“Bonsoir,” she spoke solemnly, welcoming the elf's friendly demeanor while at the same time ignoring the tone of voice that the dwarf freely gave out, which had sent an unnerving chill down her spine. “Earlier today,” she continued, “a theft was made at yonder coliseum. An artifact, I am told; le very same that was to be the prize for this day's tournament. I know not of its power, but I fear its use.” Crouching down, the ranger returned the cigarette to her mouth and removed her backpack, setting it upon the ground. Rummaging through the pack she removed the worn out scroll with its faded text. “This I found deep within le forest's shrine. Although much of le text is illegible, it appears to tell of the very theft that 'as occurred. Furthermore…” After holding the scroll out to the guards she stood as tall as she could, pointing directly at the window she had seen the peculiar figure escape into. “I 'ave been tracking le thief since the coliseum, and I believe that she 'as scaled the castle walls and escaped through that window. The thief is a woman, wearing studded leather armor and a mask, 'er long, fair brown 'air dressed in many beads.” Realizing that she had spent too much time talking, the woman once more cursed her careful and meticulous nature, hoping that the thief had not used these last, precious seconds to further her escape.

“Please,” she pleaded with sorrowful determination glowing within her eyes. “I do believe that le thief is within thy castle, and I seek thy aid in bringing 'er to justice… less she uses l'artifact against us.” Her only hope now lay in the two gentlemen that stood before her…

“Merci beaucop,” the ranger spoke up, nodding towards them. “I 'ope with all of ma 'eart that thy captain est successful in any investigation that she might 'old. If it est of any use of 'er, I would ask that she speak with le guards and officials at le coliseum, for they will know more of le situation than I.” Kneeling down to gather up her belongings, she let out some smoke towards them, looking the two straight into their eyes. “If thou 'ast need of moi later, I might partake of Madame Midel's company at le Dragon Claw Tavern. Let us 'ope that thy break est not too far off?” She spoke those last words with the full intent of the dwarf hearing them, although she had yet to decide if she was going to go through with such an act or not. For the moment, her only desire was to continue the hunt, and standing up as tall as she may she turned away from the portcullis and walked with assurance alongside the castle walls, glancing out of the corner of her eye up at the window that she had seen the mysterious figure climb in through. If she were lucky, she might be able to use her own equipment to scale the walls and follow the timid, little rabbit down its hole less anyone suspect her of any misgivings. Were she to get caught, however, than she would have to steady her nerves and ready herself for a terrific fight against foes whom each possessed skills wholly unknown to herself. If anything, a fight might be just what she needed to relax… but for the moment, she would have to rely on more mundane means to ease her troubled spirit.

After walking some distance and ensuring that she was out of sight of the two guards, the ranger sat down slumped against the wall beneath a high parapet, taking a moment to crank her head back to look up at it before spitting her cigarette onto the ground and crushing it beneath her mud-stained boot. Removing a bottle of wine from an exposed holster on the side of her backpack she partook of its aroma and flavor, waiting a few moments in case one of the guards had the notion to tail her. Although each passing moment ensured that the thief would successfully flee, climbing the wall now would be too obvious, too dangerous. If she waited just a moment, she might be able to convince any passerby of her innocence and drive off any suspicion; then, she would put her plan into action.

Looking down upon the dried blood that stained her hands and arms, the ranger began to ponder to herself; how did she get to this point? Taking another sip of wine she rested her head against the wall, closing her eyes in deep contemplation as she mulled over everything that had happened to her since she first walked into the city this day. It all started when she came into Debolas with nothing more than innocent curiosity driving her forward, to see just what the civilized folk had to offer her that differed from the vast, open spaces of the wilderness. The ranger remembered that the stolen artifact was to be the prize at the tournament she had seen advertised and had been eager to join, but had to ignore upon hearing the pleas of dear Shensai. She wondered how differently things might have turned out if she had instead ignored the old woman and entered into battle as she had wished. Could she have caught the thief before she made off with the artifact? Would she have been killed by the thief during the attempt, or died at the hands of another prior to reaching the end? Perhaps it had been best for her to have made the choice that she did, especially when one considers that, had she not, she might not have learned the history of her family's heritage. That shrine deep within the forest; she would have to return to it again and look over the other remnants within and find out what else she could learn of her own history and of the land's, if at all possible.

The shrine! The rows of torches upon the right side of the entrance had been smoldering, had they not? Obviously they were not the doings of Shensai's feline, and there was also the fact that the scroll that detailed the theft was found within the shrine's innermost chamber. If she could assume that only those of the four bloodlines were permitted inside, than could it not be true that the thief was a descendent of one of them? The ranger then recalled Shensai's words regarding the history of Debolas, about one of the four heroes, Sailove Qual, being a vampire, and how he was imprisoned inside a special coffin within the shrine. The ranger cursed herself again for not asking her elder more about the artifact, but she was beginning to guess a foul use for it; since the scroll was found within the ancient shrine that could only be opened by one of four special bloodlines, and since there was still that one, unopened coffin which she assumed belonged to Sailove, then certainly the artifact had to play a role in all of this history. She hoped that this was all just mere coincidence, however, but these dread tidings quickly began to gnaw away at her heart. Just how powerful had Qual been, and if that abomination of nature were to be released, just what could he do to this city of common folk? Until this point the ranger had fought nothing but the men and beasts of the living, natural world, and was confident that, in time, she could conquer any such challenge brought before her; yet even this sent a cold shiver down her spine, for she feared that if she were to fail against such a foe, she might lose more than just her life.

Pressing her knees up against her heavy chest, the ranger let out a deep sigh before swallowing a double dose of wine. Thinking back more, she thought about that other woman at the coliseum that looked so similar to herself. She had gone after the thief as well, being less armored and less encumbered had allowed her to move faster and nearly tackle their shared foe, but at the same time the maneuver had caused her own arm to falter when the ranger attempted an attack. For only a moment she wondered what might have occurred if she had indeed stopped and berated that foolish girl as she had originally intended, instead of continuing her chase. Then again, why did that girl stop as she did? Within moments the ranger put aside such unneeded notions, knowing that, once more, it would appear that she had made the wise choice of pursuing the thief; had she not, then certainly her prey would have long since disappeared and, with her, the artifact. Unfortunately for herself, and for the whole city of Debolas, it was quite possible that the thief had successfully eluded her pursuer and vanished without a trace; but the ranger was as stubborn as she had ever been, and corking her wine bottle and settling it back within her backpack she stood up to get a better look at the scenery around her. The two guards at the portcullis had been given ample time to chase after her, she figured, and since they appeared to have ignored such a foolhardy, young woman, the ranger felt that the time to act was upon her; and if this proved to be her end, than she hoped it would be such an end to be remembered by those whom lacked the courage to follow their true natures. As she removed a climber's kit from her pack and readied it against a high parapet, an amusing thought entered into her head: did the thief bother with the other half of the prize, the two hundred silver pieces? Although her face appeared to possess an eternal frown, deep within her heart of hearts she began to laugh wildly…