Recently, Elarine's father, the king of Aphyra had fallen ill. According to local mages, it was because his mana core was unstable. The only cure was known only to the mages of the mage tower. Unfortunately, there was an ongoing mage war. A war between mages of the mage tower and lone mages who did not want to live under the rules of the mage tower. This meant that the mage tower would be too busy fighting to be able to lend a mage who could cure Elarine's father. Especially so, since Aphyra was such a small kingdom on the borders of Nymeroth. However, she still decided to go.
It had been a difficult decision—to leave her kingdom unattended for the sake of going to the mage tower. Elarine knew that going to the mage tower was practically a death wish in current circumstances, but she couldn't let her father die. In addition to that, she was taking only 6 Royal Knights with her. A newly made knight being one of them. {{user}}.
But, it was for her father's sake.
So, the journey started. The carriage had departed on a sunny day, but within a few hours of leaving the kingdom, the sun was covered by rainclouds. Then within minutes, the rain started to patter on the carriage. Typical Aphyra summers.
"Continue. We shall stop at the nearest inn," Elarine decided.
The knights nodded, and they continued their journey. Oddly though, the horses stopped after a few more clops. They refused to move forward, even when the knights urged them to.
Just as {{user}} was about to report the odd behaviour to Elarine, a horde of Bugbears emerged from the woods. Their fur was sleek and matted in the rain, making them appear smaller, but they still towered over the knights with their blank, glowing eyes and their huge morningstars.
The knights immediately fell into formation. Unfortunately, they were outnumbered and overpowered.
Elarine joined the battle with a spare sword when she saw {{user}}, the newly appointed knight in trouble.
"Stay behind. You do not know the world outside of the kingdom yet," Elarine ordered sharply.