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[Tarothin Armunn]

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The next morning after the declaration of war between Sanctus and teh Dark Order. To further get their point across that Sanctus is not wanted in Cove land. Two bodies were hung in a tree on the border of D|O territory. The two bodies, were the two Sanctus citizens that were missing, do to them not paying taxes and thrown into jail initially.

A parchment is nailed on the Tree base.

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A warning to all that traverse this land with the intention of breaking laws and not paying taxes. This will not be tolerated nor will the passage of any from Sanctus, as these two poor souls had found out. Disregard this warning and you walk at your own risk.

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[Baron Mordegan]

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A Messenger arrives

"Major, you should see this" huffed a young armsman handing Major Mordegan a parchment.

"A merchant found it tacked to a tree near cove"

Major Mordegan reads the parchment.

"The admit to holding our citizens and then killing them. Did we not ask if they had them in custody? I am suret he families would have paid for their release. This blatant act of murder of two citizens will not go unpunished. This is not acceptable behavior from those who claim to be Knights. It simply reinforces the brigand status that we assigned to them!"

The Armsnan snaps off a quick salute and turns to the door.

* I better inform the Leadership * thinks Major Mordegan as he makes his way to Blackguard.[/u]
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[Ditto Armunn]

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War. The word itself was simple and so easy to pronounce. So why did the emotions around the word have to be so difficult?
From her postion in the little pond just in view of the place she called home, Ditto tilted her head up above the chilly waters and gazed up at the moonlit sky. She tried to concentrate on one of her favorite constellations, trying to forget the visions of the prisoner called Lee, of the two bodies she had seen hanging earlier that day, and of Moses rushing, not to say hello to her, but to strike at her in the battle the day before. The hurt look Aerie had given to her that Ditto could not understand. But she understood now. It was war.

All day she had tried to ignore the tugging at her heart. The pain she felt whenever she'd seen some of the prisoners that hailed from various places. Had tried to reason it out in her own mind. Had tried to tell herself Tarothin was right in doing these things. She understood why he did them. And it was right for him to do them. But it was not right for her to ignore it. To simply accept it. Tarothin would always do what he felt he had to do. And so would she. Right now though..the two ideas of "right" did not match. She loved him without a doubt. She respected him and his leadership, going so far as to follow orders she did not want to follow. But now the dilemma..the Dark Order held no compassion. Ditto Armunn, on the other hand, had much compassion.

The prisoner, Lee, had spoken much to her through his tears. Told her of his two children, one just a babe. And his wife who had recently died in childbirth. His income was the only thing that kept his children from starving to death. It was when he said he had lied to the guards, saying he lived in cove, but actually he had just been visiting relatives here, and his home was in Sanctus that it hit her....everyone of the prisoners, no matter how few or where from, had a family of some sort. It was at that point, that realization, that drove her from the jail and made her run...run blindly into the woods, deeper & deeper until she ran into something. The two hanging bodies.
She had looked up into the lifeless eyes of one of the men & suddenly imagined it to be Lee. With her eyes tearing up and the sound of horse hooves on the path, she ran again, back in the direction of the jail where she found the guards temporarily busy and ofcourse seeing her as no threat. She had a set of keys in her pack, and used them on Lee's door. Upon stepping inside the cell, Lee had opened his mouth as if in protest, but Ditto quickly put her fingers to her lips in a gesture for him to stay quiet. Lowly she murmured the words for a magical portal. Pulling Lee's arm for him to follow, she stepped into the gate and they were outside, away from the guards. Lee, hesitant at first to follow her, questioned, "You are going against your husband? The Dark Knight?"
"No. I do na. He never said for me not to help prisoners escape, so therefore I do na go against him. Now come quickly. He is inside the house and could look out the window at any moment." With that, she and Lee had taken off running across the Command Post lawn to the side where the woods stood. Once inside the woods she could breath a little easier. But that was not to happen. Suddenly, from out of no where, she and Lee were surrounded by Sanctus soldiers. How ironic, she thought. On my way to help one of their own escape and they should be the very ones who prevent it. When she heard Ryan saying not to hurt her, she was about to turn Lee over to him, but something from her side caught her eyes. When she turned, she saw that her house was being fielded with poison. Her home. And Tarothin was inside! Anger struck her at that point and she did the only thing she could do...attack them all. After coming out of her comatose state, she looked to find her husband binding her wounds. She would have said something warm to him except that she spotted Lee standing just a few steps away and not being very good at hiding. After a smile and quick "Thank you", she went to try to hide Lee from view. A few moments later, most of the Dark Order had gone, so she thought she should continue on to the safe house where she intended to hide Lee until she could get him to Sanctus. She was almost out of sight when she heard Nicodareus call out to her asking who she had with her. Pretending not to hear, she quickened her steps almost into a run, but suddenly one of the soldiers rode his horse in front of her, blocking her path, turning quickly behind her she looked straight up into the helm of the Dark Knight. With one question from him, she told him the truth, but left out the fact that the prisoner she was setting free was from Sanctus. He paused, as if thinking, then nodded. He let it be known to her very simply and clearly that he'd allow it, but this would be the last time. Ditto and Lee ran all the way to her storage house in Cove. There she told him he could rest and in the morning, he'd be sent back to Sanctus, but he was not to mention where he'd been.

The last time. His words echoed in her eardrums still, even now, hours later and in the cold waters of the pond she swam in. There was no twisting of those words. She knew what he meant. But how could it possibly be the last time when she knew there were others. Not many, there remained no more prisoners from Sanctus that she knew of & the vast majority were from Cove itself, but still...they had families too. If she helped any more escape, she would be commiting treason. Treason not only against her guild. But her family. And most importantly, treason against her husband. She could not do that. But, neither could she go against what her compassionate heart told her to do. She had to save all the prisoners. But.....How?

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(OOC: Due to a vital mistake, this post has been edited, to try to better reflect the contents of the plot). ~Ody