HillTopNinjas

On her way to Cherak, Phinnae hears of a band of dragon-bloods roaming the plains searching for Anathema. Now, heading her mentors words of "discreet", Phinnae decides to travel the rugged path through the Black Crag Mountains. Unfortunately she is tramping through the sacred ground of a small, enclave of hill top ninjas. Quietly practicing their forms to achieve ultimate enlightenment. As punishment for this they attempt to make Phinnae their slave girl.

Being exalted, Phinnae easily fends off their attacks but is intrigued by their fluid, graceful, yet cracking martial arts style. She decides to stay and learn their art. Happy that Phinnae hasn't crushed them all, yet fearful of offending her, they agree to teach her their ways. Phinnae excels quickly upgrading her current MA 1 to MA 5. Just before Phinnae announces her intentions to leave, the enclave requests Phinnae partake in a final demonstration for the newer members. It is to take the form of a gauntlet. Several tests of skill and ingenuity. Each more cunning than the last, culminating in a final sprint to the finish and adulation by the crowd.

When she finally crosses the finish line - the crowd going wild, balloons and streamers appearing from no where. Doves flying, dogs barking, children laughing. Phinnae, arms extended over her head in triumph, vaguely senses the air moving around her ears before "BOING". Two logs held by nearby trees swing down and collide with Phinnae's beautiful head. Her noggin is swimmin'. Her vision blurry. She has a vague sensation of being lifted.

Unbeknownst to Phinnae, the ninjas - afraid of her unnatural strength and the fact that she knows their secret handshake - have set a trap to ensure she leaves their village and won't remember her time with them. Unfortunatley for the ninjas they are unaware of how to actually "kill" an Anathema so only end up disorientating her. Leaving her with a vague memory of a dream she once had about ninjas.

So they turf Phinnae's eye-lolling, concussed body down the hill, and vanish in the blink of her eye. In actuality, they take several hours to pack up their encampment and move two hill tops over.

Phinnae regains a semblance of consciousness hours later. She is lying cold, wet, and surrounded by strange green berries. Her head aches and she has trouble remembering where she is and what she has been doing. She has flashes of figures dressed in black and a mob shouting. After a while she comes to the conclusion that she must have eaten some dodgy berries and had been tripping for a few days.