General Liara Bloodoath

When the Black Sea Nomads had drawn third, there had been some rumblings about it being rigged. But general Bloodoath hadn't cared. First in, first dibs? Or first in, first killed? Two hours had passed, and it was their turn. The beautiful troll warrior stood with her companions, a large backpack of supplies resting snug against her armor. “Lets go.” Liara murmured heading for the ominous vortex.

The other two nodded, her companions pulling smaller packs onto their shoulders. Coming up to the swirling energy, the fierce troll stared at the vortex, a tint of fear in her eyes. Anything could be on the other side. Hells, their might not be another side.

“Whats a matter, Liara, scared?” The feisty goblin called out with a grin. Turning her head to level one of the most dangerous glares, the scout had ever seen, the troll replied.

“Cautious.” She growled, the anger filling her voice.

“I ain't scared of you.” Tia said, the lie evident in her voice, though her posture held true.

“Your not my enemy.” Bloodoath shrugged, her anger fading under the steel of her resolve. Drawing her wicked blades, she stepped into the dark portal. The world faded away, and her head spun. Movement without motion, dizziness without seeing, and then suddenly she was on the other side.

It had been morning, when they entered the portal, but now the sun sat high in the sky, and it was clear it was afternoon here. Walking forward across the hard rock beneath her, she saw a large castle rising up before her, the draw bridge lowered across a chasm, that separated her island from the fortress.

Island was an interesting choice of words considering, the rock she was standing on was floating above the clouds, as was the piece of rock the castle was built on. It was odd, that this rock floated here, connected to nothing, and only allowed access to the castle, when the draw bridge was lowered, as it currently was.

As she looked over the edge, toward the clouds, and wondered if they were really floating, or if something below held them up, her orc companion came through the portal. “What took you?” The beautiful general asked, walking past her, to look out into the horizon of clouds.

“I didn't want to accidentally walk into you.” The mysterious woman replied. Walking forward just before the goblin scout slipped through the portal.

“We're trapped here aren’t we?” The troll sighed turning and heading back toward the drawbridge, where her companion stood.

“So it would appear.” Hera nodded.

“Lets go.” The general commanded, heading across the large draw bridge, toward the castle. The portcullis was raised, and the castle led into a large courtyard, dotted with trees. There was enough room on the outside of the castle, that one, could walk around it.

Walking inside the courtyard, they looked around, but saw no one waiting for them. “Tia, go scout the courtyard, see what you can find.” The beautiful blue skinned warrior said.

Shrugging off her small pack, the small lithe goblin darted off, to look around. Nothing was making sense. Two hours, two teams, one of them should be camping here. Trapped with no way home, in a large foreboding fortress, they would have been cautious. Set their gear down, hide it perhaps, and then explore the area. Meet back, and wait for the elves. If they found something interesting, take a small group to investigate and leave a couple here to meet with Liara. Even if something bad had happened, someone should have made it back. But their was no sign of anyone.

“What are you thinking?” The orc's dulcet voice asked.

“Was their any sign of the portal, we came through? At all?” She asked glancing up at the sun.

“No.” The shaman answered as Tia came back.

“Empty courtyard, with three exits winding into the castle. Strange thing is, no sign of anyone, in a long while. No hidden gear, no foot prints in any of the copses. Nothing.” Tia frowned.

“We're not in the same place, they are. We are the first ones here.” Bloodoath murmured “Alright, we will set our gear in this copse, Tia make it hard to find.” The tall troll said, moving off, to a small clump of trees, in a plod of dirt near bye.

After they had hidden their gear, the three of them made ready to explore the area. “Thirty minutes out, thirty minutes back. No more.” She told them.

“Why? No ones coming till tomorrow.” Tia asked confused.

“The sun has moved. We're in a different place, then the other two nations. For all we know, time passes differently here. One hour here, could be a day back home. All we know, is we are alone. We need to check the near bye area, make sure its secure. We wait one day, to see if someone else shows. Then we assume were on our own.” The general replied. “Lets move out.”

Heading down the center of the courtyard to the archway that led further into the castle, the beautiful troll warrior, kept her guard up. Heading down the stone hall way, she found that it would twist and turn unexpectedly. The halls were made to disorientate people unfamiliar to the place.

After twenty minutes she found a stairwell that led down a floor, but the hall it self continued on. For a moment she hesitated. Ten more minutes following the hall didn’t seem as useful as looking down the stairs, so she drew her swords and walked down the steps.

What she found was a prison, iron bars created cells, with hey for beds, and urns to defecate. Torches were the only source of light down here, and the nearest cells were empty. Walking down to the end, she found a man inside the last one.

Standing up, the muscular man, wearing only leather pants, and matching brown boots, smiled at her. His long black hair, was up in a pony tail, and a loch fell across his left eye. “Your not one of them. Good...let me out, hurry.” He pleaded softly.