Our story starts on a warm spring day, not a harsh burning hot day no, more like a gentle warm one. The kind of warm that makes you happy to be outside, a soft breeze blowing through to cool you down just enough but not give you chills. As the night grew close the children began heading home, all that is, except for one. Little Annelie Coiro, daughter to the Paladin Marcus Coiro, a gorgeous young half Shendar child sprinting through the streets of Regalia, chasing after lost kitten they had found.
In the distance one could hear a gruff voice bellowing out not far behind the child, their tone was distraught and panicked. At first, it was too quiet to hear, but as it neared closer the words were clear, and it was obvious who it was. "Annelie! Annelie come back!" Down the alley way a large Northern built man, clad in green and white gambesons came thundering in the direction the little girl had ran. But then panic strook…
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Let us rewind a bit shall we? To many years prior, and explain who our friends in this story are. Marcus Coiro is a brave Paladin of the Viridian Order, already has fought in a war and lived to tell the tale. A story we know already, but what of little Annelie? Well...I will tell you.
The night was much colder, but that is to be expected the farther north you go. A somewhat silent night, so much so that one could almost make out the sound of snow landing on the ground and rooftops. Here, our tall Northern friend Marcus is enjoying a calm drink at the tavern before he heads in for the night. But unbeknownst to him, he was being watched, not by eyes of evil or dangerous intent but rather...of interest. They were the sort of eyes that wanted to know more, to dig deeper and learn what made the thing they were watching tick.
As Marcus left he began to feel the eyes on his back, but he didn't let them know, he kept walking. A matter of coincidence he thought, surely they will leave he told himself. But he was wrong, they continued to follow him all the way to his inn and finally it was there that he confronted the eyes. Oh...and what a mistake that was. The moment he yanked them to the side and pinned them to the wall at knife point, his heart stopped. Staring up into his own, were a pair of captivating jade green eyes, their gaze alluring, so powerful that Marcus just...let go. As if on que, with the flow of their body, a set of long flowing white hair sailed down their back. It was whiter than the snow outside, and their skin was a deep ash gray. Then and there Marcus knew what had been watching him, staring at him and following him so intently was...a beautiful Shendar woman. She wasn't much shorter than himself, just about to his chin height, but she was far thinner, tall and lanky. However when she looked up at him with a cold glare the large Northern man, who had long since grown accustomed to the climate of the north, felt a sharp chill run down his spin. The woman said but one thing, in some very broken common at that. "Aila, return this. You leave at Tavern."
As it turned out, the woman just wanted to help him, to return the coin purse he had left at the Tavern. With a quick scan Marcus checked the pouch and to his surprise...everything was there. After this, it wasn't long before the two started to bump into each other more and more. Marcus had chosen to stay in the Northern region for a few months, just to get re-attached with his roots, and not stray to far from where he came from. But the whole time he was there, he spent time with this Shendar in the Morning, Noon and even...the Night. As the end of the winter season grew close Marcus prepared to head back to Regalia, however he...did not want to leave his new love Aila behind. So, he returned to Regalia with the Aila acting as a converted Shendar to stay with Marcus. He chose to defend this woman, from the criticism, the foul looks from any and all who would try to say that his choice wasn't a good one.
Despite the fact that this woman was a heretic, despite her beliefs and practices he knew where his love stood. But still it took years for the two to finally find the ability to be wed, through difficult and troublesome times. However it was all worth it when they both found out that they were going to not only be newlyweds, but parents at that. Every night, Marcus and Aila would lay in bed just thinking, holding one another as they simply watched the Shendar's belly, watched their soon to be child. For both of them it was a feeling of bliss, a overwhelming flow of joy that always brought a smile to their face and brightened their day.
Aila, was surely a woman to put even the strongest and most steel hearted men back on their heels. With the attitude of a Jungle Cat at home, but the grace and elegance of a noble woman in public, she was truly a handful at times. Although when she wanted to show her love, she was nothing but kind, gentle and the most affectionate person one could find. Vastly betraying the heritage that her features showed. This affection was shown strongest when she looked to Marcus, but just as strongly and possibly even stronger when she looked to their daughter, Annelie.
Suddenly, a cloaked figure was grabbing at the wrist of Annelie, and like a beast released from its cage Marcus pulled his knife and began to charge the man with a cry that could have shattered skies. But it was all for naught, for suddenly there was a bright flash of light and Marcus felt every muscle in his body stop listening to him, simply twitching and convulsing on their own. The large man buckled, and then fell to his stomach. As he lay on the ground, the night began to close in around him, he watched as the cloaked figure raised up an ornate dagger and brought it straight down towards the child, then Marcus could see nothing but darkness. When he woke up again he was home, a sobbing wife and a missing child. Outside the night was over, and the day was calm, it was surreal if not for his wife Marcus would have had a hard time telling if there was anything different.
But as he looked around it stood out, the missing sound of a child pitter pattering through the halls, the disturbing and almost haunting sound of his grief stricken wife all seemed to just...seem like a dark dream. However Marcus was quick to pull back together, or at least enough to show others around him nothing was wrong, but they all knew. As Marcus struggled to keep a facade together his wife began to grow more and more distant, soon she began clinging to a doll that their daughter would always play with, and she never left the window side. She hardly ate a meal and when night started to roll around she would always say the same thing, and Marcus will never forget, it was what she told him the day their daughter was attacked "Make sure you get little Anne, it's getting dark." Every time, it broke Marcus' heart. He couldn't confront her about it because she just wouldn't accept it.
There is a certain kind of emptiness you feel, when you watch the one you love and cherish more than anything else, slowly lose the light in their eyes, slowly forget who you are. This was a feeling Marcus had never felt before, nor did it fully hit him, until one day when he came home from the market only to be greeted by those empty Jade eyes, that soft ash gray skin and snow white hair, hanging in the air. It was on that night, as the bonfire burned bright, that Marcus learned this whole new form of emptiness.
In the distance one could hear a gruff voice bellowing out not far behind the child, their tone was distraught and panicked. At first, it was too quiet to hear, but as it neared closer the words were clear, and it was obvious who it was. "Annelie! Annelie come back!" Down the alley way a large Northern built man, clad in green and white gambesons came thundering in the direction the little girl had ran. But then panic strook…
**************
Let us rewind a bit shall we? To many years prior, and explain who our friends in this story are. Marcus Coiro is a brave Paladin of the Viridian Order, already has fought in a war and lived to tell the tale. A story we know already, but what of little Annelie? Well...I will tell you.
The night was much colder, but that is to be expected the farther north you go. A somewhat silent night, so much so that one could almost make out the sound of snow landing on the ground and rooftops. Here, our tall Northern friend Marcus is enjoying a calm drink at the tavern before he heads in for the night. But unbeknownst to him, he was being watched, not by eyes of evil or dangerous intent but rather...of interest. They were the sort of eyes that wanted to know more, to dig deeper and learn what made the thing they were watching tick.
As Marcus left he began to feel the eyes on his back, but he didn't let them know, he kept walking. A matter of coincidence he thought, surely they will leave he told himself. But he was wrong, they continued to follow him all the way to his inn and finally it was there that he confronted the eyes. Oh...and what a mistake that was. The moment he yanked them to the side and pinned them to the wall at knife point, his heart stopped. Staring up into his own, were a pair of captivating jade green eyes, their gaze alluring, so powerful that Marcus just...let go. As if on que, with the flow of their body, a set of long flowing white hair sailed down their back. It was whiter than the snow outside, and their skin was a deep ash gray. Then and there Marcus knew what had been watching him, staring at him and following him so intently was...a beautiful Shendar woman. She wasn't much shorter than himself, just about to his chin height, but she was far thinner, tall and lanky. However when she looked up at him with a cold glare the large Northern man, who had long since grown accustomed to the climate of the north, felt a sharp chill run down his spin. The woman said but one thing, in some very broken common at that. "Aila, return this. You leave at Tavern."
As it turned out, the woman just wanted to help him, to return the coin purse he had left at the Tavern. With a quick scan Marcus checked the pouch and to his surprise...everything was there. After this, it wasn't long before the two started to bump into each other more and more. Marcus had chosen to stay in the Northern region for a few months, just to get re-attached with his roots, and not stray to far from where he came from. But the whole time he was there, he spent time with this Shendar in the Morning, Noon and even...the Night. As the end of the winter season grew close Marcus prepared to head back to Regalia, however he...did not want to leave his new love Aila behind. So, he returned to Regalia with the Aila acting as a converted Shendar to stay with Marcus. He chose to defend this woman, from the criticism, the foul looks from any and all who would try to say that his choice wasn't a good one.
Despite the fact that this woman was a heretic, despite her beliefs and practices he knew where his love stood. But still it took years for the two to finally find the ability to be wed, through difficult and troublesome times. However it was all worth it when they both found out that they were going to not only be newlyweds, but parents at that. Every night, Marcus and Aila would lay in bed just thinking, holding one another as they simply watched the Shendar's belly, watched their soon to be child. For both of them it was a feeling of bliss, a overwhelming flow of joy that always brought a smile to their face and brightened their day.
Aila, was surely a woman to put even the strongest and most steel hearted men back on their heels. With the attitude of a Jungle Cat at home, but the grace and elegance of a noble woman in public, she was truly a handful at times. Although when she wanted to show her love, she was nothing but kind, gentle and the most affectionate person one could find. Vastly betraying the heritage that her features showed. This affection was shown strongest when she looked to Marcus, but just as strongly and possibly even stronger when she looked to their daughter, Annelie.
***************
But as he looked around it stood out, the missing sound of a child pitter pattering through the halls, the disturbing and almost haunting sound of his grief stricken wife all seemed to just...seem like a dark dream. However Marcus was quick to pull back together, or at least enough to show others around him nothing was wrong, but they all knew. As Marcus struggled to keep a facade together his wife began to grow more and more distant, soon she began clinging to a doll that their daughter would always play with, and she never left the window side. She hardly ate a meal and when night started to roll around she would always say the same thing, and Marcus will never forget, it was what she told him the day their daughter was attacked "Make sure you get little Anne, it's getting dark." Every time, it broke Marcus' heart. He couldn't confront her about it because she just wouldn't accept it.
There is a certain kind of emptiness you feel, when you watch the one you love and cherish more than anything else, slowly lose the light in their eyes, slowly forget who you are. This was a feeling Marcus had never felt before, nor did it fully hit him, until one day when he came home from the market only to be greeted by those empty Jade eyes, that soft ash gray skin and snow white hair, hanging in the air. It was on that night, as the bonfire burned bright, that Marcus learned this whole new form of emptiness.
