Charisa... The Warden, once Inquisitor...

[Chika]

Outside it was getting dark. The temple was dim lit, with a few candles in the corners and on the desk in front of her.

"I thank you for your time Charisa, but I think you are not exactly what we are looking for"

The Templar behind the desk signed the paper, and wrote the word 'rejected' at the top of her application form.

"But I am a cleric! I did all you asked of me in the past, I never failed you, not once! And this is the fifth time I apply for this school now"

The purple eyes of the Tier'dal lighted up furious when she shouted at the Templar trainer.

"You can always try back next year, maybe then we have more vacancies, right now we just can't use you."

Between closed teeth Charisa hissed:

"Never did I kill, betray, or hurt someone. What is it with you all to treat me like this..."

A big step forward gave her the chance to grab the trainer's collar, and she pulled her closer to her face.

"I have never been closer to hurting someone than I am right now. I would love to scratch the skin of your always-smiling ugly Feir'Dal face"

She let go of the wood elf, who promptly stumbled, and she snatched her bags from the floor.
With big steps she walked out the door, slammed it so hard it rattled on its hinges.
She walked fast. She didn't run, but she moved with an angry gate further away from that filthy place. Her mouth closed, teeth tight together. Her tensed shoulders made it clear that she was angry.
For years she tried. For centuries she tried to please everybody around her, and she had to prove herself over and over. Now, this time she had enough of it. Even as a child she was never really accepted. Her skin was darker than most. She was often ignored by others, or simply told she didn't deserve things. She was called evil, cursed at, neglected and treated like she was no more than vermin. Qeynos... This was the place she was supposed to call her home.

"Gah! What a home this is!"

She pulled the backpack higher on her shoulders, determined to leave this city this very day. Not even this night she was going to stay here anymore, she would see where the night leads her.
Feeling the anger within her growing to an uncontrollable state, she saw a bucket lying nearby. With almost a feral roar she kicked the bucket hard through a nearby window. Without looking at the window she broke, she moved on quickly, looking for another victim of her wrath.

"Impressive!"

The sudden voice startled her for a second, but she was too filled with rage to give explanations at this time, so she growled a short "who asked you!!!" to the stranger... before she even looked at him.

The voice spoke again:

"That's quite a temper you have there...."

Hidden in shadows, she saw a man, looking at the furious dark elf in front of him.

"You are very beautiful when you're angry, do you know that?"

Taken aback that the man spoke softly to her again, her temper started to cool. She could now detect a strange accent. An accent she did not remember hearing before, and her curiosity won from her anger. With small steps she approached the stranger, who was still hiding in shadows. She saw a figure standing there with its arms crossed. He was an elf, that much she could see. She was sure she could also see an amused smile on his lips.

"If you step out of that corner, I can see who speaks to me," she replied.

The elf laughed softly. A sound that immediately gave her a warm feeling and confused her at the same time.

"If the guards catch me you won't see me at all young lady."

Before she realised what happened he grabbed her arm and started walking. She didn't even think about escaping. His firm grip held her tight while he almost ran, dragging her from dark place to dark place. Strangely enough she was not scared, nor did she feel threatened by all this. The grip was firm, but didn't hurt her. He watched out for himself, and for her. She felt.... Safe.

Their journey ended in the sewers of the down below where he lights were just bright enough to be able to look at him for the first time. Her breathing stocked at what she saw...

"You are a Tier'Dal!"

His laughter filled the rooms, and again there was this strange warm feeling that came over her.

"So are you, my lady."

She frowned at his words. Yes she is a Tier'Dal. A Tier'Dal who grew up in Qeynos, but still, she is a Tier'Dal. For the very first time that fact, and the consequences got through to her, and she narrowed her eyes.

"I am a Tier'Dal...!" She exclaimed proud.

A huge grin was visible on his face as he watched the quickly changing expressions on her face.

"So young lady, tell me. Where were you going at this time of the day, and why?"

"I was leaving Qeynos. And why? Just because Qeynos is not my home."

With one big step he suddenly stood next to her again, and he pulled her close. With his eyes just a few inches from hers, he whispered:

"That is a good thing since this day I found the greatest treasure to be had within Qeynos' walls, and I have no intentions to leave here without you anymore. You come with me this night."

She was shocked, but filled with a joy at the same time.
Still she replied quite sharp:

"That's evil, Sir..."

His grin broadened, "Welcome to Freeport my Love"...



The streets looked dirty.
Charisa pulled her cloak tighter around her and followed the man in front of her to Longshadow Alley, here he spoke shortly with a grim looking innkeeper.

Quietly she followed the Tier'Dal into the small and dark apartment and watched 2 others carry a bed inside, and a table with a chair.

"No worries, love" the Tier'Dal smiled at her, noticing her inspecting the dark room. "This will be only for when we are too tired to travel home after long hunts, our home will be in North Freeport. I own a house there."

A slight smile crossed Charisa's face and she nodded at his comments while he gave the 2 men some coins and dismissed them with a short 'be gone'.

Once they were alone he helped her out of her cloak and gave her some food and drink.

"You must be tired" he smiled at her. "Eat some, and then let us rest. Tomorrow we have many things to take care of."

He thoroughly checked the locks on the door before he returned to her and sat beside her bed. "I'll stay awake, I don't trust that innkeeper one bit."

Charisa nodded and slipped under the covers, where she almost immediately fell in a deep, peaceful sleep.


The next day announced itself with a small sunbeam through the tiny window near the ceiling of the small room, landing exactly on Charisa's face. She wrinkled her nose, and pulled the blanket up over her head to hide from the bright light."

"Good morning love"

Hmmm, she was still dreaming. The voice warmed her soul and brought a smile to her face.

"Come on sleepy head, time to get up!"

Charisa blinked a few times and sat straight up, looking into the dark purple eyes of the Tier'Dal standing next to her bed, realising that this wasn't a dream. She jumped out of the bed, put her white hair in a new braid behind her head and dressed herself quickly.

"All set, and ready to go! What are we doing this day?"

He put on his armour again and looked at hers.

"First we will find you some armour, and get to the clerics here to get you started on your training. I heard they asked for young Inquisitors to train, that seems perfect for you."



Charisa started her training immediately that day. She started as a priest, trained her way up to Cleric and soon she reached her 20th season and she was admitted as an Inquisitor.
The day Charisa got her Inquisitor title she married the man that brought her to Freeport.
More than once she smiled to herself how rude life was, and that she had to come to Freeport, of all places to find love. Never did they fight apart from each other. Their souls united with the Gods as their witness, and the ring on her finger as a symbol for her everlasting love.
They hunted almost every day. The battles they fought were tough, and their nights filled with passion and love.
Soon they were well skilled and a perfect team of  Inquisitor and Shadowknight.
At one night they celebrated their 40th season when a loud knocking on their door startled them.
"Mr and Mrs Elendil? a letter from the overlord with an order to go on a mission!"

Charisa looked at her husband, but he didn't seem to expect any letters or anything else for that matter, so he grabbed his weapon and walked towards the door.
Before he reached the door, the letter was slipped underneath, and stopped just in front of his feet.
It wasn't the first time they were sent on a task, they were used to be sent all over Norrath to rid the land of vermin or orcs, but till this day they always had to pick up their tasks at various taskmasters and commanders. Never did they get a personal order from Lucan D'Lere.

"Well, open the letter! I want to know what he has to tell us and what we need to do!"
Barely able to hide her excitement, Charisa snatches the letter from her husbands hands and opens the blood-red seal on the envelope, opens it, unfolds the letter and starts reading.

Slowly Charisa lowers her hands and stares in the distance. This mission was different from all others. This mission scared her.
She looks at her husband and hands him the letter, without saying a word. He reads it and drops it on the floor when he walks towards his wife, holding her close.

Lucan had sent orders to everyone in Freeport of the ranks 40 and higher, to report for duty at the break of day. A document was stolen from him. He sent a spy's to Qeynos and they reported him of a few small villages just within the Qeynos city walls, where the thieves might be hiding. No one gets away unpunished when stealing from the overlord, and Lucan would show them that for once and for all. He wanted those villages searched and destroyed, and all the people in it dead. No one would be spared.

Charisa knew this were direct orders, and they had to be followed. Killing thieves was something she gotten used to, and did that without hesitation, but killing an entire village just felt wrong.
That night they made love like it was their last time, and only the Gods knew.... it was.



The crowd was loud. Men, women of all races and classes, but all well trained and equipped marched the way as instructed on the detailed maps they got that morning.
The sun burned and the plate armour felt warm on Charisa's skin. The crowd moved fast, and the laughter of the bragging warriors, delighted to be sent on such an important mission, sounded terrible.
"There must be thousands".
Charisa turned to her husband, and he squeezed her hand gently. Her emotions reflected in his eyes. Her love mirrored in his, but with one difference, he knew no fear. She should know no fear after all the training she received in the past months, but from all of these people they were the ones with the least experience. After all, they just gained their 40th season yesterday. This, plus the fact that Charisa couldn't stop thinking about the innocent people that were about to be killed made this weigh heavy on her.

In the distance the gates of the first village showed slowly, and their commander turned to speak to them. Last instructions were given, armour and weapons were checked one last time before engaging this huge battle.
Charisa kissed her husband before he went. Fighters would be the first line, healers would follow close after that, but there were so many fighters... armours were so similar that Charisa had a hard time keeping an eye on the man she loves.

The battle was tremendous. The village, though unprepared defended itself above all expectations, very well. Charisa healed non stop. She draw powers from the mana-stone she carried with her, and rested in the short pauses they had between the fights, but no matter how hard she worked, the defence of the village was strong, and warriors fell. She tried to stay as close to her husband as she could, and kept him on his feet. Warriors entered houses, and returned with high- and wood elves, dragging them outside by their hair and brutally slaughtered them. Charisa, glad she was there to heal, and not to kill, was sent into the smaller houses to check, together with some other inquisitors she kicked in the wooden doors, made a quick run through the rooms and draw a cross on the doors of the houses she checked on to mark them. All houses were empty so far. Charisa was glad they were, because she knew her job was to take people outside where they would be killed.
In one of the houses she kicked in the bedroom door and she saw a chest, awkwardly placed against a bed.
"Just checking this bedroom!" Charisa shouted at the other Inquisitor who watched and guarded the door.
With rapid moves she shoves the chest aside and looks under the bed. A blanket lays there, and when she moves it, she looks straight into 2 young, scared, golden Feir'Dal eyes.
Harshly Charisa pulls the blanket back over the Feir'Dal child, and shouts "This room is clear aswell!" to the guardian at the door.
Hastily she stands up and closes the door, draws a cross on it, and leaves the house.
Once outside she tries to find her husband in the screaming, and fighting mass. Battlecries from both sides are heard, and screams of pain draw her attention to heal the wounded. She can't find him. Enraged she fights on, in search of her husband between the fallen warriors, but the fear she lost him feels like a cold hand grasping her heart.

Hours pass, and the battles calm a bit. At some corners people are still fighting, the last people from the village are found and killed, with loud laughter and amusement, but it looks like most is over. Charisa still searches for her beloved. The village is strange to her, but she tries all streets and small paths, turns over every corpse she sees, but wherever she looks, she can't find him.
Tears run down her cheeks. It's time to gather again, and leave to set up camp outside the gates. She doesn't want to leave, not without her husband, but the commander forces her.
"Our work is done here, we leave... Now!"
On their way out, Charisa keeps looking, and hoping to see something, anything to ensure her that he is still alive.
Once outside the gates they set up camp. Charisa tries to eat some, but can't seem to swallow it down. Sleep also doesn't find her this night.
She waits.
She waits till the sun comes up again, and they pack to set foot to the next village. They will attack it this day, and after that they will return home.
No one seems to see Charisa's pain.
When they set foot to the next village she feels numb, and hardly pays attention to her environment. She walked too slow and fell behind the group. Without her husband she was not complete. She was half of what she is when he fought at her side. She felt numb... Her thoughts with him, and not focussed on her mission. That's how it could happen that a scout sneaked up from behind her, and shot her in the back...
The stabbing pain made her fight back instinctively, but the wounds soon were too severe, and the poison bites into her open wounds, soon she lost life and fell on the sandy path.
Just before she fell, she made a decision...

This time, she would not release her soul.


Charisa woke up feeling strange. A noxious feeling spread through her stomach, and before fully opening her eyes she emptied her already empty stomach while she sat on hands and knees.
Exhausted she turned to her back and laid back in the moss. Sun came through the trees and played on her face.
Slowly she opened her eyes, protecting them from the sun with her hands. She looked at herself, she only had some rags on.
She had no idea how she got there. Heck, she even had no idea who she was, where she came from or where she should go.
Her purple eyes scanned the environment. A forest stretched out as far as her eyes could see. No clothes, no armour, nothing to protect herself from possible dangers. Upon further inspection she noticed a pale line on her finger, where obviously once was a ring. She frowned and felt strangely empty when she looked at that pale line.
The noxious feeling came over her again, and Charisa tried to cure herself from it, but failed. Slowly she got up, deciding that she needed something to eat if she ever wanted to get rid of this sickening feeling, and found some berries in the bushes.
A bit further away she saw wolves, bear cubs and other forest creatures roaming around, and she made sure to stay away from them at a safe distance.

Weeks passed.

Charisa adapted to the life in the forest. Ate berries and vegetables she found, and she made some clothes from the skin and leather of the animals she fought to survive. She learned to draw upon the forces of nature in order to heal and survive.
The long and cold nights she spent thinking about her past, but she didn't come far with her thoughts.
She still didn't know her name, nor the meaning of that strange pale line on her finger, that still made her feel hollow when she looked at it.
She needed to know. She needed to find out who she was, and what this meant. Charisa packed her bag, and started walking that same day.
After days she arrived at the coast, where she discovered a small village. A dock with only a few ships was the only activity there was in this village, and Charisa slipped on board on one of the boats that was ready to sail out. She heard this ship was going to Freeport, and she had vague memories of that place. That's where she had to go, that's where her search would start.

It didn't take the captain long to find her. Almost as soon as they sailed out, he saw her, called her a warden and made her cook for the crew if she wanted to live, and told her she would be thrown off board at the first occasion.
Cooking was easy for Charisa, and it gave her a chance to fill her own belly with a decent meal for the first time in weeks.
The first occasion didn't take too long. A small outpost of the overlord showed up at the horizon, and with loud laughter the crew threw her over board, and made her swim to the land ahead.
She swam as fast as she could. Dangerous fish surrounded her in the cold water, and her pack filled with water and got heavy on her back, but she made it.

"Ah Charisa, I see you returned"

A Tier'Dal handed her some water and bread, and grinned down on her.

Confused Charisa answered the dark elf in front of her, that looked down on her. "Charisa?"

The Tier'Dal grinned back on Charisa, and continued. "Charisa Elendil, yes. Don't try to fool me lady, I knew you and your husband."

The woman turned around and walked away, and Charisa tried to get up to follow her. Her legs were still weak, and soon she lost sight of the woman. "Wait! Tell me more!" But the woman was gone.

She looked at the pale line on her finger and realised what she was looking for... Her search had begun.