Magari stealthily made her way up the narrow mountain paths, seeking the pass of Sammath Naur, the stealthiest way through the Ephel Duath or the Mountains of Shadow as they were more commonly known. And, eventually, above them were the Diebal Mountains, realm of Darcsens. Magari paused as she caught the sound of something in the wind... Could it be other travelers? Maybe... Magari moved out of the way of the path, hiding in one of the many crags of the mountain, waiting with baited breath to see who, or what, was coming down the path... If it were a party of Darcsen haters out on a hunt she'd have no choice but to slay them or risk getting killed (or worse) herself.

Larita carefully trod a fair distance from Magari up the rocky pathway. She was tired and slow, getting pushed by the thick trails of wind. There were a few scouted long distances, hiking up this treacherous mountain range. This wasn't Larita's usual job - the opposite in fact. She needed money however, this mystical world was evolving and she had to get stronger. Everyone around her was moving her on, she was weak physically, although possessed talented prowess in magic, she was in a slump. Seeing herself catch up to someone, another girl with short bluey-black hair, "H-Hello," Larita pants slightly, physical exercise was clearly not her strong point. "My name's Larita... I'm hear to investigate the Diebal Mountains, what about you?" She asks. She wanted to introduce herself to other people in hope for helping others.

Magari stared at the other girl, Larita, for a good long while before answering. She looked around a few more times, seeing no one else, before stepping out from her hiding space... "A-ah... Hello...? A-ah, why?" Magari asked, her halting quiet speech barely audible for the winds, staff held defensively in front of her, ready to blast Larita off the narrow mountain trail. The only people who wanted to seek the Diebal mountains were those who sought the Darcsens, either to get something from them... Or more often to kill them all.

Larita blushed at the girls reply. Larita was clearly nervous and so was the other girl. They seemed to have similarities with their demure personalities. "I-I was hired by a man to come investigate and study these mountains... you may see a few others around doing the same thing... they've become kind of popular news, recently... S-Sorry for being so sudden...!" Larita apologizes and bows politely.

Magari thought frantically as she heard what Larita had to say. Groups of people searching for a way up to the Diebal Mountains? That was seriously bad news, she had to do something... Looking beyond Larita she saw the forms of other people moving further down, half obscured by the shadows... From what Magari could tell, the people down the path were moving with a much greater confidence, either they had a good guide... or they had been up this path before. For now though, Magari decided to bank on Larita's obvious nervousness and discomfort in her hopes that Larita might be an ally... So far as a Darcsen could ever have allies. "A-ah... I-I'm Magari." she introduced herself, though she did not return the bow to Larita and she did not relax, she simply watched for Larita's inevitable reaction to her status as a Darcsen as the wind picked up and a heavy snowfall began.

"N-Nice to meet you, I'm Larita..." Larita nervously shuffles, embarassed she forgot to introduce herself first. Realizing her mission, she wondered why Magari was on the mountains, is she one of the people hired to investigate? "Do you know these mountains? They're kind of... mystical..." Larita adds, unsure of this strange mountain range.

Magari allowed herself to relax, just a little, as Larita asked about the mountains they were on. "A-ah, I know these mountains, I know them very well in fact. They're called Ephel Duath in the High Tongue, o-or the Mountains of Shadows i-if you'd rather. They're the second highest mountains in the world..." Magari spoke in her quiet voice, the snow seemed to greatly slow the others she could see moving in the shadows. If it continued to snow this heavily then the Pass of Sammath Naur might close... In which case Magari would have to go through Cirith Ungol, a though that send visible shivers through her.

Larita nodded as Magari provided her with valuable information. It would seem she was not properly informed about the mountains, although she did study up as much as she could beforehand, although the information was scarce. She was aware of its immense size and anyone else she saw beforehand has now disappeared into the vast distance, probably investigating different areas of the mountain range. "Mountains of Shadow...? Why do they call it that?" Larita ponders.

Magari shifted her gaze from Larita up onto the dark snow clouds overhead. "A-ah, b-because... i-its... always so dark here... H-haven't you n-noticed?" Magari said in her halting and quiet voice, removing some snow from the ground to reveal the black rock underneath. With the sun close to setting Magari needed to get going real soon or risk a night on the mountains, a thought she did not relish. "W-we... Should g-get moving... U-unless you w-want to stay?" Magari asked, her mind trying to figure out the fastest way to either Sammath Naur or Cirith Ungol...

Larita was fond of the company Magari offered. She was very cute and shy, Larita was confident they'd get along happily. "It is dark... How more dangerous will it get? We have to be careful..." She replies. Larita wasn't confident in her abilities to protect both her and this girl, "D-Do you know your way around here?" Larita asks. The girl was also here, Larita assumed she was here as a part of the mission as well.

"I'll do my best to protect you, alright?" She smiles sweetly.

Magari felt a small tingle of warmth in her chest as Larita said she'd do her best to protect her. "A-ah, t-the chief danger is the cold up here... U-um, and the occasional giant spider... I suppose... I know a way we can go, i-if you want?" Magari said in her he quiet, halting voice. A sudden, rather violent gust of wind sent the snow swirling around the two girls violently, Magari's shawl with its intircate Darcsen pattern billowing out around her...

"Ah, you know your way around here well... That's amazing!" Larita compliments her and gently smiles. "Sure, let's go..." She says, pausing and then realizing what Magari had just said. The strange, yet kind-hearted girl obviously knew her way around this place. Had she been living here or does she take constant expeditions here? Larita wasn't sure. "Do you come here often?" She asks curiously.

After doing so, Larita shivers. She brought clothing specifically for this expedition, but she couldn't help but feel like she's freezing. Larita wondered how anyone the Darcsens lived up here all this time, it seemed impossible. Then she noticed, a marking on Magari's shawl, it was something Larita had seen before, something she didn't truly understand. The marking of the Darcsens. Larita gulped, she didn't say anything.

Magari seemed like such a nice person compared to what the Darcsens were supposed to have done. "A-Are you a Darcsen?" Larita stutters.

Magari froze in her tracks as Larita stuttered out a question "Are you a Darcsen?" her secret revealed Magari debated what to do... "A-ah... Y-yes... I am a Darcsen..." She spoke quietly, a sort of distant sadness in her voice. Holding up her hands, showing she was no threat, she spoke once again. "I am no threat... To you... O-or anyone you cherish..." with that Magari began walking along the path towards Sammath Naur again.

Larita knew the hatred and prejudice against the Darscens, there was a reason they lived in an excluded mountain area, to the point where some people even questioned if they were even alive anymore. After Larita heard Magari's admittance, she clenched her shirt, feeling sorry for the poor girl. Such an innocent, sweet person hated for something she can't control. As Magari said she was no threat, Larita couldn't help but tear up.

Hugging Magari, "Don't worry... I don't doubt you... I trust you, alright?" Larita smiles to her. With that said however, there were rumours for the Darscens for a reason, Larita needed to understand that. She had no clue what the rest were like, but she felt rude to be suspicious of them. "W-We should go fast... If another mage sees us, they might report it to the others..." Larita cautiously says, looking around, but couldn't make anything out of the darkness or snowy fields.

Magari hadn't gone far, barely three steps as it were, when she was grabbed in a hug by Larita. Instantly she stilled, her entire body locking up in obvious fear. Larita's words calmed her down enough so she wasn't stiff as a board, her shoulders relaxing slightly... As Larita said they needed to get going fast Magari nodded. "A-ah... Yes. You're right, of course... This way, please." Magari said and began climbing higher still, leaving the beaten trail beneath her. "I-if yo-you need help... J-just ask, I'll do what I can... Okay?" Magari said from her position slightly higher up.

"Thank you... You're really kind..." Larita says to Magari. Following the girl, she couldn't help but notice how nervous she was, given even Larita was shy, but not to this extent. "Are we going to your village?" Larita asks. She was fine with it, however was scared how other Darscens viewed humans. To be exiled and hated to this extent, I'm sure both sides harbor a hatred for each other. Although looking at Magari, she relaxed. Not everyone will be blinded by hate.

As the two continued climbing up to a higher path Magari was silently impressed with Larita's ability to traverse the mountain side... Perhaps... No. Such thoughts were best left to the elders, not for someone barely past her teens like Magari. "A-ah, Yes. We're going to my home... Louvere. I-I'm sure you'll like it..." Magari said, wether Larita knew it or not there was a great deal of trust placed on her. Trust, that if betrayed, would potentially see the final end of the Darcsens. The end of a two thousand year decline.

"Louvere, huh? That's a nice name..." Larita says, she never recalled such a place in the books. Then again, it's likely with the hatred, preserving the culture of the Darscens was unwanted by the historians. "Do you know what people think of the Darscens?" Larita questions. It'd be best if she didn't know, but in the end, it's an issue that can't be ignored. If the Darscens were as nice as this girl, it'd be inhumane for any hate on them at all, maybe the events that led to their decline were misinformation or even fabrication?

As Magari hauled herself up onto the platue with the pass of Sammath Naur in front of her she reached a hand down for Larita and puller her up as well. "A-ah... There it is... Sammath Naur." Frightful noises, as if from some massive creature, came from the shadows within. "A-ah... People think Darcsens are stealers... Killers, destroyers, usurpers, eaters of babies, crushers of mountains, swallowers of oceans and kickers of small white dogs... Though at most we get blamed for the Calamity. B-but there is no proof. Not really... I... I guess... Its just easy... to blame us." Magari said, voiced tinged with deep sadness.

"Now that I see you, I don't believe it either... There's something strange going on, why did this all happen?" Larita questions. The accusations for the Darscens were outrageous and the saddest part was, they're too hated for them to defend themselves.

"Easy, huh... That's not right, we have to do something... I wish we could..." Larita murmurs. "The calamity, do you know what happened there?"

Magari straightened slightly, holding a small glowing sphere in her hand as she took a step towards the shadowy pass the glow intensified, dispersing the shadows in front. As Larita asked her about the Darcsen Calamity she gave a thoughtful hum. "I know very little... Myself... Supposedly... A Man called Valkur, and this is just what our legends tell, came from the north. He was a warrior... Greater than any other. He challenged the Darcsen Empire, the mightiest nation in the world back then... And he won. Who knows how many died at his hands... Finally, at the very end of his rampage, he destroyed the Capitol of the old empire... And with it, all hope we ever had of going back to the way things were. History became legend, legend became myth... And there are now none left who knows what really happened. Valkur, when confronted by the other inhabitants of this world, blamed us for the carnage, the deaths..." Magari said sadly, a small lonely tear sliding down her face, glittering in the light from her glowing sphere. "A-ah... I hope... You enjoyed... My tale." Magari said quietly.

Larita listened in awe of what Magari had to say. The history of the Darcsens in terms of what she knew was very little, despite being a huge bookworm. The tales of hatred and how they conspired to kill and hurt people were more focused in the books, but this tale... It felt like it was the true tale. "You're smart, you know that?" Larita smiles at her. "To remember such the history of your people, it's really an important thing."

Larita paused. "I want to learn history so I can help people not make the same mistakes they have in the past and if the information regarding Darcsens is untrue, I'll do my best to help you." She smiles.

They had been walking for awhile in the snowy plains, how much longer did they have to go?

Magari said nothing, having told what little she knew of the Darcsen Calamity had subdued her even more. The pair walked along in companionable silence, the snow falling gently around them. After a while, the warm lights of civilization could be seen in the distance. "There it is... Louvere. I... Suppose, its only right for me to say, Welcome... Welcome to the Diebal Mountains, Realm of Darcsens." Magari said, a small hint of pride in her voice. As they drew closer to Louvere other Darcsens greeted Magari, casting weary, but friendly, looks at Larita. The village of Louvere looked more like something at home in the Swiss Alps, wooden cottages pine trees, things like that.

The village of Louvere looked so serene, so natural. Despite the snowy plains and darkness around them, the place felt enlightening. "It's a really nice place, on par with even the most beautiful cities. You should be proud of who you are." She says to Magari. Hearing all the bad rumours of the Darcsens would put any person into depression, but Larita wanted to make sure that who Magari is, is someone she should be happy of.

"What shall we do now?" She asks.

Magari gave a thoughtful hum. What to do now... "A-ah... I'll stay here, for a few days. Then I'll head out on my pilgrimage again... You're welcome to stay with me, i-if you want... I-I-I m-mean... Its going to be-I- "Magari flushed, knowing her words could be taken in another way entirely...