Autumn.
The the giant hole in the ground. aka the pit. The ancient city of Dalphene. aka The City of Ruins.
He slightly groans as he wakes up, as he does he briefly thinks about rolling onto his side.
But he decides to stay where he is. Flat on his back, on the ground somewhere. Where exactly? He's not too sure.
After a few moments, he takes a deep breath, then opens his eyes. And wonders where he is.
It takes him a moment or two, but he realises that he's looking up at the ceiling of an underground chamber, or a cave.
He figures it's the former and not the later. As caves aren't exactly abundant down on the floor of the pit.
You're more likely to find a cave in the sides of the giant hole in the ground.
He goes to sit up, when he hears a vaguely familiar voice say in a sardonic, and effete sounding voice "Don't try and cast" followed by "You'll regret it".
With a frown upon his face, he does sit up, and turns his head to the left, the direction he heard the person speaking.
And in the light of a lamp in what's an underground chamber, he finds an elf sitting upon a wooden crate, watching him.
He knows the elf, having met him a couple of times in the past. And he frowns again as once more he wonders how he got here.
"Lolm?" says Darmos the wizard who shakes his head, and wonders why the elven magic user who is part of Maygam's mercenary company, has got a hold of him.
"The very one" says Lolmildíll the elven magic user, as he watches the wizard in the rumpled looking red coloured robes.
For his part, Darmos the wizard is too shocked to do anything as he's still wondering what happened to him.
Then the spellcaster who is part of Jorkamin's company grimaces as he vaguely remembers being caught up in an explosion which he barely escaped.
Then getting knocked out when something came out of the darkness of the night and hit him.
The wizard in the maroon coloured robes sits up, wincing as he does so, holding up a hand as he says "Don't worry, i won't cast".
The practitioner of magic who is effectively the second in command of Jorkamin's company, then mutters "I'm in no shape to cast anyway".
The wizard looks around, at what looks like it's a storage chamber, that's off a tunnel.
Then he says to his fellow spellcaster from a rival mercenary company "I guess I'm a prisoner then?".
"You are" is the reply of Lolmildíll the elven magic user, who is more widely known down here in the City of Ruins as Lolm.
Darmos is just glad that it's Lolm sitting here in the chamber with him, and not the elven magic user's twin brother Gilvanéllé.
As that brother is a known despot, whose erratic and untowards behaviour, is best avoided.
Not that Lolmildíll is that much better, as he's almost as bad as his twin brother. As their nefarious reputations are well known to be true.
The wizard Darmos suspects that the truth of them is probably even worse than their reputation.
Feeling bruised and sore, the spellcaster in Jorkamin's company wonders how long he's been here.
The elven magic user Lolmildíll answers that for him with "You haven't been here long".
The nobleborn elf from the principality of Alínlae continues with "It's morning, you we're captured during the night by others, and handed over to us earlier this morning".
"I'm surprised I'm still alive" murmurs the human spellcaster as he slightly grimaces while sitting in a more comfortable position.
With what can only be described as a predatory looking grin upon the youthful looking face of the elven magic user.
Lolmildíll of house Jilenthàl says to his fellow practitioner of magic "So am i" followed by "But you're more useful to us alive than dead".
The slim, effete sounding elf, shrugs his shoulders then says "Hence you're still breathing".
The elven magic user then falls silent, and glances to the opening to the tunnel the chamber is off.
A few moments later, Darmos hears people approaching, and two people he recognises enters the chamber.
"Darmos" says Maygam the mercenary captain after he and his second in command Uren, enter the storage chamber the prisoner is being kept in.
"Maygam" says the wizard sitting on the chamber floor, who then adds "Uren".
As he nods in greeting to the two mercenaries who have just made their way into the chamber from the tunnel.
"You tell him?" asks the mercenary captain with a glance at the elven magic user sitting on the wooden crate.
"No" is the reply from Lolmildíll who follows that with "I thought I'd leave that up to you".
Maygam nods, then looking at the prisoner, he tells him "You were captured last night by some".
The mercenary captain briefly pauses before adding "Some interesting characters".
He continues on with "You made a mistake with that rift to their location" followed by "You're lucky to be alive" Maygam then adds "As everyone else who was with you are dead, and from what Lolm and Gilvan have told me, a fair few of your company that were on the otherside of the rift are dead too after those massive explosions".
Darmos grimaces at that, and wonders how things fair with the rest of the company.
Including Jorkamin himself, who was just on the otherside of the building from where the wizard created the rift he went through last night.
The spellcaster in the maroon coloured robes refrains from grimacing again, when Maygam says to him "I wouldn't be surprised if you got Jorkamin killed in that rift exploding last night".
The mercenary captain pauses for a moment or two, before he continues with "No matter if he didn't".
Maygam pauses once more, before he points at the wizard sitting on the chamber floor, and says to him "If he's still alive and kicking, he'll want his second in command back to him".
Darmos does slightly grimace at that, for though he's often thought of as an advisor to Jorkamin the mercenary captain.
It's no secret to other influential mercenaries operating down here in the City of Ruins.
That Darmos is basically the second in command of Jorkamin's company. The largest, and most successful of the mercenary companies in the giant hole in the ground.
Where at the moment, just north of the so called neutral zone in the ancient city of Dalphene.
More commonly known throughout the Southlands and beyond, as the City of Ruins.
There's a fight going on between multiple mercenary companies, to see who is the most dominant one down here.
A smile appears upon the face of Maygam the mercenary captain who then says "Knowing Jorkamin, he'll do anything to get you back".
The wizard Darmos tries to refrain from reacting to that, but he can't help but slightly nod in agreement with what Maygam just said.
As he knows that Jorkamin, if he still lives. Will want him back by his side as soon as possible.
Watching another group in the company arrive from the southern end of the City of Ruins.
Jorkamin the mercenary captain nods in satisfaction, then slightly grimaces as he goes to turn quickly and move away.
He lets out a sigh, as he's still aching from being healed after the tower he was up last night, fell down around him, almost killing him.
The mercenary captain remains where he is, and waits as his acting second Marissa makes her way over after speaking with the new arrivals.
"Good" quietly says Jorkamin the mercenary captain when Marissa the mercenary tells him "This new lot will go off with the lot after Jarnok's mob".
The mercenary captain nods in greeting to the new arrivals as they hurry away through the dilapidated old ruins that the company is using as a staging point.
Here to the north of the neutral zone in the giant hole in the ground, within which is the ancient city of Dalphene, more commonly called the City of Ruins.
"Any word back from Jenin?" asks Jorkamin, referring to the sorceress in the company, who is now in charge of everything magical now that Darmos the wizard is missing, most likely dead.
"No word yet" is the reply of the acting second in the company as the two of them make their way outside.
On what's a cold autumn morning down here in the ancient city of Dalphene.
"Least that fog is starting to burn away now" quietly says Jorkamin, as the fog a little earlier was extremely thick.
Now it's dissipating, only thick in certain spots here in the northern half of the giant hole in the ground.
After the losses of yesterday, especially last night. Where nearly a hundred of the company were killed in the two explosions that destroyed the rift that Darmos created.
Jorkamin has renewed the efforts to wipe out his two main rivals, down here in the City of Ruins. That being Jarnok and Hamblett's mercenary companies.
The mercenary captain who almost died last night, doesn't want the same mistakes as yesterday and last night.
Where he lost two of the three airships he has in the area. Along with a couple of the wyverns he has at his disposal.
Not to mention the amount of the company he lost since he decided to make a move on the other companies up here in the northern half of the giant hole in the ground.
Standing up on a pile of rubble, so that he can watch some of the company move off through the thinning fog as they go west.
Jorkamin quietly says to his new acting second in command "We may of had our losses yesterday and during the night".
The mercenary captain briefly pauses before continuing on with "But no one else can still match us for numbers".
Marissa nods in agreement with him, then quietly says "The other wyvern will be up when this fog finally clears" followed by "That will make a huge difference".
"Have it fly high and out of the way" says Jorkamin, who continues with "That's the last one we have up here, i don't want to send away to Ewteets for another one".
"Will do cap" says the newly made acting second in command of the largest mercenary company down here in the ancient city of Dalphene.
The two of them watch as one of the company can be seen hurrying back this way through the thinning fog from the west. Hurrying by those going out west, who are off to take on Jarnok's company.
"Cap" says the merc when he spots Jorkamin and Marissa up on the pile of rubble.
He hurries up and joins them, and quickly says "Cap, the sorceress Jenin has just found something out".
"What?" asks the mercenary captain, who can see away to the left, to the south, the ancient ruins, and tower next to it.
About sixty yards away, that are no longer standing after being destroyed in a massive explosion when the rift created by Darmos the wizard, was taken out.
"Not sure cap" says the merc, who follows that with "She should be here shortly".
Indeed, the sorceress does turn up shortly. When she suddenly appears with two others in the company, after teleporting here through the thinning fog.
Hurrying up the pile of rubble they're on, Jenin the sorceress nods for the others to move away, so that only the mercenary captain and his acting second in command can hear what she has to say.
"It's Darmos" quietly says Jenin the sorceress, who after a brief pause continues with "He's alive".
Jorkamin who is delighted to hear that, then frowns as the sorceress quietly says "He's been captured".
"By who?" says Jorkamin the mercenary captain, whose frown turns to a scowl when Jenin quietly tells him "Maygam and those elven twins of his" . . . . . .
