My name is Altarth and I am a lawful Knight. I have been on my own for many weeks now, I left my pledge due to complications, so all I have now is a few friends I meet now and then, and my two trusty dogs, Hunt and Assassin. I have had them sience they were pups, and I could not bear to loose them. This is my tragic story.

I woke up just before dawn, as I usually did to watch the rays of sun hit the snow, causing all of Oren to shine with an unequaled beauty not even glorious Heine could compare to. I walked out of my inn room and on to the deck. I stood for what seemed an hour waiting for the sun to rise. Yet, Oren remained shrouded in darkness. I asked a local man what was going on and he told me, "Regretfully I do not know, but I do know 3 great wizards are exparamenting with the Dark Arts in the Ivory Tower".

"Could that be causing the darkness shrouding Oren?" I asked.
"As I said, Sir Knight, I do not know."
"No one around here seems to know much of anything," I muttered.
"Pardon me Sir?"
"Oh, nothing. Just thinking."
"Well I must be off, Sir Knight. I hope you find the answer to your questions!" he yelled as he hurried off.

I shrugged my shoulders and headed over to the Kennel to pick up my loyal dogs, Hunt and Assassin. The inn would not take my pets overnight so I had to give them to the Kennel outside. I asked him why earlier and he said he didn't know why, he said he just didn't like to have two more customers in a room without paying full price. When I retrieved them, I looked at them with sympathy because they had been outside all night. Icicles had formed around their noses and mouths. I took the two indoors at a nearby abandoned cabin. I threw some old logs in and read a fireball scroll to light the fire. Soon the wood was burning and crackling, so I had my dogs sit next to it and the icicles began to melt and my poor dogs began to look a bit better.

As my dogs sat near the fireplace I ran over to the Potion Shop. I planned to buy 50 Healing Potions, a few Bravery Potions, and a few Greater Haste Potions, but when I got there the tax was raised 50%! I was shocked as much as I was angry. I knew there was nothing I could do except teleport to Giran. I was sure prices there were much cheaper. So I read a blessed teleport scroll, said the location of the bookmark, and I teleported there. As normal, the magic of the scroll teleported my dogs too, so we all stood there infront of the Giran Potion shop west of the famous Giran Cross. My dogs whimpered. they wanted to be back at that fireplace, back in front of the inviting warmth.

"We will be back there soon enough", I told them.

After I restocked my invintory, I read another blessed teleport scroll and teleported back to Ivory Tower Town. When we got back to the abandoned cabin the fire was all burned out. My dogs looked at me longingly, but they knew there was nothing I could do. So we set out on a hunt. That was my fatal mistake.

We walked out of town and into the frozen wastelands. We looked around at all the undead Elmore Soldiers. We saw many mages and knights hunting the undead monsters. After a while we gave up on the wastelands, there were just too many people. So we passed through the wastelands and we stepped onto the crisp snow. The darkness seemed so menacing now that we were so far away from town. Monsters were few here, so it made hunting all the harder. Walking in snow is not an easy task, especially in the dark. We wandered to the frozen wonderland and soon we made our way to a mountain path. I turned around to see how far we had gone. The town was no longer in sight, nor was the wastelands. A light snow began to fall. I thought perhaps I should just end this hunt and go relax for the rest of the day. I was about to reach into my sack and get an escape scroll when I heard a young woman yell, "Baby! Baby where are you! Baby come back to me! Baaabyyy!"

As I walked further ahead I saw a young female elf running around, searching everywhere for something.

I yelled to her, "What are you looking for, Miss?"

She shouted back, "Have you seen my poor Baby? She ran away when I took her out of the Kennel!"

"I am sorry but I have not seen any dogs wandering around."
"If you find her send me a letter then!"
"What is your name, Miss?"
"My name is Ellune."
"Good luck with your search, Ellune!"
"Thank you, Sir Knight. I must be off now! Baaaaaabyyyyyyy! Oh baby where are you?"

As she walked off, I felt sympathy for her. I don't know what I would do if I lost one of my dogs.

The snow began to fall harder and a wind started to blow. I quickly reached into my sack to get my escape scrolls, but I felt nothing in there but a few potions. Then I realized that I stored my scrolls away when I went to Giran! I desperately searched my pack for any scrolls at all, even a regular teleport scroll. Nothing, all I had was a few pieces of meat and a few potions. I groaned as I sat down on the hard packed snow. "What am I to do now? I am lost in this frozen winterland!" I thought to myself.

The wind started to pick up, and the snow fell even harder. Then I knew I was in trouble. A Blizzard had been my way all the while. I called my dogs over to me, doing my best to shout over the wind. The wind now felt like small icy daggers pricking my bare skin. My dogs quickly trotted through the rising snow, and looked at me with dismay and confusion. I could tell they were scared too. I stood up and started walking. My dogs trustfully followed.

The Blizzard was now so bad that I could barely see my two dogs. The wind howled around me, sending chills down my spine. After what seemed to be hours, I finally felt weak. I looked wearily towards my dogs, who had collapsed a few feet back. I fell to my knees, sinking into the deep snow. I crawled to them with what little energy I had left. As I came near Hunt and Assassin I collapsed. The energy suddenly left my body. I thought, "W-what is going to hap-ppen to me now? I don't want... t-to...... d-die........". The darkness of the sky seemed to come down with the snow, as my world span. Then, I finally passed out.