(((OOC: The Second Part of the Pyre Arc of Pabru's The Twisted Realm storyline.)))

~Tantari Desert: one of the most dry, hot and inhospitable places in Hyrule. The great Parapa desert, compared to the Tantari is like comparing the small Rauru Town to the North Castle. Indeed, most people stay away from Tantari Desert, and as a result monsters have accumulated there, servants of Gannon all, making it an even nastier place... and a hideaway for those that can not show their faces inside the North Castle. The Shiekah traitors who have made their hope here fall under this category.

Originally, these Sheikah were part of the great thieves guild that spread throughout Hyrule. This guild was extraordinarily organized, and the guild leaders forced the guild to stay hidden, and under the radar of the Hylian Knights or any other hostile faction. The guild was split into multiple parts, each of which had a different headquarters, and represented a different race. The human thieves operated in Ruto Town, the Zora from around the lighthouse south of Parapa, the Deku from the North Forest, the Hylians from the Temple Quarter of North Castle itself, the Gerudo from Parapa Desert, the Gorons from the mountains near the South Greens and the Sheikah from a large cavern below the Thicket.

However, tension began to grow between the different races in the guild. The Sheikah in particular didn't like the way things were being done, so they broke away from the others to form their own seperate guild. The leader of the Sheikah, called simply the Black Seer, opposed this seperation, but a new upstart leader, Farn, sealed the Black Seer away in the tunnels beneath the Thicket, and then relocated to a new headquarters for his new thieves guild: The Black Fortress of Tantari Desert.

This fortress was built along the wall of mountains that formed the western border of Tantari desert. It was made out of stone that blended into the mountain wall, and far from being black in color, was more of a brown, earthen color. The name comes from the Black Magic that Farn, who had learned from the Black Seer, used to construct the place. It has a number of enchantments and unsleeping guardians that protect it from intruders, and no one has ever entered without Farn's permission. Varen Dragmire was going to try to change this.

The Gerudo smirked to himself as he looked up at the imposing cliff faces, and strong walls that defended the Black Fortress. He was determined to break in, despite the reputation of the place, kill Farn, and then leave. Indeed, he was working with his good friend, the leader of the Gerudo part of the thieves guild, simply known as the General to those working under her. She was not one to be messed with, and with her strength, combined with the bladework of Varen, and the skill of adventurers he had rallied to his cause, it did not seem all together impossible to enter and destroy these Sheikah upstarts from the inside out.

Varen currently stood on the outskirts of a makeshift Gerudo camp in Tantari desert, near the fortress, but hidden from view by an outcropping of rock near the west face of the mountains, but south of where the Black Fortress was located. Here he and the General were planning how they were going to attempt this invasion. Gerudo scouts had found a small side entrance which would be an easy way to enter unnoticed, though the way was probably still guarded. The General planned on entering through this passage. She, Varen, Arrika, Sakiko, and maybe Kasei would go in first and clear the way, making straight for Farn's inner chamber. Then a gerudo strike force would follow and clean the place from the additional Sheikah scum after Farn was dead. From the relative shelter of the camp, the plan seemed plausible, though the General was worried that they were underestimated the strength of the fortress' defenses. There was no time to wait around though, they had to move out. Varen turned and entered the camp again to meet with the traveller he had found at the gates of the North Castle, and inform them of their objective and plan, and to make sure no one had any misgivings. At this point, each knew far to much, and if they decided not to join, the male Gerudo would probably have to kill them, but so be it. He would do anything necessary to extract his revenge upon the Sheikah inside the Black Fortress, despite any set backs that might get in his way. He was of the Dragmire family, and he would crush any annoyance that presented itself on his way to accomplishing his goals.~

OOC: Sorry, no Kasei for you, yet. You have to earn him . . .

Naw, he might appear later depending if or if not this is something that threatens all of Hyrule. I'm trying to use Kasei less and Aria or Denkou more. You get Denkou today.

IC: The man coughed another glob of sand out of his mouth. This was innefective. More simply got in, making it all worse.

Denkou tried to tighten his cloak. That had little effect. Every step he took blew sand into the air, and ,subsequently, into his face, and mouth.

Why was he doing this again? Oh, that's right. Kasei threatened to fry me if I refuse. The thief thought, trying to see. He had been ordered by the Rebel Flame to come here and oversee some sort of battle between Gerudo and Shiekah. Denkou wasn't given many details. He was only told that Kasei would be most eager to burn any thieves refusing the request, so here he was. He brought his dagger, a few bombs, a shortbow, and a cloak. He also prepared some sturdy clothes for this.

He could've at least told me a specific location. Denkou complained.

OOC: Is this gonna be stat-based?

Also, creat yourself a page on the wiki, please;

http://www.editthis.info/hyrule/Main_Page

Ooc: sorry it took so long... I'm a lazy bum, I know...

IC: Sakiko polished her wooden staff until it glowed softly, the light running through the wood like a finger brushing against the surface. She was becoming restless - everything seemed so vague at this point, and to kill was a delicate subject to broach upon. There were no personal grudges against the enemies she'd fight with, and she had only a faint grasp of their fighting prowess. Digging her heels into the sand, the mage wrapped her cloak tightly against her body, feeling the rough cotton brush against her arms. There really was no telling of what would happen in this mission, and she had no hopes whatsoever of being safe. The man she had pledged her assistance to wasn't very big on sparing lives, and thus she really couldn't expect any safety precautions from him.

But that wasn't to say that she wasn't ready.

The mage ran her hand against the staff once again, already imagining the bloodshed ahead of her.

Part of me thinks I should be getting paid for this. Kobas taught me not to believe in volunteer work... But it's too late now...

Arrika mused silently in her mind, sighing, then brightened as she remembered the fortress was sure to house mounds of treasure.

This is almost like an assassination assignment. My first one, and I'm not even 100% sure I'll be compensated for it...

Who knows? It was always possible that by a stroke of bad luck, if something went wrong she'd have to escape on her own empty handed.

If something screws up I'm leaving on my own, with Sakiko. Then again, she'd just slow me down. I'll take what I can carry and run.

With that back-up plan in mind she said to the young male Gerudo, "So, what's our strategy, boss?"

(((OOC: I need Tayro to post but...... we'll move on for now, I can't keep waiting. Unfortunately, I'm at school using my very limited time to post this, so I'll edit later.)))