Altera Arcana IC

[Luma]

Kiri listened to the replied explanation. It made perfect sense really. Just like the stories: once you have enough magic, you can look like just about anything without really losing any of the power. Scary stuff.

Suddenly Kiri noticed Tawny sneaking up beside her. Ehh...maybe her mother was right, Kiri did have a tendency to bond with shorter people. It had taken quite a few years, but finally it wasn't quite that bothersome. At least as long as no one brought it up. Either way, Tawny seemed nice enough and, truthfully, it was nice having a few people here with similar height.

"Weeellll...." Kiri spoke back to the priestess, "As long as you have some sort of plan, I guess I could follow along. I'm not exactly headed anywhere specific, and I just can't forget how eerily familiar that dream was." Plus, dragons were everywhere, so one direction was just as good as any other. Granted, Kiri kept that part held in, no need to bring it up until they actually found one.

 

[Kagayours]

"I already told you, child," the Priestess spoke up in response to Zito. "Ace is the dangerous one, and I know not what will happen to you if you stay here, but… so long as you follow the will of the gods, I have faith that you will be protected." she stated.

Then, Darius started asking about what exactly they were expected to do. "Spying?" she echoed. "I hadn't considered such a thing, although perhaps a skill like that may be useful at some point. What the gods had asked for in particular, was…" she paused, knowing that what she was about to say might sound like a lot to ask. "Ace is traveling to the capital, Tarocchi. Whatever he's really after, the gods want you to get there before he does." she told them. "You are being asked to travel to Tarocchi."

"What?!" Tawny exclaimed. "You mean we're just supposed to… drop everything and leave?!" she objected — but, her expression softened as she took a moment to think it over for herself. "I mean… I don't have much of a reason to stay here, I guess, but… but I'm sure my brother wouldn't like it! I'm sure traveling across Altera is… really expensive, or something!" she argued, nervously and unsurely.

"Ah, your brother — thank you for reminding me." the Priestess continued. "I still have to speak with him, as well as a few others. Perhaps we should arrange a time and place to meet again later today, so that we can all meet up as a group…" Just then, she heard a knock at the door. "Ah, you there," she turned towards Shireen. "Do you think you could answer that for us?"

Then, Kiri expressed her willingness to join in on the mission. Tawny was a bit caught off-guard, and shot the other girl a 'really?!' sort of look. In truth, though, the idea of going out on a grand adventure sounded… rather alluring, actually. But, living under the roof of someone with a pentacles mind, the thought of actually being able to do it felt like a fantasy…

"Ah, yes, your dream!" the Priestess spoke up. "I don't believe you've described it in detail yet. Do tell us about it."

 

[AnimeLover_Princess]

Zito almost felt like she was being scolded when the priestess talked to her and she didn't really enjoy the feeling but she held her tongue and listened. she didn't really like the woman's response either, it didn't answer her question.

She had a similar reaction to Tawny when the priestess mentioned them leaving for Tarocchi. "I can't just leave, I have responsibilities here, my family and I depend on each other" she looked around, hoping her and Tawny weren't the only ones with objections. "I also certainly don't have the money to travel all the way there, I could walk but it would take ages, he would certainly get there first"

the terran froze, however, when Kiri brought up her dream. her own dream came to mind again, Zito did not believe in prophecies but she had to admit her own dream had seemed to be about something like the priestess was talking about. all her attention was on the other girl as the priestess asked her to describe her dream. if it was completely different, Zito would write it off btu if it wasn't...

 

[Greenie]

Shireen blinked, not having expected being addressed to. "Oh, sure thing," she replied with a nod, giving a smile and a small salute, the latter mostly from habit. She started toward the door, lingering a little as she wanted to hear more, especially when Kiri spoke and the priestess mentioned something about a dream. Ack, don't be stupid an' just open the damn door, Shireen!

Having scolded herself soundly, the sailor quickly finished her paces to the door, opening it a little and peering outside. She blinked once, and then twice, seeing the person there was an Avian, along with a couple of others, an Avian and a Terran. The one who had knocked looked rather intimidating, much taller than she was, that was for sure. Well, she wouldn't let that get to her.

"Ah, hiya," she greeted, deciding to stay her usual friendly self. "I s'pose y'came because of the explosion, right?" Well, it was obvious, why else would they have come? Hm... well Priestess is the one who said t'open the door. Maybe they're part of this group she's talkin' 'bout? She could only assume such.

Further opening the door, she nodded inside. "Well c'mon in, you're not the only ones who came 'cause of it."

@Rithas
​

 

[Eru]

@Fancy Turtle @PoetLore @Kagayours

"Ahh - Roxanne, of course, I'm sorry," Raymond hastily apologized, finally ripping the water off of the henchman's face and disposing of it. With allies around, there was no need for such barbaric methods. He didn't know what had come over him...

Roxanne wore green, much like himself. Her accompaniment was unfamiliar to Raymond, but all races were treated fairly in the village. Well, except for travelling scum. Raymond shook his head; there he went, judging again. Still, this man might deserve it.

Raymond declared to the Aquan and Roxanne, "I suspect this man is one of Ace Dominatrix's consorts. I believe he's up to no good, after making a mad dash away from the plaza. Would you come with me? I subdued this man, and am bringing him back to Ace right now."

 

[PoetLore]

Roxanne smiled and was glad to see him tear the water away from the man's face. She understood everyone's caution and action, but still, that was a bit drastic. "This is Calder," she said by way of introduction, "There was some kind of explosion in that direction as well. I don't really know what is going on, but something is definitely not right..."

She looked at the man who was able to breathe once more, "ARE you working for this Ace person?" she asked, "And what exactly does he want? Nothing he said made a lick of sense...so...he must have other intentions." Shew as noticing the man's facial expressions and wasn't sure if that guy wanted to go abck or not. he looked a bit...panicked.


She turned back to Raymond then, "I'll be happy to come along with you and learn more." She tipped her head and glanced at Calder, "Are you coming as well?"

@Snowy Turtle @Eruantien @Kagayours

 

[Turtle of Doom]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Calder's gaze rose from the man on the ground to Raymond and he nodded in greeting. Roxanne had already introduced him, so he felt that repeating her would be frivolous. At the mention of Ace though his interest piqued, the fins framing his brows rose a bit, as though he was surprised.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"He works for Dominix?" The tone of his words held exactly how he felt about the man. So many questions swarmed Calder's mind, but he couldn't seem to get any of them out. He had no concrete reason to distrust the snake on the soapbox, but his gut instinct told him that he was up to no good. While Calder was busy lost in his thoughts it seemed that Roxanne was on her was quick with her questions.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]The explosion, Ace… Were they connected? Was the explosion a ploy? A distraction because the crowd was only partially responsive to his rousing speech? [/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Calder looked back up from the man, at Roxanne's last question--the one directed his way and shrugged. "I'm not sure I'd like to see Ace again, truth be told." A grimace crossed Calder's pretty face as though he didn't even like the man's name on his tongue. "...But, I suppose, at the moment I have nothing better to do."[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Before turning back the way they came from he nudged the man on the floor with his foot and motioned for him to get up. Without any further formality, Calder turned and headed back toward the square.[/BCOLOR]

 

[Effort]

"Tarocchi?? That is days away!" Darius exclaimed "Oh by all means invite more people in!" Needless to say he was a little irate, his lab was a mess, strangers kept pouring into his place, and he was expected to trot all the way out to the capital for dreams and maybes? Moving himself off the table, Darius walked around the table he was leaning on and paced toward the window on the opposite side of the room. Running a stained hand down his face, smearing some soot along the way, he attempted to calm himself down and think about the variables of the works he was, well, working on.

Unfortunately he hadn't been able to work on as many experiments he had wanted to, having had to work for upkeep on his lab and various materials and glass containers. There was a small chance he could do some work along the way... His parents were also in Tarocchi, and he knew what his parents would say. Seize the day! Have an adventure! Eh...

Heaving a sigh, Darius made his way back to the group, leaning himself back against the table. "Alright, I'll indulge this adventure." Leaning to the side a bit he waved to the new people standing outside the door, disheveled and mussed up, covered in soot.

 

[Rithas]

As the door creaked open a little, Victarion simply stared down at the figure who had opened it. A moment of silence passed, before the human spoke, correctly guessing that they came because of the explosion. From her words, it sounded like others had come to check out the source as well.

Figures that at least some would have inquisitive bone in their body. "Is there a mob forming perhaps?" He questioned, gazing inside the building as the new stranger opened the door to let him in. Listening to her voice, she sounded like the various human seafolk that he had met across his travels. A colourful bunch of people.

Taking a step in, Victarion scanned the interior of the building. A lab, recently dirtied by the explosion. And a group of people, interestingly not a mob.

His eyes sharpened as he noticed the priestess, frowning slightly. He then turned his head to a man covered in soot. Giving the state of him compared to everyone else, it seemed likely that he was there at the origin of the explosion. In most probablity, he was the cause of it as well.

Alas, it appeared to him that it was just a group of people standing infront of him. Was that seriously it?

He stared at Darius for a little longer, "It seems the event has been accepted already." He commented.

How boring.

 

[Kagayours]

Clay followed along with Alician and Victarion. Eventually, they made it to the source of the explosion. It wasn't difficult to find the building that must've been at the center of the explosion. Clay was somewhat surprised (but rather grateful) that the building itself was still standing. Victarion knocked on the door, and said to the rest of the group,

"You want to find the maker of this mess? They're probably in here."

Clay found Victarion's way of speaking to be a bit… unnerving. "I thought you brought me along to help anyone who might be hurt — but you make it sound like we're here to punish the person responsible, or something…" he commented quietly.

Then, the door opened, and a young girl greeted them with a… surprisingly casual and friendly demeanor. And, she seemed to imply that there were quite a few others who had also showed up because of the explosion.

In any case, the girl led them all inside — and Clay did a double-take when he saw who else was there.

"T-Tawny?" he stuttered, completely lost as to why she would be casually hanging out in a place like this. "What are you doing here?!" he exclaimed.

"What are you doing here?!" Tawny echoed in reply, equally caught off-guard.

Then, Victarion mentioned the possibility of a mob forming. "Is- is that what this is?" Clay asked worriedly. Then, addressing Tawny, he added, "did you join a mob?"

 

[Luma]

The overall response of the crowded room felt defensive, at least to Kiri. Then again, not everyone was an avid traveler like herself, so that was understandable. As soon as the priestess asked about her dream, there were suddenly several eyes glancing right at her, a few quite intently. The temptation to embellish a little was tough to fight, but this was probably not the time or place.

"Well, the gist of it was a big group of humans traveling across a field to what looked like Tarocchi castle. Umm....what else...." Kiri's hand raised to fiddle with her beret a bit as she tried to pick apart the actual dream from her own mental additions. "The group was also growing in size and the scene turned darker as it did. Plus, there was one leading figure that appeared especially vicious, but the details were kinda vague. It did remind me of the whole scene with Ace though."

Kiri stood there awkwardly, realizing, as with most dreams, that it wasn't nearly as interesting when retold out loud. Thankfully, the outbreak of the new terran visitor managed to take some of the attention off of her. So that must be Tawny's brother then? He looked the stuffy, worrisome type. That being said, this was a fun little misunderstanding and a grin couldn't help but spread onto Kiri's face.

 

[Neobullseye]

"Do not worry, we just want to have a little talk with the owner of this house," Alicia said, both to Shireen and Clay. "And yes, that was why I invited you along," she continued, the last comment being solely aimed at the Terran. With that, she accepted Shireen's invitation and entered the house.

It didn't really surprise Alicia that a large crowd of people had already gathered at the site of the explosion. What did surprise her, however, was how calm said group was. Given the circumstances, she had expected people to react quite a bit more irate. Instead, the only irate person was the very man responsible for this entire mess; everyone else was calmly discussing... well, something. From what she could see, the gathered crowd consisted mostly of people from the more common layers of society, though she was curious to the reason why a priestess had joined the gathering too. Surely a woman of the cloth had better things to do? Interestingly enough, apparently Clay already knew one of the people at the scene; someone whose name was apparently Tawny. What their exact relationship was, Alicia didn't know, but it was one less person paying attention to her. Meanwhile, the other Avian had found the obvious culprit of the event. Well, if he takes care of that, then I can talk to someone else in the meantime. Walking through the room, she could catch fragments of conversations; something about Ace, travelling to the capital, visions and more. Interesting... Now there was some valuable information if she ever heard it. More interesting yet was that everyone seemed to be talking about the same thing. It seemed like though the explosion had caused everyone together, it was a very different common goal that caused them to stay together... Now then, who was the best target to gain some more information from? The priestess was an obvious option, seeing as she seemed to take the lead in this situation. Besides, it was too late to stay completely unnoticed anyway, so she might as well go all in now. With that, Alicia approached the priestess and greeted her with a formal bow. "Excuse me, priestess. I couldn't help but overhear your conversation, and that it involved a travel to the capital city. Might I inquire as to what your motive is for undertaking such a perilous journey? Surely someone of your standing would not take such a bold step lightly; it thus follows that something very grave is afoot. Do tell me if I am wrong though."

 

[Kagayours]

With the water removed from his face once more, Derrick was finally able to breathe in deeply and catch his breath for real this time. Although, he did not at all appear grateful for this act of mercy granted to him by the very same person who threatened to kill him in the first place, as the look on his face was one of bitter resentment.

As his breathing started to even out, he continued to listen to the conversation around him — and his fear spiked again as he realized one very important fact: he was still Raymond's prisoner, and he still intended to take him to Ace.

Worse yet — he had to think on his feet when even the Aquan's red-haired escort wanted to question him. Great. "Alright, yeah, I do work for Ace…" Derrick admitted. "But all he wants is to get to Tarocchi like he said." he told them simply. "Yeah, he's a bit… out there, that's for sure, but that doesn't make him a criminal. And even if he was — what're you interrogatin' me for? Just 'cause I work for the guy doesn't mean I'm some kind of expert on all his plans." Derrick explained, his heart still pounding as he hoped that his lie would be good enough to get him out of this mess. If he so much as implied that he was hiding anything… well, that would be the last straw as far as Ace was concerned.


Meanwhile, Dagger — one of the Avians working for Ace — watched the scene from a nearby rooftop, cloaking himself with a spell that made him invisible to the mortal eye. "Alright, show's over." he said to the beings who were silently watching alongside him. "He's still ours."

From Dagger's perspective, the surrounding rooftops were all dotted with clumps of black feathers and bone, as entire flocks of Gatherers had appeared on the scene. "You have a great deal of arrogance to speak of a soul in terms of an object that can be owned." said one of the nearest Gatherers. "Especially a soul that isn't even marked, which is more than I can say for your own."

"I'd say we have a more legitimate claim to ownership of him than you lot, if it takes a whole army of you to secure a measly peasant when my own caravan is merely a party of six." Dagger argued calmly.

"You know very well why so many of us were sent." the Gatherer replied. "We can't very well allow that abomination that you've been traveling with to freely ravage the earthly realm without any opposition, now can we?"

Growing tired of this conversation, Dagger didn't bother to reply — and instead simply brought his attention back to Derrick and the others.

 

[Eru]

"Right, right, of course. Terribly sorry for all the trouble."
Raymond stooped down and picked up the sputtering man, knocking him firmly across the shoulders.

"I'm just here to make sure nothing unusual is going on, is all. Ace is a very strange fellow, and you are too. I'm just making sure you get back to him in one piece; it's easy to get lost in these winding streets." Raymond's hands tightened upon the man's shoulder and elbow.

Turning to follow Calder toward the square, he pulled his prisoner ahead of him and called back to Roxanne, "Let's get moving, then. Wouldn't want Ace to disappear as well. I've spent too much time on this ruckus as it is... Master Tarkin won't be pleased."

 

[PoetLore]

Roxanne nodded in agreement, "No, we wouldn't," she said as she followed. There was something not quite right about all of this. It wasn't right there to grasp onto, but it was there a niggling itch that wanted to be scratched.

She moved up in a few quick steps to walk on the other side of the man that Raymond was holding onto securely. "So," she said to the man, "You don't seem to be very happy about the turn of events. It makes me wonder a lot of things. Hopefully we are all about to get some answers."

She seriously doubted it, more likely they were about to ahve a whole lot more questions. Keeping pace easily with the group she looked around for any sign of them being observed or followed, just in case this guy really was some kind of miscreant.m He certainly hadn't given any information willingly, or even happily. So it wouldn't surprise her if someone suddenly attacked and took away their possible leverage in another conversation with the enigmatic Ace.

 

[Kagayours]

"The journey will be difficult, yes," the priestess replied to Zito. "But if you are willing, I have faith that the journey will at least be made possible." she told her. "It is the will of the gods, after all."

Darius seemed to react with anger at first, but eventually agreed to go on this journey with them. "I'm glad you have chosen to accept. May the protection of Corvenus be with you."

By this point, the newcomers had started to make their way inside. "Ah, you three!" she chirped. "I'm glad you are all here. You've saved me some time in my search." she said.

"Wait, what's that supposed to mean?" Tawny asked. "Did you just happen to be looking for all of them, too?!" Sure, the priestess had already mentioned that she was looking for Clay — which was weird enough as it was — but then for Clay to just show up at the door, along with two other people who were apparently also on the priestess' recruitment list? Yeah, this was getting weird…

The priestess looked to the ground in contemplation as Kiri described her dream. "Hmm… yes, that seems to fit into my own understanding of the situation very well." she told Kiri. "I could make a few guesses as to what each detail means, but I will spare you my own indefinite inferences. Regardless, I think it's fair to say that there is at least some connection to what you have been asked to do."

Then, Alicia poked her head into the conversation, asking what her reasoning was for embarking on this journey. "We're going to Tarocchi by the request of the gods." the priestess answered boldly. "Or, more accurately, you will be going, if you are willing to answer the call. My own duties lie here in Atvance, and I was only asked to be a messenger — an interpreter." she clarified. "And it would appear I'm not the only one who has received contact from the gods. The dream that Kiri described to me just now also alludes to the threat we are up against."

 

[Turtle of Doom]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Calder halted at the end of the street allowing for the rest of them to catch up. He had been in such a hurry to get back out of town when this whole mess started that he wasn't entirely sure what was keeping him there now. Curiosity, perhaps. It didn't really matter though, he had interjected himself into the middle of the issue the moment he spoke out against Dominix. [/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Catching the last bit of Raymond's words Calder smirked. "Unfortunately, I doubt we'll be so lucky to be free of him so easily." [/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Then looking over Ace's minion once more he added, "I'm sure whatever that explosion was it would have cleared out the town square. Where will we be depositing you then?"[/BCOLOR]

 

[AnimeLover_Princess]

Zito listened to the conversation but felt like she had very little to contribute, any questions she had she'd already posed or someone else had asked them. she wasn't quite satisfied with the priestess responses of course but she didn't feel like repeating her questions would get her any further. she held back a slightly frustrated sigh.
she froze however when Kirir started describing her dream. it was scarily similar to Zito's own dream. she let out a hum "I had a similar dream, actually, it sounds almost identical..." but prophetic dreams weren't real... right?

she was a bit surprised as even more people showed up and the priestess said she'd been looking for them as well. "Wait? you were seriously looking for this large of group? how on earth did you intend to find us all? it was just coincidence we all came to check on the explosion, or that it even happened," she looked around, seeing if anyone agreed with her. Tawny said something similar and Zito smiled a little.
Zito looked around for a little bit before sighing "I guess, I can go with, if it's ordained by the gods then I guess... we probably should... I'd still like some proof it actually was though, even if I know it's not coming"

 

[Greenie]

Once Shireen had let the others in, she return to the rest of the group, deciding to ignore Darius' irritation. She could understand why he might be upset, but if the gods were willing for these people to join in the adventure, or whatever one would call what the priestess was inviting them to partake in, then she figured they would have found their way in anyway. She was just being their tool, really.

She took note of the other newcomers, first the Terran male, who seemed to know the female Terran she remembered having introduced herself as Tawny. Shireen couldn't help but let out a small chuckle, shaking her head. "She ain't joinin' a mob," she decided to add. "The priestess there says we're supposed to be goin' on, hm, an adventure of sorts. The gods have willed it."

Having said that, she looked toward the other newcomer, the female Avian who she had invited in as well, listening to her questions for the priestess. She supposed it made sense for people to have all sorts of questions. Shireen was sure she would have as well if she wasn't just about ready to leave Atvance due to the lack of family, friends, and purpose.

When she heard what Zito said, however, she couldn't help but smile. "If it's the gods will that we go on this journey, then I'd think they'da tailored things so that we end up bein' easy to find for the priestess." She lifted her shoulder in a light shrug. "Everyone bein' here seems a li'l too planned to just be a coincidence."

@Kagayours @AnimeLover_Princess
​

 

[Kagayours]

Fear welled up inside Derrick again as Raymond and the others began to bring him back towards the square — but it wasn't the same sense of overwhelming terror as when he nearly drowned. More like a growing sense of dread… He certainly hoped Ace wouldn't be too bothered by his mistakes today — after all, he technically didn't reveal any secrets, did he? — but if that wasn't the case… Derrick began to feel sick at the thought of what would come next. At least I managed to place that dumb spell correctly… he commented silently, glaring at Raymond. If I have to go down like this, then you're going down with me… he thought bitterly.

As they walked, the Aquan asked where they would bring him if the square turned out to be empty from the explosion. "How the hell should I know?" Derrick sneered. "I didn't exactly plan for this guy over here to nearly murder me after so much as a tap on the shoulder — or to get lost trying to shake him off my tail, or to have to give my captors directions on how to hand me back over to my boss like I'm some kind of runaway slave." he snapped. "Or the explosion. Didn't really plan on that, either."



"Ah, shoo, shoo! Get out of here, the lot of ya!" another voice called out as a few of the nearest Gatherers flew out of the other party's way. After clearing a space for himself, a second Avian, in the same invisible state as his brother, perched on the rooftop next to him. "I see these buzzards are still here — I take it the kid's still alive?" Cloak asked. "Ace said you were taking a while; sent me to see what the fuss was about."

"Derrick had a close call when our target here caught him placing the beacon spell — nearly drowned him." Dagger explained calmly. "I don't think he's in any danger now — at least not from those three mortals — but I'll be keeping an eye on him for a while longer, just to make sure."

"Wait, you said he got caught? Shit, did that loudmouth crack under the pressure and say something stupid?"

"Well, he didn't exactly share any secrets — but he's certainly attracted a lot of suspicion. Any of the others probably would've gotten away with a warning for something like this, but — well, you heard what Ace said last night. He's all out of second chances, and he knows it — I think you can even see him trembling from here."

"Ha! Look how pale he is!" Cloak laughed. "I gotta say, I hope he lives long enough to make it back to Ace, at least. I wanna see 'im get on his knees and beg for mercy!" he exclaimed. "If any of those mortals try to kill him before then, I might just have to swoop on in there and scare 'em all off, myself…"

"Please don't. I already have the situation under control." Dagger deadpanned. "Why don't you go back and keep Ace company in the meantime? If you take any longer to report back to him, he might send the entire crew over here…"

"Aw, you're no fun…" Cloak muttered, before flying off in the same direction he came from.