In 2019, a war had broken out in the world. But no one expected that a crazed occult lunatic found something of great power and used it to unleash the one thing mankind thought didn't exist. Magic has returned to the earth. Upon its arrival came many beings and people. But as a cost, the world as it was known in those days have vanished.

Now it is 2919, or 900 AE. After Earth.

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In a rather large peaceful settlement, one that has bordered a large forest that was once one of the largest cities in the world, a recluisive Elf had emerged from his forest home to turn in some pelts and earn money to receive more arrows for his bow. His Emerald green eyes looked around the area as he walked to the trading post and proceeded to do business.

"Ah Zaldir, the usual pay I presume?" The keeper asked the silent, white haired elf. The elf only nodded in reply and proceeded with what the humans called trading for a living. The pay was same as always it seemed, 4 bags of gold per pelt. Zaldir shrugged and took his pay before walking back outside, trying to make sure nothing strange had occurred. He turned his head and looked at the calendar as he sighed and chuckled.

"First year of adulthood has started eh? Happy birthday to me then." Zaldir muttered as he pondered if he should get something to treat himself with.

It was midday and the weather was warm. Was it summer or fall? Tori could never get it right. The seasons changed far to quickly for her liking. The years passed by and she was 22 before she knew. She felt old. Especially compared to the other customers of the inn she resided at. There were all kinds of elves and dwarves, orcs and other human-like, or unlike, creatures. An average human woman lived to be around 70 in those times, and she has gone through more than a quarter of her life. And half of that time she didn't even remember. Her childhood was a big blur in her memory, filled with odd pictures of her family spending time on a picnic or of her grandfather telling her war stories. And now she was in her twenties, with no steady income or a home, or even a town for a permanent residence.

It's not that she complained. She loved her way of living, doing easy work and scraping by, but now, sitting in a tavern, between an elven woman and a drunk dwarf, she felt lonely. There weren't many of her kind in a town she currently resided in. Actually she remembered seeing only two in the past week. Well, it's not like humans brought anything but trouble. Elven kind was much more peaceful... and beautiful.

Tori gulped down the remainder of her beer. The drink was sour and warm, but nutritious. Just what he needed to sustain her until lunch. She stood from her stool, leaving a silver coin on the bar, and with a wave to the bartender, walked outside. Living in that inn had proved cozy and she planned on staying for at least another week. There was enough work to keep her fed and the people there took a liking to her. Also there was a lot of elven kind, and Tori couldn't keep her eyes off of them. It's not her fault, they were too beautiful not to stare. Humans were too common and dwarves were too short. Orcs? Well, she didn't consider that option.

Walking through the marketplace, Tori hummed a melody she heard last night from a travelling bard. It was a catchy tune. She didn't even notice that her eyes were closed and head bobbing in the rhythm of the melody. Not until she bumped into a stranger. It was an elf. Tall, white-haired, seemingly not very friendly.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Tori apologized, bowing her head briefly. "I wasn't looking."

Zaldir felt someone bump into him as he turned to look at the human before him. He watched her apologize and give him a slight bowing of the head as if he was almost akin to royalty. Shaking his head in awkward silence he turned to the marketplace to look around.

"Not a problem at all Miss." He replied as he walked and took a look around at the small trinkets and items sold in one marketplace, trying to look for something to treat himself with and give him slight opportunity to treat himself with. Even though he was now old enough to where birthdays didn't really matter, he felt he needed something to seal the passage into adulthood.

He was slightly curious as to why the human was slightly respectful of him even though unlike the rest of his kind, he preferred the silence and the sanctuary of the woods best. He shook his head with a small smile. If he focused on that too much he was sure she'd bother him again. He heard the sounds of a bar fight going on in another Tavern and sighed as he theorized what it could possibly be.

"Orcs or Dwarves, one of the two.

"Oh, Maker..."

Tori was stunned by one quick look of the elven man's. All elves were gorgeous, but there was something in his vibrant eyes and that snow colored hair, that won Tori over. He wasn't very forthcoming, but he was decent, and that was enough for the girl to turn from the path she was on.

In the next second, she was strutting behind the elf. He was very tall, or she was very short. Either way, her head barely reached his shoulders. She noticed that the elf was headed towards the market, gazing at the shops with interest. She needed to speak up, get the man talking, anything, she was simply too curious. And, Tori was never subtle.

"Uh, sir." She addressed the elf, "Do you need help? I know my way around here pretty well."

For a second she was distracted by the sounds of chairs braking and glasses shattering, followed by a couple of enraged shouts and incomprehensible grunts. Another party at the tavern. She shrugged.

"Must be orcs. They're getting restless. A whole pack of them walked in this morning, looking for trouble."

Zaldir sighed when the woman interrupted his train of thought and responded to her first inquiry. "No, I was just browsing around for something to buy for, how you say, 'nice things wise'." He stated as he turned his attention to the group of orcs exiting the tavern either drunk or dazed as they headed towards a camp settled at the outskirts of the village. Zaldir knew this possibly meant raiders. He hated raiders, bandits, and anything related to those terms, he gently rubbed the metal covering on the tip of his left ear, the one that covered the pointed end up to the fitting around the earlobe.

He only rubbed it to remind himself of why he lived in the woods, and the circumstances thereof. A red Cardinal landed on his shoulder and chirped at him as if trying to talk to him. It snapped him out of the reverie as he looked at the bird. "Thank you good Cardinal, I am surprised you of all birds remembered my 125th is today. Seeing as you like to mess with my hunts. Now go bug those Orcs, I'm trying to buy myself a present."

With that the bird flew off in a slight chirp of surprise as Zaldir chuckled at it's antics.

"Oh, it's your birthday!" Tori was overjoyed since she found a topic to converse about with the stranger. "And you're 125! Wow, and not ten minutes ago, I was sitting at the inn, thinking myself old..." She laughed heartily, with a bit of relief, but then that laughter turned into something awkward. "Uh... not that I think you're old or anything, sir... You look quite young now that I look at you closely." She smiled reassuringly and hurried in order to catch up to the stranger.

It was his birthday, it was only polite to congratulate and offer up to buy drinks or food or anything. Not that she had anything else to do until her night job at a warehouse. Tori look intensely at the elf man's profile, taking in his features. Yes, he was handsome and youthful. The elves were lucky, they got to live for a thousands of years, their appearance never changing. She could go for about another decade without getting frown lines.

"Um, sir..." She quickened her pace, stepping in front of the elf in order to stop him from taking those long steps she couldn't catch up to. "I would like to congratulate you, but I don't even know your name."

Zaldir mentally sighed as the human overheard his conversation. He raised an eyebrow at her awkward statement before trying to walk away to another part of the market, that is when she headed him off simply to congratulate him. He sighed mentally and debated for several long seconds. Should he tell her his name? What is she really? Is she just this curious or is she an Assasssin of some sort, or someone looking into the rumors people tell about him, the Forest Dweller?

"If you really insist then I have no choice. My name is Zaldir Taval, of The Clan Taval." He stated calmly as he tried to turn to another market and try not to listen to all of her other questions.

Tori nodded with satisfaction. It was an answer, no matter how terse.

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance, sir... Zaldir... sir."

She stuttered out the words, trying to be polite (since she knew from experience how the elven folk treasured common culture, and she didn't want to seem brutish), but managing only to sound like a soldier. The elf never asked her name, but instead seemed to try to get away from her. Well, he wasn't too angry yet, and Tori saw that as an invitation to prod him further.

"Uh... I'm Tori Karter." She continued, hurrying after the man. "Of House Karter... well, it's more of a small merchant family, but, either way. Happy birthday! Or best wishes. Or, I don't know, do elven folk have some other way of congratulating a birthday?" Tori still rumbled, walking a step behind the elf. "I bet you have a big party planned out."

Zaldir smiled a slightly rueful smile. "A big party. Aye, a party of one at any rate. I'm all that remains of the Taval." He stated quietly as he looked at a necklace with a medallion on it, with an ornate looking Moon on it. "Hm, an amulet showing The Creator." He muttered as he decided to buy that and dropped one gold coin to the shopkeeper.

"Keep the change." He stated. He walked towards the tavern the Orcs exited out of as he put the bags of gold he received into one bag. He looked towards the Orc camp and knew he had to deal with them sooner then later. But after a quick refreshing drink to steady his nerves.