-oh," She said, taken aback. Well that certainly hadn't been what she'd expected. She knew many of the fallen Aesir heathens took their final rest here in the 'bargain graveyard', but she hadn't quite expected his family to be among them. Monstrous brutes indeed. This boy obviously had no idea what he was talking about, as he was also from Aesir. If mages were so smart, then how come his family was dead? God: 1 Magic: 0.

"Yes," she said, tone light. "Savages indeed." They weren't talking about the same group of people, of course, but that was alright. No reason to reveal out of nowhere that she had a deep-seated hatred of him and his people and especially his rotting family. Showed him what he knew. If they screwed around with that witchcraft enough then maybe their corpses would rise again. Would he be happy then? She sure hoped so. She was still tensed for when the fallen mages would rise out of this graveyard. She'd never wanted them buried here, no. They all should have been burned, corpses or not, yet here she was, talking to one mourning his family in their graveyard, taking up their space in their city.

"Have you done alright, in this city? You don't seem to be homeless."

[Valaren]

"I am doing well enough, no thanks to the savages." He was glad that Escke seemed to sympathize with him and share his views on the people of Avaren. Clearly, she was also an orphan of Aesir, as the apes of Avaren had no concern for the wellbeing of others. "The mage academy provides me with food and shelter, along with letting me practice my magic freely and without the harassment those outside the academy sometimes face."

"Though, I think we should do something about the Avaren brutes." He said, thinking on his oath of vengeance. "I don't like the idea of mages living huddled together in their one academy, when Avaren has caused them so much trouble. Hell, if anything, the mages should rule Avaren. Aesir was a paradise before they attacked and destroyed it out of their jealousy. Avaren would be much better off with us ruling them."

[Escke]

She should have figured. The damn Academy of Magic was to blame. Really? Practice magic freely? Give him food, room, and board? What were the founders thinking? It just allowed these... lesser people hate Avaren, even while leeching off of their successes. And of course, if something were to happen to Avaren negatively, they would be the first to go 'oh well, not my problem', was she not right? You couldn't count on these freaks, no way. She would never.

"Yes, we should do something about those brutes," She agreed, though once again she spoke of a different group of people. "I agree. Avaren would be much better off." Without you freaks in our city. She added, but only in her head. She cocked her head, as if curious. "Is there ever any talk of that, down at the academy?" Talks of treason and heresy and general bad things?

[Valaren]

Man, Valaren wished there were talk of that down at the academy. It would have been so perfect if they spent their time scheming to take over the city by force and reclaim their former glory in spite of the musclemonkeys. This time, unless the warriors got some form of outside intervention again, they wouldn't stand a chance. Still, he couldn't let her know his utter lack of supporting sentiment at the academy. She already seemed to be following along with his plans, so he might have to lie a little to make sure she was on his side.

"Oh yeah, we've got people." He said, nodding confidently, "Hell, we might even have some support from way up high with the ruling council. Though, no one would be willing to outright admit it, in case Avaren spies are about. The plan is coming together slowly."

[Escke]

Escke's eyes widened a little at his confirmation that there were, in fact, talks of treachery down at the academy. "Wow, really? That's great!" ly disturbing and also infuriating. "Even the ruling council?" She asked, her voice half a whisper. She had heard that there were mages on the ruling council. Hadn't she said? Hadn't she said right when this had started that mages being in charge was a bad idea? And now here they were, they were going to be over-run by these broom-riding jackasses? Not on her watch.

"Sounds like I really ought to head down there, sometime." She said, a small smile growing on her face. You could mistake it for a friendly, happy smile, but it was very much a facade. This was distressing indeed.

[Valaren]

"Yeah," Valaren continued. He didn't like lying all that much, but now that he had done so, it was best to ride it out and hope she didn't get too mad. He would hate to make such an understanding and friendly person mad at him. "Well, two of them are really high up in running the academy, so of course they have a hand in all the plots going on within the academy."

"You're more than welcome to visit the academy, but, uhhh, I wouldn't go talking out loud around there about this. I mean, it's all gotta be super covert, right? If it wasn't, then the monkeys might be on to us and try to stop us before we have the plan fully laid out."

[Escke]

"Oh, I see..." She said, in response to his talk about the people running the academy. So it really wasn't just the weak, 'regular' magic users. It was the strong ones. This was not good. Not good at all. She'd heard terrible things about the leaders of the academy, things like dealing with the undead and speaking dragon, which everyone knew was evil. This could be a serious thread to her city, no, her very life and everyone she knew's lives as well!

She had to do something.

"Oh, I won't!" She said, earnest. "I wouldn't want to get you in trouble."

She had to get out of here before all this lying broke her face.

"Well, it was very nice meeting you... And I'm sorry for your loss again. I've gotta get going, but hopefully we'll see each other soon? Maybe when I come visit the Academy?" to burn it down She smiled again.