Quest II. The night the towers cried [open]

[Kinneas]

Try as he might he could not shake the impending sense of a fight. The nagging feeling creeping up to the back of his mind, something was coming, and he could feel it. With the anticipation of battle his mind, of a fight, something was going to happen, and he needed to prepare. He felt of warning others of the possibility and this nagging sense made him watch Miro all too closely. He did not want the kid to rush into something that he might regret, and with his rather impulsive nature that was all too possible. This fight, it was going to happen he was sure, could possibly catch the kid’s attention and make him want to join it. He shook his head; Miro never really knew when he should step in nor when he should just let things be.

The horns sounds seemed to echo to an unbelievable annoyance. Though he ignored the noise it seemed others were all too attracted by it, and the horn, along with its wielder, seemed to attract attention, both negative and positive. Kinne knew he sure wouldn’t want all the attention of people he didn’t even know, and he was sure this is where all the trouble was going to begin. With a mass of attention came with a mass of energy, and the one wielding such power could easily take leadership… Though that is assuming a leader was necessary.

Seeing the group of rather questionable individuals approach the one who blew the horn Kinne took a step closer to get a better look at the situation at hand. They were going to start something, he was sure of it, and then, just like that, he found the cane snatched from his hand. Almost falling from the sudden lack of support he caught himself stumbling a couple steps, but never taking his eyes off the kid and what he was doing, ”Miro!” he called after him, ”Stay away.” he warned, but his words fell on deaf ears as the child rushed in to defend the green guy, who really brought this upon himself.

Sighing he walked to the edge of the crowd that was gathering around the commotion that was going to break out. If Miro gets hurt he wouldn’t forgive himself, he was his guardian after all, but the kid could be so impulsive at times. It was at that thought that he activated the Evantia. His god given power, and as the field expanded around him he could more carefully track the movements of both groups along with the people who were not fighting. It could reveal a lot about the situation at hand and how tense the air was.

Evantia fully extended he walked calmly, his mind being bombarded by the extrasensory experience of the field. Subtle movements, muscle reflexes, all came to him from the group that has gathered. Stepping through the group of people he sighed as he couldn’t believe he was doing this as he stepped out of the crowd to join the small group that was protecting the green guy. Taking position beside Miro he took a stance, now trying to focus more and more on the movements of group of people that donned black armor. Their subtle movements being brought to him by the mark, if he could track them successfully then he has a chance even if they do have weapons and armor.

If a fight was going to break out, and if Miro was going to get himself involved then he had to be there to protect the kid with all his might. Even though its not the smartest decision he has ever made, it was Miros decision and therefor his also. There really is no need to fight...

[Niapret]

Niapret She was ignored. She didn't mind, felt it only natural, somehow. She kept her eyes on the group, and as a group of four advanced to pick a fight, she watched them too. She didn't care who lead, as long as they did so the right way; her way, the ordered way. They wanted blood though, this was obviously not acceptable. One should stick to the laws, if there's no laws, stick to teh rules, if there's none of them either, stick to common sense. Yet she'd been told by other akvatari that not all other races were civilized, even if they sometimes pretended such. These four didn't even pretend, nd she gripped her dagger more steadily, this time with both hands, and flittered to the edge of the line of people taking up the green thing's cause. Why couldn't they just wait peacefully? Or could this be it? Were they taken here to fight eachother and see who would win, who would be the last one standing? She let out a sigh, it'd be typical, just typical, if that was the case. "Lets have order, and be done with the bloodshed, for now at least. Whatever God or Godess brought us here is the leader, not one of us. Unless you wish to fight the Gods or Godesses responsible for our current locaion?" She spoke quickly, wanting it all said before anyone could interrupt, but her tone were still dripping sadness and interlaced with uncaring. What ever happened, happened. She couldn't change it, and she couldn't just stand by and let thugs get away with causing chaos. She hovered, and waited, looking like a giant hummingbird with a furry bottom and no feathers.

[Nil'kayn]

Kayn had kept his eyes centred on the group of four, but out of the corner of his eye he caught site of many joining his side. They all seem to be on the side of peace. Why could they not see that these people had no intention of peace? He had seen the look in there eyes of many of Akalak that had grown to fond of battle. He himself was fond of battle, but he also felt it best to only fight for good. The idea of a dual crossed his mind, but he pushed it down at Nil urgings; the man looked to be much more veteran then Kayn. So Kayn's only way at surviving was to stick with the group of people to his back, and he doubted if he launched himself into battle to surprise the men, that the others would follow, and in truth that would be the strategic think to do, but not the most moral; and Kayn was a moral person. He saw no other option; so swallowing his pride, he shifted his spear to his left hand. He spoke clearly, loud enough for many to hear, "Alright. We have both spoken some hasty words that bet both of us would like to take back. I don't think either of us want bloodshed." His hand reached out in a sign of peace, "Lets shake hands and be done with it." If the man took his hand Kayn would smile broadly, but it was a forced smile all the same. If the man or any of his companions had shown hostility towards him or any on his side he would have stepped back, and pulled the pin to expand his shield; getting himself into a guard position.

[Miro]

Kinneas had finally arrived at his side, and from the looks of it he was watching the battle intently. The green man seemed to try to show no harm was meant, but after all that had been said and the actions taken by both parties, Miro did not find this wise. "Yes, let us put away the weapons and handle this matter with some civility." Miro sheathed his blade in its resting piece, holding it in his offhand. In his mind he knew that if a fight were to ensue, it would be to the death, and his cane was not the tool to use. Putting it away not only gave a diplomatic appearance, it would put them off guard. His ice harness would give him away as a reimancer, and also as a child of morwen, but he many other ideas to surprise them. Gradually from his back, Miro started to produce an amount of res. He would only make just enough to fashion a decent sized weapon, or perhaps something more useful. He was sure Kinneas knew what he was doing. If a fight did break loose they would end it quickly, there were too many innocent people to be hit by the crossfire.

[Riki Stormheart]

Darik had moved on. That much could have been counted as either a blessing or a curse. While he wanted to steal from Riki and Ariel there was also strength in numbers, even if those numbers included one who was a little loose on morals. Now that is was just Riki and Ariel again the Drykas felt a bit nervous, even more so when the group of Black Sun had wandered up. While Riki had never met a member of the Black Sun he still felt chills run down his spine at the sight of them. "Who are they?" Riki's tone was hushed as he whispered to the little clay girl on his shoulder. Elsewhere in the crowd there was a girl, a race that Riki had never gotten to see first hand, an Akvatari. He had heard stories of them from his mother and of course there had been chatter about them at the Sanctuary. She seemed alone and since Riki and Ariel were as well he decided to seek her out. When Riki reached her side he smiled lightly. "It is really chaotic in here isn't it?" He was saying it less on the terms of pointing out the obvious and more so to let her know that he had noticed her words through the bustle of the crowd. "You do have an interesting point though. I'm Riki by the way and this is Ariel." Riki motioned to the Pycon on his shoulder and then held out a hand to the woman. "There is strength in numbers right?"

[Ariel]

"You see Riki? You see what I just said?" Ariel asked as she pointed at the stryfe members. "What did I just say 'bout trouble?" she went on as she swung her legs wildly back and forth. "Those guys are bad news," she muttered, as a shiver shot up her spine. She didn't even need to use her magic to verify such a thing. "And if we want to stay alive, we should stay away from them... yes, that would be a good idea." Ariel went on as a tremor shot through her body, causing her to shake wildly. Ariel glanced down, looking at the ground. It seemed to tremble, which only sent another shiver down her spine. Why is the petching floor shaking? she wondered, when it was not doing so before? It's as though their presence is doing this... as though with the tension in this sphere rising, the tension within the body of the physical sphere itself is too, causing it to shake. Or perhaps it has to do more with their anger; their impurities, in both body and spirit, the young pycon thought, as she whispered, "hey Riki, can you feel that?" before finally nodding in response to a question he had posed long ago. And then, the next thing she knew, Riki was pushing through the crowd towards some strange-looking creature with wings, the torso of a human, and tail of a fur seal. Ariel could vaguely make out Riki's words, introducing each of them. "Hi," she muttered somewhat irritatedly as she waved, just before crossing her arms over her chest. And it looks like we have met yet another giant who is going to ignore all of our questions... pretend that they can't so much as hear them being posed. Unlikely? Don't you think, when we're right next to his petching ear! Ariel's mind screamed as the red pigmentation in her tiny clay cheeks grew all the more prominent. But no matter, our line of questioning wasn't that important anyway.

[Hadrian]

He had sort of hoped against hope that Cassandra would introduce him to her fishy friends, but he had to tear his eyes away from the Konti in order to follow her through the crowd. And then they were crouched behind some Chaktawe, and he was glad that he had spent enough time in Zeltiva to pass himself off as a Zeltivan. It was his heart's home, in any case. "They are here?" he asked, quiet and intense. He reached out among the auras surrounding him for the tainted ones, the better to know his enemy and avoid them if possible. Or eliminate them. That would be acceptable too. Perhaps he might push them over the lip of the disc, or open a portal to the Void and stick parts of them through it. "This is not good," he said. "We have to wait this out and see what happens."

[Ash'eny]

Ash'eny took a step back as Kamalia's legendary staff prodded him vigorously on the chest. He instinctively reached down at his side for his newly acquired weapon, the mace, yet his fingers found only the softness of his cloak where his weapon should be. Of course! The teleportation didn't bring along his possessions. When he was taken he had nothing on him but his clothing and his dagger tucked away. Ash'eny's teeth began to grind as Kamalia continued to stand between him and his leader. "I'm here for Satu." Usually he would have said something witty or obnoxious, maybe even done something stupid, since he was notorious for just such things, but something about this place unnerved his greatly, to the point where all he wanted to be was next to Satu and watching over her carefully, and to the best of his abilities. Thankfully, Satu was looking out for him with a good deal more competence than he watched her. She stepped up to redirect Kamalia's staff, obviously the two women knew each other, and explained, at least announcing to him that he had found her. Ash'eny smiled and nodded slowly, not that he really did anything worthy of complimenting. All he did was get struck by lightning and panic for a few moments before stumbling across Satu, much like he did when they met in Syliras. Ash'eny looked away from Satu to glance at Kamalia once more, because since Satu had affirmed he very much had a reason to be here, he figured he'd make the best of it. For some reason, pissing people off here, especially those that made him as uneasy as Kamalia did, did not appeal to him. He extended his hand forward to shake her hand, or offer to do so, and introduce himself, but the loud horn being blown and reflecting back at them tenfold instantly set migraines firmly in Ash'eny's head. He lifted his hand to his foreheadas if trying to push the headache away by force, but it only subsided when the horn finally did die away. And of course there would be a fight about to begin. Why wouldn't there be? Get this many people in such a small enclosed area and you were bound to find two people that rubbed each other the wrong way. It was merely unfortunate that it was one Akalak that rubbed four scary-looking soldiers of some sort off at once. Ash'eny had no plans to interfere.

[Talen Stirling]

Talen stood ready next to the Akalak, shield raised and sword poised for a vicious slash, ready to block and retaliate in case any of the blackclad before him chose to act. His poise was professional and rehearsed, and perhaps the men before him felt a flicker of doubt in whether it was just a defenceless boy before them, or perhaps not. Although it was no longer obvious, he was still scared. In fact, he almost felt like running yet things had changed. Two red-haired women had suddenly arrived to aid them, as well as the boy from before and his protege. That fortified Talen's spirit, though they did not know it. They were putting themselves at risk for this stranger and his own sake, and although it surprised him he couldn't fail them. When the green man reached out a hand and the kid sheathed his blade, he didn't move or relax. Many pieces of advice had been beaten into his thick skull on duty and in training, and never let down your guard was one of the more important things. These people were enemies, well-armed and trained enemies that would use any opportunity. The petching fool Akalak reached out a hand when he should rather try to create space between the four and the two archers so that they might fire and the two of them could prevent the four from getting close to their support. He felt adrenaline and blood pump through his veins, and the idea of drawing first blood wasn't as far from his mind as he imagined it would be. Perhaps it was the stress of the situation, the fear and the desperation but he almost instinctively stepped up and attacked the front soldier. At least he would if he made a move.

[Kamalia Timandre]

It was not her time to face the darkness, sang the Heartseer. Her time would come soon. What was Satu saying? Satu had rarely spoken in nothings back home, yet her cryptic words held only elements of truth from what her Sight could perceive.

Magic had shaped Kamalia’s life, or more precisely, mutilated it. It was the reason she was exiled from Mura. Dark dreams plagued the Konti’s restless nights; nightmares where she saw herself slaying the lives of those she held dear at magic’s command. She had deserted Stitch’s Orphanage for fear of the children’s safety, left her sister Aselia behind for fear of hurting her, and abandoned Gromhir—her lover and her bondmate—in the care of his former master for fear of his life. She had left behind everything that was important to her. Nothing left, except for her jealous Magic. How much did the Heartseer learn about the fearsome, jealous creature hiding in the depths of Kamalia’s soul? And more importantly, did Satu want her to embrace it?

The moment Satu closed her hand around the Pathfinder, Kamalia saw in her eyes yearning and devotion. The intensity of those emotions was almost blinding. Kamalia mirrored her questioning gaze, a slender curious eyebrow slightly raised, as she gingerly pried the staff from the grasp of her friend.

As for Ash’eny, Kamalia merely nodded with a gentler expression. If her friend could trust this man’s heart, then she could trust him too. She offered her scaled hand in response to his gesture, until the loud reverberations of the horn shattered their ears.

Kamalia shot a piercing glance at the foolish green-skinned Akalak. She impassively observed as four imbecile ruffians from Ravok approached him and his strange friends. None of them threatened her; she had faced more dangerous foes. They squabbled pettily like children, instead of paying heed to the real threat.

“I remember reading from an old book that there exists a dimensional expanse between Mizahar and Elsewhere, between Reality and the Void,” she said melodically in Kontinese. Kamalia raised a hand, as if feeling the air. “Can you feel it, Sister? This place once knew hope, but it is here no longer. Priskil is not here. There is nothing now but forlornness,” she stopped, as if stunned by her realization, “and hunger,” another pause, “craving and desire. I cannot know what this means.”

Kamalia could feel the twitch of the Pathfinder, as if directing her to take a look at Mizahar below. She stared serenely at Satu and Ash’eny, “I shall return. There is something I alone must do,” she said softly in Common. “Call for me if danger reaches you.” She looked at Ash’eny with peaceful eyes that were meant to implore him to look after Satu. The sorceress wrapped her arms around Satu in a tight, familiar embrace before they parted.

Gathering the skirts of her gown, Kamalia walked towards the rim of the disc. The Konti mage made sure that no one else was looking, before she turned to face the giant marble that was Mizahar. Instinctively she held the staff aloft, raising it in the air and gripping it tightly with both hands.