Viridos, Chapter 3

[Cerulean]

The sweat sizzled as it fell from him to smack hot metal.

Pssssssssssshhh

"HEY!" Carus pounded on the oak front door. "KHANAAN! IT'S CARUS! I NEED A WORD!"

As soon as sound hit his ears, they twitched. The Bull Anima snorted finishing up the order. He knew who it was. Hard to forget his one and only customer that ordered things for various explorations of his fluctuating sexuality. An Avian playboy could wait a minute, for a single nail. Once it had hardened, the extremely tired blacksmith grabbed Hammy and went to the door. Wiggling the cobwebs out his body, the door was slowly opened to reveal the cranium, blacksmith robes, and Hammy-less hand.

The eyes blinked and stared down at him.

"Will it be a sword to go along with that suit of armor?"

His voice was a bit gruff and didn't have much air behind it. It was a long three days. Hammy was gripped, hoping the answer would be given quickly.

 

[Mundane Monster]

Nyashi ║ Avian ║ Courier, #5C3104

Nyashi grinned, and nodded vigorously. "Of course I will. " She replied glancing down at her mother who was still awake in her arms and had a somewhat irritated look on her face. Nyashi knew that look. She had seen it so many times when she was young. It was the 'Think before you act' face, and it was usually accompanied by a long speech and a slap to the back of the head, but her mother was too tired for that now. Nyashi quickly looked away from her, thinking that if she didn't meet her mother's judging eyes, she wouldn't have to worry about what she was getting into. The other avian still wasn't giving anything up about what she was really doing, aside from telling her that she needed to get some box to the Staircase. Nyashi hoped to hell that taking this girl to the tower wouldn't result in any negative consequences, but it was too late to back out now.

"Let's get a move on then, hm?" She said, folding her wings behind her and gingerly stepping over the crumbled remains of her house. "If we make for a straight shot, we should get their faster. Hopefully there aren't any massive obstructions in our path. It'll be a slightly long walk though, so we might as well get to know each other right? You don't really seem like the chatty type, but I am and I think it'll ease everyone's nerves if we knew a little bit about each other. So I'll start. I'm Nyashi, and this is my mother, Fuuni." She glanced back at the other avian and the little girl. "And you two are? " She wanted to ask more, like 'why is the child here?' and 'what's in that box' but she doubted that the other girl would be eager to disclose so much information at once.

 

[E.T.]

Several times Caoimhe was almost pulled off course at the insistent hands of the of the filthy children that flocked around the shop. Unlike Medwick she was more used to the gentle nudging and so chose to simply ignore the children that swirled around them. To be fair she did not have to tolerate them for very long as Medwick was quick to dispel them with a yell of what she could only assume was frustration. The ghost of a smile tugged at the very corner of her mouth as she watched his interactions with the children, in another life he might have benefited immensely from being a father.

With interest she investigated that contents of the chest that had been presented to them and was soon rooting around from something that would fit her. Finding something that fit her reasonably well Caoimhe slid her bag and newfound cloak from around her shoulders and placed them of the ground. She was just about to start stripping when she paused. It had been pressed on her that it was not considered polite, or something such as that, to walk around naked. But upon seeing Medwick just walk a little distance away before he started to pull of his own clothes she let her reservations go.

Unhampered by a hurting shoulder and knee she was able to change much quicker than their scholar warrior. Her shirt came off first reveiling a stretch of white skin that was marred with raised scars. Ribs that would have usually stuck out had been filled in over the last few weeks, in fact over the course of the trip, while it might have seemed a bit slimming for some, she had been eating better than she had in a long time and the result was a figure that did not look emaciated and hapf starved. If there were people looking at her completely nude torso she either did not see or did not care, merely moved on to her next piece of clothing. Quickly her leggings were yanked off and for a second she was completely bare aside from a small stretch of cloth that covered her groin. Dumping the freshly shed clothes into a seperate pile she snatched up the new pair of pants that she had choosen and pulled them on. The shirt was next but the opening for the head was closed with three cloth buttons so she spent several infuriating seconds trying to undo them while still trying to push her head through the gap before Shardis finally took pity on her and undid them for her.

The smile that crossed her face as her head finally emerged was gone in an instant when she saw that a forest kin with Venus flytraps protruding out of his back had made off with her shirt and an anima hyena had made it about halfway to the door with her backpack. Charging across the room Caoimhe slammed into the unfortunate theif with all the fury that she had shown Glyph, but with none of the familiarity and fondness to strengthen her restrain nothing prevented her from using force to make her point. With an expert swipe she knocked the boy on his back, then used one hand pressed firmly into his shoulder and the sum of her body weight to keep him pinned there while she forcefully took back her bag wih her other hand. The anima boy was quick to pull his tail in and tuck against his stomach as he tried unsuccessfully to push Caoimhe off. For a few moments he struggled and despite his best efforts Caoimhe's snarling maw got closer and closer to his throat.

There was no mercy in that look, just the cold truth that if pushed she was more than willing to fight and kill for what was hers. At the last moment the boy went limp, a desperate surrender that Caoimhe acknowledged by letting the anima go. The second the weight was gone the boy took off heading towards where his own family was camped. Caoimhe might have actually been in trouble if the boy hadn't accidently tred on one of his sisters' tails in his rush. Soon they were to busy picking on the boy to pay attention to what had caused him to run out of the building in the first place.

With a loud snort Caoimhe gathered her bag and made her way back to where the chest stood. Her little display had been enough to ensure that she at least still had her cloak although she did have to ripe it from the grasp of some rapidly growing plants that seemed to have taken a liking to it. Putting on her backpack and the cloak she turned to Shekar as though about to say something when Medwick stormed towards them. Rapidly her gaze dodged between the person that was their guide and the person who had led them from much of the trip. She had no complaints about leaving this stuffy shop but she was not entirely sure that it was the right thing to do. Still her first instinct was to follow Medwick and so she was quick to get into line behind him.

 

[ChojiYume]

-Back to Work-
Buhn groans as she stretches out. She smiled as she looked around, she definitely felt way better than she had for the last few days. The nurses had been forcing her to eat some solids as well as bask in the sun, seeing as they didn't know how else to treat her. They had given her plenty of water, once they had practically doused her because they spilled a whole flagon on her. She just laughed it off and said that it would be fine. "How are you feeling today Buhn?" Nardunil had asked to meet her that morning in one of the hanging gardens close to the healing ward she'd been in. She smiled and nodded to him politely. "I am doing just fine Nardunil. In fact I am quite a bit better thanks to the vigilance of the caretakers here. They know their trade well, though some are still learning as I am."

Nardunil's smiled didn't surprise her. He liked it when she refused to boast of her achievements. She wasn't one to brag about the things she'd done, she always thought about what she could do better. His tone was soft and kind. "Buhn, you have grown so much over the years you have studied under us." She knew, the Veteran Architects had taught her many things, but she also know that they had guided her to learn on her own as well. "My Buhnwanah feels as if though she has learned much from you, there is still more she could learn. The whole world could be.. how do the humans say it? Hmmm, the whole world could be her oyster? Is that not how it goes? My Buhnwanah feels that she must find new challenges, work with wood other than that of the Riven Tree. No matter how bracing the idea might be.... She feels...." Buhn glared at Maiin, "That is enough Maiin!" She was clearly upset, and she had a right to be. Maiin had just dished out one her most secret wishes. Nardunil was not supposed to have known about it.

"My dear. I had no idea this was how you felt! You wish to broaden your horizons! I have no qualms with this, and neither would any of the other Architects!" Buhn blushed, she hadn't expected this reaction. Why would she, she had always thought that any of them would feel betrayed at the thought of her leaving. But she had Nardunil's approval, and that made her feel ridiculously happy. Her mind filled with adventures she had read about. She smiled at Nardunil. "One day maybe Nardunil. But not yet. Hopefully I will learn much more before that time ever comes." She didn't even know what was coming.

-The Bee's and The Hydraroot-

No matter how many times she tried to relook at her situation, she couldn't help but want to scream, half out of joy and half our of fear. She didn't get it, why her, why travel by bee, why... everything? She looked from side to side but the scenery was going by to fast. She barely caught most of the conversation that was going on but she answered where she could, she agreed with the person who had said this was a terrible plan though. For she had never worked with a VIOLENT tree before. She bit her lip. "I don't see how this will work!" she yelled over the rushing wind. "I'm only an apprentice! I don't have the skills of a Veteran Architect!" She feared that some may lose their lives here for her faults. She already had many lives lost that she'd been responcible for because of the falling aviary. Now this! She didn't know is she could take the pressure. She took a deep breath. "My Buhnwanah, do not fear the pain of death. You can do this. We can do this, My Buhnwanah. We have always found a way."

Maiin whispered straight into her ear, which was actually quite pleasant. Maiin was a soothsayer at times, a balm to her wounded soul. She smiled. "By Ilium's grace, and all divine power, may this journey be a success then." She whispered to herself. She knew that she was in for the fight of her life, but she was in the air now, and couldn't do anything about it but ride along. She just tried to relax her mind durning the high speed trip. She bit her lips again as she watched the horrible scene of the crumbling aviary. She wondered if it would ever be the same. Though she knew in her heart, it never would. "I've never talked to any tree other than the Riven Tree! I have no idea how the Hydraroot will act to another life force touching it's soul! I don't even know if i'll be able to find where it's soul is! Hydraroot's grow like mad and all over!" She yelled in the hopes that her fellow traveler's would hear her. She knew that a lot of this mission was riding her her ableness to make the tree simmer down. She feared, that she wasn't powerful enough. Damn that Nardunil, he probably didn't even listen to the plight, he was just thinking about her 'wish to work with other tree's'. Well look where it's got them now!

 

[Asmodeus]

The Aviary

​

Faina twisted in the saddle, glaring at Kozoul and Buhn.

"You have time to act; or time to doubt yourself. Pick one!"

Then her voice raised, yelling across the roar of storm-tossed air, loud enough for Begis to hear from his flanking bee. "At the end of that gorge is the one man who can save this city. If the Aviary falls, two nations will be sorrowed. Now fly!"

Up ahead, the sheered earth of the Aviary floated side by side, a narrow pass between where roots and buildings lay entombed. Smaller rocks like asteroids spun on the geomantic eddies, and at times whole buttresses had slumped across the gap to form slanting bridges.

It was a gauntlet. It was peril incarnate.

It was Kozoul's moment.

Hosian Outskirts

Through the crack of the smithy door Carus told Khanaan the whole story. The confession lent weight to the smoking rocks that littered the landscape around Khanaan's home. A new flavour to the tragedy - a definition that made it more than freak disaster.

"You know the city," Carus said with his hand on the door frame. "If the thief wanted to sell this thing, or flee the country, where would she go?"

Another smoke-plume lifted on the horizon. The magical gravity of the Aviary was going haywire, firing off wards like missiles into the canopy below. The noble's son kept his back to it and implored the Anima before him.

"Help us find the Alate, Khanaan, and I'll give you every contract there is when the Aviary gets rebuilt."

 

[Bahiyya]

Sevoret Umilas - Riven, purple

"Oh, she is a beauty," Sevoret whispered. Krieg and she were hiding near a tree home. Sevoret had climbed up its extending branches while Krieg stayed behind the tree. Nahsahr was up in the tree, standing quietly behind Sevoret. Krieg's Aux, a pixie-like thing, hovered over his head.

The two had spotted a deer, not too big, but not too small. The deer was near the tree in which they hid, standing on a branch pathway. The deer was peacefully sniffing at the moss on the branch. So unfortunate was the deer, seeing as he was their current prey.

"See if you can get a clean shot with that bow of yours," Krieg whispered up to her. And he didn't have to tell Sevoret twice, because she was already readying an arrow to her bow. She took a slow, deep breath as she pulled back the string, positioning her arrow point to aim in just the right spot. And Sevoret took a breath once more before she finally let go of the string, letting the arrow fly. Her calm state made it seem as thought the arrow was moving in slow motion. She was breathing so calmly, and she could hear the pounds in her chests as if they were right at her ears. This is what it always felt like when she hunted. She couldn't help but love it. It was her trade, after all.



The arrow struck just where she had aimed--the side of the deer's neck. The deer seemed eerily quiet as it was struck, not even the slightest whimper to be heard. It felt over and off the branch, only to fall on yet another pathway. "You bloody got 'em!" Krieg sounded. The two of the them came from their hiding place, climbing down to retrieve the victory.

The deer laid lifelessly on its side, it's eyes open, the shock evident in its eyes, even though it was dead.

"Let's not dwell about, my friend. We shall get him skinned. I have a home full of refugees who need food," Sevoret said.

~~~~~~~~
​

Krieg and Sevoret had managed skinning and all other things necessary. Krieg carried the dangling deer back to Sevoret's, where they had cooked it up. Now, they were serving all the refugees that took shelter there. Sevoret felt warm inside as she carried out this good deed. She was glad to help.

"You must tell me about your travels, friend," Krieg said. They had given food to all who needed it, and were just now getting themselves a helping. "Have you seen strange things while on your journey through the Prosperous?"

Sevoret, upon getting her summons to join the Sea Wraith expedition, had told Krieg she would be absent from Riven because of that very reason. "I have seen much. Experienced even more. And all the time, bruises had been added on to Crux."

"And you have the time to tell me about it."

"And so she will," Nahsahr butted in, coming up beside Sevoret. They all were stationed in a corner of her home's front room.

Sevoret turned to Nahsahr with a small smile, though her body shivered. She never wanted to revive the tale of when she entered that deteriorating place in which the Monolith rested. Which is where she experienced great power that gripped at her neck. But nonetheless, she began the story, starting form the beginning.

 

[Tegan]

Edelon​

Alchemists Laboratory

Ironblood considered Ash's theory for a time, drumming the fingers of her left hand on the work table. A thought occurred to her, but she dismissed it before she could speak it. The Lady shook her head, frustrated. "It's a moot point if we can't find the Jade Prophet."

The alchemist began to gather up vials of elixirs, rationed components and instruments. "We need a Darkbanist." She packed all of it into a satchel, awkward with just her left hand. "A skilled one."

The Kindly One

Lapin crossed her arms and looked at Ash and Ironblood as if they had gone batshit insane. The 'kin and 'turne congregated together in halls below the council chamber. "You want to talk to Amaltas, a war criminal so dangerous that it took the combined efforts of the Kindly Ones and General Tattersal to bring him to justice." The muscles in her spherical face contracted, opening the thin slits along her cheeks through which she breathed. The nocturne was sighing.

"I'm suggesting we talk to the only one besides the Jade Prophet who has a chance of purifying this eldritch parasite."

"You're suggesting treason." The Kindly One's small red mouth contained only four fangs.

"He defiled people." The Undertaker's voice was tight. "Altered their Crux against their will." The Kindly One was relieved to see that at least one of them understood the gravity of the situation.

Ironblood glared at Lapin, that anger Ash had seen in her as a child showing through, just for this nocturne woman. Finally, Ironblood relented, then pleaded. "Please, Lapin, you're the only one we can trust who knows the passage to the Shartan Labyrinth."

The Kindly One was looking at the Undertaker, not the Alchemist. "You're going into a labyrinth full of the worst criminals in Viridos with an injured hand and," she added almost apologetically to Ash, "You don't seem like the violent type."

"The two of you aren't going to get far with pretty ideals and funeral rites." Ironblood could see where Lapin was taking this and did her best to convey her deep disapproval. "Your suggestion has been archived for consideration. Thank you, Lapin." The Kindly One was not going with them into the labyrinth, not when she was needed more above.

"Ironblood, I've seen a child overpower you."
"It was you. We were both children."



Lapin was right, Ironblood had to admit. Though she had elixirs full of life-sustaining nutrients, eventually, she and Ash would need the sun. They would need one who thrived in darkness to carry them through.

The sages of Barvelle and warlords of Kaustir scoff at worship of the being known as Ilium. The mark us a baltering tree-singers dancing to the tune of a schizophrenic. They are young, they do not understand what lies in the poison forest. What wars nature will wage against itself. The ambition of choking vines that rival the Red Czar's lust for expansion. Were it not for Ilium, were it not for the Prophet, Sunne would have been engulfed in vines long ago.



Carved above the entrance of the Shartan Labyrinth in the ancient runes of dark fey magics:

as above
so below
​

​

 

[Aschu]

Adelita Junodn, ORANGE

Adelita Junodn

Adelita Junodn, ORANGE

Adelita was running down the rubbled streets she once called home, the emotional pain was almost unbearable, watching the only person she could have ever called family die like that, in front of her. Feren could feel all of the anguish stirring inside her heart, and it was killing him. "Adelita," he said, flying up to her shoulder," He didn't die in vain, it was to save you, but right now your emotions are in a mess; I can feel it. If you make a stupid decision-"

"Oh, so now you have my pity," Adelita snapped,"Where was that five years ago?" Feren faltered at that statement, the memories stung them both, but he couldn't think of that right now. She was grief-stricken and they both knew it. They both remained silent as they made their way across the city.

"This isn't right," Feren thought,"We're supposed to be as one, but instead we're far apart" Adelita ignored him though.

"What makes you think I'm going to do something stupid anyway?!" Then she stopped, and her eyes widened as she looked past Feren and gazed at something else entirely. Only one emotion was clear to Feren, and it was clearly fear. Feren whipped around only to fall victim to the same emotion.

 

[Falcon]

[dash=grey]

Hosia - Shekar Ma'alin, saddlebrown

Shekar looked on in interest as the locals tried to pilfer what belonged to these strangers. The thieves in question knew better than to try for what belonged in the shop, they did not even try for what belonged to each other, but Shekar did nothing to stop them from testing the foreigners. This way she knew what they valued. Whatever was in the backpack seemed highly important to the girl. She seemed willing to kill for it. Nox floated around the room like some strange ghost, watching the fleeing children. Later he would tell her if any apologies needed to be made.

And then it seemed that the angry man had reached the limit of what he could handle. He was demanding to leave. Shekar had never asked for names, in this case it was better not to know, but for a moment as she watched him storm, she wished she had. She might be more included to be polite that way.

"And here I thought your kind prized themselves on being intelligent," she hissed crossing the room far quicker than most would give her credit for and putting herself between the angry man and the door. Her tail crossed the threshold of the shop and she took a step back and blocked the way entirely.
"Shekar," Nox tried to interrupt.
"Unless by "clear as ice" you meant that your wits would melt as soon as a little heat was applied."
"Shekar-"

She lowered her head slightly and looked the angry man straight in the eye, holding glare for glare and refusing to step aside, her Draken bulk leaving no room for even the children to slip through. "Do you know your way around the city? Do you know the pattern the debris has been falling in? Do you know where the fires currently rage, where they have been suppressed, and where they burn out of control? Do you know where the city ends and the jungle begins, do you know how to climb the trees? Do you know which trees are home to creatures better left to themselves? Do you know what plants are poison, and which bring life? Do you know what the killing spores look like and how to avoid them? Do you know how to properly greet the Cinnabar Clad? No? You will stay here, and I will give you the rules I mentioned earlier. I can stand in this door all day if I must."
"Shekar-"
"Only when you have heard them and my associate has sent a guide for you will you leave. If he is foolish enough to lose you than at least your blood will not be on my hands and the bargain will have been kept."

"Shekar, we have an audience," Nox snapped finally. Shekar turned her head to find that the children had come back to stare at the angry human and annoyed Draken staring each other down. Their grubby noses pressed up against the shop window. Her bandaged tail swished across the dirt outside the door and they ran again. They had all seen what that tail had done when she had used it to beat away the smaller falling bits of the Aviary that had threatened the shop three days prior.

Shekar stayed resolute, filling the foreigner's ears with a list of "Dos and Don'ts" for the meeting with Teadoir that she insisted had to happen. Her word had been given, no other bargain could be made.

When Teadoir's guide arrived she let them go with a sigh of relief. For the time being they were no longer her problem.

[/dash]

 

[DotCom]

Memento - Two Days Past

Part Five - Remiss

​

A quarter of the way up the tower, she was no longer certain whether it was the air or her skin that crackled under relentless waves of heat.

The Key clutched to her chest felt heavy, slick with her sweat, and between falling debris and erratic wingbeats, she nearly dropped it half a dozen times, hardly concerned the thing would even work.

And what if it didn't?

What then?

Would she know as the last of the Aviary rent itself apart, spiraling down to crush verdant life from Viridos below? Or would she be dead first? Of smoke inhalation, concussion, decapitation? The stone against her chest felt warm, too warm, almost burning. She wondered again if she should have tried harder to take her father from this place, or if she should never have returned at all. She wondered after the others, an unexpected longing for the cold mountains of Pegulis rising in her chest like bile. Before, she had been on a wild goose chase.

Now, she crawled closer to death with every searing breath she took.

The top of the tower was obscured by smoke and flame. For a moment, she could only hover wearily in the air, thick tendrils of hair clinging to her sweat-damp brow. There was no guarantee she would make it through the curtain of fire and rock, even less of a guarantee she would make it back out.

Over the sound of flame and the smell of smoke, her father's words echoed in her mind.

"And what if I say no?"

He had laughed, a sound rich and cloying as poisoned wine.

"How many lives will your hesitation buy?"

She tried not to think of the bodies she'd passed on her way to the tower. She did anyway, and was saved retching over her father's stone only by an empty stomach.

She faltered midair. The stone threatened to sink from her grasp again. She was tired, dizzy with the heat. She had come as far as she could. She would retreat to her father's hold again, beat him out if she had to, drag him from the skies and watch their home burn, a bittersweet victory for the throes of his madness. She would tell him --

Thunder rumbled from overhead. Wishful thinking put it to a storm, but the crumbling apex of the tower proved the more dire of straight. She did not see the ton of mortar and stone until it was nearly upon her.

A brick caught her in the shoulder, sent her sprawling. She shut her eyes and dove through the haze of fire.

Aerie - The Aviary, darkred

"And you two are?"

"In no mood to talk," Aerie said, though not unkindly, or at least not by her standards. After all, the Avian girl was leading her through his labyrinth of fire and rubble to the Staircase, or so she claimed. Of course, she also insisted on doing so while accompanying what should have been a desperate flight -- both literally and figuratively -- with all manner of utterly useless small talk.

Aerie was not one to make polite conversation on the best of days, and this was rapidly approaching the worst.

She would never understand friendly people.

Still, she glanced aside to the Avian woman -- and her mother -- as they went. At least it seemed to older Avian wouldn't be holding them up too badly. It wasn't as if Aerie could travel all that quickly herself, and she wasn't about to relinquish her father's creation to a pair of Avian who hadn't even known enough to ditch the sinking ship when opportunity knocked.

"Keeva," came a small voice at her side, and Aerie looked down to see the child watching the two newcomers with wide, violet eyes. She suppressed an irritated grunt. Traitorous little imp, she thought, but said nothing. It would have been easier to leave the child with the old hag, in all honesty. Aerie and the guiding Avian -- Nashti, or something like it -- would have been better off without the dead weight. And yet she made no move to leave the child behind, much to her own disgust.

"There now," Aerie quipped as she pushed ahead. "Half a name for half a journey. You can have the rest when you get us to the tower. We'll -- watch it!" She thrust out an arm, yanking the child -- Keeva -- with her while she butted Nashti and her mother out of the way just as a cottage lost its shingled roofing at their feet.

Aerie grimaced, trying to stretch her broken wing and immediately regretting it. "This is no good. We'll need a faster way." She peered around herself for a moment, chewing her lip in though, then shut her eyes as a somewhat distasteful idea presented itself to her.

"Where is the nearest source of running water?"

 

[Aschu]

ADELITA JUNODN, ORANGE

Adelita had expected anything but a bunch of other Avians frolicking around in her ruined home, okay, maybe not frolicking, but it was still pretty damn weird. One woman was supporting another elderly avian who Adelita suspected was her mother. The other woman looked as if she was ready kill something and was holding a child's hand. The second thing is what scared her and Feren the most.

The negative energy around the woman was almost like a thick fog to Adelita, and she wasn't even that good at perceiving emotions! Then, for the first time, Adelita and Feren had the same thought at the same moment.

"Get the heck out of there"

Adelita turned to run but tripped on tripped on some upturned cobblestone. "Gah!" She said, out of instinct, and collided with the ground.

Which unfortunately did catch the attention of the other strangers. While the other three looked surprised, the other woman gave her a very, very sharp glance that made Adelita think:

"Oh we are so screwed"

 

[Saphen]

Ash of the Heartwood

Ash crossed his arm in disapproval as the Iron Child spoke to the group. The undertaker remembered how she was in the visions given to him by the Prophet. Easy to anger, stubborn, and hot blooded but there was more too her than that. This alchemist was also smart and intelligent, however Lapin made a strong case which Ash agreed with almost instantly.

But even after his comments the Iron Child was set on her course and she wouldn't change her mind unless presented with stronger evidence. The nature of an alchemist was as such, information was their god and trial their form of worship.

Ash decided it was worth giving honest thought to so he stayed quiet for a moment. The creature she referred to had defiled the bodies of the fallen in the past. To how it was able to alter a Crux Ash could not say, honestly he couldn't even say how his powers came about so it was of little consequence to know the reason. What Ash did know was that we were all born as we were meant to be born and should die as we were meant to die.

A Crux should live and die as such just like an Aux should.​

As soon as he had the thought his brow furrowed in discomfort, something inside of him disliked the notion. Seldom did Cora keep her thoughts away from Ash but on this subject she could never tell him. Her one wish was to be a Crux so that she could actually be with Ash and not just apart of him. One might call this love childish, star crossed even, but Cora would do anything for a chance to express her affection for the Forest Kin she had loved with all of their heart since birth.

Before Ash could ponder on the sudden emotional pain he felt his mind returned to the conversation. "These creatures, as is their kind, are dangerous Iron Child you know this." Before he spoke more he performed a Mudra for protection over them, his motions conveying that of the forest canopy that protected them from the sky.

"Those who do deal with them often have life debts they are owed, allowing the beast to be contained for a time...but even that is dangerous. Without such a contract we are risking our lives for a chance that this...defiler may have a change of heart. That is a naive thought at best and I am sure Lapin agrees with me on this." Ash nodded at the nocturne before he added

"We are born as we are and seldom do we become anything else. We walk on the edge of oblivion Iron one. Remember the beast that dwells within alters Aux and we consider THAT a defilement. Allying with one beast to slay another is playing with fire." Embers flashed beneath Ash's skin as his words trailed off, he knew the dangers of fire better than most.

 

[Wordsmith]

Z'tir - The House of Khanaan Hardhoof, Green

Throughout the journey, Z'tir refrained from explaining the physical properties of the Prosperos. A few words were inevitable, spoken only to get Carus to Hardhoof in time. Regardless, the great river was too complicated to explain in the mere common language. Settling on grunts and pointing when they asked questions, Z'tir also took control of the vessel to speed the journey up at least twice-fold.

Standing ashore at Khanaan's place made Z'tir feel as if lightening had struck him. The terrifying sensation of extreme dejavu overcame his mind. Algah, the Tiger's Aux, circled down from the air and landed on his shoulder silently. The mystic could not remember which reality he experienced this exact scene at. The river showed him many things, making it an impossible problem to put them in order. The deeper he delved the more confusing it became. It also seemed possible that he had lived this scene twice before on two separate existences in different times. The more knots he untangled in his mind, the more impossible it became to figure it out, so eventually he just gave up.

"Shall I consult Prosperos today about this? Do you think it is worth it?" Z'tir silently asked his Aux, whom replied a simple negative, "Damnit, then what am I supposed to do to make this run smoothly? I know something is lizardarly about this thing, but I can't remember my actions or lack there of them!" His Aux remained silent for some time, then refused again in cold shortness.

"Blast you Algah! Argggh!" Z'tir cursed out-loud, seemingly random. He didn't really mean to insult Algah, he was simply frustrated. The River-bird understood precisely though and once again took flight. Cerus was already inside talking the Khanaan, making the Tiger-anima feel like he didn't have enough time to think properly.

Turning towards Chelena, he posed a question to her without allowing her to speak on his outburst, "You know of the Steel River Blade?"

The Nocturne did not know of the weapon, which immediately made it a bad idea to speak to her of it. Algah circle'd with a glaring eye at Z'tir's mishap small talk. But the Tiger-Anima continued anyways, he needed to say something "Ahh, yes...It is actually the work of Prosperos in the end, though many claim other-wise... Once though, or perhaps twice, Khanaan here was the one who actually set it off... He was carrying liquid steel and -- POP -- he drops it somehow or another..."

Z'tir paused then climbed up the exposed root of an old gnarled tree on all fours, looking extremely cat like for a moment, "... the metal slides through the moss..." going to the edge of the water he peers in then pauses, "... then sizzle and POOF! It slides into the river...." Now, Z'tir looks directly at Chelena, " and BOOM there it is -- a magical blade is formed in the waters!"

Sliding off the mossy roots and into the water, the Tiger swam around for a good two minutes before coming to the surface for air, "Ahh-- my apologies Chelena, it was not Khanaan who did it... hmmm," Climbing back out of the water, the Tiger was suddenly intrigued again, "Wait, perhaps Khanaan was able to remove the blade from under the tree, though I don't know if it is I who asks him about it or you... maybe.... Or perhaps it was Sevoret who dropped the metal... hmmm.... hmmmm..."

 

[Cerulean]

If he were to be honest, it was nice to see him beg. Not that he had anything against nobility or avians, it just brought up a certain memory of a time when Carus was is need of a blacksmith for a certain shapely female with "black hair". He let the door hang open and walked deeper into his humble home.

"I need time to pack." He grunted.

---------------------------------------------------------

It wasn't long before Khanaan had his things together for an unexpected journey. Fortunately, for Carus, the blacksmith coming along wasn't a function as golden as going for greed. Not that Carus was wondering why he chose to come along, while he sipped some fresh, hot tea. It had a deep taste of oak and smelled like good nature. It wasn't bad. Certainly, better than some local teas you might find.

"Central Hosia?"

"My knowledge will only get us so far. However, I believe the middle of the city would be prime jumping off point for our search for this hunt."

He was confident in his word. Carus seemed to accepting of it, as he has not lead him astray before. Especially not with things for any budding ladies. The hunter, Sev, had a big enough heart and brain to see the importance of this. Khanaan just knew it.

As Khanaan locked the door, Carus returned to the transport. He ignored the Tiger's rantings.

"Get in the boat. We make our way for Central Hosia."

-------------------------------------------------------

The trip itself wasn't especially exciting. Mostly because the Tiger than nearly rivaled his frame mumbled to himself about some sword that he found while Carus chatted up the Nocturne. He did appreciate the nap that was taken though, in between accusations of root rummaging.

After anytime of weaving into the city, the local blacksmith directed them to the correct path. Mud was spattered across the side of face due to some loose mud coming the hill. At least, he hoped it was mud. Khanaan was able to most of it off with the rest of them offering either smirks and/or chuckles. The sunlight pointed out the little square. Hosia's center was there, in front of them.

"Any suggestions?"

 

[Kooriryu]

Aviary Canyon, #66CC00

MOOD MUSIC LOLOLOLOL

The willow-limbed witchling could feel her heartbeat hasten, getting closer to the rate of palpitations. Her mind had initially steeled itself to joining the Valkyrie's plan but her body was still screaming out in objection. The sound of the Avian's voice and the unrelenting winds howling in her ears mixed into white noise as something else called out to her above the cacophony.

Feeble half kin... you presume now to come to the Avians' aid? You think your magic and your friendship with the Queen matters here? In their most desperate hour?

I... I can do it Hagmother Drala! I have... What I've... what I've done on the Sea Wrai—

Stupid girl! You flopped yourself onto the path of destruction and it tripped! Your magic did nothing to prevent their fallen comrades! Sapling root! Snipped bud!

But Hagmother what I've seen... how, how I've sol— !

Solved nothing! Done nothing while others cut down at their branch of life! All through your studies I knew you were unworthy! All the wasted lessons, insignificant experiments! I only apprenticed you at your father's wish! My secrets have been wasted on a half kin! You could not save those lives on that pirate ship just like you couldn't save me or your precious little Peu—

"You have time to act; or time to doubt yourself. Pick one!"

I CAN DO THIS! THE LADY IRONBLOOD SOUGHT ME OUT AND I DID IT! WITHOUT YOU! I CAN DO THIS I CAN DO THIS I CAN

"... do this..." she breathed to herself. She stared at the ominous gash left in the Aviary, her eyes trying to take it all in. Laying her hand on Brrz's head, the Great Bee's antennae twitched empathetically.

"If the Aviary falls, two nations will be sorrowed. Now fly!"

"... Th-then hang on!" she yelled into the swirl of soot and dust. Tapping on Brrz' head she urged her brother onwards into the gaping canyon deep. Kozoul took out a bottle of ochre powder and uncorked it, speaking a spell over it and flinging the powder up into the mashing winds. The spell would make the powder dense enough to hang in the air intact long enough for the other Great Bees to follow suit. Handing the bottle over to Buhnwanah and instructing her to release more of the powder as they made their way through.

"Quickly Brother Brrz!"

————————————————————



The roar of the maelstrom muffled as they traveled through the tighter spaces within the canyon, their speed quickening and slowing to err on the side of caution as Kozoul and Brrz led them through the labyrinth of holes and tunnels created by the fallen debris catching between the two sides of the gorge. A hollow whistling sound soon flooded the space they were flying through, reverberating on the rock walls like a ghostly choir.

Buhn perked up at the musical quality of the whistling, seeming to enjoy its birdsong-like sound and began to hum out an accompanying melody. Faina instead tensed up, flattening her wings to reduce the sound of them dragging the air.

"Shhhh! Listen... !" Buhnwanah stopped abruptly, the Valkyrie's hand clamping down on the Architect's mouth. The Avian's head cocked, her ears now picking up the sounds behind and in front of them. The whistling grew louder.

"... Shit." The noise picked up in pitch, growing from a whistle to a distant roaring. The witchling turned her head slightly, speaking over her shoulder, "What is it Valkyrie?" she asked, a hint of alarm rising in her voice as the wind became ever louder. Faina fidgeted on Brrz, trying to flatten herself and pulling Buhn down to do the same. In the distance Begis urged his Great Bee closer.

"It's a wind tunnel!"

"...A what?"

"A wind tunnel! It's going to suc—"

"What's going on!" he yelled over to the women, Faina contorted herself to look back at the healer while keeping herself flat, her arm flung over Buhnwanah.

"IT'S GOING TO SUCK US THROUGH!" screamed the Valkyrie, motioning for the healer to do as she and Buhn were doing, lying flat against the Great Bee.

"WHAT?!"

"GET DOWN AND HOLD ON!"

"WHAT?!"

"GET US THROUGH, SISTER KOZOUL!"

"THROUGH WHA— !" Kozoul couldn't finish as the wind screeched over her voice, the rushing winds snatching up the bees and pulling them violently into the tunnels. Brrz was the first to crash side first into the protruding rocks brandishing his antennae in the air, the suction tossing them through the seams of the canyon.

"We're going to be smashed to bits! AAaaAAAaAAAAH!" Buhnwanah was about to say something else but the wind whipped her hair into her face, stuffing her mouth with her own long tresses. The Great Bees wouldn't be able to withstand more bouncing through the tunnel, it was sheer luck that their wings had not yet been dashed on the walls. The bee keeper twisted in the rider's seat, trying to see how the other Great Bees and Begis were fairing but all she caught were Faina's wings being wrenched at uncomfortable angles. The wind tore at them dragging them through the crevices and nooks, their screams barely heard through the engulfing blasts of the air lashing around them. Kozoul was suddenly kneeling on Brrz a folded paper box held between her palms her pupils small as pinpoints and a visible paling that one could attribute to the flow of blood out of one's face... right before attempting the insane.

"What are you doing?! GET DOWN BEE KEEPER!"

"I... I HAVE THIS UNDER CONTROL! Ilothdin're pos fredunne pos decaral'es pos baus poduth pos...!" The Valkyrie reached for the Riven witchling but she popped the paper box between her hands and their world turned blue.

A hazy blue. The dust plumed outwards and encompassed them before the Avian could register what happened before she nearly got knocked off of Brrz from an impact that shook them in their tiny protective bubble. Suddenly their screams became clear as the sounds had nowhere else to go and ricocheted back at them. Begis' screams, as loud as it probably was within his own bubble could only be heard as a faint, incessant sound— like a mosquito's buzzing.

"How is this helping?!"

"We won't be dead when we get blown out!"

"I'm going to be sick...!"

Hollow poinging sounds echoed through out the stone chambers as the stormborn winds sucked the Avian, witchling, treespeaker, and mindhealer through. Brrz did his best to keep up with the momentum without being tossed out of Kozoul's dust sphere, as did the other Great Bees. Their only trace through the tunnels being the stifled yelling contained within the bubbles.




Things came to an abrupt stillness, the Viridosi folk lurching on their bees from the change in velocity after finally being blown out of the wind tunnel. Faina's feathers were fluffed, Buhn's hair a knotted mess, and behind them Kozoul observed Begis retching off the side of Brother Zzth, much to the Great Bee's disgust. The witchling whispered something under her breath and the dust spheres fell away from them like flowing sand.

"We're... we are... at least we lived!" chirped Kozoul attempting to brighten up their situation. The tangled nest of hair that was Buhn turned to Kozoul, if she was glaring it was lost in the clumps of hair. Faina's eyes burned fury at the bee keeper, her hands still firmly gripping Brrz's fuzz.

Begis was still evacuating his stomach contents over Zzth's side.

"Just... get us there, Beekeeper." the words came out icy; the party buzzed on into the opening, the lichen covered rock walls exacerbating the depth of the gorge and highlighting the blackened skies of the Aviary above like sloppily drawn ink lines. The gorge walls themselves were not so haphazardly jagged like the previous ones. The rock seemed carved with the figures of Avians and other winged beings, some of them with monstrous faces. The frightening carvings seemed special against the rest of the bas relief. Again, Faina twisted around in her seat recognition flashing across her face. Picking up on the Avian's reaction Begis clumsily tried to steer Zzth closer but ended up flying five feet above them, giving up he yelled down, "IS IT ANOTHER WIND THING?!"

"Quiet! You musn't wake the golems!"

"THE WHAT?"



Too late.

A thunderous crack and the sound of a shower of pebbles was the only forewarning they got. What followed was a horrifying bellow above them. The stone puffed out from the rock wall, almost like the beast was clawing its way out of its mother's stomach. The stone became elastic, stretching with the movements as if to keep it restrained. Another crack and the noise of rubble falling down the gorge as a rocky clawed hand grew out of the cliff face. The formerly engraved dragon pulled itself out of the rock, large boulders breaking off and spiralling down towards the group.

"... Fly! Flyflyfly! Fly now!"

"Wait, Beekeeper do I still have to fling this powder?"

"Yes otherwise the be—"

"FLY!"

The Great Bees sped off, away from the stone dragon as it wove through the air, roaring a cloud of old dried earth and shards of rock. Faina steadied herself atop Brrz and drew her sword, looking at the stone dragon chasing them. It was gaining on them. Buhn and Begis would be able to fix the last obstacles hindering them in getting to Elias. Buhn's face peeked out from her nest of hair, "Valkyrie you can't! You're not fully recovered, you'll be killed!"

"We'll be killed if I don't!" The Valkyrie turned back to face the golem dragon and with a great flap she took off, sword drawn. Buhn stared after her batting her hair away to clear her sight, she looked back to Kozoul pleading with her eyes. "Beekeeper please, we need her to finish this! Begis and I... we're, we're not cut out for this." The witchling met her look and gulped. She bent down and touched Brrz's antennae, signaling for him to continue without her, to keep Begis and Buhn as far away from the golem dragon as he and his brethren could.

"Fly on Brother Brrz! Take the others and go!" her voice desperate as she got up and stared up at Faina flying towards the stone dragon, looking intently at the golem for a minute. She breathed in deeply and ran down the Great Bee's thorax and dove off spellcasting as she fell, a zephyr summon swooping up to catch and pulling her into the sky to follow the Avian to face off against the stone dragon.

"Where is Sister Kozoul goiiiiiaaaaAAAAAAHHH! WHATISSHEDOING?!" Begis shrieked, whipping his head to follow Kozoul's dive off the Great Bee only to rise again in the grip of a summoned zephyr. Before he could object further Zzth hurried to catch up with Brrz and Buhn, his cries for Kozoul to stop uselessly fading as their distance grew.

" ....aaaaaaAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" The half kin's tolerance for going off script was being wrung to its limits and her motivation to prove Hagmother Drala wrong was beginning to wear thin the moment she thought of going up against golemancy. The zephyr's wispy talons wrapped around her shoulders and carried her higher, freeing her arms to rustle around in her billowing sleeves. The zephyr's grip on the witchling's shoulders wrenched with each movement, it screeched at her to hold still. "J-just keep me in the air, hold on...!" She stuck a root into a bottle filled with a mysterious liquid, tapping a smaller bottle of powder into it then shaking the mixture vigorously. "Fly me higher plea... please!"

"Valkyrie, wait!"

"Beekeeper?! What are you doing?! Go back with the others, this is a golem! You have no chance against it!" The Valkyrie quickly looked at the lanky witchling being carried by the zephyr before turning her head back and swooping out of the way of its claws came down where was flying only a moment a go. The First Valkyrie flew to the rock wall, fingers tightly gripping the small crevices daring the golem to come for her. The golem dragon opened its jaws as it barreled for her.

"We're not here to... to fight! You took us to find! We... we just need to incapacitate it, not k-kill it!" Kozoul fought to get the words out, she wasn't familiar with Avian golemancy and hoped her previous observations were a solid foundation to base her plan on. She would spend a year at Edelon, in a comfortable routine of reading and experimenting where she could control her results and bury herself away from the chaotic unpredictability so common outside the walls of familiarity.

"You have a plan, Beekeeper? THEN TELL ME!" Faina let go of the wall, the dragon's mouth crashing into the sheer surface, the impact booming throughout the gorge. The crater knocked loose a couple of boulders, and a flurry of smaller fragments that fell away harmlessly.

"Keep it occupied!"

"And then?!"

"Fly away!"

"What?"

"BEHIND YOU!" Kozoul cried, the Avian reacting just as the stone dragon recovered from smashing its face into the wall and came down for the Valkyrie, jaws snapping. Faina's wings were a blur as she picked up speed and shot through the air to gain altitude. Closing her wings she streamlined a suicide dive at the stone dragon, using her sword to wedge into and chip away at the dragon's rocky skin. Faina flapped her wings hurriedly to repeat the process, taking a moment to scream back at the witchling, "Whatever it is you were going to do... DO IT NOW!"

"Bring m-me in zephyr!" The wind sprite screeched again as it rose higher with the witchling and dove in at the golem dragon, angling its trajectory to land them at the haunches. The zephyr sprite tucked in its wings as the half kin raced along the golem's back, tiny feet pattering on the stony scales. Coming up to its thrashing wings, the witchling slammed the bottle with the mixture she concocted earlier onto its wing and bid the zephyr to take her off. The broken bottle oozed the contents down the joint of the wing.

"DID YOU DO IT, BEEKEEPER?!"

"Make it smash into the wall again!"

"...!!!" The Valkyrie made a faced at the instruction and sheathed her sword. The gorge was only wide enough that a sharp banking to make the golem collide into the rock wall could also very well get her killed as well.

But Faina Alkev was not a First Valkyrie for nothing.

"Hey! Oy! You stupid dragon! Over here, you slow piece of slag! Pebble! Gravel! Crusty piece of dirt!" The golem dragon flew in a lazy circle, rising high into the air before turning and coming in to swoop... past the Valkyrie, heading straight for Kozoul and the zephyr.

"F-F-FaaainaaAAAAAAHHHH......?!" panic rose in Kozoul's voice as she urged the zephyr to backtrack from the incoming golem dragon.

"FLY BEEKEEPER! FLY!" Faina screamed, flapping her wings fiercely to catch up to them. She was a First Valkyrie, she could bank in the air around the thinnest twig from the Viridosi forest but Kozoul had no such prowess. If she didn't reach them in time, the witchling's strange plan would be for naught.

"Valky—... Fainaaaa! What do I doooooo....?!" wailed the witchling, the zephyr's wings becoming a blur as it tried to keep them both out of reach of the golem dragon. The Valkyrie was catching up but if a gust of wind or a burst of energy didn't show up, she wouldn't make it. Kozoul would have to do the banking herself. She didn't expect the wind sprite to be able to move so fast, even with how tiny the beekeeper was in stature, surely...

A moment of clarity hit the First Valkyrie like a smack upside the head from one of her superiors. Kozoul didn't have to do anything, the zephyr could! No one could outfly a zephyr!

"MAKE THE ZEPHYR BANK AWAY FROM THE WALLS!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" came the scream from the witchling, Faina opened her mouth to call out to the half kin, they were getting further away from her but the stone dragon was catching up. A sonic boom burst and rang out against the rock walls, rubble flying off the surfaces; it was the zephyr at the witchling's permission the wind sprite could use its powers to the fullest extent. The blowback wind flung the Avian back and enraged the golem dragon. Faina continued flying after them keeping the suspended half kin and the dragon in her sight. Kozoul's figure rose in the air with the dragon quick on her heels, its jaws chomping ever closer. With a loud crack the half kin's body swerved at a ninety degree angle and the dragon's head smashed into a ledge overhang. The great stone dragon fell away and seemed to sink into the depths of the Aviary gorge.

The First Valkyrie finally caught up with the half kin and the zephyr. Kozoul's hair was an even bigger ball of knots and flyaways than Buhn's, the zephyr looked entirely too pleased with itself. "Beekeeper, are you alright? You did it! You defeated a stone dragon of the Aviary!"

"Nnnn-n no we didn't..."

Before Kozoul could speak further a crunching sound and a roar echoed up from the deep of the gorge. Faina fluttered in front of the beekeeper, sword half drawn; the witchling interrupted, "...Wait, give it a minute!"

"But—...!"

"Wait for it!" the golem dragon rose up out of the gorge, flapping its great wings, the gusts blowing past the pair as it hovered in the air. It roared again and resumed its pursuit.

"...Now! Fly away Valkyrie!"

"What?!"

"Do it! Gain some distance!" the witchling kicked her gangly legs at the Avian, trying to shoo her away. The Valkyrie stayed and looked at her puzzled, exasperated Kozoul turned around to face the dragon again while the zephyr diligently kept her aloft. "Jayagrenul jayadonoros jayacaulthos jaya'etilanoc... dargothendren!" shouted Kozoul confidently. Faina pulled at Kozoul's arm trying to drag her away from the dragon when its wing suddenly ruptured and shattered into a smoky explosion. Bits of rubble shot out from the dragon's side as it screamed, careening back into gorge. The gust of wind from the explosion pushed them back in a tumbling wheel of legs, wings, and arms. It was moments before Valkyrie Faina righted herself, she stared incredulously at the beekeeper.

"You were handing out love potions and balms for arthritis... now you're tearing the wings off of dragons?! What did Lady Ironblood teach you?"

"We-well... I, that is... I wasn't sure how big the explosion would be... a-and I had to make sure its wing actually came off..."

"You crazy little witch...!"

"L-let's go catch up with the others?"

"Let's."

————————————————————

The quartet sped through the gorge, weaving under rubble bridges and wedged boulders. With the Valkyre's directions, they passed into the end of the gorge. The hydraroot covered door only meters away. Faina clamped a hand on Buhnwanah's shoulder, the Avian's voice steady and filled with assurance, "Buhnwanah the Wild Flower. This is where you come in."

 

[Requiem]

Requiem The Pirate and Miria The Artist, darkgreen

There battle raged on for what seemed like an hour, each fighter calculating, shifting their movements in accordance to their opponent. Requiem and Ozzimus were nearly evenly matched, once the sword was out of the way. It was likely the fight took only a matter of ten minutes, but that's all that was required. By the end, both were bloodied and relatively injured. In the end, Requiem had the upper hand, having all of his weapons on hand and Ozzimus without his. It took time, but eventually the Captain of The Silver Shadow conceded defeat.

"There, that wasn't so bad now, was it?" Requiem asked between catching his breath and pulling the wire away from Ozzimus' throat. He didn't take the time to wait for a response. He didn't feel one was necessary. He'd accomplished what he had set out to do. What repercussions would follow were of little concern to him. Requiem left the prone captain laying on the deck and returned back below deck to his quarters, ignoring the various looks from the crew members of the ship.

He spent the next few days in his cabin, waiting for them to arrive at the freeport, where he could pick up his payment for his side of the operations, and collect the girl from the brig. He'd been avoiding her, questioning whether or not he'd done the right thing having her come aboard. Of course, had she stayed on the navy ship, she'd have likely been killed in the fighting, so it was probably for the best.

Finally the day arrived that they heard the cry for land, and Requiem roused himself from his room and went above deck. He was well and ready to be off of The Silver Shadow.

__________________________________________________________________________________​

Walking through the remains of Hosia, another avian, not from the floating city, sighed tiredly, wiping her brow. Miria had been trying to help with the cleanup, making a little money along the way. Her art hadn't been selling lately, and she'd been thinking of making the trip up north to see if any of the scholars would be interested in her talents. Of course, that was before the city fell. Now she was working with one of the many relief teams trying to make Hosia liveable again.

It took two hours for the group she was working with to make any progress, and most of them were rather surprised that the little avian had managed s much as she had. When she finished clearing out the remains of... Something she couldn't quite make out. She noticed something shining. She dug a little deeper and eventually pulled out a small clear gemstone. She looked around at the others, all focused on their own work, and shoved the gem into her coat. She needed whatever money she could get, and she figured she could make a small profit on it. Quietly she returned to her work, and another four hours later, she collected her pay, and left.

Miria had heard that there was a shopkeeper set up nearby that would potentially be able to give her an appraisal. To that end, she headed towards Shekar's shop. She managed to arrive just as a couple of humans left, and knocked on the door frame lightly before entering. "Excuse me, I'm looking for a... Shekar?"

 

[Peregrine]

CHELENA-HOSIA, cyan

At first Chelena was content to listen to the ramblings of the crazy cat, or, at least, pretend to. She shook her head once, politely, far more interested in gazing off after Carus and trying to figure out what exactly he was doing with the blacksmith. But soon it became near impossible for her to focus on watching the distance with the mad colors this tiger was spitting all over the place.

"You talk too much," was her only answer to his story. For a moment she considered getting out of the boat and going after Carus, but only a moment later the avian was coming back out of the building, followed by a giant bull.

More animals... Chelena thought irritably, moving further into the boat and ducking back into her shaded alcove. Carus quickly joined him and she once more snuggled up next to him. But this time her attention was a little more divided. She kept an eye on the cat, as ever, hardly trusting his colors, and at first she watched the bull. He, however, seemed content to nap, which left Chelena to focus on what drew her attention the most. Hosia.

It had been a while since she had been in the trade city. She had been up in Edelon for long enough that she had forgotten exactly how colorful this city was. She was glad to be riding in it on the boat, it would give her time to start adjusting to the increase in colors that washed over her. Maybe, when this business with Carus was over, she would have time to play around in the city a little bit. With so many people, there were bound to be some fascinating new colors in the city as well.

All the same, she didn't sit up from her lounging position against Carus until Khanaan brought the little craft to a halt only a little ways from the town center. Chelena stretched once, quickly fixed her various scarves, before turning her attention back to Carus.

"You said you picked up the little minx in a brothel." Chelena stated, worming her way out from under the canopy, and entirely unconcerned about sharing Carus' sordid little secret with anyone who might be listening in. "Lets go talk to Belphebe. She loves that kind of gossip."

 

[DotCom]

Memento - Two Days Past

Part Six - Retreat

​

On the other side of the tower walls, there was no time, no space, no way to think.

All had been reduced to acting, and she would act right or wrong, for better or worse. Death seemed the likeliest of outcomes, a disproportionate truth.

The stone clutched to her chest seemed almost to glow now, a deep red that spread crimson over her fingers, like she had pulled the heart from her father's body, instead of just taking the thing he called a key. It was warm, from proximity to the fire, or her own body heat, or something supernatural on which she didn't care to linger.

Her father had not left specific instructions -- a game or a curse? -- on where to put the Key. He had only mentioned the apex of Heaven's Spire. And yet as she looked around the small pulpit, only one place really seemed appropriate.

She had never been a romantic, but at least the small stand ensured the Key would stay in place if the tremors came back again.

It was nigh blasphemy to move the heavy glass orb that gave the Spire its name. When the sun crested the sky directly over the Aviary, the glass sphere caught the light like a prism, spilling rainbows over her 'chosen people', or that was what the elders would have one believe. Up close, it was no more than a bauble, like the crystal ball of some half sane prophet.

Such a thing would never have passed inspection in Pegulis.

She shoved the ball aside roughly, but it was too dense to break on the hard floor. She had just prepared to set the Key in its place when the tower gave a great lurch and a deafening scream as the Spire began to fracture.

Aerie was thrown aside, pinned to the wall for a moment. She could smell her clothing smoldering as the fire crept closer. Blood trickled down the back of her neck to stain the base of one wing. Dizzy.

When she moved forward again, she could not say whether it was the storm or the tower that tried to throw her off balance. The Key seemed heavier than ever. Outside the wind howled, screamed.

She set the Key atop the pedestal and watched as the trigger reacted to new weight. The stone wobbled, then righted itself in a way that would have been impossible under normal circumstances.

Aerie frowned despite herself and put out a finger to touch the edge of the stone --

The tower lurched again and she was thrown back through the fire. She was awake just long enough to realize she was falling very far, and very, very fast.

Aerie - The Aviary, darkred

Aerie felt like she was leading a tour group, and for as much as the catacombs reeked of mildew and dust, she may as well have been.

They'd picked up another straggler -- of course they had, because the task laid before her three days ago had been just too easy on its own -- as Nashti had led them to the Font of the First Valkyrie at the far end of the Tower Pavilion. It wasn't her first choice -- too far from the Staircase itself -- but between Keeva and the hag, they hadn't had much of a choice. She knew they'd have to ditch the pair soon. She just wasn't sure where, and somehow, the additional babysitting seemed just slightly better than having to deal with anyone blaming their mother's death on her.

They'd followed the piping at the base of the fountain to the subterranean water source -- one of the smaller pump systems her father had designed when the Aviary had been being terraformed for Avian life. The maelstrom of the last three days had been kind, at least, in this, leaving the shaft unbarred, if dangerously dark.

Aerie had peered into the entrance to the ancient catacombs and grinned over her shoulder at her new party. She was a regular Madjick now. If only she had her soapbox and moral piety.

Oh, well.

"Right, then," she announced. "Our chances are a little better underground. If anyone's afraid of the dark, they'd best suck it the hell up right now."

She flung a finger at Keeva. The child straightened. "You. Come with me."

She flung another finger at the new girl, Adele, or something. "You. Stay with her." She pointed to Nyashi, then her mother.

"And you? Don't fucking die, so help me God."

And they were on a path straight through the darkness. They were still close enough to the center of the Aviary that all the channels led to the outer rim, and most were dry. Very few had been sealed off by cave ins and the like, following the Aviary's initial descent...though if things decided to go haywire again, no amount of wishing and hoping and swearing would save any of them.

Aerie clutched the box in her hands closer.

Inside, the crystal began to glow.

 

[Falcon]

[dash=grey]

The Brig - Ayanne Marshden, green

She felt it, the way the ship's motion changed when they reached a dock. Though she only hoped it was a dock and not something worse. She had no idea where they were at, no idea where they'd been going, and only one way to find out.

"Hey," Ayanne called out into the silence that filled the big. "Where are we? What's happening?"

In that moment she knew fear, a different fear than what the thought of the monolith stirred in her. She had been safe so far, as they were sailing, but if they ship had made dock did that mean the bargain with Requiem was over?

Hosia - Shekar Ma'alin, saddlebrown

The moment the angry man left with his female companions and Teadoir's messenger Shekar's posture slumped. She hated dealing with people like that, the ungrateful ones, the one's who couldn't see that someone was trying to help them even if the entire city shouted the fact. Though in their case they were trying to avoid the entire city. She wished them luch though. The other two had been fairly polite.

The little bell above the door suddenly chimed as an avian girl walked in. Shekar briefly wondered if she were another refugee.
"Excuse me, I'm looking for a... Shekar?"
"Well you've found her," Shekar answered leaning on the counter to block her view as those behind it finished their business. "But if you're looking for a place to stay you'll have to camp outside. The shop's full."

[/dash]

 

[Torsty]

Hosian Favelas, limegreen

"QUICKLY! QUICKLY! NO TIME!!!" The little creature spluttered in excitment. Jumping up and down, turning back and forth while he led the Pegulians away from Shekar's shop. A nervous smile ever-present on it's face.

It tugged at Medwick's pants as they continued walking. The wizard responded with a kick, but the little one was too quick for his violent movements. It lowered it's voice. "Calm! Sick one! Must not get us attention!"

Then why did Teadoir choose this energetic furball as their guide?

**

A change of scenery. They moved into the river favelas.

They could feel it, see it, smell it. Here were shantytowns housing thugs, crooks, gangsters, pushers and hustlers. These were the unlucky ones. The ones who had left the wildlife for a better life in Hosia. Most of them ended up here – rotting their life away.

And if Medwick thought the density in the market district was bad, he would think of the favelas as a place of horror. The number of children running around in a seemingly chaotic cycle were greater, and their behaviour feistier.

The foreigners tried their best to evade all bodily touch with strangers, an impossible job. The stands here had no storage rooms, the shops set up on any empty space possible.


Their furry friend had changed its demeanor as they had crossed into the slums. Its edgy manner was gone. "BY WAY! MY NAME – CANUDOS!" It turned back at them and shouted.

"SOON THERE – JUST UP AHEAD!" Canudos pointed somewhere right in front of them, above the endless landscape of shacks a standout building was revealing itself to the visitors. Whether a mansion or a boat, they followed after their guide, passing two forest kin guards by the entrance.

**

"We don't use the shit, we sell it." Teadoir spoke in an indifferent manner. Seated by the edge of the Ehrendil favela villa overlooking the ocean. A human male was hanging by his feet, his hands tied behind his back. The salty mix of his own sweat, blood and urine dripping from his hair as he hovered over the water. He was talking with a desperate tone. "But Master Ehrendil! It was just one hit! I swear! The bitch fooled my drunken spirit into it!"

A butterfly had nested on the drug lord's hand. He held it up so he could enjoy it's beauty. His behaviour was awfully calm for the situation. "You broke our code of conduct, Dyfed." The butterfly took off, Teadoir guided it with an upward motion of his arm, as if wishing it farewell. "You're a bad influence on your former colleagues."

"I swear, Master! It won't happen again!!!" The young man started to cry as he spoke.

"Correct, Dyfed. That is why..." Before Teadoir could finish his sentence, a rumbling noise from the water made the floating river mansion quiver. A sea monster ascended from the deep darkness below.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO-!!!"

"WLUBWLUBWLUBWLUBWLUBWLUB..."

"KCHERCKKCHERCKKCHERCKKCHERCK..."

The illustration of a true nightmare. The pusher's head and torso was impaled by the monster's fangs as it latched onto him. Then it climbed upward by gnawing it's way to his feet. A sickening sound of it's muscles consuming his flesh as it did so. Even taking some of the rope with it before it fell back to where it came from.

Dyfed's deathscream and the final sounds of his bones being crunched greeted Shardis, Caoimhe and Medwick as they stepped on deck.

Teadoir applauded the spectacle. "She's grown so much! I almost thought she would take the crane with her on the way down! Haha!"[/SIZE]

"Canudos arrives with guests, Master!" A guard announced.

"Proceed!" The Herbal Minister of Hosia motioned with a wave of his right hand for them to enter still focusing on where the monster had just feasted. Then he turned around and started to slowly walk to wards them. He looked happy, he was smiling. Perhaps not what they had been expecting as they had heard Glyph and Admiral Kessel speak his name before. His night spent with Belphebe had changed his mood for the better.

"At least you're not Kaustiri." He approached them, still smiling. Looking back and forth between the three. "A little out of your element, don't you think?" He smirked at Shardis. Then he eyed the girl with the backpack. His forest kin-instincts told him to keep some distance from this one, she seemed troubled. Then he finally lay his gaze on Medwick. "You look terrible." Teadoir's smile turned into a frown. "Make some 'Vilcacora tea' for us all! I've been staying in the city for too long. I'll be needing some too." A servant disappeared – off into one of the two big houses that occupied each side of the open deck they stood on. Foreigners they might be, Teadoir would not let Medwick leave before he had had something for his allergies.

]The wizard had kept his arms crossed and said nothing this whole time, it made Teadoir a bit uneasy.

They sat down by a simple table. The forest kin had chit-chatted enough. "Now...show me your goods."