Somewhere outside the gates of Hydlaa a weary looking Dermorian woman kicks up dust with her worn leather boots. A worn and patched adventurer's pack bounces slightly against her shoulders with every step, bursting at the seams yet still holding true. One last adventure. At her sides walk two tiny children, a girl with wild curls and a cheeky grin, and a boy with copper locks and a noticeably calmer disposition then his twin. Each has a matching pair of worn leather boots much like their mother's and they walk along beside her with the ease of those who are used to such journeys. Gripping one of each of their grubby hands in one her own, the woman grins slightly and leads them carefully along the road to a new life and a new adventure.
Deep below the Plaza, a skinny pale boy wipes at his face with one filthy hand. He carefully brushes a few mangled locks of mousy brown hair out of his eyes and carefully peers around a corner. "Mooootherrrr??" His voice echoes plaintively along the wet stone walls of the sewers, finally mingling with the drip drip drip of water. Trying not to cry, he drops his pack to the ground and once again goes through his precious shoe-shine kit, the familiar scent of polish and the smooth feel of the brushes bringing a bit of calm to him in this horrid place. Finally regaining his courage, the boy follows the stone passageway around another corner, walking faster until he breaks into a dead run. SMACK. Something hits him from behind...something large, and angry. The last thing the boy sees is a gigantic Tefusang looming over him..leaning in for the kill.
The woman has had enough. Hundreds of disguises and she was starting to forget who she herself really was. She peers into the mirror and rips the auburn wig from her head, displaying her cropped white hair, falling just to her chin. The diaboli woman leans forward and carefully prods at the skin around her eyes. It is apparent that she was once very beautiful, but now her skin appears unnaturally stretched and thin. She sighs and her eyes narrow. It wasn't here...it was never here...she had wasted too much time in this cesspit of a town. It was time to move on, she would continue her search elsewhere. Moving quickly around the room, it doesn't take long for her to gather her few belongings, the daggers finding their familiar way into her boots and the belt of vials settling itself comfortably around her thin waist. Taking one more long look in the mirror, she quickly settles a long black wig onto her head, tucking her hair carefully under its lengths and then, finally satisfied, she wanders off into the night.
Across the plaza in a tiny shop, an elderly dwarf woman is settling in for the night. Her long, brilliant white hair is carefully braided and tucked into a bun, and her dress is carefully folded on a shelf. It had been a long day, the longest day perhaps of many long days and she was tired, more tired then she had ever been. Somehow her spark and natural curiosity that had kept her going seemed to have gone out with the last candle downstairs. The curtains drawn and the door locked, she carefully turns down the bed and settles in to go to sleep. She dreams of her husband for the first time in many many years. All of a sudden all the longing and despair that had been pent up inside her is freed and the only thing she wants is to be with him again. As he extends his hand to her she smiles and follows off into the distance..
