Unbreakable Fate

She takes a step back from the door for each thud of the men's boots. She stares intently at the doorknob, waiting for it to turn. IN this time she tries her hardest to conjure up some reason as to why she was in the storage room. She has gone long past the idea of anything around her being part of the game world she was so used to seeing and being in, and has quickly accepted the terms she has been dealt. If they are anything like the NPCs in the game, they'd attack her on site. So, she readies her blade to attack.

"Maybe if the King would get off his ass and do something about these monsters, we wouldn't have these conversations." The second man's voice answers.
"Albion is the safest its ever been" The first man says in a mocking tone. "That's why half of us wake up to slaughters."

Ophellia stopped at the ruins of a village, many of the buildings still burning. She'd found signs of enemy activity, but unless she actually had evidence, she couldn't say who it was for sure and the Kingdom wouldn't be able to retaliate. There'd been a short period of peace after she'd invaded, but not long after Vahla declared another crusade against Alveri. She sighed, thinking about what to do next. Being the king's most prized assassin was fun, but there were too many rules. A Queen shouldn't be following orders. She could try mercenary work, or the classic adventurer lifestyle. She sighed again, climbing back onto her griffon. There were more towns around here, if she was lucky she'd catch Vahlan soldiers in the Kingdom's land.

Artemis' teeth clench and her grip on the knife tightens, but no matter how hard she does these things the doorknob never turns. In fact, the men's boots seem to trail off somewhere else. She takes a strained gulp and breathes a sigh of relief. She closes her eyes and nods. "Alright, let's check the layout of this place." She says, grabbing for her scroll bag. Her eyes open to see multiple scrolls and she sifts thorugh them until she finds "Detect Life". This scroll is used as a means to learn where people are and lasts for around 15 seconds. She tosses the scroll into the air and it lights up the room. A sonar like wave emanates from it and shows her the people near her location.

"From their positions, it seems as though this is some sort of tavern. I'm at the back here. The two men are here, in what I assume to be a hallway on the other side of the room. There must be a back door I can get through. It's nice to know that scrolls are still used in the same way."

After flying for a few minutes, Ophellia landed in the center of a village a few miles away. A few people saw her and some of them rushed off to find an authority, preferably one that could read, having recognised the King's own coat of arms on her cloak.

Artemis waits for the perfect opportunity before slowly walking up to the door and opening it. With a deep breath held in she looks at her now confirmed location. The room she is in is indeed at the corner of a boxed "U" shaped hallway. The door facing right into the main part of the tavern. She lets her breath out as she checks the right side and scuttles her way out of the room and to the right. Around midway into the hallway there is a door slightly ajar and she can smell the fresh air on the other side of it. She opens it and makes a mad dash, leaving the quaint and cozy little tavern behind, but runs directly into a couple of villagers an older looking woman and her son.

Their eyes widen and the older woman calls out for help, "Drider! Guards!" Artemis' hands shoot up and wave frantically trying to get them to calm down, but they aren't having it. She makes for an escape, but as if flies on honey two guardsmen show up to block her path, weapons drawn. "You have a lot of nerve leaving your containment zone, Drider scum. Have you come to kill one of our own!?" One of the guardsmen asks, furiously. A look of annoyance appears on her face and she grasps her knife. "I don't mean any harm. I... just got a little lost. If you could perhaps point me in the proper direction, I'd gladly be off." She replies, her annoyance coming through in her voice.

A few minutes passed, and an older man approached.
"I am Tavus," He said, bowing to Ophellia, "The village elder. It's an honour to have the King's left hand in our humble village."
"Thank you," Ophellia replied, "I'm searching for the culprits behind the destruction of a village, a few miles to the west. Do you know anything about that?"
"I'm afraid I can't help you, my lord. We're a small village, we don't know much of what transpires outside of our home." He said, a brief flash of fear appearing on his face.
"Lying to me is as bad as lying to the king." Ophellia said, her voice changing from her previous pleasant tone to a much more hostile one, "That is treason."

A sword was drawn somewhere, and Ophellia drew her own dualspear.

"Oh, we'll point you in the proper direction." One guard says.
"We'll point you to the afterlife!" The second guard says, leaping forward and striking downward with his sword.

Artemis quickly dodges left before the man made his attack. He stands back up and tries running forward, but finds that he cannot. He grunts and looks down to find that he had fallen into Artemis' Sticky Trap. While the first man is caught, the second one rushes her down and swings his sword diagonally. She dodges a bit late and suffers a slight haircut. "Oh come on, I'm not paying you for this hackjob you call a haircut." Artemis taunts and points to the second guard's feet. He also finds he has gotten a bit tangled up in her trap. "Look, I've a lot to do and I don't need the two of you wasting my time. What is this place?" She asks angrily.

Spinning around, Ophellia was face to face with a large man, dressed entirely in plate armour, a longsword in his hands. She danced around him, a faint smile on her lips as his blade missed her by several inches. She yawned as the tip of her own weapon cut through his hamstring, forcing him onto one knee.
"So," She said nonchalently, "Are you going to tell me who you're serving? Or am I going to have to interrogate to villagers?" At her words, the atmosphere of the village changed from one of confidence, to a fear so overwhelming Ophellia could smell it.
"H-he's an invader from Vahla!" Someone shouted, with many other voices agreeing with him.
"We couldn't report it! They'd kill us!"

Lies, lies and more lies. Ophellia moved to remove the warrior's helmet, only to find that he wasn't as wounded as he should've been. Looking closely, she could see red pin-pricks behind his helmet.
"I thought your kind were wiped out," She said, a hint of disgust in her voice.

They stay silent, cursing themselves in their minds for getting caught by the Drider's traps. They sneer at her as they begin hacking into her web. Her own eyes widen in shock. Damn, my webs aren't on a cooldown. They can just hack themselves out freely. Without a second thought she sprints away as the guards start to yell for some kind of backup. She finds a road, sees a couple more guards running her way and she quickly runs in the opposite direction, digging through her satchel. If I had brought any of my weapons, I wouldn't be in this predicament. Dammit Phel, if you pulled your teleportation bullshit again I'm going to cut your head off.

Ophellia spun as she closed the distance between herself and the lesser-Vampire, placing the bottom blade of her dualspear cleanly through its' chest and out of its' back. She pulled it back, the body already having turned to ash. She walked over to Tavus, grabbing him by the throat.
"Why was there a Vampire here?" She demanded, almost lifting him off of the ground.
"I-it was using us as food!" He shouted back at her in terror.
"Then why did it come out so quickly? If all you are is food, then there's no need for it to have risked itself for you." Ophellia said, comparing the Vampire's tactics to her own.

Townspeople begin to drift outside at the commotion, many freak out, many others try to join the guards in subduing Artemis. She quickly finds herself running directly into town square and surrounded on all sides. People yelling obscenities and how well her head would look on a spike. A medium sized fountain depicting two angles pouring water from their bowls is what she is coming up on, and soon is in front of. She pants heavily, trying to catch her breath.

"You're cornered now, Drider bitch." One of the mob calls out with affirmation from other members soon following.

She looks down, still catching her breath. She takes hold of a large well of air and exhales. A smug grin forming on her face. "You people are just like the ones in UF. Just because we don't have the same ends, you dislike my kind." She breaks into a laugh, a hardy laugh which turns near maniacal. She cuts it off very abruptly and begins to look around her. She had wondered as she was running if magic even worked in this world. The scrolls work, but they are a different form. The people act the same. All evidence supports that everything goes under the same rules. Her hand shoots upward, rings of light form and begin to layer on top of one another. Words written in what appears to be an ancient text connecting each ring.

"It's a good thing you guys gave me enough time to think of a strategy." She heckles the crowd who looks in awe. I might have forgotten my weapons, but my magic is still intact, it seems.

"W-we-" He started, though Ophellia didn't give him time to finish.
"You were helping it." She stated, causing silence to fall over the crowd. "But you weren't lying, he was an agent from Vahla. Which means..." Ophellia was smiling as she removed her mask, "...Treason."

It took her about fifteen minutes to hunt down the last of the villagers, draining most of them dry. She wiped the blood from her mouth and replaced her mask. She'd failed to save the villagers, but at least she'd killed that pesky vampire before it did any more damage.

Artemis looks on as many of their faces begin to contort. The rings begin to rise and fall as her lips begin to speak in what can be assumed to be the same forgotten language as the words on them. They begin to rise from her hand and fly high into the sky. After a short time, they appear to grow larger until her incantation ends. She follows this action up by slapping her hands together, at the sound of this, blood slowly begins to leak from her mouth and she shudders in pain. As she pulls her hands apart, a translucent bow appears with an arrow attached to the curved portion. She spits the excess blood out of her mouth and takes a stance, pointing the bow and arrow upwards at one of the circles.

"When one arrow enters, a myriad leave." She lets her arrow loose and it flies, hitting the mark in the center of one of the circles. "Myriad Arrow Storm" These words leave her as exhaustion appears to overtake her, she fights it, however and stands tall. The villagers look to the circles and almost as if the floodgates were abruptly opened, a torrent of arrows phase from the circles and barrel down on the town. Screams follow as the first villagers begin to fall. The ones to scream would follow suit. The ones who weren't already dead or screaming try to run to only find themselves being pinned down by the arrow heads. Their bodies become pincushions and soon, the screaming and the maelstrom both end with Artemis left standing.

Ophellia climbed back on to her mount and took off, scanning the ground for any other signs of raiding. After twenty minutes of mind-numbing flight, a heavy scent hit her nose; blood, and lots of it. A few minutes of following the scent, before landing at the edge of another village. Corpses strewn everywhere, cut down by archers. She didn't use her detect life skills, if the culprit was still here, she wanted them to think they were in control. If they had a magic-user, they might notice.

Slowly, she walked into the village, not bothering the draw her weapon.

Strained breathes leave her mouth along with another glob of blood. Her stamina wasn't fully replenished before she tried to use her art and now her magic is drained. Summoning her bow alone, in UF terms would bring her health down by a quarter. It's a powerful art, but impractical during face to face combat. Artemis feels lucky that all of the villagers had stayed put. She kneels down, the bow vanishes into thin air as her spider legs fold and rummages through her pouches with her now free hands, searching for a something to aid her. She procures a stamina regeneration potion and downs the strange green liquid. She continues rummaging to find nothing else but more scrolls.

"It'll have to do." She says out loud without standing.

She rolled the corpse of a young man over, checking the wounds he'd suffered. The arrows were incredibly deep, some of them coming through to the other side. He'd probably had ever organ in his torso punctured. At a glance, she could see this was the case with most of the corpses. She straightened up, and continued searching.

Artemis shakes her head of the cobwebs that had started to form and stands upright. She looks around at the carnage she had created. With a deep sigh, her multiple legs begin to move to the southern exit of the village. The tips of her legs occasionally splash in some poor villager's blood, creating a sort of trail as she walks. The village did have a few places that she would love to have visited under different circumstances, but on this timeline, terror ravaged this place.

[Logging in at <GAME:TIME>]

"My, what a lovely day. A most splendid day, for Doctoring." With a sigh, the newly appeared man took two steps into the world, in a small village some miles from a pro-human settlement. His profession was Doctor, and Doctor was his profession. At times, should an NPC recognize him from some manner of fame or word of his skill in the healing arts he would get some quest to gather herbs or craft a tonic or poultice, or otherwise help in the worldly affairs of NPC's, healing them, specifically. He unfolded a map of the known area, marked, of course, with herb locations, water, streams, fish, and game. Not that he hunted often, but some parts of animals did help in healing or mending a patient. Today was a day for dallying about. That being said, he had caves, both natural and not, marked on his map, as well as those explored and unexplored, labelled and categorized. Especially those with special creatures that had alchemical drops of great worth. 

If he so wanted, a trip to a major city could be done, for some shopping purposes. Maybe even find some friend to chat with. 

Not today though, he would go to another village, he had some minor quest-line type stalking a vampire, or creature of the night. He had many towns marked on his map, some of which he'd been too, and some of which he had not. Today, he would walk towards one he had not yet visited. It was a strange thing, walking around wearing his tailored suit, he stuck quite out from the rugged landscape. But his shoes were good, they could take him far without hurting his feet. He bade his farewell to the village elder, letting him know that he would return in approximately one month time, to continue helping these villagers, some of them had been diseased, most of the doctoring was done, but he wanted to observe them for while, this would be his first time away in months. He quite enjoyed it. Without further adieu, he left for the new village.

Ophellia, lazily deciding that she'd done enough work today, went back to her Griffon and took off. She'd found the evidence of Vahla raiding, and she didn't particularly need to find out who had raided the last village. She headed back for the capital. Maybe now she'd get something exciting to do.

Artemis hears the sound of large wings cutting the air and turns to face the source of the sound. She can see what appears to be a Griffon flying off. She looks at it with some familiarity and begins to make haste in following it. Not ten seconds pass as she takes the main path and a blood curdling scream resonates from the inside of the village. She assumes there are no survivors to tell the tale of what had happened, so leaving whoever had found the corpse live will be fine.

Ophellia made a beeline for the capital, to report what she'd found to the King, and probably start a war. Not that she intended to take part, she was going to mysteriously disappear again, and start a new 'character' somewhere else. She'd wanted to be a thief for a while now.

Try as she might to follow the beast's movements she could not keep track of it. By the time she had lost it she had come across an old cabin in a forest heavily populated with trees. She leaps up and attaches herself to a large tree and begins to climb. As she had done many moons ago in UF. Though, she doubts a hacker would try their hand in bringing her down now. She pauses her thoughts for a moment as she gazes outward. She turns her head to see the village she had just come from and a little ways out she can see another and another after that. She turns her head back once more and in the car off distance she can see what appears to be a larger village. Maybe even a city.

"Logic dictates that the city is where I will find my answers. I just hope they allow Drider."

Ophellia had arrived in the Royal Palace's courtyard. As usual, those who saw her gave an inquisitive glance before gossipping among themselves. It irritated her.

She'd entered the throne room and walked right up to the king's ear, whispered her findings, and left. She'd thought that literally having the ear of a King would be fun, but it wasn't.

Ophellia thought back to the village, where the arrows had almost gone straight through. Vahla had probably developed some new kind of magic bow to use in the war. As the sun started to set, she decided to change disguise and go for a walk.

Artemis climbs back down from her perch and turns to face the old cabin. From the outside, it looks like a simple, run of the mill cabin. By the same token it still looks serviceable. The windows on each side of the door look filthy and as she approaches she can see that there is no actual way to peer inside. She moves to the door and knocks repetitiously. After no answer, she knocks once more before going for the handle. To her surprise, the handle moves before she can even touch it and the door swings open with a loud creak.

An older woman greets her at the door and by her robes, Artemis can tell straight off that she is some kind of mystic. With a raspy breath, the old woman greets her, "Not often do I find a Drider at my door. What can I do for you?". Artemis is taken slightly aback by the old woman's words. There was not even a tinge of malice in them. "I just need some direction. It appears I have lost my way." The older woman nods, or Artemis assumes she nods. She cannot make out the old woman's looks because of the hood blocking her face. Bringing her hands together under her robe's sleeves, she turns around. "Follow me and try to not bump into anything." Artemis, slightly put off by the comment, does as she is told.

Using an item she'd carried over from the game, Ophellia hair and eye colour changed to a dull brown. She tied it back into a ponytail and walked through the emptying streets. From the way people were happily going about their lives, it'd be impossible to tell that the country was on the verge of war. For them, it was a normal occurence. Their husbands and sons being sent off to die for their King's pride. A group of soldiers were chatting by the gate, complaining about boredom.

Seemed she wasn't the only one bored of nothing happening.

The inside of the cabin paints a different picture than the outside might lead to believe. Barring the clouded windows, the inside is spotless. There are multiple areas that are dedicated in housing herbs and other such items used in alchemy preparation with the necessary pestle and mortar left out. Artemis observes the pestle and can plainly see in the candle lit light around them a fresh liquid keeping itself on the blunt object. There is a small bookshelf, filled to burst with literature acting as a wall between the alchemy side and the main area of the home. The older woman shambles up to a very comfortable looking chair and slowly brings herself down onto it with a pained groan. "I would offer you a seat, but I have nothing that you would find comfortable." The woman rasps.

"I'm not entirely comfortable right now in the first place." Artemis says bluntly. It is true. Being invited into a cabin in the middle of the woods by an obvious alchemist does not bring a good feeling to her heart. "I will forget that comment." The woman shoots back before asking, "What can I do for you?" Artemis walks further into the home, "I fear have succumbed to amnesia and don't exactly know where I am." A half truth, she knows who she is just not where she is. She had heard something about Albion from the two men in the inn, but nothing beyond that. "Amnesia is a very terrible ailment. You have also strayed a long ways from your designated area. Many folk don't take too kindly to spiders."

That's an understatement. Artemis thinks.

Ophellia winced as she passed the church, but quickly collected herself as she entered the inn. It was loud, smelly and chaotic, but she wanted to get away from all of the cleanliness and proceedures of politics. She ordered ale and sat at the bar, occaisionally taking a drink. This was the inn closest to the Adventurers guild, so it was usually full of them. Maybe I should take a job with one of the groups. She thought idly as she sat in silence.

"I have lost track of the days. Who our King is, if we even have a King. I stay secluded in my home serving the villagers nearby with my medicines. I have lived here for... gods know how long, but I do know we once resided in the Kingdom of Albion. I am unsure if this area in particular has been renamed, but when I was young it was called Velsi." The old woman begins to ramble. At her words, the only thought that can pop into Artemis' head is How old is this woman to have missed significant changes like that? She shakes the thoughts away, thinking about the business the woman had just lost. "I see. Thank you for your information, nothing unfortunately rings a bell." Artemis gives the old woman an acted sigh of defeat.

"You may be able to gather more information from the city." The old woman advises. "But you may not be welcomed with that form." With a sly laugh, she removes the hood from her head with shaking hands. The face of an ancient being stares at her. A face gaunt with age. Everything about her face can only be described as skeletal with a layer of skin holding everything else in. Artemis' face distorts at the sight. Her fear of aging coming to the forefront. "I can help you with that... for a price."

"Can I buy you a drink?" A young man half-slurred as he leant against the bar, looking at Ophellia's face. She gave him a polite smile, and rejected his offer. Before he left, she decided to ask something else.
"Could you tell me how I'd go about getting an adventuring license?" The man paused, looking at Ophellia.
"Well, you'd go to the guild, pay the registry fee, and then you have to pass a test to prove that you won't get killed straight away," He paused, apparently not convinced that the girl in front of him was capable of being an adventurer, "Someone like you might be better suited to working in a shop or a maid."

Artemis' eye brows furrow in response to the offer as an inquisitive look grows over her face. "You're offering to disguise my form?" The old woman laughs once again. "No, dear. I am offering to change your body. You have always wanted to be human, yes? To not be looked at in disgust? To not be attacked because you look different? To not be exiled?" The old woman gains excitement after every question as they fire off one after the other. Artemis takes steps back as she notices the dulled, faded eyes of the woman growing wider in prospect. A toothless grin forms and her shaking hands ball into fists.

Artemis swallows nervously, her eyes flitting all around the room as they try to fixate on something other than the maniac in front of her.

"But you got beat up by a girl." Ophellia said in an irate voice. The man started to reply in confusion, before Ophellia's fist collided with his jaw. The room went silent, and eyes turned to her. The adventurer was out cold, so Ophellia paid her bill and left, his friends hastily trying to wake him up. She'd thought about hunting monsters, too. She'd already kind of done it when she hunted down those Vampires, but she'd done that for herself.

Artemis' silence is noted by the old woman and she reacts, "I do apologize for my outburst. It has been some time since I have made anything other than medicines." She coughs and continues for some time. She moves her robe to block anything that may come out and once she finished, removed her hand. A spatter of blood glistens in the fire's light. "It certainly was.. fitting for someone who looks the way you do." Artemis says, obviously insultingly. This hag fits the bill of mad alchemist to a defined point. The woman casts her eyes downward in shame. Artemis let's out a sigh. "I have thought about it, but I am a proud Drider. If I were to change to appeal the masses, I wouldn't be able to live with myself." I would, but who am I to change a god's will? Another silence breaks out between the two. I could wear better things. I could hunt more efficiently, maybe. What would I lose? What would I gain from being a lowly human?

Ophellia decided, as she left the inn, that she was going to live as a thief. She was in the capital, so she'd be able to carry out high-profile thefts. She could steal from most of the nobility without having to to travel. She silently planned out what she was going to do, walking towards the canal as she thought.

Artemis weighed the options and eventually agreed to the proposition. Returning to her manic state, the old woman tried to lift herself from her chair and as she succeeds, her feet shuffle to the mortar and pestle. She begins cleaning both objects thoroughly and calls out to Artemis. "I need ten darkshade flowers, two griffon talons and a ram's horn. I'll also need a strand of your hair." Artemis rounds up the ingredients and lets the alchemist perform her work. Within half an hour, the alchemist produces a liquid and gives it to Artemis. A horrible smell emanates from the bowl. It fills her nostrils and very well could have burnt a few of her own hairs. Without a moment of hesitation, she downs the sour tasting liquid and recoils from the abhorrent flavor. Within a few seconds, her head begins to swim. Then the only thing she can see is darkness as she passes out.

After changing equipment into something more thief-like, a mix of several dark grey and black pieces of equipment, she was ready. She had a bow, but since she had always been melee-focused, she lacked any skills aside from a basic few. The only reason she was carrying it was to complete the look.

Pulling her face mask up, she thought about who to rob.

Artemis stirs and her eyes flutter open. She looks around the room to see the old woman sat in the comfortable looking chair with a book in her hands. Artemis shakes away the sleepy feeling from her head, feeling like someone had run her down. She moves to get up, but falls back down onto the wooden floor. With a puzzled look, she gazes down at where her many legs had once been to find that her spider form was no more. Her many legs had conjoined to form two, standard, human legs. She reaches out to touch them to make sure they were real. She moves her hand up and down her new legs with a look of awe. She tries to stand up once more, this time slower and using the wall as support.

Her new legs wobble like a baby trying to learn how to walk. She stays on the wall for a bit and makes a step, then another. It feels strange to her, as it should. She can still feel her old lower body, but reality has shifted one more time. While her upper body underwent no changes, her lower body was lost. The strangest part, she finds, is that she is happy. She is actually happy about this change and this joy is plastered on her face. She stretches the legs out one at a time and slowly makes her way to the old woman. "How much do you want?" Artemis asks as her hand tries to find her bag to only come up short. She looks around for it on her person, then around her on the shelves her joy replaced with anger. "You've already paid me, dear." The old woman says in a cynical voice and less raspy than she was before.

Artemis looks to the hands once more to see that the near skeletal look had been completely replaced with hands that could very well belong to a younger person. A person her age, even. These hands slam the book shut and places the book on the table beside the person they belong to. They then rise to the tips of the hood and pull it down, much like they did when the two first met. The significant change between then and now is that the face that gazes upon her is that of an extremely beautiful and younger woman. Her blue eyes pierce Artemis and pins her to where she is as the young woman stands deftly from the chair, strands of silky blonde hair drift in front of her face and she allows them to stay. "You didn't need my hair for my potion. You needed it for yours." Artemis deduces.

Ophellia's mind began to wander as she picked the lock on the Villa's window. Why did she steal? She didn't have any impoverished family to feed, she didn't want the money for herself, and the idea of stealing from the rich to give to the poor was incredibly cliche. As she thought, the idea of a 'good' thief started to seem more appealing. The nobles who weren't corrupt could be counted on her hand, and there was never any retribution for them; they'd just have anyone who accused them silenced, one way or another. She didn't really need the money, so that could be used to pay off guards and even buy her some of the peasantry.

The lock clicked, and she was inside.

The woman crosses her arms and pops her hip out while giving Artemis a look of smugness. "You've been feeding off of the villagers. Well, using them to continue living." Artemis continues her deductions. "But why would you wait so long after you've aged beyond belief?" Artemis inquires. "The requirements for my potion require Drider hair. Nothing else will do, I've found." She answers as she pops her hip back into place and sashays over to her alchemist station. "I've tried many combinations and only found a potion to elongate my lifespan, until you showed up. I've not tried Drider, since there are so few here." She begins looking at all of her ingredients before bringing her hand to a glass jar filled with white hair follicles.

Artemis' hands find her head, not even noticing the distinct lack of hair falling into her face to find her hair had been cut just before her ears. Her silky soft hair had been taken from her. This was the payment the alchemist had meant. An anger begins to wash over her as she tries to find her knife. A cheery laugh begins to emanate from the alchemist as she places the jar down with one hand and produces a knife from under her robes with the other. "Looking for this, dear? I was just going to kill you in your sleep, but I wanted to see your life drain away after those rude comments." She twirls the knife around in her hand before taking a step towards Artemis.

Another step, then another. Artemis takes a defensive stance and as soon as the crazed alchemist takes a swing, Artemis tries to dodge left. Still not entirely used to her new legs, she falls and bangs her head on the floor rather hard. Through blurred vision and a serious ringing in her ears, she tries to fight back as the alchemist jumps on top of her. As she slowly regains her sight, she can see the tip of her own blade staring her down. Her arms quickly raise to grab hold of the woman's arm and a struggle ensues. They roll over one another, knocking down some books from the bookshelf. Artemis soon finds herself on top of her adversary and one of her hands go to pin down the hand holding the knife and the other goes for the woman's throat.

Ophellia quickly scanned the room she'd entered, a darkened hallway that was probably only used to recieve guests. Like many others in the king's court, the owner was obsessed with money and appearances, throwing parties that cost thousands, and just taxing it back from the people he governed. The candles have probably been put out to save money on wax, Ophellia thought to herself. Well, he made my job easier.

Now, if she wanted to hide ill-gotten wealth, where would you put it?

The robed woman's legs begin to kick, trying to remove Artemis from on top of her. With each failed kick, Artemis' grip grows tighter. Strained gasps begin to leave the woman and her eyes grow wide as the pressure builds. Artemis' nails begin to dig deep into her neck and her wrist, eventually the knife drops from the woman's hand and Artemis moves the hand nearest the knife to it and snatches it up. She brings the knife to the woman's neck and slides it in. The now vibrant skin begins to be coated in red. Life begins to drain from her eyes and she stops fighting. Artemis brings the knife out of the fresh wound with a calm and steady hand. It takes a second for her to remove herself from the corpse, nearly falling once more. She stands tall over her prey, looking down at the lifeless form as blood spurts from the wound, creating a pool on the wooden floor.

Could it have ended differently? That's one more life taken from this world. I'm on a roll.

Her first thought would be underground, but as this wasn't the main home, and probably didn't contain as much of his wealth, a room or safe on one of the 'living' floors would be a better guess. She searched the dark rooms first, making sure she remained completely hidden for now. She had all night to search, but if worst came to worst, she could just interrogate the owner directly.

Artemis looks around, with her assailant dead she has free reign to do as she pleases. Like in a video game when you break into someone's home, kill them and take their stuff. This is what she begins to do. She first disposes of any clothes she had been previously wearing in favour of an old leather adventuring outfit she had found in a decayed and dusty trunk. She begins to take satchels and fill them with potions, adding to her own collection once she finds her bag. She slots her knife in its rightful place on her hip and after searching for anything that looks like currency, she opens the door to the cabin to let anyone who may come across the body to do as they please. In a way, she had been lucky to come across this place. Using this feeling of luck as a boost, she begins to make her way to the city.

Ophellia searched most of the ground floor, coming to a stop as she heard voices. An older man, mumbling about taxes as he sat in his study. She recognised him immediately as the owner of the villa, and walked into the room, an arrow nocked and pointed at his chest.
"Make a noise and you're dead," She said as he moved to stand, "Sit."

He complied, and glared at her.
"What do you w-" He started to demand, before Ophellia's arrow embedded itself in his chair, narrowly avoiding his shoulder.
"I didn't tell you to speak," Ophellia said, nocking another arrow. "Where is it?"

With only one village between the shack and the city itself with a long walk connecting them all, Artemis lets her mind wander. She couldn't find a bow in the shack, so most of her skills would be useless. No doubt if she'd try her signature attack, she would just find herself with a fatal injury. She will just have to rely on her dagger magics to aid her if she were to be ambushed. Though she has enough confidence that she won't need to use her higher leveled skills. Then again, her only opponents in this new world have been lowly villagers and a crazed hag.

"W-where's what?" He asked, panicked his eyes glancing at the drawer in his desk. Ophellia didn't know exactly what 'it' was, but he certainly did. If he was paranoid about something being stolen, it was probably valuable. She approached him, the arrowhead trained in his chest. He tried to run as she rounded the corner of his desk. The natural response to threats was fight or flight and he'd clearly chosen flight.

Ophellia dropped the bow and arrow as she chased him, pulling a dagger free from her belt. She caught him before he'd gotten anywhere dangerous, stumbling in his haste to get out of the overly ornate chair. Holding him from behind, her dagger pressed firmly against his neck, she whispered in his ear,
"Let's not turn this robbery into a murder, alright?"

Keeping the dagger pressed against his neck, she reached under her cloak and retrieved a large rope. After forcing her victim back into the chair, she bound him tightly to it. She examined her handiwork, thinking in the most exaggerated manner she could. Realising what was missing, she forced the handerchief in his pocket into his mouth.

Artemis' walk continues without skipping a beat. She stops once or twice to deal with a gradually growing thirst and one other time to test if her "return home" scroll were to work. Against her growing luck, it didn't. That would have been too easy She thinks to herself as the scroll burns away after its use. The walk through the forest is a pleasant one, despite the ruckus that had initially come about. It looks just like the places she'd visit in UF and that brought a bit of a satisfaction to her.

Ophellia quickly searched the drawer. Inside was a letter, seeming to be the reply to a previous one. After skimming its contents, she learned that her friend was plotting treason; information that was very valuable if you had the right contacts.
"Where are the rest?" She asked, receiving only a muffled grunt in response. Oh. She removed the gag.

"I burned them-" He started, before she cut him off with a slap to the face.
"Don't lie, I know you kept them for blackmail," She said, bringing her eyes level with his, "Where?"
"I-I have money, if that's what you want!" He said, starting to beg. "Let me go and it's yours!"
"I don't want money," Ophellia replied, "I have that. I wanted something that'd get me some fame. These letters look pretty promising..."
"What about a necklace? The mage's guild said it had a powerful enchantment, but none of them could tell what-"
"It doesn't work, does it?" She said, cutting him off again.

Artemis begins seeing a few passersby and a couple of travelling merchants beginning to pop up every now and then as her walk continues. Travelling to and from the upcoming village. There were a few extra side paths leading to other settlements, if the signs were any indication. The population of this country must be through the roof to have this many settlements cropped up so close to a city. She doesn't think too hard on this facet, and continues on her way. Soon, the next village is in sight. She had read on one of the signs she had passed that this one is called "Reksha".

Ophellia pinched the bridge of her nose as her captive stammered, offering various incentives for her to leave the letter behind. This could end up taking a while.
"-r Daemoniorum, ah, what about an ice dragon fang?"
"What did you say?" Ophellia asked, her eyes suddenly focused on the noble.
"A woman of fine tastes, I see. Yes, a genuine ice dragon fan-" He was cut off again.
"Before that." She said, she was tired of this.
"The Liber Daemoniorum?" He asked, "It's yours if you let me go."
"Where is it? I need to make sure it's real." Ophellia said. She wasn't getting out of this with just a paperweight.
"Burn the letter first." He retorted. "Then I'll-"

Another slap, this time with the back of her hand.
"You don't make demands, now tell me where it is or I'll just slit your throat now and find it myself."
"I-" He paused, shoulders sagging in defeat. "It's behind the portrait of my grandfather, Duke Aryn III."

"I'll kill you if you're lying." Ophellia said, as she choked the noble into unconsciousness.

One of Artemis' hands finds itself in her pocket as she passes through the obvious village entrance. She can see straight off this is a run of the mill village much like the last one. At least the last place had some interesting looking features. You'd think a place so close to the city would look a bit more dignified. She thinks to herself as she observes the townsfolk walking slowly to their destinations. She sees a few housing sections on her walk to the center of town, but nothing else readily catches her eye. The scent of bread grows stronger as she approaches the village square. Come to think of it, I did see a few plots dedicated to agriculture on my way in. This must be where the city gets most of its fresh foods from.