1 Meetings and Murder

Through the doors of the tavern, a Wood Elf entered from the darkness of the night outside. He was wearing black leather armor and a leather hood. He lowered his hood revealing his rugged face, he was youthful and would be considered handsome if it weren't for the unkempt beard and dirt that detracted from his natural good looks. His hazel eyes quickly adjusted to the change in lighting as he started to scan the tavern. There were quite a few people who turned to look at him as he entered but none of them was the one he was looking for. As he scanned the room the man who seemed to be passed out drunk in the back right-hand corner caught his attention because of the two longswords that rested on his table. He quickly continued his hunt to avoid further delaying his meeting.

As the Wood Elf searched the room he noticed the girl he was looking for, she was a Moon Elf who was wearing an elegant light purple dress, black boots that looked expensive, and a dark blue hooded cloak. Her snow-white hair was draping down the back of her chair almost reaching the floor, and her normally gorgeous face was currently contorted in a disgusted look directed at the table next to her.

He wondered what a girl of noble birth was doing at a tavern dubbed "The Rat Tail." She and he had been in the same division in the Elven Royal army so he was pretty familiar with her. She would often complain how her parents had forced her to join in order to "learn discipline." So seeing her at such an establishment confused him.

There were two fat human merchants chatting and chewing loudly at the table that was six feet from her. The Moon Elf's light blue eyes were staring daggers at the two men as she most likely contemplated how to hurt the men for bothering her while she was trying to enjoy her meal.

The Wood Elf smiled brightly and started to walk over. He had been feeling depressed for the past few weeks as he traveled alone and was happy that he finally was able to see a friendly face, even if that friendly face looked anything but friendly at the moment.

"Hey watch where you're going!" The dark-haired merchant yelled as the Wood Elf bumped into his outstretched arm.

"Oh sorry I didn't notice your arm there I didn't mean any harm." The Wood Elf apologized, as he was focused on getting to his friend and genuinely didn't notice.

"Yeah whatever you knife eared prick, you're lucky I'm in such a good mood. Now scram before I change my mind." The Merchant blurted before turning to his partner who was nodding in approval.

The Moon Elf noticed this and was about to get up from her seat, as she did a small pulse of magical energy was felt throughout the room. Most couldn't feel it but the Wood Elf could tell, just by her look, that she didn't like the man's comments, so he decided to quickly shift her attention.

The Wood Elf knew the girl's temperament and knew that she was bound to blast the two men with a spell at any moment. The Wood Elf quickly got in the girl's face blocking her view of the two obnoxious merchants. "Hey Keyleth, it's good to see you!" He exclaimed, finally drawing attention away.

Keyleth's expression changed completely as she smiled brightly, "Hey Rhen!" She exclaimed then sniffed the air in front of her while looking him up and down, "Wow, you look like shit! Oh and you smell like it too."

Rhen sighed, glad that he avoided a hazardous situation, and sat down, "Yeahhh I know I haven't had a chance to bathe, I've been sleeping outside." He tried his best to make an excuse, "In the letter, you said that you would be leaving this town in three days but I was four days away from here when I got it, so I have been running at full speed only stopping for five hours at a time to meditate and eat!"

Keyleth laughs, "You should have taken an extra ten minutes at some point to jump into a river at least." She giggled once more before taking on a more serious expression. "So you said you had something important to talk about, what is it?"

Rhen pulled a large black claw out of his bag and placed it on the table. It was bigger than the plate Keyleth had in front of her. "This is what I wanted to talk to you about," he said in a grim tone. "My Master, she's dead and I found this embedded in her armor."

Keyleth's eyes widened as the news left Rhen's lips. "Wait. The General is dead? How is that possible?"

"Well, they must have been someone powerful, judging by this they might have had a beast of some kind attack her," Rhen said and his eyes clouded over as he recalled the events that happened a few weeks prior. His voice was hoarse as he explained, "I had just come back from a scouting mission she gave me, and when I entered her tent I found her throat slit and this claw embedded in her. She must have hurt the beast that attacked her but whoever controlled the beast must have snuck up on her."

Keyleth extended her hand out and grabbed his arm, "Hey, it's ok you don't have to tell me every detail. I get that it must be hard. She treated you like her own son. I'm sorry for your loss." She gave Rhen's arm one more squeeze before letting go. Keyleth then stealthily used the cloth napkin on her lap to wipe away the grime from her hand. She wanted to comfort Rhen but also couldn't stand how dirty he was.

Rhen looked up at her after a few moments of silence with watery eyes that looked more angry than sad, "I don't know who did it but I will avenge her."

"Rhen I know you must be feeling a lot right now but you must first consider what you are saying." Keyleth tried her best to reason with the vengeful Elf in front of her. "If the General was killed then she must have been attacked by someone she knew. Think about it, how could someone sneak up on her? She taught you most of what you know. You should know that it would take someone of incredible skill to sneak up on her, and even then they would need a good amount of luck."

Rhen took a moment to think then wiped away the tears that were threatening to come out of his eyes, which just put more grime on his face. "You're right. I wasn't thinking. What can I do though?" Rhen asked.

Before Keyleth could respond a loud shout came from her left and she turned with a fury to finally yell at the two men at the table next to her, "Will you two sh-" She stopped herself as she noticed one of the men had fallen on the ground and looked like death.

The other merchant looked at her, then to Rhen and pointed, "You just came in here and bumped into him! You must have been the one to kill him! You dirty Elf!" The man yelled.

Rhen looked at the man confused, then all the windows and doors in the tavern burst open as a wave of magical energy resonated throughout the room. The lights also flickered out and a rage-filled voice yelled, "What did you say about a "dirty ELF"!?"

Keyleth held a ball of fire in her right hand ready to throw it. She was already angry at the merchant for his previous obnoxious behavior and his racist remark set her off. Rhen tried his best to calm her for the moment, "Hey, Keyleth why don't you put the fire away and let's discuss this. I'm sure it's just a misunderstanding."

Every head in the tavern was turned in their direction, a Halfling was even standing in his chair in order to get a better look at the commotion. The man who was sleeping in the corner was roused from his slumber due to the burst of arcane energy earlier. He eyed the two elves that were at the center of attention with curiosity.

The barmaid came over to try and settle the dispute as she was used to customers getting drunk and having arguments. However, she shrieked loudly once she saw the dead man on the floor. Due to all the people, she was very busy all night, she hadn't noticed why the commotion had started. The elven girl fell to her knees in shock.

A male Demon with short black horns, red hair, and light gray skin ran out from the open door of the kitchen towards the elven barmaid. He quickly wiped his hands on his apron to get as much flour off as he could before grabbing the girl by her shoulders and embracing her. She was finally snapped out of her shocked state and started to weep. She had never seen a dead person before and it scared her tremendously.

The male demon looked around at the three people who seemed to be at the center of all the commotion. "Can someone explain what is going on here!" His deep voice rang out throughout the quiet tavern startling everyone who was staring.

The first to speak up was the human merchant, "I was eating and discussing trade with my partner here, Len Clifflower, when he keeled over and I believe this dirty Elf here is the one that killed him!" The merchant accused and pointed at Rhen.

Keyleth took a step forward, as the ball of fire in her hand flared larger and brighter, "Say that one more time and you'll be joining your friend." She threatened. She looked like she really was ready to follow up on her threat. Due to her earlier outburst, the only light source in the room was her flame which made her face look all the more sinister. The shadows danced on her face as if they were excited for the violence that would follow.

The merchant took a step back out of fear, "See how they are threatening me!"

"Alright everyone settle down!" A booming voice shouted from the entrance. Everyone turned to see a man clad in heavy armor that had a black stag engraved into the center of the chest piece, the stag's antlers extended upwards towards the shoulders then hid behind the large metal shoulder pads. This was the standard armor that the guards of the Raymore kingdom wore, so once everyone noticed they sat down in their seats again, in hopes that they wouldn't get caught up in the murder charge that they were all certain someone would be getting tonight.

The merchant quickly scuttled over to the guard, "Finally someone who can listen to me! That man over there killed my business partner! Now the town will suffer a great crisis!" The man whined to the guard.

The guard took a step back from the merchant who was getting too close for comfort, "Sir Vardin, what are you talking about?" The guard asked, bewildered by the man's sudden approach.

The merchant pointed at the dead man on the floor, "You fool use your eyes! He is dead and that dir- erm Elf, killed him!" The merchant yelled and decided it was best to not provoke the girl who was threatening his life earlier. "And that girl is his accomplice. She was even threatening my life a moment ago!"

The guard turned away from the frantic merchant and looked at the two elves who were standing a few feet away from the dead body. Keyleth had snuffed out her flames once the guard had come in, as she was not trying to get in trouble with the local law enforcement. "You two don't move, I'll need to take you in for questioning!" The guard exclaimed while reaching for the shackles tied to his belt.

Rhen was bewildered as it seemed like this merchant was someone with authority in this town and the guard took his word at face value.

Keyleth put her hands up to stop the guard, "No, you have to listen to me. We have done nothing. This sorry excuse for a man simply has it out for my friend here. I did threaten him but only because he was being a racist asshole!" She explained and crossed her arms in anger.

The guard still approached them all the same, "Well even if that's the case I still only have you two as suspects at the moment so I'll have to take you into custody." The guard reached for Rhen's arm and started to place the shackles around his wrist when a voice spoke out from behind the guard.

"They didn't do anything, sir, this man was murdered by someone outside of this tavern." The voice reasoned.