Eli Lightfoot had a certain reputation. As wild as an adventurer and as loose as an untied knot. From a young age she was a runner for her town and as she grew her willful attitude made her well known rapidly. The first was of her debauchery, the second is of her speed of foot and finally, she is not to be trusted with a high-profile task.

Why then is Eli Lightfoot remembered as one of the greatest couriers is the fact she had never failed a delivery, nor was late. Now getting her to take a job was not hard, you just had to wait till she threw up on someone when they paid for her company for the night. Which was usually within a week of her arriving at any settlement she had a delivery at. After overstaying her welcome, she would then look for the next job and repeat the process.

The rabbitkin’s legend begins on the world of Rynor, in the border town of Fin on the edge of Mordon on the border of Damaska. Fin was a small town but filled with border guards and competition for her womanly charms. The man she was with before barely allowed her to have a free room for the night and she knew the signs to move on.

When Eli entered the couriers' office she knew she made a mistake coming to this fortress town. The job of delivery paid too well for her to pass up, but she never had the forethought to consider past her next round of pleasures. The first thing she noticed was all the couriers were military, meaning military correspondences. Which means a big fat target on her back if she took one of those jobs. The second thing she noticed was the ‘civilian’ jobs only had one task. Which was ignored. Which she knew was her only hope of getting out of the town without putting a target on her back. How wrong she was.

At the smithy of Grinda Fortress, Eli met the middle-aged dwarf woman and was given a child’s drawing along and told to give it to Elder Edwin Fortress at the Warden HQ. With a note that it was from his granddaughter. Eli did not think of it at the time, but the advanced payment included a crystal coin. From her education, in her youth, she knew this was important, but her impatience, drunkenness, and sourness of the hips from the night before made her not care. Until she realized she should.

It should have been noticed by her that many of the couriers she met earlier that day were leaving as well. Not a terrible occurrence. Numbers normally increase the odds of a message being delivered. Something more important when delivering news and not so much when delivering orders. As a civilian courier, she can allow herself to be captured. Usually, that entails a few days of warmed beds by random men and free meals before being released.

Hours away from Fin, Eli knew something was wrong. Her path was taking her towards the setting sun. So the familiar scene of a darkening horizon greeted her. But when that fell away she noticed the glow from behind her. Turning she saw something that sobered her from her lingering hangover. The pains of pleasure and a day of travel were forgotten as she saw Fin burning.

Eli might have been a courier and was properly trained, but had never been brave. And she was not stupid either, except when booze and pleasure was involved. And she knew. To achieve those you got to be alive. And seeing the blaze she knew one unmistakable fact. The truce was over. So she ran.

It was not minutes later that she saw her first body. One of the military couriers was there when she took her job. She only glanced at the body a moment to count the shafts and get the armband number before moving on quickly. She did not dare touch the body out of fear whoever got him was still nearby. And they think she is taking up his run.

The second body Eli found, she did not even slow down and every one after that she picked up speed. Throughout the night she ran and the next without stopping. Dipping into her kit for stamina restoration and pain migration drugs.

The town of Heidn Pass was a modest-sized settlement outside the Gates of Heidn. A major checkpoint to the Mordon capitol. The gate guards were yawning bored as Eli approached on the third night. Her pace was barely a crawl. When she fell and the dozen and more shafts of arrows and bolts revealed themselves. That is when the guards paid attention.

Warden Miller and his unit were in a meeting with the leaders of the town when he heard about the courier. He had an idea of what was going on and knew holding this town was an impossibility. Trying to convince them to evacuate to the gate was equally as difficult.

Eighteen hours after Eli arrived at Heidn Pass, she woke up coughing up a lung... halfway before the healer got to her and stopped the choking on her own flesh and blood. After another twenty minutes, Miller arrived with his unit and five words were said to change Eli’s and the Warden’s fates forever.

[The Post Must Not Stop]

[The Post Must Not Stop]

[The Post Must Not Stop]

The ultimate skill of a courier. To them, it is a goal, and the means to help achieve that goal. To the average person, it means almost nothing. But to a Warden. It is a lesson. Long is their memory and even longer is their motivation. To the Wardens, those five words were absolute.

Six Wardens and an injured courier. If you want to look up the battles of Heidn Pass or the siege of Mordon Capitol, do it on your own time. I am here to tell you how she became a legend. Not some battle analyst. No, what made her a legend is what she did after getting to Unity. She broke into the Warden HQ. Covered in blood and injury. SHE BREACHED THE KEEP. Something unheard of to the Wardens. Something no civilian is meant to do. And she did it. And here is why...

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Eli Lightfoot put her blood-soaked pouch on the general's desk and poured out its contents. Among the personal effects small amount of money she had, a crystal coin fell on the general’s desk along with the picture his granddaughter made.

The old dwarf was strict and a stickler for the rules, but he was busy and found amusing the trespasser will be quicker than forcing her out. The thought of making her leave left his mind as he saw the picture covered in blood and the note with it half unreadable. The dwarf’s throat his sobs but not his tears as he read what little was readable of the note before noticing the courier was gone. Or rather collapsed.

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This event was what the Warden’s later call the Fortress’s Walk. Again I am not a military storyteller. I am a courier one. Unfortunately for Eli Lightfoot, she did not survive her injuries. The Wardens made her a special totem in the Great Hall of Remembrance, and around it is the six members of Miller’s unit, including himself. Set to be her protectors.

And from that day forth, no courier is stopped at the Warden Keep. But remember, they will escort you. No matter how shameful you are. How much of a disgrace you are. As long as you have a courier’s pride. So be it orders for a battlefield, or a child’s drawing, or the soulgem of a general’s granddaughter. For delivering the post is our goal, but to them, it is an absolute.