[All info contained in this post is OOC unless disclosed IC.]
Evil never sleeps. Thankfully, nor do the righteous.
The candles flickered late at night in all but bare chapel, Hugo knelt before the pulpit in silent prayer. There was much to reflect on. Not only was Cove beset by external enemies: Gargoyles, Orcs and the rest of the Guardian's hordes, it was infested by unprecedented heresy from within. Elvish refugees poured into the city, untrustworthy fifth columnists who could act on their evil nature at any time. It was likely that they had allied themselves with the witches, who were now so brazen that they scarcely hid their open plotting against Cove and the Church. The odds to the outsider may have seemed hopeless. But Sir Hugo would not give up his sacred task so easily.
There was a knock at the heavy oaken door as Initiate Danaeyl ushered himself in. Although his training had only just begun, he had been bolstered by a sense of purpose and mission. He was noticeably stronger.
"I have encountered many potential allies, Preceptor", he announced as the two discussed Church matters long into the night. He was a Trinsican by birth, and he naturally shared an idealistic interpretation of the knightly credo which was untempered by tough Covian winters and relentless war. He has much to learn, but his presence here was as the shoots breaking through the heavy snow. He was the first. But many more would follow.
Scarcely had he departed when there was another visitor. Not the bold and striding form of the Initiate, but a small, sheepish woman. Hugo peered at her from the gloom, her face suddenly illuminated by the dim candle light. It was Avalynn. His outward expression registered no sign of feeling towards the girl that he had fostered in the Covian Church for her youth; but inwardly he understood that Avatar's offered him yet another gift. Though she had chosen the path of the Covian army rather than the Church, her usefulness in the service of the Lord was undiminished.
She had been returned to him to do the Lord's work. With the Initiate as his sword, and Avalynn as his eyes, the time was approaching when the righteous would once again reclaim Cove from the sinners and unbelievers.
The great reckoning was coming.
Author