The Find 37.

Autumn.

The Pit. The ancient city of Dalphene. Also known as The City of Ruins.
Maygam the mercenary captain looks through the hole in the wall, and glances up, looking for the wyvern that's circling around.
The mercenary captain pulls his head back in when he hears movement outside.
Maygam steps to one side, so that he's behind a more solid part of the front wall of this particular ruin.
He waits and listens to a number of people going by outside. Once the last one has gone by, he peeks out through the hole in the wall, to see who they are.
As he suspected, they're from Jorkamin's company. As are a lot of those out and about, in this part of the pit, a couple of miles to the north of the neutral zone.
The mercenary captain then looks across the way, to the dilapidated building opposite the ruins he's in.
Maygam shakes his head no when he spots Lolmildíll the elven magic user looking out of a hole in the ancient building opposite.
The elven mercenary from the principality of Alínlae who was contemplating attacking the dozen or so mercenaries in Jorkamin's company who just went by.
Nods his head, then moves back out of view after seeing Maygam shake his head no to him.
The mercenary captain waits a few moments, then looks at the trio of mercenaries with him.
He nods across to the ancient building that Lolmildíll the elven magic user is in.
The three mercs hurry out of the ruins, followed by their captain. They run across to the ancient dilapidated building, and enter it.
"Anymore?" quietly asks Maygam the mercenary captain.
"Just this lot" replies his second in command Uren who walks over and joins him and Lolmildíll the elven magic user.
"These three as well" says Maygam gesturing at the trio he found nearby as he and the others try to find those of the company who got separated from them yesterday.
The mercenary captain then looks at the elven nobel from the principality of Alínlae, and quietly asks him "You sure Kilfin is dead?".
"He is" says another voice from behind them. And though it sounds slightly like Lolmildíll's. It's darker, richer, not to mention angrier sounding than the effete sounding elven magic user.
"Gilvan" quietly says Lolmildíll the elven magic user when they turn around and find Lolm's twin brother Gilvanéllé standing there.
"Gil" says Maygam the mercenary captain as he looks at the elven magic user who is the twin brother of Lolmildíll.
"Brother" says Gilvanéllé the elven magic user in greeting.
"Captain" adds the more intense looking of the twins from the elven principality of Alínlae.
Who then nods in greeting to Uren the mercenary, who is Maygam's second in command.
Everyone else in the ancient, dilapidated building, he ignores. That's if he doesn't scowl, or sneer when he looks in their direction.
As for the other mercs. They wish their captain would send them on their way.
For though Lolmildíll, or Lolm as he's more commonly called by the others in the company.
Is tolerable to be around. Just as long as he isn't looking directly at you. As who knows what he's thinking about.
Not so when it comes to Gilvanéllé or Gil as most of the others in the company call him.
The twin brother with the pale, almost white hair. Is a pariah known throughout the mercenary community down here in the City of Ruins.
Where the rumours about him, and his brother Lolm are certainly true. And the rumours about Gilvanéllé are some of the worst imaginable.
As there's whispers about him eating people while they're still alive.
Not that anyone has actually witnessed it. Well if they have, they're not alive to talk about it.
"You sure?" asks the mercenary captain.
"I am" is the reply from Gilvanéllé, who follows that with "Darmos the wizard did him in".
His twin brother Lolmildíll nods in agreement with him.
Maygam grunts, then asks the elven twins from Alínlae "Hamblett as well?".
Shrugging his slender shoulders, Gilvanéllé the elven mercenary says "I'm not sure captain" followed by "I suspect your former comrade is still alive".
The elven magic user, who is a well known pariah down here in the giant hole in the ground then says "He didn't keep Kilfin close like Jorkamin does with that pet wizard of his".
The mercenary captain grunts again, then after looking at Gilvanéllé, then at his twin brother Lolmildíll.
Maygam the mercenary asks "Where have you been the last few days Gil?".
The captain of the company, then switches to the elven language and quietly adds "The truth now".
"Up north" says Gilvanéllé in the same language. Only the twins, and captain Maygam can speak in elven.
While Uren can understand it to some degree. And knows some words and phrases.
Everyone else in the company not so much. It's why Maygam will only speak in elven to the twins when it's something important.
"What were you doing up there?" asks the captain of one of the midsized mercenary companies in operation, down here in the ancient city of Dalphene.
"This and that" is the evasive reply from Gilvanéllé, who is called Gilvan by his brother Lolmildíll.
And Gil by just about everyone else in the company that Maygam is the captain of.
Then switching to the common language, as he knows Uren will be able to understand him more clearly.
Gilvanéllé the elven practitioner of magic quietly says "I saw some of the company at the northern end of the pit".
"Oh?" says Maygam and his second in command Uren in unison.
"About half a dozen of them" says the twin brother who is the more angry and aggressive looking of the two.
"You're new offsider Almard was leading them" adds Gilvanéllé the elven magic user with a nod at Uren.
"What were they doing all the way up there?" asks Maygam the mercenary captain.
"Fleeing from that battle you got caught up in yesterday" is the reply from Gil, who continues with "They should be up and out of the pit about now".
The elven spellcaster, who like his twin brother, is quite powerful for an elven magic user, briefly pauses before he adds "That's if anything up there doesn't get them".
"Such as?" asks Uren, who was hoping for word of Almard. Who she made her offsider after he'd only been in the company a few weeks.
"The nasties" is the reply of Gilvanéllé who briefly pauses, then with a sadistic looking grin upon his face, adds "Like me".
Though Uren rolls her eyes, she can't help but feel disgust at what Gil just said.
Gilvanéllé knows this, and he chortles. Which raises the hairs on the back of Uren and Maygam's necks.
As the elven magic user's chortle sounds like some kind of mad, deranged animal.
While Lolmildíll just sourly smiles at hearing that from his twin brother. As he's heard that laugh plenty of times over the last four centuries, and he's well accustomed to it.
Maygam the mercenary captain clears his throat, then he says "Hopefully that lot head south up in the surrounding countryside".
"That's their intention" says Gilvanéllé, who continues on with "They hope to get back to the Last Village".
The elven spellcaster with the pale blond, almost white coloured hair then shrugs his shoulders, and says "They either get back there or they don't".
All the mercenary captain can do is nod to that. As he hopes that small group from the company makes it to safety.
Maygam then issues some orders, sending a fair few of the other mercs in the ancient building back to the nearby underground cavern.
Once they're gone, and there's about a dozen of his men and women left with him, and his second in command, and the elven twins.
Maygam the mercenary looks outside, looking up at the afternoon sky.
On what's been a cold, autumn day here in the ancient city of Dalphene, or as it's more commonly called, the City of Ruins.
"That damn wyvern of Jorkamin's is up there" mutters Maygam the mercenary captain as he watches the circling wyvern up in the sky above this part of the pit.
"Kill it" says Gilvanéllé the elven magic user as he along with his twin brother Lolmildíll, and Uren look outside and up into sky as well.
"Or the rider" adds Gilvan, who continues with "Doesn't matter which one, just get rid of it".
The magical pariah follows that with "It gives Jorkamin an advantage over everyone else" he continues on with "The rider is in contact with Darmos and Jorkamin's other spellcasters, it's why they can easily target and eliminate whoever they want".
"As i understand it, casting a spell upon it or the rider will give you away" says Maygam the mercenary captain.
Gilvanéllé the elven magic user sourly smiles as he looks sideways at his twin brother Lolmildíll, then he says "This is true, but we've all got to take risks don't we".
Gil briefly pauses before continuing with "I was thinking of something else anyway" followed by "Like shooting them".
The mercenary captain's eyebrows shoot up, then he says "I know you two are pretty good with a bow" followed by "So am i".
Maygam continues on with "But no way in hell anyone of us are making that shot, even if that bugger was just hovering in the air, it's circling too high up".
Gilvanéllé suddenly grins, then says "You'll make the shot if i cast upon the arrow so you don't miss".
Then looking sideways at his twin brother Lolmildíll, he adds "I'm surprised you didn't think of it Lolm" followed by "Other spellcasters would barely sense it even if they were specifically doing so".
He continues with "It's not as though you're directly casting at the creature or the rider".
"Why didn't i think of that?" mutters Lolmildíll the elven magic user, which just gets a roll of the eyes from his twin brother Gilvan.
Maygam calls over one of his men who has a longbow. The mercenary captain takes it off him, and takes an arrow too.
He puts the arrow to the bow, and half draws it back, then he looks outside and up into the sky again, and waits.
"It'll be at least a day before Jorkamin can bring another one up" quietly says Maygam the mercenary captain.
As Jorkamin has three wyverns at his disposal, though only one in the skies above the City of Ruins at this time.
The other two, like Jorkamin's other warship is at his base. A town about a dozen miles to the south of the pit, on the road to the city-state of Eweteets.
"It's coming around again" quietly says Lolmildíll the elven magic user.
"Tell me when" says the mercenary captain to Gil, who like the other three is watching the wyvern circle back this way.
"Get ready" says Gilvanéllé the elven magic user, followed by "Just shoot in the general direction of it, I'll make sure it'll hit the rider".
Maygam nods his head in understanding, and is about to step outside and draw the longbow back completely and shoot up at the circling wyvern.
When suddenly the wyvern lets out a screech as it's rider topples from the saddle, and falls out of the air.
"Er?" says Uren the mercenary, while Maygam murmurs "Huh?".
As they watch the wyvern rider falling out of the sky towards the ground.
He hits the ground somewhere away to the east, a couple hundred yards away amongst some of the ruins in that direction.
Up in the afternoon sky, the wyvern being a wyvern. Has taken off, they're flighty, unpredictable creatures to begin with.
And now that this one doesn't have a rider on it's back. It's taken off, heading northwards above the giant hole in the ground, within which is the ancient city of Dalphene, or the City of Ruins as it's more commonly known as.
The twins Gilvanéllé and Lolmildíll share a look, then Lolm says "I didn't sense anything". "Nor did i" says the other twin Gilvan.
With a shrug of his shoulders, Maygam says "No matter" followed by "It's gone, that's all that matters".
The mercenary captain continues with "Seems like someone else had the same idea".
Both of the elven nobles from the principality of Alínlae nod their heads.
Then Gilvanéllé recalls what he sensed earlier in the afternoon before he made his way back down this way.
"That cleric perhaps" murmurs Gil "What was that?" says the other twin Lolm.
The elven spellcaster who is a well known pariah here in the pit, looks at the other three.
Then tells them about how he sensed an unknown cleric a little earlier, who created a gateway into this area to the north of the neutral zone. Then he was unable to sense the powerful cleric after that.
Lolmildíll's thin, arched eyebrows shoot up when he hears that, then he quietly says "That's more than a little interesting". "Is it what" says his twin brother Gilvanéllé.
Looking at the elven twins who are nobles from the principality of Alínlae, Maygam the mercenary captain asks them "A new player in the battle you think?".
"With what just happened to that wyvern rider, it certainly looks like it captain" is the reply from Gilvanéllé the elven magic user, his twin brother Lolmildíll nods his head in agreement with him . . . . . .