Prelude

Things were strange to start with. For the past several days there had been bad electromagnetic interference. Radio', cell phones, TV, even cable networks were not working right or well. News reported massive solar storms were causing the events on a world wide scale. Business were down to using old hand calculators if they wanted to do anything. As such several businesses just shut down for the duration.

This man, he had found a sub-shop that was open and got several subs with the idea of going to a friend's house for dinner. He had 3 foot-long subs, chips and even a couple bottles of Soda. While driving down a mostly deserted road, he passed through these pillars and statues he had driven by hundreds of times before, today something weird happened. This day energy was jumping between the city symbols, 4 bronze statues showing the industry prevalent in the cities founding, this energy, which looked like St Elmo's Fire, struck the two large Masonic Pillars on each side of the road at the exact moment he drove between them. There was a flash of light and he was falling, or the car was tossed, he did not know, but in that moment he knew he was going to die.

His last thoughts were 'where did that wall come from ?'

Everything hurt but felt disconnected. He could vaguely hear the sounds of his car hissing and the engine rattle and die. Oddly he was laying at the foot of what looked to be an altar in a church or the like and there was / were this /these woman/women standing near/around him. He was not sure if it was one person or 3, if he was still alive then he may be seeing multiples, but it was only the woman/women that were that way everything else in his locked field of view stayed in one, though very out of focus as he lost his glasses.

Speaking all at once, the women talked to him, "Sir ? I am sorry to say but your dying, can't stop that part, but if you are willing I/We may be able to help in a different way. Your accident had beneficial side effect as your vehicle landed on a man about to commit a murder of a young woman. She is relatively unharmed, other than being in shock. We know you had nothing to do with this and as we can't stop you from dying we can perhaps bring you back in a new body. What do you say ?"

Coughing around the blood in his throat, "Can I be really healthy and good looking and have neat magical type powers to." laughing through the pain, "sure go for it, got nothing to lose right."

The women look like they are smiling at him. "You should know there is a small chance you may come out a different race and possibly as a girl. Oh and you are not in your home time or dimension now. "

He tries to nod but fails, coughs some more, but grins through the pain, "just give me a couple large bags of accessibility and a never ending Cloak of the Vagabond and I am good right." trying to joke but not making much sense to himself. He really thinks this is all a dream brought on by the accident. Last moments of a bit of wish fulfillment as he is dying. Had he known it was real, he may have asked for more.

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Spirit plane on the edge of the Realms of the Elven Pantheon.

King Elf, "So the desecration was stopped ?"

Three in One, "Yes but at a cost. The object summoned was a vehicle and the driver is now dying in the temple. We have offered to resurrect / reincarnate him. We don't think he fully believes it as he keeps trying to joke about it. Though given his situation it's a better response than most give. He is not begging for life, just asked for a couple magic bags, a Cloak of the Vagabond, and to be healthy and pretty oh and wants to be able to work magic."

The King smiles, "Really not much to ask for if you think about it. So how are you going to do this ?"

Three in One " Well you recall that random items generator Artifact, we think we figured out how to use it to help generate a new body with completely new abilities than the old one. Given how bad a shape his old one is in it can't hurt to try."

Slender observer, "Just a little point for you all. This one is from a far future time, though alternate Prime. To the locals he is likely to seem godly smart just from his better overall education but the other problem is he has no skills to really survive, let along thrive in this world."

King, "What is your point ?"

Slender Elf, "You got that Artifact, why not see if it can give him some useful skills to. At worst nothing will happen, at best he might come out with some skills that have some merit."

The Three in One nod, "It does have a function for that and you have a point. Mind you we don't know what this piece of Lawful Chaos will do."

The King nods slowly, "If it works well though it may help us in our war against those trying to destroy our holy places. Creation knows we need the help. The adventurers are doing their best, but it seems too little to late some of the time."

Slender fellow nods, "As the humans say, desperate times call for desperate measures. Using this device is pretty desperate. Especially as we don't know what it's limits are."

Till this point the assistant to the Gods has been quiet, but decides to ask a question, "Pardon oh Supreme ones, but I was looking over the Artifacts listing of options and came across something called an 'Attributes and Quirks chart' It seems to be a random list of possible benefits or limits for a person. Everything from skills, to well magic items to actual powers or curses. As this is the first trial use of the Artifact, shall we try to use that as well ?"

The King and his Consort think then the King shrugs, "Sure why not. I don't see how it could hurt anything much. If this doesn't work then no harm is done, if it does work, we may end up with a new champion or at least someone with a new point of view that could help stop this madness."

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Reality; Temple of the 3 who are one. Scene of the crash

To any watching from outside, the smoking remains of the strange metal thing is now still, the body with in dead. Then there is a swirling multitude of lights, strange chanting's and numbers and hundreds of voices and forms seem to swirl within the vehicle. Then in a flash of bright incandescent light, the doors fly open and a pretty girl falls out and rolls, unconscious, to the base of the alter.

The lights continue to play over the girl, adding things here, changing things there, floating her up and around and finally she comes to rest on the altar, where there is a loud chime and a strange flat gender neutral voice speaks "Objectives Completed"

The Three who are One appear and nudge the girl awake, "Well your alive, though a girl and hmm appear to be part elven, though we can't tell what the other part is. Odd. Well we used a new Artifact we found to create your new form, so there may be some unusual features in your new form."

She is looking at them oddly, then looks down at herself, "Um, do you have a mirror ?"

The Goddess smiles, "Even better. If you will stand up please." She does so, though slowly.

They have her stand still, then they cast a spell and a mirror image of her appears.

She looks at it in surprise, "Pretty, nice chest though could have been a touch bigger. Personal opinion there." They grin and nod, "Love the hair color, always did like long hair and red heads especially oh and blue eyes to, good combination." Walks around the image noting the shape from the back and nods, smiling slightly, "Interesting, almost a perfect form in my opinion. Nice." She comes around to the front and squats down to see the form from below and then leans left then right for differing angles. "So you got a read out for this body to ?"

That gets a blank look for the Goddess, "We don't know what that means. Please refrain from using terminology from your world. It does not always translate properly. And speaking of that, we included Our native language and the Trade language in your mind so you can communicate. That is Elven, as we are an Elven Goddess and well 'common' is what it is called. It's really a mix of a dozen or so languages and gestures in to a trade language used over most of this part of the world. It's enough to get you through most things and it has a very well worked out written language which we included. You may also have new skills, we are not totally sure on that as this is the first time we have used this device."

The girl nods, "Ok. A Read out, in this context means a written form that has a list of this bodies specs, um, what it can and can't do and such."

They then nod, "Oh that, well sort of. It's one the device. We can't take you to the device itself but we can open a window between here and where it sits so you may see what is written on it."

She nods and they do so. Upon the Altar a window roughly 3ft around appears. Inside that she can see an old monochromatic green monitor and a large old fashioned looking computer. Something from the late 1990's she guesses.

"Ok, is it near that old computer ?"

They look at her then through the window, "That is it. That is what we used to build your new form."

She stares at it, "You tell me not to use technical terms but your using an old IBM computer and wait." leaning in to see the screen better, "It has my Attributes and Quirks chart up on it."

The Goddess looks confused, "Your chart ?"

The girl nods, "I wrote it, many years ago. That looks like one of the original ones I put out on the web to. My latest one is a bit more compact and user friendly. Though that is a good one to."

For a moment the top of the Goddess comes apart and the 3 who make up the one stare at each other then she pulls herself back together. "You mean this device is from your world ?"

"Looks like it, pretty old model though. Slow computational speeds, not much memory. Though I suppose for somethings it works ok. I was trained to use those back in school actually."

Somewhere a slender man is laughing - they should have brought that one back to the other side-

The Goddess sighs, "Ok, well no help for that now. You’re here and you have only what is in your vehicle. Well I can help there. This city is deserted of people cause of a war. But those who attacked missed a hidden room with some items and money in it. I don't Think it's much but it is up that hall, find the statue of the winged woman, behind it, 3rd stone up and to the right, press it and a secret door will open leading you to the store room. I believe it's just the temple's emergency funds but your welcome to them. I would help more but we are in the middle of a very nasty war and someone is actively trying to destroy or desecrate our temples. If you wish to help defend them it would be appreciated but we won't force the issue."

The girl nods, "Oh one question, what is this bodies Name. I don't think my old one really fits this one."

The goddess nods, Looks at the Artifact through the window - it pulls up a list and starts computing a minute later the name Cin'aed FlameSinger appears on the screen. "Ok that is your new name."

Cin'aed looks at it, "Well that's a bit redundant." The goddess raises an eyebrow in question, "Cin'aed means Born in or of Fire." The goddess slowly nods, "Well most people don't know that and you can call yourself whatever you want. That is just what the Artifact decided to call you and what our people will refer to you from now on." There is a clacking sound from the window and a slender elf girl spirit moves across the way then comes over to the window and hands the goddess a long page that is alternating wide green and white lines with small print over it. The goddess looks at it, "I don't really understand this language but I believe this is for you. It's a list in some odd form of your new self, abilities and skills. There is nothing more we can do for you now. I hope your new life works well for you. Try not to die anytime soon, ok ?" Cin'aed smiles, "Thank you for this new chance. I really do appreciate it."

The Goddess smiles and nods then she and the window are gone.

Cin'aed looks down at the paper and recognizes it as a character sheet for Dungeons and Dragons. Old school to from the looks of it. With modifications listed for her quirks of which she sees she got 12, plus 6 'mutant powers' meaning abilities that are in her DNA and not magical or psionic. Looking at those she smiles, they are Nice. Then she looks at her new 'stats' and whistles. Before modifications she has 3 18s and nothing under 16. With the stat mods, yikes. She is like a goddess or something. Reading down in a surreal state, Class: Mage - Rogue, lv 5/6. Nice, wonder why rogue though, not complaining just wondering. Does give her more options on armor and weapons though. Then looking over the quirks and notes she may not Need much in the way of armor. Natural AC of 4. Skin like low end steel or splint mail if she remembers correctly. Add in her new dexterity modifier and she will be one hard target. Not as strong as she would have liked, but still descent, oh that is not good, or really good depending on point of view. Charisma score is in the God range. Wow. Hmm, animal magnetism, great the perverts will be coming out of the woodwork now.

Let's see skills … normal stuff, pg2 ah the new things, let's see … ooo Master Level Armorer, Weapon Smith and Black smithing with Leather working and Artist Ability. Singing, mandolin, someone was reading my wish list, hm fire building, useful for a smith, Reading Lips and Disguise, interesting … nothing from the mage list though, odd. Not stuff I would normally take, looks more like a bard than a standard Rogue, but other than the entertainment stuff nothing to indicate spell singing. Minstrel with thief training it looks like. Though with the mage stuff could probably fake being a bard. If I had any spell books.

Ah well, nothing to do now but scrounge the car for supplies. She has been muttering all this to herself as she reads and then looks at the car, pulls up her imaginary pants and opens the front door as wide as it will go. What she finds is her old clothes, empty of any-body, but stained in blood an torn. In the back seat she finds her two coats. The morning had been a miserably cold day, the afternoon made the coats with her long johns to hot, so 'she' had put them in the back seat. She pulls out the lighter blue one and tries it on. The word Tent comes to mind. Her new body probably takes a medium at best, counting bust and all and this coat is a 4x. She got it larger so she could wear more under it. Same for the brown coat. Layers are your friend. Digging out the pants, they are a lost cause, but her stuff is still in the pockets. The pack of tissues she kept are ruined, but her comb is ok as is her change purse, the wallet, well salvageable, but not sure how much use it will be here as she is pretty sure US money is worthless in this Elf world. She is able to get her keys with little trouble, allowing her to open the trunk. Everything is shoved to the front, but now at least she can reach the bag of clothing she got a couple days ago that had ended up in the far front of the deep trunk out of her reach. Not allot in there though, new belt, 3 T-shirts (red, blue, green) now so large as to fit her like a dress, with the belt though at least she can cinch-up the waist and a pack of medium heavy socks. Now if she just had shoes. Oh and a plastic bag with 3 5x hospital gowns, freshly laundered a couple days ago. She kept them cause she had been stuck in a hospital once and they did not have any to fit the old her. All 300lbs of him. Digging around she finds her roadside bag and an extra jumper cable and a couple of long funnels, wash them out good and they can be used for something not car related (she hopes), several rags, also good. From her old clothes she salvaged the old belt, beaten up but still useable. She wraps it under her sizeable chest for a make shift bra.

Now to check on that room - she finds it just as she was told. All that is in it though is a small bag with 11 coins, 1 gem, and some costume jewelry and 3 bottles, that when she dust them off are marked 'Healing Potion, 3 draughts, Longevity drink for youth, Speed, run at double time. Well she did say it was not much.

Looking about she spots something odd, and looking closer she somehow sees it's part of a mechanism hidden under some dust and cobwebs. She follows the old line to a hidden lever in the bottom corner of the wall and pushes it. It takes a bit of effort and a bit of work but the old mechanism finally moves and a section of wall across the hall opens. The room beyond that is very dark and full of dust and webs.

Recalling her emergency flashlight in the car she goes back and gets it. Its works pretty good for a little 2 dollar LED light. Guestimate it to light up about 30 to 40ft pretty well. The room, once she gets past the cobwebs (using the old handle and a rag to clear the way) she finds a lump of old linen draped over something. Carefully pulling it aside in case of spider and to now make too much of a dust cloud, she finds a very nicely made wooden box with sail boats carved in to it (about 1ft longx6in deep and 6in wide) and a large, leather backpack with 2 nice sized side pouches. They both are in good repair, most likely as they were stored under that old cloth. She takes them out to the main room, which is lit by some high windows in order to save her battery strength. She starts with the box which is stiff but has no lock, inside it is a couple of nice looking gems and a letter written in slightly faded elven script, which she is delighted to be able to actually read.

Note:

Dear Charllaandra, I am leaving this gear here in your care. If I don't come back I hope you can find a use for it. Note there is a goodly sum of money in the backpack, consider it your inheritance should I not return.

Below I leave an inventory of my items by their common names and any activation words you may need if applicable. Becareful of the box, say the first word below and it becomes a row boat with a sail, the second word opens it in to a good sized sailing boat and the 3rd back to the box.

The bag is an specially made Advanced form of what is commonly called a Heward's Handy Haversack. This one has larger pouches as I found the original ones to be strangely to small. Such a sought after item and it's pouches were smaller than the smallest of bags of holding. This one is not such as those, the side pouches are the same size as that, they can hold over 200lbs each, the main can hold over 1000lbs (that's 50,000 coins to put it in merchants terms) also if you know the item you want it is always on top. Which is the reason for this inventory, don't lose it.

Coins:

Sp 7690

Gp 2844

Pp 1645

Gems 12 assorted sizes and types, not sure their value.

magic boots, merchant called the Boots of the North, as it never snows here I have not much use of them. Magic Ring, if you ever find a wizard he will love you for this ring. It only works for mages and as a warrior I never had much use for it. Your being a Priestess of the 3, I don't see you getting much from it either. From what I am told though it helps them keep more spells ready than is normal. Useful for any mage I am sure. If you can't use it and find the need, sell it, I am sure it's worth quite a bit.

Next is the clear crystal cube, if you can believe it, it's a crystal ball, lets you see and hear people at a distance. Nice I think. Lastly I leave you my second best magic shield and the Long dagger granddad gave me. Both have good enchantments on them but I well I like my bigger shield and sword.

Oh and not to forget, the cloth this is all wrapped in is actually a powerfully enchanted magical cloak. So many times a day you can draw forth many useful items, though occasionally it does not work right and you get less than useful things. Like a broken battering ram, or a boat with a hole in it (still good as fire wood however). Odd thing, it has a curse on it to. Nothing too bad, it just makes it's wearer look exceptional poor and destitute. I have seen this for myself, the fellow I got it from wore fine clothing under it, but with the cloak on they looked little better than rags. Good disguise to get around high priced merchants or people looking for the hansom knight in the fancy armor. Not so good if you want to be taken for anything but a beggar.

That last one clicks a memory, a story she read before about an artifact. The Cloak of the Vagabond, its 3 or 4 different kinds of Robes of Useful and Useless items rolled in to one. The useless items were often just odd more than useless. Made you think creatively. also if memory served, it reloaded itself over time. She hurries back to the room and gets it, bringing the old thing back to the main room and beating the dust out of it on the far side of the car. Even after all the filth is gone, it looks like a linen and old leather cloak with lots of patches all over it. But if it works the way it supposed to.

She puts it on and remembers back to the story. "Oh Vag the Hermit, master of collection and things hidden, I beseech thee to unlock the wonders of this your cloak to me."

At first nothing happens then it shakes and moves about on its own, till a pair of eyes open inside the hood, eyes that look like they were sewn on by someone barely competent to hold a needle

"Well well well, someone actually remembers the prayer. How nice. Hello adventurer, I am assuming you’re an adventurer or treasure hunter or the like, no one else would want my old cloak."

She looks up at the eyes and smiles. She hears a distant thud, "WHOA, ok been a while since a goddess got my cloak, what can this humble old hermit do for one such as you ?"

She giggles, "I am not a goddess, but thanks for the compliment just the same. No the Elven gods were experimenting with an artifact they found, I died in a bad accident but that accident stopped someone from desecrating one of their temples. So I think it was a point of honor to bring me back. Anyway the device used random number generations to create a new body for me. I got to see the paper with the computations on it. I got some high numbers especially in the charisma statistic.

Sorry babbling, never met a magical item I actually read about before. That's how I knew the prayer. It was from the adventures of Anwen the Mysterious. Well book 1, I never got to read the other books in the series, they were hard to find."

"Anwen, oh I have not heard her name in Years. She ended up becoming the Queen of the Dragons, went off to do dragon things and passed my cloak off to an ally. It went on like that till some Knight decided to run a poor beggar through, only to find out the beggar was the youngest son of a king. He put the cloak in a temple and told his lady love there he was off on a quest. Never heard from either of them again. That was, hmm over 300 years ago. How is the temple by the way ?"

"It and the town it was in got sacked a few months ago according to the goddess that brought me back. I found your cloak and some other nice items in a secret room. From the looks of it, it had been forgotten for a long time. But the Knight was good enough to leave a note listening all his left behind treasures to his girlfriend, who apparently is the one who locked it away. No idea if she ever even read the note. But when I did and saw it list 'The Cloak of Vag' I just Knew it was this cloak. This is one of the Most awesome magic items Ever in my opinion. Perfect for any traveler, what with all the useful things you make available through it. Wonderful stuff. Candy, weapons, food, clothing, gear, never know what someone may have added to the cloak either, so it's a smorgasbord of nifty things." Vag laughs, "Thank you, I do like it myself. Just because I am the God of Hermits, Beggars, Nomads, Wanders and Vagabonds does not mean I am a mean god, just means I am thrifty. Besides I like adventurers in a general sense of the word. Slightly falls under my domain you know. Oh since you know of Anwen and so favorably, I will let you in on some upgrades she put in. There is a nice 8 man tent in there, some very nice camping gear including some mess kits, she made sure there were at least 2 in there at any time. Included some foods not found in the America's I really don't know why most of my food items in the cloak all came from the American content when my cloak is from Europe. Lots of good cheeses, milk, coffee, some peppermint candies to, the soft ones and hard ones. Those were her favorite." Licking her lips, "oh which patch are those, those are my favorites to." Vag laughs and points her to the two patches. She pulls off one and gets the soft stick kind that melt in your mouth. Promptly does so to. "So Good." Vag laughs again. "Your like Anwen I think. Pulled here from somewhere else against your will. So stuck here till you find your place. So tell you what I am going to do. Not only will I let you use my cloak to its full ability, I will keep you company. Well as much as I can. I do have prayers and such. Mostly people looking for safe or warm places to sleep, food to eat or just people hoping to find a cave away from others to call their own. All I ask from you is to do good or kind things for the less fortunate from time to time. " around the candy, "only fair. deal." The hood bobs, "Now, or for now, you're at least going to be a wander, till you find your place in this world. Now as I don't get out much, obviously if you think about it, I don't know a whole lot about the world. So the cloak acts as my eyes and ears, one other reason I like having someone use it. You don't have to wear it to use the powers or for me to see either. It's just more convenient is all." She nods and puts another candy in her mouth, "Your hungry I see, oh right, reincarnated, that body your in has never eaten anything before, if you're not careful you will make a pig of yourself in no time. I suggest one of the larger beef sausages and the cheese platter. That sausage in the shoulder there comes with a small rounded knife and a jar of honey mustard. Another of Anwen's ideas. She did not eat pork so there is no pork in there." Cin'aed nods, "I don't eat pork either. Pigs are too smart to use as food." the 'eyes' narrow, "Say what's your name ?"

"The computer called me Cin'aed Firesinger. It granted me the skills of an Elven Master Armorer and Smith, weapons to. Not sure how that is going to work though, I only been like this a few hours." he nods, "I got a number of wandering smiths in my faithful. Not bad work if you can find it." she nods, "I am going to stay the night here, maybe a little longer as I work out a few things. Can't stay for too long though, no water about and never know when or if the raiders will come back." Vag, "Yeah that's a good point to. Well I got to go. Most of my stuff will come through via your subconscious, just so your aware." She nods and then lets herself explore the patches by touching them and seeing what sort of impulses she gets from them.

She ends up putting on her socks and then the boots, they are actually pretty stylish and comfortable. Still no real underwear, but the combination of her coat and the cloak kept her warm. The only real shelter though was the car and try as she might, she just could not stay in it too long. The memory of dying there was too strong. She only got in to search for useful things and tried not to look at the spot her old life ended not so long ago. Finally, everything she could scavenge was stuck in the various bags. Her surprise was the Goddess has indeed enchanted the two cloth grocery bags in her car in to bags of accessible holding. She started to suspect her minimag light was also enchanted as it's batteries never seemed to wear out. By midnight she scampered out of that horrible room, leaving behind her car and the last of her old life, possibly forever.

She left the temple, which still stood on a hill and took refuge in an out building. It looked to have been a meeting house, probably where priest met with outsiders to the temple proper. It had some broken furnishings and had been ransacked, but no blood stains or the like to be found. She made sure it's chimney was clear and then broke up some of the old benches and started a fire. Heated up the sausages from the cloak and had a dinner of that and some of the soda she brought with her.

Before going to sleep, she did what she could to block the door, so no wild animals could come in on her and not so wild ones would not be able to sneak up on her. Thus she slept her first night in this new and frightening world.

Chapter One: New Life, New Roads

Up the road to the ruined elven town come 5 beautiful and dangerous women, one of who is in a very bitchy moods, "I don't see why we have to check out these stupid Temples. Elven ones at that. It's not like they have been picked clean already." the short blond with the massive shield says to the others.

A tall slender blond in white robes sighs, "Because the Guild told us to and we are being Paid to do so as you know. Look we all know you trust the gods as far as you can through a mountain, you have made that clear. But something bad is going on. These raiders Only hit towns with temples in them and they focus on destroying those temples and ignore most of the rest of the towns, except to kill off any guards they find or wandering priest. The guild is furious for one and fears some outsider types are trying to weaken the hold on this world to make invasion easier." She explains for the 10th time this trip.

Tall busty warrior grins, "Hey I am good as long as we are actually paid for once. I am tired of getting shit pay cause we are an all-woman team. Besides did we or did we not find that bolt hole in the last one with the pouch of Electrum in it. Granted it's not much, but a few more like that and we could at least stay in a better inn and get some descent food next time."

Slender and lethal looking and very out of place Asian woman nods, "True. Also finding someone who knows something would be helpful. Heck I would be happy to find a priest with healing skills to drag around with us."

Short blond snarls, "I Told you why I quit doing that, so stop harping on it."

Asian, "I said Someone, I did not mention you at all. Heck I would settle for someone with a bunch of healing potions at this point. We are down to our last 2 and those things are expensive and hard to come by."

The ever silent red haired one speaks, "I smell smoke. Better I see a curl of it coming from the town up ahead. Looks like they did not run everyone off."

The mage looks up and nods, "I hope it's not like the last time. Old codger just would not leave his place. Stubborn and mean. Times I wish I had some transformative magics, he would have made a good mule." a few snickers and nods from the rest of her team, save for the red head, "He had every right to be there. It was his home after all."

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

A couple of the others give her a surprised look, "What ? " she says, "I am not a totally heartless monster, only a well-paid monster. Well till I hooked up with you lot." she amends.

They go quiet and spread out as the approach the remains of the town wall. A short search shows only one outbuilding has any sign of habitation.

The 'monster' sniffs, "Sausage, beef, cheese, melting, hmm no bread though. Someone is having breakfast it seems."

The building has only one door, all the windows are on the 2cd floor, but they know from experience that this place likely is only one floor. The waiting room for people to see the priest for various reasons. It would have an underground exit, likely blocked from the inside by both mundane and magical means. Not likely anything of value with in either. But the roof and chimney are sound as are the walls, so it's a good place to camp in if you’re a traveler.

They have moved back to the tree line, where they have a clear view of the place when they see a hooded figure in a bad fitting coat run out the door, around the corner, only to squat in some bushes.

The slender blond silently says to the Busty one 'pee break'.

While the figure is in the bushes, two of the team move in to the room and the other 3, more stealthy ones, move around to capture the person.

The Smell of of urine hits them hard and the Tall red head sneezes. In that moment the others rush the place only to find it empty, just a shallow wet hole to show the person was even there.

The blond swears and looks around and up. Up proved a good thing as something moves in the leaves, something large and fast and very agile as it leaps from one tree to the next, wearing a dark blue top and long slender legs peak out to stylish Blue boots with red piping. The figure leaps from the trees and on top of the roof in what had to been a magically enhanced jump.

"Possible mage" The mage says, pointing to the roof.

The busty brunet looks at her normally professional companion, "Really ?"

The professional shrugs, "The smell hit me before I could stop it. Happens to the best of us. But whoever they are, they are fast and good though I don't know where they can go from the roof."

Mage, moving toward the door, "Depends on if that jump was a spell or those boots. If those are boots of leaping, they can go a long ways. If it's a spell, it depends on what other tricks they know."

Once in the door, they make out a figure in the window and several bags, some odd clothing and a few bits of food flying around while the other two try to intercept things. The mage points at the figure and recites a spell. It squarely hits the figure which drops out of site, even as the flying things fall, "Quick out back, I think I got her with that hold spell." the blond mage tells the others. The Asian jogs behind her, "Her ?" Mage, "no man has legs like that one does. " she explains.

They get around to the back and find the figure, neck at a bad angle, laying beside the building. The Professional monster (as she calls herself) moves over and sets the figure on its back, pulls back the hood and turns the head around so they can see her face." The mage winces, "Damn but she was a pretty one. Too bad she had to be evil."

The short blond nearly slaps her, "Hey you don't know she was evil. From what we saw in there before you charged in, looks like a wanderer, maybe an adventurer. You can't just call someone evil cause you accidently killed them to make yourself feel better."

The Asian nods, "Melisanda has a point. We attacked her. She was just reacting the way any of us would who was alone and unarmed. She tried to escape. That is not evil, that is self-preservation."

The mage slowly nods, "Fine fine, well lets search the body and see what we can find out about her then." They turn back to the body, only to find it gone. Melisanda makes little whistling tune and starts to look carefully around while unhooking her twin balled flail, "Got foot prints here. Looks like she shook off your spell while we were arguing and " she slumps, "She went back for her stuff." They make it around the corner in time to see the girl running full tilt down the road, her head is still at an odd angle, but she is obviously not dead. Melisanda watches her go, "That has got to hurt, running like that."

The professional is hot on her trail but not gaining by much. She pulls out a lasso and tries to use that to shorten the distance, only to have it miss as the girl suddenly leaps over something in the road. The short blond "GET HER HEL" and takes off at a jog trying to keep them in sight.

Hel is a good distance runner, but chasing someone who is scared out of their mind is never easy. Fear gives feet wings as they say. Too bad it does not give them eyes to, she thinks as the girl tried to jump something else and fell in to the deep gully the elves line their roads with.

She catches up to find the girl tangled in a briar bush, crying and swearing in a language she has never heard.

As the others catch up there is a loud pop and yelp from the girl as her neck pops back in to place, seemingly on its own. Did not help with the briars but at least her head is on straight now.

Getting down in to the gully is easy, not getting caught in the briars at the bottom allot harder. The ones with the best armor got the job and they are not happy to have to not only pull the sobbing girl out but try and keep her from bolting the moment she is free. A short look around the group confirms no one knows the language she is blubbering in.

Suddenly the mage "Shit, her skin" pointing to the long gashes in her legs. As they watch they stop bleeding and slowly close up, leaving not so much as a faint scar to show they were ever there. The girl's clothing though is not so lucky. She keeps petting the different rents and tears in her to large coat and muttering sobbing words.

Melisanda grouses, "If she does not stop crying soon I am going to slap the shit out of her." The busty one, "Oh lay off. She is probably a refuge, look at this stuff. What clothing she has is way too large for her. It's all in bad repair even before it fell in to the bushes. Her only cloak is more patches than cloak any more. Nothing she has is new. Though some of it is strange. Look at the weird runes on those blue bags. Wonder what they mean."

The girl calming a little, in strangely accented common, "Walmart". The mage makes a face, "Well she can speak at least and now you know what the words say."

Hel shakes her head, "Walmart ? Is that a store or what ?"

The girl, wiping her eyes, "Huge store back home. They got outlets in almost every city. Carry everything from camping supplies to food to low end clothing. Pretty much everything is cheap there, but good quality. Well most of it, sometimes it's so so quality but if you are on a budget it's a good place to shop."

Asian, "and she is another lost foreigner, lovely."

Busty, "You are not one to talk, seeing as so are you."

Hel grins, "So girl, you got a name ?" she has a dagger out and is pointedly cleaning under her nails with it.

The girl nods, "Sure, doesn't everyone."

Busty snorts a laugh, "Good point. Not what she was asking though."

The girl shrugs, "Names FlameSinger, I am very very lost. NOT going back in to that temple again. Been there, nearly died, not going back." shaking her head stubbornly.

Hel smirks, "I tie you up you will go where I say."

Firesinger, now having more of herself pulled together holds up a hand and a ball of fire appears in it, "Not Going Back" the fire spreads over her form. They leap back.

Mage, "Hel, stop making things worse. Fire shield, damn it!"

Melisanda slaps Hel on the back of the head, "Some people you don't threaten. If you recall that is the sort of thing that got you lumped up with us. "

The mage is looking thoughtful, "She did not say or sing a spell, she just called it forth. I am thinking magic item."

Asian, "Da'Rune, you always think Magic, but you forget those Psionics we met a few months ago. One of them could do that to. So maybe not magic but mind power."

Da'Rune gives her a dirty look, "Psionics and Magic is the same thing, just different ways of going about it."

FlameSinger, "No their not. Magic comes from without, the Universe provides it. Or Through Gods to their priest. Psionics comes from within, from the connection of the mind, body and soul. Very different. And I have yet to find a psion that can toss a magic missile."

The Asian smiles, "she has you there and now we know she is educated."

Melisanda, getting as close as she can without getting burned, "The Gods are Fake. " she snarls. FlameSinger looks sadly at her, "If not for the gods I would literally not be here right now. I died back in that temple and the Goddess there in an act of mercy brought me back. You can be mad at them all you want. It does not make them fake or any less real."

The Asian nods, "Well that's a good reason not to want to go back. Facing the place you died is not an easy thing. But tell me how did you die ?"

FlameSinger sighs, thinks it over and then tells a somewhat abbreviated story, leaving out any mention of treasures or things like the magic computer. She tells about driving in her magic carriage to see some friends, how a portal opened and her carriage went through it and ran over someone who meant to desecrated the temple by way of a human sacrifice, as her carriage fell on him. It killed him instantly, she was not so lucky. She lingered till the girl escaped and the Goddess came and spoke to her at length. How she thought it was a dream brought on by the fact she was bleeding out. How she tried to joke with the goddess, asked for a magic light. Woke up and well new healthy body, MUCH better looking, and a magic light. Had she known she would have asked for a new set of clothes to. Cause she used to be Much larger around. As in the coat fit properly.

She salvaged what she could from the carriage and then left, spent the night and the next day in that building, trying to figure out what she could do. She was not from this world, Had very little money and knew no one here. She thought they were the raiders returning. So she tried to escape and they know the rest.

After her story, "So what is your name ? I got three of them so far but you and the Busty one I have not heard yet."

The Busty one looks down, jiggles them and nods, "I am Brani, though the Busty one fits to. Warrior, Rogue, all around fun person. The tall strange looking girl is Aysun. She is from a far-away place."

FlameSinger grins, "Asian by the look of her, from the armor style I would guess Japan."

Aysun looks surprised, "You know of Japan ?"

FlameSinger nods, "My grandparents lived there for a time. Had some nice things they brought back. My grandmother was a hero there. She did many great things and whenever they visit she gets a military escort and the government would even pay for all her expenses. My grandfather, not so much."

Aysun nods, "She must be a wonderful person."

FlameSinger nods and sighs, "She was. She died when I was a child. But I remember the stories. See there had been a great war. Japan was in bad way, my country sent people to help rebuild them. Grandfather was an officer in our army, grandmother. Ok little backstory. See my grandmother when she was very young got very sick. Most people who got the disease died, she lived but was deaf for the rest of her life. That's the first remarkable thing. She learned Japanese by Lip Reading. Next she started doing allot of aid things, started something called the Girl Scouts, orchestrated an exchange of tree's between the two countries. A Cherry Tree from Japan and a Dogwood tree from my lands. She taught cooking and gardening and all kinds of things that people needed to rebuild lives and hope. Before she died they even had a park in Kyoto in her name."

Aysun sits there and sighs, missing her home, "She sounded like a wonderful person."

Nodding, "She was. She was a chef to, taught me some about cooking but I never got anywhere near her skill level in that. I still miss her sometimes to. Miss all the people who died before me."

She says, looking ready to start bawling again at any moment.

The ex-priest looks ready to slap her, save for the fire shield. Aysun nods in understanding, "So if you could do this fire shield, why did you not do it before ?" FlameSinger actually blushes slightly, "It's a new talent and I am not total comfortable with it just yet. Also I have to stand still to use it. At least at this time." Aysun nods, "Your surrounded, so you use it now to keep us from getting to close in case we are thieves here to take all you own." she nods, FS Nods, "Well your busty one did state she is a rogue, so it's a safe assumption that one or more of you are as well."

Hel grins, "Some of us are, some aren't and that shield would not protect you from thrown or shot weapons." she points out. FS thinks about that then nods, "Point. But that is not its point. It's point is to keep you at bay while I catch my breath. Bye Bye now." she suddenly expands it outward, causing all of them to jump back while she mutters something in her strange language ("Gods I hope this trick works") Then leaps upwards only to vanish at as her feet reach about waist height.

They are all confused, Hel leaps at where she was only to almost land in the briar patch. Da'Rune mutters a spell, looking to find her, while the others regroup.

Aysun smiles, "Sneaky. Good thinking in a short amount of time. Wonder how many items she has to use hidden under that cloak. Next time we catch her we will have to strip her down before we talk with her." Brani nods, "I would not mind just stripping her down to see what she looks like without all the bulky clothing. "

Hel, pulling herself up from the ditch, "Do you ever think about anything but sex ?"

Brani nods, "Food, beer, and money are in the mix to. After that maybe shelter and getting a better weapon."

Da'Rune is swearing up a storm as her spell failed, "I lost her, but the last moment she was just going straight up. Who fly's straight up ?"

Hel, "Invisibility and flight, fire shield, fire ball, Self-Healing, we see her use any other powers or magics."

Aysun, "Telekinesis when she tried to get her stuff back the first time. Nothing else I am aware of. Still a potent mix of tricks."

Brani, looking thoughtful, "What gets me is everything she has shown is distraction or defense, she runs instead of attacks. Not how your average person acts when they have access to such things. And that fire ball was more like a light ball, not one of the more devastating kind. Everything she has shown is to get away or hide. Not a particularly brave person."

Hel shakes her head, "5 to one odds, I would run to. She may have taken out one or two of us, but the rest would have gotten her. No running is the logical course of action. The problem is where she will run. she is right in she has no reason to trust us. Did she leave anything back at that building ?"

Melisanda nods, "Just a few pieces of food, why ?"

Hel nods and starts jogging that way, "You're on the road. No weapons, no real gear, you never leave food behind if you can help it. I am wagering she went back for it. Besides we still need to check out that temple even if we lost her."

The others agree and follow Hel back. They get to the temple wall just in time to spot the girl running out of the building, but this time toward the town itself.

Da'Rune sighs, "We can track her later, I want to check out that temple before it gets dark."

Once inside the temple the smells hit them first. An acrid smell covers most everything, the next unpleasant smell is that of death, but it's hard to tell how fresh it is with the other scents.

In the main temple, before the alter is a strange sliver and glass object on 4 thick black wheels. The front of it is crushed in to the wall, there is a body, almost cut in half between the wall and the strange cart.

Aysun, holding her nose, "That must be the remains of the girls magical carriage. From the looks of it I would say at least that much of her story is true."

Brani is looking through a window in the back, "It sure was a nice ride, look at the blond leather seats and carpeted floors. Pouches behind the front seats for stuff to. Looks like she stripped it of most things but I see a couple of nice looking cups in the back. Wonder why she left them."

Hel looking through to other window, "Maybe damaged or she had not the room to take them. Ah, I see, lots of blood and torn clothing in the front. It looks like this wheel here is where she sat. Probably died there given how the front is crushed down on where the legs must have gone."

Da'Rune is looking at the black clad body at the front, "One of the raider anti-priest alright. Someone help me get him out from there. We need to see if he had anything we could use to track those raiders."

Melisanda, "You got a reduction or lightening spell on you ? Cause otherwise I don't think we can get to him without hurting ourselves."

Brani swears suddenly and falls, "This thing is leaking liquids like mad, and they stink to. And now I am covered in this stuff, yetch." She pulls herself up, making a face at the oily stuff now coating her back and sides. Hel leans in and takes a closer look, "Stay away from fire. That is oil, it smells like some kind of lamp fuel, maybe something else to. Glad we are using magical lights now though. One spark and Whoosh, no more us."

From up high, near the windows, "Now there is a thought."

There is a bright light and then a 20ft tall elven woman is standing there, looking at FlameSinger, "YOU WILL NOT MAKE A FUNERAL PYRE IN MY TEMPLE!" Her decree is followed by the girl yelping as she falls out of the window. She returns a moment later, "Ok ok, I just said it was a thought, not that I would do it. Sheesh calm down."

The goddess stares hard at her for a moment, "These adventurers are on the side of good. They are part of a group investigating the desecrations of our temples." The goddess then turns to the team, "This person is not from here, you heard her story, it is true. Please don't kill her, it took allot to bring her back." And it a flurry of lights she is gone.

FS comes further in the window, "That is my car. The smell is gasoline, I guess a line is leaking. The stuff is highly flammable, so no fire's. I can move the car if you really want to get to that body."

Hel looks thoughtful then shrugs, "ok so come down here and move it."

FS shakes her head, "Don't have to do that." she holds out her hand, then makes a lifting motion. The car raises about a foot up. Then she gestures slowly, drawing backwards. The car follows steadily. She moves it so the back is a few feet from the rear wall. Leaving the front of the temple free of the hulk, only the pools of different liquids showing where it sat. The body shifted then fell off the wall once the car was far enough from it. It looks like it was nearly split in half.

Da'Rune is quick enough to keep most of it from falling in the nasty liquids and pulls it off to the side.

Hel watches the car settle, adding that to her list of what this girl can do. Her own internal self is now pretty happy FS did not go on the offensive back there. She is pretty sure none of them would have survived it if she had now. That vehicle weighed more than the 5 of them together could have moved. All it would take would her to have dropped something heavy on them, end of story.

Not sure if the girl is a pacifist or just cautious. She is hoping for cautious, as she has little sympathy for pacifist.

Melisanda looks up at the strange girl, "Are you afraid to fight ?" She calls out, FS looks at her, "I only fight when there are no other options. If fighting is your go to in any situation then you are not a very bright individual in my opinion."

Hel snickers to herself, she has never thought Mel was to bright either. She followed a war god that did not grant healing spells, then got pissed at her god when she could not heal her friend. Left his service and bitches almost non-stop about how the gods are fake because of that one instance. Though the girl is always looking for a fight. Not sure if it's anger or a death-wish. Hel has no illusions about the gods. Some heal, some don't. Some are proactive, like the one who manifested here, others are subtle and you never see their actions, at least unless you know what to look for. Most fall in the middle somewhere. She is called Hel, like the Norse goddess because she is an assassin. But unlike most of her kind she is not evil, does not worship death or the like. For her it is a business, unpleasant sure, but just business. She usually works for kings, high priest and similar. But one mistake, a bad idea and foolhardy gamble and now she has to work with these 4 till the mission is complete or she is dead, whichever comes first. At first she did not like them. Very different people. Da'Rune the mage and self- appointed leader of the group. Good in a fight but too quick to blame magic on things or enemies as evil. Jumps to conclusions based on little evidence to. But a good mage and not bad at your back in a fight. Brani, good fighter, half way decent thief to, oversexed, loves to talk, and flirts with every pretty face she finds. Hel finds herself often wondering why the girl never joined with one of the party gods, she has the right mentality, even if she is a little loose with the morals of other peoples belongings.

Aysun is something of a mystery to her. They rescued her from some mage who pulled her from that far away land of Japan. He wanted a sex slave but was too cheap to just buy one. So he pulled her to their lands. Ended up getting his throat cut by his new plaything. When they found her she was still chained to the wall where he died. Seems she killed him using her feet. Hel has not been able to learn How she did that. She will not talk about it. Still very good fighter and good tactical thinker. Smart to, took her just a couple weeks to figure out their language and a month to learn to read and write in it, even if she does write backwards more often than not.

Mel looks ready to blow, "Well your opinion means squat in this world I just think you’re a coward." she spouts off.

FS, sitting her the window 15ft overhead shrugs, "You are entitled to your opinion, no matter how wrong it is." Aysun says something in her language and grins, FS looks at her then shrugs, "My Japanese is limited to a few words and phrases. But I know the word for Idiot." Aysun bites her lips but still grins.

Da'Rune, used to how Mel is, just ignores her taunting, Brani is just trying to get the nasty oils off, "Anyone got a rag ?" she ask the group. FS pulls her bags around and looks for a moment before tossing a stained rag to her, "Here, more stains won't hurt this." Brani nods a thanks to her and works on getting as much of the oil off as she can. While she wipes down, "So why are you still here anyway ?" She ask FS.

FS shrugs, "Nowhere else to go. Literally everything I own is right here in this world."

Brani looks at the destroyed carriage, "Good point. Shame about your carriage it looks like it was a nice one."

FS nods, "Older model, I got it second hand, but it was a luxury model and still worked well. The company that made them were called Buick. They Only made the luxury type cars. Still for a 17 year old model it did well, got me where I needed to be, maintenance was not too bad. Still missing it though. Hate losing a car to accidents like that. Happened once before. My mom died in that one. Head injury." Brani looks up and for once looks sad and nods, "Yeah I can see that happening."

FS shrugs and lets it go.

Mel is about to start again when Aysun speaks, "Let it go Mel. She will not fight you and I don't think it's all that smart of you to keep trying. You have no idea what she is capable of."

Mel glares, "I bet without using her magic she would be easy to beat."

The girl drops inside and walks over, "Tell you what, hand to hand, no weapons, no magic. I will even let you keep your armor." FlameSinger pulls off her cloak, the blue coat and shows that underneath she is only wearing a red dress held in place by two belts and the boots with some kind of short stockings. She fluffs out her long red hair and moves to an open place with no oil on the floor. Arms at her side and a sideways stance, waiting.

Mel shrugs, puts down her weapons and shield. Rolls her neck and moves in to a wrestlers pose, waiting. FS changes her pose, puts her fist in to an open palm and bows. Aysun suddenly sits up and whistle's in a low tone. This really gets everyone else's attention.

Mel nods, then charges. No one except maybe Hel and Aysun can say what happened next for sure. The initial charges from Mel, FS either dodged with little effort or blocked and turned away. Mel just got madder and madder and finally started to throw punches, which FS just blocked and turned away with a scary amount of ease. Finally FS went on the offensive and in 3 moves Mel was on her back, some 8ft away, stunned.

FS looked at her, "Your style is sloppy, all anger, rage and no real technique. I am no expert but I can tell you really just want to die cause no warrior I know of fights that way otherwise."

Hel scoots over to Aysun, "What the hell is that fighting style ?"

Aysun is quiet, "Mix styles actually, defensive style is simply not being where your opponent thinks you are going to be or deflecting the attacks. The offensive style, very simple block, grapple and throw maneuver. The opening bow however is called the Open Fist technique. Someone who has mastered that fighting style is not someone you want against you. It's a Monks fighting technique."

Hel, having seen some battle monks in action, nods. They are rare, but not people you want working against you in a fight. Very formidable.

With Mel down for the moment Aysun takes the chance, "What style is that you used ?"

FS thinks, "Well back home it was a hobby in my youth. It's just called Mixed Martial Arts. A little Shaolin monk crane and dragon style, some basic Kung Fu, karate, judo, tad of ninjitsu and Zen." Aysun considers this then walks over and pulls off her armor and puts down her weapon.

"Ok, just sparing here ok ?" FS smiles, "In straight technique your probably better than me, I never studied any of them exclusively." Aysun nods, "I figured that, but new forms often come from those who study many forms."

FS thinks on that then nods, "Ok, good point." Hel ask, "What weapons are you trained in FS ?"

Waiting for Aysun to finish with her armor, "Staff, Dagger, thrown weapons of all sorts, swords, I know enough about shooting a bow to hit the target, though not usually where I am aiming, standard round targets, I can hit it, the actual bullseye though is more luck than skill." Hel nods. She thought maybe staff, it's a common weapon, knives and daggers to. Swords takes more skill. Throwing weapons with any accuracy is allot harder but still a good one to master.

FS looks at Aysun, noting the dragon tattoo's along the woman's arms, "Ok so anything to avoid in this match ?" Aysun nods, "Nothing lethal."

By the time Mel has gotten up Aysun and FS are circling each other, their legs moving in slow X patterns but neither is attacking.

Mel easies over to Hel, "What happened to me, one moment I am punching her in the jaw the next I wake up over there." Hel, without taking her eyes off the combatants, "She kicked your butt with so much ease it was scary. Now Aysun has challenged her to a sparring match. Never seen Aysun spar before, this should be interesting."

Mel watches the slow dance, "So why are they not hitting each other ?"

Hel, "My guess, looking for openings and gaging each-others abilities." Mel blows a raspberry, "That is not how you fight."

Hel, "No that is not how You fight, but we put you back together allot. So be quiet and watch you may learn something."

A few more minutes of the circling and Aysun makes a feint punch, it is too far out to hit and FS does not even react to it. From what Hel can see FS's eyes are glazed over, she is not really conscious of what is going on around her. Not a good thing to do in a fight. Aysun seems to think so to and suddenly changes her stance and throws a kick utilizing her deceptively long legs. The kick looks like it should hit with ease, only FS is not there anymore, she suddenly dropped and countered with a kick to Aysun's standing leg, completely throwing the tall woman off balance. As Aysun rolls to regain her balance FS strikes lightning quick with hands that for a moment looked to be stiff fingers, but she switched to open palms, Hitting Aysun in the middle and knocking the breath from the woman. Then FS backs off, wary but still with her eyes out of focus and waits for her opponent to recover.

Aysun backs up and watches, noting not to try that again. The glazed eyes are a trick. One she has heard of but never seen before. Zen Mastery. They don't See with their physical eyes, but the spirit. Very dangerous opponents capable of amazing things. She noted the punch to, the last second change of the hands. If they were not just sparing she is pretty sure she would be bleeding internally right now.

Hel is very impressed. She has never seen anyone fight like this. The dancing about and the the slow to quick moves. Punching and kicking sure, but nothing like these twos.

It takes a few more feints from Aysun before she finds a weak point and strikes at it, only to realize she has been had when her strike is intercepted and she ends up several feet away on her back.

After a minute FS comes in to her field of vision, "That enough ?"

Aysun smiles and nods, "Yeah, should have done this outside, stone floor is not as soft as grass." FS smiles and helps the woman up, "That was good, almost had me with that last move truth be told. I reacted more in fear of being hit than any of my training." Aysun laughs at that, "Sometimes instinct works better than skill." FS nods, "Want to know something a little scary ?" Aysun shrugs then nods, Fs confesses, "I have not used any of these skills in almost 20 years."

Aysun pauses, thinking out of practice she is then shivers. "Who did you learn from ?"

"Oh no one really I am all self-taught." FS tells her. Aysun considers this and decides if this is what passes for an amateur where this girl is from, they are scary people. FS goes on, "Though I got pointers from people. My step father was a Disciple of the 3rd best Kung Fu master in my homeland. And I learned things from other teachers but I never had the money or time to really dedicate myself to it." Aysun nods and gets dressed, sighing in pain from her bruises. "I am out of practice myself. You’re the first I have seen who knows anything about how they fight back home." FS nods, "Yeah my Karate came from a friend of my grandparents and all he really showed me was how to stand and what Not to do. The Zen though, that is from my mother. She was a priestess and used the mediation techniques allot. She was a lay priest though, no spells or the like. Though an excellent astrologer. People came from all over for her to do readings for them. Her blind spot though was her own family. I suspect her emotions over road her abilities there."

Aysun nods, "I learned much from my parents to. But that is the way of things back home. Extended families all teaching skills and such to the next generation."

FS nods, "I enjoyed that, been so long sense I had an opponent that knew what they were doing." Glances at Mel when she says that.