Fantasy RPG Forum - Standing Trials

hings were slowly settling in around him. He and his men had only been working for the Duke for a couple of trials now but everyone seemed to be getting used to things. The hot season had started in the form of a trip to Andaris for the duke and company and they has left only a few trials ago. Sin had assigned Iemes to accompany the duke, together with his regular staff of guards, as they were all still getting used to things back at the estate. Over time, Sin expected to take a more active role in the duke's protection but for now he left it to the more skilled former knight to keep the duke safe from assassins and boredom.

Before him lay several rolled out scrolls and parchments depicting the building as it had been designed by the original architect as well as a map of the grounds which he had drawn himself. While there were no secret doors or alleys depicted on the pages, Sin kept trying to calculate empty spaces between the walls that would indicate such hidden passages. So far he hadn't had much luck. His attention was drawn from his work when he heard someone calling his name. "Yes? What's the problem." He spoke as he looked up from his work. Gallien was sitting across from him on one of the few chairs in the room and Argun sat, with his feet dangling, on a stack of equipment crates. Both men looked up from their maintenance to stare at him.

"We didn't say anything." Argun gave Sin a look, worry mixed with confusion, as he responded to Sin's sudden words. It seemed nobody had drawn his attention. "Sorry, I thought someone called my name..." Sin shook his head and looked back down to the papers in front of him. Before he could even get back into it, he heard it again. Someone was calling out to him and it wasn't either of the two men in the room. Sin looked from one to the other. Both had gone back to their maintenance, obviously not in need of Sin's attention. Atolini! Sin pushed himself up from his chair and stepped towards the door, quickly opening it to see if the spoiled Venoran girl was trying to pull yet another stunt.

The hall was empty as Sin looked left and right. His office, for lack of a better word, was located behind the servant quarters in some forgotten corner of the building. While he hoped it was temporary, he couldn't be sure. The duke had planned on offering them something more appropriate but Atolini had intervened quickly and viciously until the duke had given in to her demands. And so they were stuck in this half basement of an office. Looking from empty dark hall to empty dark hall, Sin couldn't deny the fact that he kept hearing his name as it rang a third time in his head. It sounded a little off, as if someone was calling him from far away.

Not wanting to look like an even crazier person than he already did, Sin closed the door behind him and stood quietly in the hallway. With the third calling of his name, Sin suddenly remembered a pair of clear, piercing eyes staring right into his, a strand of dark hair to the side of them. There was a depth and intelligence behind them he would never be able to reach in his entire life, even if he tried. "Who goes there?" Sin called out to the dim hallway around him. Who was that person, with eyes like that? Sin walked down the hall, the few meters he needed to reach the next corner. Perhaps Atolini was hiding there...