Jarnviour Forest, a frozen waste spanning the Northern third of the Itjivut island far to the South of Canelux. Deep within the forest, hidden away for generations, was a heavily fortified castle. It was not huge, spanning maybe a city block in its outer most footprint on the land, and it was only a few stories tall. Most of the building, then, was most likely underground, away from the elements and using the geothermal heat to keep the place a bit warmer. Trickles of smoke rose from a multitude of small chimineas dotted around the heavily slatted roof. Add in a constant breeze coming off the Nyelle Ocean and the smoke was quickly dissipated making following the source of the smoke impossible.
Overall, this castle would be incredibly hard to find if you did not already know where it was and how to navigate the forest to find it.
Unless you had a map and written instructions.
Within the walls of the old castle it was rather busy, everyone that knew the location of the base was in attendance. It was meeting of the full Order, a tradition called every couple years to bring them together to meet any new members and catch up on their friendships. ~Like lambs to the slaughter.~ The lone dhampir thought to herself as she sipped a glass of wine while milling about the gathered Order members.
There were a total of thirty or so in total, not including Lenora herself or their leader, Jared. Who, at the moment, was close to Lenora and smiled to her. ”Lenora, good to see you again, how goes your investigation?”
”Very well, as normal, Jared. I know the location they use as a base, however, seeing as they are aligned with a God, things will be difficult from here on. One of the more difficult operations I have undergone in my years with the Order.” She explained and sipped more wine, acting as she normally would.
”Ah, yes, that is a first for us. I had been thinking on that when I first learned of it from your reports. I think the best option would be to lure them out one at a time in remote locations and pick them of one by one in isolation.” He chuckled. ”But, we can discuss that another time, for now, we can enjoy the company of out brothers and sisters.” Jared was a well built man, he had to be in his line of work, late forties, human, dark brown hair and a few days worth of stubble. Nothing stood out about him, but he held himself with authority and he had a strange aura about him that leant towards him having some kind of magical power.
Lenora put on her usual smile. ”Indeed, I was looking forward to this night, it’s been too long since I have seen some of my friends.” With that they split from each other and mingled about.
The whole time Lenora was giddy on the inside, knowing what this night would hold for the Order. Once the sun went down and people left from the main hall to mingle about the base on their own, death and destruction were waiting for them. Lenora had everything planned out and her new allies knew everything she did. Where to find the guards on their patrol routes, the secret entrances, the few traps.
Everything.
Tonight her life would change, and she hoped against hope that it would be for the better. Live her life as she saw fit, fight for those who accepted for what she was. The Order was made up of mostly humans, some elves and even a few orcs, mostly male. The few females were close knit and looked out for each other, well, aside from Lenora, who was far older than any of them but looked younger than all of them. So they tended to act a bit more catty around Lenora, and the rest of the males? Well, they made no attempt to hide the fact that they were eyeing her up at every moment they could, or making passes at getting in bed with her. ~Oh I do look forward to seeing you all dead.~ She thought to herself as she smiled and played along for now.
Hours passed and darkness was upon the lands soon, the feast was finished and many of them were more than a little drunk. They had spread out within the castle, some in small groups, some alone, some in couples in rooms alone. For her part Lenora was in her room, she was fully armed, but since that was normal for her no one thought anything about it, her carrying all of her weapons.
So she waited, knowing when the attack would take place and more or less which ways they would come in and attack. Once the attack started and Lenora was able to get involved, without making it obvious who’s side she was actually on, she would attack from the back lines. Pick them off in isolation as she came across the Order members, she was the best they had, they best they ever would have, so she was more than capable of taking any of them on her own. It was a matter of time now. ~That bastard better tell me where he is before I gut him.~ She smiled as all of the wonderfully horrible things she was going to do to Jared passed through her mind.
