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[Kinn]

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“Damn this cold!” Kinn grumbled out loud as he entered the Stonegate tavern and headed straight for the roaring fireplace.

“Does the snow ever melt up here?!” He shouted at the barkeep, who knew the assassin well enough by now to know not to answer.

Kinn had just finished up another patrol of the Stonegate mountains. He spotted no Orcs or Undead but, as usual, the snow was deep and the air was frigid. A rain-snow mix began to fall about halfway through Kinn’s patrol and it fell harder as the night wore on. Unfortunately for Kinn, the shadows did not offer sanctuary from the rain or the cold. As if he wasn’t miserable enough, Kinn was certain that more than a few of the Stonegate wolves (who knew he was around, even when he was cloaked in shadow) could sense his misery as he stealthed by them—and were laughing at his discomfort.

To make matters even worse, as Kinn’s patrol took him near the Stonegate Keep he heard of the voice of that cursed Tracker. That one, who Kinn only knew as “Orelen”, was definitely a threat. Kinn had not yet figured out why the Wolf King and the other solders of Stonegate welcomed that man into their lands so often—but he was ALWAYS around. It troubled Kinn greatly. Then again, Stonegate seemed to entertain numerous strange visitors—something else that vexed Kinn to no end.

It all combined to put Kinn in a very foul mood, and he had been in a foul mood quite a bit since Sirah moved to these snow-cursed mountains.

Kinn sat down at the table closest to the fireplace and began to contemplate the unfortunate chain of events that led him here.

He silently cursed the Matriarch for relinquishing control of Umbra. He silently cursed that foul lich for taking it over. He cursed him again for not valuing the skills the Drow could bring to bear for his cause. After all, The Boss had initially wanted to support the Lich, but that damnable undead fiend simply lacked the basic diplomacy skills which would have made an alliance with him bearable. Not only that, but watching the utter disrespect that Darrien showed to the Matron of the Drow Quarter was not the sort of thing that any self-appreciating Drow could stomach.

Next he thought of the actions of The Boss—and he cursed him as well. Spreading chaos was something Kinn could support, but the Boss’ schemes had caused Sirah more chaos than anyone else. Everywhere Kinn turned he saw people who, thanks to the Boss’ poor planning, were now enemies. The Moonglow Militia, even the ones who did not embrace the radical Humanist ideals of their former mayor, were enemies. The Zento Ninja—a group with whom a ninja assassin like Kinn should share a common bond-- were also enemies. In fact, thanks to the Boss’ ill-executed kidnapping scheme (which was supposed to turn the Zento against the Moonglow humanists); both the Moonglow Militia and the Zento ninja clans were increasingly hostile toward ALL Drow. Sure, Sirah had run a few successful jobs which resulted in some nice profits and the spread of some delicious chaos, but in the grand scheme of things Kinn knew that Sirah was in a very weak position—and it was all the Boss’ fault!

In fact, it was that very weak position that led them to these frozen mountains.

Sirah had the support and protection of a very powerful group of warriors now. The enemies that Sirah had made would certainly think twice before invading the lands of the Wolf King to get at them. Besides, most of them were too busy dealing with Orcs now to worry about a handful of mischievous Drow. Especially when those Drow were allied with the Wolf King and his army. At first Kinn found the arrangement to be most agreeable, but lately his perspective had begun to change.

Kinn sighed and stood from the table. His current line of thought was leading him toward a dangerous path that he did not want to explore---at least not yet. He cleared his mind and set out into the cold, wet night once again. The Orcs and the Undead did not rest, so neither could he.

Kinn took to the shadows and began his patrol anew.

He made certain to steer well clear of Stonegate Keep.