Next up: Konall Bearsmasher.

Oh- and here's some new NPC's as well. Enjoy.

 
Konall sat behind his desk. His desk! A year ago he would have been out splitting skulls on a day like today. Now he was filling out paperwork. His forces had grown too large in the past few months for him to see things directly, so he was forced to read inventory reports, approve purchases, and oversee enrollment rosters. He was signing the documents in the blood of his enemies, so that helped. But still.

A man breezed in, walking in as fast as most people would run. He was thin and dark-haired, wearing some sort of long white tunic as an outfit. With an olive-skinned complexion and an athlete's build, he looked like he belonged in a boy band somewhere.

"Who are you?" asked Konall.

"You can call me Angel. I'm here to side with you."

"Oh?" said Konall. "Why should I trust you?"

"I hadn't really thought about it," said the man. "I figured you could use all the help you could get."

"I can," said Konall, "and if you were a spy you'd have prepared a better reason than that. You're in."

"I've got my allies with me," said Angel, waving in the companions that followed him. "May I present my commander, Captain Skye."

Skye was old and bearded but still tall and buff, with an eyepatch over his left eye and wearing fur-covered armor. Sections of that armor were made out of some sort of metal, not meat. Konall wasn't an expert on metals, but he would have guessed some sort of titanium or mythril. Fine workmanship. This man was a warrior and a leader, someone who wasn't yet beaten down by life.

Right behind Skye was a woman who had dyed her skin blue like a Celt, and had a pair of scimitars at her waist and a necklace made of skulls. She seemed bored but wary as her eyes scanned the tent. She snatched a fly out of the air and crushed it in her hand. That brought a sadistic grin to her face. This woman was obviously a violent psycho, but Konall didn't have time for true love right now.

"My name is Killer," said the woman.

"I'm not surprised," said Konall, turning to look at the woman following Killer. She was older with black hair and light cinnamon skin. She had a lily in her hair that seemed perfectly fresh and bright.

"You're a mother," said Konall. "I can't let you fight."

"I'm a mother," said the woman, "I have to fight. Which is more dangerous? The strongest male bear, or a mother bear whose cubs are in danger. I have had many children, and if Kadlin is not stopped they will all die."

Konall nodded. "Your name?"

"Iris."

Two more entered. One a man with a curved sword and a dragon tattoo down his right arm who introduced himself as Shini. The other man was covered in parrot feathers with an obsidian sword who introduced himself as Macaw. The final man had the darkest skin Konall had ever seen and a long scimitar in his hand. He called himself Warlord. All of these were strong warriors.

Konall looked the group over one last time. "Well, I don't know who you are, and I'm sure none of you gave me your real names. But I need the help and most of you look like you've been through more battles that the people I've got with me so far. I'll give you a chance to prove yourselves because I need the help. Don't make me regret it."

Konall always has well written pieces, and this one is a little different from AIL by being fairly short and to the point. It doesn't detract from the quality and if anything, only benefits from it.

Next up, back to the fight with Dash and Todd!