Elven magic meets gunslinger grit. What happens when two elven travellers find themselves in the United States in the middle of the Civil War? The Adventures of Black Mask and Pale Rider tells the story of two elven women who's curiosity gets the better of them.
The wild ride takes them from the Union to the Confederacy and back again. Along the way they make enemies and friends and learn a little bit about this world, and about themselves. An adventure of six guns and sorcery.
Prologue:
Pania Alow sighed as she read over the note one more time, her eyes dancing over the neat, elven script carefully. Lyssa Stormwater, Pania's best friend and lover, had borrowed her horse Triumph. Adding to that, Lyssa was being joined by Ari and Shani, as the three were off on a grand adventure; some itch that Lyssa needed to do. It was important, that was all that mattered.
Such thoughts of adventure left Pania thinking about the past, how far she'd traveled in her life, and how it affected her at this very moment. She thought about that as she sat down at the large and very ornate oak desk in her quarters at the Shining Lady temple. As she held her quill between tender fingertips, she thought how different her life was now, as compared to how it was before. When did she stop becoming a bard and start becoming a holy knight? Pania snorted a small laugh as she checked her candles, lighting those that she'd need. The memories were coming back slowly, and she'd be writing well into the evening.
Before she sat down at her desk, she opened a small cabinet and took out an ornate box. Using a key, she opened it, and looked inside. There, laying inside the small container, were a pair of weapons. On her home-world of Terra-Kal, no one would know them. Called Smith and Wesson, Pania dubbed them her Twin Volcanics. Items from another place and another time.
They held a story, just as much as the memories that drifted through the elven bard's mind. But where to start, that was always the problem. The beginning, the middle? Or the point where she first met Shani on that road outside of a town called Harrisburg.
It would be a story of adventure, of daring and excitement. Instead of mulling over what to write, Pania Alow just began to write.
Many years later, in another place
Captain Samuel Williams had been dispatched quickly only three weeks before by the President. Williams, along with a small group of men, had been given orders to ride to Pennsylvania and search for the outlaw known as Pale Rider. For several months, this outlaw had been stirring up trouble from the east coast to the territories, and during this dark time in the new nation's history, such activities had to be quelled. Now he along with his men were assisting local posses in trying to find this Pale Rider.
So far, no such luck.
Williams looked out over the landscape as he sat tall in his saddle. The sun was starting to sink, giving warning that evening was coming on. The group had been searching all day long under the hot sun, and not a single sign of this outlaw anywhere. Private Michael Johnson steered his horse and moved closer to the Captain, gazing out where Williams was looking.
"Not a blessed sign, Johnson," he muttered to himself as he filled his pipe with tobacco. The ritual with his pipe was a sign to the men that he was ready to retire this chase, at least for the evening..
"No, Sir," Johnson agreed, in part to make comment, but also in part to inform Williams that his own eyes could not find a thing either.
"It's like she disappears into thin air," Williams sighed heavily as he looked over at Johnson. "The men are getting restless. It's late." Williams looked over his small command and took a deep breath. "Alright men. Saddle up. We'll head back to Reading and rest and restock. We'll continue in the morning." The men slowly climbed into their saddles and began the trek back to Reading. Another wasted day. Sometimes it all seemed for nothing.