Saviours of Itona.

Aranel Telrunya walked casually, alone and without hurry. He was a big man, broad shouldered and barrel chested. From head to toe he was covered with heavy plate mail, his own personal crest emblazoned on the front of the chest. His blade hung from his hip, ready to be drawn at the first sign of trouble. That blade was his pride and joy, serrated edges meaning not only could he slash and pierce, but he could tear as well. Slowing down to a halt, he slowly pulled off his helm, revealing a dark face, with piercing dark eyes. He undid his black hair from its warriors tail, and let it fall around his face. He ran his hand through it, and noted that he would have to wash it once his brother caught up and they had made it to the next town.

He turned at the sound of approaching hoof beats on the dusty road. Carefully he studied the rider, before coming to the conclusion that it was, in fact, his brother.
“Ah, Matteus, seems you caught up at last, I feared that maybe the Charr had finally got you” Aranel said with a grin. His white teeth glistened, the effect of which made Matteus grin back. “Harpies, get me? No brother, you must be mistaken” Matteus Replied.

Matteus Telrunya didn’t look anything like his brother Aranel, who was dark skinned and dark haired. Matteus was fair skinned; however he still had the same dark hair as Aranel. He was slender where Aranel was broad, and stood eight inches smaller than Aranel’s impressive six foot six. Aranel and Matteus weren’t actually blood related; Aranel had been brought into the family at a young age, and raised as one of the Telrunyas. However, Aranel had quickly befriended Matteus, who was three years his senior, and the duo quickly became inseparable. As they grew up, Aranel became the warrior of the family, strong and agile when needed, he was able to wield the axe, hammer or sword with great ease. Matteus however had turned his eye towards something less, physical, and had trained the arts of the elements. Now, at 23, he was a master of air magic, and a fantastic Aeromancer.

Both brothers looked at the landscape around them, rock, dirt and ash as far as the eye could see. The Harpies had left no building whole and standing during the searing, and the land would take thousands of years to look like it once did. Although, both brothers were hard pressed to remember what it did used to look like, as most of their life had been spent with the effects of the searing, and the countless wars. Aranel had been ten when the Harpies brought the searing upon the nation of Ascalon. Matteus had been thirteen. Their parents had perished that first day, along with many other people, caught in the fires of Itona, that lit up the sky. Both Aranel and Matteus had sworn to exact revenge upon the Harpies, for destroying their nation and their lives.

“So” began Aranel, staring at his older brother, “What’s the situation in Itona?”.
“The latest Harpy raid has hit the city pretty hard,” Matteus shook his head “just as citizens start settling down, and permanent housing begins being built, the Harpies appear and destroy everything again.” He sighed before continuing, “After you left, another raiding party attacked the city, but it was a smaller group, consisting of younger Harpies, and they were pretty easy to deal with.” Matteus finished recounting events of the second attack, after Aranel had left, while Aranel himself listened intently. Both brothers were intent on destroying the Harpies, and acted as lone heroes, helping where they could, defending towns, attacking Harpy camps. But this latest attack on Itona was just one of many, ever since the original attack destroyed the city.

“They’re not letting us settle,” decided Aranel. “They want us out, and the only reason we’re still around, is they’re not unified enough to send the entire Harpy nation out against us. They could easily defeat the Itonians, but they are to much of a warring nation to be able to group together successfully for the amount of time needed to destroy the Itonians.”
“You’re right.” Agreed Matteus. He was always the smarter of the two, but Aranel possessed the greater knowledge of warfare, and Matteus listened to him when he could.