Old World Justice

Yuviel pulled herself up to the window on the high tower. Having lingered in the shadows after arrival in the great courtyard, she climbed over the rooftops of the small outbuildings made perilous in the storm, but her nimble feet had kept her safe, and the darkness covered her presence. The wind slammed the rain into the small panes of glass and made her grip difficult on the stone ledge. She used her palm to brush aside the raindrops and caught a glimpse of the warm and bustling room inside...

Graf Fersen sat in his faded robes at the high table of what must have been a dining room. To his left and right sat people that were obviously advisers or local bigmen. They leaned over, whispering into the ear of the Graf, their words hidden from the elf by the panes of glass. And all of a sudden, he was convinced. Nodding, he rose from his seat and shouted a command to one of his guards A door was thrown open, and a young boy and girl were pushed to the floor by hidden hands. Both were dressed in the rags of the lowest human classes, there faces covered in dirt and tears. The boy summoned some courage and pulled himself and the girl from the floor, putting a comforting arm around her. Yuviel glimpsed the hint of common heredity in their sharp facial features, possibly brother and sister. But she realised she had been distracted, and returned to the Graf who stood at the place of prominence, roaring at the two feeble creatures as his male companions nodded their approval of his every word. At the clap of the Graf's hands, two guards appeared from the other side of the room and grabbed the humans, dragging them both kicking and screaming through a door at the other end of the room. The Graf returned to his seat, visibly buoyed, and continued in discussion with his companions.

As she continued to peer into the room, the elf felt a sharp pain in her leg, like a ... stone had hit her. She turned her head carefully, trying to keep her grip on the window ledge, and glimpsed movement in the shadows of the courtyard below. The thought that she had been spotted by a guard briefly passed through her mind, but then there had been no shout. Another stone hit her in the back of the arm. She decided to investigate, and dropped down from the window ledge onto a small roof, before leaping to the courtyard two floors down. A perfect landing on the cobbles below brought the applause of a pair of hands visible from the shadows at the rear of the kitchen. A human male voice was audible: "Congratulations on a perfect dismount! Shame that you stuck-out on that window ledge though". The elf shot back defensively: "I would like to see you try such a thing master human, but I guess that I must hand myself over to your liege the Graf as a result of my failings". The man left the safety of the shadows, revealing a tall and well-built man leaning on a large wooden staff about the same height as him. "I serve no master but myself, but I have sworn to save people like those young children that you saw condemned to death this evening for a crime they have not committed", he replied in a serious tone. Before the elf could question him further, a human woman ran out from the kitchen, her long brown curls flowing in the sharp winds and throwing hairs over her olive colored skin. "Time's up Claus, we leave now, I was spotted behind the curtains. The guards will be here in a minute," she said calmly as if this was a common appearance. "And you've not found another admirer have you?", she said as she nodded at Yuviel.

"There will be time for introductions later, but now there are lives to be saved," replied the man, "and now we need to fly". He grabbed Yuviel and the three characters ran for the gates to the house and out onto the mud track that led down into the lights of the town.