As you walk through the iron gates, you see the massively elegant bulk of the palace rising up from the hill upon which it is set just off to your left. It is common practice for visitors to present themselves to the Emperor's staff upon arrival, so you won't have far to go if that is your first point of inquiry. There is an outbuilding at the palace gate not a thousand feet away populated with imperial adjuncts and functionaries dedicated to just this exact service.
Ada'an K Local:
Ayalaeth K Arcana:
Ada'an Aid another K Arcana:
The city and palace of Lanzhu, she had heard much of the fabled empire and it's capitol city, and for years she had dreamed of seeing it's wonders with her own eyes. It's was no Lesthoto, true, yet the legendary capital did, at first sight, certainly seem to live up to its reputation.
When they land, Aylaeth gracefully dismounts and observes the interaction with the castle functionary. When Damian indicates that the party will stable their mounts in the most sumptuous city stables, Tora'an nods once in acceptance, as if he had never expected anything less.
At the Captian's reply to Belsarious, Ada'an suddenly pipes up helpfully"Yes! I saw him too! Most definitely he was from Stormfare, or at least dressed as such. Likely a member of the aristocracy I'd say. Although I'm sorry I cannot tell you any more than that at present." Tora'an snorts in derision, making his opinion of the Cassean's addition quite clear.
Leaving the landing zone and heading into the city proper, Aylaeth joins Damian and Min at the front of the party, as commanded. Tora'an lags behind, once again moving closer to the female pegasus.
In reply to the questions posed her, she smiles widely, and cannot help a little chuckle that slips out "Haha, why, yes, I suppose you could say I know the General. She's my adopted big sister! And a finer General does not exist in all the land! I've known her all my life. And yes, you are correct Min, I did train under her as well, and never have I known a more strict taskmaster. I would not be the woman I am today were it not for her guidance and training. I have seen Captian Citanu several times, yet I mainly know her by reputation only. She is very well respected amongst the troops. Your memory continues to serve you well Min, except that in most notes it is properly called the Magnifying Glass of Total Reversal and it's power is indeed terrible to even contemplate. It is said to have the ability to reverse the time flow of anything, from a single being to an entire world. It is not known if there is an upper limit to its power. The result of someone being destroyed by this is that not only do they cease to exist, they cease to exist entirely, in a way that they cannot possibly ever be resurrected or their spirit even communed with; it is as if they simply never were. From the reports we have heard regarding the fate of poor Na-Calanon, I am quite sure that that is the abomination which was used." and as she revisits the fate of the loved and noble great Gold, she shudders involuntarily.
Taking a breath, she firms herself and continues her report "As for Bethany Erodal, yes, there were records of a transfer student -- a paleo-arcanist, one who studies early magics -- named Bethany Erodal who spent time in Stormfare after studying briefly in smaller colleges. She had been working with a Professor Sundine in the History department as her advisor. According to her transcripts she got good grades, but has published no papers. I was able to speak with Professor Sundine while we were in Stormfare and, according to him, 'Bethdany's mad as a rabid goblin, but crazy like a fox. Erratically brilliant' He also said that she is convinced the Abominations were part of a larger plot, and that she also believed Marianasu had apprentices. He says that there is no proof for any of it, but that Bethany still swore there were 'answers in the mists, and in the Old Land.' He never knew what exactly she meant by that but it seems clear to me that she meant to find her answers here. Which would explain why she requested a transfer to Lanzhu."
Thinking for a moment, she recalls something else and continues "Oh yes, and, I am not sure of what value this will be or not, but accoding to the professor, Bethany spent her time in Stormfare mostly studying the history of botany; specifically Arcanobotany -- the use of plants in magic down into the distant past. She kept looking into the Abominations, I think, but it was peripheral. She was apprently convinced that some of the effects of the Abominations could be neutralized or duplicated through herb-magicks. She and the professor spent their time looking for very special and rare plants, and she became obsessed with a certain kind of tea plant called the Snow Bud, that only grows in the mountains on the border of Enhathlad and The Empire of Mists. That discovery apparently led to her eventual transfer request to come study here at the University in Lanzhu."
She then shares with them what she knows about the
The Snow Bud is a fine and rare and much-sought-after tea; the plant only blooms once every 71 years, and then for a very short time. Getting to them is extraordinarily difficult as they grow only in the highest peaks of the tallest mountains in one of the most dangerous places in the Land; the border between Enhathlad and the Empire of Mists. The taste, however, is said to be so sublime as to be completely worth whatever price one pays, whether it be the dangerous climb or the ridiculous cost to buy it from a merchant.
It is said that in Lanzhu there are magics one can perform that only work with the Snow Bud, but if this is true it is not documented anywhere west of the Old Land, as no one has been able to re-create these effects, or find evidence or documentation from anyone who has. Therefore, the general consensus is that this claim is a myth, albeit one that is steeped in the actual taste of one of the greatest teas in existence.
Lastly, routing for a moment in her haversack, the Lestothan scholar pulls out a tightly rolled scroll, explaining " Professor Sundine gave me this, a quick note of introduction to the Dean at the University of Lanzhu. He reminded me that the Empire is a place that prides itself tremendously on manners and protocol. His said that his word alone wouldn't get us any kind of free access to the stacks or anything like that, but it should at least convince them to let us talk to people without feeling the need to shadow our every move. From what I understand, Bethany came to study here with one San Pen, by permission of a Professor Yeo, head of the History department at the college in Lanzhu. So I suggest we begin our inquires about her there."
And, finally finished her lengthy report, she looks towards her commander, ready for his next orders for her.
Min was still absorbing everything Aylaeth had said but he was fixated on the strange way the abomination destroyed or... Completely reversed things from existence. He was far too skeptic when it came to things being irreversible, if they could fight demons, raise the dead, battle gods than they could beat some damned trinket left behind by a mortal wizard. The golds destruction didn't sit well with him at all, but he wasn't convinced that it was the end. Not yet.
"I don't remember things quite as well as you but I try." He chuckles before grimacing at what her words entailed about looking for this Bethany whats-her-face. "Great another library... " He grumbled quietly under his breath before suddenly having an idea. "I'll check the library if needed. It'll take me sometime to absorb your report there Aylaeth."
He didn't have to look over his shoulder to know that Lin was walking closely behind them, smirking at the fact Min was carrying all their gear himself.
Maiathreen quietly follows behind Damian, Min, and Aylaeth. He quickly places the information about the snow bud and Bethany Erodal in his mental library.
Damian's grim countenance breaks briefly for a wry grin when Aylaeth tells him about her sister. She had surely informed him in the past - but the past is far more in the distance for him, even if he cannot recall the entirety of his time away. "Well, that should make introductions much easier. Shall we?" He indicates that Aylaeth's lengthy report brought them all of the way to the palace gates.
He approaches the functionaries with confidence and purpose. "Good day, my friends. I am Captain Damian Lamorak of Izmir, present with my battle companions. We present ourselves to the fine staff of the esteemed Emperor, whose hospitality we enjoy. Our wonder at the sights of your city is never-ending."
Aylaeth smiles at Min's eagerness and willingness to help. The idea that he should research in the library, when she had spent the larger portion of her life in them was more than a little amusing to her. Yet she knew his heart and intentions were in the right place. Especially knowing how much he seemed to dislike libraries in general; something else she could not even remotely comprehend. What was it exactly about Min that caused to constantly place himself in the most uncomfortable or dangerous positions, she wondered. Perhaps she could speak with Lin about that sometime, for if anyone would know, it would be the Silver. That would be a conversation for another time though, as they had now reached the gates.
Aid Another Diplomacy:
As Damian introduces them, Aylaeth also steps forward, and, doing her best to recall the strange customs of this land, speaks as politely as she can, "Greetings. If this one may be so bold as to request a favour, perhaps you would be kind enough to inform General Illuminata Vittoria of Lesotho that her sister, Aylaeth Brely'an, is here?" and, nodding her head once in a shallow bow, she steps back into place, her hair, despite the lack of a breeze, doing a dance on his own in her excitement at the hopefully upcoming reunion.
Bel begins to disrobe as he moves towards the inspection station, wondering if any of the officials will stop him before he finishes.
Bel suddenly stops mid-step. His vision blurring the convergence of the vision from limbo with a picture of himself aged. The vision seems real as the eldritch knight begins to think he does master chronomancy in the future.
He turns to his companions....
"Was it I in limbo we saw as we traveled through?"
The words are barely out of Aylaeth's mouth when the great General herself comes striding out from the inner gate, a puzzled expression mixing joy, concern, and curiosity in equal parts. She stands before you all, a slim but strong-looking woman, perhaps 5'9", with obsidian eyes and golden hair and ornate armor. When she speaks, her voice is silvery and clarion, a voice bred of royalty and meant to command. "At ease, Lamorak." she salutes back at Sir Damian's automatic salute. "As operating commanding officer here, I'll be happy to debrief you prior to turning your...team loose on the city. But first, my kid sister here needs a talking to." She winks broadly and gives Aylaeth a big hug, their armor clanking and bonking together and making the gesture awkward but no less sincere for it. "What in the Master's name are you doing here, Brel? And...and how? Tell me you haven't been flying all the way here, for poor Tora'an's sake, if nothing else. And, lastly..." she looks all of you over, her gave appraising and unflinching, but not unkind. "...of just who exactly are you Skyknights comprised?"
Lin waited until the Generally addressed the pair of them directly before speaking. "Merry meet General Vittoria, I am Lindórievórea companion of Min Bein'Meleth Rámalóce..." Her voice was a low rumble emanating deep from the center of her chest but was crystal clear when she spoke.
As if he had been speaking the entire time Min picked up Lin's train of though, finishing the last of what she had planned to say. "Last of the Heartland air division, Skyknight Lieutenant to Sir Lamorak." In perfect chorus they ended with. "... We've heard a lot about you and it is a pleasure to finally meet you in person." He gave her a quick Heartland salute before resuming his standing at attention. Lin was sitting behind her companion, towering over everyone with her majestic height and gleaming scales. While he stood behind their organized and piled up gear, looking for all the world as if they were ready to depart at a moments notice.
Once they were no longer under scrutiny Lin gave Min a questioning look and in return he gave her a mischievous smile...
Sophitia saluted as she too introduced herself. "Sophitia Heart, Paladine of Izmir."
"I am Belsarious, last knight and presumed Emperor o tha elves o tha great trackless wood."
Belsarious bows his long hair sweeping forward.
He then lets the hair obscure his face as he continues to question if perhaps his future self did save them all on the trip through limbo. Such strange thoughts he has had ever since meeting the little naked man......
"Vitti!" the magus, her hair doing it's own ecstatic dance of joy, shouts with equal surprise and joy to have her beloved elder sister appear almost as if summoned by the very mention of her. Smile spread widely across her face, Aylaeth moves eagerly into the embrace with the famous general. Ending the embrace, but still leaving an arm around each other, Aylaeth allows each of the other Skyknights to introduce themselves as they see fit.
Doing her best to ignore the nudity of the increasingly strange Belsarious, Aylaeth gives time for Mai and Livain to introduce themselves as well, or not, as their preference. She then fills in any needed remaining details and continues with "No, no, Vitti, you know I would never subject Tora'an to an arduous journey like that unless absolutely necessary. We traveled through Limbo to get here. And that is a story all on it's own! Have you or any of yours teleported of late? But let's save that for the debrief, shall we?" her voice growing more serious, she finally releases the embrace and stands facing her sister "As for why we are here Vitti, Captain Lamorak and we Skyknights have been tasked with a mission most dire and perilous, in fact the very fate of the Land shall depend on the success or failure of our task." Her voice hitching slightly, she lowers it to a whisper meant for the General's ears alone as she finishes "With you being here Vitti, you must be aware of the terrible...death, of Na-Calanon, yes? We are quite sure one of Mariansu's Abominations was responsible, and it is no less than the capture and destruction of all of those horrid creations that our quest entails. As well as the capture of the man we believe to be responsible for Na-Calanon's dire fate." After which she looks earnestly towards her sister to gauge that worthy's response.
Damian eyes Belsarious and halts his disrobing with a single icy word, "Stop." They cannot afford to offend their hosts with the strange behavior of one of their members.
When he sees Vittoria, he stops dead in his tracks. "Illuminata..." he breathes out her name in a whisper. A flash of memories from his past and her future flashes across his eyes. He remembers the faint scent of late nights; the memories of comforting each other after Aylaeth's brutal death cut through the hazy recollection of his time in the Everywhen.
He collects himself quickly, straightening his spine and looking at her straight in the eye. "It is good to meet you, General. As Aylaeth explained, we teleported here from Stormfare to assist in the investigation of Na-Calanon's death. We believe it to be related to our ongoing quest to find and recover the twelve Abominations of the Archmage Marianasu. What can you tell us of the circumstances of his death, and of the man who killed him?"
Maiathreen barely nods his head in way of greeting. "Maiathreen Gyssearnith, magus wielder of the blackblade Servais."
"I am Livain Gyssearnith, the rude ones wife." She says with a playful elbowing of Maiathreen's side at his terse introduction. "It is a pleasure to meet you. Your sister has told me much of you."
The general raises an eyebrow at Livain. "You travel with a Wyverling, my friend, luck -- or similar -- is on your side." She turns and leads you all towards the palace. "Na-Calanon's death has rocked the good citizens of the Empire, as it has shaken all of us to our core." Her voice is flat as she says this, but it does not waver or shake. "His father, Cassius Calanon, recently appeared here and, after making certain inquiries, departed north towards Enhathlad. Where exactly he was headed, I couldn't say."
As you walk, you notice the many austerely beautiful sand and rock gardens, the elegant little trees, the fragrant pines, the precise topiary. Various functionaries and soldiers pass, and while some bow to the general -- who of course returns the courtesy -- none seem at all concerned about your presence here. After a bit of walking, and after being vetted at the two inner gates and then at the palace entrance proper, you walk into the shining elegant bulk of the seat of the Empire of Mists.
The halls are decked out in fantastically colored tapestries and murals and tile-paintings the likes of which you have never seen, save in certain texts. The detail and richness of all the artworks is a feast for the eyes. Everywhere you look you see precious gems and gilt edges, silver and mithral and gold and platinum. Subtle glamers aid in direction, lighting your way this and that, and the robes of the palace workers are every bit as glamorous and elegant and rich as everything else in this place.
Eventually, you come to a small room with a plain door. Inside is a large marble table and several chairs. There are some mats on the floor and a tapestry on one wall. Against the other is a large urn out of which sticks a single pine bough, a single stalk of bamboo, and a single branch from a plum tree. The General stands on one side of the table and bids you all to be at ease. Whether you sit or stand makes no difference to her.
"You should assume that everything we say here is being heard and recorded. You should not be bothered by this. I trust the emperor -- I am placing my trust in the emperor, and will act accordingly. You should do the same. Now. Tonight I speak to the Son of Heaven and all the heads of all the Great Houses. It is a crucial speech. I trust you are not here to do anything that might jeopardize our chances of bringing the Empire to our side in the struggle against the various forces arrayed against us at this time, yes?" Her question is not meant to be accusatory or unkind, but is perhaps a bit pointed. "I know precisely where the Abomination that ended Na-Calanon is; they cannot move it. Apparently only the one who wielded it may do so, one 'Kyras Erodal'." Her mouth is a grim hyphen as she says this last. "Unfortunately, at this time, we do not know where he is."
Min looks interested when the general says they know the location of the grim artifact. However hearing Na-Calanon's father was on the move was somewhat surprising. He remained silent however at her earlier somewhat pointed remark and merely looked to Lin before they both shrugged preferring to remain silent as he let Damian handle this.
Belsarious determines he will do his best to not be recorded.......
Damian seems ill at ease, whether because of the revelation that nothing is secret in this city or by his lingering memories of another life. "Do you have any guards posted at the location for when he comes to retrieve it? Why did he leave it there? We'll need a guide to show us where to start looking, though I suppose we can make do with a map if you cannot spare a man. We will do our best to keep our presence in the city a minimum, as much as is possible in a place like this. Are there any edicts you would have us follow? When we find Erodal - or his sister - we will use whatever force is necessary to take them into custody and drag him back to Izmir, Abomination in tow."
At the mention of Presence at a minimum Min nearly lost his decorum before a mental slap by Lin.
Her indignation rolled through the bond and flared when her rider answered with amusement.
::Could have fooled me. Besides we can always do that trick and make you 'less' noticeable.::
She rumbled with amusement at Min's involvement with the tree during her transformation.
::Don't remind me of that moment, despite being deep in my drinks that hurt like hell and you didn't warn me you great big lizard!::
As Min floundered with embarrassment, she rumbled with increased amusement.
At teh assualt of images he couldn't quite remember he bulked, unable to muster a mental defense as Lin continued her amusing assault. ::What?! You... That was... Sneaky, smart alec dragon...::
Lin rumbled in amusement as Min's neck turned red in embarrassment and he quickly coughed into his hand to diffuse the tension before speaking. "Shall I scout out the area it's at sir? That way we have it's location at least?"
"There is a squad of the local gendarmes watching over the item. I am told we can trust them, and I see no reason to disbelieve that statement. The emperor's arcanists tell us that with some of the Abominations, a sort of bonding occurs, like a druid and her companion, or a wizard and his familiar, only this bond is evil, and does nothing good for the mortal "bondee"; the object simply sucks out his or her life force, apparently, slowly over time. This bonding also prevents anyone else from wielding or even picking up the item in question." General Vittoria sighs. "It is because of this that the item remains where it was dropped. Even if we really deeply wanted to move it, we couldn't."
She steeples her fingers. "I can send Lilitine with you to show you the location; she can't attend me at this dinner tonight anyway, so she'll be happy for the distraction. And as for edicts, well, just be on your very best behavior, especially since you'll be engaged in a military operation. Destroy no property, injure no civilians -- you need zero collateral damage. Understood?" The tone of the General's voice makes it clear there is no room for argument on this point.
Glancing between her sometimes stubborn Captain and her always adamant sister, Aylaeth places a gentle hand on her sister's forearm "Of course Vittoria, it shall be as you say. The lastthing we wish to do is harm negotiations between the Empire and the Land during this time of great turmoil. Perhaps you can aid us on another matter though. We also seek one Bethany Erodal, as it seems she shares the same name as Na-Calanon's murderer, perhaps they, and events tied to them, are more closely related than we had been aware. I had thought to begin our search for her at the University. However I have also heard word she might be attached to one 'San-Pen'. So any information you can lend us would be most helpful, sister."
Min nods at General Vittoria. "It'd be our honor to distract her for a time, it'll give us a reason to search the city as it is our first time here." He looks to Damian than, hoping for permission to move about the city. "I understand the importance of our mission if you wish me to stay here, than Lin can move about the and I can be her line of contact. Up to you sir but we will do our best to stay close or do as you command."
He thinks the man must still live otherwise another could bond, perhaps in a worst case scenario he might attempt to fool the abomination though he doubts he could pull it off...
Belsarious raises one eyebrow when the edict is revealed
Maybe he will reconsider his current spell selections....
He says nothing however thinking about something else.
The General adopts a thoughtful expression. "The name 'Bethany' doesn't mean anything to me, but you should ask around, especially if she was friends with San Pen. I never met him, but he was apparently very popular around here, and disappeared yesterday, leaving no clues as to where he was going, or why. No body has been found. Many people have been quite worried about it."
Damian offers a nod of his head at Illuminata. "I understand, General. We will do our absolute best to minimize collateral damage. Erodal will likely try his best to attack the civilian population in a scorched-earth tactic, but we will contain it."
He agrees with Aylaeth. "Finding his sister has its own benefits beyond finding Erodal. He will not leave without the Magnifying Glass, but perhaps she knows where he is hiding. Even if she doesn't, she can provide vital intelligence regarding the other Abominations. Perhaps she was the one who supplied it to him. Aylaeth, you and I will travel to the library to try to gather her trail after boarding. Your scholarly knowledge will open many doors there. Min, Lin, and Belsarious will travel to the location of the Abomination and attempt to glean as much information as possible from it; Sophitia will go as well, and Aylaeth and I will board her steed for her. Maiathreen, Livain, attempt to scout the city from above. We will need as much knowledge about the layout of the city; your wings will allow you quick, unfettered passage over the city. Seek out any information from the bars and bath houses. Your appearances may give you considerably more access than any of ours would. If anyone finds trouble, take to the air and find reinforcements. We will rendezvous here at sundown with whatever information that we discover."
General Vittoria stands. "Excellent. Well, good luck to all of you. Aylaeth, we will have to find time tomorrow -- assuming we're both still here in town -- to catch up. The rest of my day and night is occupied with preparations for the state dinner wherein I will plead my case, and then attending same." She gives the magus a quick hug, then salutes the rest of you. "I'll have Lilitine meet you at the outer gate. Fare you well. I trust you can see yourselves out."
She gestures back the way you came, toward the grand main entrance, then strides off in the opposite direction, further into the castle, likely back toward her quarters. As you head back out into the now-overcast afternoon, you catch some of the lower-caste servants stealing furtive glances at you as you go. The younger ones, in particular, have a wide-eyed wonder at seeing such an unusual group of gaijin together in one place at one time in their city.
At the gate is Captain Citanu, just as the general promised. The tall (about 5'11"), whip-thin half-elf has reddish hair and regal features. She gives you all a curious smile and a sharp salute as you approach. To Aylaeth, whom she's met before but never really gotten to know well, she offers a friendly nod. "Okay!" She begins. "First let's get your riding companions boarded. That'll take a half-hour or so, maybe. Then I can take you to where the abomination lies. Who's coming with me, and who's going elsewhere?"
Belsarious smiles at the lass, he had just be thinking he was going to re-populate and re-build his own elven empire in the Great Trackless wood, this one appeared to be hearty stock perhaps her elven parent would be able to.....
Belsarious cuts his thoughts abruptly.
We will accompany you."
Indicates himself, and Min and Lin.
Min returns Captain Citanu's salute with his own before standing at ease. "Merry Meet and its our pleasure to accompany you. I am Min this is Lin, that man is Belsarious and..."
Sophitia smiles her metallic colored hair glistening even with the now-overcast skies. "Sophitia, a pleasure to meet you as well."
Lin rumbled in a quiet but warm greeting as Min nodded to his companions. "Our mounts are already being tended too but thank you nonetheless for your consideration Captain."
Aylaeth smiles genuinely at the half-elf and moves forward to grasp her forearm in a warrior's grip "It is a true pleasure to see you again Captain. I have only heard good things about you." then she leans forward a whispers "And thanks as well for keeping my sister safe. I know how...challenging she can sometimes be." leaning back with a wink and releasing the grip.
Turning to Damian she says "Captain? I suggest that once we find and secure room for our winged companions, we should fly to the University, to save time. Lanzhu is a very big city, after all, and we have much to accomplish here."
Lilitine leads you all forward to a very large, very nice stabling house on the edge of the shopping district. It is clear from the other riding companions, pets, etc. already boarded here that your own riding companions will be very well-cared for while you explore the city. Once the arrangements are completed, the captain starts off into town. "Well, those of you who want to see this thing, come with me." she says.
As you start off, each of you notices in the near distance some extremely large and impressively-fancy looking homes towering up over all the other nearby buildings. They are all strategically obscured by trees in the distinct way of someone very rich who wants to show you how wealthy they are while still preserving a modicum of privacy.
Bel still trying to not be on the record points at the homes with a questioning look upon his face.
Min, Lin and Sophitia keep pace with Lilitine as they follow her to where the supposed abomination is. "Right behind you miss Lilitine."
min takes note of the fancy houses, thinking to investigate them later while simultaneously looking all around at Lanzhu only to realize how truly immense it was. Without being airborne it would be difficult to see much more detail. He planned to buy some maps later...
Lots of maps...
Lilitine snorts. "Those are the City Houses of the Great Clans." she says. "That one's Clan Oda, that's Clan Sera...I don't know that third one...you get the idea. Each one belongs to one of them."
Min shakes his head. "Such fancy places to lay ones head at night never understood the need for a huge house. Castles are an exception but that seems a little much..."
Lin chimes in over his shoulder then. "That's because your a woodsmen and they are perhaps closer to royalty. Or however the nobility is named in this land." She gave a warm rumble as her and Min remembered their small cabin.
Sophitia smiled too having spent many a day tucked away at their cabin in the woods. She turned to regard the Captain before speaking. "So are clans houses like military branches then? Or like the lords of Stormfare in their purpose or aims?"
Captain Citanu looks thoughtful. "That's a pretty good question, actually. Each house has its own small standing army, spies, assassins -- they call them ninja here -- arcanists, clerics...you name it. They all seem to have the Emperor's blessing to deploy these forces in whatever way they see fit, and to pursue whatever household agenda they have. However, at the same time, all of 'em are also expected to chip in to aid with the defense of the city and the empire, even though there is an extraordinarily large and capable standing imperial army. A lot of it has to do with currying favor and appearing as being the most ready of all the houses to come to the emperor's aid. It ends up being pretty complicated. There's a LOT of politics involved. Way more than Stormfare, and probably more than Mamban, and that's saying something."
"Of course captain." Maiathreen says before he and Livain take to the air.
"Four armies ready for war would not just one be tempted by tha power o one o tha abominations?"
Min shrugs at Belsarious. "Not much temptation when you can't pick the thing up. Now manipulating this Kyras would be he only way to use it... Which we can't let that happen. Lets hope this Kyras isn't some easily manipulated puts." His last statement was said with a very clear indication that Min was unsure how easily manipulated their target was. As only a fool would have destroyed Na-Calnon. A real big fool...
Lins mouth tightened into a thin line as she felt the same way as Min was thinking.
Sophitia continues to look around blissfully unaware of what her bonded companions were thinking. While simultaneously enjoying the sights and staying on guard for anything notably hostile or peculiar.
Mai and Livain: The three of you take off into the rapidly-clouding sky. You notice the patterns and whorls produced by the distinctive mists of this land are more noticeable from the air. As you fly, you can almost imagine you see shapes, or faces, or...
*KRAKA-koooom*
...your reverie is interrupted by a bizzare sound unlike anything you've heard before. The sound caroms around off the cobblestone streets and stone and wood walls, and is quite difficult to pin down.
You also see that an unusual amount of water is flooding the gutters, much more than there should be for the amount of rain that is starting to come down.
@Aylaeth and @Damian: The two of you arrive at the University to find the place extremely quiet. A quick querying of random passersby reveals that many are either hard at work studying for upcoming exams, or already out on the town, preparing for the big State Dinner tonight, and its associated festivities.
@Bel, @Lin, @Min, and @Sophitia: Captain Citanu leads you through the city on a very direct route to the Abomination. It is surreal to see it just sitting there on the cobblestones of an out-of-the way alley that butts up against a noodle house. The half-dozen police guarding it are somewhat taken aback by Lin's majesty and Belsarious' clear lineage from the Great Trackless Woods, but treat you politely -- even deferentially.
When you Detect Magic and Detect Alignment on it, you are knocked back by the immense waves of greasy and unrepentant evil that washes off the thing in nausea-inducing bursts. It also is surrounded by an intense aura of necromancy and some other type of magic that you cannot immediately identify. In other words, this is most definitely one of Marianasu's creations.
Upon hearing the loud explosive sound she turns to Maiathreen and Sar. Her eyes worried. "My love do to think we should investigate?"
Maiathreen nods silently drawing Servais as a precation. "We were told to scout and I'm not sure of things like that are normal but at the very least it could prove informative." with that the two Silastrix and the Wyvern head towards the strange sound.
"No! tha power o chronomancy perverted beyond imaginin in an abomination."
Belsarious investigates the item more fully getting closer than the guards had previously been.
Belsarious wonders if this item is a singularity for when all collapses including the everwhen this item could be the thing that does it.
"This is bad beyond reckonin! Why do these fools stay in tha place as if ting is a toy."
Belsarious shakes his head furiously....
...."Though in truth one could never truely be to far removed by neither distance nor time from tha abomination, to be safe."
Not surprised at all at the state of the university, and feeling right at home, Aylaeth begins inquiring after one 'Professor Yeo', head of the History department at the college in Lanzhu. She also asks for the Dean, checking to see if they are the same person, or two separate ones.
Min looked to the police and gives them a half-hearted shrug. "Please forgive him..." Indicating Belsarious and his doom-speech. "He gets that way... Nevermind."
Seeing his words falling on deaf ears as many of the Police were looking up at Lin who was towering over the people in the street. With her scales freshly cleaned as they were she shined like a silver lined mirror, resplendent and glorious. Min chuckled to himself as he mentally scoped out the are around them, counting every turn was hard, noting the descent's and ascents to reach this location. If we kill him than we will have to get here quickly as none of these men will be able to stop someone from taking it...
He looked to Captain Citanu, when he looked at him he couldn't help but look visibly nervous as he spoke, unsure if he would offend her. "I'm sorry to ask but where did Na-Calanon... Fall? I'd like to scope the area for a few minutes and see if there is anything to be found."
Lin looked down at the people of Lanzhu with a overabundance of warmth and serenity. Welcoming children to touch her scales, spreading her wings to shadow the streets and rumbling quietly with laughter at the awed reactions she received. At the Policemen's response she gave them a sheepish smile and a quiet humored rumble as she addressed those staring in awe. She tried to not let her voice rumble loudly, restraining herself so that she was heard but not feared by those nearby. She had always maintained an accord more with the creatures that walked the earth than her own kind, which lately she was starting to get to know better. Min had taught her how to treat with mankind and those races that were more fragile than dragons. Especially children, which she adored and didn't hide the fact in how she treated with them.
At Min's question to the Captain she looked to her rider with a questioning look before turning back to entertaining and looking around the area around them as well. They were scouts after all and despite this being a friendly visit, the city was unknown and a mental map needed to be made.