CHapter 1 - Alos Fades

Alos awoke to find himself laying on the floor. tiny shards of translucent glass, like rain drops frozen in time, littered the floor around him, some tipped with the crimson red glow of freshly drawn blood coating there tips. The sky was dark and clouds blanketed the sky, the kind of clouds you see after a heavy storm, dark and thick with precipitation. though no such storm had reached the Town of Voriph yet.

as Alos rose and picked the large shards from his side. The fractured remains of the glass had torn rips throuh the dark cloak he wore, though the thicker material of the top he wore had not been pierced, the cloak itself was a grey black, a faded meterial, he'd picked the cloak from the scraps of a dress makers shop. But the bodice it adorned was black. There was nothing it could be compared to for nothing was such a shade of black as his gown. It hugged at his lean figure, if one could see past the brown leather straps, warped spaulder and waving cloak you would be able to see that this man was well built. Not a hulk of man like some but he was fast and agile, strong.

he glared at the window he'd been thrown from, nothing special just a window, if it were unbroken no one would take a second look at it, yet behind that simple demeanour lay a thousand daggers waiting to pierce the side of someone who had had one too many beers, one large blade of glass still hung defiantly to the frame. the spike that had torn the flesh from his side as he had passed over it. the chill had numbed the pain but he could still feel it throbbing. he had passed out after hitting the floor outside the tavern, by the loud sound emanating from the tavern he guessed that he had only been unconcious for a few minutes,

one brutish man stuck his head out of the window, he was a giant of a man, his mind was raised 7'6" from the ground yet he possessed the intelligence of a 2 year old, his arms were the size of ale barrels and his fist fist was like a weathered rock, the imprint of which was displayed nicely across Alos' bruised face, his eye was swollen and his lip was split, as it always was.

the brute's face looked like a gods cruel joke, his jaw was inches in front of the rest of his face, his bulging eyes glared at him ash he spat

"stay out!!, you're not welcome here anymore"

the ogre trundled back to his drinking spot to be greeted by the applause of his equally dull-minded drinking companions whilst Alos turned to be greeted by the winds harsh Touch.

he'd been in a fight with a local lumberjack, he had merely pointed out that that the barmaid was dressed a little too provocatively for such a young girl,she was only about 15, possibly even younger he still found it absurd that families would use their children like this for a few extra coine, did no one have morals anymore? the bar maids brother, said lumberjack, had taken offence to this for some reason, and had taken it upon himself to bring the "hammer of justice" as he had called it, down upon the slightly tipsy man.

as he limped away from the pub the sky cracked. The sound of millions of tiny drops of water hitting the ground could be heard from across the hills, the storm was still at least a league away from Voriph but the sooner he was inside the better, the last storm had caused a crack in the paving around the cathedral that worried the town's population. the rains were coming down harder and harder by the week.

as Alos walked down the sloped town towards his rather humble abode he couldn't help but notice, the town itself seemed tired. as he walked down the street the once colourful buildings, now whitewashed the the onset of the storms were drooped, roofs bent inwards as if pushed from above and walls were becoming skewed outward . some houses that had recently been rebuilt were faring ok. however the older buildings looked as though they were mere child's toys, worn from being thrown and stomped on for years. there was no colour left, even the thatched roofs seemed as grey as the slate ones, the loss of colour was not limited to the decrepit houses, the people of Voriph had lost all personality, few ever smiled soberly and a laugh was a rare occasion these days.